The Subway
Lucy looked at her neighbor, who had her arm held above her head, while firmly kept his knee between her legs, immobilizing her. "Let me go!" exclaimed Lucy, trying to free herself from Sora's grip.
"I don't want to..." he responded.
"I'm going to scream..." she said, looking at the rest of the people in the car.
"Oh, is that so?" he replied, finding her threat amusing.
"Aah-" she started to scream, but was interrupted by a louder and stronger scream from....
"Aaaaaaahhhhh! HELP, PLEASE!" Sora. Making everyone in the train car turn towards him, demonstrating Sora's definition of a low profile. One the reason for the tense relationship he had developed with Hanako.
With everyone in the car looking at them for a second, before turning their attention back to their pads or whatever they were watching from their IDn.
"You see, no one cares. Here, no one helps anyone just because, so 'Neighbor' before I lose what little patience I have, why are you following me?" Sora said, looking at Lucy after screaming like a crazy person in the middle of the train car.
"It's not so funny when someone tries to fuck with you, is it?" Lucy said, making the mistake of not lowering her ears, hiding her nervousness behind a self-assured smile. Waiting for the change in Sora to escape.
But it was she who changed instead, to an expression of surprise with a hint of fear. When Sora suddenly moved, but not as Lucy expected.
Grabbing her by the neck with his cybernetic black arm, making her crash back against the window behind her. Sora's response to feeling another malware in his system. This time not as weak and harmless as the previous one. Lucy's backup plan for when she got caught.
Sora repeated, in an even colder tone, "Stop playing. Why are you following me?" getting his face a few millimeters away from Lucy's. Lighting the blue circle around his pupils as he squeezed his black hand.
Feeling the grip on her neck tighten. Lucy began to think about what she could say, realizing that she couldn't tell him the embarrassing truth ``What am I going to say? That I revealed myself to myself after... after... masturbating while thinking about him... and that when I saw him coincidentally on the subway too, I wanted to get revenge on him for the noises from earlier?´´
Surprised when she thought that, she could suddenly feel the grip on her neck loosen, seeing Sora with his eyes wide open in surprise, to change to an expression of disgust when he saw Lucy blush when he was choking her.
Quickly releasing her as he moved away from her. "Ugh, you're one of those..."
"N-nO!!!" With Lucy embarrassed trying to deny it before he said it, misinterpreting her blush of embarrassment, for that of someone....
...Perverts!" Who would enjoy being choked.
"W-WHAT!!! That's not it!" Lucy said trying to deny the misunderstanding again, approaching Sora to explain, while he moved away.
"Don't deny it, I've seen your face... you blushed... you liked it... Ugh! I feel dirty," Sora said as he hugged himself, bewildering the people who were secretly watching them due to the sudden change, with her now approaching him as he moved away from her in disgust.
One of the subway passengers, recognizing the woman, who had recently passed near him, bringing his hand to his neck port, noticing the lack of his Chip.
Sora seeing the man walking towards them and staring intently at Lucy, sighed and told the "pervert", "You owe me one," as he grabbed her, this time gently, and pulled her behind him. At the same time he shook the arm of the man who tried to grab her from behind.
"What are you doing?!" the man exclaimed violently at Sora's swipe, ready for a physical confrontation based on his body language. Who appeared to be a security guard from some corporation to Sora. "I want my chip back from that thieving bitch! Are you her accomplice?" The man demanded angrily.
Sora looked at him for a second, briefly smiled when he thought of something. "No," denying that he was her accomplice, "I am..." Sora paused, finishing the construction in his black hand before saying, "Detective Harold Han, badge number 09712, of the Watson Police Station," pulling out an NCPD badge with 09712 engraved on it from his black hand and raising it to show everyone in the carriage, including the man in front of him, before tucking it under his coat and the nanobots that formed the newly created badge returned to his black arm.
