Taking flight

Jason takes a deep breath and activates the nanites.

His body feels cold as parts of it get replaced with cybernetics.

He feels his vision sharpen instantly, the dim room brightening as his augmented eyes processed data at an alarming rate—thermal scans, motion tracking, and even a tactical overlay mapping the environment in real time.

Jason flexed his fingers, feeling the subtle resistance of enhanced musculature.

Jason rolled his shoulders and tested his legs. The pain had faded, replaced by a perfect synchronization of flesh and steel. He took a step, then another, feeling the reinforced bones support his frame with unnatural efficiency.h

The pain has faded, all that remains is a euphoric feeling like ,he feels like he can beat Adam smasher to death with a dildo.

{Your body is stabilizing. We should move}.

His digital self's voice echoed in his mind, calm and calculating.

'Do you know what's the situation outside?',

{I have hacked all the cameras around the landfill , there are a lot of scavs nearby, it's been 24 hrs since we have been here, there is a high chance of them not using satellites to monitor this place anymore. I would suggest hunting scavs to get used to your modifications and get some exp as we need it to level up.}

Jason grinned. "Perfect."

He retrieved a sleek, matte-black coat from a nearby rack and threw it over his shoulders. His fingers brushed against the reinforced plating embedded in the fabric. Adaptive armor. Lightweight but durable. His instincts told him that gearing up for combat was second nature now, even if his past was still a haze,he has to move on and pay back for all the shit this city has done to him.

He strode toward the exit, the walls of the hidden chamber slid apart, revealing an underground tunnel leading out into the landfill. The cold night air hit him as he stepped outside, the neon glow of Night City flickering in the distance like a toxic dream, a hologram of two fishes swimming, the tall Araska tower, standing higher than all the trash mountains, looking down on the whole night city.

'Do you have a gun or any weapons I can use?'

{You don't need guns for some scavs, both of our lives depend on your combat skills, so I will highly suggest you use close combat or stealth to kill them.}

'Great , so you can smuggle unreleased parts but cant get any guns even the low budget ones ?'

{when I took over the body of the researcher he did not have access to guns, what he did have access to is a warehouse full of these cybernetics and I took them in the name of research. Later searching through the blackwall and devouring an Ai I got information about this old and unused hideout and brought it back to life , to bring you back.}

{I even took over a random guy and made him shout out about Ai taking over humans, which bought you a little bit of time from night crop.}

{Sadly I think I broke something in his head , he now shouts about lizard people taking over society.And well I don't think people take him seriously anymore,at least that saved his life.}

Jason was stunned he never thought his own cyber self would have a hand in making Gary one of the iconic npcs in the game.

'But how is this possible? I wasn't part of the story,is there really a predetermined fate in this world or maybe this is his story or maybe fate has a way to restore itself…sigh.'

Jason took a deep breath, his enhanced lungs filtering out the metallic tang of waste and ozone. His digital self pinged his neural HUD, marking the scavenger den's location just a few kilometers away.

{Before we go there, give me permission to access your cybernetics,I need to monitor them for any abnormality as they are prototypes, also I can manage them during combat, so you can concentrate on the battle.}

'Ok…You can access them and show me what these babies can do.'

{Engaging stealth protocols. Activating advance vision protocol.Monitoring targets via camera}

His skin tingled as the nanites adjusted, bending light just enough to make him a blur in the darkness. 

As he started to move his old habits slowly came back as his movements became smoother and more efficient.

Jason moved like a shadow through the landfill, the crunch of debris underfoot muffled by his enhanced reflexes. The scavs were camped near the wreckage of a rusted-out transport truck, their voices carrying over the wind. They were laughing, swapping loot, and arguing over who got to keep a pristine cybernetic hand they had just salvaged from some unfortunate soul.

Jason perched atop a crumbling pile of metal, his HUD locking onto five targets. Two were standing guard, rifles slung lazily over their shoulders, while the others huddled around a makeshift fire, the flickering flames casting eerie shadows across their scarred faces.

{Five enemies. Standard scav loadout. Low-tier augmentations. No netrunners detected. We can take them.}

Jason smirked. 'Let's make it quick.'

He leaped down, landing without a sound. His nanites adapted instantly, muffling his movements as he closed in on the nearest guard. A flash of metal, and Jason's enhanced hand crushed the man's throat before he could utter a sound. He dragged the body into the shadows and turned his attention to the next.

The second guard barely had time to register movement before Jason lunged, driving his reinforced fist into the scav's gut. The impact caved in his chest, sending him sprawling backward with a wet gurgle. The other three scavs jumped to their feet, drawing weapons, their red machine eyes wide open with anger and a bit of fear.

One of them got his gun stuck in its holder and was trying to pull it out while others closer were charging at him.

{They're uncoordinated . Use that to your advantage.}

Jason moved faster than they could react, his augmented legs propelling him forward in a blur. 

A gunshot rang out, but his reflexes had already kicked in, nanites reinforcing his skin as the bullet grazed his shoulder, barely leaving a scratch. He twisted mid-air, grabbing the shooter's wrist and snapping it like a twig before ripping the pistol from his grasp and planting two rounds in his skull.

The last two scavs turned to run.

Jason exhaled. 'No survivors.'

With a flick of his wrist, a mantis blade extended from his forearm. He launched himself forward, slicing through the first scav's spine in a single clean motion. The final one tripped, scrambling desperately across the dirt.

"P-please—"

Jason didn't hesitate. A single, brutal stomp crushed the man's skull against the pavement.

{Efficient. You're adapting quickly. But don't get too cocky , these are just bottom feeders, people we need to take on are seasoned killers.}

Jason wiped the blood from his blade and scanned the bodies for loot. Energy cells, low-tier implants, a few weapons—nothing groundbreaking, but enough to keep moving forward.

{We'll need better gear if we're going after the real threats. Let's find our next target.}

Jason looked out over the city, the neon skyline calling to him.

'Then let's hunt.'