Cypher gave a little nod, eyes on the man from before. "That stock was inflated to hell and back. It was overdue for a correction, no question. If I didn't ss with it, you'd be looking at an even nastier crash. Now, multiple companies weathered the storm. Without , Biotechnica would've been the only ones getting wrecked. If you're smart, put your money in Militech. I'm hearing they're about to drop so wild new tech soon."
"Really? Shit, thanks for the advice."
No shit you lost money with that gullible ass.
"Mr. Blackwell," the old guy spoke again. "Won't Obsidian go public? What are you releasing next? Ah, I'm Alberto Gonzales, captain of this team."
"Atlas. Are they clean?" Cypher internally asked.
[They are, Cyph.]
"You go public when you need money. I don't need that. I'm happy building things. As for the new release, there's nothing planned. But I did buy Club Atlantis, if any of you still rember."
"I do," Gonzales said. "Old enough to rember visiting it a few tis."
"I'm reopening it. Actually, your whole crew's invited. Shot you the invites," Cypher said. "Just do a favor. If you ever catch choking on my own blood soday, try showing up a minute early."
"Haha! We'll try, Mr. Blackwell." Gonzales laughed.
After that, Cypher continued to chat with them. He didn't give a damn, but making friends in places like Trauma Team brought no negatives. If anything, he'd have an AV trauma team on call if he decided to build one for himself soday. If nothing, they'd at least have so flying training.
Since they were also close to the dcenter, it only took a few minutes to reach the large hospital owned by Trauma Team. As soon as he stepped out, a whole team of doctors and nurses was waiting for him, with two wheelchairs.
"Let's go, Lucas."
Cypher was perfectly fine, but still sat down in the wheelchair.
"Atlas. Make sure all my data is removed afterwards. And my blood samples are destroyed."
[All preparations have been done already.]
After that, Cypher went through a dozen different tests. Blood, piss, shit, spit, X-Ray, brain scans, MRIs, and everything in between. anwhile, Lucas was going through the sa and extra, getting his nose fixed and head checked.
Two hours later, a doctor walked into the luxury room he was sharing with Lucas, their beds set side by side. The sa one Cypher rembered from his earlier admission. Doctor Haytham Kembly. But it seed the man didn't recognise him.
"Mr. Blackwell, you are perfectly well. Other than a few old wounds on your arms from… certain hobbies. Your dark circles will go away if you sleep more, but we can also do a minor skin—"
"No!" Cypher denied. "Fuck RealSkinn. Tell about the kid if I'm all good."
"The child is…" Doctor Kembly looked at Lucian, the boy was asleep. "His nose will heal soon, and his eye isn't damaged. But there is a clot in his brain. It's an old one, Mr. Blackwell."
"Atlas. Analyze the report."
Cypher sat straight in his bed while looking at Lucas. The kid was sleeping rrily, almost curled into a ball under the sheets, like a scared kitten.
[Cypher. Based on the reports and my analysis of six billion data samples within Trauma Team's archives, Lucian sustained a significant brain injury within the past three years. The injuries were substantial and not consistent with a simple fall. It is more plausible that it occurred during the incident that claid his parents' lives, or to an external act of violence.]
Cypher let out a long, heavy breath, eyeing the boy. He really had no clue what he was supposed to do now. His life was dangerous, and it was going to get more dangerous. It was unreasonable to take the boy in; he wasn't a puppy. But at the sa ti, leaving him out was inviting Scavs.
How the fuck did you survive this long, kid?
"Patch him up, doctor."
"Mr. Blackwell, the coverage doesn't include old injuries."
"Yeah, go ahead. Prepare for the surgery." Cypher waved and reclined back.
The doctor left soon after. Cypher stayed in the bed for so ti, waiting for Lucas to stir and wake up a little. Eventually, when the boy did stir, Cypher got up and woke him up. He explained everything, about the injury and about the surgery.
As expected, Lucas just nodded. When Cypher said he would return the next morning, Lucas again nodded. Most children would cry when left alone at a hospital. So would panic. But Lucas didn't show any fear or worry.
Maybe the hospital felt far safer and more comforting than where Lucas had lived those past few years. The kid was just nine, and already grown up.
"Don't worry. If you need sothing, just call my na, and I'll answer."
"How?" Lucas asked.
"Magic." Cypher waved his hands dramatically and walked away, "Good night."
After paying for Lucas' surgery, filing the forms, and claiming himself as the guardian, he left the hospital. One of Delamain's taxis was waiting for him there, and it took him to Judy's apartnt.
