『Felix Karl Grimm』
Urghhh...
Overconfidence is poison.
That is what my sore ribs told me.
I was completely exhausted, but I was also so... alive since I first came here. Probably from the money I earned.
Definitely because of the money I earned.
I had done 3 gigs in one day, the first one I did where I killed the squatters, then I killed a duo of Tyger claws which was pretty easy as I jumped out from behind cover when they went into an alleyway and let Shigure spray them like a hose of lead. But the third one is where it got tricky.
It was a job of getting some debt for a guy, the man who I was supposed to fetch debt from a middle aged balding man who looked rather gruff and ran a small shop. But when I got there things went awry…
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『4 hours ago』
"Oh, you are who he sent to settle his debt? Ok, ok, I only got cash on me, just wait a moment."
The man reached under the counter to retrieve a stack of bills, or that's what I thought.
Click.
Bang!
"FUCK YOU, YOU AREN'T TAKING MY MONEY!!!!"
Instead of a wad of cash, I receive a shotgun slug to the chest from the Igla he pulled out from under the counter and aimed dead center before pulling the trigger. The only reason I survived was because of the armored vest absorbing the hit, altough if I did not have the vest I probably would have seen it coming.
Anyways, what followed was the worst pain I ever experienced as the hit completely shattered my ribcage and sent me flying. I had to use precognition to dodge the second pull of the trigger by rolling away and snapping myself out of shock.
"Cough! You fuck-!"
*Bang. Bang. Bang.*
I pulled out my unity and shot his arm, making him drop the weapon with a pained scream. I got up to my feet and went up to the counter before punching him in the face as hard as I physically could which was pretty damn hard, sending a few teeth flying and laying him across the ground.
"Grah..."
I lifted my gas mask and took a hit of my MaxDoc, feeling my broken ribs start moving back onto place I looked at the man down on the ground reaching for his shotgun.
Crack!
"Argh! F-fucking merc pig!"
Lifting my foot I brought it down on his hand hard enough to feel the bones crunch. I was pissed, incredibly pissed. Pissed at this fucker for pulling a shotgun on me and pissed at myself for not assuming the worst in this shithole of a city.
"Fucking bastard, did no one teach you not to shoot the messenger? Give me the money."
"Fuck you- fraaaah!!!!"
Bang.
I shot him in the shoulder.
"You already got rid of most of my patience pal, there ain't much left. Give me the money or not even a ripper will be able to fix what I'll do to you."
Bang.
"Aaaahahhahhh! Fine! Fuck! Fine! Take your money! Take it!"
I saw the notification on my agent saying the funds were transferred, but I put pressure on the gun wound with my boot.
"What about *my* debt, huh? You owe me for shooting me buddy. MaxDocs aren't free, neither is that vest you just ruined."
"I already paid you fucking merc pi-" *Bang. Bang.* "-AAAAaaaah!!!!"
Unloading two more bullets to his other arm I lifted my leg up and brought it down on his back again, getting a pained incoherent grunt.
"Come on pal, I'm being reasonable here. You tried to kill me, yet I'm only asking for the price of my MaxDoc and vest. Is your money worth your life? If you don't make the decision soon, I'll make it for you. I'll just kill you and get my payment by ransacking your store. Your choice."
The sound of me cocking my gun sounded out, of course I wasn't going to kill him regardless as my mission did not specify it, but I was going to mangle his limbs to make sure he got back at me.
"F-f-fine, you f-fucking psycho, just take it!"
I saw the virtual wallet on my agent tick up again and nodded, satisfied despite the pain in my ribs.
"Your donations are much appreciated. Next time, don't pull a shotgun on a messenger, most people wouldn't be as nice as me."
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Indeed, most people would have shot him dead. I only took out of my pent up retail store worker rage out on the man instead. I explained the circumstances to Regina who said she would shake up more money from the client who framed the job as a delivery and did not mention that the target was hostile.
Overall, I made around... 3200~ Eurodollars today, a very hefty sum, a decent chunk of it made by pawning off the weapons I liberated. And I was going to put around 2000 of that into a Malorian Overture. I'd need that kind of firepower to wrestle against more armored opponents like Maelstrom. And replace my vest.
Strangely though, I got no feat for the last two gigs. Which meant I probably did not get one for every gig but only notable ones which kinda stinks but so does this city so whatever. Better to be grateful for what you do get than annoyed for what you don't.
I rubbed my sore ribs with a frown, a MaxDoc could only do so much to heal me. I was lucky it managed to heal my fractured ribs, I bought a high quality brand, so that was probably why.
Already I had placed my order with Wilson, all that remained was to go to sleep and hope the soreness fades away by day.
I laid my head on the not very comfortable bed and used the agent to turn off the lights. My next priority after getting bigger guns was to buy an apartment, probably the Glenn if it's still on sale, or at least a better joint than this place.
My eyes shut and my consciousness wandered.
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『Felix Karl Grimm』
"Welcome back Mr. Felix."
My eyes fluttered open to see the sight of the Dealer looking me right in the eyes, making me recoil and reach for a gun that was not there, much to her amusement. That response was drilled into me by the shard, there was even a whole practice segment for it.
