The heavy rain imposes it's will atop the skyscrapers of Night City. Katana on her back.. Gina sits firmly in position... posted on a high up ledge shrouded in darkness. Thunder rolls with contempt and animosity… rain drenches her black leather spandex.. glistening in the stray city light. She overlooks a meet location she's well early too. Giving her a moment to do something she's struggled to for a while now.
Staring down blankly at the city below… her eyes glow orange as she listens to a voice message:
= Hey bitch- it's me…... been a while since….= Beretta's softened voice pauses with an emotional sigh. Unable to drag herself through the same spiel again… each word carrying the weight of the world.
Gina rests her back against the building.
=Gym's finally closed up for good… they put tape on the doors last week… some rank ass startup bought the building.NCPD had to send in tactical to get Rhino and Mikey outta there... you know how the rundown goes with the regulars. Some of us had a little get together for the goodbye.=
Beretta pauses again… her words struggling alongside pattering rain.
=His sister came by the hangout a few days ago… asked about you. Didn't have much to tell her but… almost felt like she knew what'd happen... she knows us better than our moms ever could honestly….... she's worried about you G.=
Soft rolling thunder graces the night skies during a pause.
=Speakin' of worry, your boss somehow gave me a call the other day... god, what's his name…? Hiroshi I think…? Hard to read but-….. choom sounded concerned… said he regrets taking you off 'Saka safety watch'.. whatever that is. I went by your place yesterday… door was answered by some family of foreigners- looked like they just got here.=
Gina hears the emotion building in Beretta's voice.. pausing after a shaky deep breath.
She looks back down at the city below. Her short hair fluttering in the high altitude rain wind.
=I'm worried about you… Gina. Whatever it is... you're doin' out there… wherever you are..-"
A long… silence rests on the message… Gina feeling every second of it.
=...…....Couldn't tell me huh?= She whimpers.
Tears masked by rain run down Gina's face… her chest tightens in the quiet of Beretta's pause longer than the first.
Feeling the weight of Beretta's silence….. sat there on the holo speaking into the unresponsive void.
=.......I don't even know why I'm talking to you anymore.=
Gina's eyes close tight.
=...…..Take care of yourself Gina...… st-.... st-stay away from the edge.=
A final breath… and the message ends.
Gina's eyes stop glowing orange as the city's rain and weathered darkness wraps itself back around her firmly.
With her mind now in it's darkest place… Gina recalls an inescapable memory:
Late in the night… Gina walks the cold, quieted streets with a warm bodied pep in her step… flushed cheeks on a smiling face, but ready to finally be home. Another wild house party hosted by The Mox is in the books. Having skipped her evening training for it… she was sure to make it a rare one worthwhile. Even letting Beretta convince her to leave with the cute guy she'd been hungry for all night.
A hell of a night to be sure… with one final pit stop to make.
The following events transpire in absolute silence.
{Play Song Now: Chapter 91 - Syberware Youtube Channel}
Gina slides open her coaches dojo. The same dry, warm hue its always had welcomes her.
She suddenly sees her coach laid still in the center… hands tied behind his back.
Her heart drops as she rushes to him.. falling to her knees confused... frantically trying to untie him.
She gasps as her eyes open wide. She turns with a quickdraw... deflecting a kunai knife silently screaming through the air toward her face.
A figure charges her from the dim darkness blade first… she parries the swing. A series of several more are deflected before shes punched with a free hand, creating distance.
"Who the fuck are you!" Gina barks with gritted teeth… blade pointed in ready position
A grey, weathered face slowly rotates his neck unimpressed… aggravated shes still standing.
He charges again… they cross blades in a series of dodges and parries hard to keep up with. He presses his lead… landing another blow with his free hand.. sending her to the mats with a hard thud. The augmented force of his cybernetic fist draws blood from her mouth.
She slowly looks up at this shadowed figure... a feral scream with eyes wide open.
She rises to her feet charging… face first with blade dragging.
They re-engage… her movements and strikes with ferocity... a barrage of complex, perfectly executed technique drives her target back. Her stance switch closes distance… a feint downward forces her target downward.
She swings upward… sending his cybernetic hand flying through the air into the darkness.
On his back foot… he sees her… the savage look of death in her eyes as she swings down to finish him.
He parries the swing… pivoting his direction.. using his size and weight against her... re-taking the lead before a heavy wheel kick connects with Gina's face… sending her flying through the dojo, crashing atop one of her coaches concrete shrines… crumbling it to dust. She coughs up blood while trying to get up… but collapses under the pain.
A short while after, her eyes slowly open… her head slowly raises.
Her blurred vision sees her coach on his knees… looking right at her… a warm expression on his face that she'll never forget.
The now one handed target… shrouded in shadows with his katana held at coach's throat… his back toward Gina. He glances back over his shoulder at her… ensuring that shes watching.
Gina's eyes open wide… holding her stomach and posting with her blade, she tries to rise… frantically crawling toward them… begging… desperately pleading. Blood seeps from her mouth as she helplessly drags herself across the floor in deep pain.
He slowly raises the blade with intention.
Her frantic scream begs for mercy while her shaking hand reaches for him.
...The blade swings down.
Back on the rainsoaked rooftop Gina rises to her feet... she looks out into the neon Night Cityscape... a beautiful cascade of vibrancy.
A soft look down at her drawn blade... before a gaze down at her destination. Her short hair violently fluttering in the high altitude rainstorm as bright lightning strikes. Emotions now long buried… she zeroes in on her path down... a quick and confident calculation.
Without hesitation… she leaps into the air… sending her over the edge… soaring through the night sky.
She flips as she plummets down… landing with a hard impact, scrape sliding on skyscraper glass.
Several stomps heading downward crack glass as she steadies her balance… planting firmly with momentum for another leap with nothing below. Her arched body cuts through the heavy rainfall with the steady grace of gravity taking her.
The whistling sound of her dead drop down cuts through the air as sharp as her blade... cutting to black.