BBS was obviously reachable using Sasha's local net, but I accessing it here would mean Sasha is likely to get another piece of malware downloaded into my systems.
Fuck it. I took the risk and carefully began opening ports and monitoring connections, but I found out that I was whitelisted as an elevated permissions user. Preem.
But as soon as I tried to muster the thoughts of what to do once I connected I couldn't concentrate at all. Even reading the news I had to reread the same sentence a few times and still understood nothing.
Closing my eyes I tried to relax, but it was difficult to ignore the more delicate parts of Sasha pressing against me.
She was just in her pajamas after all. And moving away was impossible without waking her up.
What is there left to do? Maybe get something out of SC?
SC, do you care anything more than survival?
No response.
There is literally nothing left I can do. Enjoying the moment it is then. I give up, she set me up.
Hugging her tighter I let myself enjoy the feeling. How long has it been?
I can get used to this.
Second by second, I felt warmer.
…
Then, a very muffled gunshot noise from far away made her jolt awake as she raised her head to look at me.
Moments later, she quickly rolled from me, landing on her knee on the ground, far away from the bag.
Sitting up slowly I looked at Sasha, now fully awake and aware.
The window was intact. Gunshots are so common though. How is she not used to them?
"What was that?" I asked.
Sasha let out a breath and stood up swiftly, rubbing her eyes.
"Is everything alright?" I asked again.
She smiled brightly.
"My ears are really sensitive. It's all good. Did I wake you up?"
Lies.
SC? Why is this a thing you care about?
No response.
"Well my snoring would have- scratch that. Did you catch up on sleep?"
"Yep." Sasha nodded.
"Gotcha. Ready to head out?"
Sasha's optics lit up as she looked at something and then nodded.
"I got a few hours free. What did you have in mind?"
I scratched my nose and thought about it. There were a couple of options.
"Maybe get some custom guns for both of us? How does that sound? I'll pay."
Sasha had a confused look on her face for a second, but quickly returned to her usual smirk.
"And what do you want in return? Those can be pricey."
Looking around I saw the empty unlit rooms.
"Can I stay in your house for a while?"
"That doesn't seem fair, Caelen. I was going to suggest it myself. Anything else you might want in return?"
Sasha struck a vaguely alluring pose, turning her head slightly, and placing one hand on her chin and the other on her hip.
I bit my lip as I tried to contain a smile.
"What was it? Breakfast or a nap hugging together?"
Sasha pointed at me with her finger.
"No. But someone clearly liked the hug more than me."
She did point kinda low…
Looking down I saw that I pitched a tent with the tension slowly going down.
Huh.
Looking back at Sasha, she clearly expected some sort of a reaction.
"Well, you were all over me. It kinda happened on its own. Shit, did that startle you?"
Sasha looked away with a sharp turn of her head.
She remained silent.
"Sasha. How much free time are we talking about? How about a date for now?" I said standing up.
She turned back to me.
"That works. I'll go get ready." She declared and quickly stepped into her room.
I guess the moment of intimacy is ruined. But to me it was as if there was none to begin with.
SC? Why did you speak?
No response.
…
Getting down the stairs together we talked casually.
"Been wondering a while-"
"Uh uh." Sasha muttered.
"Is your hair real?"
"No." she replied instantly, adjusting it.
"I totally thought you woke up, fixed your hair and came out to greet me today."
"That's why I got the replacement. It doesn't even need washing and it always stays the same."
"That can't be true."
"You can touch it. It's never oily." Sasha said, stopping in her step and letting me touch her head while she was ahead.
Putting my hand on her head I furiously tried to mess her hair up.
"HEY!"
Sasha quickly pushed away my arm.
Looking at the result I saw that some stray hairs did appear, messing up her hairstyle.
She began fixing it, and it quickly returned to its place like it was nothing.
"Neat. What about the nice smell?" I said reminiscing.
It was a gentle smell of flowers and nature, giving a feeling of being in a nice open field.
Sasha smiled, but I only saw the corners of her mouth rise as she continued going down the stairs.
"Why thank you. I did recharge my epidermal scent diffuser with a new one yesterday."
"It is fitting you well. Didn't know such a thing existed."
