Ghost in the City

When I finally felt like doing something again I opened up my menu and made a call.

*Ringing*

*Hey hey! Motoko!*

*Hey Hiromi! How are you? With the NCPD back on the streets, did your parents lift the lockdown?*

*Ugh. Not just yet. But school is opening next week with normal classes so they have to by then. How about you? How are the TC reacting?*

*Not sure about most of them, but Kamikaze are spreading back out, the secret headquarters they were using is emptying out. Jun and I are actually back home.*

*Whoa, Nova. So it really is over then?*

*Looks like at least the gang war is over. Not the killing. Lot of the Kamikaze still looked ready to go hunt more Maelstrom… Jun among them, but it’s okay. I think everything is getting better with him. He seems more stable now.*

*That’s great! I know you were worried, but I knew Jun would be okay! He is too cute to Cyberpsycho.* She said and I could tell she was teasing me.

*Gag me with a spoon, Hiromi.* Her giggles were my only response for a while until finally they ended with her going quiet for a bit.

*So hey. Choom. Choomer. Choomiest?* Hiromi suddenly asked, sounding a little quiet.

*What do you need Hiromi?* I answered, trying to keep from laughing at her words.

*My bike is still wrecked… Can’t exactly drive it right now, and I’m gonna wait a bit to give an excuse to the ‘rents so they don’t freak on me… Mind giving me a ride to class and back?*

*Huh. You want your Street Punk Merc friend drive you right up to Arasaka Tower? I’m down.* I answered after a pause, making her laugh back at me.

*Thanks Choom. Just for a day or two? I can tell my parents I crashed after that, and get my bike fixed up.*

*No worries. I’ll act as a chauffeur. Will M’lady need anything dry cleaned as well? Or perhaps someone assassinated?* I asked, trying to sound as snooty as I could which caused Hiromi to break into giggles.

*You’re such a gonk!*

*Speaking of damaged vehicles though. I should probably take my Quadra into the shop.*

*Wait what? Why? What happened?*

*Didn’t I tell you? That night I hit the Maelstrom, the damn gonks side swiped me.*

*Oh that’s right… Is the damage bad? I know you were pretty pissed about it.*

*It’s not terrible, the car is armored, paint and dents mostly, I’ll just need t-* I stopped.

Wait.

Fuckin hold on a second.

I could fix it. Mechanic work was well within the bounds of all the knowledge dumps I had been getting from the System.

*Toko? Helloooo?*

*I’m here! I just realized I actually do know how to fix it. I think… I think I’ll go fix up my car. It’ll be a nice little grind session.* I said without thinking.

*Grind? Why would you need to grind your car?*

*Oh! Uhhh. No? No, grind like doing a task and keeping at it until it’s done.* I added, making up an excuse. Thank you Slang being so common in Night City.

*Alright. Let me know how it goes… Do you think you could fix my bike? I mean-*

*Probably! I’ll have to look it over, but I can do that for my choom!* Plus! If I could repair it that means more grinding! Motoko you’re a genius!

*Preem. If I don’t have to make an excuse for my ‘rents that would be best. They are fully up my ass still. How has it been out there? Is it… Better?*

*People are everywhere! More than usual, all the people that were hiding are out on the streets now. The TC knew the NCPD were coming and hid away, and so Maelstrom got hit hard, they are making peace even.*

*Wait! Maelstrom and Tyger Claws are making peace!? Why didn’t you tell me!*

*I just did though?*

*Ugh. Motoko!*

*Sorry! I didn’t think about it. Yeah the Kamikaze leader told everyone, apparently there is going to be an end to the TC-Strom war. At least officially.*

*Wow. That’s huge! I actually… I actually should let my ‘rents know. That might be useful to them. Listen, call me later? If not, see you Monday?*

*Sure! Chat with me later Hiromi!*

The call clicked off and I nodded, already jumping to my feet. I had some grinding to do!

