Never Fade Away: The Sacred And The Profane (ch. 63) (Patreon)

Sorry for missing yesterday -- I spent all of Monday thinking that it was Sunday until I started to get the chapters prepped for 'Monday.'

...

“Damn was I not lyin’ when I said things were developing fast in Japan.

Barely been a day since the Chiyoda City Massacre and the start of the Steel Dragon Rebellion, but the way things are going it ain't likely to last another.

The Steel Dragons have been going at the PM and his bird friends hammer and tongs, and they… are… winning.

And the NUSA hasn't even made landfall yet!

The Puppet Minister and his goons are bleeding support like a freshly stuck pig, with more and more soldiers and cops turning against them. A couple enterprising Corpos seem to be switching sides too, but I doubt it's because they developed a conscience. Y’all probably know that saying about rats and sinking ships…

But the most damning thing for Saburo's hand warmer and his regime, is the Tenno.

The Empress of Japan herself, Jinkyoku Tenno, has come out in support of the Steel Dragons!

Now, some of the less cultured among y'all might be thinking she's Saburo's wife or daughter or something - nah. That hardfisted pricks no Emperor, he just calls himself that. The Tenno is the true-blue-blood Empress, with an Imperial pedigree stretching back a hundred generations.

Of course, the Tenno has lost a lot of power compared to ye olden times, but she ain't powerless, and her word holds weight. The Chrysanthemum Throne is damn near sacred to the Japanese people, and she's still considered Japan’s head of state.

Meaning that with her backing, the Steel Dragons have been legitimized. This ain't a rebellion anymore folks, it's a proper civil war!

Though the ‘Steel Dragons Civil War' don't exactly have the same ring to it, huh?

Now… I'm feelin’ a little conflicted about this, but that last song was so damn popular, people have been askin’ me to play more rock songs. Sorry darlin’s, but I'm a country girl, and this is a country station.

Though I might make exceptions for songs featuring cowboys even if they ain't necessarily country music. Like this next one.

Here's ‘Bury Me With My Guns’ by Bobaflex.”

[MEDIA=youtube]w4p42GfN638[/MEDIA]

~

“Fuck. Fuck. Fucking… fuck,” Becca breathed, her heart feeling like it was being twisted like a dish rag as she watched the Red Dot, hammering down on the sensors on repeat, looking for L. But they struggled to penetrate such an extreme storm and Becca was left only with her fears and a promise. She had no idea how long two minutes could feel until she found herself counting down the seconds.

L was a survivor. It didn't matter what insane, whacky, or impossible bullshit tried to put him down, L always managed to eek out a win. This shouldn’t be any different. Yet, with every passing second, her concern grew. This hadn't been a trap in so many words, but after getting their asses kicked off of Earth, Arasaka had to be prepared for the eventuality that L would find them. They knew he wasn't the kind of merc that would leave a job half finished. So, they would have prepared for him to kick their door down and finish the job-

Becca almost flinched when there was a small puff of light in the heart of the storm. An explosion. Two minutes had passed. “Fuck it, I'm going in,” she half snarled, grabbing hold of the controls. V reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

“Don’t- we need to look out for a lifeboat,” V said, her gripping chrome “He's not dead. He wouldn't die at the finish line,” she offered reassurance, but it did little to help. Her guts were twisting themselves into knots, wanting to believe the same thing, but this felt different. It felt like if L was ever going to be killed, it would be right now.

“I'm not-” Becca started to snap, only to cut herself off when the sensors detected something. Video feeds flickered across her vision of an ugly scorched brick rising up from the Red Dot, spewing green particles in its wake. Her breath hitched in her throat, not quite relieved just yet, but it felt like a massive weight was suddenly lifted from her shoulders.

“He's hard to kill. If nothing else, he's hard to kill,” V offered, letting go of her shoulder. Taking a steadying breath, Becca drifted down to the ship that continued to rise. For a moment, they were on a collusion course and that…

“Somethings wrong,” Becca breathed, knowing it in her gut. L wasn't responding to their calls, the brick wasn't making any maneuvers beyond flying up to escape Jupiter's gravity. The only response that Becca got from the ship was when Becca circled it and it lurched. The surface rippled as the microbots started to form a bridge and Becca realized that L was trying to get inside the Swordfish.

She waited with baited breath as the bridge was established and pressurized, letting Becca open the cockpit-

She had to move fast to catch L when he unceremoniously dropped down nearly on top of her. Her heart hammered in her chest, jumping up from her throat. “L? L! Wake up!” She said, and with V's help they half dragged him over to the bed behind the cockpit. L fell on it bonelessly, his eyes swimming behind his eyelids. She had a flash of a memory of walking into his workshop that produced miracles and finding him on the ground with a river of blood coming out of his nose.

