Ghost in the City: Cyberpunk Gamer SI

[trudny1]

Every granny just watching Motoko would find it a cinema.

 

[WerewolfEros]

Has Motoko forgotten about her invitation to Street Racing? I was actually looking forward to that. She can make a BD out of it too.

 

[BoML]

Sorry, Motoko, but this is problem of your own making. You now either need to find a way for your chooms to "git good" by themselves, or you need to apply some "tough love" to the situation.

 

[Faber_The_Builder]

Has Motoko forgotten about her invitation to Street Racing? I was actually looking forward to that. She can make a BD out of it too.

Click to shrink...

I asked this on SB a LONG time ago. Seras did say she did not, but she is focusing on the Rockerboy and Netrunner bits. It is possible that plot hook will be picked up eventually

 

[Hangwind]

Wait, how long has this been here?

 

[Novva]

I asked this on SB a LONG time ago. Seras did say she did not, but she is focusing on the Rockerboy and Netrunner bits. It is possible that plot hook will be picked up eventually

Click to shrink...

I can understand that, reading about her interacting with the world and the characters are more interesting to me than the run-and-gun aspects most of the time. That said, I do hope we see V again soon!

 

[Hangwind]

Hmm. I might have to work on my potential Wakako Negaverse omake...

But I'm ironing out my "Mech Otaku"ish fic right now...

 

[Simplexity]

Yay it's finally on the superior forum!!! Watched for sure

 

[Artificial_Icecube]

Since no-one's done this on this forum yet, here are Motoko's current stats.

Spoiler: Cyberware:

Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation 1/2*
Militech Condor Arms *Adaptation 5/5*
Militech-Armalite Ballistic Guard *Adaptation 1/2*
Serano Air-Groove Ankles *Adaptation 1/1*
MoorE Titanium Bones (Shoulders, back, legs, pelvis and ribs.) *Adaptation 0/1*
Biotechnica Muscle and Bone Lace *Adaptation 0/0*
Dynalar Sandevistan Mk.2 *Adaptation 2/4*
Raven Microcybernetics Ex-Disk *Adaptation 0/0*
Raven Microcybernetics RAM Upgrade *Adaptation 0/0*
Camillo RAM Manager *Adaptation 0/2*
Rostovic Self-ICE *Adaptation 0/0*
Arasaka ODA Neural Link Mk3 *Adaptation 1/2*
Arasaka Smart Link System. *Adaptation 0/0*
Arasaka Corporation Cyberdeck 'Shadow' Mk.4 *Adaptation 0/0*

Spoiler: Attributes and Skills:

Body 10 (18)
Athletics 9
Street Brawler 8
Annihilation 5

Intelligence 16(20)
Breach Protocol 15
Quick Hacks 11
Programming 15

Reflex 10 (16)
Blades 10
Handguns 9
Driving 7
Assault 8

Technical Ability 8(12)
Crafting 6
Engineering 7

Cool 10
Ninjutsu 10
Rockerboy 9
Cold Blood 8

Spoiler: Perks:

Ambidextrous - Use your other hand as competently as your dominant hand

Parkour – Improved traversal pathfinding. Instantly pick out viable parkour movement routes so you don't have to plan it out in advance.

Cat-like - Fall from greater heights before taking damage, and take less damage when you do.

Danger Sense - A moments alert just before you are seen or attacked.

Ninja Running- Not being seen is stealth as well. Move quietly, and quickly. Use stealth while sprint-crouching.

Cool Nerves - Your body no longer suffers shakes or muscle twitches in combat.

Fearless Chill - Fear is a powerful enemy. Good thing your enemies think you have none. Fear is your ally.

Grappling – You have mastered fighting techniques based on clinch fighting including: throws, trips, sweeps, ground fighting and submission holds. Your hands and body can lock your opponent into place.

Improvised Weapons - Sometimes in a brawl anything you can grab needs to be used. Know the best way to fight with day to day items that were not originally intended as weapons(i.e. You know how to use a ball-point pen or a roll of duct tape as a deadly weapon).

Parry - With a blade in hand, deflect both thrown and melee attacks.

Bullet Parry - With a blade in hand, deflect ranged high-velocity attacks, and high-speed melee attacks.

Drive By - Shooting from a vehicle is an instinctual act. You are capable of shooting and driving at the same time without issue.

Drifting - Never spill a drop of your drink while driving. You have a prescient knowledge of how to smoothly go into a drift, and pull out of it smooth as butter.

Quickdraw – Draw and holster your weapons as fast as possible.

Gun Nut - Pick up any gun and immediately know all its quirks and difficulties

Recoil Reduction - Know how to best reduce the effect of recoil on your aim and on your body.

Slam Fire - You know all the ways to hold, cock and fire a pump shotgun, including holding the trigger down and slam-firing all the shells in the tube.

Rapid Reload - Never drop a mag, or fumble a reload. Reloading your gun will never slow down your rate of fire.

Rifle Ace - Long rifles of all types(Assault/Sniper/Precision) are deadly in your experienced hands. Ready your long gun to aim and fire in a blink of an eye.

Perfect Musical Memory - Any song you've heard once you'll remember perfectly. Including the musical notation needed to replay it and the lyrics.

Siren Song - You control your voice. You can sing. Croon like Sinatra, or Rock like Silverhand. You know how to get the most out of your voice.

Wall Breaking - Create a backdoor in the system after a Breach. Makes future access instantaneous.

Strong Breach - A door is only as strong as the wall next to it. Damage code, break data & make your own path. Allows you circumvent the normal locked doorways and to break into nearly any system. Will instantly alert anyone monitoring the system.

Team Breach - Know how to work in a team of Netrunners to break through even the strongest firewalls when breaching systems. Know when and how to strike a system to let another runner maximize their ability, and in turn how to guide other runners to take up system resources to give you an advantage

Cyber Security - Massively increases time for opponents to Quick Hack or Breach your System.

Debug - At a single glance, you will know what is causing your program not to work, or where the program can be improved or made more efficient.

Stress Testing - The more you use your code, the more its weakness stands out to you.

Hacking Wizard - Upload multiple Quick Hacks at the same time, to as many targets as you have identified.

Cyber Ninja - After Breaching a system, automatically upload a Daemon that makes you more difficult to be seen by members of the network. This ability increases in effectiveness based on your skill level of Breaching.

