Cyberpunk: I'm Not a Scavenger - Chapter 7: A New Situation (Patreon)

"Whoa, chico! That bike is amazing!"

The doors of El Coyote Cojo swung open, and Jackie was still raving about the ride he'd just had.

"Seriously, how'd you get it running so perfectly?"

"Ahem. Took a little special know-how."

Pantheon maintained his smile.

"Pepe, two lagers and a plate of fries."

While Jackie ordered at the bar, Pantheon took the opportunity to look around.

It was still broad daylight, so only a few customers were inside, drinking in little groups.

The lighting was subdued, with hanging lamps dividing the dark interior into intimate little spaces. Perfect for a private conversation.

"Don't just stand there. Come on."

The freshly cooked fries smelled wonderful. One glance was enough for Pantheon to know they wouldn't disappoint.

It was 2075, and most food in this city was still terrible. What the hell had happened to all that cutting-edge technology?

Couldn't they at least manage either nutrition or flavor?

"Of course! My mom's cooking is the best in Night City," Jackie replied cheerfully. "Say something, choom. Let's make a toast."

Without a moment's thought, Pantheon raised his glass.

"To this shitty city of Night City. Thanks for letting us survive one more day."

Jackie was already fond of his new friend. He lifted his own glass.

"To Night City, for letting me meet such an interesting choom."

"And the third toast is to Mrs. Welles, for making fries this damn good."

After three beers, the mood was lively, and the two were already much more comfortable around each other.

"So, Pantheon, what'd you do before this?"

Pantheon answered with a hint of wistfulness.

"I used to be an outsourced cleaner for REO. Sounds respectable, but really I was just collecting bodies. Then my luck ran out. Got caught in a gang shootout, and everyone on my crew died except me."

"Sounds like we have a lot in common. I used to run with the Valentinos. Got hurt real bad in a fight, nearly died. My mom spent every day and night worrying about me."

"Couldn't keep putting her through that, so I left the gang. These days I pick up little delivery jobs."

The two men felt as though they'd found a kindred spirit and shared another drink. Jackie was the first to speak.

"What about now? You planning to keep collecting bodies?"

Pantheon shook his head, his expression turning reflective.

"Someone once asked whether I wanted to be a nobody or make a name for myself. Before I could decide, Night City threw me right into the thick of it. I figure if I'm going to drown anyway, I might as well go down making a hell of a splash. I'd love to see how many bullets Saburo Arasaka can take!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about! We really were meant to meet. I don't want to live like this forever either. I want to make a name for myself."

"Imagine becoming legends like Morgan Blackhand and Andrew "Boa Boa" Weyland one day. Now that'd be something!"

Once Jackie started talking about those legends, there was no stopping him.

Pantheon ordered another two bottles and slid one across to Jackie.

"To the legends we're going to become!"

"To the legends!"

...

Their road to becoming legends hadn't even begun, and Pantheon was already wondering how to get home.

He couldn't ride after drinking, could he? Night City's police might not bother with drunk drivers, but he was a civilized man. He'd have to find another way.

The city rail system operated by Night Corp ran all across Night City. Through its windows, passengers could see the city's most beautiful side.

Evening was drawing near. As the sun sank, scattered neon lights flickered to life, bathing the city in something almost dreamlike.

He was enjoying the view when a striking flash of silver-white caught his eye.

Pantheon narrowed his eyes, and his Kiroshi Optics eye focused automatically.

Shoulder-length hair fading from pink to blue, a tall, slender figure with fair skin, and a delicate, doll-like face framed by faint reddish eye and lip makeup.

"Arasaka's runaway supercomputer...?"

Pantheon muttered his little joke to himself, then settled into a corner to watch.

The girl's fingertips brushed the back of a passenger's head. A chip popped free of the neural-link slot behind the person's ear, and she caught it in one smooth movement before naturally withdrawing her hand.

Then she slipped through the crowd as if nothing had happened, looking for her next target.

Her movements were practiced. With her impressive netrunning skills, she could break through someone's firewall in seconds.

Unfortunately, for some reason Lucy chose Pantheon, who was leaning against the window and supposedly admiring the scenery, as her next target.

Did he look rich?

Moving like a ghost among the exhausted commuters, Lucy quietly drew closer.

She pretended to admire the neon outside while reaching toward the neural-link slot behind Pantheon's ear.

Just before her fingers reached it, a large hand closed around her slender wrist like an iron vise.

"I haven't done anything to you, have I, Miss Netrunner?"

Pantheon turned his head slightly, looking almost eager for something to happen.

Surprise flashed through Lucy's eyes. She clearly hadn't expected such quick reflexes from a man who seemed lost in thought.

She wrenched her hand free, data flashing rapidly across her cybernetic eyes.

"So you're a Scavenger. A sewer cockroach crawling up into the light. Disgusting."

Within seconds, she'd broken through the firewall on Pantheon's neural link and pulled up his past records.

Lucy lifted her chin slightly, looking at him as if he were an especially revolting bug.

"You're a thief yourself. What right do you have to judge me? At least I earn my money through honest work."

Pantheon's mouth twitched. His eighteenth-hand neural link might as well have had no defenses at all against a netrunner.

"Besides, I was a licensed REO Meatwagon contractor. That's an officially recognized job."

"And I haven't worked in that line of business for ages."

The more he tried to explain, the more tired Pantheon felt.

Most Night City residents saw little difference between REO and the Scavengers. He couldn't go around explaining himself to every single one of them.

Lucy frowned, unwilling to keep arguing.

The train came to a station, and the doors slid open.

Several huge, muscular men, each more than two meters tall, suddenly appeared in the doorway.

They stormed into the car as though searching for something and closed the doors behind them.

They were planning to trap their prey inside, then finish the job.

The cramped carriage was like a sardine tin for men that size. The passengers were nearly crushed by their bulk.

"Hey! What are you doing? Leave my bag alone!"

"Come on! I just want to go home and play video games!"

The car dissolved into chaos, complaints rising from every direction. In their corner, Pantheon and Lucy reacted very differently.

Pantheon frowned but made no move.

The train was so packed that even escaping would be difficult, let alone fighting.

Lucy's expression changed abruptly. As though she'd realized something, she immediately uploaded a quickhack to the carriage.

Bzzzt!

Almost every light short-circuited at once. The station plunged into darkness, with only the emergency lights casting a dim green glow.

Panic erupted, screams echoing through the station.

"Lucky you."

Lucy's resentful voice came from the darkness, followed by the crackle of electricity as the train doors were forcibly hacked open.

She slipped between the passengers, darted out of the carriage, and vanished into the dark.

The big men seemed to have prepared for this, however, and quickly realized something was wrong.

They shoved and kicked the passengers out of their way and charged after Lucy.

The lights were still out, but most passengers managed to feel their way out of the train. Pantheon escaped with them.

His Kiroshi eye switched to low-light night vision. The hulking figures ahead were so conspicuous he couldn't have missed them if he'd tried.

Their muscles were swollen to such extremes that they barely looked human. They resembled rhinoceroses walking upright.

The enormous trapezius muscles on either side of their necks completely shielded their vulnerable throats. Yet compared with their massive upper bodies, their legs were ridiculously short.

Watching the two parties disappear one after the other left Pantheon feeling oddly annoyed.

After a moment's thought, he quietly followed.

He admitted it. He wanted their bodies.

With builds like those, the Animals would make first-rate corpses for his collection. With so many of them, he was bound to get at least one decent trait.

As he trailed them, though, some inexplicable whisper kept drifting through his mind.

"Tragic news from the bodybuilding world: a hulking mass of muscle has gone to that great gym in the sky..."