Cyberpunk: I'm Not a Scavenger - Chapter 20: Scenery on the Moon (Patreon)

The AV rose into the sky and flew away. As it disappeared, the signal jamming around the area was lifted.

Lucy's anxious voice came over the comms almost immediately.

"Pantheon! Are you all right?!"

Lucy had received proper netrunning training from Arasaka, and she was far from incompetent. Her skills ranked comfortably above average even in Night City.

But facing Militech's elite netrunners, with the immense computing power of an AV at their disposal, she'd been completely outmatched.

Throughout the exchange, she'd been pinned down by their intrusions. She'd even come close to having her identity and location exposed, a prospect that left her drenched in cold sweat.

Why did it feel as though Lucy kept getting beaten at her own game?

Was that really how things were supposed to go?

"Everything went smoothly. The money's in the account," Pantheon reassured her with a grin.

"Phew..."

Only then did Lucy relax. The pressure Militech had put on her had stirred up memories of her painful past.

"Jackie, everything clear on your end?"

"All good, choom. Coming to pick you up now."

Jackie's voice came over the channel, accompanied by the sound of a car engine starting.

After ending the call, Pantheon lit another cigarette and stared thoughtfully toward the patch of night sky where the AV had disappeared.

Jackie arrived soon afterward. Pantheon opened the passenger door and climbed in.

"Well? Did it work?"

"With me handling it, how could it fail? A full one point two million eddies!"

Pantheon leaned back in his seat, eyes closed, and delivered the news as though it were nothing.

"¡Magnífico! What the hell, did you rob a bank?!"

Jackie slapped the steering wheel. There wasn't a trace of greed in his eyes, only admiration for his friend's ability.

"Here's your share."

Pantheon's cybernetic eye glimmered as he sent a transfer.

When Jackie saw that a hundred thousand eddies had appeared in his account, his expression changed.

"Chico, this is too much. I can't take it."

"Just hear me out." Pantheon placed a hand on his arm.

"Ten thousand is your payment for this job. Consider the rest an advance on all the gigs we'll be doing together."

"I want you to use it to upgrade your cyberware and get some better equipment."

"At least install some subdermal armor. Otherwise, a stray bullet or a random chunk of flying concrete could kill you."

Pantheon sounded as though he were joking, but Jackie understood the message underneath.

Proud to have a friend who cared about him that much, he thumped his chest and laughed.

"Our journey to becoming legends has only just begun! You think I'm going to drop dead now? Don't worry, choom."

They exchanged understanding smiles.

"Jackie, you head home first. I'll take Lucy back to her place."

"Got it, brother. Leave it to you." Jackie understood at once and made himself scarce.

Pantheon took his Indian Scout motorcycle to find Lucy.

She stood beneath a streetlight with her hands behind her back, apparently lost in thought.

"Hop on, Miss Netrunner." Pantheon patted the seat behind him in invitation.

Lucy rolled her eyes but climbed onto the bike anyway. She slipped her arms gently around his waist and rested her head against his back.

Night City's neon streamed past them as they rode, and the evening wind gradually blew away the unease in Lucy's heart.

"Your heartbeat is so weird!" she shouted over the wind.

"That's because there's another person living in my heart!"

Pantheon burst out laughing. The wind carried his voice back to her.

A faint smile curved Lucy's lips, and she tightened her embrace.

The young man and woman's hearts had never felt so close. The lights of the city washed over them in shifting colors.

They crossed the bridge into Japantown when Pantheon's communicator suddenly rang. An unknown encrypted number.

He curled his lip and rejected the call immediately.

No way was he letting someone spoil a moment like this.

But every journey came to an end. The motorcycle eventually rolled to a smooth stop outside Lucy's apartment building.

Lucy stood in the building's shadow. Neon from the bar next door cast a soft glow across her delicate, doll-like profile, making her look almost unreal.

"Thanks for bringing me home," she said quietly, an unfamiliar light in her eyes.

"As your captain, it's my responsibility." Pantheon leaned against the wall and tried to look solemn. "I can't let a beauty like you walk home all alone, can I?"

Lucy bit her lip, a little annoyed.

That bastard. Was he really going to make her say it first?

Seeing her expression, Pantheon knew he'd teased her enough. He grinned.

"Well, now that we're here, aren't you going to invite me upstairs? I'd settle for a cup of coffee."

Lucy gave a soft snort and headed upstairs, though a smile betrayed her at the corners of her mouth.