Ghost touch - Slow and quiet, Breach through a system as a ghost, without anyone the wiser

Ninja Hacking - Slip in hacks below the notice of your target.

Inspired Programmer - Inspiration strikes constantly. Never run out of new ideas while programming.

Robotics Wizard – Other techs make machines. You make life(i.e. sentient cybernetics; V.I.)

A.I. Whisperer - Daemons, Smart Programs, Virtual Intelligence, Simple A.I. and true A.G.I. You don't just create a mind. You create sapient life.

Design Wizard - Your designs will always be above average, you work faster(and more efficiently) while designing.

Enduring Builds - You can make it stronger, tougher and generally more durable. You know the tricks of the trade to make your product rough and tumble; resistant to the trials often encountered in the life of an Edgerunner.

Robotics Engineering - The robotic form is as familiar to you as your own.

 

[Mitril]

Katana sword battles always looked cooler with flowing sleeves. Just look at Kill Bill. Lucy Liu was awesome in that.

Click to shrink...

Imagine something recent
Like jumping around using Demon Slayer techniques and training. Especially now that there is a new movie
Repetitive action, transparent world, Total Concentration Breathing, etc
Then breathing styles themselves
Who needs Sandevistan when you have a natural one
Actually having 2x would be better when dealing with enemy that has a Sandevistan

 

[WerewolfEros]

Since no-one's done this on this forum yet, here are Motoko's current stats.

Spoiler: Cyberware:

Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation 1/2*
Militech Condor Arms *Adaptation 5/5*
Militech-Armalite Ballistic Guard *Adaptation 1/2*
Serano Air-Groove Ankles *Adaptation 1/1*
MoorE Titanium Bones (Shoulders, back, legs, pelvis and ribs.) *Adaptation 0/1*
Biotechnica Muscle and Bone Lace *Adaptation 0/0*
Dynalar Sandevistan Mk.2 *Adaptation 2/4*
Raven Microcybernetics Ex-Disk *Adaptation 0/0*
Raven Microcybernetics RAM Upgrade *Adaptation 0/0*
Camillo RAM Manager *Adaptation 0/2*
Rostovic Self-ICE *Adaptation 0/0*
Arasaka ODA Neural Link Mk3 *Adaptation 1/2*
Arasaka Smart Link System. *Adaptation 0/0*
Arasaka Corporation Cyberdeck 'Shadow' Mk.4 *Adaptation 0/0*

Spoiler: Attributes and Skills:

Body 10 (18)
Athletics 9
Street Brawler 8
Annihilation 5

Intelligence 16(20)
Breach Protocol 15
Quick Hacks 11
Programming 15

Reflex 10 (16)
Blades 10
Handguns 9
Driving 8
Assault 7

Technical Ability 8(12)
Crafting 6
Engineering 7

Cool 10
Ninjutsu 10
Rockerboy 9
Cold Blood 8

Spoiler: Perks:

Ambidextrous - Use your other hand as competently as your dominant hand

Parkour – Improved traversal pathfinding. Instantly pick out viable parkour movement routes so you don't have to plan it out in advance.

Cat-like - Fall from greater heights before taking damage, and take less damage when you do.

Danger Sense - A moments alert just before you are seen or attacked.

Ninja Running- Not being seen is stealth as well. Move quietly, and quickly. Use stealth while sprint-crouching.

Cool Nerves - Your body no longer suffers shakes or muscle twitches in combat.

Fearless Chill - Fear is a powerful enemy. Good thing your enemies think you have none. Fear is your ally.

Grappling – You have mastered fighting techniques based on clinch fighting including: throws, trips, sweeps, ground fighting and submission holds. Your hands and body can lock your opponent into place.

Improvised Weapons - Sometimes in a brawl anything you can grab needs to be used. Know the best way to fight with day to day items that were not originally intended as weapons(i.e. You know how to use a ball-point pen or a roll of duct tape as a deadly weapon).

Parry - With a blade in hand, deflect both thrown and melee attacks.

Bullet Parry - With a blade in hand, deflect ranged high-velocity attacks, and high-speed melee attacks.

Drive By - Shooting from a vehicle is an instinctual act. You are capable of shooting and driving at the same time without issue.

Drifting - Never spill a drop of your drink while driving. You have a prescient knowledge of how to smoothly go into a drift, and pull out of it smooth as butter.

Quickdraw – Draw and holster your weapons as fast as possible.

Gun Nut - Pick up any gun and immediately know all its quirks and difficulties

Recoil Reduction - Know how to best reduce the effect of recoil on your aim and on your body.

Slam Fire - You know all the ways to hold, cock and fire a pump shotgun, including holding the trigger down and slam-firing all the shells in the tube.

Rapid Reload - Never drop a mag, or fumble a reload. Reloading your gun will never slow down your rate of fire.

Rifle Ace - Long rifles of all types(Assault/Sniper/Precision) are deadly in your experienced hands. Ready your long gun to aim and fire in a blink of an eye.

Perfect Musical Memory - Any song you've heard once you'll remember perfectly. Including the musical notation needed to replay it and the lyrics.

Siren Song - You control your voice. You can sing. Croon like Sinatra, or Rock like Silverhand. You know how to get the most out of your voice.

Wall Breaking - Create a backdoor in the system after a Breach. Makes future access instantaneous.

Strong Breach - A door is only as strong as the wall next to it. Damage code, break data & make your own path. Allows you circumvent the normal locked doorways and to break into nearly any system. Will instantly alert anyone monitoring the system.

Team Breach - Know how to work in a team of Netrunners to break through even the strongest firewalls when breaching systems. Know when and how to strike a system to let another runner maximize their ability, and in turn how to guide other runners to take up system resources to give you an advantage

Cyber Security - Massively increases time for opponents to Quick Hack or Breach your System.

Debug - At a single glance, you will know what is causing your program not to work, or where the program can be improved or made more efficient.

Stress Testing - The more you use your code, the more its weakness stands out to you.

Hacking Wizard - Upload multiple Quick Hacks at the same time, to as many targets as you have identified.

Cyber Ninja - After Breaching a system, automatically upload a Daemon that makes you more difficult to be seen by members of the network. This ability increases in effectiveness based on your skill level of Breaching.

Ghost touch - Slow and quiet, Breach through a system as a ghost, without anyone the wiser

Ninja Hacking - Slip in hacks below the notice of your target.

Inspired Programmer - Inspiration strikes constantly. Never run out of new ideas while programming.