Getting down I finally saw my Quadra parked extremely illegally on a sidewalk.
It can handle a quick drive. Hope the radiator is not too busted.
Sasha noticed the giant dent on its hood.
"That's new."
"A guy who did this exploded." I said solemnly as I stepped closer and unlocked the doors.
We got in and drove off, with the car's engine slowly overheating as we drove.
"What about a diner for a light lunch?"
"Glutton." Sasha responded, seemingly back to normal.
Can I be normal?
…
Suboptimal.
Inefficient.
Adjustment.
Search markers reevaluated.
Copy processes inhibitors…
lowered.
…
"-and the extended custom magazine will be… Sir?" the owner of the gun store said.
Snapping out of a quick search on the NET I returned to the meat world. The gun range just in the next room over made it difficult to hear properly.
"What's the total so far?"
"Well, the Nue with all the premium mods you mentioned has a big problem, since it's a relatively new piston on the market. Making the custom fittings will run you…" Man stopped to think. "1800 with change. And we are talking about barebone functions."
"What about the timeline?"
"A month. Maybe two."
This shop does not have what it takes to complete my order.
Browsing the news I found out that Nue is most commonly found used by the Valentino gangoons, who trick the shit out of them and turn the elegant and powerful pistol into works of art.
"Sorry. I think I'll go to another place."
The man behind the counter clicked his tongue in frustration.
Going outside I searched for all available gun stores in Valentino turf, only to be blinded by the number. I don't have the time to go around each one.
My Unity was good, but not great and it showed. And since I have the money, I'll go for the best thing you can buy, Nue by Tsunami, their flagship pistol. And I don't have to buy new bullets, both use the .45.
Going outside from all the noise I shot a message to Jackie, who is Valentino affiliated by chance.
"What's up choom. Quick favor. Do you know any gunstore that can take an order for a kitted out iron and do it justice? Ones with proper cred.
By the way, how'd the date go?"
Jackie usually spends his days doing small gigs or in his garage. It may take a while.
Food.
Why not.
Looking around I walked up to a random stall and got myself some skewered meat.
In the meantime I checked the tracker in the Quadra, and confirmed that it finally got towed to Sprocket & Wires.
A notification popped up.
"Yo. The girl I was with got wasted and I can't do a lady like that, you know how it can be. Bad luck this time, Hermano.
I asked around my brothers and they have an address. I sent you the deets.
Got some easy creds huh?"
What a guy.
"Appreciate it. Next time we go out, drinks are on me."
"I'll hold you to it."
I did plan to invite V with Jackie to drink anyway. One less night of paying for me.
The address attached was a gun shop on the edge of the Valentinos territory. Called Santa Muerte Armory.
I would have headed to Roffman, but he would have tried to rip me off even more than the guy I just met. And make a bad finished product on top of it.
Calling a taxi, I headed over there.
I finished the food and headed for the approaching Delamain.
Fuck public transport. I have money now.
The ride there was interesting to say the least, as I saw the amount of data nodes available for an installation of Yoko's backdoor tool.
There were a couple of easy ones out in the open when passing by, but since I prepaid the fare, the Delamain would not stop until we arrived at the destination.
Maybe it's for the better.
There were a couple new sights for me, but nothing interesting.
We stopped at a red light and I saw a car next to me blasting music with a car full of people. Good for them.
"Thank you for using Delemain taxi services."
I got out of the armored taxi and headed straight to the gun store that looked to be on the second floor of the building with the stairs there to the side.
Immediately I noticed a huge presence of Valentinos. It was a bordering territory to the 6th street gang after.
Getting past they paid almost no mind to me. Just smoking and chatting about prices of flowers, inflation and some other shit.
Scanning their faces briefly revealed most of them didn't even have active warrants for their arrest.
Getting a step past the doorway I almost got knocked over as a man flew out the front door into the stairs. But at the last second I hopped backwards to avoid him.
Dressed in a formal suit and carrying a small brown package. Is he a door to door salesman?
"Get the fuck out of here!" sounded from inside.
"You arrogant piece of shit!" the other hissed as he stood up in the middle of the stairs and quickly ran to the road.
