VIKVEK: Hey Jackie. How’s it going?

JACKIE: Doc! Things are nova, got another job lined up.

VIKVEK: Oh, so that means you’ll have the eds for the subdermals? Make sure to not stretch the stitches to much.

JACKIE: Aih, Vik, not you too. V’s been giving me that look…

VIKVEK: Lisa has a point, you know?

VIKVEK: Anyway, I need you to pass on a message.

JACKIE: What’s up?

VIKVEK: There’s a price on Lisa. 1k for info and 2k for delivery. It’s a gig from Regina. They’re looking for her in Northside. Can you tell V so he warns them?

JACKIE: Carajo! Their hunting the nina?!

JACKIE: Why aren’t you telling them? Why go through V?

VIKVEK: Because they are ex-corpo and have all the reasons to be jumpy. What would you do if you think your ripper might sell you out for some quick cash? Wouldn’t take any chances, especially with Arasaka potentially on V and Barbara’s tail.

JACKIE: But you don’t sell out your patients.

VIKVEK: They don’t know that. But yeah, would kinda ruin my reputation if I did.

JACKIE: Heh, don’t worry old man, I’ll make sure V passes the message to your bonita hermana.

VIKVEK: My what?

JACKIE: Ah, how romantic. The secret admirador, helping his adorada from the shadows.

VIKVEK: Hey! There’s nothing going on, what even gave you that idea?

JACKIE: Ah, shame. No spring for the old man?

VIKVEK: That’s it! Get over here kid, I need to show you my legendary left hook!

JACKIE: She’s got your old boxer blood boiling, mh?

VIKVEK: Just make sure V passes the message.

#--------------

Breathe in. Tak. Tak. Tak. Breathe out. Tak. Tak. Tak. The steady rhythm of Lisa’s feet pounding on the treadmill, not too fast nor too slow, joined the other sounds of exertion echoing through the gym. The sounds of the corpo woman with shiny golden legs working the rowing machine, the grunts of the guy who lives down the street lifting weights, the mechanical hiss of the maelstromers gorilla arms as he laid into a sandbag with extreme prejudice. The gym was a place of peace. People came to workout, to blow off steam. It wasn’t a place to meet new people. Everybody was in their own world, probably listening to some music. At least, Lisa was listening to music. She had the shard with the Samurai albums that Karim had given her slotted, her mom had retrieved it and a few other items when she returned to their old flat in the megabuilding. Since Barbara had ‘died’ during her mission, she was able to retrieve their belongings without worrying about a killsquad waiting for her. It would have been a shame to leave behind her mom’s equipment. And the Samurai tunes. [Honestly, Samurai isn’t that good.] Lisa almost stumbled. Excuse me?! Yeah, that settles it. You’re definitely not just a part of me, and you definitely have shit taste. [No, hear me out! The songs and lyrics themselves are fine, the band rocks! It’s just that Johnny ruins it! His voice is shit!] Lisa kept running in silence for a while. Next you’ll say you like ‘ponpon shit’. [God no. Well, maybe. Sometimes.] Lisa huffed a sigh between laboured breaths. I knew it…

She distracted herself by glancing through the room. The gym was on the fifth floor of the building and just two blocks away from their home. It occupied the whole floor as one open space, the ceiling only held by a few pillars. The exterior was mostly windows. The middle was occupied by a matt for martial arts, with the exercise equipment arranged around it. The four treadmills were located at the south wall, two towards the windows and two towards the martial arts matt. The north was lined with glass doors that opened onto a terrace, where a climbing wall and some gymnastic equipment was setup. The east was where the reception, lockers, showers and the stairs, as well as the entrance to the overpass going past the building was located. Looking towards the gymnastics equipment, Lisa could see her mom working her way up and down a salmon ladder, with unreal grace. No jerking motion, no swaying legs, just one smooth motion up and down. Lisa’s face went slack with awe and she nearly stumbled again. What the hell?! Since when was mom that jacked?! [Actually, the doors are open, we should be able to hear... some... sound, but…] Lisa corrected her running rhythm. Yeah. She swallowed and focused back on her breathing. She’s not making any sounds...

Lisa had been running for about 20 minutes now. She didn’t have the best stamina, but she was pacing herself well. That and the protein drinks and energy bars they had bought went a long way in giving Lisa the ability to keep up the exercise. That and wanting to to fire that sweet sweet sniper rifle kept her going. [Powerleveling! Let’s goooo!] Urgh… This isn’t a game… She hummed along to ‘Never fade away’. The entrance to the overpass opened and a man and a midget walked in, bickering. The man had a splendid black mohawk and a visor covering his eyes. His arms seemed a tad to long for his body, and he was sporting a dirty grin. The midget looked plain weird. She had pale skin that was a shade of blue, covered in pink tattoos, green hair kept in two ponytails and wore an oversized jacket. She was shaking a fist at the guy, looking outraged. Lisa frowned in annoyance. They were loud. She didn’t care about their bickering and they were disturbing one of Johnny’s guitar solos. The old lady at the reception shot them a glare, agreeing with Lisa’ sentiment. [Oh my god! That’s Rebecca! And Pilar too! Shouldn’t he be dead at this point?] Oh great. More people you ‘know’ of… [They are such cool characters! Becci is best girl! So smol!] Despite needing to control her breathing, Lisa managed to sigh and roll her eyes. [Come on! Let’s go over, I want to meet them!] Oh dear god, if you exist, hear my prayer and rid me of this fucking fanboy squatting in my head and spare my innocent soul his deranged ramblings… [Liisaaa, pleeaaseee!] He was whining now. She sighed again. The two people were coming in her direction. Great. 50 quid they try to engage me somehow… [You jinxed it! Come oooon, now it’s gonna happen anyway! Let’s make some friends?] The midget, Rebecca, had shrugged off her jacket, revealing the bare minimum amount of clothing to cover her birthday suit. No. I will not go up to random strangers and start talking to them. Besides, the only comment I can think of is why the single father is letting his kid run around in her underwear. [What?! I-I mean… Uh, that… Huh.]

