Riku and Jack Welles stepped into the shop, where the owner, Misty, was chatting with a customer about some occult insights.
Misty was quite the looker, rocking a blue off-shoulder top, a short skirt, and fishnet stockings.
Like V, she hailed from Heywood but didn't carry the obvious Chicano cultural vibe. Maybe it was the job—running a psychic shop wasn't exactly a church gig. Or maybe she wasn't even Latina.
"Hey, Misty, looking as enchanting as ever," Jack Welles called out, completely ignoring the customer she was with.
"Jack? Bringing a new friend for a reading? You might have to wait a bit—I'm in the middle of decoding this lady's fate," Misty replied with a gentle smile, unbothered by the interruption.
"Nah, nah, this guy's not here for you. I'm taking him to see Old Vic," Jack said, waving her off as he led Riku toward the back of the psychic shop, leaving Misty to her work.
Riku and Misty exchanged a quick glance and a nod. Misty's eyes showed no surprise at Riku's appearance—she'd probably seen weirder. Helping Old Vic as a nurse must've exposed her to all sorts of bizarre body mods.
"Your girl?" Riku teased Jack as they left Misty's Esoterica.
"Nah, just childhood friends," Jack replied, shaking his head. They'd grown up on the same block, but nothing more.
"Could be in the future?" Riku pressed, sensing the mutual spark between them. He knew Jack and Misty wouldn't get together until '76—and even then, it'd only last a year before Jack's death left Misty shattered, her sanpaku eyes missing their spark.
"Who knows?" Jack raised an eyebrow, not denying it. He was a straightforward guy.
Laughing and chatting, they descended to Old Vic's clinic. It was just a quick turn from Misty's Esoterica and down a flight of stairs.
"Yo, Old Vic, I brought you a job! This guy's a virgin—no cyberware yet, so go easy on him, haha!" Jack's booming voice filled the room, not caring if he was interrupting.
"Sit tight, I'm finishing up here. Be done soon," came Old Vic's calm, steady voice—reliable as always.
"No prob, we'll wait," Jack said to Riku, plopping down on a chair without bothering Vic further.
Riku peeked at the operating table inside, where a middle-aged man—Old Vic himself—was installing cyberware on a patient. Surprisingly, Vic didn't look the part of a ripperdoc. No obvious cyberware on him, not even modded hands. He used tools for surgery, unlike some docs who turned their hands into surgical gear.
Vic's clinic was like the man himself: no-frills, practical. None of that shiny, spaceship-zen nonsense you'd see in ads. But when it came to skill, Vic was top-tier, with years of clinical experience under his belt.
Soon, Vic finished the surgery. The client, clearly pleased with the cyberware, paid up and left without a fuss.
"Let's see what rare gem you've dragged in this time," Vic said, stretching his arms and walking over with a grin, his black sunglasses hiding his eyes for no clear reason.
"This guy's a beast—used to run with the Animals. Now he's here for some cyberware," Jack said, standing to give Vic a quick bro-hug. They'd been friends for years.
"Yo, I'm Riku," Riku introduced himself, already sizing up Vic as Night City's best ripperdoc.
"Viktor Vektor, but just call me Old Vic—everyone does," Vic replied, nodding and gesturing for Riku to follow. "Let's do a full scan. I don't get many clients with your kind of mods."
Vic was upfront—he rarely dealt with someone as heavily modified as Riku, since folks like him usually skipped cyberware altogether.
Riku didn't hesitate and hopped onto the operating table. Honestly, it felt more like a dentist's chair than some high-tech surgical setup.
"Hm," Vic muttered, studying the scan results on his screen without saying much.
"What's up, Vic? Something wrong with my body?" Riku asked, playing dumb. Wrong? Oh, there's a lot wrong.
"Sorry, kid, I can't guarantee how cyberware'll work on you," Vic said, frowning. For a surgeon like him, admitting uncertainty was rare, but Riku was a special case.
"For real?! Vic, he just wants a neural interface. Even a street-side chop shop could do that!" Jack, leaning against the wall, blurted out in shock. He'd imagined all sorts of issues, but Vic saying he wasn't confident? That wasn't on the list.
"Riku, your body's modded so far beyond human, it's a whole different thing," Vic said, his tone odd, though his sunglasses hid his expression. Those shades were doing their job.
"Sorry, I'm no genetics expert, but even I can tell your gene structure and cell makeup aren't human anymore," Vic explained. Whatever Riku was, it wasn't some back-alley mod job—this was next-level.
"Dios mío! Vic, can you break it down for me?!" Jack said, totally lost. A neural interface shouldn't be pulling up genetics talk.
"Alright, let me put it simply," Vic said, pausing for effect. "Biologically speaking, Riku's barely connected to the human species anymore."
He paused again, making sure they got it. Then, bluntly: "In plain terms, Riku, you're not even human."
Riku: "…"
Oof, did you have to say it like that?! It almost sounded like an insult.