Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Lucy POV.
"Sasha?" Maine murmured, trembling, and stood up shakily. Sasha came out of the room and waved nervously.
"Hello, everyone," she said nervously.
"B-but, like, you, what-?" Maine said shakily.
"What's going on?" Dorio growled loudly. "Lucy! Rebecca! What does this mean?!" Dorio shouted.
"It's her, it's Sasha," Rebecca said firmly, with no hint of humor in her voice.
"But Maine saw... we saw her body," Pilar said through gritted teeth.
"And did you see her body being cremated in person?" I asked coldly. That made everyone freeze. Then they looked at Maine.
"Was she... alive?" Maine asked tremulously, almost fainting. I shook my head.
"No... not really, I suppose they didn't try to find her name in the... Arasaka files, did they?" I asked simply. It made everyone shudder.
"They grabbed her body to experiment on her?!" Maine growled furiously; I could see the veins in his neck tense.
"It's not unusual," Kiwi said. I could hear the tension in her mechanical voice. "Selling bodies? That's normal. Arasaka, the Maelstroms, the Scavengers —if they're making a profit, they probably did it," Kiwi said bitterly. "And before you ask, yes, Sasha Yakovleva's name is right here in the SoulKiller files," Kiwi said with a grimace of disgust.
"I... I don't know what happened?" Sasha said nervously, squirming. "The last thing I remember is... falling from the Biotechnica building, and the next... just waking up as if it had been a long dream. Rebecca was by my side. I asked about you all, and... she tried to fill me in. I... I can't believe it's been years... that I was in Arasaka's hands all that time." Sasha said, biting her lip and suppressing a shudder. Everyone shuddered at her.
"Sasha... I'm so sorry." Maine whimpered as she took a step forward, and Sasha shook her head.
"No apology is necessary, Maine. What happened at Biotechnica was my fault, no one else's, and my body being sold to Arasaka and experimented on by them isn't your fault either," Sasha said before smiling weakly. "But hey, Becca told me Arasaka doesn't exist anymore, so... are we even?" Sasha said, trying to sound strong. Maine just stared at her.
Finally, Maine took two steps forward and hugged Sasha tightly. Sasha groaned in protest at the force of the hug, but made no attempt to break free; instead, she hugged Maine. Dorio and Pilar quickly joined the embrace.
I sighed and smiled slightly; Becca was bouncing with excitement beside me. Once Sera had claimed all the rewards, Rebecca hadn't wanted to wait to bring Sasha back, something Sera hadn't objected to. So Sasha had been brought back, released from her seal, and her memory of any information about The Company had been erased.
So, just as Sasha herself had said, she only had memories up to the last job she'd done in the Biotechnica building. The rest was Rebecca taking care of Sasha, or rather, catching up with her.
I had never met Sasha, only known of her in passing, through pictures and videos of her, and the few conversations Maine and the crew had had about her. Kiwi had been Sasha's replacement, and I joined later; by then, almost two years had passed since Sasha's death.
So yes, I didn't know her, but I still made the effort to meet her, also because Rebecca kept dragging me along. Sasha was a good person, that much was obvious, and she had a tremendous sense of justice, especially against Biotechnica because of her mother's death from the side effects of Securicine.
Because of that, I couldn't resist-
"How?" Maine asked hoarsely as he pulled away. I looked at him, confused. "How? I... I thought she was dead, and even if she were part of Soulkiller, her mind would be an engram, not... herself." Maine said, still looking at Sasha with affection and care. Sasha just grimaced.
"I... I have no idea?" Sasha said with an awkward smile. I hummed softly.
"Yes, you're right. There's... a lot of information we erased from Arasaka, information that wasn't meant to reach the masses, or even be known to exist." I began slowly. "The Relic, the version you know, and the general public as well, serves to communicate in a basic way with the engrams inside Mikoshi."
