Ghost in the City: Cyberpunk Gamer SI

[UndeadLord22]

So basically this is drunk Motoko:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLKvBcLv-AY


(Reposting from SB cuz Mods doing their rule thing)

 

[Qem1ng]

Gema. Gamer." I repeated. In english after a moment. Opening the case it had a shard inside.

Click to shrink...

So If anybody stole this this isekai would end Up without Cheat? ...wtf? Why Not give IT to her with inhabiting the Body?! :O

 

[guisniperman]

So, are Rebecca and Jun an item? Did she win the Oni Bowl?

 

[PandorasboxofFiction]

By any chance is motoko going to be a movie actor?

 

[Hell's Razer]

So, are Rebecca and Jun an item? Did she win the Oni Bowl?

Click to shrink...

They almost definitely had sex. Now if that means they are together is a different and much more interesting question.

 

[Morphile]

So If anybody stole this this isekai would end Up without Cheat? ...wtf? Why Not give IT to her with inhabiting the Body?! :O

Click to shrink...

It seems to have been part of a dream sequence, though IIRC some of the stuff with Viktor surrounds more "maybe magic, maybe mundane" of the rest-healing looking like a brief surge of nanobot activity.

 

[Seras]

"Music for a movie. According to the contract it would be a big bonus for you… Well for Stand Alone Complex as a whole." Hiromi explained and I hummed.

"Well he seemed weird about it."

"It would be a big feather in his cap. Right now the band is at a bit of a low state. MSM is putting eddies into you, but we haven't exploded yet. Although according to the metrics MSM has provided a bit unwillingly I'll admit, you are rising in popularity, and the band has been getting more and more radio time."

I hummed, and then just shook my head. "Okay I won't stress too much about it."

"Good! You should be relaxed and having fun! We have a bigger gig this weekend. You're ready right?"

"The radio thing?"

"Yeah the radio thing." She confirmed, and I sighed. Morro Rock was hosting a sort of concert and we were going to get a timeslot.

It wasn't big times, not at all, in fact sort of a middle sized place, a few up and coming bands, not just from MSM were coming.

A literal battle of the bands, as different brands were throwing their up and comers at each other to see who got the most attention.

It would also be broadcast on Morrow Rock as a live radio event. So… There we go.

I looked at Hiromi, we were hanging out at my place the next day, she'd taken another day off from school, and her excuse was there, so I didn't have it in me to berate her right now.

"Don't be nervous." She said to me, hitting the exact thing I was in fact suffering from.

"I'm cool, and collected, and definitely don't get nervous." I told her, with an arrogant sniff, which Hiromi grinned at me.

"Suuuure. Want a distraction?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, why don't we try and get the boys together and we can do a gig, or a training session or something."

"Do you have a gig idea?" I asked, perking up and she shook her head.

"I haven't really been looking Motoko, between school, and the MSM business, trying to play catch up, I-"

"No. Hiromi. You're doing great. You didn't do anything wrong. No worries." I said waving my hands at her like trying to calm a kitten. The way she had started talking was half way into a rant.

"I just… I'm trying."

"You are the best. The absolute pinnacle I am in awe of the work you do. You don't have to stress out trying to do more." I assured her, sliding over and grabbing her up and pulling her into a tight hug. "Seriously, I owe you a ton, I'd be a total mess without you. So don't go crazy about it. If it's too much then pare down what you do."

"I'm okay. Just can't really do much fixer stuff with how much time MSM is taking up."
"Are they messing with you? I'll kill them."

"No, well Alex is, but you already know that. No, the problem is just all the stuff I don't know. Setting up a gig at a bar is something I can do, but I'm absolutely out of my element trying to do a concert like this. Thankfully I wasn't hosting it, but I still had a lot of paperwork to go through. The insurance agreements alone."

"Insurance?"

"Stuff like making sure the concert isn't responsible if someone shoots you or the band." Hiromi explained and I blinked, cause that was kinda-"

"It's standard. Cyberpsycho's are labelled under a different section, but normal people sometimes want to kill the rich and famous. Of course there are plenty of scanners, and everyone is checked, but-"

"Someone could have an internal weapon hidden away, or whatever."

"Right."

"I should wear my Katana then, in case someone tries to shoot me."

"Absolutely." Hiromi said without hesitation, and I don't think it was because she was worried about my protection.

I sighed, and nodded. Okay I should be ready for the stupid concert. Alice and the others… I don't know. The next few days were going to be full of practice, Hiromi's excuse for taking today off had been setting it all up, and getting prepared for it.

"Practice sounds nice. Oh you know what!? We should go find an abandoned building and clear it out as practice!" It could be like how armies trained! Real training and maybe more than just Malcolm would actually participate.

"I'll find a building we can use!" Hiromi said, ever helpful, but I reached out and instead just patted her head.