"And she is undoubtedly a common thief. Don't worry, I'll take her with me..." Sora said, grabbing Lucy's arm with one hand and with the other "...along with the stolen chips as evidence," extending it in front of Lucy, waiting for the rest of the chips she had stolen.
Lucy looked at him as if to say, "Are you kidding me?" and Sora responded by looking at her and the violent man demanding his money as if to say, "Either you give them to me or..." getting what he wanted when Lucy reluctantly handed the rest of the chips to the hand extended in front of her.
"Anyone who notices that their chip is missing from their neck port, do not hesitate to contact any NCPD station in the city and ask for Detective Harold Han. I repeat; Detective H-a-r-o-l-d H-a-n, badge number 0-9-7-1-2, remember that!" Sora said, almost spelling out Harold's name and badge number, the old acquaintance of Sora who still held a grudge despite three years passing.
"Demand, order, and insist that all the stolen money be returned to you. You know how inept we can be at the NCPD, so don't give up," Sora said with a satisfied smile, imagining Detective Han's reaction when he found out.
Sora, not finished yet, looked towards the area of the car that Lucy had not yet robbed. "You, you, and..." pointing to the two people with the most expensive shoes and accessories in the group and smiling sadistically for a moment as he pointed to the third person.
The rude man, with the wet leg of his pants and an unpleasant smell emanating from him, avoided Sora's gaze since he identified himself as a detective.
"Everyone of you also have to give me your chips, your systems have also been infected with the dangerous malware that this vile thief used," said Sora shaking Lucy, who couldn't believe how shameless a person could be, not swallowing for a second that Sora was this so-called Detective Han.
"It can't be! My firewall hasn't detected anything!" said the elegant woman who always avoided the Subway when she could, for things like this.
"Yes, it's true, mine hasn't detected anything either!" said the other person Sora had pointed out.
"... " And the third one said nothing, not wanting to worsen the situation.
"Your systems may not detect it, but they are infected, I assure you," said "Detective Han," pointing a finger at his eye, which glowed intensely, hinting at the ability of his hardware. "Believe me! After all, you've paid for it with your taxes!"
"It's a joke!... about the taxes, not the chip. Hand them over," Sora joked until he stopped, wiping away his smile and stretching out his hand to the three people he had pointed out.
Staring at them intently, without a hint of shame, waiting for them to hand over their "infected" chips. Even shaking the fingers of his outstretched hand to hurry them up.
Despite finding the situation incredibly strange and not entirely sure, they all ended up handing over their chips, trusting the supposed detective, who exuded something they couldn't name, making it difficult to refuse him and ease of converting you.
"Thank you for your cooperation," said Sora with a smile when he got the chips. With an incredulous Lucy by his side.
["Next stop District Zero, Centro"]
---
The Subway stopped at the next station and Sora got off with Eco behind him, still holding Lucy's arm.
"And remember... who you gonna call?" As he left, Sora sang the question.
"Detective Hanl!" With part of the passengers responding in unison.
"Louder! What's the number?" Sora continued.
"09-7-12!" And the passengers responded by singing the number.
"That's right, well done!" Sora bid them farewell with a smile and a wave as the Subway doors closed.
And some of the passengers kept humming the catchy song that Sora had improvised. When he repeated Detective Han's information and ended with a "Who you gonna call?" Sora couldn't help using parts of the Ghostbuster song, with Harold Han and his badge number as the protagonist.
"Hehe" Sora laughed and turned around, heading towards the Subway station exit, playing with the dozen chips, tossing them and letting them fall back into his hand. With Lucy following him, when Sora let go of her arm once the Subway doors closed.
"You're not really Detective Han, are you?" Lucy asked.
"Eh!? Did you actually believe that?" said Sora surprised by her obvious question.
"No. But for a moment, you made me doubt... when you started singing with all those people like you were having fun."
"I was having fun. It was enjoyable!"
