By the time we hit the gate we both realized what happened.

Slowing to a stop, surrounding my car and Jun’s Bike, both blocking the entrance to the gate, were three Maelstrom trucks.

Already I could see the red eyed borgs climbing out to look around.

“Cover me!” I called out as I rushed forward. Burya drawn and aimed, and only when they noticed me did I fire. Three rounds echoed, sending borgs scurrying as I rushed to my car. While my shots had sent a few running for cover a few of the borgs were starting to aim at me, so I did the smart thing. I put up my arms to guard my face and jumped into the still open passenger door ignoring the stray bullets slammed into my arms.

I reached down under my passenger seat for a box that I had filled from the Raffen raid, and never really used.

Popping it open I started grabbing grenades.

I glanced out the door seeing Jun in full rage mode as he offhanded a Shingen, a smart SMG that I didn’t even know he had. It must collapse down or something. Still he was shooting mini missiles into the crowd roaring and drawing attention.

Stupid Jun. He was gonna get shot doin’ that.

I flipped the switches, pressed the buttons, or pulled the pin for the grenades as I started chucking them wildly out of the car towards the Maelstrom trucks.

It took a moment and then the explosions started going off, and the screams and cries of dying Maelstrom finally overrode the sound of gunfire.

I turned back towards Jun to tell him to get on his Kusanagi and get out of here, but he had already unsheathed his Katana and was going wild on the now utterly disrupted Maelstrom. One of their trucks was burning from an incendiary grenade highlighting the fight as he rushed in and started cutting.

Well, if he wanted to murder all of these Maelstrom, I wasn’t going to be left behind. I slipped out of my car, Katana drawn, and moved.

Quickly leaping up onto the hood of my car and then forward to cut the arm off a Maelstrom gonk aiming a shotgun at Jun. The thermal blade cut right through, and his head was parted a moment later before he could even scream with a casual swipe. Then I was among them, and between Jun and I? The grenades having thrown them around killing or maiming?

It was wheat to a scythe. Jun drew their eyes, the Oni. I could practically taste their terror as he kept among them, not letting them get any clear shots as he cut them into pieces with pure power.

While that happened. I ghosted them. Heads parted from necks, limbs were lost suddenly, and then lives a moment later. While I did get shot again, this time in the back the fucker lost his arm and then head a moment later. While Jun was just tanking everything.

By the time I caught up to Jun it was over. He was dueling a large borg with a nasty looking sawn off shotgun fit for a cyborg, and a chain sword of all things trying to keep Jun from bisecting him.

Unfortunately I don’t believe in honorable duels. The Borg died in moments after my Katana surged out the front of his neck as I stabbed him through his spine. My face a rictus grin as I managed to kill steal from Jun.

I was laughing, my cold breaking as Jun practically jumped at my sudden appearance once again. I could see him instantly look around, but I threw him a thumbs up. “I confirmed kills on everyone else. We’re clear.” I told him. His eyes continued to rove around as if he didn’t fully believe me, which was fair, always good to verify yourself.

But yeah.

I killed them all.

The fools half blown up by grenades. The ones desperately trying to run. The Gonks that tried to attack me. I cut them all down. Between the fires, and Jun it was easy. They were so shell shocked I waltzed through them like a ghost.

“We should probably grab what we can and go.” I told him only to see he wasn’t just breathing hard but actually wincing. I quickly pushed in and with deft fingers found the problem. “Right through the Subdermal.” I told him after got his hands away from the bullet hole in his thigh.

“Thanks I hadn’t noticed.” He growled a bit but a moment later he had a maxdoc in his mouth.

“Take that, and hop in the car. Send your bike home without you, you can’t drive like that.”

“It’s a bullet hole. I can ride just fine.” He grumbled, but I wasn’t having any of that and quickly pulled him along his limping steps, unable to resist as I pulled him towards the passenger seat of my ride.

I winced a little at how much junk was now strewn across it, but he sighed and settled in as I threw a roll of bandages I had in my medical pouch at him as I raced back to the driver side.