This wasn't that, Becca told herself. L said he found a cure, and she believed him. So this… what was this?

“I’m… an Innovator…” L muttered like he had just read her mind.

“What?” She blurted, uncertain what that even meant. Was he talking about his tech? V hooked L up into the auto doc. He was feverish. His skin had suffered a flash burn. His lungs were showing some sign of chemical damage. But, all the symptoms were being abated when the auto-doc lowered a syringe filled with gray goo and injected them into L.

“No… that's… that's what it will be called…” L muttered, sounding delirious. Becca traded a glance with V, trying to see if she could make sense of what he was muttering about. V looked down at L, her eyebrows drawn together in concern before she activated a brain scan. The entire process was quick.

‘Abnormal brain activity’

“What does that even mean? Is it calibrated for his brain? It's plenty abnormal,” V said, but she sounded distant to Becca's ears as she gaped at the scan of his brain. A cold shiver raced down her spine and she took in a sharp breath of recycled air.

She had seen pictures of L's brain before. Of that little golf ball mass that let him produce tech so great and futuristic that it might as well be magic. Shrink rays, limitless energy, unbreakable shields, and so on. Only that mass wasn't the size of a golf ball anymore. Something sprouted from it like it had been a seed, a tree that stretched up and spread its branches and roots until no corner of his brain was left untouched.

There weren't any tumors, Becca realized. The tree had absorbed them all.

Was that a good thing? A bad thing? She had no idea and the only person that could was on the bed, half unconscious-

“It's stronger now. My power,” L said and now Becca was disquited. That sounded a little too much like a reply to what she had been thinking. “The GN Particles. When they're green… they did something to my brain and… my power… it adapted to it? I think. No… no, that's what happened…” L said distractedly.

Becca didn't even know what to say. “L, are you okay?” She tried, looking down at him and already, he seemed to look better. His breathing was more even. His complexion was better.

And, of course, that was when the gonk decided that he was going to fall asleep. She just stared at him for a long minute, vaguely want to throttle him and let him rest at the same time. Her hands went out, gripping his flesh and blood one. His hand had gotten rough -- he had gunmans’ calluses. More noticeably were the pronounced scars on his hands, both the palm and on the back, both of which snaked up his arm and continued on across his body. Layers of scar tissue that were a constant reminder of how many times L had been taken apart and put back together.

“He's okay,” V decided. “He won. And I'm out of a job,” she added, almost wistful. “Either way, we should head back to Earth.”

Becca glanced her way, “Arasaka is done for?” She asked, looking up at V.

“Saburo is dead. For good. He maintained a one Relic policy because… well, he didn't trust himself. There's a decoy base in the asteroid belt for the Turians, but beyond that…” she trailed off and Becca held her gaze, gently squeezing L's hand.

“Hanako?” Becca questioned, and V didn't react in the slightest.

“I have absolutely no idea,” V replied and she didn't need to be a ‘saka ninja to know that was a lie. But, at the moment, it felt entirely unimportant. L came back. He was alive. And now it was time to go back to Earth to finish the ground war.

It was time for Earth to go on the offensive.

…

Earth was in a religious fervor when they got back. About two days had passed since L defeated the Turian fleet, and in that time, word had spread. Night City most of all, Becca thought as she overlooked what had been Arasaka Plaza not even a year ago. The city was half destroyed, but that didn't stop them from building a monument.

She had gotten a peek at the plans for it -- it was going to be a statue of L in all of his glory. It was inspired by a still from when they attacked Arasaka tower to rescue David. L with his middle finger up and a nasty smile on his face that was reserved for his enemies. They had even added his surgery scars that were concealed underneath a holographic outfit -- David's old jacket, aviators, cargo shorts, and a pair of flip-flops.

“You'd think he's their god,” Becca muttered, watching the construction happen. The statue was going to be a hundred feet tall at the very heart of the city.

Kaiden answered, leaning on the railing next to her. “People know the truth -- movies liked to say humanity would band together and win against an alien invasion. But that didn't happen. It wasn't humanity that drove off the Turians. It was L. It was his tech and his boot that kicked their asses out of the system.”

Becca watched as they lifted up a girder and set it into place, feeling uncertain. “Have you talked to him?” Becca questioned, glancing Kaiden’s way. He seemed tired, she noted. And dusty.

“Haven't had the chance,” Kaiden admitted. “I've been busy tying off loose ends.” By that, he meant the Smashers and the Turian armies that were still kicking around in Europe. The fighting was hardly done, but David had been making a name for himself as Smasher’s silver bullet. The rest of the ground armies were slugging it out with the Turians, but without their ability to blow up anything on command, they were getting mauled.

They weren't surrendering, though. They only did when they were so thoroughly beaten that they might as well be dead. Becca gave it a good two months before Earth was free of any alien armies.