"Don't you worry that you'll get caught? You know they were recording you, don't you? When they contact that Detective Han, they'll give him the videos," Lucy asked, curious about her neighbor who, despite committing a crime by impersonating an Ncpd officer, still seemed to have... fun. Without being nervous or worried, even letting himself go as the supposed "Detective Han" and singing and joking with the people he had just stolen from.
Making her remember the first day she arrived in the city... that younger kid than her, that the Ncpd was chasing, riding on a fire truck, having the same character as her neighbor enjoying that kind of thing when the rest of us would be worried and nervous about the consequences.
Sora stopped playing with the chips in his hand and turned to Lucy behind him. "What's the point of life if you don't enjoy it?" He responded sadly for a second, before smiling as he remembered the origin of his response. "About the videos... I wonder... if it will be as you say." Sora added, confident in himself. Having taken measures for such things.
Lucy frowned at her neighbor's attitude. "Are you going to take off the handcuffs?" She asked, making noise with the black handcuffs on her wrists that Sora had taken out of his coat and used on Lucy after receiving the chips from the passengers he had deceived.
"What handcuffs?" Sora replied, turning his back to her as he fiddled with the chips while walking.
"Cut the bullshi-" Lucy couldn't finish her sentence when she looked down at her wrists and didn't find the black handcuffs. "How?" Without noticing the faint black dust heading towards Sora.
"Heh... Magic," Sora replied, shrugging his shoulders, walking down the station stairs, with Eco behind him.
Lucy looked at her wrists and at the back of her neighbor walking away, unable to help increasing her pace approaching him and saying, "I... wasn't following you...!" Stopping Sora's steps. "After your prank with the noise. I couldn't.... sleep and went to Subway to take advantage of rush hour to earn some Eddies... when I saw you in the Subway too... I wanted to get revenge for the earlier prank... I'm not a perv-... I don't enjoy that kind of thing."
"Hmm," Sora turned to Lucy behind him. "I'm sorry... about your neck... sometimes it's hard for me... to control myself. Here," he said, throwing one of the dozen chips in his hand.
"One?"
"Is it too much? If you don't want it, give it back to me."
"No!... It´s okey" she quickly responded, holding onto the chip.
Sora nodded. "Goodbye, neighbor."
Lucy looked at Sora for a moment before asking in a shaky voice, "Can I ask you something?"
Sora turned and nodded, looking at Lucy at the beginning of the stairs, hiding his surprise at Lucy's unusually serious tone.
"Why... do I feel like I know you from something?" Lucy continued, her eyes searching Sora's with intensity. "I only know one person in the city since I've been living in Night City for 3 years, and I haven't seen her in months, but when I see you, I feel like I've seen you more than once."
"..." Sora remained silent, thinking of an appropriate response. Noticing the loneliness in Lucy's words... only knowing Kiwi in a city where she had been living for 3 years.
As Sora thought about what to say, Lucy grabbed the back of her head, which hide her past... thinking about how Kiwi, the only person she knew, seemed to be avoiding her. Coming to think that maybe she deserved the loneliness she lived in, since she escape alone, abandoning the rest... she also deserved to live the rest of her life alone.
Sora, recognizing Lucy's gesture of grabbing the back of her head with a sour expression, made a decision on how to respond to Lucy. "I'm glad it didn't affect you," he said softly.
"What?" Puzzling Lucy, snapping her out of the dark thoughts in her head.
"The EMP grenades... I'm glad they didn't mess you up. I know Netrunners' cyberware is very sensitive to EMPs." Clarified Sora
"How do you-?"
"See!? You already knew someone else in the city since you got here and you didn't even know it!" Sora interrupted Lucy, bidding her farewell waving his hand as he continued down the stairs, with Eco following him.
Lucy stood at the top of the stairs leading out of the station, surprised to know that the crazy boy riding a fire truck that she remembered turned out to be her neighbor... making her smile as she realized, still thinking she had seen him somewhere else, but still not knowing where, and somewhat unsettled by how it seemed like her neighbor knew more about her than it appeared.