The bickering pair went off behind Lisa, probably claiming two treadmills for themselves. [You know, they are actually siblings. And Becci is I think 20?] Lisa turned up her music, trying to tune out the incessant squeaking of the midget and the dirty grumbling of its brother. Breathe in. Tak. Tak. Tak. Breathe out… The mohawk guy with the lecherous grin took the treadmill to her left. Lisa couldn’t help but grumble when she could see him turn up in her peripheral vision. Breathe in. Tak. Tak. Tak. Breathe out… He rested his elbows on the railing of his treadmill, leaning towards Lisa. He was saying something, but Lisa couldn’t hear him. Breathe in. Tak. Tak. Tak. Breathe out… [Come oooon! I wanna meet them, pleeeaasee!] Lisa frowned in disgust at Connys whining. Breathe in. Tak. Tak. Tak. Breathe out… Pilar leaned forward and waved a hand in front of her face.

Lisa slapped his hand away and punched the brakes on her treadmill. She shut off her music and turned to the annoying man with an angry frown. “What!”, she shot at him while catching her breath. He grinned, leaning harder on the treadmill railing. “Heya, cutey! Haven’t seen you around, you come here often?” Lisa continued to frown at him while catching her breath. “No.” His grin widened. “So first timer? I’m Pilar by the way, what’s…”, “Get your twerp some proper clothes before working on the next one, creep.” Lisa interrupted his attempt at conversation and turned to leave her treadmill. The stumped expression on Pilars face filled her with satisfaction, as did Conny's crying. While turning she met eyes with the marginally modest midget. The girl was clearly angry and disbelieving. “I’m not a fucking kid!”. Lisa paused, looking between the two. “His joytoy then?”

That apparently went to far. “Bitch, who are you calling a joytoy?! Fucking whore!” The midget stomped threateningly towards Lisa, who needed to look down further and further the closer Rebecca approached. Fuck she’s tiny. [She’s so cute when she’s angry!] Lisa towered over the small woman, being over two heads taller. Once Rebecca had approached, she kicked towards Lisas thighs while spewing profanities. “I’ll show you fucking joytoy!” Out of reflex Lisa caught her ankle, making the midget stumble to catch her balance. “Bitch! Let go!” She kept cursing while trying to free her leg from Lisa’s grasp. That’s it? This is a character you know? Some abrasive gnome? [Well… she’s more dangerous with a shotgun… Also! Stop manhandling her! Can’t you be friends with the awesome people from the anime?!] “Fucking doll! Let go of me you fuck puppet!” Lisa bristled at the insult. Of course she saw… [Aaand she went and said it… what a mess…] Conny sounded depressed. Lisa gave the ancle in her grip an angry sharp tug and a push, making Rebecca stumble backward and sending her careening onto the floor. Her cursing continued. Lisa shot Pilar a glance. “Put your rabid gnome on a leash.”, she said, her voice cutting through the air like a razor. His goofy expression of disbelief hadn’t changed. Lisa clicked her tongue. Creep. She ignored the screaming midget picking herself up from the floor and made her way over to the martial arts matt.

“Oi! Bitch, I’m not done with you! Where do you think you’re fucking going, huh?!” Rebecca had stood back up, but made no attempt to approach Lisa again. Lisa stopped and turned halfway toward the siblings. “Get your brother under control, midget, I might just blow his head of next time.”, she said with an angry scowl. She turned, ignoring any comeback they might have and continued toward the martial arts matt. [Well, that wasn’t how I imagined meeting my favourite characters would go…] Lisa could vividly imagine Conny sitting in a corner, dejectedly drawing circles on the floor. Oh shocker, meeting some celeb’ in real life leads to a harsh reality check. And they aren’t even celebrities, just some unimportant mercs. Bo-hooo. Conny continued to sulk. Lisa looked toward the outside terrace to check if her mom had finished her warmup. Barbara had wanted to train Lisa in some close quarters combat. And Lisa was really looking forward to that, if with a bit of trepidation. I just hope mom won’t notice that I practiced. [Aaaand you just jinxed yourself! Again! Really, you need to be more careful with what you think.] Lisa snorted.

Somehow, Lisa couldn’t really immerse herself in the giddy anticipation of brawling with her mom. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the insults the abrasive midget had thrown at her. Fuck puppet huh… It stung. That’s how the world now sees me… the conclusion everyone will draw once they see this stupid gold inlay. Lisa ran a finger along the edge where the implant merged into the flesh of her neck. The contrast of hot, sweaty skin against the equally hot but smooth compound material made her stomach turn. Trying to push a fingernail into the edge was useless, it wasn’t just glued on, not something to just pry off. A mark seared into her very being. [Not everyone will be that extreme though? I mean, people won’t just assume…] Human blowup doll, AI marionette, sex droid, puppet prostitute. Lisa frowned and crossed her arms. Android whore,… [Alright, alright! I get it!] Lisa scoffed. Do any of those sound better to you?! She swallowed hard, feeling the the mounting pressure of tears swell up her throat. Everybody’s just going to assume I have the chrome because I wanted it! Everyone’s gonna judge me for it! I’m not a person in their eyes, I’m just a fucking doll! She huffed and swallowed, trying to dissolve the lump that was rising in her chest. Fuck!