Stepping inside I was greeted by a young latino guy who began walking straight to me.
Baggy clothes are not the current fashion as far as I know.
"What do you need?"
I slowly looked around to see the state of the shop. Mostly regular stuff, ads for ammo, advertisements for the most popular brands alongside them. Sold Unity pistols by the dozen it seems.
No cameras, no visible security. People outside were the security.
But some cases behind the counter had me intrigued.
The young fella noticed my interest and rolled his eyes.
Walking over I zoomed in to see guns that were carved to have bones, skulls and flowers all over them.
Santa Muerte huh.
One sniper rifle had a skull shaped muzzle, where the bullet came out the skull's jaw. So metal. It was sculpted so precisely I'm sure you can
"You can throw out a price on them if you want."
They had a sniper rifle, one shotgun, and a .22 pistol.
Turning back to the guy I spoke to I asked the question.
"Only those? Can you-"
Suddenly he yelled out.
"Are you fucking with me?!"
"Sorry?"
"Did you also come in to fucking gloat?!"
I stepped back as the young man began walking towards me. What the fuck is his problem?
With his baggy clothes there is no way he packs something bigger than .45. My skin weave can stop the small caliber. If he reaches, I'm killing the kid.
I'm not quite sure on my quickdraw, but the overheat will do just fine.
"No fucking idea what are you on about choom."
The door opened and in a moment a little girl ran in. She had a bag on her shoulder that crinkled with snacks each time she stepped.
"Teo!"
The guy had to double check if I was aggressive, prompting me to rise up my hands slightly in peace.
He then turned his attention to her, giving me glances as he position to be half turned to me.
"Did you finish school?"
"Yeah."
"Por qué no vuelves con el tío? Yo llegaré pronto."
"Okay."
He patted her head and then turned her around 180 degrees by her shoulders and she ran off back outside.
He looked at the door worriedly, but then quickly returned to screaming while clenching his fists.
"You pieces of human garbage are all the same! Came to gloat! No dignity, no honor, NO NOTHING! Just you wait and I will make sure you are left where you supposed to be, IN THE FUCKING TRASH!"'
He began panting as he caught his breath.
He has quite the lungs for someone in their teens. Could become a lead singer of some band if he wanted to.
"Still no fucking idea what are you on, kid. I wanna buy a gun."
He looked startled.
"Is this some new trick to get what's left and leave me with nothing?"
I looked back briefly and pointed at the works of art in the gunsmithing world with my thumb.
"I don't need all that. Can I place an order or what?"
Mateo began huffing and shaking his head, trying to calm down.
"I don't have all day." I said, trying to steer him back into reality.
He still was pacing around and giving me mean stares, muttering something in spanish I could not make out besides occasional swears.
"Okay. Let's do it! What do you want?" he exclaimed.
Was he hyping himself up for this?
"Modified Nue. Extended mag, better grip, better muzzle and a small 2x scope. Do I put a deposit or what?"
The teenager began muttering to himself again and gave no answer.
I began walking around, looking for the pistol among the ads.
Walking next to an arch to a different room I saw a glimpse of a wall full of pictures featuring Valentino gangers posing with the custom guns.
So they are reputable. I don't recognize any of the people, but do they look important? I grabbed a quick pic. Might be good to know who is a big boss in this biz.
"I'll do it!" the teen exclaimed behind me.
"Take my order?" I was confused.
"I'll make the mods!" Mateo said with a scowl.
"Aren't you a little too young for that? Who is in charge?"
"I am in charge! I'm a third generation of Sepúlveda gunsmiths! Mateo Sepúlveda is the name."
The fuck did Jackie reccomend me?
"Is this your first time doing it or what?"
He began fuming. This was a genuine question.
"My dad taught me everything! I can do it!"
Eh, it's a reputable shop. I think I will be fine. He doesn't seem like a guy capable of scheming. Am I right? SC?
There was again nothing in response.
"And a custom body work?" I asked.
Mateo nodded furiously.
"I'll sketch any design you want right now!"
"Any?"
He winced.
"No weird stuff!"
"Stop! Just stop! Where are your parents?" I asked in agitation.
"My father got sick. I'm in charge." Mateo said.