“Buckle up.” I reminded him as I hammered the gear and hit the gas instantly roaring down the street causing Jun to yelp as I absolutely floored it.

Had to get Jun back to the dojo. He was bleeding!

“Slow down!”

“No!” I barked back as I zipped through the city, absolutely flooring my engine. The mostly empty streets thanks to all the shootings meant I rarely had to slow for traffic, and so I raced through the city more like I was playing… Well Cyberpunk.

Well if the driving in the game was any good anyways.

“Please slow down!” He begged as I came up to a red light with a bit of traffic, we were in a busier section, lots of bars and clubs around here, and even with a gang war people were still partying.

His pleading switched to Japanese and I honestly couldn’t keep up, as I slipped in between two cars idling at the red, flowed into a drift barely sliding right behind a truck my front bumper almost kissing the rear of the bumper before I slipped around the truck and cut in front of it before flooring it disappearing down the street with a roar of my Quadra’s engine.

“Please please please slow down!” He begged and I scoffed. We were almost there. Just a few smaller side streets that were covered in little shops. Most were closed and empty. I didn’t even slow down as I flew down the darkened street. The few people I could see hearing me coming and getting out of the way.

Which was smart.

I came around the corner of the dojo in a rush and only slowed a tiny bit as I drifted down into the parking garage for the apartment complex.

I quickly found a space and slowed to gently park into one close to the elevator to the first floor. “C’mon Jun, let’s get you to your ripper.” I told him as I jumped out of the car to run around towards his side, he was already climbing out when I reached him, and as I tried to get close to help him his hand reached out and pushed my face away.

“Jwun!”

“Motoko. Stop smothering me… Also you are never allowed to drive again. Ever.” He told me as he started walking just with a hefty limp towards the elevator.

“That’s not fair! I’m pretty good at driving!”

“Terrifying.”“Everyone complains about me driving slow, but when I actually drive fast you complain too!?” I argued as I kept with him, happy to use the conversation to keep him distracted.

“That’s because no one knows how terrifying you driving fast is. Where did you even learn to drive like that?”

“Playing around mostly.” I answered truthfully… From a certain point of view.

“Terrifying.” He deadpanned as he rested back against the elevator seemingly exhausted.

Oh. Right. Jun had been awake all day, fought with me. Fought during the Kamikaze raid, and then chased me out too.

Dang. I actually felt super sorry for him now. “Let’s get you into the ripper and get you a nap. You look tired.” I told him as I sidled up to him resting my head on his shoulder for a moment.

“I wonder why that is?” He snarked at me, seemingly too tired to get angry. Huh I guess sleepy Jun is snarky Jun.

I opened my mouth to respond but closed it. I hadn’t really needed Jun, but I understood it was difficult for him to understand just what I could do. What a Gamer was capable of.

“Thanks for coming to help me Jun… I promise I won’t run off in the middle of the night again. I’ll let you know when I go out, so you… Well you’ll probably still worry, but at least I won’t just vanish on you.”

Jun’s hands clenched but then loosened.

“When you killed that last Strom. You were laughing.”

“Yeah. I was having fun. We work well together… You just need to work on getting shot less.” I told him, resisting the urge to poke at him with a finger. He was injured so I wasn’t going to poke his bullet wounds. That would be rude, even if the urge to mess with my brother was almost irresistible.

“I didn’t believe you before. When you said you enjoyed it.”

I scratched at my cheek a bit embarrassed as Jun was staring at me as the elevator came to a stop. “Yeah well… I guess It’s just one of those things. I’m good at it… Plus I have my own reasons to enjoy killing them.”

“Yeah.” He was quiet as he hobbled out, my attempts to help more getting in his way, than really helping. As I tried to get him to the window that we could climb out of. It was a bit difficult, but we managed to get him through and the vendors on the other side quickly noticed and actually helped out, not saying a word as they took an arm and helped Jun into the Dojo’s side entrance and downstairs into the ripper clinic.