"Nope." I denied her. "That'll be part of my job. You just relax." I told her, and she sent me a look before shaking her head.

"Okay Motoko. I'll let you handle this." The way she said that meant she didn't think I could handle it? How hard could finding an empty building in Night City be? This place was dilapidated as fuck in some areas."

—--

"We there yet?" Malcolm's voice asked over the group call and I really wanted to brake hard and go assault his car.

"Malcolm, that joke got old almost a century ago." I grumbled at him, as I looked around. I hadn't wanted to go to Pacifica or Dogtown for obvious reasons so I'd searched more in the industrial sector in the north west of Night City but…

Maelstrom Haunt. Maelstrom Haunt. Shanty town. Shanty town. Maelstrom Haunt…

"This is annoying!" I grumbled looking around.

"Empty buildings are rather rare, Motoko." Hiromi offered.

"I should just make them empty." I hissed glaring at the Maelstrom gangers that were hanging out on a car along the side of the road.

I revved my Quadra's engine as I continued down the streets. Come on, I just needed to find an empty industrial building to use for training! This should be this hard!

I braked…

That could work.

"Motoko?"

"Think I found it, wait here." I decided, slipping out, wearing my full tactical gear. Looking over the abandoned warehouse. It had a fence around the whole place, a large building in the center in an L shape, and a lot with old cars rusted husks hanging around. But more importantly. The place seemed dead.

I moved over to the fence, the locked and still secured fence, and leapt over.

Security systems were broken. Cameras long since rusted over, but I moved through the place with tactical efficiency. Crossing the open yard, I moved up to the actual building, checking the first door and finding it locked.

Like normal locked. Not even electronically locked.

I could pick it, but I didn't have anything on me, and it would be faster to go around.

I backed up and leapt up to the second floor. The building had a catwalk around the outside of it, and with a leap and vault I was on it. Landing quietly, I stilled as the catwalk groaned a bit.

Okay that could be a bit dangerous.

Oh well.

I hurried on checking the windows along the edge. They were dusty and completely impossible to see through. Dang.

I went to the door and while it was locked… I jammed my hand into where the knob would meet the edge and just popped it open.

Flexing my hand I looked over at the still shiny unmarked chrome.

Yeah. That had been pretty fun.

I slipped inside, looking over the area, and noticing the homeless camp set up inside, but…

No one was here.

"Looks mostly clear, but someone has been living here, we'll use it anyways. I'm going to check the rest of it. Go ahead and pull everything up to the gate and block it off so Maelstrom and anyone else knows to fuck off."

"Roger." Ichi called out and I nodded, he'd handle positioning everyone. Working in transport had given him a lot of training on just how to do that.

Either way, I continued looking around and after five minutes I cleared the whole place…

"Well it's dirty and stinks, but that's actually a benefit." I called out over the line as I reached the front door unlocking it and opening it to see everyone inside the yard poking around.

Rebecca had declined to come, but Malcolm had picked up David.

"It's a shit hole. But whatever." Ichi offered, looking around. I noticed he was clutching his pistol a bit tight.

"It's cool choom. I cleared everything inside. Whoever normally lives here is probably out for now, and I doubt they'll mess with us with all the hardware we came with."

"This is nova." David whispered, standing a bit awkwardly next to everyone.

Unlike the others, he was only really wearing a bulletproof vest and a crappy helmet. Malcolm had apparently found the stuff for him at some point.

"Alright. Here is what we will do. We'll split into groups. One trying to get in, one trying to defend, and play gun tag. The goal is to work on sweeping the insides of a building and not getting shot by the people inside before you shoot them."

"What do we get if we win?" Malcolm asked, smirking and I glared at him.

"This is training Malcolm, the goal is to practice important skills. While it's semi-competitive thats not the-" I stopped as everyone was pouting at me. Except David, but literally pouting. "Fifty Eddies, and you get to pick where we go for dinner."

"Yes." Malcolm cheered, Ichi and Hiromi looked pleased too. I just glared at them before shaking it off.

"Okay so as I was saying, we'll go in teams."

"Aww, but you're going to win." Ichi pointed out, and I shook my head.

"Nope. I'm the trainer today. I'll be going in with the teams moving in, walking them through what to do, and how to move, and of course judging shots and things."

"Preem!" David called out, and I sent him a nod. For a boy that we picked up from school, he was more energetic than most of my usual team.

"Alright! Everyone line up! Guns displayed! We're removing all bullets from our guns before we start. Keep the magazine on you and only re-insert it when we are done!" I walked through making sure the guns were completely empty as I went.

This should be fun!

"Okay team-"

"I'm taking Malcolm!" Hiromi called out, which would leave Ichi with David?

"I think Malcolm and David should team up." I denied her. Malcolm was definitely the most skilled solo of the teams, and David the least.

Hiromi pouted at me.

Then I realized… She'd wanted to win for the fifty eddies, and dinner… Dangit Hiromi! This was about training not winning!

