"Good morning, Night City!"
The voice of Stanley, the city's most notorious talking head, blared from every holoscreen, dripping with his usual blend of sarcasm and fake optimism.
"I'm your host, Stanley, and our city of dreams is up for another long, glorious day! I love this town like you love your mom— you know, the one who left you at the orphanage door, then hits you up for a smoke when she sees you on the street."
"Every sunrise brings another hundred or so dreamers here. By the year's end? Maybe half'll still be alive— and that's on a good year."
"Why do they come?"
"To become legends! Morgan Blackhand, Rogue, Old Snake— everyone thinks they've got what it takes. But as they say in the streets, the timid starve, and the bold die bloated."
"Night City, baby. Beautiful, brutal, and oh so irresistible."
"Alright, alright, enough talk— let's check what went down last night, shall we?"
He began reading off the death toll like he was announcing the weather.
"Maelstrom's back at it, fighting over turf again— big surprise. Fifteen dead. Other gangs got into it too, ten more bodies on the ground. But hey, this is Night City. Here, living is the rare part."
"And now, something more interesting!"
"Over in Japantown, a bunch of Scavs snatched a Trauma Team platinum client— yeah, platinum, chooms— but a mysterious merc team wiped out two full Scav crews and pulled off the rescue! Word on the street? The Scavs are out for blood."
Stanley's voice dropped, conspiratorial.
"And get this— late last night, downtown at City Center, a cyberpsycho went ballistic! Whole NCPD squad wiped out. Seriously, guys, maybe stop hiring rookies who panic at the first muzzle flash?"
"By the time MaxTac's bird got there, someone else had already sliced the psycho clean in half. Let's all take a moment to thank our anonymous hero for saving us taxpayer eddies… and for reminding everyone that the streets are never short on legends."
…
Morning. Watson District Metro, en route to Neo-Kabukichō.
The train hummed through the skyrails, gliding over the tangled sprawl of neon and steel.
Neo stood near the door, hands in his pockets, gazing out through the transparent panel.
Below him stretched the city's arteries— sky lanes buzzing with traffic, silver hovercars streaking past like comets. Far off, a corpo rocket launched from an Arasaka tower, cutting through the gray-blue haze.
Inside, the train was quiet. The holo-ad screens replayed Stanley's morning show, his laughter echoing faintly in the background.
There were seats available, but Neo didn't sit. He'd been sitting too long lately— in cars, in missions, in other people's plans.
And after days of non-stop contracts— from corpo agents to Maelstrom goons, Scavs, and even that cyberpsycho— he needed to breathe. Just one day without blood, bullets, or chrome.
A reward, he told himself. A small one.
Destination: Neo-Kabukichō.
It wasn't the cleanest place, but it felt alive— a slice of old Japan, reimagined in holograms and paper screens, where neon kanji flickered alongside the scent of soy, sake, and fried octopus.
Just as he was about to zone out, his Observation Haki— the sense that pulsed beneath his thoughts— flickered.
Someone was behind him.
A shadow. A hand slipped toward his pocket.
Neo smirked.
Without even turning, he caught the intruding wrist in one smooth motion.
"Ah," a teasing voice sighed behind him, "you caught me again."
Neo turned his head slightly, recognizing the lilac hair, the ghostly blue eyes.
"Lucy," he said, amused. "Didn't you learn from last time? You didn't even get close then."
Lucy shrugged, unbothered, her smirk playful. "You know me. Always gotta try again. Who knows? Maybe this time you'd let me win."
Neo chuckled. "Rationally speaking, unless I want you to, you're not getting my wallet."
"Rationally speaking," she echoed, grinning, "I like those odds."
He noticed then that half the passengers' neural ports— previously open and glowing faintly— were now dim. Her stealth-hack program had shut itself off.
"You just killed your own heist," he said.
Lucy leaned casually against the pole, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah. You were the target. I failed. Mission's over."
"So now?"
"Now?" She smiled. "I guess I keep you company instead."
Neo blinked. "That's… oddly forward."
"Relax. I'm on break too. You're heading somewhere, right? Not with Jackie, not with Maine's crew. So where's Night City's newest mystery man off to today?"
"Neo-Kabukichō," he said simply. "Day off. Figured I'd visit the only place that almost feels like home."
Lucy nodded. "Good choice. Safer than Japantown, food's great. Lanterns look better after rain, too."
She tilted her head, eyes glinting mischievously. "So… mind if I tag along?"
Neo arched a brow. "You want to come with me? What about the other cars you were, uh, liberating wallets from?"
She waved a hand dismissively. "Like I said. Off-duty. And running into you— well, that's just fate, isn't it?"
He couldn't help but laugh softly. "Alright then. Neo-Kabukichō it is."
Lucy's smirk widened. "Knew you'd say yes."
…
The metro arrived at Neo-Kabukichō Station, the doors hissing open to release them into the streets bathed in vermilion light.
Steam curled from vents, mingling with the scent of ramen broth and grilled yakitori. Neon signs in elegant kanji shimmered across rain-slick pavements, while AR cherry blossoms drifted through the air, dissolving into pixels when touched.
The district looked almost serene— until you noticed the chrome gangsters loitering near the vending stalls and the Arasaka drones gliding silently above.
Still, compared to the rest of Night City, this place breathed.
Lucy scanned the bustling lanes. "So," she said, "where to first?"
Neo glanced around— ramen shops, arcades, a neon karaoke bar, a vending temple... and then, tucked between two izakayas, he saw it.
A Takoyaki restaurant.
His lips curved. "There."
Lucy followed his gaze— then blinked in surprise. "Takoyaki?"
Neo nodded solemnly. "A piece of home, in the city of chrome."
Steam rose from the open windows as they stepped inside, the air rich with dashi and spice. For a fleeting moment, Neo could almost forget the neon nightmares outside.
Two outlaws, sitting down for a meal that still smelled of humanity.