“What the? Kusanagi!?” The female ripper was sitting at a chair and jumped up when Jun was carried in, she took a moment to look me over as well. I was still covered in blood, but I waved her towards Jun and she didn’t need any further prompting to ignore me.

He was settled onto the ripper chair, and she went to work cleaning the bullet holes, and starting to work. I settled onto a normal chair nearby and decided to hang out. It wasn’t like I was gonna do anything but go take a nap when I got back to the room anyways.

Might as well make sure Jun is okay.

Jun basically started napping as the doc worked. She was alright, but she didn’t have that amazing deftness that Vik had.

I really should have just hauled him to Viks.

“Kusanagi!” A voice called out just as soon as the door opened, and Fujimura stomped in. The guy was a bit bleary eyed, and his hair was messy.

I guess someone woke him up.

“Fujimura-Sama.” Jun responded, his eyes snapping open and he made to sit up only to be pushed down by the Doc.

“Stay down while I work.” She demanded glaring before giving a sitting bow to Fujimura. Seemingly letting him know he could continue.

“I didn’t set up any further raids. The battle was over, I thought I was clear that you were supposed to be resting. Now I find out you went out and got injured. You damage not just yourself, but the Kamikaze! Explain!” He barked stomping up to Jun, and I got the feeling he was only seconds away from dragging Jun out of the chair by his… well Jun didn’t have a shirt on, but the same idea stood.

Jun of course spoke quickly, before I could. “Apologies. A family matter came up.”

Fujimura instantly looked to me, his eyes glaring and face full of rage.

Of course I wasn’t impressed. Bedhead wasn’t exactly intimidating.

“You once again cause trouble?”

“I didn’t do anything. Jun was just being overprotective and decided to foll-” I was cut off as the man actually backhanded me.

He hit me.

It almost knocked me right out of the chair considering how strong he was. I could practically feel a tooth loosen as well as I sat back up. I wiggled my jaw a bit and spit out some of the blood onto the floor.

Stupid idiot made me bite my cheek.

I went cold. No, I went arctic. I caught his eyes and held them as I spoke. “You strike me again, and I’ll take the hand.”

He watched me for a moment before snorting. “Accept your punishment with grace. You damage the Kamikaze with your foolishness? You receive a reminder. Your brother is important to the Tyger Claws. Important to Kamikaze. You were brought here by our kindness, but that is twice now you have cost the Kamikaze.”

“Fujimura-sama! Motoko is my sister. She is not yours to discipline!” Jun growled, he had sat up when I was struck. Much to the irritation of the Doc.

“Then ensure that she does not damage the Kamikaze again, and I will not feel the need to interfere in family affairs!” The man barked back without any give.

“Motoko did nothing wrong. Fujimura-sama. It was my own weakness that led to injury.” Jun said, barely keeping his voice from an angry bark as he glared up at the borg.

The man finally turned from my stare which was dangerous of him.

I was still figuring out whether dismembering him would be the best way to get my point across.

“I expect a fast recovery Kusanagi. The Kamikaze have work to do.” He finally said after a few moments of imperious glaring, before he stomped out of the room.

“Jun… Your boss is an asshole.” I finally told him which caused my brother to slowly lean back onto the chair with a groan.

—--

Once Jun was fully fixed up, he fell asleep with a few meds from the doc. Considering he was passed out and practically drooling, I decided to head back to the apartment.

But not before taking a picture of his drooling face. Blackmail get!

The silliness helped soothe the irritation and the pain of my cheek.

I walked into the apartment and only once the door closed did I sigh.

I was still hurting. Bullets might get blocked by the armor, and I was mostly healed up from the Maxdoc, but I was still sore.

Plus the worst part?

“Ugh all the blood dried.” I grumbled as I ran a few fingers through my hair only to get tangled in the bloody matted strands. I wouldn’t be able to take a nap without cleaning up first.

So with a tired grunt I walked into the apartment's little bathroom that also had a washer dryer. I stripped down to my panties and stuffed the dirty clothes into the washer noticing my boots were going to need some serious attention too.

Dangit.

