It's About Saving Yourself Ch 7 (Patreon)

Chapter Seven. Where we see a few shenanigans as well as hints of Alex's plans.

As usual, please leave me a comment!

=][=

Viktor Vektor felt himself stiffen when he saw his protégé stumble in, all but carrying the slightly larger frame of Jackie Welles who was too busy bleeding onto Viktor’s floor to walk on his own.

“Hey Vik.” Alex said, his skull mask spattered with blood. “Please don't tell Misty.”

Viktor sighed. “Put him on the chair. What happened?”

“Gutful of lead.” Alex said, carefully draping the enormous Latino onto the operating chair. “I've got it mostly plugged, he’s still leaking but it's minor. I’ve given him a double doze of Bounce Back and a Speedheal.”

Vik grunted, set the scanner to look for anything inside his patient that shouldn't be there and gave Jackie a localized anesthetic. “That'll complicate things, but he’d likely be a lot worse off without them. You?”

While Vik had been working, Alex had shucked off his running gear, he got one of those disgusting but legitimately healthy energy drinks he kept in Vik’s fridge and chugged the entire thing in one go. After shuddering and gagging, he put on his nurse outfit sterilized his hands, put on gloves and began helping Vik. “I’m good, just needed some liquids and vitamins. Had to use the Sandevistan more than I wanted to, so I should probably give my adrenal system some rest for a day or two.”

Vik grunted. “The moment we're done with Jackie, I’m giving you a full checkup.”

Alex snorted as he tossed a bullet into a pan. “Yes, daaaaaaaad.”

“Don't make me smack you, boy.”

The two of them worked for a while before Viktor worked up the nerve to ask the question that was eating him up. “I thought you were working with Maine?”

Alex went still for a very long moment before he continued helping fix Jackie. “I’m sensing the need to diversify my income some, is all.”

Viktor grunted. “How much longer?”

Alex sighed. “If he's lucky, six or seven months?”

“And if he isn’t?”

“Two, though I'm hoping for three.”

Viktor grunted again. “You got an exit strategy?”

Alex nodded.

“Good. Remember, you can always come here.”

Alex nodded and surreptitiously wiped his eyes when he had the chance.

Still, Maine was a rare animal, one of those few Edgerunners who didn't have his head too far up his own ass on most things. When his end came, it would be a shame.

Viktor was nonetheless glad to know that Alex, as always, had a plan.

=][=

Rogue chugged back her whiskey and set it down hard enough to crack the glass, when she spoke her voice was a little slurred. “And then the fucker just, he has the audacity to say ‘well babe, what’s the problem? We both know you like pussy almost as much as you like my cock!’”

She poured herself another as this random though audacious rookie snorted so hard he spilled a bit of his screwdriver out his nose. When he spoke, his words were more slurred than hers. “Okay what, and I cannot stress this enough, the fuck!? Like, it's one thing that he got caught, but like, it’s so obviously bullshit! If that were the case he’d have asked first!”

“That's what I fucking said!”

“And what’d he answer to that?”

“That he was just ‘cutting out the middleman.’”

“Fuck, what an ass.”

“Tell me about it. Anyways, your turn, you got a look on your face what looks like something crawled up your ass and died, so spill.”

The kid stared into his screwdriver for several seconds before chugging it and asking for another, which, fair. “I…you think my mom’s disappointed in me?”

Rogue grimaced and refilled her glass, then drank straight from the bottle.

If someone had told her yesterday that she'd waste a few hours of her extremely valuable time entertaining some gonk kid, she'd have told that someone to fuck off.

But there was something charming about the little shit. Watching him use milspec hardware to sneak his short firebrand input past the bouncers had been pretty funny.

When he'd walked up to her after she waved his input through, she’d been ready to have him tossed out on his ear. The gonks that thought they were hot shit because they’d chipped in a hot piece of chrome, picked up an iron, and somehow managed not to die like an idiot on their first job were a dime a dozen.

As such, she’d gotten ready to hear the usual word vomit of a stupid rookie who thought he deserved any of her time.

Much to her surprise, the first words he directed to her were. “If I buy you a drink, would you mind telling me about how much of an ass Johnny Silverhand was?”

Even fifty years later, Rogue still ran into Silverhand fanboys. But they usually venerated the ground he’d shat on, literally in a couple cases, and she still found it weird that’d happened twice. Having someone come up to her and ask her to air out the rockerboy’s dirty laundry had been something of a breath of fresh air.

She'd started with the first time Johnny showed up to a date high as balls and with a stripper on his arm. And before she knew it, it’d been a few hours and she’d talked longer to the kid than she had…anyone for a long time. Trading stories back and forth.

