That night, David did not sleep. It was three in the morning, and his mom hadn't returned ho. He was worried for her, as he often was. But since that night when that visitor had co, he'd been worrying more.
He didn't let his mom notice it, but he tried to keep a closer eye on her. He tried to follow her around, see what she was doing at ho. Already, he'd found so strange things. He'd found an Agent, a handheld phone with computer capabilities. He'd also found so hidden cyberware in the apartnt.
Often, the cyberware would go missing every few days, only to be replaced by sothing new.
Having had enough, he chose to confront her and get so answers. After all, he'd been nothing but on his best behavior all this ti, going through his days at Arasaka Academy, which he considered nothing but useless chores. He wasn't blind enough to not understand the reality.
Nobody studying at Arasaka Academy was ever going to be an Arasaka executive of the core company. Those positions were reserved for Tokyo graduates, the ones who were born with a silver spoon.
Even in the academy he went to, only the sons and daughters of existing Arasaka low-level executives would get such jobs. Soone like him was destined to remain at the bottom. And he hated that school because all his classmates were rich.
But now, he didn't know what to believe in. For the past few weeks, his mom had suddenly turned far more generous. She gave him more pocket money. She bought him all the tech Arasaka Academy listed, top of the line even. All the courses, all the fees were paid in advance. He no longer got humiliated by teachers.
He was sixteen, not a dumb kid anymore. He saw things and understood. He'd been like that for years now, a perk of growing up in the violent Santo Domingo.
Shhh!
He perked up from the couch at the sound of the door sliding open. He got up and looked, finding his mom walking in, dressed in her EMT jacket as usual, a bag slung over her shoulders, face tired and eyes baggy. No mark of any wound or injury.
"Mom?"
"Mijo? Why aren't you asleep? Look at the ti. You hungry? I'll whip you sothing quick. Gim a sec."
"I'm not hungry, Mom." David crossed his arms, copying the way she used to do it to him. "I was worried, Mom. What's going on? Where were you?"
"What's that supposed to an? I was at work, mijo."
He didn't flinch when she ca over and caressed his face like he was still a baby. He looked her in the eye, trying to see what she was hiding.
"I saw it, Mom. All of it. The cyberware you're hiding. The rolls of eddies I wasn't supposed to see. C'mon, Mom. I'm not blind. Sothing changed, and I see it. And it kicked off after you patched up that choom who dropped by. Who was he? What're you mixed up in?"
David made sure he looked serious, staring into her eyes intensely, waiting for an answer.
"Don't stress over things like that, Dee. Focus on the academy and keep your grades clean. Mom'll take care of everything else."
"No, Mom. I gotta know. You keep telling to study, keep my head down, but I can't lock in if I'm always stressing about you. You running with a crew now? You hook up with that junkie who stopped by? What are you doing out there? Is it sketch? I don't wanna see you flatlined, Mom. It's fine if we're broke. I'll run so part tim—"
"Absolutely not, David Martinez. You're young, and your job is school, you hear . And no, I'm not running anything dangerous, and I did not join any crew. The man you saw that night is Cypher Blackwell, a damn good techie. He can patch up almost any busted chro, and that is all I handle. I pass him so gear to fix and flip. I get my cut."
David stared at her to see if she was lying. He wasn't good at it, sadly. Still, he had more questions. "And where'd you get the busted chro?"
At last, he noticed his mom looking away. He quickly pressed on.
"It's the atwagon, isn't it? You strip chro off dead chooms?"
"David! Go to sleep."
He didn't move. He felt annoyed. She always asked him to do the right thing. To be good and whatnot. But she herself was committing a cri.
"What if you get caught, Mom? What if so corpo sues you? Or worse?"
"It's standard ops at atwagon, David. From the execs down to us EMTs, the eddies flow up. It's not illegal, not legal either. With Cypher's skills, I just pull more eddies than before. Nothing else changed."
"So you've been doing this since forever?"
"It's a part of the job."
David shook his head, sighing. He was no stranger to cris and worse things. Heck, he knew it was impossible to live a straight life in Night City. But only now did he realise how much of a gonk he was. No wonder she was able to pay for Arasaka Academy.
He'd heard rumors about the atwagon and only now realised his mom was a part of it. He wasn't angry with her, just annoyedly surprised that he didn't find out before. As for what she was doing, it intrigued him.
"Mom, I saw the busted Kiroshi you were hiding. Thing was fried beyond repair. Nobody'd pay a single eddie for it. You telling that choom actually fixed it?"
"He did, and I earned decent from it. Cypher can patch up any chro. But enough of that, go to sleep. You have school tomorrow. I'm gonna take a bath."
David didn't stop her anymore and headed to the bed. But he couldn't stop thinking about all the busted tech he'd seen from the stash. So of it was straight junk, not worth repairing, just scrap.
Despite his personality, he knew he wasn't dumb like other gonks in the street. He did get into the Arasaka Academy due to his grades. His understanding of tech was pretty decent, and he understood what magical hands it would take to repair absolutely fried chro.
Cypher Blackwell, huh?… I guess Mom won't tell where he lives.
####
Look much better than before.
Cypher leaned over the bathroom sink and checked his face in the mirror. He could see the positive effects of a better diet with what was available and a sowhat healthy lifestyle. His eyes were finally opening fully, not the always sleepy look. His cheekbones didn't appear as sickly anymore. And he was growing a stubble, which hid so of the old scars.
"Rest's gonna take so ti." He stepped back and looked at the rest of his body. There were no tattoos, but who needed them when the near-permanent scars from needles were there.
With a sigh, he grabbed his jacket and put it on since he couldn't find his t-shirt anywhere. Then he wore his pants. He was still in Judy's apartnt, having woken up before the fully nude woman. He'd pumped one out already and felt great.
Shhh!
"Hey, Cyph."
Just as he stepped out of the bathroom, he saw Judy walk out of her bedroom and into the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee. But what caught his eye was his t-shirt that Judie was wearing. It reached barely below her hips and… he was damn sure she had nothing under it.
Yeah, gotta ask it.
With the intention to face her, he walked around the kitchen counter and took a seat on the high stool. He stared at her face and… his eyes landed on noticeably tight tips poking out under the t-shirt on her chest.
"Judy, you know I'm a dude, right? One fucked up in the head, too."
"Yes. And yeah, damn smart too, gotta say." She smirked and turned away. Reached up to the high cabinet, fishing for sothing. Up on her toes, the t-shirt rode up, flashing the soft lower curve of her hips.
"Alright, look at ," Cypher said, flat and serious. "There's no way this isn't on purpose. You can't keep pulling this stuff, Judy. I'm gonna be bricked up around you all the ti. You passed out naked in bed. You planned that, didn't you?"
Judy chuckled and turned to face him at last, both hands on the counter as she leaned forward.
Cypher cursed under breath. Since she hadn't removed her makeup before sleeping, the dark mascara was smudged, and that made her look so much hotter. Didn't help that she was already gorgeous.
"What if I did… plan it?"
"..."
"Doesn't that make you uncomfortable? You're into girls and pretty sure I ain't one."
"Heh, yeah, I felt the proof myself," Judy replied with a smirking grin. "Why, you wanna do ?"
Seeing she wasn't holding back, he didn't either. "I wouldn't refuse."
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