This was going to be a mess.

—--

David and Malcolm moved in. David trailing very awkwardly which wasn't good, I reached over and raised his gun up as he kept dropping his arm and walking around with the Unity he was using like it was a summer luncheon, instead of tactical training.

"Is the ground what you're shooting at? Keep the gun up."

"Sorry!"

"Shhh!" Malcolm hissed at us but I ignored him.

Stealth was kinda pointless Malcolm. Ichi and Hiromi knew we were coming.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

I looked up.

"Well played." I agreed. Before Malcolm could open the door Ichi and Hiromi had 'fired' down at them from the second floor catwalk.

"We didn't even make it inside!" Malcolm raged at them, flipping them off.

"Okay! Team switch! Go go go!" I called out."

—--

"Malcolm! I'm going to kill you!"

"Natural environment." He argued with a shrug.

"Malcolm… Put that back wherever you found it." I demanded, a bit disgusted. Whatever homeless guy that had been sleeping here had a nasty old blanket and Malcolm had used it like an old Ninja trick to hide against the wall in the dingy light it had worked, but… Ew.

"Yeah, probably a good idea." I muttered.

"And wash your hands!"

"Here? Are you crazy?"

—--

I reached over and without hesitation, twisted David's wrist. "Hey- ow!"

"It's called aiming." I said with a hiss. Turning your pistol sideways was stupid.

"Sorry! I just… I saw a guy do-"

"David. Don't finish that sentence. You aren't trying to be a gangoon, or a thug. We're a tactical spec ops team. We do not spray wildly. Aim your fucking pistol."

"Yes Ma'am!"

"Good.

—--

"Okay so have we learned something today?"
I asked and other than David got nothing but groans.

"I learned a lot!"

"Thank you David, at least someone paid attention."

"Can we go now? I'm tired." Hiromi whined, and I sighed.

"Yes, let's clear out." I said, waving everyone towards the vehicles, but Malcolm, Ichi, and Hiromi didn't move.

Instead all three were grinning.

I sighed.

"Okay, Ichi, here is fifty Eddies, and you get to-"

"What!? How did Ichi win!?"

"Yeah I should have won!" Hiromi and Malcolm complained and I just shrugged.

"He was actually doing a fairly good job on everything, and to be fair Malcolm, whenever you died, David was right after so Ichi picked up a few double kills."

"Agh!" Malcolm groaned, and I could see David looking a little concerned as he realized he'd dragged Malcolm down, but Malcolm shook it off. "Next time we'll win! Right David?"

"Yeah! Definitely choom!" David fist pumped strongly, and Malcolm nodded.

"Okay so where are we eating Ichi?"

"Oh I have some ideas."

—--

"Uuuh. Chooms?"

"What's up David, not used to a XB bar?"

"Why here?" I asked, looking around Lizzies. The food wasn't even good!
"I was really craving nachos, and they are kinda awesome here." Ichi said, defending himself, but I lifted an eye at him.

Our meal came with some 'free' BD time as well…

Ichi that's gross, choom. I conveyed through my eyes. He just looked away.

"Ugh whatever." Hiromi complained, looking through the bar's menu. "I'll get just a couple drinks and go home then."

"No drinking and driving!" I demanded, finger of absolute judgement pointing at her, but Hiromi sent me her unimpressed look.

"I drive better drunk!"

"She does drive better drunk." Malcolm added, and David looked up.

"Really?"

"Yeah it's kinda-"

"No! No one drives better drunk! No drunk driving, that's stupid!" I argued, almost throwing something at Malcolm.

"Heh. You're just jealous." Hiromi said confidently, and I looked at her flatly.

"I don't like drinking Hiromi, and besides I drive just fine."

"Not as good as I do when I'm drunk."

"That's not a thing!"

"It-"

"Not a thing!"

My chooms looked at me, and then at each other and just shrugged.

I'm not insane, they're insane!
"So I can order whatever I want?" David asked hesitantly, changing the topic and I waved him off.

"Help yourself choom. Enjoy."

"Nova! I will! Ah man, I've never been to a place like this!"

"Seriously? Swanky Arasaka student never goes slumming it?"

"Ah well-"

"Nah Ichi, lay off. He's a street kid, his Mom just wants him to do well." Malcolm argued.

"Oh, that how it is? Gotcha, if my Grandma could have gotten me into Arasaka Academy she would have too." Ichi offered, and I watched David's shoulders relax a little.

The poor kid didn't really have many friends, not with the corpo elites judging him, and the street kids normally doing the same.

Hopefully he'd keep himself alive with the training we offered him?

Oh who am I kidding? David is a fucking moron. If he stays with Arasaka, then he's dead the moment someone above him wants him gone, and if he leaves dies in a blaze of Glory.

I sighed. Looking at Hiromi who looked at me with her eyebrow raised.