"But there's a second version... something called Relic 2.0," I said seriously, giving everyone a threatening look. Especially Gloria and David, who both shuddered. "This is top secret, and I won't go into details, but Relic 2.0 was designed to install and activate the engram in a new organic body. It would overwrite the body's brain and implant the engram's mind into the new body, bringing it back to life."
"Saburo Arasaka planned to use Relic 2.0 to become effectively immortal, even if he were killed." I said solemnly. Everyone paled, even Sasha, who until now hadn't known much about it.
"B-but that-" Dorio stammered incredulously. I shook my head.
"Don't worry, we... we were selfish. We brought Sasha back using Relic 2.0. Her body had been preserved enough to be completely intact, and what wasn't was repaired by GLaDOS. Then Relic 2.0 was destroyed." I said without changing my tone. Kiwi snorted, crossed her arms, but didn't say anything, obviously not believing that Relic 2.0 had been destroyed. And she wasn't the only one; everyone watching had the same idea. I rolled my eyes.
"GLaDOS isn't using the technology to prevent cyberpsychopathy. The ability to use nanotechnology to modify neural connections and brain functions is possibly the definitive cure for psychopathy." I said honestly, and now everyone's eyes widened.
"Wait, did I really do it?" Gloria asked, surprised. "Will she still be working at her clinic?" Gloria asked, almost cautiously. I hummed.
"Yes, it succeeded, or well, in part, from what I understand, it won't be able to cure all the cyberpsychopathy that exists at this time; to be able to achieve that, a brain scan would be needed before its neural connections atrophy enough to be able to calibrate it correctly."
"She will promote worldwide pre-implant brain scanning to obtain a map of intact connections, thus making it easier to prevent cyberpsychopathy and personality changes."
"If right now, you decide to change certain connections without the same person's previous brain scan, some mild personality changes might occur, though... I think most people would still accept the deal if it prevented cyberpsychopathy." I hummed before shrugging. "Anyway."
"She will work personally, yes, but I don't know if at the clinic or if she will open another one. Soon, Aperture Science will open a medical division to compete against Trauma Team and Biotechnica. GLaDOS will be in charge of designing the medicine and all the treatments, especially in promoting the cure for cyberpsychopathy."
"I don't know if she'll have time to operate herself, but she'll be in charge of everything," I said honestly. Gloria bit her lip hard, uneasily. "But if you still want to, you can continue working for Aperture," I said honestly.
"What?" Gloria asked, eyes wide open. I looked amused and pointed at Sasha with my chin.
"We're hiring people, lots of people, and you just happen to have someone important in front of you. Say hello to the new deputy director of the medical division, Sasha Yakovleva." I said playfully. Everyone turned to look at Sasha, and she just laughed nervously.
"Surprise?" Sasha said awkwardly with a nervous smile.
"Wait, wait, wait, how did this escalate so fast!?" Pilar asked incredulously. I shrugged.
"Rebecca was filling her in, and she let slip that soon, GLaDOS would be opening a medical branch at Aperture Science, and she practically boasted that GLaDOS would wipe out Biotechnica and the other medical corporations by making them completely obsolete, and well…" I said exasperatedly, Rebecca just laughed while Sasha coughed awkwardly.
"My previous attempt didn't cause them much trouble, so... if I can bankrupt Biotechnica, then... why not?" Sasha said awkwardly. I almost snorted, but I could understand Sasha's motivation. After all, I'd done the same thing with Arasaka, only 100 times worse. At least Sasha was optimistic enough to think we could somehow bankrupt large corporations.
"Do you even know anything about running a corporation or medicine?" Dorio asked incredulously.
"I'm learning?" Sasha said awkwardly as she squirmed. Rebecca snorted amusedly.
"Does that mean you're not coming back to the crew?" Maine asked hoarsely, clenching his fists tightly. Sasha jumped and looked at Maine before smiling.
" Hey, don't worry, big guy, I'd never leave them out," Sasha said with a grin before flashing a mischievous smile. " And actually, I heard that Aperture Science is kind of like super criminals. I'll need some bodyguards, what do you say?" Sasha asked cheerfully. Maine looked at her wide-eyed.
