Devil in Night City (Cyberpunk) (Patreon)

Chapter 6: Night City Habits

Two Weeks Later

Plap. Plap. Plap.

The sound of skin hitting skin could be heard along with feminine moaning before they suddenly came to an end, leaving only heavy breathing.

Pulling myself out of the warm depths I had been in for the past few hours, I watched with a proud expression as my seed poured out of her well-fucked hole. Then I let myself fall to the side and turned my head slightly to see my partner for the evening.

Not long after finally getting my Vindicator, I had allowed myself to seek the pleasures of the flesh again. Thanks to my dashingly handsome looks, it hadn’t taken more than a few hours before I seduced some relatively pretty woman off the street and brought her back to my apartment to fuck.

Since I had been so pent up, I might have gone too far with the lady — whose name escaped me — and ended up leaving her unconscious for several hours after I was done. I hadn’t stopped, after all, even when she passed out in the middle of it.

Following that, I had completely gone back to my old ways. Unless I was currently busy, it wouldn’t be strange to see my nights occupied by my latest conquest.

To my surprise, though it probably shouldn’t have been, it was even easier to pick up chicks in NC than back home. I guess that’s just what happens when you live in a city as corrupt as this one.

My work as a merc was going really well too. I was starting to make a reputation for myself for never failing a job and completing them in record time.

Regina had even been kind enough to share my info with other Fixers she knew. So far I had done a few jobs for Wakako Okada, the Fixer in charge of Westbrook, and Padre — Sebastian Ibarra — the main Fixer of Heywood.

I was of course still looting everything I could get my hands on and selling it anonymously, making a killing off it. That was even beating what I got from the jobs I did. Unfortunately, doing that didn’t increase my reputation, or else I would have focused all my attention on it.

On a positive note, I could say with confidence that my money problems were officially over. And with all the guns I was looting from the dead bastards I killed, I probably wouldn’t need to shop for any weapon anytime soon. The same went for ammo.

Recently I had even gotten into modifying my own weapons after getting the skill from some rando I killed.

I was actually saving up now so I could move to a better apartment and get a better car. I remembered there being a sweet-ass place in Heywood with a fantastic view, but it was on the expensive side, hence the saving.

Some might say I was moving a little quickly and that I should take a breather and do things at a steadier pace, but to hell with that. In this city in particular, life moved extremely fast, especially for those in my profession. I was just fully immersing myself in the experience.

This city literally personified the theme of live fast, die young. And unlike any other fucker out there, I had literal superpowers to keep me from the early grave almost every merc in this city was expected to meet.

Focusing back on my current partner for the evening, I took in the form of a red-haired woman with brown eyes who looked to be in her thirties, with some bags under her eyes.

Despite her age, she had a rocking body that wouldn’t lose out to someone younger than her — especially her ass and hips, most likely due to her Hispanic heritage.

Her name was Gloria.

This actually hadn’t been the first time I had slept with her. This was our second encounter. The first time I found her had been due to a job. I had picked up a package from her, found her milf body sexy, and chatted her up. I quickly learned she was really tight on money over a few drinks, and one thing led to another.

After the deed was done, I had gotten the usual speech about that not happening again, it being a one-time thing, and such nonsense. Not wanting to let go of such a nice piece of ass so quickly, I had played to her weakness and handed her a couple thousand eddies as I walked out, telling her she didn’t have to worry about paying me back.

I saw that she had become somewhat offended at the action, but she hadn’t said anything as I went home. I knew in the back of my mind that her rational side would win out over any other feeling she might have had.

Two days later, when we met again and she didn’t object when I chatted her up and later took her home for the evening, I knew I had been right.

“…I need to go. I need to see my son before he heads off to school.” Gloria said quietly before getting up off the bed and quickly putting her clothes back on, well aware that I was watching her every move.

When she finished, she stopped before the door and looked back at me for a moment. “Goodbye, Lucius. This won’t happen again.”

Just before she left, I quickly transferred over five thousand eddies to her and hid my smile.

“Sure, Gloria. Thanks for the company.” I said casually with a friendly smile.

The woman froze for a moment and turned to look back at me with narrowed eyes, but like before she didn’t say anything. The next moment the door closed behind her.