Barbara made her way through the open glass doors of the terrace, wiping her face with a towel. Her gait was unhurried and filled with a languid grace that radiated power. It didn’t take her long to reach where Lisa stood on the matt. Once she stopped a subtle frown grew on her face. She offered her towel to Lisa. “Something happen?”, she asked. Lisa swallowed and sighed, uncrossing her arms. She took the damp towel and began searching for a dry spot. “… Just some annoying gonks.” She nodded her head toward the treadmills and stretched her neck a bit. Barbara glanced at Lisas doll chip and narrowed her eyes as she looked toward Rebecca and Pilar. Lisa could still hear them bickering. She sighed again and ran her face and neck through a dry corner of the towel. “Creep…”, Barbara muttered. Lisa gave a short snort, an amused smile flitting across her face. [First you and now mom! Why does everybody think Pilar is a creep?! I mean, he’s not that bad, not that the anime had many scenes with him… Except that one scene with Lucy after a net-dive and…] His voice grew smaller and smaller. […Okay, maybe he is a creep. But a good meaning one!] Barbara started loosening her arms. “Well, let’s start with stretching. Come on, legs first.”

Calves, glutes, hamstrings, they meticulously moved through a routine. Lisa had no problem touching her toes, though going any further was difficult. [Damn, you’re flexible.] Lisa looked over to her mom, who had her nose on her knees. Uh huh. She steadied her breathing, shifting a bit to ease the strain. [You know, comparing yourself to mom is seriously messing up your perception of what’s normal.] Lisa let out a breath and tried pushing her own nose to her knees. Good. Normal doesn’t cut it in NC. They moved on to seated twists. Eventually they had finished stretching and where facing each other. [Finally! Let’s gooo!]

“So, how are we doing this?”, Lisa asked. Barbara looked a bit apprehensive. “I’ve never been good at teaching…”, she mumbled. After taking a moment to think she sighed. “Well, I guess we get right into it and you pay attention to how I move? Will that work?” Lisa lifted an eyebrow. [Without any d-chip bs? Absolutely not. That sounds like what a sadistic martial arts instructor wanting to paint someone black and blue might say…] Lisa snorted. Barbara narrowed her eyes. “With d-chip bs it might.”, she said, neglecting to mention Conny’s comment on her apparent teaching disability. Good that I’m not normal, huh. [Yeah, you’re both weird.] Fuck you. “Alright, tell me once you’ve set that up. But remember, we'll only go for half an hour!” Her eyes gained a certain hardness and she got into a martial arts stance. Alright, so… ‘Analyze and learn how mom is moving and fighting.’ Should do the trick. [I wonder if you even need to spell it out. It might just be enough to tell it to ‘learn’.] Things to experiment with… But I think putting a bit of focus into the request should be better.

Lisa took a deep breath and focused her eyes on her mom, studying her stance. Left foot slightly in front of the right, weight shifted backward, her mom was presenting Lisa her left side, but not in a full side profile. Her shoulders were pulled up a bit, open hands presented high and low in defence. She has less weight on the front leg for quick kicks and her arms are protecting her upper body. Can’t easily circle to her back, not with the half side profile… It’s going to be hard reaching her, her hands are rather far from her body, but that means less leverage for attacks… Lisa went into a boxer’s stance. An imperceptible twitch crossed her moms eyes. “Ready?”, she asked. “Ready.”, Lisa confirmed.

Both woman went silent for a bit, gauging each other. Lisa appeared a bit smaller, her stance being more hunched then Barbaras. Her mom smirked and gave Lisa a challenging nod. Lisa took a quick step forward and went for a probing left jab, which her mom casually deflected outward with her own left hand. Lisa quickly pulled back, rebuilding her defence, before shifting to the right and throwing another quick probing strike. Her mom followed her turn, opening her own stance and parrying the jab with her left hand once again, this time downward. The redirection made Lisa lean forward and her eyes widened slightly as she saw her mom draw back her right hand into a fist, her mom’s now wide stance offering plenty of torque to deliver a devastating strike. Quickly Lisa shifted her weight backward. Half a foot was enough and she was out of reach. Her probing strikes hadn’t entered deeply into her mom’s personal space.

Both women once again eyed each other, Barbara returning back to her stance with a small smile. Lisa’s own stance shifted a bit, upper body no longer strictly facing forward, but instead offering more of a side profile. Barbara’s eyes narrowed again. This time, Barbara took the initiative. With one step she was deep in Lisa space. Lisa’s eyes widened in surprise and out of reflex, she punched out. Her mom easily deflected her punch and in the next moment, Lisa found herself lying on the matt. Barbara loomed over her, eyes still narrowed. Lisa sighed and relaxed against the floor. “So, when did you learn boxing?” Lisa froze. Fuck. Alright, play it cool. She lifted an eyebrow in an expression of confusion. “Wha…” She interrupted herself when she saw her mom’s deadpan expression. ‘Don’t try denying it’, it seemed to say. Lisa sighed, resignation and a hint of dread waring inside of her. [Mom, master of interrogation, uses questioning. It’s super effective!] Lisa groaned.

