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A month flew by like a bullet from a gun. In that month, we completed a lot of jobs for Regina, and they were getting more and more difficult. We also did three jobs for Rogue, which weren't particularly difficult but weren't easy, either.
Besides our solo work, the girls and I didn't forget that we had to renovate the now-large apartment and also work on converting the Behemoth for our needs. All of it required time and money. And while we didn't have any problems with the latter, since our solo work brought in a lot of eddies, and given that I wasn't only kidnapping people and data, but was also a highly qualified tech, I was getting some very expensive jobs for repairing and modernizing weapons and various tech.
Right now, I was making lunch for us, since a job from Regina had been canceled, and we had an unexpected day off.
A call from Becca was a surprise.
In the past month, they had worked with us five more times, which brought us a ridiculous amount of money, since Lucy was a much more skilled netrunner than Judy, and searching and hacking were as natural to her as breathing.
"I'm listening…"
"David, we need your help… it's urgent."
I put down the spatula I was using to stir the onions and, turning off the stove, focused on the conversation.
"What happened?"
"Maine went cyberpsycho."
"Cyberpsychosis?"
"It sure looks like it… Dorio was about to go in and neutralize him, but… she can't handle him on her own. And she knows it. And while Maine is raging in the base, he's not a real danger to anyone around him."
I sighed.
"I'll come, of course… but what do you want from me?"
"Well… I heard that dechroming can help bring a person's mind back to normal."
I gave a sad smirk, and my image shook its head. I also shook my head in reality, all the while heading to the second floor of the apartment, where my things were.
"Girls, Becca has a problem… so I'll have to leave for a bit."
"Are you going alone?"
Panam was surprised, and I nodded.
"You don't want to get us involved?"
I shrugged.
"Maine went cyberpsycho…"
"We're coming with you."
I looked at Panam, who had been lounging on the couch and watching some crap on TV. Then I looked at Judy, who came out of the bedroom, where she was cleaning up after our very passionate sex.
"And that's not up for discussion."
I sighed and nodded. It's not that I couldn't leave without them knowing, but I would have big, big problems later if I did.
"Just don't get ahead of yourselves."
"Alright."
"Okay, I talked to the girls…"
I went back to my conversation with Becca.
"…but regarding dechroming, you should call Vik and ask for his advice. Because I, personally, would prefer to deal with him rather than some random ripper."
"Okay…"
"And yeah, be prepared that for the rest of his life, he's going to be very limited in his capabilities. He probably won't be able to install any chrome that puts a strain on his mind and nervous system. It could be fatal."
"I… I'll contact Vik. Catch the address…"
Becca sent me the address, which I immediately forwarded to Panam.
"Alright, we're on our way. Don't go in hot, especially you and Lucy."
"You're worried about us that much?"
"Yeah, I'm worried about you two a lot more than I am about the other members of your crew. I get that you're all chooms and all that, but my girls and I have only formed a relationship with you two."
"Got it…"
Becca hung up, though I had a chance to notice that her avatar had turned a little red from my words. I, in turn, went to the gun cabinet and took out my trusty Unity pistol. Of course, only the body and the engraving were left of the original. The insides had been replaced a long time ago, so I wasn't ashamed to take it on even the most difficult jobs.
I also took some tranquilizers that could knock out an elephant, let alone Maine. And some heavy-duty cords to tie up a gonk like Becca and Lucy's current boss.
Uff… Exhale…
I closed the cabinet and saw the girls, who were already ready. I loved them for that. They knew how to get ready very quickly when they needed to. I hadn't noticed them take a long time to get ready at all during our time together. Even when we were just going out for a walk on our days off, they didn't take five hours to get dressed… not even an hour. At most, they took twenty minutes.
"Alright, let's go… How long will it take us to get there?"
"Twenty minutes."
I nodded.
"Let's hope the girls don't do anything stupid in that time."
"Uh-huh…"
We went down to the Thorton and sped through the city streets. Panam was performing miracles behind the wheel. And considering that her car wasn't just a car, but a nomad's car, it was much faster, more powerful, and more maneuverable than a normal car of the same type.
The Thorton was literally being thrown from side to side. The brakes were squealing, and the steering wheel in Panam's hands was spinning in all directions with a speed that I couldn't even come close to. Not because of a lack of speed—I could be faster with my Sandevistan—but because I just didn't have that kind of experience. The first time I tried to yank the wheel like that, it would probably lead to a crash.
We drove in silence…
And in less than twenty minutes, the Thorton stopped with a loud screech of its brakes. I got out and immediately contacted Becca.
"I'm listening…"
"We're here. Did you talk to Vik?"
"Yeah, he's willing to take the risk and work on a cyberpsycho. But he's charging a lot…"
"Well, that's understandable. He'll have to replace all his equipment after this. All those glitches could damage his ripper tools, and his next patient might go cyberpsycho."
"Yeah… okay, that's our problem. We have enough eddies in the crew's stash, but after this, we're going to be flat broke, and everyone will have to work hard just to get by."
"Well, if you need anything, you and Lucy know who to come to. But for now, the most important thing is to calm your boss down."
"Uh-huh…"
She sent me his geolocation, and I calmly walked in the right direction. A couple of minutes later, I heard a lot of noise. A very loud noise. It was clear that someone was trying to tear one of the garages apart from the inside.