Robotics Wizard – Other techs make machines. You make life(i.e. sentient cybernetics; V.I.)

A.I. Whisperer - Daemons, Smart Programs, Virtual Intelligence, Simple A.I. and true A.G.I. You don't just create a mind. You create sapient life.

Design Wizard - Your designs will always be above average, you work faster(and more efficiently) while designing.

Enduring Builds - You can make it stronger, tougher and generally more durable. You know the tricks of the trade to make your product rough and tumble; resistant to the trials often encountered in the life of an Edgerunner.

Robotics Engineering - The robotic form is as familiar to you as your own.

Click to shrink...

Holy shit! I forgot how many Perks Motoko had, she's OP as fuck!

 

[Reshypoo]

Has Motoko forgotten about her invitation to Street Racing? I was actually looking forward to that. She can make a BD out of it too.

Click to shrink...

Think she might have passed on the deets to Malcolm to practice with his super-car? Don't recall.

On the up-side for waiting, since her mindset is nearing full murder-hobo, I can see her much more likely taking the attitude of "Nice to meet you, cool car. Look forward to blowing you and it up during the race."

 

[bano Haeikme]

Think she may have given Malcolm the instructions to practice with his supercar? Don't recall.
On the up-side for waiting, since her mindset is nearing full murder-hobo, I can see her much more likely taking the attitude of "Nice to meet you, cool car. Look forward to blowing you and it up during the race." Read More

 

[T-bone]

Will the Iconic Millitech Mk.06 blackwall cyberdeck and the unique item needed to make be remembered about by Matoko early so she can grab it before V would in game?

Not for her to use now but to save for when she can handle it? Maybe with a custom gemini that can have 2 cyberdecks... Matoko WILL want it!

 

[Winged One]

Oh, a thread for when the mods decide people have shipped Motoromi too much and lock the original?

 

[KaneLives]

Oh, a thread for when the mods decide people have shipped Motoromi too much and lock the original?

Click to shrink...

I doubt the SB thread will get locked permanently, but having a backup is always good. There have already been many people who were both temp banned and a few Perma bans for both the thread, and a few total account bans. But so far it seems to be below the level to have the mods do more then PM poking and report responds. But having the thread here on QQ should allow the more shipping minded folks a place to put their words to text where it is actually allowed. Like a safely valve.

 

[Seras]

"Heard you got a new gig."

"Juuun." I whined from the couch. I sat up and glared at him.

"What?"

"Don't what me. I can hear that smirk on every word. I'm not giving up my Merc job."

"Sure." He said very much not agreeing with me, as he said it. I sat up and glared at him.

"I'm too good of a merc to quit."

"You say that because you aren't making Rockerboy eddies yet."

"I don't care about eddies."

"You don't care about eddies… Yet."

"Okay you want an ass beating?" I demanded waving a fist at him and he just sent me another smug look.

"You'd lose."

"Fuck I would. I got secret ninja powers. Nin-Nin."

"Pfft. I'm still stronger than you."

"Only like a gorilla."

"Hey! You're the gorilla here."
I considered leaping off the couch and bringing truth to my words but I considered it. I had band stuff last night. Band stuff tonight. No gigs to distract me. No grinds that I was doing right this minute…

I still needed a better server for the Tachikoma. I'd have to figure that out soon, been leaving it hanging for too long.

"Jun. You doing anything?"

"Hmm?" He asked from around a Burrito so I felt my nose scrunch up.

"Gross."

"Is' good!" He argued as always and I shook off the fact he'd spoken with his mouth full. I think XXL burritos actually looked better chewed up, which was a disturbing thought.

"I've been meaning to do more hand to hand. I could use someone to spar against… So you busy?"

"To throw my little brat of a sister around a mat for a while? Never." He decided and I hissed at him for acting like it was going to be that easy.

"I'm gonna punch you in your stupid abs and break them." I warned him, and he actually flinched a bit and put a hand on his stupid plastic abs.

"Motoko… Don't."

"Oh come on, they're fake!"

"It's expensive cyberware!"

"It's a plastic body sculpt! There is no cyberware there Jun!"

"Says you!"

"Idiot!"

"Idiot!"

"No you!"

"You!"

—--

"Oh it's on Onnnnniiiiii-chan." I drawled out as I tapped my padded gloves together and bounced around.

"I'm gonna enjoy reminding you that I'm the big brother." he said smiling as his own hands were wrapped in heavy pads.

Gomorroah was close enough that we just walked to the gym both of us throwing jabs and trying to mess with the other the entire way.

"Rules?"

"I won't punch you in the dick. I want little nieces and nephews someday, and you need all the help you can get."

"Look who's talking. Idiot."

"You're the idiot!" I growled and he hunkered down into a brutal looking boxing stance and rushed in.

Fast.

Jun was a lot faster than I'd normally expect. I knew he'd been jacked in with all sorts of cyberware when he first joined the Kamikaze, but I'd never actually asked exactly what he had.

But as fast and strong as he was?

I was very good with Street Brawling, and fast enough his initial assault. Which I noticed he was holding back a good bit, wasn't fast enough to strike me. I juked, falling into a boxing stance myself despite not really being a boxer.

His fists whiffed twice before I grabbed one that was overextended and I tried to hip check him, only for his stupid too heavy body to just lift me off my feet.

I was held there, his arm straight out my feet off the mats as I jerked a few times only for nothing to happen.

"This is bullshit."

"You're way too small for that."

"I could totally Judo throw you if you weren't so fat!"

"Doubt."

I activated my Sandy, even as his mouth continued to mouth the words, I dropped most of the way back to the mat, and bounced, using all the force of my stronk legs, to fly back up, calves wrapping around my idiot brothers too big head and then flinging sideways a bit.

The momentum this time was enough to throw him off his feet, and I landed in a cool three point landing a bit away before rising up and patting my hands together.

"Doubt that?"

"Cheating." He grumbled, as he rose up checking himself over. "And it didn't do shit. What was that, some stupid action movie move? You realize if you did that to someone they'll just shoot you."

"I'll shoot them!"

"Then why do it in the first place? Just shoot them!?"

"To disable them in case they were about to shoot me!"

"THEY'LL JUST SHOOT YOU ANYWAYS!"

"I'LL SHOOT THEM FIRST!" Jun leapt at me, and I leapt in both of us brawling and hitting each other as we continued yelling, ignoring the normal gym goers who were all moving away.

