"There are a few reasons," rcer said with earnest gravity.
"First, you’re good-looking. Just seeing you cheers up, man. Panam, why are you rolling your eyes? You think I asked you to drive instead of Mitch or Scorpion for no reason?"
rcer spoke with unshakable confidence under Panam’s exasperated gaze. "Just look at V’s face, her figure... even the dolls at Clouds couldn’t replicate this vibe for less than 100k eddies, let alone the fact that V’s all natural."
After all, he’d spent a good half-hour comparing data to create her. Truth be told, he really did like what he’d made.
"Fine, what’s the second reason?" Panam shot him a look of mild disgust. This kid’s got a big mouth for soone who’s barely grown any fuzz. What’s he gonna be like when he’s actually an adult?
rcer chuckled, turning to V, who didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed, and continued, "Second, your potential."
"You might not see it yourself, but who am I? At a glance, I can tell your attributes are definitely not low. Reflexes gotta be at least seventeen, and your physical potential is probably terrifyingly high."
"What you’re lacking is experience and cyberware... just get you a Sandevistan, and you could wipe out ninety percent of the rcs in this bar."
"Third... well, I can’t say. Got so special little secrets. Can’t reveal everything just yet."
After he finished, V felt pretty flattered, but upon closer thought, he still hadn’t explained why he’d sought her out directly.
She turned it over in her mind but could only conclude that this horny little runt had taken a liking to her face and tracked her down online?
Well, it made sense. Since she was thirteen, plenty of folks in Heywood had wanted to date her, but she wasn’t just anyone’s type.
Beyond that, V really couldn’t figure out what was so special about her that he’d notice.
It couldn’t be that I’m actually so kind of genius, could it?
rcer didn’t pressure her to decide imdiately. "Think it over when you get back. But I gotta say this upfront so you don’t think I’m setting you up."
"V, to this city, I’m still a newcor. Even though I think I’m skilled enough, damn capable, honestly? Here, only the living geniuses are the real geniuses."
"I’m not like those small-tirs who pull petty jobs just to live in mansions and drive fancy cars. I’ve got big ambitions, a lot to do. I want to beco a true legend in this city!"
"So, rolling with ans saying goodbye to any ordinary life. From here on out, you’ll only face enemies far more terrifying and powerful than that Fenrir."
"Even I can’t guarantee that everyone who works with will retire with all their original parts... Hell, I’m not even sure about my own future."
"But no matter what, even if I die, I’ll go out like Bartmoss... turning this world upside down."
"V, go ho and think it over. Give your answer later. Whether you join or not, we can still be friends."
"A nobody or a legend?"
"V, what do you think?"
rcer’s sincere tone and the boldness in his words left V montarily speechless. After a pause, she replied hesitantly, "A... I need to go back and think this over carefully."
"No problem."
rcer responded, then promptly transferred 2,000 eddies to her.
"What’s this for?" V was caught off guard. Trying to bribe with money? That’s way too direct!
"Go pay your rent first. I’ll deduct it from your pay after the job’s done." rcer made no attempt to hide the fact that he’d already dug up all her details.
V hesitated for a mont but eventually nodded. "Alright, thanks, A."
"Call rcer if you prefer... whichever you like."
With that, rcer stood up decisively. "Let’s call it a day then. I’ll contact you once I have intel on the mission."
"Sure thing, I won’t let you down."
V spoke earnestly, "A, thanks. I... I really need this money right now."
Without those 2,000 eddies, she was genuinely worried she’d be kicked out by her landlord before rcer even gave her a job.
rcer just smiled. "Like I said, even if we don’t end up working together, I like your style. Consider us friends... just give a shout if you need anything."
V nodded firmly. "Alright, man, I’ll rember that."
She stood up with streetwise flair, reached out her hand, and gave rcer a shoulder bump before downing the rest of her drink. "I’ll head back and wait for your ssage then."
"Mhm." rcer said, "Want to try a Johnny Silverhand?"
V was taken aback, while Panam shot rcer a look of disgust... this guy still hadn’t given up. After failing to trick her, now he was trying to get V to suffer too.
"What’s a Johnny Silverhand?" V asked, confused.
"It’s a drink, nad after a legendary rc called Johnny Silverhand. His favorite at the Afterlife."
As rcer finished, V noticed Panam’s expression.