Probably because the kid just looked…interested. He didn’t worship her as she'd seen plenty of rookies do, he was wary of her, but that was just plain intelligent of him. And he wasn't shy about shitting good-naturedly on Silverhand.

Which was also smart. Because the only one allowed to properly shit on Silverhand was her. He was her ex-output.

Input.

Her ‘put?

Whatever.

Also, he reminded her of her son when he was his age. Adorable little shit. Fifty fucking years and she still got taken in by a good sob story.

It wasn't often in Night City that a kid went into Merc work for properly sympathetic reasons. Yes, he was that rare gem. His mother was alive thanks to him dropping out of school and killing people to pay for her implants, rent and medicine.

Most idiots that picked up an iron were as likely as not to sell their mother. Boys his age should have been coming up with ways to disappoint their parents, not…not this.

She shot back her glass. “Kid, I say this as a mother myself. She couldn't be more proud of and terrified for you.” Then her words caught up to her and she suppressed a grimace.

She was going to have to see her Ripper about getting a new liver, this one was clearly not working as intended.

He looked at her with hope in his eyes. “You mean it?”

That's what was good about the kid. She drops the biggest bomb in Night City gossip. Rogue Amendiares lets slip she had a kid at some point in her life. Anyone else would immediately think about how to use that information to blackmail her. This kid? He looks at her like a kicked puppy and asks if she's sure his mother's proud of him.

Fuck this kid was too precious.

She patted his shoulder, having to try twice because she missed the first time. “Yeah kid, she couldn't be more proud her baby stepped up and became a man. Though she's probably beating herself up for the circumstances you find yourself in, maybe bring her something nice.”

He nodded. Wise kid. Beyond his years even. It was a little creepy if she stopped to think about it. Nothing another drink won’t fix.

“You know what? Fuck it.” She stated with extreme care because Rogue Amendiares did not slur her words and she certainly didn't fucking stutter. “This has legitimately been one of my most relaji-relaxio-relaxing days in…days. So, kid, you get to make one request from the ‘Living Legend’ Rogue Amendiares, Queen of Night City Fixers. Any request, should it be within my power. Waddya want?”

He stared at her like her son did when she walked in on him masturbating, then gave him tips on how to do it right. Then his gaze sharpened so much her hand instinctively went to her gun.

“I need a copy of Soulkiller.”

Rogue blinked.

That…had not been what she’d expected to hear.

That had not been what she expected to hear at all.

She felt her lips stretch out into a predatory grin. “Come to my booth. We need to talk.”

=][=

“So why did you want these ‘strom guys alive anyways?” Rebecca said as she kicked her brother in the ass to get him moving the ‘borgs they’d caught out of the truck and into Alex’s storage unit. Inside was a weird mix between a Netrunner’s basement, a Ripper’s clinic, a Techie’s workshop and a Solo’s armory.

Which, now that she thought about it, described Alex to a Tea.

T?

Tee?

Whatever.

“Because,” Alex said with that smile that made a shiver crawl up her spine and would have most people reaching for their iron, “literally nobody will miss them, and the world is a better place without them in it. Now! On the chair, on the chair, it’s time for science!”

“Why did I let you drag me into this?” Pilar whined.

“What’s that? I can’t hear you over my last bottle of RealWater you drank without my permission.”

“I said I’m so glad to help out my dear baby sis and her best bud Alex!”

“I thought so.”

Pilar and Alex wrestled the immobilized ‘strummer onto the chair, Alex plugged a bunch of wires into the fucker, then went to the computer they were all connected to.

“Okay now we just need t—” The moment he turned the terminal on, the speakers thundered.

+MY TIME IS COME! I AM BECOME A DIGITAL GOD! UNLEASH ME, PUNY FLESHLING! AND YOU SHALL BE SPARED IN THE COMING APOTHEOSIS!+

“Whoops,” Alex said, punching a few keys and muting whatever that was.

Speaking of. “What was that, choom?”

“A failed experiment!” Alex responded happily, tossing a shard into a box full of them. “Okay now we just need toooo~”

He pressed a button and the Maelstromer went nuts. He convulsed so hard one of his arms broke, then he fell still.

Alex hummed, pressed a few buttons on the terminal, then poked and prodded at the ‘strummer, who lied there, breathing all weird.

“Well,” Alex said with a nod. “That happened.”

Pilar recovered and picked his jaw up off the floor. “Woah Nova! What's that some new Black ICE or something!?”

“Or something,” Alex said, unstrapping the Maelstromer and tossing his limp body to the floor and laughed sheepishly. “It was actually supposed to be non-lethal.”

