David's symptoms were accelerating. Even in the safety of his own home, the hallucinations wouldn't let him go.
Kenji watched the panels with a growing sense of dread. He was terrified that David would succumb and hurt the one person he lived for.
The next panel showed David collapsing, his body hitting the floor with a heavy thud.
"David!"
Lucy's voice was filled with panic.
But in a small mercy, he hadn't attacked her. He'd simply short-circuited.
The scene shifted to the familiar, dim lighting of the Black Market Doctor's clinic. David was strapped to the chair, slowly regaining consciousness under the doctor's watchful, cynical eyes.
Lucy was slumped against the wall, asleep, still wearing David's jacket. She was the one who had brought him in.
The doctor leaned in. "So, kid... when did it start?"
"What?"
"The shakes. The vertigo. The nausea. Don't tell me you aren't feeling it."
"A while ago..." David admitted, his voice barely a whisper.
The doctor's assessment was brutal. It wasn't just "onset" cyberpsychosis. David was far gone.
"Stop the mods," the doctor ordered. "You're right on the edge. One more piece of chrome and you're a walking target for Max-Tac."
Kenji felt a chill. 'The edge.' One step away from total madness.
The weight of his responsibilities (his mother, the crew, Lucy) wouldn't let him back down.
"Just give me the strong stuff!" David snarled, his face twisted in a way that looked dangerously close to the "psychos" he'd been hunting.
"Are you insane?" the doctor spat. "There is no 'strong stuff' for this! You're dying!"
David lost it. He lunged forward, grabbing the doctor by the throat and slamming him against the wall. His eyes were flickering with the telltale red static of a total system failure.
"GIVE ME THE MEDS! IT'S JUST MONEY, ISN'T IT?!"
This wasn't David. This was the chrome speaking. The peace-loving boy was gone.
The commotion woke Lucy. "DAVID!"
Her voice acting as an anchor, David slowly cooled down and released the doctor.
With a weary sigh, the doctor prepared a specialized case.
"Here. This is the last batch I'm giving you. Nine times the standard dose. It'll keep you functional for a while."
"But take these, and there's no coming back."
"Once you go 'Beyond the Edge,' there is no road home."
"Go on. Go be a 'Legend of Night City,' or whatever it is you kids want to be."
David took the case and left with Lucy, his eyes filled with a silent apology to the man who had kept his body together for so long.
After they left, the doctor sat on the floor of his empty clinic, looking at the door.
"Don't worry, kid... I'll make sure they remember you."
Kenji's heart sank. 'In Night City, there are no living legends.' The doctor's words felt like a eulogy.
Outside, David and Lucy were arguing. Lucy was pleading with him, begging him to downgrade, to just walk away from the life.
"I don't care about the moon anymore," she whispered. "I just want you."
But David couldn't, or wouldn't, listen.
Then, David said the words no reader wanted to hear.
"Maybe... we should part ways."
Kenji's jaw dropped. 'He's breaking up with her?'
But then he understood. David saw the tragedy of Dorio and Maine. He was terrified that when he finally broke, he'd take Lucy with him. He was trying to push her away to save her life.
Lucy didn't have time to answer. Her internal HUD flashed. She'd detected another Arasaka runner.
"We'll finish this at home!" she shouted, running off into the neon shadows.
She found the signal's origin. She prepared to fry the runner's brain, just like she'd done a dozen times before.
But as she reached out through the net, her own system was hit by a massive, overwhelming spike of ice. Sparks erupted from her head, and she slumped to the ground, paralyzed.
The final frame revealed the trap.
Faraday was standing over her.
And beside him...
Kiwi.
"Perfect," Faraday purred. "This is our ticket to the top floor of Arasaka Tower."
[To be continued...]
Kenji's eyes were wide with shock. Kiwi?
'No... not Kiwi. She wouldn't betray the crew. She's David's friend. She's Lucy's mentor!'
But then he remembered the conversation they'd had just pages before.
"Trust no one. If you get betrayed, it's your own fault for being weak."
Readers everywhere were reeling. Aoyama had just delivered the ultimate gut-punch. In the world of Edgerunners, there were no safe harbors. Even your family could be bought.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]