She resigned herself to fate. “While Jackie got stitched up. From the tv in Vik’s clinic.”, Lisa mumbled. She held her mom’s inquisitive gaze. Barbara hummed. “How did you..?” Her mom snorted. “Lisa, you started in a boxing stance.” Lisa frowned. “How would that mean anything? It’s not hard to mimic a martial arts stance.” Her mom had an amused expression. “True, but you nailed the footwork too.” Lisa clicked her tongue and sighed. Barbara once again narrowed her eyes, her expression gaining a hint of danger. “Both me and Vik where there. You sneaky little kitten, doing exactly what I told you to…” Lisa tried winding herself out of her mom’s focus, but with her mom standing over her, escape was impossible. No choice but to await judgment, huh… And judgement was swiftly delivered. Barbara crossed her arms and took on a commanding tone. “Young lady, you are grounded.” Lisa couldn’t stop her instinctual reaction of outrage before being able to wonder what exactly being grounded would entail. It wasn’t like she went out a lot anyway. But the exact details weren’t important when she saw the look her mom was giving her. The frustration and disappointment contained in Barbara’s eyes made Lisa’s insides twist into profoundly uncomfortable knots. “…yes, mom.” Barbara took her time studying her daughters rueful expression before she sighed. She stepped away from her looming position above Lisa and offered her a hand. “Come on. Time for round two.”

#-----------------------------

Left foot forward, shift weight, push with back foot. Turn hips, then shoulders and punch. Lisa’s metal arm heavily impacted against her mom’s guard in a straight punch, and was deflected outward, opening Lisa’s stance in preparation for a counterattack, but Lisa didn’t let up. While pulling her arm back she fully shifted her weight forward and kicked toward her mom’s knees with her right leg. Her mom prevented the kick by stepping into the blow, stopping it short and throwing Lisa of balance. Already her mom’s right arm was snaking toward her. Nope! Not gonna get grappled again! Lisa tried putting her weight even farther forward and attempted to push her mom away. It worked, kind of. Barbara smirked and let herself be pushed back, while Lisa stumbled backward. She caught herself quickly and forewent a pause to catch her breath and instead went right back on the attack. She desperately needed a break, but knew she couldn’t afford to stop. One of the first things her mom made her realise, was to never let up. Every time Lisa had tried to gain some distance and regroup, her mom had quickly followed her and Lisa always found herself with her back on the matt in three moves or less. From her unbalanced stance, Lisa strained her muscles to jump into a flying kick toward her mom. Barbara’s grin never left her face as she lifted her guard, but she raised an eyebrow as Lisa’s kick turned out to be a feint. Instead, she stopped her right leg in the midst of the kicks windup and used it to throw her left leg forward mid-flight into a weak flying sidekick, her arms swinging wildly to keep herself balanced. The kick ended up being little more then a tap against her mom’s guard, but it did the job of letting Lisa keep the initiative. Before her mom could catch her leg and counter, Lisa pulled it back and transitioned into a quick jab combo, shifting to her mom’s left, aiming for her liver, solar plexus and throat. Only the punch from her right arm made it partially through her mom’s guard, glancing against her shoulder. Barbara shifted backward and her right leg snapped up into a lightning quick front kick, forcing Lisa away.

Barbara sported a wide smile. “How long has it been? You’ve gotten pretty good!” She was barely out of breath. Lisa braced her arms on her knees and desperately tried to catch her breath. “Hah… hah…” She swallowed hard. “… 12… hah… minutes?... “ Sweat threatened to overflow from her forehead and breach her eyebrows in an attempt to flood her eyes. Lisa tried to swipe it with her forearm but stopped short when she noticed her left arm was just as drenched and her right wouldn’t help much. Her tank top also didn’t offer any help. She huffed in frustration. Her mom came to her rescue with another towel, this time a fresh one. Lisa quickly snatched it and held back the encroaching tide of sweat. She sighed in relief when she ruffled the towel over her hair. Some of it had escaped her ponytail. She wiped down her neck and flesh arm. With a groan, Lisa righted herself. She took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders. Her right shoulder, where her arm transitioned from flesh to metal, felt weird. Damn, of course the connectors would get sore… Lisa hadn’t felt this much dissonance between her arms in a while. Vik had done a superb job, but while her left arm burned and ached and felt as heavy as lead, her right felt perfectly fine. No aches, no pains, just some heat, which was probably more her brain trying compromise her exertion with her arms apparent lack of exhaustion.

Lisa glanced towards her mom, seeing her with her own towel. For a while, both women simply rested. Barbara meticulously towelled her face and arms. Even if she wasn’t out of breath, she had worked up a sweat defending against Lisa’s onslaught. Lisa had taken her time restraining her hair back into her ponytail. “Alright, I think its time we upped the tempo.” Barbara grinned as Lisa’s heart dropped. She sighed. “Do we have to…?” She was still out of breath. “Nu-uh, I can’t be the only one that goes home with a few bruises, blocking your chrome smarts.” Her mom’s grin took on a glint of danger as she rubbed her forearms and wrists. Lisa’s face went blank. Aw, shit. She wouldn’t actually hit me… right…? [I will pray that your soul finds safe travel to the afterlife.] Fuck off, Conny. “321go!” Lisa barely had the time to toss her towel to the side before she had to pedal backwards to avoid a kick to her face. Fu.. There wasn’t any time to think, she had to jump over her mom’s sweeping leg. Before she could even land back on the ground, her mom had already transitioned the leg sweep into a roundhouse kick. Lisa barely had managed to lift her knee and arm in time before the kick crashed into her left side, nearly knocking the wind out of her and actually lifting her through the air for another meter. Completely off-balance, Lisa fell into an awkward roll, trying to recover. She tried to keep her eyes on her mom, only to see a crazy grin spread across her face as she charged. Lisa knew her mom hadn’t chipped a sandi, but damn if it didn’t look like she had one. Lisa forced herself to keep breathing as she tried her best to fend off her feral mother.