Taking the chip that Sora gave her and plugging it into the port on her neck to see how much was on it... Causing her to widen her eyes in surprise when she saw Eddis's number on it.
---
When Sora arrived in front of his grandparents building, he walked up to a nearby trash can to throw away the empty chips, tired of playing with them, but as he was about to discard them, he noticed one of Night City's messaging terminals.
Tossing the chips in the section to be sent, addressing them to Detective Han and listing "a funny Kid" as the sender. "He'll get it!" Sora thought, as he illuminated in white the circle around his pupils.
Changing the metadata of the message and altering the origin coordinates, so that if the message were investigated, a false address and another terminal would appear as the message's origin.
---
Sora entered the building androde the elevator up to the floor of his grandparents' apartment, passing by Ainara and Peter's new apartment door without making a noices.
The first thing Judy did with her company benefits was to buy a new house for her grandparents in a better neighborhood, tormented by the idea that Sora had told her, "that perhaps they would want to leave Night City in the future" ... choosing the same building and the same floor as Sora's grandparents, ending up just a few doors away from each other.
When Sora arrived at his grandparents' door, he knelt down in front of Eco and said, "You know the plan, give it to me!"
"Pshhhh" With an intense blue gas with a menthol scent coming out of Eco's mouth, spraying Sora.
"Cough- A little strong, maybe we overdid it. Do you think it will work?"
[74%] Eco responded in a message to Sora's Idn.
"Only? Shit! Give me another one, but this time on the face."
Receiving another message from Eco [Warning! The substance created has dangerous elements; Sulfur tetrachloride (3%) - Highly toxic and flammable. Keep away from heat sources and flames. Do not inhale. Perchloric acid (18%) - Dangerous to health if inhaled or ingested. Do not inhale. May cause irritation to eyes and respiratory tract. Avoid contact. Quaternary ammonium chloride (9%) - Highly toxic and flammable. Keep away from heat sources and flames. Synthetic fragrance (15-20%) Ethanol (25-30%) Calcium carbonate (18-20%) Aluminum sulfate (0.5-1.5%) Misuse not recommended]
"Don't be a pussy and do it," said Sora, provoking Eco.
"Pshhhhh" With Eco spraying him again, this time on the face.
"Cough-cough-cough-cough-cough" And Sora coughing intensely, ignoring Eco's warning, until his eyes shone blue, making the nanobots in his body work. "Ahmmmm" exhaling a gas that entered blue and came out green from Sora's mouth. Expelling the dangerous elements from his body.
"Ahg, damn it, I almost died... that hurt! it felt like my lungs were on fire. And well, what do you say now?"
Eco sniffed Sora and replied [94%].
"Seriously?! After that, I don't have 100%? I hope it's worth it."
Sora stood up resignedly and opened the door.
"Hello, Obaa-san, sorry I'm late - oh" stopping when he saw the hologram next to his grandmother Aoi.
"Hello Sora," said the hologram.
"...Hello, Mother" said Sora to Hanako's hologram.
Stopping again when he approached to hug Aoi "You smoked" And his grandmother didn't take a second to know that Sora was still having that unpleasant vice. That his grandfather also had it and Aoi was afraid he would relapse.
[52%] Collapsing Eco's success rate.
"No, I didnt" With Sora quickly lying, refusing to accept that his creation, which could well be called a chemical weapon to eliminate tobacco odors and deceive his grandmother Aoi's incredible sense of smell, had failed so miserably, even putting his life at risk..
[18%] With a lie that didn't seem to convince even Eco, who lowered the success probability again. That made Sora look at Eco, cursing him inside for his constant updates that seemed to be making fun of him. [12%] That made Eco lower it again.
Sora hugged a reluctant Aoi, still feeling his mother's eyes on him, who strangely hadn't reprimanded him for smoking yet. Making it clear to Sora that she had not forgotten their last pending conversation.