"Uh, I’ve actually heard of him. What’s in the drink?"
She asked cautiously.
"Tequila Old Fashioned, beer, and chili peppers," Claire explained briefly.
V shook her head decisively. "Nah, I don’t think I’d like it."
rcer put on a regretful expression and shook his head. "Alright then. Need a ride?"
"No, I drove here. It’s a piece of junk, but it runs." V smiled and was the first to leave, looking sowhat preoccupied.
Seed like she was really tempted by rcer’s partnership proposal.
Panam stayed seated at the bar, waiting until V was gone before remarking sarcastically, "Stop staring, she’s already left. Not bad, huh? I think that girl’s hooked... probably gonna get scamd into joining your crew."
"Why does that sound so wrong coming from you?" rcer teased, glancing at her. "It’s not like I’m tricking her into bed. Recruiting a partner... can you really call that a scam?"
"Fine, you win." Panam spoke bluntly, "But I still think you’ve got ulterior motives."
rcer shot her a sidelong glance without hesitation. "Then do you think my motives for hiring you to drive were pure?"
Panam looked disgusted. "Don’t even start... I’m not into that creepy stuff."
"Hah." rcer laughed lightly. "Panam, let ask you... do you think V has what it takes?"
"Reckless as hell, but she’s skilled. Even I almost couldn’t keep up with her reactions earlier."
Panam was being honest, but then she glared at rcer and suddenly flared up: "What was that about pushing away earlier?"
"Why are you mad at ? I saved your life, Panam."
rcer glared back, matching her temper: "You should be thanking !"
"Screw you, you think I needed saving? Next ti, you stay the hell back, got it?"
Panam stared him down defiantly: "If you hadn’t pushed , I’d have already drawn my gun halfway."
"And then you’d fire one shot, miss, and get chopped by his blade?" rcer never minced words.
"You hired to take that hit for you. If you want hiding when things go down, why’d you even bring ?" Panam stood her ground.
"Why are you so damn stubborn? Was it even ti for you to take a hit?"
rcer was even more forceful, slamming the table: "I brought you here to drive, not to die for ."
"I—" Panam didn’t finish.
Claire quickly cut in: "What’s with you two? A, don’t pretend you don’t know what she really ans... she’s pissed she couldn’t protect you."
"That’s no reason to take it out on . What did I do to her? I save her, and I get yelled at? Since when does that make sense?"
As rcer spoke, Panam fell silent this ti, just turning away and taking a couple gulps of beer.
After a long mont, she finally turned back: "...Sorry."
"Alright, I get it."
But rcer was still grumpy: "Next ti you pull this kind of nonsense, I’m not holding back."
Panam didn’t reply, muttering under her breath after a while: "Lucy wasn’t wrong about you... you really are born to be a leader. When you get fierce, you’re just like Saul."
"Like I needed you to tell ... Let’s go. No more drinking, or I’ll have to drive you. And thanks, Claire."
rcer rolled his eyes at Panam, then thanked Claire.
"No problem... But next ti you co for a drink, try to keep it less exciting." Claire nodded with a helpless smile.
Panam set down her bottle, nodded, and bid farewell to Claire too. rcer had already paid earlier. As the two walked to the parking spot and got into the car, Panam fell silent again, not starting the engine.
After a mont, she turned to look at rcer and said seriously: "Thank you, rcer. I just... got suddenly angry earlier."
"Hmph." rcer hadn’t taken off his mask, so his expression was unreadable.
Panam sighed and apologized earnestly:
"I just... in that mont, it hit how scared I was. If V hadn’t taken that shot, if you hadn’t hacked that guy’s cyberware in ti, if that shot hadn’t killed Fenrir...
I would’ve had to watch you die right in front of .
I know you always see yourself as the leader... but to , you’re still a kid.
I was mad at myself.
I’ve never been through sothing like that before. When I saw him move, my mind just went blank.
Ugh, anyway..."
Panam scratched her head, unable to find the right words. Even she felt her sudden anger had been unreasonable.
"I know."
But rcer had pretty much pieced together her thoughts.
He took off his mask and rubbed his face: "Alright, no need to apologize. I know why you lost it earlier."
Although Panam was a bit upset, upon reflection she couldn’t find a legitimate reason for her anger, so she stayed quiet and listened obediently.