#-------------------

Barbara mustered her gasping daughter drawing a sweat angel on the martial arts matt with amusement. Really, d-chip bs doesn’t even begin to describe it. She had to supress a gleeful smirk. She’s gonna be such a menace! Her eyes were drawn to Lisa’s silver hand. The chrome had gotten quite annoying to fend off, at the moment it was the most dangerous part of Lisa in CQC. The rest of her body just wasn’t trained enough, only the untiring metal was able to put up any defence in the end. Usually, this would lead to Lisa becoming heavily dependant on her metal arm and forming bad habits, but… Hah! She can probably unlearn any bad fighting habits in minutes. Barbara circled around her beat daughter. Until her body can keep up… maybe we can enhance her arm… She squatted at Lisa’s left side with a mischievous smirk. Slowly Barbara extended a finger and poked Lisa’s left boob. “Hey, you still alive?”, she asked with an innocent voice. She kept poking. Between gasps for air Lisa scoffed. When her left arm wouldn’t budge from the matt, she brought her right arm over to swat at the offending digit. Barbara suppressed a giggle and relented.

“You know, there are a few upgrades available for your arm. It already packs quite a punch, but wanna try adding claws to it?” Lisa gave an incoherent grunt that could mean anything. Well, maybe something for later. Barbara stood back up. Adding claws to my kitten, I think I’m gonna keep prodding her with that. She went to the side to grab some more towels. Returning to Lisa’s side she gently wiped down her kid’s face for a bit, before sitting down and towelling herself. Glancing upwards, she saw the old lady from the reception trudge up to the matt with a mop and a bucket. Barbara answered her harsh glare with a smile and a nod. The old woman huffed and left the cleaning utensils behind, returning to her eternal vigilance in the reception booth.

#----------------------

Lisa was beat. Absolutely beat. Catching her breath after avoiding being run over by the dervish that was her mom had taken forever. Working up the power to leave her puddle of sweat had taken even longer. She sat on a bench next to the matt, hunched over in an attempt to find a position where her muscles weren’t screaming at her, a water bottle filled with divine dihydrogen-monoxide sat beside her. I need a shower… [Hoh, man! That was so awesome! She sent us flying with that first kick! Low sweep into roundhouse kick, damn, what a combo! And the rapid hits at the end! I didn’t know gently fist was a thing here, that was definitely the 8 trigrams, 64 palms technique!] Lisa didn’t have the energy to respond to Conny’s ramblings. Her mom had held back considerably. The first time she had gotten through Lisa’s defence she had winced reflexively, bracing against the coming pain, but her mom hadn’t put any weight into the punch. Sure, every hit still pushed Lisa around, sometimes tossing her around like a ragdoll, but every blow didn’t feel any heavier than a harsh tap. Lisa took a long gulp from her bottle and sighed. She watched her mom deftly handle a mop to wipe down the martial arts matt and erase the signs of their fight. The rhythmic swipes where hypnotic and Lisa relished how it seemed to sweep away any of her errant thoughts, leaving a satisfying calm. For a while she just watched her mom swipe the matt, clean the mop in a bucket, and keep swiping.

Barbara was halfway done with the matt when Lisa heard footsteps approaching her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the midget, Rebecca, approaching. Lisa sighed and emptied her water bottle. The midget stopped to Lisa’s right, her frown filled with reluctance and annoyance. “Hey, what’s your name.” Her voice wasn’t sharp, but it was still demanding. [Oh! Come on, let’s make friends! Pleeeeaaaase!] Lisa sighed at Conny’s hopeful whining. “Oh piss off, gnome…” There wasn’t any heat in Lisa’s voice, she was too spent to work up any real anger. She haphazardly tossed the empty water bottle in her direction, keeping her eyes on her mother. The throw went short and the bottle clattered against Rebecca’s feet. Rebecca clicked her tongue. “Stupid fuck puppet…”, she mumbled. She turned and left. Lisa glanced at her retreating form. Bitch. [Aaaawww, maaaaan, Liiiiisaa-aaa!] Conny was throwing a tantrum, as if rolling on the floor, fists clenched and waving through the air. Lisa just sighed and rolled her eyes. Her mental disorder quickly faded into the background as she refocused on her mom dutifully pushing the mop back and forth.

#---------------------

MRAOKI: Good afternoon, young Shi. Has there been any development in the search for my daughter?

MSAOKI: We dearly wish for good news.

RAHUL: Good afternoon, Mr. Aoki, Ms. Aoki. I am afraid there has been little development.

RAHUL: The search for Cassandra has stagnated, I have put up a bounty for any information on her fellow abductee, but regrettably, except for the first chance encounter, there has been no progress.

