Another late one in Night City... the engine of Graves' Butte purrs with a low, calming hum as the pair drive the streets of Watson... gradually making their way over to Arroyo.
The flickering, colors of neon lights fill the cab of the Butte just as quickly as they exit it. Brian glares out the passenger window with Zaunya behind the wheel driving... his motor functions continuing to adjust to the chrome. She occasionally glances over, checking on him.
The cab is completely quiet... the sound of the engine and ambient city antics from the street fill the space. In Night City... you can often find yourself thrown into high stakes situations with people you barely even know or just met... re-enforcing the principle that its not really who you are that matters... only what you're willing to do.
Two strangers driven together by buried emotions and circumstance rely on their personal experience to ground themselves... falling back onto their tried and true ways of operating.
Brian lights a smoke and takes a drag... feeling his muscles and bone structure adjusting with every slow exhale. As widely common as cyberware augmentation has gotten over the years... the metaphysical transition from man to machine is anything but trivial. He breaks the silence.
"Who are you." He asks flatly... looking over at her.
"Is that really what you wanna know right now?" She asks looking him up and down.
He raises his eyebrows looking back out the window. "Biz then... access card. I'm assuming you already have a plan or a plan isn't needed for this."
"Why's that."
"Because you've never mentioned it... I've seen the way you look at that thing. Sixth street hangout, Back at my choom's place...tch.. you look at it as if seeing an old friend" He takes a long drag. "Needless to say, all goes well, divvy should be in my favor. I'm sure you'd agree... all things considered."
"What..?" She asks confused.. trying to pay attention to the road
"The divvy... payment." He snaps impatient. "fifty-fifty just... won't do. I'm sure you understand."
"Oh. Yeah.. right. Of course." She dismisses.
Her reaction catches Brian's attention. Being the type of person he is, he makes a mental note of it before shifting subject.
"The Ripper... who the hell keeps a station equipped like that running in a hole in the ground... and how the hell do you know em?"
"Audrey? What, she didn't tell you her name..? Tch.. still doing that ominous bullshit i see. Anyway, she told me that mantis blade cut you got dug into bone past flesh.. i'm assuming it got worse after sixth street... said it was a miracle you were still able to be up and moving. As for your stab, it hit ribs... broke a few with the force with a punctured lung. She could've got you stable and just stopped there but... you wouldn't even be on your feet right now. So... she did me a favor. Didn't tell me what she was gonna do.. just said: 'I got it.'
She takes a deep breath... shaking her head. "Didn't have any time or options... I'm sorry."
Her apology a surprise... a rare word hardly thrown around in Night City makes him look over during a bout of silence.
"You saved my life... Don't be sorry." His deep monotone gazing out the window responds. She looks over... barely missing his eye before a look down then back at the road.
With a future as uncertain as tomorrow's body lotto, making their way through the streets of NC toward their destination gives the mind just enough time to contemplate... idle hands feeding uncertainty.
"So other than preem-tier basement rippers what other contacts ya got hm? What do you even do...? How'd you meet her?"
Zaunya looks over surprised... raising her eyebrows with a slight smile.
"Questions galore now huh? That how you deal with your nerves before a gig?"
"Eh, I don't usually dive head first into some work completely blind."
"Could've fooled me. That speech cowboy hat gave back there seemed pretty far off the mark from where i'm sitting."
He looks down to the floor of the cab... a big grin on his face with a smoke in hand. Zaunya looking over notices
"What?" She giggles.
"You're cute when you flirt." He smiles before another drag and flicking it out the window.
Understanding Zaunya won't get into who she is, he uses the ripper in attempt to pry further and find leads. He raises his hands out in front of him... clinching them both into fists... taking the time to really feel his skeletal structure, joints and muscle density. The process of merging meat with metal promises to have different affects based on the host body as well as the quality of chrome chipped. Any even slightly unstable mix of the aforementioned can lead to catastrophic results... all things considered... Brian no doubt won the cybernetic lottery with this rip.
He takes a deep breath. "This isn't just some over the counter, bargain basement chrome. Its already neurologically settled.. little to no side or after affects... how the hell do you get someone like that on call?"
A quick look over at him before back at the road... another pause sitting between the two of them.
"She knew my mother."
Brian looks over without a word... thinking to himself. "Knew her mother?" his mind starts to race. 'Her mom a corpo? Ex-military? Politician? Don't have the spec on her at all... don't know her chrome. Don't know where were going... what she's doing... don't know... anything."
The thought hits him hard and latches on. The same feelings Marilyn once felt when dealing with him begin to course through with unfamiliarity. He sits back in his seat without a response. The feeling of a reckoning taking hold as the pair drive the neon soaked streets of Night City.