"And it comes with a ton of benefits, incredible cyberware, even more incredible weapons, and all sorts of tools and technology you can't imagine," Rebecca said immediately.
"Like what you used to fight Smasher head-on and win? Because if so, put me on the list, Baby!" Pilar shouted excitedly. Rebecca snorted mockingly.
"You wouldn't be capable of handling that kind of cyberware, Gonk, and mine is special, a prototype designed solely to face Smasher and tuned for me, very, very, very difficult to replicate, so keep dreaming, Gonk." Rebecca mocked her brother, and Maine frowned.
"Were you forced to use a prototype capable of going up against Smasher?" Maine asked tensely. Rebecca just rolled her eyes.
"Don't get upset, Maine. First of all, I wasn't forced to do anything. I insisted on facing him head-on. There were other plans to deal with Smasher. Besides, the prototype is completely safe. You saw GLaDOS and Serena's work; they're both extremely careful and better than any Corpo when it comes to creating and placing implants, so I was completely sure, and I still am." Rebecca said immediately. Maine just looked at her for a few seconds before sighing and nodding.
"I still can't get rid of the bad taste in my mouth. It was all... too convenient, too fast. Prince arriving in Night City, meeting you all, you joining her so quickly, and then the attack on Arasaka just a few weeks later? It smells suspicious." Maine grunted. I just nodded slightly.
"Serena wasn't in Night City for us; they were going to carry out their attack on Arasaka with or without us. They needed access to Mikoshi, and before that, you were there for one of their reasons." I said with a hum.
"Rache Bartmoss," Kiwi said in a robotic voice. "They used a data crash to eliminate the Arasaka network. They... used Bartmoss's Daemons? Were they really in the cyberdeck where it was frozen?" Kiwi asked simply. The others looked at her with recognition. I nodded.
" Yes, or at least a version of them. GLaDOS had to modify them and create chains for the Daemons to prevent them from spreading to other networks, but yes, Bartmoss's Daemons were the basis." I lied easily while making an inward grimace.
"Even so," Maine said with a grimace, almost like a growl.
" Hey, big guy, none of this was really planned," Rebecca gently interjected. "Sera was here for the final touches on Zero Dawn. Meeting me wasn't part of her plan, nor was... us getting along. And Lucy joining certainly wasn't planned, but... it just happened, and I don't regret it."
"She only told us because she was about to put the finishing touches on things, she was about to make the big move, you know, and then leave Night City to continue her task of maintaining Aperture and all that, so... she told us before we saw her on the network and she disappeared, and she gave us the option to join."
"We accepted, it's as simple as that," Rebecca said with a huge smile. I nodded.
"We didn't really plan anything, neither she nor we, but as Rebecca said, we don't regret it. You guys... you're our family, but now she is too." I said with a small smile. Maine glared at us before growling and yelling.
"Argh! Good! Good! I understand! " Maine grunted, staring at us. "I'm really... happy for you girls. You really aimed high, huh? " Maine teased as some of her tension dissipated. Dorio and Pilar sighed in relief before smiling broadly. We did too, as did Sasha. Even Kiwi seemed less tense about the whole thing.
"Ha! You can say that, you just joined all that nonsense, and they let you face Smasher, and you want Lucy to kill the emperor in person?! Ha! Sleeping with the boss has its benefits, right?! " Pilar mocked cheerfully.
"You can bet on it!" Rebecca laughed without even looking embarrassed. I snorted dryly.
"Most of Aperture prefer to stay in the shadows; they're used to it, and none of them wanted the heat of being in the spotlight on a high-profile global broadcast like the deaths of Smasher and Saburo, so they were more than happy to give us the job," I said dryly. Dorio scoffed.
"I'm sure it was a huge sacrifice you made when you beheaded the leader of Arasaka." Dorio mocked me, and I smiled shamelessly and shrugged.