"It’s because deep down you still see as a child. When danger arose and you discovered I didn’t run away but instead moved forward proactively, you felt compelled to assert your adult authority to lecture .
Your initial lack of reaction was due to the overwhelming intensity of the situation... you needed ti to process. Once you recovered, you realized you hadn’t contributed anything this ti.
Then you beca angry with yourself, and when I initiated conversation, that frustration got redirected at .
I understand, but Panam, we can’t have this happening again."
rcer looked at her with earnest concern. "And you need to stop viewing as a child. That way, similar situations won’t occur again."
Panam thought it over carefully and realized he was right. If Scorpion or Mitch had pulled her to safety earlier, she would have simply thanked them properly. So why had she suddenly lost her temper with rcer?
Wasn’t it precisely because she considered him just a kid who should stay back when danger appeared? Wasn’t confronting threats supposed to be the adult’s responsibility?
Compounded by her embarrassnt at being useless during the crisis and needing rescue from rcer, so inexplicable sense of wounded pride made her want to lecture him about proper crisis response.
But what qualifications did she have to educate him?
Not only had he managed to escape Arasaka with his entire family, but within just one day he’d found the reliable ripperdoc Viktor.
He’d also connected with Night City’s most formidable fixer Rogue and gained entry to the Afterlife bar that countless rcenaries never set foot in their entire careers.
Along the way, he’d even helped V take down a fully-chrod cyberpsycho.
He’d completely won over V... who turned out to be surprisingly competent... so thoroughly that she’d probably join his crew officially once rcer assigned her first job.
Item by item, she couldn’t comprehend how he’d accomplished all this. Now that she really considered it, even setting aside the netrunning skills she didn’t understand, he was genuinely extraordinary.
Panam bit her lip, remaining silent for a long mont before finally scratching her head and repeating: "I’m sorry."
She felt utterly embarrassed... an eighteen-year-old adult being schooled by soone who was basically still a child at thirteen or fourteen. It was...
"Enough, let’s drop it. I know you ant well."
rcer gave her an way out, then glanced at her and smiled. "What? You’re not expecting to apologize too, are you? For saying I only hired you as my driver?
But that’s honestly what I thought. On this trip, I never asked you to be my bodyguard.
The fact that you stood by firmly no matter what happened today... I’m already grateful for that. You really didn’t need to do anything beyond that.
So? How about officially joining my crew? Then I’ll never say you’re just a driver again."
Panam turned away like a petulant little girl. "I’m not... Just don’t tell the others about this when we get back. It’s too embarrassing."
"Understood." rcer shook his head with a smile... this girl truly had no ulterior motives or malice, just frighteningly straightforward, always speaking whatever ca to mind.
"Let’s drive. I need to test my netrunner station when we get back... finally able to start deep diving.
Still need to find us a place in Night City that can accommodate our whole family too. No idea how much it’ll cost... Ugh."
rcer finished speaking and fastened his seatbelt as Panam stepped on the accelerator, pulling the car out into the traffic.
The car drove steadily through the neon-lit streams of Night City. Panam felt a bit embarrassed and didn’t know what to say, while rcer, sowhat tired, simply turned on the radio to listen to so music.
Listening to the songs, he quietly enjoyed the feeling of moving through Night City, staring blankly at this city that had grown so dazzlingly beautiful over the buried flesh and blood of countless souls. Even now, he still didn’t quite feel it was real... as if he were still drifting.
A sense of belonging... truthfully, he didn’t have much of that.
To this day, he’d occasionally have the illusion that he was still just playing a ga, and when it ended, he’d wake up back in that mundane, despair-filled daily life of his.
rcer tilted his head against the car window, thinking carefully: Perhaps to the people here, his past life was practically heaven.
There was a stable social environnt... no need to worry about being taken out by a stray bullet while walking down the street, or that a bar argunt might suddenly escalate into a murderous frenzy.
The food might not have been high-class, but at least it was proper beef, lamb, chicken, and fresh vegetables.
There was clean water, a safe place to sleep, and the possibility of finding a stable job.
Even though everyone cursed corporations as assholes, at least the capital in the real world hadn’t evolved to the point where having only five days of vacation a year would be considered a blessing.
rcer felt a little hosick, but not really... as he gazed at the flickering neon lights and traffic outside, he couldn’t help but feel he’d truly gone mad.