"You fight like a moron!"

"YOU ARE A MORON!"

"AND YOU'RE A GORILLA!"

Eventually the two of us ended up on the mat. I had my arm around Jun's stupid neck cause obviously he didn't need oxygen for a brain that small, and he was crushing me with his stupid bulk while pummeling into my side to get me to let go.

"Hey!" We both looked up at the yell, as the Gym manager came out of his little office. "I don't care what this is! Cut it out! Break it up!"

We instantly distangled, Jun taking a moment to catch a breath his head had been turning a bit purple, and I winced as I felt my side. Lucky he had been wearing gloves.

"Sorry about that." I replied eventually and the owner threw up his hands and went back to the office. "You shouldn't disturb people so much Jun-Nii."

"Shut up." He grumbled at me as he threw a towel at my head.

"I don't think sparring is something we can really do." I admitted and Jun looked at me and snorted.

"No, I don't think so either." We both smiled at each other and broke into chuckles as I walked over and nudged him. We ended up putting the pads away and getting breakfast, even though Jun just grabbed another 'fresh' Burrito XXL out of the vending machine, while I got some meat skewers from the guy surrounding the building.

—--

I took the rest of the morning to fuck around.

I flopped on my bed and checked in on my Tachikoma. Already I could see the motive programming was doing well. The Racing game that I'd set them up with whenever I remembered was doing a great job on filling in how to move around on wheels. I flicked the power on, and let the Tachikoma load up as I set it on my bedroom floor.

Soon the little drone was moving around on its wheels pretty good. Only….

"I probably should have considered that." I muttered as it was happily doing laps around my room in a circle. Well, it had gained the ability to drive and turn, that was already a big step, I'd just remove the whole circle thing.

In fact, I pulled up my system, and checked my points.

Intelligence 16 (20) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 10.
-Breach Protocol 15
-Quick Hacks 13
-Programming 15

0 Stat point.
3 Skill point.

Yep, I really needed to spend some of those.

Programming instantly got another point. Bringing me up to a solid 16. I shivered as the knowledge flooded through me, as I processed and learned what it had to tell.

I was already starting to pull up the Tachikoma's data as the knowledge flowed through me, and I went to work.

Clearing up the accidentally learning to always follow a track, or going in circles, I opened my Tachikoma to a whole new world.

Suddenly it stopped and just waited, making me realize once again that just because it could, didn't mean the Tachikoma would without a bit of a push.

So I gave it a new task. Map out the entire room.

It stuttered to a start, stopping and going, and soon I was helping it develop a sort of digital mapping program to help it learn and design spaces.

I was humming and kicking my feet up as I just watched and helped my Tachikoma grow. It was like playing with a pet, almost. Especially since Programming was starting to come so naturally to me, the idea of using a physical keyboard to program felt slow and awkward.

There was no more hesitation. My code was born at the speed of my thought, and I felt like I'd been coding like this for decades.

Soon the Tachikoma had a mapping program that they could even create just through visuals. It'd be silly for them to need to run around like a roomba or something. Tachikoma had optics.

Soon in their digital database they had a representation of the room, and even me inside it.

I had a thought and shifted over rolling over so I was in a different spot.

The map program instantly seemed to notice the change and I could see where the Tachikoma came into conflict, as it tried to process the alteration.

Then….

Huh.

I think I'd just taught my Tachikoma object permanence.

The code had been altered slightly, to make adjustments for time. Literally letting the Tachikoma understand that things changed through time.

Neat!

I ran through the attempt to learn that, and made a few adjustments to clean up the code so the poor thing wouldn't take literally millisecond snapshots of reality forever. That would cause a slow down to say the least.

But my Tachikoma would notice changes as they happened. It had the ability to register that the environment was not a permanent, but changing reality.

Eeee! I was so happy!

Only it really needed more processing power. Even with the hookup to the old laptop which was probably going to need to be wiped to just act as a secondary server for the Tachikoma. It really just didn't have the processing power it needed.

Hiromi hadn't managed to find any good info on a real server. But to be fair I'd put so much on her plate, I wasn't surprised. I should reach out to Yoko. I know there were amazing drone systems out there, the Flathead was crazy, but they were still developing it, creating it. The hardware had to exist. A Flathead Hard Drive would be a big surge forward for my Tachikoma, even without the split server processing…

Was I thinking about robbing Militech? Maybe…. Yes.

Yes I was.

It wasn't even that crazy of a thought. Maelstrom did it, and they got away with it. I should consider setting up a hardware raid. I'd just need to determine where some of their drone hard drives would be, and then just… Grab them.

Heck I could probably sneak in myself. Make it look like some stuff dropped off the back of a truck.

I'd need to get some data, break into the Militech shipping manifests, determine location and time, and sneak in…

It honestly sounded like a lot of fun.

I got up, leaving the Tachikoma to continue mapping out its space and playing around as it explored to head out. Grabbing my jacket and equipment, I headed down, I was going to talk to Yoko face to face.

—---

As usual, flesh-Yoko was a very different woman than she was online.

"Yoko." I greeted her as I leaned over on the counter and she looked at me through those little dark sunglasses of hers.

"Motoko."

"I was thinking of setting something up, and I wanted to run it past you." I explained and she considered me for a bit before nodding.

"Come into the back. We will talk there." She nodded at another of the people in her little shop, and they slipped behind her counter and I followed into a sort of workers break room in the back. Yoko sat down, but she was still almost stilted. Almost like the Yoko on the net was the real Yoko, and this was just a copy.

Considering how much attention she was probably giving the net at any one moment that might be fairly accurate.

"I need some drone hard drives, the top of the line ones, Militech. I got the idea of taking it directly so to speak. Either hitting a convoy, or just sneaking into a storage area and getting what I need. I figured if I was going to go against Militech I should get some advice."

"Indeed. Dangerous. Very dangerous. Militech, aren't like other minor corps. They will respond with overwhelming force."

"Then I just won't let them see me."

"Hmm… A convoy would require work. A lot of work, but the value is there. Militech equipment is always in high demand. More risk, but you'd get more."

"Right. A few hacks, disrupting communications, break in, steal the truck, or just empty it out right then before anyone can respond and disappear."

"Simple in concept, but far more difficult to pull off than you expect. Millitech convoys are often multiple vehicles."