MRAOKI: That is indeed regrettable. It has always been a pleasure working with your father, I had high hopes for you when you came to me with a possible lead.

RAHUL: Unfortunately, the resources I can currently command are limited. I too, wish to make progress in the search, but, without a large increase in funds for a dedicated investigator, there is little more I can currently do.

MRAOKI: Limitation breeds creativity, young Shi. Re-examining options and exploring new avenues may be necessary. Too much time has already passed.

RAHUL: Of course, Mr. Aoki. I will inform you as soon as I have found a new lead.

MSAOKI: We appreciate you coming to us with information on our lost daughter, Rahul. It has been hard not knowing what happened to her. Hopefully you can offer us the closure we desire.

RAHUL: I will fulfill your wish should I find that the worst has come to pass, Ms. Aoki.

MRAOKI: Do so. Good afternoon, young Shi.

RAHUL: Good afternoon, Mr. Aoki, Ms. Aoki.

#--------------------

Lisa watched the traffic from her spot at the front window of Bob’s, leaning her elbows on the table. Clean and dirty cars, banged up and well maintained cars, loud and louder cars, the traffic passed through the cities veins delivering resources, human or otherwise, from one place to another in an intricate dance that perhaps only a true AI had the capabilities to understand. Lisa took a sip from her coffee, the tang of soy milk turning the acidity of the black liquid into a chocolate like flavour and put down the mug with more force then necessary. They had returned from the gym after taking a much needed shower and then had taken another at home. Lisa’s… everything… still felt heavy, but the soreness would really hit her tomorrow. Her mom had dumped her with Jan and went off doing who knows what. God this is boring. I hate being grounded. [Yeah, nothing’s happening! No accidents, no muggings, no drive-bys or police violence! Nothing!] Lisa groaned. Not what I meant. Conny’s voice went all hush-hush and secret-y. [Come on, Lisa, let’s start something! We still need to test the ping bomb don’t we? That homeless person next to the side-alley looks perfect!] Lisa sighed and took another sip from her mug. That’s a Maelstromer peddling drugs and other shit, Conny. Bad target. For a moment there was silence in her mind. A particularly loud truck rumbled past the window. […huh, yeah I don’t see it… Is he really a reputable street vendor…?] Lisa snorted.

A group of gangers walked past the storefront, shoving and heckling each other. Lisa absentmindedly recognized the beansprout from the shooting range. [You know, this isn’t exactly what I’d define as being grounded. This is more like mandatory relaxation time at starbucks with all drinks paid for.] Lisa ignored him. Uh huh. She glanced over at the shops door when the rowdy roughians entered, the sound of traffic barging in with them, before being banished back to the outside. One of them, a woman who perfectly blended ‘hot cyberpunk chick’ and ‘rugged Maelstrom chrome’ into a single style, called out an order over the heckling of her companions, her voice a weird mix of a rich alto and a mechanical synthesizer. “Hey Jan! The order ready yet?” Lisa sighed and looked back into the traffic. “Ah, Helena, you’re here. Give me a moment, I’ll go get it.”, Jan replied and shuffled into the kitchen in the back.

For a moment, there was silence. God I hope I can shoot that Grad soon. That’s gonna be so worth the beatings. Hopefully. A small smile formed on Lisa’s face. No, it’ll definitly be worth it. Aiming down the sights, her target hundreds of meters in the distance. The tension as she lines up the shot, the recoil and the shockwave of the bullet cutting through the air at supersonic speeds washing over her and the world holding its breath in the silence that follows. Her hand moving to chamber the next round… [So, we’re alone with a bunch of probably drugged up half borgs. Any chance things will become less boring?] A cold shiver threatened to run down Lisa’s back. She stopped it in its tracks and squashed it. Oh great, now you start jinxing things. Also, shut up, Conny, street rats can smell fear. She took another sip from her mug. Nobody messes with the enigmatic unknown minding their own business. One of the boys threw himself into the seat to her right. “Hey meat girl, haven’t seen you before.” His voice was grating and hoarse from inhaling too many hits. [Except if they’re horny.] Lisa slowly set down her mug with a low growl. She turned toward the dipshit, deliberately slow, and stared straight into his three red glowing optics. The guy’s cheeks were twitchy and he was tapping his feet. His hands were the only parts of him that didn’t have any obvious chrome and were the only part that wasn’t constantly moving. He was practically vibrating, either from drugs or cyberpsychosis. “Oh, damn! You’re not just a meat girl!” With a jerk he turned back to his group. “Hey Oli! There’s a hot meat girl here!” He jumped up from the stool. “Feck off Clang.”, the shooting range beansprout shot back. The dipshit, Clang, laughed out loud and sneered. “Fucking virgin!” The third guy, a teen with the signature red Maelstrom optics, didn’t react to Clangs heckling, seemingly preoccupied with something only he could see, and Helena simply observed with an unreadable expression. Clang turned back to Lisa.

“Shame you don’t have much chrome, but I’m sure it’ll still be fun! I bet you can do amazing things with that shiny arm!” Lisa started feeling the adrenalin, but kept her indifferent façade. She fully turned toward the group, coffee mug in her right hand and her left leaning back on the table, her hand right by her kenshin. “Clang, stop start’n shit, I like the grub here and I don’ need you gettin’ me banned.” The beansprout, Oli, frowned with his arms crossed before his chest and stared down his twitchy mate that had aggressively turned back towards him.