I sent her a pleading look.

He's just a stupid puppy Hiromi. You have to save him!

She gave me a disgusted look, probably not picking up everything I was trying to convey.

But finally she sighed.

"David, take it from me. You're top of your class at the academy. Stop listening to Katsuo, you'll be placed in a valuable spot in the company when you graduate simply for your skills, just open your eyes and don't be stupid."

"Uhh… Thanks Hiromi?"

"It's Boss to you!" She grumbled, taking a sip of…

"Hiromi! No drinking and driving."

"It's only one!"

"One is too many!"

"Blah blah, It's-"
"Oh Crap!" David suddenly yelped, as his eyes flashed yellow, and he started talking on his agent.

"Mom! I'm fine, I'm just out with some friends. From school! Yeah! Where am I…?" He looked up at us like he hoped for an answer.

Like I said, a moron. Any street kid would have instantly fucking lied, saying some random restaurant or something.

David? He panics for just a second too long.

"Just at some restaurant. Motoko is paying." He offered and I quirked my eyebrow at him.

I looked at Hiromi and she was honestly delighting in Davids slow crumbling situation.

"Today was fun. Thanks Hiromi."

"Hmhmm! What do you think your Manager is for? Gotta take care of the talent."

"Yeah but tomorrow is going to be a lot of work."

"Yeah."

"Ah! No you don't have to pick me up! My choom Malcolm will drop me off!" David nearly squealed, and everyone looked at each other and started laughing.

Oh man, his Mama was gonna be pissed if she found out where he was. But… Other than Malcolm no one else really had parents to do that sort of thing with…

It was nostalgic for me.

Malcolm would cover for him… Probably. But for me? Today was my last day of fun for a bit. A concert, the Militech Showroom, and preparation to set up the heist. I'd be busy.

I took a sip of my own drink, which was just a soda. Time to get to work.

 

[MARch Of Time]

"I should wear my Katana then, in case someone tries to shoot me."

"Absolutely." Hiromi said without hesitation, and I don't think it was because she was worried about my protection.

Click to shrink...

Because she knows how absolutely SICK it would look, not only wearing her badass chuuni sword, but if someone did try to shoot her, and Kensei Rockerboy Motoko fucking Kusanagi slices a bullet with her sword on live TV?

I took a sip of my own drink, which was just a soda. Time to get to work.

Click to shrink...

Yeah... probably for the best Motoko, lol.
Her chooms better learn their lesson, except when they inevitably forget and experience Hurricane Motoko once more.

 

[Vasstago]

Lol. Motoko still don't getting that Hiromi sees David like a threat for her prospects with her "friend" is always funny to see.

 

[Oglymogly]

It's good to see Hiromi admit how much she's taking on is a bit too much at once. She's probably the hardest working out of the group right now, even if most of its off-screen. Assuming she doesn't get tripped up she's going to be a terror once she graduates.

She's going to be a low level fixer of a highly trained and quality-equipped team, manager of a successful music group, and a trained and experienced merc in her own right. She's just missing the connections high level corpos are born with, and the might of a corp behind her.

 

[Canadian Leprechaun]

Honestly, MSM would have a much easier time Mokoto-Wrangling if they did a cursory fucking search into her, learned what she actually does for a living and liked, and just leaned into getting her Militech chrome, training, and equipment in exchange for doing promos with the stuff. They already like half figured it out with the arms, but I can't help but feel like if they actually took her seriously as a merc and played into it the label would get a lot farther.

"I heardz you leik swrods, have you considered HEMA? How about the brand new Militech FlambergTM Now With RealFire!TM Module(for an additional fee)"

 

[DannyPhantom619]

Always up for some team training & bonding.

 

[CrazyDarkstar23]

I understand both from in story and from a meta standpoint why Motorola goes along with the rocker boy stuff but it does get slightly irritating in theses type of in between chapters.

The training part really does a good job of showing off that for all their competence these are all teenagers lol.

 

[PersonablePlatypus]

I understand both from in story and from a meta standpoint why Motorola goes along with the rocker boy stuff but it does get slightly irritating in theses type of in between chapters.

The training part really does a good job of showing off that for all their competence these are all teenagers lol.

Click to shrink...

I know where you come from but I view the whole Rockerboy Saga in the same light as the earliest gigs done by my favourite major knockoff; she did well, the contracts got bigger, she trained and fought like a madwoman, the contacts get rolling and now she is a Slave to her own success.

The main difference is that the RoEs are sadly worlds apart.



For all of the bad Rep they have, properly trained and motivated teens are terrifying on multiple levels: they adapt quicker, have an easier time on stunts that should not work that way and are commonly slimmer than competative Goons at the same level while retaining the most useful parts of child physiology in keen eyes and sharp hearing.

… if they did not get commonly auto balanced by the grace of a newborn giraffe they would probably rule the world.