"Right, but I figure there's some hacks already out there that cut off the sort of communications they use. Right?"

"There are… I could provide the data in exchange for part of the supplies."

"I could see that being an acceptable trade." I responded back before breaking into a smile, because being all serious about it just wasn't me.

"But what about stealing from their storage?"

"Difficult in other ways, although perhaps not for one of your skills. But you will be very limited on what you can pull out."

"I honestly don't need much. The Drone Hard Drives are really all I'm looking for."

"Then… I can assist for another offer."

"Oh?"

"There is a Militech Showroom in City Center. Ever been?"

"Ah, not that I remember." I said as I scratched at the side of my head. Had old Motoko gone?

"Militech enjoys their show rooms, enjoys wowing the public with their next revealed product. But, while the showroom is excellent for that, it's not a secure storage."

"I think I get what you're saying."

"Underneath the showroom there is an underground supply room. Very difficult to get into, strong security, but it may have what you need and more."

"Do you have the security layout?"

"From six months ago."

"Out of date."

"Better than nothing." Yoko replied and I smirked.

"And what does Yoko want out of it?"

"Militech is releasing a new update for the Paraline. If you can secure one for me, or a few perhaps. I would consider my assistance bought and paid for."

"If we can confirm they have what we both need, I wouldn't mind the assistance." I offered and Yoko gave a tiny little stilted smile.

"I will begin digging into it, but I highly suggest you do so as well. You've not yet touched Corporate ICE, yet you have the skill."

"You're right." I couldn't deny that. "I've avoided the corps for the most part."

"Wise if you wish to stay alive a long time, but pointless if you wish to be more."

"I'm perfectly happy with who I am, and I plan to live forever." I denied her, and she smirked at my heated response.

"Doesn't sound like an Edgerunner."

"I'm not. Just a merc." I shook it off. "Okay I'll jump on the net later, send me what you have?"

"I will do so."

"Nova. Thanks Yoko." I slipped back out of her shop, before heading home. I didn't have a super long time before the band was going to meet again for more practice sessions.

Huh. Hitting Militech to steal what I need… That was dangerous, maybe even super dangerous…

But…

I could do it.

—--

My fingers made the Guitar purr as I played along with the band. We were just practicing our normal songs. This Ffffire, currently. I moved up to the mic and sang, falling into the rhythm of the song.

Finally we finished and I wiped my forehead. "Well?" I asked, looking at everyone and got smiles in turn.

A little bit of success had gone to their heads. The depression filled crumbling band was no more.

They were eager to play, happy to work.

"I didn't hear any issues." Alice called out looking everyone over, and got nods from Jared and Klein.

"No issues here."

I nodded and settled onto a seat to grab some water.

"Alright out with it. Alice, you've been side-eyeing me all night." I asked her, and she smirked a bit.

"We got a bite." She said and Jared and Klein both perked up. "Our music has been heard, and we've got more than one producer sniffing around. Nothing concrete yet, but I've heard through some contacts-"

"You mean your uncle?" I asked, because that was what I was guessing.

"Shut up! Anyway. I heard that we might have a few producers looking to drag us onto their label. Next gig, is going to be big… Super big."

"Then we need to practice so we don't flub a song." I mentioned, and everyone glared at me a bit. What? Practice was important!

"We do, but more importantly. We need to get our name out as much as we can. Your choom Hiromi reached out, and she says there has been some requests for a studio version of Faint."

"Ugh, Yeah I heard." I muttered.

"Well we should get that made. Tonight."

I looked at the band and nodded. "Alright I think we can all handle that. Everyone ready for it?"

"Ah, I'll need a break first." Jared called out, and I nodded. Fair enough.

"Let's take twenty. I could use a break too." I offered and that had everyone happy. I'd stopped saying five or ten minute breaks, cause I'd just get these big 'tough' rockerboys pouting at me about not getting enough time to fuck around.

Lazy is what they were.

So I headed out, the studio we were renting as always led to a club upstairs, where the Rockerboy could go hang out in their natural element. Getting drunk and wasting eddies apparently.

 

[Doc Sithicus]

Thank you for the chapter.

Seras, now I feel the need to launch Cyberpunk 2077 and cruise through Night City, flatlining some random gangers and collecting every variant of orange++ rarity weapons for my stash.

 

[Hell's Razer]

Wonderful chapter, really loved all the parts.
Especially the part around this:

I think I'd just taught my Tachikoma object permanence.

Click to shrink...

Also a correction @Seras:

I was very good with Street Brawling, and fast enough his initial assault.

Click to shrink...

missing word "fast enough to avoid his"

 

[BoML]

Motoko being Motoko is always a treat to read, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm way more interested what's going to happen with Militech raid and the potential consequences of it.

 

[Despacitoleo]

I won't punch you in the dick. I want little nieces and nephews someday, and you need all the help you can get."

"Look who's talking. Idiot."

Click to shrink...

nah she'll be a crazy rovot lady with a artifical daughter or son running around

little cyborg child beating the shitboutof adam smashers

 

[bondarus]

Awesome (and big!) work.
Thanks for your work, enjoyed reading it a lot.
(Disrupted all my work for a week until I got there from chapter 1, just couldn't stop myself from reading)

 

[DerDigge]

I just got done with chapter 181 why is Motoko such a wet blanket and cant stand up for herself more and is always so easyly persuaded? It feels like she just does what ever someone else says when it comes to personal stuff.

 

[Silverias]

I just got done with chapter 181 why is Motoko such a wet blanket and cant stand up for herself more and is always so easyly persuaded? It feels like she just does what ever someone else says when it comes to personal stuff.

Click to shrink...

Because if she was left to her own devices she'd do nothing but tinker and kill people, and she knows it.

 

[Seras]

Hiromi Mitsunashi

She startled awake as her agent alarm went off. Hiromi had a moment of inexplicable confusion, before she remembered.

Right.

Late night with Motoko and the band, early morning for school.

Eugh.

She should just call in…

She groaned as she sat up and looked around her room. The neon lights, and old Tyger Claw stuff left the room streaming in different colors, enough she could see.

"Open window." She croaked, and the shutters quietly opened letting in the Night City sunlight.

Rubbing at her face she climbed out of her bed and staggered over to the bathroom. As she slipped under the fourteen sprayers, she tapped the wall panel for a real massage from the heads. Still half asleep she pulled up her agent's timeline.