I grabbed my toolbox from where Jun had dumped it on the floor of my bedroom, and rushed back out.

“Going out to the parking garage! Call me if you need me!” I called out to Jun who was now in the kitchen going through the fridge, and I was off clanking down the stairs as I carried the toolbox I ran across the street, although my head was swiveling, and my right hand free in order to quickdraw if I needed.

Not going to make that mistake again. Burya was in its holster and ready to go if needed.

But nothing happened. I ran into the garage and reached the car.

The side of my Quadra was still suffering from a nasty dent all along the side. The paint utterly ripped off.

Fucking Maelstrom.

But I knelt down, popping my tool box open. With a deftness I grabbed the needed tools, Instantly my hands went to work humming lightly as I slowly worked out the dents in the armored side. Honestly the fact it was armored made my job harder, but it just needed more force to even out, and the few places that some internal circuitry was crushed I simply spent a few minutes scanning and then remaking a replacement, a bit of testing to make sure it worked and I was set.

I hadn’t even known that one of my rear lights was out! That was so dangerous! What if someone rear ended me!

Well it was fixed now. I stood up, sure the paint was more trashed than it had been before, but with a few going over of a magnetic tool that let me smooth out the plate. It was done.

Now to check on all the spots that had been hit… And probably a carwash, I forgot about the whole blowing someone's head off on the hood. The bits of gore still stuck on the hood was a little gnarly…

I probably should have taken that to a carwash before this… Ew.

I almost turned and walked all the way back inside when I remembered.

My eyes turned gold.

*Motoko? What’s wrong?* Jun responded nearly instantly.

*Nothing! Nothing. I’m okay. Just calling to let you know, I’m gonna need to hit a carwash… I uh. Forgot to clean up my poor Quadra after everything.*

*Oh… Thank you for telling me. Drive safe.*

*Will do!*

I slipped out into the heavy traffic of the city, easily winding a safe path through the city, enjoying the quiet ride.

Then I realized it didn’t have to be quiet. I turned on the radio, and instantly started nodding along to Body Heat Radio.

Listen… It had some good songs as long as that Pon pon shit wasn’t playing… Wait, wasn't the song literally Ponpon shit? I meant Ponpon shit, shit. Because I hate that song. Luckily I don’t think it has been released yet. Body Heat was a pretty solid choice when I wasn’t in the mood for Samurai.

Anyway I found a nice carwash, went through and did my best to pretend there wasn’t a massive wave of red bloody water flowing off my car as I went through.

The one attendant that was sitting behind a bullet proof glass was doing his best not to notice. So I pretended it wasn’t happening too.

Best for everyone.

—---

As I went through the car wash I had some time to think about what else I needed to do, which reminded me of a promise I had made.

But then I realized I had no idea where to go.

So I made a call.

*Motoko?* Ichi’s voice answered after a few moments, and he sounded sleepy.

*Ichi! Heya choom. How’s things? Did I wake you? Sorry about that. Also can you slip me Malcolms address? I want to stop by and check on him.*

*Oh yeah, you did say you were gonna do that… Sure Motoko.” He mumbled obviously groggy enough my rapid fire took him a minute to parse.

I got a text from Ichi a moment later.

*Thanks Choom… Maybe tonight we can all meet up again? I can probably get Hiromi free too. Omaeda too maybe? Are you working tonight?*

The line was quiet for a minute.

*Y-yeah… If you… If Malcolm is willing. I’m down. It’ll be nice… To just… Hang out again.*

*These last few weeks were rough on you huh Ichi?* I couldn’t help but ask. While he had said he wasn’t working with Malcolm anymore. The way he spoke…

They had a fight. Definitely.

*Heh. I guess I could say the same to you. If you can get Hiromi and Malcolm that would be great… Ho-oh Club?*

*Ugh. That place gives me a headache, but I get it. Sure we can hang there.* I answered, it was ‘our’ spot I guess… Actually I had no idea. Had we hung out there before the coma? Or just after?