The near-death experience of almost being shredded by a cyberpsycho was still fresh in his mind, yet he was already reminiscing and looking forward to the next thrilling encounter.
Maybe it was precisely because he’d always yearned for an extraordinary, unusual life that he’d chosen that option in the ga before crossing over?
rcer cracked the window open slightly, and Night City’s uniquely faint, foul-slling air drifted in.
It was funny... the scent of Panam in the car felt sowhat unreal to him, but this stench instantly grounded him, making him feel he was truly in Night City.
He reached his hand out, feeling the shape of the air in his palm, and without realizing it, a faint smile touched his lips.
"What are you doing?"
Panam glanced at him, his youthful face turned toward the window as he reached out to feel the wind, and she couldn’t help but purse her lips. Though he had a young face, the expression didn’t seem like one a child would make.
It felt like he was sowhat relieved, yet sowhat lancholic.
"You know, at sixty kiloters per hour, the wind feels like a D-cup."
rcer’s tone was almost poetic.
Panam couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing: "Damn! rcer, you little..."
rcer just curled his lips into a smirk and turned to look at her. "Do you know where Johnny Silverhand was when Arasaka Tower exploded?"
"Huh? Why bring that up all of a sudden... No idea, where was he?"
Panam shook her head.
"Him? He was everywhere! Hahaha!"
rcer laughed heartily at his own joke.
Panam was stunned for a mont before she caught on and joined in the laughter, completely dispelling the earlier awkwardness.
rcer closed the car window and leaned back inside, chatting playfully with her until the vehicle ca to a stop. She caught sight of Lucy sitting at the camp entrance, staring blankly at the stars, and the conversation halted.
"Hey, soone’s waiting for you to co ho, huh?"
She had ant to tease rcer, knowing that just as he disliked being treated like a child, he also wasn’t fond of jokes about his relationship with Lucy. He always saw himself as a mature adult, so he found such teasing with a young girl rather creepy.
But others didn’t care about that... the more awkward he got, the more amusing it was to see that serious adult expression on his young face.
However, to Panam’s surprise, rcer’s expression suddenly shifted into sothing complex and unreadable.
Panam didn’t understand what that look ant, only that rcer paused for two seconds before suddenly breaking into a relieved smile.
"Yeah, soone’s waiting for to co back. That’s really nice."
He pushed the door open, and Lucy, sitting on a plastic crate at the edge of the camp, turned her gaze toward him. Her cool expression under her short hair softened into a faint smile.
"You’re back late. Did everything go smoothly?"
Lucy asked, slowly standing up and eyeing his new look. "You dyed your hair black and changed clothes. Looks good... suits you well."
"Mhm~ I bought new clothes for you too. Wanna take a look?"
He grinned, opening Panam’s trunk. Lucy walked over to his side, hands behind her back, leaning slightly to peer at the assortnt of items inside.
Lucy complained lightly, "You should save your money. Zetatech sent so stuff over today... where did you get so much cash?"
"Thanks to our Arasaka agent friend’s generous sponsorship. Since you’re here, help carry these in. I’ll tell you all about the exciting stuff that happened today... and there was a lot."
rcer just laughed and shoved the items into her arms. Lucy frowned, struggling to hold several large bags, weighed down so much she could barely walk. "Ugh, I shouldn’t have co out."
Even so, she trudged along beside rcer, wobbling like a little penguin under the weight of all the packages.
Panam stood by the car, arms crossed, and after a mont, chuckled and shook her head. If she couldn’t figure it out, she wouldn’t dwell on it... rcer seed happy enough now.
She lent a hand too, picking up the miscellaneous things rcer had bought while shopping.
"Wait, when did you buy so many BDs? Sailor Moon? Wow, you watch this stuff?"
Panam laughed and followed them.
rcer turned back, giving her an exasperated look. "They’re for Kyoko."
"Really?" Lucy giggled softly. "Don’t worry, no one will disturb you this ti when you watch them."
"Shut up," rcer retorted with a laugh, heading deeper into the camp.
The wilderness stars remained bright, like reflections of Night City’s neon lights.
rcer’s first official day in Night City had co to an end.
But his story in Night City had only just begun.
--------
Bonus Chapter @1800 power stones
Reviews
All reviews (0)