Chapter 70: Rapid Healing
Outside the hospital, Rhys stood under the back-door awning, watching the neon signs flicker to life against the dusk sky. You had to admit, amidst the steel and concrete, the city had its own twisted beauty.
Night City... it really is beautiful.
From here, you could even see the faint, dream-like outlines of the giant holographic koi swimming around Arasaka Tower.
"Ahem..."
A quiet cough snapped him out of it. It was David. The kid had been standing there for a while, just waiting.
"David, why are you always so tense?" Rhys asked, turning to him. The kid was practically vibrating with nervous energy.
"I... I just don't know how to thank you," David stammered. Rhys had been silent, and David hadn't dared to interrupt, just stood there with him for a good ten minutes.
"Thank me? If that was the end of it, you'd definitely owe me. Hiring mercs costs eddies, you know. But... things are different now."
"Why?" David clenched his fists. "Aniki Rhys, I'll earn the eddies. We should settle this properly."
"'Settle this properly'?" Rhys laughed and reached out, ruffling David's spiky hair. The punk hairstyle was surprisingly stiff. David made a weird face, like he wasn't sure if he was annoyed or not.
In terms of age, Rhys only looked a few years older than David. But factoring in his five years in Night City, plus his previous life... Rhys was a good decade older in experience. It was enough to change a person. He wasn't exactly mature, but compared to a kid who'd been sheltered by his mom his whole life, Rhys was definitely the adult in the room.
"Gloria already agreed to join our crew. She's going to be our logistics and acquisitions manager. She'll handle fencing our gear and sourcing new chrome for Pilar."
"See? By 'settling' it, you'd be cutting your own mom out of her new crew," Rhys said, dropping his hand. "Come on, let's head back."
"Okay," David nodded, following Rhys back inside, past the security bots, and up to the third-floor room.
Maine and Gloria were deep in conversation. When Rhys walked in, Maine looked up. "Rhys, perfect timing. Jackie and Kiwi already took off."
"So early? I thought we were all hitting the Afterlife?" Rhys asked, confused. They'd all agreed to grab drinks after this was sorted. If it hadn't been for Gloria's accident, they would have gone straight from Vick's to the Afterlife to celebrate.
"Change of plans. Jackie's dead set on buying a decent car. Kiwi's got some shopping of her own to do. Sasha was going to wait for you, but her sister called again. Had to go. She left a message for you," Maine said.
"What'd she say?" Rhys asked, definitely interested. Why would she have Maine pass on a message? Couldn't she just text me?
He'd changed a lot of things since arriving. He'd saved Sasha... and now she was the person closest to him. Even Rita wasn't this close. Damn, when a netrunner decides to get close, a street-kid punk doesn't stand a chance.
"She said... 'when she gets back, you and her can have another... study session.'" Maine grinned, waggling his eyebrows. "So... what kind of 'studying' have you and Sasha been doing, huh?"
"Screw you," Rhys rolled his eyes. Case closed. She didn't text me because she wanted Maine to say it. She was staking her claim. Who said that kitten only knew how to act cute? She was dangerously smart. It was her way of letting the whole crew know, in no uncertain terms, that she and Rhys were... close. Not that they hadn't already figured it out that morning, but this was a territorial move.
"Anyway, we're taking a break. Tomorrow, the day after... the crew's on downtime," Maine announced.
"What do you mean?"
"Vacation, choom!" Maine boomed. He glanced at Gloria in the hospital bed, then back at Rhys. "We can't just work 24/7. Ever since you joined, it's been one clusterfuck gig after another."
"We're flush with eddies. Rogue wired Babs' payment. It's time to enjoy it a little, right?"
Rhys was about to protest, but Maine cut him off. "Hey, don't even say, 'Why don't we hang out together?' We all need our own space. Can't be living in each other's pockets, right?" He winked.
He turned to Gloria. "You rest up. By the time you're discharged, we'll probably have the new HQ secured. You can come straight there."
"Okay," Gloria said softly.
"That's that. We're heading out," Maine said, getting up and pulling Dorio and Rebecca toward the door.
"Wait! Why do I have to go?!" Rebecca protested, trying to plant her feet.
"Stop whining. Pilar's not here, so me and Dorio are your guardians," Maine said sternly.
"Fuck!" Rebecca fumed, her face turning red. She was about to flip him the bird, but Dorio just scooped her up under one arm and carried her out, ignoring her kicks and protests.
The room was suddenly quiet, leaving only Rhys, David, and Gloria.
Gloria chuckled, a real, warm laugh. "You're... not like any edgerunners I've ever known."
"Hmm? How so?" Rhys asked.
"In a lot of ways," Gloria mused. "Take you, for example. I'm usually very sensitive to... people in your line of work. But when I first met you, I never would have guessed you were an edgerunner."
She reached out and playfully tugged David's ear. "No wonder this one looked so shocked and excited when I told him to go talk to you. He already knew you were running with Maine's crew, didn't he?"
"Hey, not my fault, Mom!" David yelped, wincing. "You're the one who told me not to worry about anything and just study!" But despite the pain, he was deeply relaxed, relief washing over him.
"Anyway... I'm glad I'm joining you, Rhys," Gloria said, her voice sincere.
Rhys nodded and smiled. He looked at David. "So, we heading back together?"
"I'm staying here," David refused.
Gloria started to protest, but then just sighed and patted his back. "David, don't think this gets you out of school tomorrow."
"Huh?!"
...
Leaving the hospital, Rhys walked home alone. On the way, he finally had time to check the new skill he'd gotten from David.
[Rapid Healing]
Passive Skill: Greatly enhances the host's natural healing abilities.
Healing effectiveness scales with the Body attribute.
Special Effect (Hardened Skin): Grants additional damage resistance that scales with the Body attribute.
A very preem passive. In game terms, it was like V's out-of-combat health regen. It was a powerful, high-floor skill, even if its ceiling wasn't as insane as Potential Overdrive.
Pleased with the upgrade, Rhys looked up. The streets around the hospital were packed, a dense flow of people. He blended into the crowd, just another face in the stream.
"Tomorrow..."
A day off. What the hell am I going to do?