Chapter 5: Rebecca
"Hey, where'd this guy come from?"
"Shut up, Rebecca! Let me sleep a little longer. I was up until four this morning dropping Sasha home!"
"What? Like I care! Get up, Dorio! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, you gotta tell me who this kid is! He's kinda cute. That face... is that all real meat?"
A loud, energetic voice echoed through the small warehouse. Rhys yawned. As he sat up, he instinctively slapped a hand against the wall, trying to turn on a non-existent light switch, only for his palm to land on something soft and surprisingly supple.
The tactile feedback sent a jolt through him. His eyes snapped open. He was instantly, painfully awake.
This wasn't Lizzie's.
He was staring into a pair of bright red eyes. The sclera were completely crimson, surrounding a yellow-green iris with a red pupil. They blinked at him curiously. Strands of bright green hair tickled his face, forcing a sneeze.
"Hahaha!"
The owner of the eyes and hair burst out laughing, revealing a set of small, pearly-white teeth. She had a chubby, round face and long, smooth green hair tied into massive pigtails, almost like she was cosplaying some pre-Collapse J-pop idol Rhys vaguely remembered.
"Rebecca?" The name escaped his lips automatically. He tried to sit up, pushing off with his hand, and only then did he realize his left hand was planted firmly on her thigh.
A very short, very thick, very meaty thigh.
"You know my name? Did Maine tell you? So you're the new choom he hired to help Sasha with the infiltration gig, huh? What's your name?"
Rebecca didn't seem to care in the slightest about his hand on her leg, instead firing off questions at a manic pace.
Rhys felt a headache coming on.
Last night, Maine's crew had taken him on a whirlwind tour of Night City. When they'd hit Santo Domingo, they'd nearly gotten caught in the crossfire of a gang war. He was exhausted. He had imagined the merc life would be exciting, but he never thought it would be this exciting. Staying up all night, getting drunk, and then burning chrome down the freeway while shooting at everything that moved... this was just a normal day for them.
"The name's Rhys. And I haven't joined your crew. I'm just collaborating on one gig," he said, finally sitting up and answering her question.
He looked Rebecca over. She was tiny, wearing a baggy black jacket that was so long it covered her shorts, revealing a pair of greenish-tinted, thick thighs. Small and skinny up top, but with surprisingly powerful legs...
Heh, classic Rebecca.
"Rhys, that hurts to hear, choom," Maine's voice rumbled from a nearby sofa. He was still wearing his sunglasses, even while sleeping. He pushed himself upright, one massive hand gripping the back of the couch. "There are a lot of perks to joining us. We're not like other edgerunner crews. We run the same life-or-death gigs, but I can promise you, on my team, we don't let eddies get between us. We're partners. We're family."
"Here we go again," Dorio groaned, sitting up as well. Rebecca's voice was too loud and sharp for anyone to sleep through. Maine's speech reminded Dorio of how they'd first met. The big, clueless lug had saved her life and then immediately launched into his recruitment pitch while standing in a pile of gore and headless corpses.
"You're not even chromed up that much. You've got less ware than me. Why would Maine hire you?" Rebecca pressed, her curiosity insatiable.
"You'll have to ask your big boss man that," Rhys replied. He got off the couch and scanned his surroundings. It was a small warehouse, probably built inside a shipping container. Most likely Maine's crew's current hideout.
"Tch! You're cute, but you're a real buzzkill," Rebecca pouted, annoyed by his cold attitude.
Dorio spoke up. "Rhys is handling the infiltration part of the op."
"So he's a netrunner?" Rebecca's inhuman yellow-green eyes lit up. She stared at Rhys, her previous annoyance instantly replaced by a rabid curiosity. She looked like a small animal that had just sniffed out something new and fascinating.
She shot up and got right in his face, her chest nearly pressing against his. She tilted her head back to look up at him, her round face a canvas of expressions. Her eyes even went mismatched, one wide and one squinted as she sized him up. O.o
"You don't look like one. You're all soft... If I didn't know better, I'd think Maine picked you up from a joytoy club. Hey, show me your interface rig!"
As she spoke, she reached an arm around his neck, aiming to poke the data port behind his ear.
The cold tip of her finger sent a shiver down Rhys's spine. He dodged back nimbly. "I'm not a netrunner," he said, exasperated. "Maine hired me to be your netrunner's bodyguard."
"Huh? You?" Rebecca flopped back onto the sofa, a look of pure disbelief on her face.
"Alright, Rebecca, stop messing with him," Dorio said, stepping in.
Maine was finally fully awake. He slapped his own head with a massive hand, his voice a low rumble. "What time is it? Breakfast time? Let's go. After we eat, we need to hit the Afterlife. The one gig Sasha lined up isn't gonna be enough to keep us afloat."
As Maine stood up and walked over, Rebecca popped a piece of bubblegum into her mouth and started chewing furiously, turning her head away in a huff.
"C'mon, let's eat. We'll meet at the Afterlife."
"Rebecca, where's Pilar?"
"How the hell should I know!" Rebecca shouted, slapping her thighs in frustration. "That asshole brother of mine ditched me and took off in the car by himself!"
"He probably went to the Afterlife early to see Sasha," Dorio muttered.
"Yeah, that's possible..." Maine said, stroking his chin. Knowing Pilar's personality, that was exactly the kind of thing he would do.
Rhys listened to them bicker as he grabbed his small bag and, yawning, walked into the container's bathroom. He opened his bag in front of the mirror, took out a toothbrush and toothpaste, and started his morning routine.
Hearing the noise, Rebecca trotted over to peek inside. She'd assumed he was taking a leak, but when she saw him brushing his teeth in front of the mirror, she clutched her stomach and burst into hysterical laughter.
"Haha, you're a psycho!"
"Are you for real a pure-organic? The only chrome on your face is your optics, isn't it?"
"How are you gonna be a merc like that?"
Rhys paused, toothbrush in hand, and tilted his head at her. It was true, his face was all original meat and bone except for his eyes. The only other major implants he had were in his hands and some subdermal plating.
Rebecca was laughing so hard tears were streaming from her eyes. She wiped a corner with one hand, the other still pressed against her stomach. "You're just... you're so genuinely cute, it's insane!"
Then, Maine's voice boomed again.
"Get over here and eat!"