“Heh. As if I would let you go so easily. You know how hard it is to find a relatively clean woman in this city?” I muttered to myself with a shake of my head, then let out a yawn. Seeing that it was only four in the morning, I decided to sleep for a while.

=====

Hours Later

“What you got for me, Wakako?” I asked the hologram in the corner of my glasses as I drove through the busy streets of Night City.

“Lucius. Just the man I was hoping to find. I have a job for a man of your capabilities.” Wakako said calmly, trying to butter me up.

“Lay it on me.” I said simply, not really caring what it was. I just wanted something to do to kill time.

“A den of Scavs was just found in Japantown, and I want them taken care of asap. Here are the deets.” Wakako explained calmly.

A moment later a file came through, and I quietly read the info on it.

Scavs, or Scavengers, were considered by everyone in NC to be the lowest of scum, and that was saying something for such a shitty city. They specialized in the illegal sale of cyberware forcefully ripped from unsuspecting victims. Basically organ trafficking, but with chrome.

With cyberware being such a commodity, and most people always looking for the newest best thing, of course an opportunity like this would come up.

That just meant I didn’t have to be nice when I killed the fuckers.

“I got it. I’m on it, Wakako. Expect some news soon.” I replied after reading where they were currently located.

“Good luck getting those scum out of my territory.” Wakako said before the call dropped.

Quickly following the directions provided, it only took me a few minutes to reach what looked like an abandoned building. I found somewhere safe to park, then got out of the car.

I actually had two ways of going about things. The first was my public persona, where I didn’t wear a mask and just went in guns blazing, taking everyone down with my superior speed, reflexes, and almost bulletproof skin. I didn’t have to worry about people getting suspicious, since cyberware like that already existed.

The other was when I went out with the intent to kill as many gangsters as possible, hoping to gain a new skill or improve the ones I already had. When I did that — mostly at night — I wore a mask covering my face, and that was when I used my powers more freely.

That usually involved completely terrorizing everyone I met: punching people’s heads off, crawling along walls and ceilings to take them by surprise before killing them, and generally doing anything in my abilities to bring fear to the gangs of Night City.

More and more mentions of a demon or devil were spreading around as time passed. I was starting to feel a bit like Batman. Well, without the no-killing thing he had going for himself, and without the ridiculous but admittedly cool costume he wore when he did it.

‘Should I look into getting myself a costume? Hmm. Thoughts for later.’ I thought silently, then paid attention again. It was time to get to work.

Stretching my body as if I were about to start a regular gym session, I made my way into the building, making sure my trusty Overture was at my side. On my other side was my submachine gun, an M221 Saratoga, for crowd control. Sheathed on my back was a blue katana I had taken off a Tyger Claw I killed days back, along with the Swordsmanship ability.

Making sure there was nobody at the entrance with Vibration Tracking, I quickly noted where everyone was, then checked if there were any cameras I could spot at the door.

Lo and behold, I immediately spotted a camera watching the entrance. With a quick burst from my Saratoga, I took it down.

With the camera out of the way, I forced the door open and entered the building, quickly making my way toward where the bastards were.

With guys like these, it was best to hit them hard and fast, and that’s just what I did. With my Overture in one hand and my katana in the other, I sped through the building and took down every Scav as quickly as I could — either with a shot to the head or by decapitating them with a sword swing.

Most were taken by surprise. The few that did manage to spot me hadn’t been able to penetrate my skin with their weapons, so they were taken down just the same.

I felt no remorse as I killed them. To be honest, I felt nothing at all when I did. I had felt more emotion when I killed a cat last week to get my hands on its superb reflexes, if I was being honest.

Knowing the location of everyone was a terribly useful skill in this kind of profession, and it showed. It only took me a few minutes before I dealt with all the people still moving.

The only thing that would make it better was if I somehow got my hands on echolocation, but with mammals — and especially birds — being mostly extinct or killed on sight, I had little hope of running into an animal with that particular ability.

Feeling one more vibration, though one that wasn’t moving, I carefully moved through the building with a grim look, not too hopeful about what I might find. Considering the Scavs’ profession, it was likely the person I was sensing was some poor bastard they had kidnapped to take their cyberware.

I had no idea what kind of condition they were going to be in, but I figured it was best I see if, by some miracle, they were still alive.