Jan loudly slammed the door to the kitchen as he returned with a large plastic bag in hand. “What he said. No bothering my patrons in my shop.” His loud voice interrupted the stand off. “Here ya go Helena, seven burgers, one double and with extra fries.” He smiled and handed the bag over. The Mealstrom chick quietly clicked her tongue as if annoyed that her fun was interrupted, but smiled as she paid for the food. Clang was quite upset at being ignored. “Hey you fu…”, “Take yourself something from the fridge on your way out, yeah?” Jan smiled at him, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He shot a glance towards Helena. She huffed in amusement. “Come on, pet, take your treat and we delta.” Clang growled, but eventually stomped over to the fridge with the sodas and beers and took a colourful can of synthetic sugar water, then took another out of spite. After saying their goodbyes, the group left. Lisa sipped more of her coffee and returned to watching the traffic. Clang shot her a glare as he passed by the window. [Damn, I didn’t know the horny was this strong with boys. That’s twice now and the day isn’t even over. Granted, I wasn’t opposed to Pilar, but- wait that came out wrong.] Lisa snorted. I wouldn’t know, gayboy. [Hey!] I don’t usually go prancing around in gang territory., she snarked in her mind. Dipshit though probably didn’t care if I was a meat girl or boy; probably more then half psycho and just wanted to start shit.

Traffic continued to ebb and flow. Eventually, Jan broke the silence with a sigh. “You need more coffee?” Lisa glanced into her mug and hummed. “…Soon.” She stared when a large black truck inscribed with ‘Arasaka’ passed by. “Probably not a good idea to show your face around to much, Lisa.” The adrenalin was back. She froze. Jan continued. “Especially not in front of somebody like Helena. Bitch never stops looking for new toys.” Lisa’s heart was beating madly in her chest. [What! What’s going on?!] I’m Yusuki to him! How does he know my name?! [Oh shit! Wait, we know his name too! What was it? Potter… Peter…] Petrov Fiala. And he has a bounty high enough for mom to consider him backup cash, meaning he’s dangerous! [If mom thinks he’s backup cash he can’t be that dangerous…] How often did I get mom onto the matt this morning?! He’s still dangerous for me! You said yourself that he probably has a liquid thrower, I don’t care if its acid or napalm, I won’t make it to the door! [Oh, we can take him!] Shut up! Keeping her building panic deep within herself, she slowly turned toward Jan and leaned back against the table, keeping herself as relaxed as possible. The man was absentmindedly wiping a mug, but was otherwise just watching her, looking for any reaction.

For a few seconds they simply stared at each other, Jans easy smile nowhere to be seen and with Lisa desperately wishing she could read his mind. Lisa almost flinched when Jan put down the mug and picked up another. I need more information! “You’ll have to be more specific than that.”, Lisa said, voice calm and steady. Jan loosened his jaw a bit and looked down at the mug he was polishing. “The ‘strom chick, Helena.” He paused. “The three kids are her toys. She nabs them, chromes them out and watches them struggle with cyberpsychosis. Takes pleasure in crushing their spirit.” He looked back at her. “Well, maybe it’s more like entices them. If she knew of your bounty you would probably be quite interesting to her, even if she usually goes for boys.” Bounty! Bounty? I have a bounty? Is that how he knows? Lisa kept her expression neutral. She took a moment to consider what to do next. [Drop his name! Turn the tables, see how he likes it!] No… not yet, I still need more info… “Which bounty?” [Which? Not what?] No, you idiot, I won’t admit being ignorant! Lisa caught Jan freezing for a moment. He raised a questioning eyebrow. “… Which bounty…?” They stared at each other for a moment. “Which bounty.”, Lisa confirmed. She slowly took a sip from her mug, keeping eye contact. Her heart was still beating wildly in her chest, but the worst had passed. Jan spent some time polishing his own mug. Lisa’s apparent calm was starting to unnerve him. He had called her out, dropped her real name, she should be spooked, or at least apprehensive. Why was she this calm?

He relented. “The one that offers a k for info and double that for… delivery.” He added gravity to his last word, looking for any change in Lisa’s expression. A tiny sliver of disgust twitched across her face. “Ah.” Lisa’s voice was flat, almost bored. So somebody put out a bounty for me but doesn’t want me dead… “Got trouble with debt, girly?”, Jan prodded with a teasing smile. Yeah, that’s what it sounds like. Lisa didn’t react. [But there isn’t anybody we ow anything?] “Of course you…”, she gestured toward him with her mug, “don’t intend to snitch, do you?” She went for another slow sip. Leaning with her elbows on the table behind her, she shifted a bit and slowly and deliberately crossed her legs. Please don’t say anything like ‘for a price’ with a disgusting grin, I like your food quite a bit. [Maybe tone down the seduction a bit then?] Hey, I’m winging it here, gayboy, I’m using whatever I can to not get covered in chemicals! Doesn’t mean I have to like it! Shut up so I can concentrate! Lisa felt control of the situation return to her. Jan’s face went through a few expressions. First, confusion, then disbelief with a sliver of disgust, after which his face settled in a frown with narrowed eyes and caution written all over him. “Nah, it’d be nice but I’m not that desperate as to throw a kid to the wolves.”, he gave a short laugh. “Besides, your mom would kill me.” Lisa didn’t laugh with him. She answered, her voice flat and face still neutral. “Correct answer. Mom would kill you.” Jan’s chuckle stopped immediately, and his smile vanished. See Conny, this is the moment you drop his name for maximum effect. [Yes, yes, corpo education for the win. Perfect use of all the ‘How to fuck with people’ classes.] Conny sounded resigned and annoyed. ‘Society and human psychology’, actually. It was an electable seminar. [So why didn’t you name drop him?] Lisa made sure to keep staring at him. Slowly she uncrossed her legs, watching Jan’s shoulders tense, the older man now clearly uncomfortable. Making sure her aching legs didn’t tremble, she slid off her stool and took two measured steps up to the counter. She saw him working his jaw and had to stop herself from taking cover. The larger man shifted backwards. …I think it’ll be more fun to keep him guessing. And I don’t want him to spit chemicals on me. “That’s right, Jan. Nobody likes snitches. I’m sure you can… sympathise.” She made sure to keep staring him down. “Right?” She let him stew for a moment longer. He flinched when Lisa placed her now empty mug on the counter. “Make Yusuki another coffee, would you?” She turned to return back to her window spot but stopped herself halfway to look back at the man, who was still trying to make sense of the situation. She tilted her head and gave a small smile. “Please.”