“Are you seriously going to join the army?” Becca asked, cocking an eyebrow at Kaiden, picturing him in camo.

He shrugged, “I like the discipline of it,” he admitted easily. “I suppose it depends on what comes of the Alliance talks.”

Becca snorted, “A whole lot of fuck all.” Corpos were going to corpo. The talks of forming a united Earth government, pooling all of Earth's resources into a single unified force sounded a lot like an idea they got from a movie. She didn't have any high hopes for it. The NUSA, Europe, Africa, and Asia were always going to be fighting it out to see who was the captain of the ship and who was swabbing the decks. The division lines might change a bit, but Earth would never be unified like it was in the movies.

Kaiden shrugged, glancing at her. “What's going on with L?” He asked, knowing that she was half avoiding the subject. “Is he…”

“He's acting fucking weird,” Becca answered a brief moment of thought, summarizing the past few hours that L had been awake for. He was out like a light on their trip back, passed out for a full day. Then he just woke up and since then… “I don't even know how to describe it.”

“Show me,” Kaiden replied and Becca blew out a breath.

Nodding, she dropped from the ledge she had been leaning on and turned away from the statue. Her car was parked at the edge of the restored roundabout around the plaza and sliding into it, she took a moment to look at the city as she started to drive through it. Night City had been absolutely hammered, first by Smasher and then by the Turians.

It would be years before Night City was fully restored, if it ever was. And that depended on your definition of restored, because it wasn't like Night City had been particularly great before. She did see a lot of Night Corp logos on construction vehicles, marking it as one of the last corporations standing in Night City. Time would tell if they were another Arasaka or not.

They were heading towards the ocean, down near Pacifica. Riding along the water, Becca saw that the Turian ship was still jutting up from the waves. She also saw something else as they neared L's position at the beach.

It was a Rollercoaster. Green particles spewed out of it, leaving a trail of them as a long trail of carts filled the kids were doing flips and corkscrews and high drops to cheering joy. Microbots constantly formed new rails ahead of the cart in a flow, the microbots at the back surging to the front when the final cart left the track behind. As they pulled up, the kids were enjoying a long spiral down to the ocean, close enough that they could reach out and touch the water before they were then led up a steep incline.

L sat with his back towards them, his legs dangling off a sea wall that overlooked the beach. His jacket- David's jacket, was folded up next to him as he watched the kids, creating more tracks for them to ride on.

Kaiden looked at his friend- his brother's back, and Becca could see his confusion. “He's… relaxing?”

“It's weird, right?” Oh, she would love it if L would learn how to kick his feet up and rest. Maybe do a little cuddling as they watched brain rot TV. But that wasn't him. L didn't rest. He didn't relax. Ever since she first met him, L had had a goal and he followed it relentlessly. First, it was getting everyone out of the Orphanages. Then it was taking out Arasaka. Then it was the Turians. When he wasn't working, he was sleeping, and when he wasn't sleeping or working, he was gearing up for more work.

That's just who he was.

And now L was kicking his feet up at the beach, watching his kids play in the sand or ride a rollercoaster.

“... is he still dying?” Kaiden asked, and Becca laughed so she wouldn't shiver at the thought. It said a great deal about L that was the reaction people had when they saw him taking some time off. Her gaze flickered to his back, idly realizing that his dark hair had gotten long enough to reach his shoulders. His dark steel prosthetic had been replaced, and he was leaning back on his arms as he watched the kids twist and turn and probably to the point they were going to get sick.

She laughed, but the idea still terrified her. “I don't know,” Becca answered in a small whisper. He said he was getting better, but…

Kaiden didn't respond as something caught his attention. V appeared around a corner, heading to L. Becca tensed when she saw that V was carrying a gun -- the handle was a dark red while the rest was a dark silver. L seemed to sense that she was there, however, and turned to look out at her. Then he glanced over his shoulder to look at them, cocking an eyebrow. Busted.

Becca got out of the car, her gaze meeting L's and… it was like he was looking through her. Like she wasn't quite there in his eyes. Or, worse, he wasn't quite there.

“The corpse was where you said it'd be. Wasn't much left of it, though. How did you know it'd be there?” V asked, making a quick glance at Becca and Kaiden as they stood near the car.

L smiled like he heard a joke only he could understand, his gaze still different. Distracted. He held out his prosthetic hand, swinging his legs around on the other side of the sea wall so he could face the three of them. He opened and closed his hand in the universal sign for ‘gimmie’ and V rolled her eyes before handing him the gun and then a case. Small and thin, like a travel case for a toothbrush.

He spun the gun in his hand like he had done it a thousand times before. “Thanks, V.” L offered, sliding the gun into a holster under his meat arm. He didn't answer her question before he turned to them. “What brings you two here?” He asked and Becca fought off a frown at how he asked. It was different. She couldn't put her finger on it exactly, but there was just something… different.