"Pretty good reflexes Mr. Felix. You have been doings the rounds down in Night City, huh? A stable but strong start. And not to mentioned you claimed your first blood so quickly. I must say my expectations have been somewhat exceeded. Congratulations."
I looked around in a shock, how did I end up back here? Seeing my confusion, Dealer raised an eyebrow.
"Perhaps you forgot, Mr. Grimm? I did say you could come back here anytime you desired when sleeping. But I guess that is to be expected with how hectic your life has been."
That got a nod out of me, I really had forgotten, well, I would have remembered eventually, my thoughts were just more occupied with making money, getting digitally slaughtered by the Militech Shard and my near future.
Hey, did you know the Militech Shard was oddly good at simulating the sensation of pain? I didn't, I do now. I got so good because that shit fucking hurt and I wanted to stop getting hurt which was a great motivator.
"Wait, how did I come here though? And not like two weeks before?"
She hummed and grabbed a glass from below the table before filling it up with some form of alcohol and passing it over to me.
"Who knows? To come here, you simply need to will yourself to come here, think about when sleeping and you'll be here. While you are here, do you need any questions answered?" Since I'm here, I might as well ask some questions to the tall scarousing lady.
"So... Are traits like Lese Majeste just mind control or what?"
The dealer shook her head, her expression changing ever so slightly to hint at her feelings.
"No, that would be rather distasteful, what would be the point of the Chaos Gacha if everyone you encounter would be strung up and controlled by strings? Beauty of life comes from freedom, now, if someone chose to subjugate another's will through their own efforts that is fine, but the Gacha doing it for you is simply a boring concept."
Good to know, I wouldn't be opposed to it if it did because it served to benefit me, but I would find it very distasteful as she said.
"Then how does it work?"
She put down the glass she was cleaning and looked me in the eyes with a knowing smile.
"Tell me Mr. Grimm. Do you believe in fate?"
I pursed my lips.
"If you asked me a month ago I would have said no. If you asked right after I first met you I would have said maybe. Now that you outright mention it, definitely."
She laughed lightly before going on to explain.
"A right answer as any I suppose, being open minded will serve you well. Yes, fate does exist, it operates differently depending on the laws of the universe you are in, but in base reality, it's less like a predetermined path and more like... magnetic fields or gravity."
She somehow willed into existence hundreds of floating balls into my view to make her point. Pointing towards one of them slowly going forward.
"Let me illustrate, that ball is you and your fate. And those other balls are possibilities and outcomes of the world. See how all of them have different shades? As you move forward you will stumble onto more and more of these dots, some of these dots may move towards you more and some may do so less. But say you have a trait like Lese Majeste."
She snapped her fingers and although it was not too easy to notice, some of the dots started moving towards my dot at a faster pace, as if caught up by the gravity of my own dot.
"And now, influential people are more predisposed to take a liking to you and such, because, thanks to Lese Majeste, your fate changed, fates attract certain outcomes like magnets, a Fate of Tragedy, a Fate of Excellence, a Fate of Wealth, a Fate of Stardom etc. No fate guarantees an outcome, but makes your continued existence and the existence that fit that criteria more likely to head in that direction. Like magnets linking with each other."
I looked up with wonder.
"That was rather enlightening, I didn't expect to learn how the universe works from that simple question."
She snickered, finding my words funny for some reason.
" 'Protagonists' work the same you know? They like the chosen stars of worlds, with a unique gravity to them that draws all sorts of things to them. Of course, fates are not absolute, nowhere near close, you yourself should know from the world you are in. The David boy, and that V character, both have the Fate of a protagonist, but both can fail spectacularly."
I nodded, her talk about fates made the world suddenly feel *more* it was a hard prospect to describe. It was a pretty interesting thing to learn about. But there was one glaring question in my mind.
"So... what is my main mission anyway? I haven't seen anything about it."
"I'm glad you asked, that was for a reason, my Patron held off on giving you your mission until they saw more of your disposition. It could have been one of taking over the gang scene in Night City, Assassinating Kurt Hansen, starting your own corp-" Ew.
She snapped her fingers and pointed to me as if making her point.
"Exactlty! A quest would not be very entertaining if it were something you were completely opposed to doing it, and dragged your feet through it. With that being said, a mission should strike a balance between the two extremes, so here is your mission."
[Mission: TitanFell]
Description: You can only shit on a world so much before something shits on you back. Hit the titans controlling the world where it really hurts.
Goals:
Destroy Arasaka Tower
or
-Destroy Militech Offices
or
-Cause over 1,000,000,000 Eurodollars in damages to the Megacorps
...Wow that is hard. What the hell?
The Dealer knew the look on my face without even a single shred of doubt.
"You didn't expect it to be very easy did you? Now then, good luck Mr. Gambler."
Shit, looks like I've got my work cut out for me.
A/N: Overconfidence is an insidious and slow killer for sure. Although he is good at this, Felix is still inexperienced. Cyberpunk is one hell of a world to start with but the constant conflict of it sure to prepare you for basically any other world that is not actively shitting itself.
Some lore drop time, been a while since we visited the dealer and funnily, this is basically as close as you can get to a Chaos Gacha "canon". I wanted to clarify how traits and such worked with a chapter and to teach Felix it too, what did you guys think?
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