*Alright… I’m gonna crash for a few more hours.*

*Sounds good! Cya!*

I hung up and started up the engine. Malcolm wasn’t too far. Made sense. We were all in the same area. Street kids that grew up together.

I drove out into the streets, following the path to Malcolms address.

The small apartment complex a couple blocks north of the Cherry Blossom Market. It took me a while to find a good parking spot, but it didn’t take me long to slip inside and find apartment J24.

I rapped my chrome knuckles on the door. Waiting, I could hear something.

The door was suddenly pulled open, a large man with a tired expression and holding a Tactician in his arms was there. Whatever he was trying to say was cut off mid sentence when he noticed me.

“We are- oh… hello?”

“Hello. I’m Motoko, is Malcolm in?” I chirped trying to look cute and innocent.

Despite being fully armed.

“Yeah… One second.” He turned away from the door. “MALCOLM!” He yelled and I could hear a yelp and a bit of cursing.

“WHAT!?”

“DOOR!” The man yelled back and I was laughing a bit at how… normal it seemed. Doesn’t matter if it's the 2000's, or 2070’s parents and teenagers really don’t change.

I heard a bit of grumbling as things were knocked around before Malcolm suddenly jogged into view. A BD wreath around his neck he was about to yell at his pops when he noticed me.

“Motoko?”

“Hey Malcolm!” I waved a bit and Malcolm’s father looked from me to his son.

“Well don’t be a gonk invite the girl in.” The old man rumbled before walking into the house.

“D-Dad! It’s not like that!”

I just laughed. His dad seemed pretty happy, so I guess Malcolm wasn’t bringing cute girls home very often.

“Motoko? What are you doing here?”

“Stuff got crazy, you know? With everything… I figured it was a good idea to see all the chooms. How you doing Malcolm?” I asked and my question seemed to really confuse him for a minute.

“I’m… Alright?”

“I’m glad.” I nodded to myself for a few moments, the silence between us lengthening.

“Moron! Invite the girl in!” The loud call from behind Malcolm caused him to jump before he turned back inside.

“Dad! Shut up!” Malcolm instantly called back but after a moment he sighed. “Want to come in?”

“Sure!” I chirped following Malcolm inside his apartment, we ended up settled on his couch where he had obviously just been watching a BD.

“Anything good?” I prompted miming towards my neck.

“Wha? Oh. The Wreath, yeah some neat stuff. I uh. Haven’t had much of a taste for intense BD’s since… Everything.”

“Ichi told me a bit, about what happened, I mean.”

“Course Ichi couldn’t keep his trap shut.” Malcolm grumbled.

“It’s not like that. I asked. You okay?”

“Fine.” He said, indicating he was anything but fine. “What happened to you? New chrome?” He asked indicating my forearms there were obviously no longer flesh.

“I got kidnapped by the Maelstrom, and they cut my arms off.” I answered, and then I sighed. “It was kind of a thing.”

“Fuck.” He said face going a little pale at my casual reveal.

“Yeah.” I agreed with him as he shifted a bit, from being hunched over and defensive.

“You… You okay?”

“Surprisingly, I’m doing pretty good. I uh… Tried to pretend I was fine at first. But all that did was make me angry. So I focused on that, and… Yeah. I’m doing better. It still sucks.” I answered with a shrug. “What about you?”

“Better than that. I still got all my meat.”

“Don’t need to compare bad things choom. Serious. Talk to me?”

Malcolm went quiet for a while playing with the wreath which he slowly took off from around his neck and placed on the table.

“Not much to say. Sam was cool. Older kid. Like Ichi, well liked by the Claws. We got some fire from some random Maelstrom gonk. I just remember being terrified. I was in the back of the truck with Sam, Ichi up front. Driving away as fast as we can and suddenly… Bullet Holes through the sides of the truck. I screamed, and when it was over Sam was dying. Nothing I could do.”