Pantheon followed.

Her apartment was sparsely furnished, with almost nothing she didn't need. Even the lighting was subdued.

The most prominent decoration was a poster of the Moon hanging on the wall.

"Want a drink?"

Before Pantheon could answer, she'd already poured two glasses.

"To celebrate the deal going smoothly."

Lucy smiled with her eyes and lifted her glass.

Pantheon chuckled and clinked it with his own.

As the alcohol took effect, a rosy flush colored Lucy's cheeks, making her even more captivating.

She crossed to the bed, took out two braindance wreaths, and handed one to Pantheon.

"Watch this with me."

They lay side by side on her rather narrow bed and entered the braindance together.

After a flash of white light, they found themselves on a vast, desolate plain.

There was no wind and no sound. Above them stretched the endless darkness of space, while a beautiful blue planet shone ahead like a sapphire.

Pantheon made a small jump and rose high into the air. He drifted slowly back down as if gravity had almost vanished.

Lucy's bell-like laughter rang out as she ran across the empty landscape, with Pantheon close behind.

After a while she slowed, slipped one hand behind her back, and crooked her fingers in a silent invitation.

Pantheon took her hand without hesitation.

They walked and ran across the lunar surface, drove a moon rover, and filled the desolate landscape with their laughter.

Eventually, they sat together on the ridge of a lunar hill, gazing toward the beautiful planet that had given birth to so much life and so much evil.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Lucy's voice sounded distant and serene.

"Beats the shitty smog in Night City."

Pantheon reclined on the ground, enjoying a rare moment of peace.

Lucy hugged her knees and began talking about her past.

"I remember when I was little, living in Poland with my parents. There were flowers and butterflies, and I had a family that loved me. I thought the world would always be like that."

"Then, when I was seven, I found things on my father's computer. Evidence of Arasaka's crimes, and the disgusting things my father had done. After that, I became obsessed with the Net. It was the only way I knew to escape reality."

"Later, Arasaka wanted to recover technology and data from the Old Net. They needed to train netrunners who could cross the Blackwall, and my father handed me over to Arasaka without a second thought."

Lucy's voice was completely flat, as though she were telling a story about someone else.

Pantheon listened in silence, gradually learning what she'd been through.

After his physical death, Bartmoss, the legendary netrunner, had released the R.A.B.I.D.S. virus. It infected and destroyed more than eighty percent of the network, bringing down the old internet and awakening AIs.

Those awakened AIs began attacking humanity with terrifying ferocity. Huge quantities of data were lost because there hadn't been enough time to move them somewhere safe.

Later, NetWatch worked with certain AIs to create the Blackwall, a barrier that stopped the roaming rogue AIs from continuing their attacks on the real world.

It became the dividing line between the New Net and the Old Net in the Cyberpunk world. With the Blackwall in place, the internet could no longer be restored as a single unified network. Instead, countless local networks took its place.

After the DataKrash, the Old Net had become unimaginably dangerous. It teemed with malware and viruses, and rogue AIs could strike without warning. One wrong move could turn a netrunner's brain into a plate of fried meat.

Forced to enter the Old Net again and again, Lucy's fellow trainees died one after another in their netrunning chairs.

Lucy eventually escaped, but every one of her companions died at Arasaka's hands.

"I hate netrunning chairs. I hate deep dives. I'd rather lie in a bathtub full of ice than ever smell another brain cooking."

"I've been making as much money as I can so I can buy a ticket to the Moon and get away from that sickening place."

She turned toward Pantheon, exhaustion briefly showing on her face.

"I thought going to the Moon would finally put me beyond Arasaka's reach. But now I realize it doesn't matter how far I go. I still can't escape."

Pantheon gently drew Lucy into his arms.

"I've never believed running away solves anything. And the Moon isn't where you belong."

He looked directly into her eyes and made her a solemn promise.

"One day, I'll take you straight into Arasaka Tower, and I'll kill that decrepit bastard Saburo Arasaka with my own hands. Then you can go anywhere you want."

Lucy stared at him. Then she burst into laughter that sounded almost unhinged.

"Hahahaha! You seriously think nobodies like us could storm Arasaka Tower? Hahahahaha!"

She kept laughing until tears ran down her cheeks. Then she grabbed Pantheon by the collar, pulled him close, and kissed him without hesitation.

They kissed on the lunar surface, with the vast universe and the beautiful blue Earth spread out before them.