"Open it up…"
I immediately activated my Sandevistan, and it was a good thing I did, because as soon as the garage door opened, I saw a big guy who was moving very fast. It looked like he had found himself a Sandevistan and installed it. Psycho…
No, I understood wanting to be strong and to protect your own. But not at this cost!
With a sigh, I went toward him at a very high speed and was surprised to realize that Maine's Sandevistan, while not as good as mine, was much more powerful than the ones I had encountered in my opponents before.
Given that Maine was very experienced, things could have gotten very complicated if I hadn't noticed the lack of any awareness in his eyes. He would only be acting on reflexes. That didn't make my job a whole lot easier, but still…
I ducked under his punch and landed my own right in his solar plexus. I had activated my optics and was scanning him for weaknesses. I needed to find a spot where I could inject him with a tranquilizer.
I performed a leg sweep and jumped to the side, because Maine didn't stay down after he fell. He got into a ball and, rolling on the ground, lunged at me with the intention of grabbing my legs and taking me down.
I took out my pistol and fired three shots, but I didn't expect to hit him. The Sandevistan allows a person to easily dodge bullets. This was just a simple distraction, and I was right. The mind consumed by cyberpsychosis couldn't understand that it had nothing to fear and that all it had to do was move slightly.
I fired a few more shots, forcing my opponent into a trap, but it was as if he felt something. He lunged in my direction, ignoring the bullets. Maybe his inflamed mind thought the pistol in my hand wasn't a threat…
Well… it was wrong.
The first shot that hit him literally put a hole in his shoulder and threw him back. I, in turn, used the moment to close in, firing a few more shots. This time, I wasn't just shooting; I was aiming at his legs.
And one of the five shots was successful, and I took out one of Maine's legs. And after that, he just fell out of acceleration. I, on the other hand, was still in it and now calmly walked around him. I finally found a place to inject him with the tranquilizer, which I did.
And only after I had moved a little away from Maine did I lower the acceleration effect of my Sandevistan. When I noticed Maine's eyes close and him collapse to the ground, I finally turned it off completely.
Phew…
I sighed and slowly approached the big guy. I took one of the cords out of a special holster and, once I was next to him, I started to tie him up tightly so he couldn't even move a finger.
"You won?"
Becca peeked out from her hiding spot on the roof of one of the garages.
"Uh-huh… although you could have warned me that he had a Sandevistan."
"Ahem… sorry, I was just so worried, and I kind of…"
"I get it. Now come help me. He needs first aid, or he'll bleed out."
"Copy that…"
And with those words, Becca just jumped off the roof of the garage and quickly ran up to me. And it wasn't just her. The other members of their crew also came out of their hiding spots and helped me give first aid to the gonk.
"Alright, let's go…"
"Where are you taking Maine?"
The girl whose name I had forgotten, who looked like a guy, stood in my way.
"Where? To the car… and from there to Viktor's, to have him remove all the unnecessary chrome and inject him with some powerful drugs. Maybe that will help stabilize your friend's condition."
"Maine wouldn't want his chrome taken out…"
The girl frowned and demonstratively reached under her jacket, revealing her torso and showing that she did, in fact, have breasts, which were now covered by her bra.
"Dorio, that's enough!"
Becca stood in her way, her hands on her hips, and she was clearly giving her a mean look.
"Becca, you don't understand. His chrome is Maine's life. If he loses it…"
"Choom, do you even hear yourself?! He's a fucking cyberpsycho! It's dangerous to leave him with his chrome!"
"You don't understand…"
The girl took out a pistol.
"…I won't let you take away his reason for living."
I sighed.
"Alright, I get it…"
I put Maine's body down on the ground, then calmly walked around Becca and Dorio.
"David, wait!"
Lucy called out to me, quickly walked up to me, and looked into my eyes.
"Lucy, I did my job. I helped neutralize him. He'll be out for about five hours, so you have time to decide what to do with him. And I'm not going to spend my day off on this…"
I shook my head.
"I'm sorry, Lucy, and you too, Becca, but I'm just not interested in this. So you decide, and you do what you have to do yourselves."
I took a couple of more steps.
"David, wait!"
Becca stopped me, and when I turned to face her, she looked back at Dorio.
"Choom, if you don't agree to dechrome him, I'm just leaving."
"Huh?"
Dorio was clearly very surprised. Becca's brother was also looking at her back with a look of pure disbelief.
"I'm with Rebecca."
Lucy walked up to her and stood across from Dorio.
"Working with someone who could attack you at any moment…"
Lucy shook her head.
"Lucy, you too?"
"You know, the girls are right, actually. Dorio, they're not telling you this is permanent. They just want him to recover a little. To rest. To get his mind back together. And then, he can slowly get his chrome back."
"Pilar…"
Dorio looked at him helplessly, and then at Kiwi.
"Dorio… you know him better than anyone, so I'll back you up, but… what they're saying sounds pretty reasonable to me."
Dorio sighed.
"Alright… I agree. But if he wants his chrome back, I'm going to help him. You hear me?!"
"Perfect… David, you'll give us a ride to Vik's?"
"Uh-huh…"
I sighed, walked up to Maine, lifted him, and threw him over my shoulder…
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