Malcolms eyes were growing wet by the end of his story.

“Ever had someone you know flatline like that?” I asked, as Malcolm had grown silent at the end.

“No. It scared me Motoko. Not something you have to deal with.” He grumbled wiping his eyes.

“I get scared too Malcolm.” I said as gently as I could.

“Motoko. I’ve seen you after you flatlined a scav den solo. You don’t have a scared bone in your body.”

“Not true. Not true at all.” I mumbled towards the end. I just wasn’t afraid of the same things everyone else was…

How could I? I had already died once. Once you know what’s on the other side, how can you be afraid?

But I was afraid of things still. Just not death.

“Listen. I want all of us to get together tonight. You, Ichi, Hiromi, Omaeda if he wants. All of us at the club… A lot has happened. But we are still chooms. We still ran together. Please come?” Malcolm looked up, our eyes met and we sat for a while as he thought.

“Sure.”

I smiled and threw out a fist, which unfortunately took a moment for him to get before he scoffed and bumped my fist. “You are so weird.”

I pouted at him, and we both got a chuckle at that.

Malcolm and I hung out for a while. Just kind of getting to know each other. He was more lowkey than he ever had been before, but at the same time as we talked, I started seeing that same energy that he had before.

I guess he just needed a friend.

I guess we all did.

—--

“So can Hiromi come?” I asked Hiromi’s mother who had answered the door.

The Corpo woman was looking at me like I was some crazy person coming up to the door to borrow sugar or something weird.

I guess I probably shouldn’t have opened with ‘Can Hiromi come out to play?’

Fuckin’ brain. Why do you do this to me?

The woman finally spoke, interrupting my silent meltdown.

“You want to take Hiromi to that club, went to with all of her other… Street friends?”

“Yeah! Now that the NCPD is back, and it’s safer… We all went through a lot. Hiromi too! So I figured it would be nice to have all of us gather back up again. A reunion, a… A chance to be with our chooms.”

“The streets are still dangerous.”

“Nothing will touch her.” I said suddenly. Feeling cold flowing through me. “I’ll kill anyone stupid enough to think they can even make the attempt.” I promised.

“Motoko!” Hiromi called out suddenly as she ran past her mom and jumped me in a hug.

“Hiromi!” I cheered back as we hugged for a moment.

“Save me! I’m bored… Moooom. Don’t be weird with Motoko, you should have said she was here.” Hiromi turned on her mother, scowling.

“Motoko was asking if you could leave tonight to go visit that club of yours.” The woman interrupted Hiromi. “Do you wish to go?”

“Wa-! Yes! Please!”

“Very well. Motoko, will be your bodyguard for the night. Don’t leave her side. I expect that is an acceptable requirement Motoko?” The woman asked to my surprise.

“Of course.”

“Then you may go.” The older woman said simply turning around and heading back inside like the matter was finished.

“Does your mom actually like me?” I couldn’t help but whisper to Hiromi, because it almost felt like that.

“Not sure. I think Mom thinks someone well armed is a good thing for me? I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t say they like you. More like they want to use you.” Hiromi muttered a little irritated at the end.

“Eh, whatever! Let’s go!” I urged her on and Hiromi actually smiled as she grabbed me and pulled me inside. She needed to get ready to head outside.

As she was in the bathroom doing her hair a bit, although not into her usual mohawk, I remembered I had something!

“Oh Hiromi! I have the BDs from my gigs. I’ll leave them here on your desk.”

“Wha!” She called out as she poked her head through the bathroom bead curtain.

Stupid bead curtain.

“You got them! I want to see! Right now!”

“We don’t have time.” I told her. It was already getting late, and we were supposed to meet Ichi and Malcolm soon.

“Uuuugh!” She whined but spun back into the bathroom. To finish up.

It was just lucky her makeup was mostly cyberware neon lights, so I didn’t have to wait long as she finished.

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