#--------------------

LISA: Jan knows my name. Somebody is searching for me and put out a bounty. 1k for info and apparently double that for delivery.

LISA: I’m fine. He said he doesn’t like throwing kids to the wolves and joked that you would kill him, which I told him you would. That seemed to handle him.

BARB: I see.

LISA: You think we should delta?

BARB: Any idea who put out the bounty?

MRBLACK_DESTROYEROFWORLDS_TICKLEROFBABIES: Probably something to do with the old classmate we met at Lizzy’s!

BARB: Hi Conrad?

KITTEN: Yeah… Lizzy’s makes sense. We did have the tail afterward.

LISA: Don't change my nickname, Conny!

BARB: A bounty for info would be an appropriate escalation from being tailed, yeah…

BARB: But if it’s really them, I doubt you’re the only target.

LISA: You think they want to get to you through me?

BARB: It would make sense as a way to clean up a loose end without making to much fuss and alerting other corps. Search for you and send a corpo hitsquad to get what they can.

BARB: But that would also mean that the group we met is the one doing the investigating. The scale fits well for some kind of test for a fresh graduate or something like that, with his parents backing him. Otherwise, ‘Saka would just set up their own operation, not post a public bounty. Assuming it even is them.

LISA: It probably is. I don’t know when this bounty was posted or who the guarantor is, but it fits timing wise.

BARB: Either way, I should assume Arasaka knows I’m still alive…

ISTHEREACHARACTERLIMITORCANYOUJUSTKEEPMAKINGTHENAMELONGERANDLONGE: Heeelloooo?! We got a tail right after meeting them? And it was one of the little shits of that group following us? And Hanna was looking reeaaaaally needy? Yeah, it’s from them.

BARB: Anyway, I’ll need to find more info on the bounty. For now it’s probably better to stay rather then delta, if Jan really won’t cash in then Bob’s is better than running and potentially tipping off other unknowns.

BARB: But if I don’t find deets for the bounty in two days, we leave.

LISA: You probably want to have a talk with Jan then. You worked great as detergent, but that could use some reinforcement.

BARB: I’ll make sure to speak with him, alone.

IAMSOGONNAGIVELISACATEARS_EVERYONEWILLHAVECATEARS: Oh-lalaaa!

LISA: I didn’t tell him I know he has a bounty of his own, only made some hints. Didn’t want him to spit on me.

BARB: Right, the dragon’s throat.

CATEARSCATEARSCATEARSCATEARS: Makes for hot kisses!

BARB: Stay safe, kitten.

LISA: Yeah, yeah, I’m working on that.

#---------------

Welcome back everyone! So, I've noticed that I defaulted to 'somebody sexually harassing Lisa' as the initiator for most of the more action packed encounters so far... which, admittedly, kind of make sense in universe and is consequently really easy, but it's starting to grow stale and annoying... Anyway, thoughts on the meeting with part of the edgerunner cast? I have to admit, I kind of bailed on writing any kind of characteristics for Pilar. In my defence, there really isn't much to go on from the anime since he dies in episode four, so I'll just have to make something up. Or just take the easy route, change my mind and kill him off. Maybe Lisa can keep her promise to blow his head off next time he's a creep? xD Just kidding, I have an idea for a 'falling out' with the edgerunner crew in mind that needs him. Now I just gotta find out how to make something that can be fallen out from. Which leads me to Sasha, the edgerunner character that only appears in the end credits. She dies in a very cyberpunk way, sacrificing herself to bring justice, personal and altruistic, to a greedy corporation. And I am going to stop myself right here and add the rant about Sasha to the teaser chapter after this one. Suffice to say, Sasha will stay dead and Kiwi will stay in the game. Probably.

Concerning more varied character perspectives, I've set myself up for an easy introspection of V, so that's gonna be the first thing... next chapter.

Also, mech battles! I hear you! Funny how both 'Cyber Dreams' and 'Ghost in the City' now both feature some form of mech, the first with a suit of power armor and the second with a Minotaur. I approve! :D

Leave a comment what you thought about Lisa intimmidating Jan, I was thinking the shift in initiative from Jan to Lisa just comes out of nowhere, but maybe that's just me.

Cheers, and I hope you're all having a good start into 2024 :)

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Edits/Corrections:

was the most dangerous part of Lisa in CQC, every hit she had blocked still smarted. ->was the most dangerous part of Lisa in CQC.