The thought of them being a Scav I hadn’t killed yet didn’t even cross my mind. They hadn’t moved from their location since I began my massacre.

Reaching the room, I had to take a moment to grab a clean piece of cloth I always carried now for things like this — where the mere smell made you want to puke — and placed it against my face before proceeding.

Ignoring the multiple ice boxes filled with ice, not really wanting to see what was inside, I made my way to the furthest one by the wall and, with a blank face, looked at what was inside.

“…Damn. How are you still alive?” I muttered to myself as I saw a woman submerged in water filled with ice, missing an arm and a leg, with her belly open.

She was twitching lightly which had caused some of the ice to drop to the floor and most likely the reason I was even aware she was here in the first place.

“Yeah. I’m sorry, but I’m not dealing with this mess. My job here is done.” I said with a shake of my head as I turned around, ignoring the problem.

In the first place, the woman already looked at death’s door, and unless she was rich and covered by Trauma Team, she wasn’t living past today. Secondly, people died by the dozen — if not more — in this city every day, and it wasn’t my concern to save her.

And finally, I wasn’t spending my hard-earned money on her since I didn’t think it would really help with her current condition, and I didn’t want to dirty my car with all her blood.

Shrugging the problem away, I began what had become almost a ritual by now and started to loot the place clean of everything, while inwardly checking if I had gotten something nice from Plunder.

‘Hmm. Other than an upgrade on my knowledge of Medicine and Hacking, there’s nothing.’ I thought inwardly, not really surprised.

As time passed, I was getting less and less from Plunder, and even getting an upgrade for a current ability was becoming rare. It was probably only a matter of time now before I stopped getting anything in this world.

My looting came to an abrupt stop, though, as I froze. Vibration Tracking picked up what I now knew to be several people entering the building. I quickly took cover, pulled out my weapons again, and waited silently.

It didn’t take long until noise reached me from downstairs from several distinct people. Six, to be specific. Four female and two males.

The noise suddenly stopped before picking up again, but I noticed they had stopped talking and were now walking with cautious steps.

‘They probably found the dead Scavs.’ I guessed inwardly, deliberating for a moment whether I should make a run for it or stick around to see who it was.

Curiosity eventually won out. I moved to a better hiding spot where I had a clear view of the entrance and waited for my would-be prey to enter range. I felt my adrenaline start pumping again and grinned.

Switching weapons, I pulled my sniper rifle — a Nekomata — from my Inventory and aimed it straight at the door. I didn’t have to wait long before it opened. A moment later, a huge black man with blond hair, clearly chromed to an excessive degree, made his way in.

Following him was a huge blond-haired man— never mind, a woman, if her almost-exposed breasts had anything to say about it — and another woman with short blond hair and her lower jaw replaced by cyberware.

They were all armed, of course. The slim blonde was clearly a netrunner, her eyes glowing, probably scanning for threats.

I aimed my sniper back at the door and waited until the next person came in. A tall black-haired man this time, his hair styled in a mohawk, with arms longer than they should have been.

‘I don’t know them,’ I concluded, and in the next second I came to a decision as I aimed my sniper at the back of the huge black man’s neck — clearly the most dangerous — and waited for the perfect opportunity. ‘Which means they’re free game.’

Just as I was about to pull the trigger and kill him, then take the rest in close range with my katana — because no matter how much cyberware he had, a shot to the neck was still fatal in most cases — my finger froze on the trigger.

I saw a familiar turquoise hair styled in pigtails and widened my eyes in surprise.

Rebecca!?

Host: Lucius Grimlaw

Age: 20 years old

Main Powers:

·           Plunder

·           Inventory

·           Personal Demiplane (Locked until main mission is completed)

Abilities:

·           Superhuman Body (strength, speed, stamina, lungs, pain, pressure)

·           Environmental Resistance (radiation, disease, some poisons)

·           Combat Mastery (guns, unarmed, blunt weapons, bladed weapons)

·           Practical Expertise (driving, medicine, cooking, kama sutra)

·           High Intelligence

·           Vibration Tracking

·           Gunsmith

·           Hacking

Current Mission:

Main Mission: Make your name known enough to be forever cemented in legend in Night City. How you do it is your choice — just make sure that, at the very least, you get a drink named after you.