 

[TheHoneyPot]

Not just the Katana either. She needs a shotgun again for her gig.

 

[Sad Machine]

Hiromi is doing the stuff corpos show off that they do when they are trying to show off to new bloods but she's actually walked the walk imagine the monster the team will be when 2077 kicks off

 

[Despacitoleo]

Okay that could be a bit dangerous.

Click to shrink...

lies she's to goated and cute to he harmed by such things

 

[Kyller]

A century from now, when people are reading Hiromi the Corpo Queen's memoirs, they're going to be rather confused about who David is and why he's listed as her most bitter rival lol

 

[BoML]

Well, Motoko finally ran a training exercise for her chooms/mercenary company, and to no surprise at all, David was the load, but honestly, he probably learned the most out of this group. Now, the question is if he actually internalized anything from this.

 

[Mariadreaming9]

I was wondering what kind of song Motoko could write for Bushido Style, and since it's an expy of Fast and Furious, obviously she has to write Tokyo Drift. But this is Night City, not Tokyo, so:

I wonder if you see
How they live in Night City
If you see it, then you mean it,
Then you know you have to be
Bushido Style! (Drift, Drift, Drift)
Bushido Style! (Drift, Drift, Drift)!

 

[Guardian Box]

I was wondering what kind of song Motoko could write for Bushido Style, and since it's an expy of Fast and Furious, obviously she has to write Tokyo Drift.

Click to shrink...

If it has cars then there's only one choice

 

[Seras]

"We got this right?" Alice asked not for the first time, and I looked up from where I was checking over my equipment.

"It's just a radio broadcast."

"It's a battle of the bands! If we can get everyone hyped up, it could be an absolute nova for our career!" Alice argued, and I nodded.

That was technically true, but I don't think we had much to worry about. Honestly I think the whole battle of the bands aspect was mostly just to try and keep the Rockerboys all interested. I don't think Morro Rock, or any of the advertisers really cared about who won.

It was all about drumming up the interest in the first place.

Or I could be entirely wrong. People were weird. Either way, I was listening to the band currently up on the stage. The stage itself was rather small. The room did have a crowd to play to, but the cameras and mics everywhere were the real focus.

It didn't matter and we were ready.

I was all done up. Makeup artist had come by and painted my face into a mess of sultry lines.

I had taken a pic of myself in the mirror after, I wasn't one for much makeup, but I did like how sharp I looked.

Either way that wasn't important. The song was.

I'd argued for something new, but the band hadn't quite been ready, so instead we were going to try and hit it out of the park with Heathens again. Hiromi had agreed with it though. Apparently we were close to putting out an album and she argued that hyping up the songs that would be on it would be best.

Which… Fine.

I still wanted to play that song though…

Maybe later.

Still the coordinator came in.

"Stand Alone Complex in five!"

We all looked at each other and nodded. And I noticed Alex slip into the back room. Thankfully he didn't interrupt or try to speak to us as we kinda needed to lock in.

I looked over the band. Jared and Klein were taking a last minute shot. Obviously trying to get some drunken courage, as they were nervous while Alice was pacing.

Seriously guys, we'd had bigger venues before. We'd been up in front of real crowds, this was just a radio broadcast!

Well it would be on TV as well of course, but still. They really needed to relax.

I continued to check over my Orphean. Nothing had changed from the last few times I'd run an internal check, but I still felt like I should.

The rest of the band should just be as calm and collected as me!

And then the alarm hit, and we rose up. Handlers very quickly swapped out the equipment, and we had only a few minutes as the announcers cut to commercials, and talked about the last band to be ready.

But the team was quick, and we had more than enough time to go over everything, and then stand there in front of the crowd, even with the stage semi dimmed as I looked out over the small group watching.

They were hired to cheer and sing along to each song, to basically try and amplify the feeling of the band. Plus I'm pretty sure they were adding extra crowd noise to the broadcast.

I took a breath. Letting the temperature in my brain drop.

Rockerboy 10, had given me some extra insight. Some awareness of just how much control I could have over a crowd.

I of course didn't have the cyberware to push it even farther, to not just demand attention but grab it in such a way the human mind couldn't resist.

At least that was sort of what I was getting the feeling of from what I understood now.

Either way…

I was going to put on the best show I could!

Suddenly the info booth ahead of us activated, showing a count down.

The lights slowly began growing in shifting and adjusting to our requested patterns…

"All my friends are heathens, take it slow." I crooned out the first line using every trick in the book to grab everyone's attention.

—--

"What do you think? Was it enough?" Alice asked, but it was at Alex, more than anyone else, which annoyed me.

"It was top tier. Now we just need to wait and see if anyone else can throw out a surprise upset." He offered charmingly, and Alice grinned at the reassurance.

I was done though. Sighing as I wiped at my neck a bit with a moist towel, and starting to pack up the gear.

Just as I was packing up though, an annoying voice echoed out.

