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A week flew by so fast… even the one day off I gave the crew didn't leave much of an impression. And yesterday, Vik sent me a message asking me to come to his clinic with the whole crew.
"Hey, Vik…"
I walked into his clinic and shook the hand that the ripper held out to me. I had decided that if he had already found everything, I would definitely invite him to a barbecue.
"Alright, so I have a couple of experimental implants that I would advise you to get. For starters, it's a combination of subcutaneous armor and optical camouflage. You should understand that combining these kinds of technologies from different corporations is going to be a hassle, and you also have that Sandevistan…"
Vik shook his head.
"…in short, the output will be a little worse than extra class, but it won't need any extra synchronization."
I nodded.
"Well, Vik, I sent you that list for a reason. I trust you completely to find the right chrome for me. You're my ripperdoc. You should know better than anyone else what's right for me and what will be easier for you to work with."
"Uh-huh… I appreciate that. In short, we're installing the combined model… I just ordered it. The bio-implants are more complicated. They're much harder to get than experimental chrome, but I was able to get some that will protect you from toxins. So we can install those, but as for the rest, the ones that are supposed to increase the lifespan of your organs…"
Vik shook his head and looked me right in the eyes.
"They're such a rarity that they have to be made to order. And before I can make them, I'll have to do a full body scan on all of you and send the data to the corporation so they can make the implants specifically for your specs."
I frowned a little.
"Vik…"
"What?"
"…you're a pro, so let's be honest. Is that really necessary?"
Ahem… "No, I don't have to do that. I could buy them on the black market. They would be made, so to speak, according to average parameters. I can't say that they would be worse than the custom ones, but they would require some medicine to avoid a long rehabilitation…"
"What do you suggest?"
"You know… I shouldn't be saying this, but I know you pretty well… don't deal with the corporations. Order them from the black market, plus the medicine…"
"That's what we'll do."
Vik seemed to relax a little after I said that.
"Next, about your skeleton… are you sure you need it?"
"Well…"
I looked at Vik seriously.
"…let's do this. Connect to me now. I'll crank my Sandevistan up to the max, then I'll make sure ten seconds of real time passes, and I'll turn it off. You just put a timer on the screen. It would be hard for me to keep track of the time without it. And after that, you can tell me yourself if I need to replace my skeleton."
"Hmm… alright, let's do that…"
He nodded and quickly activated his equipment.
"Countdown to zero… three, two, one, zero…"
And I turned on my Sandevistan. Since I was lying on his ripper bed, I didn't feel any strain. I just lay there, watching the timer…
It felt like a very long time to me, but in reality, it was only ten seconds…
I turned off my Sandevistan…
"Fuck… what was that?"
"That was…"
I smirked.
"…full power. I found that ability by accident. I just activated my Sandevistan, and someone shot at me. And I accelerated so much that the bullet was practically standing still. And I want to be able to use that speed, at least in part. But my bones won't be able to handle that… and my skin… I'll have to wear a special suit that will take on the air resistance…"
"Then you don't need optical camouflage…"
Vik shook his head.
"Hmm?"
"Well, what I mean is, you don't need it combined with subcutaneous armor. It's better to get extra-class armor, and a suit with optical camouflage systems. Because if you wear a thick bodysuit over your skin with an installed camouflage system…"
Vik shook his head.
"In short, it would be a pointless waste of money and time."
"You would know better than me…"
"Alright, and about the bones… a titanium skeleton would be the easiest to install. Especially considering you don't have any mantis blades, monowires, or other hidden weapons. But you already said you don't want that one… I'll have to look for something else… Although… I think I remember an article about a skeleton made of particularly strong and light materials… I'll have to check my archives. I usually save anything interesting…"
"Alright, so that's it for me… what about the girls?"
"Well, I have everything ready for the netrunners. Although I don't recommend doing it all at once. Let's start with the head. We'll replace the deck, expand the memory, and increase the refresh rate. I also found some good heat sinks for you. They've become popular with corpos and have already made their way to the black market. The thing is, you don't have to jump into an ice bath; you just need a special device that connects to the jack on the back of your head. That takes care of the heat dissipation."
The netrunners exchanged glances.
"I'm first…"
Judy got up and walked over to the bed, and I gave her my spot.
"Go on, lie down. Let's get you upgraded…"
Forty minutes… that's how long it took Vik to install all of Judy's chrome. Then he spent the same amount of time on Lucy, and the last one was Kiwi, on whom he spent more than two hours. But the result…
Fuck… I think I'm in love…
"Seriously?"
Kiwi raised an eyebrow and regretfully looked from me to her high-tech mask, which used to cover all the chrome that replaced her lower face.
"Did I say that out loud?"
"Uh-huh…"
Becca smirked and nodded at my question. All I could do was shake my head a little sadly.