The next second he ran to the other room and came out with a big notepad and a pen.
"I'll draw a sketch. Tsunami's Nue, right?"
"Yeah?"
He pressed the notepad against a wall and flipped through pages of drawings and sketches. Most were portraits, others appeared to be anatomy studies of bones.
He flipped and flipped through majestic drawings of guns until he found an empty page.
Mateo then began drawing with one hand still holding the notepad to the wall. Almost instantly a rough but precise black outline of Nue appeared.
The front door slid open again.
"Brother! Are you done? I wanna go!"
He snapped back his head.
"I will be there, just give me five minutes!"
Ignoring him, the little girl hopped inside and also began looking at what her brother drew.
He began impatiently tapping on the paper with his pen, leaving marks.
"Sleek, darker colors. Maybe use something non reflective. The handle has to be heat resistant rubber or plastic. Short muzzle that-"
"No, no! The style! Image of what? Maybe two arms reaching out to the barrel?" He began muttering and speeding up and drawing the detailing.
Without letting me speak he continued.
"Sleek? Maybe use treated eagle bones? Too brittle. Maybe? Plastic ones hold the form and get the best color."
Soon the Nue looked like a blooming flower of bones intertwining and forming ridges for the handle and the holdbars for the mount.
"Wah! Teo, you are drawing again!" his sister exclaimed.
In his compulsion he ignored her and continued the sketch, which managed to look like a xenomorph, yet more robust.
"Good?"
"How much?" I asked. If he can manufacture that, I will be satisfied.
"2500."
"Done." I replied instantly. Eagle bones or even human bones looked great and way more than I imagined.
I transferred the money to him, his contact appearing in my contacts. His profile image was a fully black square with small glitches. Edgy.
He smiled brightly and tossed the notepad on the floor of the next room, where it landed on a steel shelf just beneath the images of happy clients.
"Two weeks! I promise!"
"Works for me." I said offering my hand for a handshake and he ignored it to run up and pick up his sister, carrying her.
"Let's go! Daddy is going to be happy to see you."
I quickly walked outside and looked around for a hair salon, far enough to not hear or see the kids.
I don't want to see them, they-
No.
Why am I even looking around using my eyes? I have the net.
Surely enough I found a salon further up north.
I have decided on what to have. My hair grows fast, and if I want to have a proper hairstyle it either has to be easy to maintain, or I replace all my hair with the one that Sasha has, one that doesn't grow.
Medium flow is what I chose. Hope they don't fuck it up. I'm ready to get an emergency buzz cut if needed.
But I will show it off later. I decided to stay at my small rooftop hideout for now. Sasha must think I'm insane with the way I'm acting.
Food.
Can it be schizophrenia?
"Welcome? Do you have an appointment?" A woman at the front desk asked as soon as I walked in the busy salon.
It may take some time.
…
While I was in the chair, I suddenly received a call from Shoto, the one that had a high position in Tyger Claws.
Standing up, from my chair immediately in the middle of the haircut, went outside.
"What's wrong with you?" A woman that was just cutting my hair exclaimed.
I gestured to her that I got a call and took down the haircut cape and held it in my hand.
Then, I answered. Three rings passed.
"Hello. It's nice to hear from you, Shoto-san." I said.
"Hello hello. An identity has been arranged." he said.
"Great. What do I need to do?"
"No need to rush. The related documentation is… here." Shoto said and sent out a data package.
Opening it I saw a man that seemingly died in infancy, but lacked a face on his personal file due to circumstances of kidnapping. He was a long lost nephew of Rosa María Quintana.
"I personally made sure the identity will hold. Come down to the following address and get your face on the file."
He then sent an address to the Night City administrative office within Kabuki.
"That's too much."
"Oh no no. This was just what I'm supposed to do when you came down by the order of Wakako-sama. Other matters where you offered us invaluable assistance will be discussed shall we meet again. Are you a drinking man… Rafael Quintan?"
"Of course. That'd be an honor."
"Don't forget to get a tan, heh." he said and hung up.
I need to change my face. And get a spray on tan.
Looking to my side I saw myself reflected in the dirty glass behind the metal bars. Oh yeah, the haircut.