Tomorrow night was the big gig. Everything for that should be locked in, but she still needed to call the Club owner, and double check there weren't any issues.

Hiromi had skipped a few clubs already for gigs when they tried to gotcha her with extra fees or other gonkshit. As if she was just a street brat, desperate for a chance at a real gig.

She smirked a little as she shifted, letting a sprayer get her right under the shoulder where her muscles felt a little locked up from sleeping on her arm funny.

Okay, she added that in for her lunch time, she could make the call while she ate. Next thing.

Section 9 was quiet, and most of the loot they'd gathered had been sold, but there were still a few bits and pieces that were sitting in storage.

Some of that gonks security system hadn't sold since anyone rich enough for a real security system wasn't buying second hand from the people that had overcome the system.

No, Hiromi would need to reach out to gang contacts, they'd be more willing to pay at least partial price. Every mid range thug thought they needed security in case their many enemies came after them.

Unfortunately she hadn't gotten any bites just yet.

She sent off a few more offers to the contacts she'd developed, and moved on.

SLS income had a discrepancy.

Her agent made the call as she groaned and shifted a bit in the water.

*This is Richard.*

*Steel.*

*Ah, Boss. What do you want?*

Hiromi rolled her eyes, he was nervous, but he was still a brat. His words made him sound like he was demanding something from her, when it was, and always should be the opposite.

*The last report had some income discrepancies.*

*Yes Boss, I added it to the message last week. Harry lost a bag into the river while running from some street kids. We roughed them up after, but even if we wanted to, the water would have ruined it. We left the bag.*
That's right. She remembered getting the message now.

*Fine, this is a one time allowance, tell Harry if he's selling around bodies of water to avoid them from now on, or else.*

*Yes Boss.*

*Alright. Everything else looks good Richard, but I'm sending some marketing data I've been looking at, adjust the seller locations accordingly.*

*You got it.* He agreed although as always sounded less than willing. Marketing Data and research might as well be magic, he didn't trust it, but Hiromi was firm on tracking where sales took place and when.

No point hanging outside a corpo building to sell some excitement to worker drones while they were all working. You had to show up when the job let off, or on their lunch or smoke breaks. If they got such a thing.

*Just follow the information. Everything else has been quiet, correct?*

*Yeah Boss, just the usual stuff, new gonks trying to make some territory, or scop suckers that don't know that we got agreements. I've taken care of it.*

*Good. The income has been tighter recently, but the new music BD's have done well, excellent job pushing them.*

*It's not the usual flavor, but it's something new.*

*It's also important marketing for our most important VIP. Keep it up.*

*Yeah, yeah I know. Ain't about to start shit with the fucking Onryo.*

Hiromi smiled and just hung up. Yes, fear my Motoko! Mwaahahaha!

She stretched a bit finishing the shower, and stepping out, drying off and makeup as she ran down the rest of her check list.

She scanned over the gigs on offer from some of the fixers, but nothing that was any good. A transport job was forwarded to Ichi though. He could send an acceptance or not on his own though.

As she added her customary flair to her eyelashes she sent out a text to Motoko just to get away from all the work.

*Hiromi: Want to meet up for lunch?*

*Motoko: Yes! Hiromi, save me! Alice wants to schedule practice every day until the gig! My fingers are chrome, and they're still sore!*

Hiromi twitched into a smile at Motoko's whining.

As she was responding a beep sounded on her agent and she shifted focus.

An offer for one of the security bots? Good. Those things were trash, and she was kinda glad Motoko had forgotten all about them since they were terrible offbrand versions, which made her want to strangle whoever bought them. Offloading them had been a chore.

She swiftly messaged back, but adjusted the text to not sound desperate.

Even if she was. The cost to house the things was starting to inch closer to what she could pull from selling them. Dumping them was becoming more and more the optimal solution which made her want to grind her teeth.

With that she switched back to Motoko and rolled her eyes, a bit less willing to deal with Motoko complaining about work considering how much she dumped on Hiromi's shoulders.

*Hiromi: Motoko…*

*Motoko: Noooo! Don't give me disappointed Hiromi frown through text, that's so mean! Okay fine, I'll stop complaining. It's only a couple days, and a little practice isn't bad, I'm really trying to- Ah nevermind.*

Hiromi just shook her head at Motoko's Rambling texts. Seriously, usually she was quick with her texts, but sometimes when she was distracted she'd just ramble at her.

It was cute.

*Hiromi: I'll see you at lunch.*

*Motoko: Great! Oh, I haven't talked to David since we talked about bringing him in, you should bring him, so we can go over his training. Malcolm agreed to help out.*

Hiromi remembered, during Section 9's last 'training day' that had mostly been Motoko trying to get everyone to work as hard as she did when it came to crazy soldier skills.

Seriously, Motoko could just pull out a pistol, stare at a target, and practice her movements for hours, utterly silent and focused as if the idea of boredom was for lesser people.

Hiromi smiled. It was one of Motoko's cool points.

But… EUGH. What is with Motoko's interest in the gonk?

*Hiromi: Fine.*

*Motoko: Thanks Hiromi!*

She rolled her eyes. Whatever. She rose up. Makeup done. Hair styled. She'd been growing it out since the mohawk days. Back before Motoko had changed.

Now? She was growing her hair out, the natural way as she waited for inspiration to strike how she wanted to style it

She ran a hand through the growing thickness on the sides of her head. The former Mohawk being super long, while she had the rest of her hair still short thankfully gave her an acceptable look for now, but she needed to figure out what to do eventually.

Maybe she'd ask Motoko what she thought?

She smiled knowing what her friend would say.

Anything is good? Or maybe "You're cute no matter what you do?" She said aloud and smiled at herself, knowing that Motoko was great like that.

Well, the new Motoko. Her friend used to be such a bitch… Hiromi grinned. God, she'd been so…

She shook it off. Old Hiromi was gone, just like old Motoko. Only who they were now mattered, and Hiromi liked the new her, and the new Motoko.

They were still the same in some ways, but better.

Nodding she left her bathroom, and grabbed her Academy Uniform, slipping into the perfectly fitted uniform, she nodded as she adjusted the tie and skirt. Alright. Morning classes, a test she hadn't prepared for, and a Financial Analysis report, she needed to start right now if she was going to have it ready in time for class.

But this was just a normal day for Hiromi Mitsunashi, Corpo, Section 9 manager, and probably the most powerful Teenager in Night City. She grinned as she reminded herself once again that Motoko was her personal assassin if needed.