"Well… I have to admit, I can't help but agree with David's views… you're a real looker."
"Pff… I need to buy a mask… I didn't expect all of this to happen so quickly…"
"Why?!"
Becca walked up to Kiwi and looked into her eyes intently.
"I… I'm embarrassed…"
Inhale… exhale…
"Alright, Vik did a great job, but who's next? I, as I understand it, won't be getting my upgrades today, since cutting through subcutaneous armor after it's installed is a real pain. So I need to replace my skeleton first… so… Panam or Becca?"
"Well… I have a day reserved for you guys, so it doesn't matter to me. Although, Panam will be more work. She has almost no chrome, so I'll have to create connections between her body and the chrome I install…"
"Then?"
"I'll start with her… Becca will be much easier. I just have to replace her chrome with a more advanced one and do a synchronization…"
Vik was busy with our crew until late in the evening. We had only arrived after lunch, so even though it was a decent amount of time, it wasn't that long, especially considering he wasn't operating on just one person.
"Vik…"
I turned around at the exit of his clinic.
"Yeah?"
"Want to come have some shashlik with us?"
"Hmm?"
"Real meat, homemade booze…"
"I don't drink…"
"Well, I don't either, so I can just make you some non-alcoholic cocktails. A triple portion…"
"Well… I'm not against it… but what's with all the generosity?"
"You're just a good guy… an honest one… and you do a lot for my crew…"
"Well…"
Vik shrugged.
"…you pay me for it…"
"I do…"
I nodded my head.
"…but even so, a job can be done in completely different ways. The borg doc, for example, wouldn't even think about combining chrome and patient comfort. He would just find something more expensive and install it. And then, he wouldn't care what happened after that…"
"Well…"
"So I'm inviting a good professional who takes his work seriously to have a good time."
"Well… I'm not against it… what do I have to do?"
"Just be good company."
I smirked.
"I'll take care of the cooking. But if you want, you can bring something… Panam will come get you… this Saturday?"
"Uh-huh… I'm free…"
"David, should we invite Misty?"
I shrugged.
"I'm not against it… she's a nice girl, and you guys have a good relationship with her."
"Yeah, she is…"
I noticed a slight sadness in Vik's eyes and realized that the man was lost when it came to this subject.
Man…
"What?"
"No, nothing. I just thought it would be a good chance for you to talk to her…"
"She's not single… and Jackie is my friend."
"I'm not suggesting you steal her from your friend… I'm just suggesting you talk to her…"
He gave me a grim look and turned away.
"Alright, Panam will pick you up on Saturday morning…"
"Good…"
The girls and I left Vik's clinic and went out through Misty's shop.
"Misty, hey again…"
"Uh-huh…"
Misty's voice was filled with a sense of loss.
"Did something happen?"
"Well… Jackie was just here… and I decided to do a Tarot reading for him…"
"Is it bad?"
She looked up at me and nodded.
"…mortal danger. He's in a really bad place right now… he…"
I frowned.
"Did you tell him?"
"Yeah, but he just brushed me off… he's completely consumed by his upcoming job… and that job is the one that's going to put him in mortal danger…"
"You want some advice? I have two pieces of advice…"
"Go on…"
She looked at me with hope.
"For starters, you need to take your mind off things. So on Saturday, you're coming to our barbecue. Panam will be picking up Vik, and she'll get you too."
"But…"
"No 'buts'… can you change anything?"
"N-no…"
"Then there's no point in worrying about it. You warned him… you did everything you could. Although my second piece of advice is to do a little more than you already have."
"And what is it?"
"Talk to V."
"V?"
"She's a girl, too… tell her your fears. Tell her that if Jackie gets some more advanced chrome, your life would be more peaceful. Let her talk some sense into that meathead. After all, they're partners…"
"That's… why didn't I think of that?"
"You were just too worried…"
I looked at Misty intently.
"And yeah, don't worry too much… something tells me that things will work out the way they're supposed to…"
Yeah, things would work out the way they were supposed to. Jackie would either flatline on the job or become famous and just forget about her. He wasn't the type to have a serious relationship with a girl like her. At least, that was my impression of him after I met him.
"Good… you want me to read your cards?"
I exchanged glances with the girls, and we agreed. After that, Misty laid out the cards for us.
"Hmm…"
"What?"
Panam came closer to the table on which Misty had laid out the cards.
"Well… you want the details or the gist of it?"
"Just the gist… we don't know much about Tarot, so we wouldn't be able to appreciate your skills to their fullest."
"Well. Then everything will be fine with you all… but… a serious choice is on the horizon… it will be a decisive one…"
"Got it."
I smirked.
"Well, I guess we'll be seeing you again. If not, we'll see you on Saturday."
"Good…"
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