Eva Barnes
Well, that was for the future. For now, Eva was... a little nervous. As mentioned earlier, Eva Barnes was an unkissed girl, since she hadn't been particularly interested in that before, and finding herself in a relationship (they were in a relationship, right?), she simply didn't know what to do. In all those sickeningly vanilla movies, she was supposed to drag Tony around shops, drink some cocktail swill with him, and coo sweetly.
"Ugh," one tough weapon enthusiast mentally decided, imagining it all in her head. Her tongue even stuck out involuntarily at the thought of the imagined scene.
Instead, they went to shooting ranges, gorged themselves on Stark's homemade food, shot Scavengers, cleaned up various scumbags, and tested his developments. And sometimes they blew up various things that needed disposing of. Like the shooting range—Eva would rather go there with her guy and fire a couple hundred rounds than watch another predictable piece of crap from modern screenwriters... or just watch paint dry. The paint was probably more interesting.
And the girls from Lizzies and the gang didn't help much. The girls themselves didn't really understand relationships—those kinds usually didn't end up as whores, instead finding themselves a sugar daddy. And her combat comrades... didn't see any problems at all and just solemnly shook their heads when she told them about their dates. She wouldn't have worried, but her stupid, crazy older brother had wound her up, telling her "how it should be." And... in this matter, she trusted his judgment a little more than usual, simply because he had already been in a relationship and was currently dating some netrunner girl. It was especially bad now because... well, she was going to Tony's place. Where all his family was. And the impression she made could determine their future.
Usually, they found a secluded corner and did their thing there, and luckily, finding a place where they wouldn't be disturbed wasn't hard, and the atmosphere itself wildly excited Eva. Yes, she turned out to be quite the pervert, loving to do it in public places, but honestly, for a girl raised among gangsters and prostitutes, these weren't the worst sexual deviations.
But meeting the family... even she, a complete zero in relationships, understood that this was a pretty serious statement of intent. Hence, she was so agitated. On one hand, she was overflowing with happiness—after all, the first guy she really liked and who managed to attract her attention was showing serious intentions, and it almost made her soar. On the other hand, she was wildly anxious that she wouldn't be liked by his family, and because of that, they would break up (she didn't know about the agreement with Susanna). But most of all, she worried about how Tony would take meeting her family. In the sense... was it normal that he introduced her to his family, and then she introduced him to hers? At least, it sounded logical. And that was the problem, because her older brother and younger sister were... quite the freaks. On one hand, her little sister was a pretty cute girl, if you forgot about her unmotivated aggression toward fragile objects and, in general, anything that could be broken, exploded, or shot, seasoned with a mild form of exhibitionism. Seriously, when it was hot, she could go out in a swimsuit and walk around the city without much shame, and if someone approached her, she was happy—she could shoot (and the born Mox could shoot VERY well, even better than her sister). Her brother... all you needed to know about him was that he somehow fucked a grenade launcher. Literally. A weapon-obsessed freak whose thing for guns only sounded fun until you had to live with him, at which point reality quickly dimmed, and the danger of dying from embarrassment or getting a traumatic brain injury from a "cheldolan" increased with every minute spent with him in the same room. And how to introduce such a well-mannered, even aristocratic-seeming Stark to her family, Barnes couldn't imagine. The only thing that came to her mind was to get Tony good and drunk before the introduction so he couldn't escape, and then maybe something would work out.
With such dubious thoughts, she reached the megabuilding. The first floor greeted her quite hospitably—a small bar, a bunch of vending machines with drinks, and small snack stands. In one noodle shop, a couple of policemen were even sitting, giving her faint hope that she could eat there without poisoning or worms. The elevator took her to the top floor with a quiet hum of the motor and another ad for four TVs hidden behind armored glass. However, something went wrong—the elevator simply stopped upon reaching the desired floor and refused to open. She pressed a couple more times, called Tony, knocked on the bars (which didn't even think of budging, clearly indicating their strength). Eva was already thinking of going down to the lower floor and just taking the stairs when suddenly all the screens flickered, and the face of a white-haired girl in netrunner goggles appeared on them.
"Uh... hi?" she waved her hand. "You're probably Lucy? I'm Eva... I came to visit."
"Sorry, our scanner is glitching," she apologized, fiddling with something outside the screen. "Done," the girl nodded, and the doors opened, releasing their prisoner.
While Tony dealt with the Moxes' problems, fixing their business, Omnissia and Lucy weren't idle either. The white-haired girl mostly frolicked in the city's network, slowly and methodically driving local watchdogs and other binary code actors to desperation, digging into secret databases, planting worms, and taking control of some of the city's systems and a number of other city management systems. It was a complex, multi-year task that would eventually require the installation of a full-fledged server rather than a single, albeit extremely powerful, block at home, but for now, the still-Kusinada was working for the future. Lucy didn't like the local scum's attempt to shoot Tony, and now the extremely brilliant girl, raised to work with the digital world, had set herself the goal of taking control of all electronic systems of the entire Night City. And the scariest thing was that she could very well succeed, especially with such support as a powerful AI and Stark's technologies. Omnissia, meanwhile... well, she was slowly and methodically turning the entire megabuilding into a citadel that would require an army to storm. The roof already had a bunch of anti-desant traps, automatic turrets, an electronic field that would fry the implants of anyone without access codes, and part of the area was cleared for air defense systems. The top floor lost its stairs and door, leaving only the elevator with mined cables and a cage of high-strength light alloys, a gas system, and a scanner. The latter turned out to be too weak for the new firmware and, as it turned out, was glitching.