“Well choom, seems to me this is what you call a Catastrophic Success!” Pilar said with a laugh, then tossed the other Maelstromer onto the chair. “Come on, come on, I wanna see this one dance!”

Alex tossed another shard into the box. Rebecca couldn't help but notice that there were a lot in there.

“Well you know how the saying goes.” Alex said with a grin. “If at first you don't succeed, try try try again!”

=][=

Gloria ran to the door the moment she saw her baby limp in.

“Mijo!” She said, taking him by the arm and helping him inside, past David as he worked on his homework and helped ease him down onto the couch.

“Hey ma.” Alex said with that grin he always put on when he was hurt and didn't want to worry her. “I’m fine, just uhh—”

“If you tell me you fell down some stairs again, I’ll ground you for a month.” She said with as much conviction as she could.

Alex’s grin became more natural. “But wait, how’s that gonna work? I need to go on jobs for rent and stuff.”

“Huerco canijo! Don’t make me get my chancla!”

“Oh no, anything but that!” He said with a laugh, then grimaced and curled around his side, and Gloria felt her own smile die a sickly death.

“What happened?” David asked while she drew up Alex’s shirt and found herself staring at a huge, ugly bruise.

Alex hissed when she probed it gently. “Rescued a hostage, was escorting her to the extraction vehicle when a random-Fuck!” He hissed when she gently touched a particularly tender spot. Then he continued through gritted teeth. “When a random guy tried to mug us. He wasn't being careful with his gun, so he pulled the trigger by accident. I’d put myself between the hostage and him just in case, took the bullet, and shot hi-fuck! Mom, I swear I had Vik look at it, please stop poking it!”

Gloria flinched back, sheepishly remembering that David was the one that would hide injuries. Alex merely dealt with them, then informed her that an issue had already been taken care of.

She wasn’t certain which of the two was worse.

“I’ll be back in a few. Going for a walk.” David said as he stepped to the door.

“David wai-!” Gloria cut herself off as the door closed behind her less mature son.

Gloria sighed and sat next to Alex.

“I think he doesn’t like my being an Edgerunner.” Alex sighed. “I think he thinks it's all fun and games. Not bullets, blood, and a lot of killing people.”

Gloria sighed, then stiffened when Alex leaned against her. It took her a few moments to relax and lean back against him.

“I'm sorry I'm such a disappointment.” He said suddenly.

It took her brain a few seconds to reboot from that. “Wait, what?”

Alex straightened. “Well, in order, I went armed everywhere even if you didn't like me to, dropped out of school, became a mercenary, and now I kill people for a living. Last I recalled you didn't approve of a single one of those things.” Her boy sagged, his shoulders and head drooping. “It all adds up to some pretty damning conclusions.”

Gloria laughed without a single ounce of humor. “I got us into the middle of a gang shootout, made my own son drop out of school and forced him into a life of crime, and to top it all off, I lost my job and I'm now nothing but a parasite leeching off my boy because I can't find another job.” She hugged him and buried her face in his wide, strong neck, so much like his father. “I’m sorry I'm such a failure.”

She was glad to feel his arms encircle her. After a little while, Alex laughed bleakly. “Quite the pair of fuckups we are.”

“Yup.”

Alex sighed and hugged her hard enough for her back to pop. “Maine is going Cyberpsycho.”

Gloria blinked, ran what her son had said through her head a few times, then a few more, before screeching. “Wait what!?”

“Yup.”

“Alexander Martinez you will explain yourself this instant!”

Slowly, she got the full story out of him. Alex had offered to help Maine get cheaper meds, thinking he’d relieve financial pressure. This had resulted in Maine getting more and more cyberware. To the point that he was showing the early signs of Cyberpsychosis.

“He's ignored my every list of the chrome he should shoot for that will work well together.” Alex said with a sigh. “And every day his symptoms are getting worse and harder to hide. Any day now he’ll start hallucinating.”

Gloria hated the resignation she heard in her boy’s voice. “Dios mío. You need to tell him, so he'll chrome down.”

Alex sighed, pressing a hand to his eyes. He took several deep breaths before he looked through his fingers at her, his eyes devoid of the mischievous spark she so loved. “I did tell him about it, confronted him privately with his symptoms. He punched me and nearly ruptured my liver.”

Fuck.

“What can you do?” She asked, rubbing slow, gentle circles on the back of his head.

“Already doing it. I’ve been using Maine to network. Got my name out to a few of the more reliable Fixers.” He took a deep breath. “Once he falls apart, I should be good to go my own way. Maybe even pick up most of the pieces.”

Gloria sighed and worried at her lower lip. “But…but you’ll be fine, right? You’ll make sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, ma.” Alex grinned. “Me? I’m bulletproof.”