Sighing before turning to Hanako's hologram. Coming to regret a bit that he had set up a secure network using his whitecode, between his mother's office in Hakone Castle and his grandparents' apartment.
"I think the last time we talked, Mother, I ended up with a 'I'm not going, no matter what you say,' so I think it's your turn," Sora said formally and politely, which sounded strange coming from him, as he served himself a coffee in the kitchen.
"Thank you. So, since it's my turn, Sora, you're going and that's it, as Mother-" Hanako responded with her own calm tone without losing her manners, for now, but being interrupted.
"Like a mother! How funny, at best a jailer... I have to keep a low profile, remember? And you want me to attend that crap of a gala?" Sora said, losing his initial good manners, taking up the tone where they left off last time they discussed the matter.
Sora's attendance at the Gala on the anniversary of the death of Richard Night, creator of the city. Hanako had already confirmed her attendance, accompanying her son's girlfriend and CEO of his company..
"Here they go again...." Aoi said, sighing as she drank tea. Inside, entertained by the discussion, which had become a habitual thing when mother and son met.
"Three years have passed!" Hanako replied, raising her voice and showing an emotional tone that she did not express in other facets of her life. It only happened when she talked/fought with her son.
"Ooh, now it's been three years, how lucky! When it suits you enough time has passed, meanwhile; Sora, avoid leaving the house!...Sora, don't attract attention!...Sora, don't participate in your own company!"
Sora really had no problem with not participating in the image or direction of the company, on the contrary, if he had to tell the truth, it would be a blessing, and it's not like Sora paid much attention to his mother's rules, as in the recent subway incident. But he would say anything to win the argument against his mother.
"Don't play the victim, you've practically done what you wanted in these three years. You know the situation you have put Hiroyuki lying to Netwatch for you," Hanako said, reproaching her son's childish complaints.
"Exactly, and you want me to expose myself for a bunch of soulless corpos and greedy rich people who want to show off their fucking money at that ostentatious shitshow with the audacity to say they're doing it to improve the city and citizens' lives... It's fucking ridiculous!" Sora said angrily, thinking about the gala and the people who would attend.
"You're going, that's the last word on the subject," Hanako said, with a firm tone, trying to put an end to the discussion. Thinking that maybe it was a mistake to raise Sora in Night City.
Sora replied with a voice full of sarcasm, "Oh Sister! How naive you are, if you really believe that..." The more Hanako insisted, the more Sora became against it.
"Enough! Both of you!" said Aoi, once again ending up as a mediator between mother and son, sighing before continuing. "Firstly, Hanako, don't speak to Sora in absolutes, you'll only make him more stubborn."Aoi said looking at Hanako's hologram, without using suffixes showing the closeness they have developed in these 3 years of daily conversations. "And secondly, Sora! Don't speak to your mother like that!... Why are you so against attending the gala? You wouldn't be going as 'Sora', co-creator of Iron Beast, but as a mercenary hired as Judy's bodyguard."
"That's not the problem, Aoi" Sora said in a calmer tone to answer Aoi.
[Ring-Ring]
"THAT'S IT!" But losing it when the doorbell rang knowing who was behind it
Sora headed towards the door, finding a man in an impeccable black suit behind it. With the end of a golden spear engraved on one side of his jacket, offering Sora a black briefcase with the same emblem of the golden spear on it.
"Motherfu-! You have mistaken" Sora restrained himself and closed the door.
"Sora!" Hanako scolded her son's behavior, while for a moment she spoke on another line. "He didn't mistake. Tell him to call again."
[Ring-Ring] With the bell ringing again a few seconds later.
Sora ignored the doorbell and the man behind the door, heading towards the hologram of her mother. "I've already told you that I'm not going to join any corporation!" Revealing the root of the problem of attending the gala in honor of Richard Night.