Stepping out of the elevator, Eva found that the corridor, which should have led to the apartments, was furnished like a living room. Two TVs, one at the left end of the corridor, the other at the right, sofas, armchairs, tables, and even a couple of refrigerators, probably with all sorts of unhealthy but tasty snacks. The only thing that was confusing was the cameras in the corners and in front of the elevator, but otherwise, the only thing that reminded you this was a corridor was the floor with many chips and scratches, while the walls were hidden under beige wallpaper, and the gray concrete ceiling was under a stretch one. The only thing that was confusing was the excessive amount of furniture, clearly excessive for three residents, one of whom couldn't even get tired, but everything quickly fell into place when automatic heavy turrets extended from these very chairs and sofas.
"Hello," a girl's voice distracted her from examining the living room, coming from behind the sofa. The face of the girl (extremely beautiful, it should be noted) sitting on the sofa and turned toward the TV scanned her with a critical look, snorted contentedly, just like Lucy before, and smiled. Eva...
"Turns out my family is quite normal," she thought. "So what if my brother has strange fetishes? Or my sister is addicted to shooting? It happens."
Tony Stark. A little earlier.
"Well, that's it," Victor Vector said, moving away from the chair and rubbing his working hand, which had just been digging into his skull. "Honestly, it's the first time I've met an adult without a single implant, not even a chip port or biomod."
"What can I say, my parents had their reasons," Tony shrugged lightly, trying to blink. The new eyes, assembled by himself, felt unfamiliar and seemed too large for his eye sockets. He knew these were phantom sensations and the discomfort would soon pass, but he couldn't help it. "I think you figured it out yourself."
"Impressive," Vic assessed what he saw, glancing at the monitor readings. "I won't even ask who your parents are."
"How much do I owe you?" Tony decided to change the subject.
"Considering you brought all the chrome yourself?" the ripperdoc clearly pondered. After all, his main income came from selling implants, not installing them, plus treatment. Here, he had just installed ready-made products of the most basic model and changed the eyes—it didn't require much effort or special skills. "Just bring a case of beer next time, and we'll call it even."
"Wow," Tony was impressed. "Deal," Stark grinned slyly, already planning to bring Vic some of his own brew. "Vic, I wanted to discuss one more thing with you." And seeing that he was being listened to, he continued. "So, I've joined the Moxes."
"The Moxes?" he was surprised. "I thought they only took girls."
"Not quite, but that's not important. Anyway, the girls need a ripperdoc, and I thought of suggesting you. What do you say?"
"Sorry, but no," he shook his head. "I'm a private entrepreneur and nothing more. Gangs, corporations, and other questionable individuals—none of that is for me. I just treat people for money, install chrome, and enjoy having no boss over my head."
"I see," Tony was genuinely disappointed, having already racked his brain over where to find a decent pro for the girls.
The thing was, the Moxes didn't have their own doctor. Instead, they had a number of more or less vetted ripperdocs scattered across the city, but they didn't inspire much trust. Yes, the girls got their implants from them and were treated there after shootouts, but some never went to them. Simply because these ripperdocs were located in rather dubious areas where it was extremely convenient to engage in slave trading or collaborating with Scavengers. A valuable patient ended up with them for treatment under insurance, and then it was up to the doctor what happened to them. Got valuable chrome but no relatives to claim the body? They might well wait for the patient's death, simply not providing medical care, and then lay their hands on their implants. A pretty girl ended up on the table? The Tiger Claws would happily buy the unconscious body, which you would patch up and send to auction, while the grieving relatives would receive the ashes of another bum... quite possibly killed specifically for cremation. And that's not even mentioning the more "minor" crimes of such individuals, like sexual assault on a patient coming out of anesthesia, uploading a virus to a biomod program, installing a doll chip, stealing biometric data to zero out accounts, and a number of other crimes. In Night City, an honest and skilled ripperdoc was practically priceless, and no one touched Vic, not even the corps—not because he was some tough and strong fighter, but because anyone who harmed him risked getting a bullet in the forehead for it.
"What, is everything really that bad?" Vector noticed Stark's disappointment.
"Yeah," he admitted honestly. "I need to put all the girls through a series of procedures that not only can't be completed without a decent ripperdoc, but can't even be prepared for. Plus, I need to conduct the appropriate preventive care. Maybe you'll reconsider? I promise no one will force you to help produce drugs or anything like that—just treatment, implant installation, and regular check-ups for the girls on rejection. As far as I know, you don't work with gangs anyway."
"That's right, I don't," he agreed. "And that's exactly why I have a fairly peaceful life in my little basement."
"Not counting regular threats," Tony added.
"They'll bark and quiet down," Vector waved his hand. "Mostly, it's the Scavengers and corps that bother me—the Scavengers back off on their own, and the corps after a talk with my regular clients. So, as you can see, I don't have much reason to get under someone's thumb, and thank God for that."
"What if I become your partner?" he raised an eyebrow. Tony didn't want to back down so easily.
Vic was the only real candidate he was ready to initiate into many of his projects. Unfortunately, even with modern technology, Tony couldn't become a full-fledged ripperdoc in a short time, and time was pressing. The Moxes were getting richer, and though it wasn't visible now, when the other gangs of Night City realized the situation, they would definitely test them, and by that time, it was highly desirable to pump up the gang's fighters. If there weren't major problems with guns, in the worst case, they could turn to outside craftsmen, spending the increased income, then with new implants, they needed to handle things themselves. Vic was exactly who they needed now—a honest doctor with rich experience and golden hands, whose patients had never complained about a crookedly installed implant.
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100 power stones= 1 Bonus Chapter
advanced chapters available on{P@treon/Anna_N1}