So as I started the cycle I grabbed some cleaning gunk and sat down in front of the washer with my boots. Slowly wiping the poor abused footwear clean of dirty Maelstrom blood.

At least one benefit of being in such a hellish future is that bloodstains weren’t an issue. The cleaning gunk I rubbed into the boots pulled the blood right out.

Groaning, as my shoulders ached, I headed into a shower and dunked my head into the nice hot water for a moment stretching a bit to start scrubbing the blood off. I zoned out for a bit just letting the heat flow into my bones, well and my arms. Cyberware felt cool to the skin and the night was getting cooler. So feeling the metal warm under the spray was actually pretty nice.

My chest always feels a little chilly now with the Cyberware installed. But right now it felt good, even if water flowing over my arms felt wrong.

Which reminded me about what I had gained tonight.

I couldn’t help but whistle as I opened the alerts. I hadn’t checked between looting and then Jun.

The XP gains went down for a while. But it was the level I had gained that I was smiling about. Three levels in one night!? I giggled a little as I did a little dance under the shower, hell yeah!

*Level up achieved!*

*One Stat Point Gained.*

*One Skill Point Gained.*

I giggled as I looked at the alert. Glancing at my stat page just to see where I am at.

Level 82500/9000

Very nice. Plus the three Stat and Skill points that were saved up!

But that wasn’t even close to everything! So many improvements!

*Athletics skill level up!*

It was midway down the list, so I guess all the running and jumping around I had done, had some benefits. Athletics 6 was awesome!

*Handguns skill level up!*

Handguns had gone up to six, which made sense. I had been firing the Burya so much lately. It really was an integral part of my toolkit. I really needed to take her apart and give her a thorough checkup.

Even happier for me, was Assault. Assault 4 thanks to my new Nekomata. I finally had a good weapon for leveling that skill.

While Ninjutsu and Cool itself didn’t level, Cold Blood had gone up to 7. Matching up with Ninjutsu. So that was fun! Less pain for me was a good thing!

Then I blinked.

Then I blinked again. Then I dug into the alert list to figure out what the hell happened.

“This doesn’t make any sense! Stupid system! I want to talk to an admin! I want a refund!” I screeched a bit as practically jumped up and down in anger.

*Engineering Experience Gained.*

*Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*

*Engineering Unlocked.*

*Engineering skill level up!*

*Engineering skill level up!*

*1 Perk Point Gained.*

I didn’t build anything!? But apparently grenades counted for Engineering!? What? How does that work!?

I had definitely used grenades before! Why was I only now getting XP for Engineering if they were connected to that!?

I thought back to the last time I had used grenades, and I had to go all the way to the Scav raid. That’s right, I had brought a few with me…

Then I remembered how often the damn things were kicked back at me… “Did… did I not actually hit anyone with a grenade!?” No I had! The two at the end, the ones hiding in the computer room, I remembered throwing the grenade in and then leaping in after to shoot them…

But they had been hiding in cover… I hadn’t actually hit anyone with a grenade until now!?

I pushed my back up against the side of the shower and slid down it groaning. If I had known that I could level Engineering by killing people with grenades! I could have done so much! Now that I had accepted the alert, I could feel the information sliding in, and it was dense. Which was weird because usually the knowledge came right then, but I guess engineering was so dense, it waited until it was out of combat?

Well I guess the system wasn’t too bad then. I would hold off on my demand for refunds for now…

Besides, Motoko likes numbers.

I blinked away water as I came back to myself after who knows how long when the washing machine beeped. I did a quick shampoo wash of my hair to make sure the blood was out, before jumping out of the shower and throwing my clothes into the dryer.

Grabbing a few towels to start drying off, I wandered onto the couch and opened up the menu again.

I hadn’t gained any other stat increases. I had been hoping for a reflex improvement, but it hadn’t come. Plenty of alerts for it, and it was getting close, but I wasn’t there yet.

Which opened up the next question.

What do I spend my Stat and skill points on. To start, I already knew where my stat points would go.

A few button presses and I was on the Adaptation page.

Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 0/10*

I didn’t hesitate. Not this time. Pushing the button.

*Spend 1 Stat point to improve Adaptation?*

*Y/N*

I hit the yes option, and instantly the numbers changed.

Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 1/10*

I shivered. Not from the cold, the apartment was just fine, and I was warm from the shower. No, I shivered because the Phantom limb I had been fighting against since I got my arms stopped. I had gotten… well not used to it, but I got to the point I could move my arm without it throwing me off.

And now? Now it was gone. I let out a noisy sigh as I flopped back on the couch.

Wow that felt… Nice.

I brought my arm up to my face and opened and closed a fist. So much was still off. The sensations were wrong. The fact it was the wrong length, or that my fingers settled in the wrong spot. Still nagged at me, made me feel like something was off.

But now at least it felt like mine.

I opened the page adding another point.

Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 2/10*

Muscles in my back unclenched. My shoulders, all mechanical at this point, shifted, settling differently. I gasped, an exhale of relief. I hadn’t even realized I had kept my shoulders tense, trying to force them into the same position my old arms would have been, but the Condor had longer shoulders. I realized I had literally been hunching up on myself for days.

I relaxed and it felt. Right? No. Normal. It felt normal. For the first time since I woke up on the rippers chair, I felt slightly normal. That little part of you that unclenches after something terrible when your body and mind finally realize everything is going to be okay.

I was going to be okay.

I swallowed a little as I threw my forearm over my eyes. Jun was’t here, but I didn’t want anyone to see me crying. Tears started falling and I very quickly started sobbing, crying and crying, an ugly noise escaping me as I let the pain that had infested me. Made me so angry, and made me want to just stay cold forever slowly seep away.

As I felt my heart unfreeze fully for the first time.

I hadn’t even realized I had been doing it. How could I? Cold Blood wasn’t just some weird gamer power, it was a skill. Knowledge that I was practically a master at.

It was the equivalent to spending years and years hardening your heart. Freezing your emotions so that nothing could interfere with your thoughts.

Of course the trauma would make me fall back on it, even subconsciously. It wasn’t like I could split where Motoko ends, and the knowledge I had gained through the system began.

There was no difference. It was my knowledge and experience. I just had a lot of weird skills. Extra experience.

So I finally subconsciously relaxed, felt safe. So I let it go, and so I bawled. The stress and horror of what happened. My worry for Jun, and just the pain all pouring out of me.

I cried and I cried. Until finally I just couldn’t anymore.

Thankfully I was already wrapped up in a towel so I was able to wipe my now gooey arm, and my gooier face. Blowing my nose loud and wetly let me breath again as I stood up. I went back to the laundry room, and threw both towels in, after quickly washing my face, and my arm. I felt…

Good. Cathartic.

I grabbed some comfy old clothes out of what Jun had grabbed from the apartment and flopped onto the couch. I turned on the TV and just switched it to some Cartoon channel. Something mindless. I got comfy as it played, as I looked at the stat menu again.

I still had one Stat Point left. I thought about it. I could use it for Reflex which was a struggle to level, or Tech which would be great.

But this was more important. I wasn’t some idiot Edgerunner wanting to burn out in a blaze of glory.

I wasn’t.

I really wasn’t. I wanted to live, because you can’t have fun when you die. So I decided I would spend it on Adaptation again.

But not to my arms.

*Spend 1 Stat point to improve Adaptation?*

I accepted, and my stats changed.

Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation Kiroshi Mk1 1/2*

I blinked.

Then I blinked again. Then again. It was still weird, but that cold sensation of my eyelids flowing over a waterproof eye didn’t bother me as much. It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn't like much was.

But when I closed my eyes, it didn’t feel uncomfortable. It didn’t make me itch or want to leave my eyes open all night.

Without my auto sleep, I very likely would not have been able to sleep well with my Kiroshi.

But now?

I relaxed curled up in a big fluffy blanket watching cartoons I dozed off, for the first time in a while sleeping peacefully without needing to insta sleep.

ZZzzZZ