"Is that it?" I looked up and… Did I know this idiot? His voice was fake, his face was fake, obviously bio-sculpted, and his outfit was… outrageous.

"Carmen?" Alice said after a moment, seemingly recognizing something about the guy.

"Pfft. Don't act so surprised, real Rockerboys get actual attention." He replied, and I looked at the man… Carmen… Carmen…

Did I know a Carmen?

"What do you want, Carmen." Alice asked, nearly hissing. "We want nothing to do with you."

"Of course not, you're riding someone else's coattails. As always. Alice Alice Alice. Oh and Klein as well, Jared is around I'm sure. Three losers that can barely perform, as always attached to someone bigger."

"Fuck you!" Alice jumped to her feet, but Klein did as well, the drummer clenching his drumsticks like he was about to assault someone with them.

"Oh! He's your old bandmate. I didn't recognize him at first." I commented when it finally clicked. This was the idiot that used to own my guitar. Then I frowned. "What's your obsession with your former band? This is like the second time you've come to bother us out of nowhere. You do know how obsessed that makes you look right?"

"Fuck off street rat. As if I care what some wannabe has to say."

"Didn't you just say they were riding my coattails? Bro, you need to make up your mind. Am I worthless, or am I some rising star that everyone is attached to?" My question had the guy looking pissed and I noticed Alice starting to smirk.

We just finished a gig, we didn't need this guy, and we certainly didn't need to talk to him.

"Don't act like you're hot shit, rat. You'll see, I'll bury you."

"Great. So can you go away now?"

"You-"

"Hey." Alex cut in, smiling charmingly. "Alex MSM Records. I'm sorry, can you please leave our guest area, you aren't on the visitor list." He demanded, and there was a subtle threat there as he looked from Alex back to me, and then to Alice.

"Just because you got with MSM doesn't mean anything. You're still a two bit singer, and an even worse musician."

"Then why do you keep coming around?" She snapped back. Her anger cooled, and she found the target I'd set up.

He scoffed. "I like slumming it sometimes." He said cockily, and then walked out. He lifted an arm, and a groupie slipped under his arm, tittering at him, and cooing how amazing he was.

I could literally hear the sugar dripping into his ear, propping up his ego.

Gross.

Shrugging it off I was completely ready to let it all disappear, when I turned and watched as Alice grabbed a water bottle and flung it at the doorway.

"Fuck you! You cockwipe! Traitor bitch!" She yelled, and I flinched back a bit as she huffed fists clenched.

Right.

For me, he was a weirdo, for Alice and the others he was a former bandmate, a former friend even.

I sighed. I really didn't need this sort of drama, I was going to be prepping to do a massive heist and really didn't need this.

Thankfully Alex stepped in, and… It made me want to grind my teeth, but he was good at handling Alice, and the others.

I let him calm her down, the man confident that Stand Alone Complex would grow.

—--

"We lost." Alice whispered dejectedly as a different band was brought up on stage.

I honestly would have just shrugged it off at that moment if it wasn't for who was up on stage.

Carmen, and his basically solo band…

How the fuck had they won? They weren't even that good! There had been two other bands I'd actually argued would have rivaled Stand Alone Complex, if not beat us, but not him!

"Unfortunately, we couldn't overcome the ratings." Alex replied simply calm… Too calm.

I looked over at him and he noticed and gave me the same look he was giving Alice before.

"Unfortunately that band is being pushed heavily. The front man's name is on everyone's lips. So everyone is checking him out."

I highly doubted that. More likely someone in his group had paid a lot of money to give him a win for more publicity.

There was a moment of anger in my chest, hot and acidic. I should destroy this guy. Ruin him. He was an asshole, and it wouldn't even be hard. Kill him, remove that little shit. No. That was stupid. He was just a braindead asshole. I didn't have time to murder every asshole in the city!

Yet the idea still swam around a little. How would I go about killing the Rockerboy?

The idea started formulating but Alice cut me off.

"Fuck you Carmen! You suck!" She shouted loud enough that I'm sure some of the radio broadcast picked it up over his arrogant swagger around the stage.

The crowd went silent, another hint they were paid actors, but not all of them could.

I heard some laughter, and giggles.

I glanced at Alice who looked triumphant, as Carmen's face shifted into a scowl.

Heh.

Maybe she was right. It was words, and song that would destroy that little shits career, not a bullet.

Even if a bullet would be easier.

—--

"So how did we actually do?" I asked Alex, as we were all on our way back from the contest.

"You didn't win."

"I think you never expected us to win. So tell me how we actually did." I said, and I noticed the almost proud look on the man's face.

Gross.

"Well I was going to wait until we got back, but yes. Motoko is correct. MSM never expected Stand Alone Complex to win the battle of the bands today. Not that we weren't still hoping."

"Then what were we even doing?" Alice said, unhappy, but Alex shot her a proud look.