“Checking in on you. Becca told me about Jupiter. What was that like?” Kaiden asked and L offered a far off smile.

“I don't recommend Jupiter as a travel spot,” he said and Becca noticed that Kaiden's gaze was drawn to the rollercoaster. There was a weird expression on his face. “There was one in Pacifica this entire time. I had no clue. I didn't care enough to look. I… it was R's dream, and I didn't look.” There was a tension in L's voice. Guilt. He glanced over his shoulder, looking back at the kids on their insane ride and Becca saw shame in his expression.

That was something else that was weird about L now. He seemed more aware. He had been oblivious to how people felt before, outside of some special moments. Like with Jack. But, now, people didn't even need to talk and he would reply to what they were feeling.

Kaiden took a breath and let it out slowly. “You made up for it. You're gearing up for the stars… and I doubt the history books will be forgetting you any time soon,” he said and Becca felt like she was missing some context behind that statement. “You said you'd like to make it to eighteen. How's that coming?”

Becca tensed, fearing the answer, but L chuckled. “I'm going to be immortal,” he said and that… that lifted a weight off of Becca's shoulders. “My power is different. It's stronger. I have more control over it now and the tumors aren't tumors anymore.” He said, sliding off the ledge. “So, I just have to take out the other thing that's killing me outta my head and I won't have any worries.”

It was everything that Becca wanted to hear but how he said it scared the shit out of her. She couldn't even find her voice to speak, to call him out on it. She just felt… nervous.

“And V just gave me what I need,” L continued. “Let's go,” he decided, and the next thing Becca knew, she found herself swept up in the microbot rollercoaster as it carried the lot of them through the city. Despite herself, Becca found herself grinning as they swooped between buildings and through neon lights. The kids were screaming with absolute delight as they flew towards Arasaka Tower. Or L’s Tower now, she supposed.

The kids were disappointed that the ride was over, but given how many of them had been coasting on adrenaline, most of the kids seemed content to be on solid ground again. L reached out and rubbed T’s head, the kid that Becca knew L had a soft spot for, before he continued on to his lab without so much as a word. Becca followed, finding that the tension between her shoulder blades was returning.

Becca had given up recognizing half of the crap in L’s workshop. The things in it always seemed to change every time she stepped inside. The only constant was the cluttered tools and tables. This time, Becca saw what seemed to be a robot wrapped in white marshmallowy fluff. On a table, she saw what looked like an robotic animal with some kind of weird dispenser on its back. There was also a hologram of Earth with blue dots labeled ‘delivery points’. Delivery of what, Becca had no idea.

What L walked to looked like an altered autodoc of some sort. It was larger, bulkier, and more advanced looking with a lot of cables running in and out of it. A normal autodoc just looked like a tube. Becca wasn't entirely sure what all the difference was, but it had clearly gotten some massive upgrades. “V, I need the Relic schematics.”

Even as he spoke, he was priming the autodoc up for something. V tensed, which made Becca and Kaiden tense. “I don't have them-”

“Yes,” L interjected, softly but firmly. “You do. You stole them from Hanako. She was using you, but you were using her for her access. Arasaka managed to complete the Relic technology and took the first step on four other projects.” There was a calm certainty in how he spoke, and Becca could practically see V’s flesh crawl. The ‘saka ninja looked as unnerved as Becca had ever seen her.

V hesitated a long moment before she made a gesture, flicking L the data. “How could you know that?” She asked, her voice small and quiet. Becca could guess the play -- the tech that L produced was otherworldly. Even if it was incomplete, it would still sell for millions. V wanted to keep the data up her sleeve either for a payday or as a card to play.

A fabricator spun up and Becca saw a Relic being created. It was pretty similar to what she saw in the commercials that tried to sell immortality. L grabbed it before he slotted it inside of his own head. He waited a second before taking it out and blinking at the Relic. “... Huh. Lonely,” he mused and Becca couldn't even fucking guess what that meant.

Either oblivious or uncaring of how he was weirding everyone out, L slid the Relic into the autodoc before he then slid in the container that V gave him. He pressed a few buttons on a screen, picking an option… and Becca only started to get a clue when she saw the expected result of what he was doing.

“Is that Johnny fucking Silverhand?” Becca blurted, looking at the hologram of the rockerboy. L was printing off a body. Cloning a body of one of Night City’s Legends. The Relic- Becca gaped at L, knowing deep in her bones what L had just done.

He had cured death.

L looked at the screen for just a moment, offering a fragile smile. “Sorry. I won't be here to see you wake up…” He offered to the hologram before his gaze seemed to harden.

“But I've got a war to win.”