Downturn

Elsewhere :

Cat wipes her mouth after emptying her stomach in the small toilet her cell had been provided. No matter how much time passed, she felt like her opportunities for leaving the place were quickly dwindling.

Her 'saviour' Fujino Kiyoshi, had been doing his best to get her out, unfortunately, his best wasn't enough to save her from his colleague's predations. She only felt the aftereffects of it, but knowing night after night her body was being treated that way was quickly wearing on her.

He'd created a 'plan' which he'd explained to her, but she was very doubtful it was going to work as he thought. Honestly though, she didn't think she'd care if she and he died during it. At least then she'd have some amount of peace, dead or not.

The only reason she believed that he actually wanted to follow through on his words was because of what he'd told her. Apparently they'd killed someone precious to him, causing his change in loyalties.

He wasn't lying, she could tell by the look in his eyes... She'd learned to pick out the intent of people back in Casinha, but now it'd proven a valuable if somewhat useless skill here... It wasn't like she could avoid people who had it out for her.

She sighs, pulling at her long, matted, sticky black hair that'd been allowed to grow with her lack of grooming equipment. You'd have thought these fuckers would like their girls to look good, maybe not... Or maybe they preferred her like this instead of her favoured tomboy look...

She feels bile rise from her throat again, prompting her to grab the toilet bowl once more.

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"HELLO NIGHT CITY!" Christy D'Clert's bandmate, Fae Yono screams at the huge gathered crowd through her microphone.

"YEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" thousands of people cheer in response, shouting to grab their favourite idol's attention.

"ARE YOU READY TO GET YOUR CIRC'S SMASHED!?" Sheila Curves, her other bandmate shouts afterwards, drawing a similar reception. Then, the two women glance over at Christy, who'd been standing silently behind her microphone with her eyes locked on the VIP area.

She squeezes her legs together slightly, inwardly cursing at the very short skirts they'd been told to wear. It was supposed to tease the audience on what was underneath, only allowing those close enough, specifically in the VIP area to actually get a peek.

There was a reason those tickets were restricted... The Corpo's who had contacts, or paid to be there were fine, but the fucking creep with his hand bouncing underneath his baggy trousers made her want to scrub herself with wire. "Ori you idiot..."

"Psst, hey, are you gonna get ahold of yourself or not!?" Fae Yono quickly asks her, facing away from the microphone.

Christy looks forwards, realising that the whole place was looking at her expectantly... She shakes her head, performing one of the band's trademarked poses, "ARE WE GOING TO GO SOMBERELY!?"

"HEELLLL NOOOOO!!!" the crowd roars back, their music kicking into gear as they'd practised.

Christy lets out a silent sigh and joins her bandmates, forcing herself to grit her teeth and get through the concert. If she was lucky she wouldn't have to talk to the creep Ori sold his ticket to... Or the Corpo's who'd paid to 'try her out'.

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[So what, there's no cure or anything? What's the point of your fucking research then!?] Ori shouts over the holocall.

"I said there's no 'Instant Cure', that doesn't mean you can't do anything. Listen, and don't interrupt me... Your 'friend', needs help, this is both a psychological condition as it is a physical one. If he's working with you as a merc, stop. Putting him in violent, stressful situations will only exacerbate it. Pull him out of work, uninstall any physically or mentally straining cyberware, and allow him to rest." Regina states.

"Stop him from working? Remove his cyberware? You do understand where we live right? Night City, a place where people don't just tell you to go fuck yourself, they act on it. S-, my friend, would be angry with me just for calling you about this, let alone telling him to sit back while we do the work... Not to mention, he needs Eddies." he argues.

"Then he'll go cyberpsycho, and you'll either have to put him down, or give him to me to help move along the research. I'm being straight with you, those are your only two real options." Regina neutrally says.

"Is there really nothing? Like, just to tide him over? He'll be able to stop working eventually, but he needs time for that."

...

"Immunosuppressants push it back a little, but when they wear off it comes back full force. Like using mono-fibre bandages, stems the bleeding, but a single hit and you're worse off than before... Keep him out of direct combat, and DO NOT give him free rein in stressful situations. I've seen it more than once, guys going berserk and gunning down their friends." she seriously explains.

"You really think he'd attack one of us?" Ori questions, not wanting to believe it despite hearing so from an 'expert' on the condition.

Regina nods, "It's not whether I think so, it's how long will it take to reach that point. Months, weeks... Push him hard enough and there's no telling how bad your friend could get."

...

"Okay... I need to think this all over." Ori mutters, going to disconnect but pausing when she speaks up.

"Oh! And keep him away from anything that could alter him mentally. Mainly drugs, be they 'beneficial' or not. This includes painkillers, so bear in mind."

"Yeah, got it... Thanks for hearing me out."

"No problem."

*Beep!*

Ori falls into his couch and runs a hand through his hair, "Now... How to get Six to do any of that... Probably shouldn't have left him on his own, come to think of it..."

After Six awakened in Sasha's apartment he basically ignored everything they said, saying he was just sick and needed to sleep it off. That was last night he headed back to his place, and while Ori had wanted to come and keep an eye on him, the refused... It wasn't like he could force the matter, Six was a grown man, having someone pity and treat him like a basket case probably wasn't going to help things either.

"Fuuuuck..."