"You're putting your name out there! Do you know the discussion around the contest is two things. How unfitting the winner was, and the other bands that should have taken the top spot? You're one of three that are considered by the masses to have won!"

"So we did win… In a way." Klein offered, knocking back another shot.

He was pretty drunk already, maybe slow down choom?

"It was a success in other ways. We'll be using this boost to your fame to do a hard push for your first album. Speaking of. Are you satisfied with it?"

"Yeah… Probably." I said, hesitating a little. I felt like it should have a few more songs, but putting something out there was probably worth more.

"We should do something about Carmen." Alice said, seriously, and while Klein looked interested, Jared just shrugged.

"Who cares about him?"

I agreed with Jared on this one. Carmen wasn't important. He was just an annoyance.

"Some Rockerboys you all are." Alice hissed at Jared and I as she sat back and huffed, arms crossed.

I frowned. But let it go.

Focus on what was important.

—--

"Finally free!" I cried out as I arrived home. It had been a busy three days leading up to the battle of the bands and all the prep for that. Practicing the songs, working on finalizing the first album track release.

I stretched my arms up above my head as I walked inside and flopped on the couch, a few moments of just being lazy before I got to work again.

Tomorrow was another big day, but it was a big day that was something I really wanted.

Militech Showroom. I'd be going in, there would be cameras, and more Militech trying to create ads, but it was fine, because they were letting the fox in with the hens.

I'd be able to slip through all of their security see how they did the security in the first place!

I'd make a BD of it, just like Evelyn had done. With Judy's help I'd be able to go back through it and find weak points, access points, and maybe even guard positions.

Then.. Then I'd need to put together a netrunner group. I don't think Yoko would be interested in helping, but I would talk to her anyways, but I had other netrunners I knew.

Lucy, Kiwi, and even Sasha… Maybe.

I bet I could pay for at least one of their services to back me up. Money well spent honestly.

Militech was going to be annoyed if they even realized I was there. A clean Op. That's what I was planning, the sort of thing only a pro could pull off.

I grinned happily at the idea of being able to pull off something like this.

Of course… Something would probably go wrong. So I needed to plan for all the bad shit too. Fallback plans, getaway hideouts, and all that.

If Militech figured it out… Well I remembered what happened to the All Foods Maelstrom base after V went through it.

Militech arrived with enough force to clear them out and get back their equipment.

So I'd have to be careful, if there was a mistake and Militech had any clue the heist happened, people would have to go into hiding for a bit, until things cooled off.

Either way, it was finally time to get this started. But first I'd need to go through the showcase, through the front door as a guest, and see what I could find.

Even as I lay out on the couch I could feel my feet bouncing at the thought of getting this going.

Finally some action.

—---

I didn't have any sort of extra sensors, or radio to talk to the team or something. All of that could be noticed. Instead as I was picked up by Alex, and Hiromi the next morning, I had my BD Recorder active and ready.

"Just relax, and let the Militech agents figure out what they want. MSM and Militech are quite happy with this arrangement, most Rockerboys don't want to be connected to a weapon producer like Militech, so everything should be nice and simple." Alex said, his face buried in his agent, as he worked.

"What he said, but keep an eye out for things you might want." Hiromi said with a wink to me, and I grinned in response as she looked confident, smacking a few strands of her bangs back nonchalantly. "Because of course if you find something they're selling to your tastes, we could probably set up another ad campaign."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Do so, heck pick something even if you don't like it." Alex offered for once ganging up on me with Hiromi instead of getting in her way.

"I'll keep an eye out." I said flatly, not telling them I meant that in more than one way.

Finally thought it was show time. The high end car that MSM always wanted to transport us in, pulled in, and I looked out the windows, having turned off the tint with a few buttons.

Something made for Rockerboys to look out into the masses and wave and get a reaction while still keeping the bullet proof glass.

For me, it meant I could see all the security as we pulled into the Showrooms parking garage.

It was built into the base of one of the high rises in city center. Not the main Militech office in Corpo Plaza, but in the more shopping area of downtown. As we pulled in on the ground level instantly I started noticing the security.

Obviously this wouldn't be the entrance I used during the heist, I'd want to access the storage area, not the public sections, but I kept my eyes open anyways, glancing around and taking in all the security scanners, cameras, and active security.

There were a few guards in Militech gear looking through bullet proof glass into the parking area.

Obviously the Militech guys were taking the security of this place seriously.

I knew why. We weren't even entering through the normal civilian entrance. This was the important VIP garage.

It was fine though. I was getting everything I needed.

I smiled as we stopped and stepped out and there a Man wearing Militech branded suit, was waiting.

"Welcome to the Militech Showroom! I'm Tyler Harris, and I'll be your host for the day." He greeted me, me specifically in fact, offering a gregarious smile and a wave of his arm like he was some circus ringmaster.