It made classes much less stressful when she knew in the back of her mind that their gruesome murder was only a phone call away.

It made her feel warm, that Motoko was there for her.

—--

The screams hit me as I played the last chord of Faint.

A week of preparation. Of playing over and over, and in the end, we just did the same set list as the Electric Orgasm.

Alice had gotten cold feet about another new song, but that was fine.

I watched as the crowd roared and bounced. 7th Hell, was a much fancier place than any other gig we'd done. Bigger place, more expensive, more packed.

I glanced over the bar where I could see corpo suits watching. Three of them. Music producers, here for us.

I even recognized the same guy from Dino's place.

"We're Stand Alone Complex! Thank you and good night!" I roared out, fist raised and got a good response right back.

The music was good.

The response, excellent.

And… As I turned and walked off the stage, into the back rooms. I could only think of one thing.

Had it worked?

"Yes!" Jared suddenly roared and I actually jolted at the sudden noise. He reached over, grabbed a bottle of something expensive from a table next to our gear, and just poured it into his mouth. "Yeagh! Did you hear that!? That response! Those cheers! We blew this house down tonight!" He roared out after his drink.

"Pass that shit." Klein demanded and the two men instantly swapped the bottle taking a swig. "Eugh. That goes down harsh. Damn right. We fucking rocked tonight. Alice!" He ordered and she wandered over and took the bottle, swigging it down.

"Oh that is strong fuck! That's right! Tonight! Whether it all works out, or comes crashing down we party like we're famous!" She called out laughing and then they all looked at me.

"Absolutely not. I don't drink." I said walking over a bottle of water in my hand that I'd grabbed to help cool off, and instead I tinked it against the bottle and slugged back a drink. "But I think you all did great tonight."

"Oh c'mon!" Klein said, thrusting the bottle at me, but oh no, I wasn't making that mistake again. I ignored him as I finished my water and chucked it into a trash can as I moved to put my Orphean away.

"Leave it Klein, Motoko's a kid."

"Fuck you." I responded to Alice's words with a middle finger, and she shrugged. That had definitely been an attempt at peer pressure.

The bitch.

"Well we aren't done yet." Jared offered, as he adjusted his open holo jacket, and smiled brightly. "The best part of tonight? Time to meet the groupies!" He laughed and Klein and him fist bumped as they put some of their stuff away and then headed out, and up the stairs to the VIP area…

"That means you too Motoko."

"What?"

"Groupies Motoko. Girls and boys that want to throw themselves at the Rockerboys that just filled up every inch of their body with adrenaline and need. C'mon, you gotta come to this too."

"Not really my thing?" I offered, and Alice rolled her eyes.

"It's part of the gig. While it might look like just fun for us, a lot of those people on the dance floor pay extra to come up and hang with us. This is an important part of being a Rockerboy. We get paid by the club for the music, the spectacle, but also the extra VIP room purchases for all of them to come hang with us. Hiromi mentioned we need to do more than just the show, we've got to earn the club eddies, so come on front girl, you come too."

"Hiromi said that? We never did this before." I tried to argue, and Alice snorted.

"You didn't, besides we've never played at a place like 7th Hell, this isn't small time. Just come up, hang out, you don't have to actually do anything. Best not in fact. You're a bit young."
"Okay fuck you again, and duh. I'm not… Interested." I said a bit flatly, and Alice smirked at me smugly.

"I'll keep an eye on you for your brother, but we do have to go and drum up some extra attention… Play a song."

"What?"

"If you don't want to be a flirtation attraction, for the groupies, then figure something else out, but be the story… Everyone here tonight wants to have a story to tell their friends tomorrow. That's what makes Rockerboys so special. I know at least one girl is going to be up there specifically for you." Alice offered and I blinked, honestly confused…

"Who?"

"The girl you tossed that shotgun of yours to." Alice reminded, and I felt my face get a little warm.

I'd done Heathens the same way, tossing out the shotgun shells, and picking a specific person right at the front to be the Heathen for the song.

She'd absolutely screamed as I dropped the shotgun, and holy shit she'd been top heavy clutching that Carnage to her chest hadn't done anything to hide the way she'-

"Right. Her… I have to go?" I asked, but Alice sent me a look. "Yeah alright, fine… I guess I'll… Try?"

"If you really can't figure out what to do, just be the mysterious one, or just play a song, like I said." She said, jerking her head at my guitar, and I nodded slowly. That wasn't a terrible idea.

I could just play a song. I had songs. I had all the songs.

I followed Alice when I realized I really couldn't just hide down in the band room, and up the stairs I was met by a Bouncer that quickly moved aside and opened up the upper VIP area to my eyes.

The band was already swarmed, Alice just flopping into a couch and looking every inch the Rockerboy she was, as she wide armed the couch and looked utterly confident.

Klein and Jared already had booze in one hand, and a girl each in the other.

And as I walked up onto the floor, my guitar in one hand cause honestly I was planning on using it as a shield I realized that probably wasn't going to work.

There was a noise, awareness of the groupies gasping at my appearance, pointing or calling. Although thankfully not all of them.

Instinctively I knew if I hesitated I'd get swarmed. So instead let myself go cool, confident, swagger, I stepped forward ignoring it all as I found a chair just far enough away no one had claimed it, and…

I grabbed the back of the seat, as everyone watched. That's fine, Alice said I should be part of the story they'd tell.

Okay fine. If this was part of being a Rockerboy, then I don't think I could be the amorous Rockerboy like the others, but that was okay.

I'd just make my own persona.

The scraping of the chair had grabbed everyone's attention, but Jared, Klein, and Alice were all wondering what was going on.

So I brought the chair into a quiet area along the back wall, and flipped it around so my back was to the wall.

And then I settled in, and before anyone could ask.

My fingers started strumming.

The bass of the club still flowed through, but the live show was over, and the VIP area seemed a bit more insulated from the speakers, so I ran my hands over my guitar. It was no acoustic, but the noise hardly mattered.

I finally looked up, and half bent over, my face half covered by my hair I caught the gaze of the woman that Alice had warned me about, Carnage still clutched to her chest, kinda surprised they let her bring that up here, but anyways.

"Hell-o, I've waited here for you, Everlong." I crooned, just loud enough to cut through the ambient song playing in the club. Instincts, on how to shift, how to move, when to slow the song, when to sing it all the louder flowed through me, and I used every ounce of them.