"What can I say, there's no fury like a scorned woman and all that, Saburo brought it on himself, and I enjoyed every moment, I even have the remains of his head in a box." I said playfully. Pilar laughed happily and extended her hand in my direction. I rolled my eyes, but slapped his palm with it.
"I'm glad everything's sorted out!" Sasha said cheerfully. "So what do you say? Keep the crew together?" Sasha asked expectantly. Maine looked at her before sighing in defeat.
"Are you leaving us any other choice?" Maine mocked. Sasha squealed happily and hugged Maine tightly.
"This will be amazing!" Sasha said happily as she jumped for joy.
" Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I want my special cyberware, don't think I've forgotten all about the whole thing with my military Sandy." Maine grumbled falsely.
" Hey, you can bet on it, I'll make sure you're treated well," Rebecca said with a smile.
"I want to join!" a voice shouted. We turned and looked at David, who had stepped forward.
"David!? No!" Gloria exclaimed, pushing David back.
"Mom! Just think about it! Arasaka doesn't exist anymore, much less the academy, so I really can't study anymore. Maine and his crew are pre-graduates, they have experience, they're high-level mercenaries, and now, as bodyguards for a high-ranking official of a rapidly rising Corpo, it's a good opportunity!" David said immediately, and I raised an eyebrow at that.
"Mmm, I wouldn't mind, kid. Now that Lucy and Rebecca are leaving the crew, we're certainly short-handed." Maine hummed, and David's face lit up.
"Maine, don't encourage him!" Gloria growled before glaring at David. "And no, you won't be joining anyone as a mercenary or bodyguard or anything like that. We'll find an equally important academy, and you'll study." Gloria's voice was tense. David groaned loudly.
"But Mom, I don't want to study," David grumbled. "This, this is something I want to do," David pleaded. I blinked and looked at him. Right… he's only 17, he seems so… young. I grimaced. Really… it didn't matter what David decided to do, especially now. The mission was complete. We'd already gotten the reward for preventing Gloria's death and David becoming an Edgerunner. Whatever happened from now on didn't matter.
"I mean, the kid's right," Rebecca interjected, shrugging. "Between the cyberware and GLaDOS's oversight, it's really unlikely anything will happen to David that she can't fix, so... he'll be completely safe." Rebecca tilted her head in confusion. I snorted; that really wasn't as convincing as she thought. Gloria's grimace proved it.
"The kid's an Edgerunner, Gloria, whether you like it or not," I said, shrugging. "He desperately wants it; anyone can see that. You can force him to study, and he will, but it only takes one bad day for him to do something stupid and go astray. This way, he'll have Maine to teach him what he knows, a team to back him up, and if I may say so, the best Ripperdoc and techie in the world."
"Besides, you can join Sasha as her assistant or whatever and keep an eye on him yourself," I said, shrugging. Gloria froze and looked at me, then squirmed as if she was considering it, then moaned and screamed.
"Fine!" Gloria shouted in defeat, and David shouted with joy. "But!" Gloria interrupted David's celebration. "You'll be very careful, you'll do everything Maine tells you to do, and you'll keep studying, some online course or whatever, understood!" Gloria said in a trembling voice. David relaxed even more and nodded with a huge smile.
"Thank you, Mom!" David said before hugging Gloria, who whimpered as she hugged him back.
"Don't worry, Gloria, we'll take care of your boy," Maine said with a big smile.
"Alright! It's time to celebrate!" Rebecca shouted joyfully. "Sasha's return, David joining the crew, our farewell, all of us moving up to the big leagues—absolutely everything!" Rebecca exclaimed happily, running to the refrigerator, pulling out food, drinks, and everything else, and putting on music on the speakers. I sighed, but moved to help her get everything ready.
I guess we had to celebrate.
A/N: If you liked the story, join my patreon, patreon.com/Camellya_Addams, there are up to 10 chapters in advance, thank you. Or you can also visit my Ko-Fi, ko-fi.com/camellya_addams.
Author's Notes: And to those celebrating, Happy Easter!!