"Motoko. Nice to meet you." I offered back, no need to be rude, and we moved through quickly. Alex took the lead in some ways as Hiromi joined me at my side, smirking all the while despite being an Arasaka suit in Militech territory.

We were brought to an elevator as Tyler spoke excitedly.

"We'll start with the Eternal exhibit hall." He offered and I couldn't help but cant my neck to the side wondering what the heck that meant.

Either way as the door opened, we were led onto a massive sort of circular room.

"Welcome to the main hall! Here we have eight of our showcased themes, four on each floor. The Eternal Hall is over here." He waved at me, guiding us in, and instantly I was a bit shocked.

When you think Militech, you think… Military Tech. You don't think of teenage angst.

But apparently Militech did.

The first hall we entered was like a 2077 Hot Topic. Armor, accessories, weapons, even actual guns all of them splashed with Teen emblems. Wild paints and icons, key chains for guns... Little cartoon pictures of people flipping off, even all pink weapons.

There was an all pink combat knife…

"The Strawberry Tac X6 Combat Knife. We're hoping to draw the eye of the civilian market with it. Not everyone can have a set of Mantis Blades, but any gangoon trying to mug a teen with a Strawberry is going to have a quick trip to the ER."

"Pink isn't my color." I offered, even if the knife itself was fine.

Looking around the place, I understood why they brought me here. An entire set of equipment. Literally everything I could think of plastered with Militech branded teen angst ready to sell.

They probably struggled, in the same way Arasaka wouldn't be popular with the normal Kitsch style.

They were trying though, but unfortunately.

"I'm more of a Neo-Mil person myself." I explained to the poor guy waving a hand at my own gear.

"I understand, but something might catch your eye. We make the absolute best armor, and accessory systems any Rockerboy who wants to make a splash could desire."

Yeah and it would probably be as likely to make that splash as a normal Hot Topic goer. Either way, I took it all in, eyes wide, and scanning.

Either way I looked around. Checking out the weapon accessories on display. Optics, silencers, different barrels for a wide range of guns.

Considering I still had my Lexington at my hip. I was rather interested in some of the additions. Some I right away recognized. The punch bayonet from that one Iconic was there in a variety of colors,

I glanced over the armored clothes, and general body armor, but the hyper colors was just too much for me.

"These aren't bad." I finally said as poor Tyler was getting more and more anxious about my disinterest.

"A good eye! The Militech 'Orca' Brand combat boots." He offered, as I looked them over. They thankfully weren't colored like someone had puked rainbows over them. But they did have armored sections surrounding the toes, and ankles, giving them a styled look.

The fact the armored sections were actually functional to my eyes told me good things.

"I want them." I decided then, and Hiromi stepped in.

"And what my client wants she gets." She offered, easily slipping in and discussing with Tyler, about brand deals for boots.

I sighed, I didn't want them that much Hiromi. I shook it off, looking around.

And this was only one stop in the Showcase. They had seven more, and the storage area.

Use the time Motoko. Remember what you are here for. Not new boots.

Even if they were low key nova.

 

[UndeadLord22]

Use the time Motoko. Remember what you are here for. Not new boots.

Even if they were low key nova.

Click to shrink...

Somehow, the boots will appear fitted in her shoes.

 

[DannyPhantom619]

One day Motoko will be Michael Jackson famous.

 

[Atomano]

Okay I think I know what's been bugging me about this arc, at first I thought it was that it was too focused on music for my taste but no because I genuinely enjoyed the earlier points in the story where Motoko starts playing. What I've started to dislike are her chooms, it's becoming more and more apparent that Motoko's unhappy with her rockergirl "career" but all of her friends seem to not care one bit about that, even stopping to search for gigs (hiromi in the previous chapter), it feels like they're saw the MC's rise to fame and went "Oh well we can coast on that, no need to go for edgerunning anymore" even though it's thanks to Motoko and it makes her unhappy. She seemed a lot more invested in her rockergirl skills when she was doing it just for fun or to destress. WHICH is what she wanted to keep it as in the beginning: a hobby that helps her destress. Anyway, regardless of all that, thanks for the chapter Seras, I can't wait to see the way this goes

 

[malhavoc431]

snip

Click to shrink...

I have a feeling that Carmen is going to get butthurt enough to Fuck Around and then Find Out in the most hilarious of ways. Alex might too, but this chapter he was a lot less of a pain. Maybe he's learning? We'll see.

 

[CrazyDarkstar23]

How are your hands doing Seras?

Kinda wish more detail was on the probably fixed band showdown but still overall good. I find the ability Motorola won't think with her merc mind instead of just her rocker boy mind to be kinda baffling personally. She's showing a lot more patience than I would, also more then what she might have more toward the beginning of the story.

 

[RobotSquid]

I am simply amazed that this many chapters fit in that small number of pages.

been reading it on royal road. saw it was also on spacebattles with tons and tons of mod action.