I'd rather be known as the mysterious Rockerboy with an aftershow, than the Rockerboy that gets swarmed by crazed groupies.

This was a brilliant plan, Motoko. You are so smart.

—--

Hiromi Mistunashi

The discussion had been cut throat. Hiromi though ignored any of the implied threats, instead just smirking confidently through them.

She had the best situation she could have asked for.

The three Producers were all interested. She had them on the hook, and by the glares they sent at each other they knew it.

Now of course, that didn't mean the deal was locked, and she'd pressed a little too hard a few times.

They were just as willing to refuse Motoko entirely, and just blacklist her, Hiromi had learned, so she'd softened her approach, and had played up the potential instead.

"The real question isn't if Stand Along Complex has good music. It's if anyone wants to hear it." Charles asked, once again trying to muddy the waters, and lower Hiromi's demands.

"It's not a bad point. Anyone with a bit of talent can play a club, but do they really make eddies? Do they have star power?" Ian Carver from MSM of all places asked, the man had a rumpled business suit, and smelled of the liquor he'd been drinking at the bar, but his eyes were clear, and… It was MSM. Practically the biggest label in the city. Some of the big names. Us Cracks, Motoko had mentioned Kerry Eurodyne once or twice.

Hiromi just smirked. She'd set up for this. A Rockerboy had to do more than just play music, they had to draw the eye, and then draw some eddies.

"Why don't we have a look at our VIP area outside, and you can decide for yourself if you think Stand Alone Complex, has star power?" She asked, waving her hand outside the door.

The private room was good, letting them talk in peace, but Hiromi had faith that Alice had listened.

Draw a crowd to the VIP session. Be loud, be a Rockerboy, party, get the groupies working.

But Hiromi wasn't sure how well it had worked. Motoko… It was a flip of a coin whether she'd listen or not.

The third producer, Otonoshi Kawa from Eye-Land Records, the smallest of the fish, rose up and the door popped open, and instantly the noise of outside hit them.

But it wasn't just normal club noises.

There was a sort of hush, and yet noise through it all, and as Hiromi got up and followed she realized that once again the Motoko coin flip hadn't just hit heads or tails. But landed on its side and awed everyone.

The Vip area was packed. With half the crowd from downstairs it felt like, seated literally on the ground as Motoko sat against a wall in a chair, the dim lights of the VIP area putting her in stark relief, her guitar in her hand, and she was just playing.

Quiet songs, yet her voice coming through clearly, enthralling and gentle, and yet teasingly husky as always.

Sexy Motoko voice was really powerful.

But Hiromi pushed that need to go sit with the others away and instead sent the smuggest energy she could at the producers.

"Well it looks like we've got half the club into the VIP room for the afterparty." She said, playing up her confidence in seeing what had happened. All three men now were on their feet and checking it out, and she could practically see their eyes rove over the crowd.

Each person up here was eddies in the club managers hands. And with how enthralled they all were, it was more eddies in the future for anyone that could snatch up this Rockerboy.

"What's that song she's playing?" Ian Carver asked, the first to speak as all three men were taking in what was going on, and Hiromi didn't know, not one she'd ever heard before.

"Oh Motoko writes new songs all the time. I haven't heard this one yet. Shame." She said, honest with the last part. Stupid Motoko, she grumbled, you were supposed to serenade your best choom with all your new songs!

"Alright Ms. Mitsunashi, MSM wants Stand Alone Complex. Let's solidify the deal." Ian said simply, and Hiromi could feel the eddies start flowing in, as the other two men turned to glare at their rival.

"Hey, don't think just beac-"

"Ignore them. I'm taking the band. Sorry Charles, CCT had their chance, you hesitated, when you should have leapt." The rumpled suited man mocked, then he turned his glowing eyes, green and pink of all things swirling around and locked them onto Hiromi. "I'll agree to most of your conditions, let's get the contract done."

Hiromi smirked like a shark. Most? Well let's see if she couldn't play him off on the others for a bit more than most of her conditions.

Hiromi realized that with this, everything would change.

Eugh, she still had so much homework to do tonight!

 

[Despacitoleo]

Well, the new Motoko. Her friend used to be such a bitch… Hiromi grinned. God, she'd been so…

She shook it off. Old Hiromi was gone, just like old Motoko. Only who they were now mattered, and Hiromi liked the new her, and the new Motoko.

They were still the same in some ways, but better

Click to shrink...

well that's depressing and smelling of some coping


Also love the chapter always bringing the most GOATED stories to life

 

[Oglymogly]

Hell yes, a Hiromi chapter! Been wanting one of these, thank you.

I wonder how much recording of these post-shows will be worth, considering that they'll be the only acoustic versions of some of the songs for a long time. Heck, it might be the only time some of the songs are played considering how many Motoko has stored up there.

 

[Killdread]

This was a brilliant plan, Motoko. You are so smart.

Click to shrink...

If she wanted obsessive fans that were literally in love with her, yeah. A better plan to be left relatively alone would involve showing off that she's absurdly multitalented instead. Something more low-key, like showing off that she can party bullets or never actually being in line of sight but leaving business cards in peoples pockets or something like that.

 

[DannyPhantom619]

Can't wait until Motoko, her band, and Hiromi meet Kerry.

 

[MARch Of Time]

"Oh Motoko writes new songs all the time. I haven't heard this one yet. Shame." She said, honest with the last part. Stupid Motoko, she grumbled, you were supposed to serenade your best choom with all your new songs!

Click to shrink...

Yeah, C'mon Choom. Your very good bestest Choom here needs those midnight serenades, followed by husky acoustic-version lyric practice whispered while maintaining deep soul-gazing eye contact - to show your sincere love (for music), hands held as you share a single armchair, hugged close on your lap so you can be sure your very bestest Choom hears perfectly over the distant sounds of the Night City, using your unfairly strong abs and thighs to support your bestest choom when you need your hands to strum the acoutstic guitar, beats of your Chooms heart strumming in tune and harmony to match-

L-Like you damn well should for your best choommate!

Motoko: WHA- Choomma-?! You're right! You spend so much time over at my place choom, you're practically another roommate! And you're my choom! Oh my god, we were choommates- ...Oh my god, we were choommates

(somewhere far away, GenZ Wakako is faintly annoyed, moreso than usual, and she doesn't know why)