He walked into the dim apartnt and lazily slid his suit jacket off, letting it fall to the floor. He loosened his tie and threw it away. He kicked off his shoes, then socks, and walked into Judy's bedroom. He didn't bother taking off his pants and shirt, and just lay down beside her.
"Took longer than I expected."
As expected, Judy wasn't asleep. If anything, as he tried to spoon her from behind, she turned to face him, staring at his face. He really was tired that night.
"Is he alright?"
Cypher explained everything. Judy was an emotional woman and showed a hint of sadness through her eyes. But then she hugged him and unexpectedly pecked his forehead.
"All that tough gonk exterior, but deep down you're a real softie. Pulling all this for one little kid?"
He smiled and pushed an arm under her neck, drawing her closer. "He ain't just so kid. Yeah, the city's crawling with holess kids, I get that. But Lucas? Only one I've seen with chro. Arm and a leg... kid's not gonna make it long out there, Judy. Scavs'll snatch him up, or he'll go out dumb trying to run with so gang."
That was Atlas's evaluation of Lucas's future.
"Yeah, total softie," Judy whispered right in his face. "Ditching those addictions really did you wonders."
"Way more than that, Jude," Cypher muttered and tried to close his eyes to sleep. "I'm sleeping. I'll figure it out in the morning."
"It is already morning."
"Yeah, yeah. Hush now."
No more words. Judy shifted a little lower and squeezed into his chest, her face under Cypher's jaw, against his neck. As one of his knees was snugly pushed between her nude legs, she hugged him back harder.
Sure, they both understood their friendship was weird. But monts like these made all the weird things more than tolerable.
####
Cypher dreamt of clouds, soft and fluffy. But this ti, they were raining. He was drenched like crazy, from head to toe. Soft still, but annoyingly hot and drenched.
Bam!
And then the damn clouds started to shake.
Bam!
And then his eyes shot open, only to realize it was his bed shaking. And it wasn't because of an earthquake. The first thing he felt was air on his body. He looked down, and he was completely naked, not even the quilt was covering him.
"Huh? Didn't I sleep…"
[You were sweating profusely, so Judy took your clothes off.]
"Such a sweet woman."
Cypher smiled and finally looked at the source of his earthquake. Standing beside his bed, arms crossed under her bust, eyes narrow, face scrunched as if asking him to punch it. He didn't know why, but the woman didn't like him.
"Judy's calling you for breakfast."
He stared at her face, at the weird fur-cloak she wore, at the deep-cut silver short dress, and those red latex stocking-boots that reached the top of her thigh. And then her blue hair.
He didn't get Evelyn Parker. From the look of it, he didn't find her hot, not even close to Judy's level.
Maybe she got so special technique.
But then he rembered that she was a doll, not a joytoy. Her job was to be a puppet that moved according to software calibrated to the individual client's needs. What the client would do in the session, she wouldn't even rember afterwards.
I doubt it's a technique then. Tight pussy? Maybe.
"Hmm…" Evelyn stared back at him, leaning on one side of her heels. "Nice cock."
Cypher looked down. It really was throbbing hard, the morning wood at full mast. But he didn't cover it.
"Thanks. Grew it myself."
"Snrk!" Evelyn almost snorted with laughter before walking away. "Funny."
Cypher watched her walk away, his eyes on her hips.
"Well, at least she's got a nice ass."
[And you call horny.]
"Well, I've got a cock, so it's natural. You don't, so you're more horny."
[Such reasoning skills. Your enemies should shudder in laughter.]
"Man, fuck you. My gun and driving skills are legendary. My enemies are dead."
[And you were addicted to BDs and glitter.]
"Nobody's perfect."
[I am.]
"We call that arrogance in human terms."
[I can back it up.]
Done with his morning banter, chuckling, Cypher jumped out of bed and put on his joggers. Choosing not to wear his t-shirt, he walked out into the kitchen area and sat down on a high seat by the counter.
Judy whistled at him right then. "Soone's working out."
Cypher looked down at noticeable improvents on his body. He was as thin as a stick a few weeks ago. Now, there was sothing. Far from where he wanted to be, but there was improvent.
"Yeah, had to. I was weak as hell. Needed so juice so I don't end up crawling back to glitter," Cypher said and grabbed himself a bowl of whatever trash cereal it was. "You heading out?"
"Yeah. Helping Ev with a BD," Judy said. She was already dressed and ready for work. "You?"
"Gonna check up on the kid."
"You're taking him in?" Judy asked.
Cypher didn't have an answer for that. He just shrugged. "Don't know."
For a while, Judy didn't look away. She stared at him as if she had sothing to say, but in the end, she didn't say it. She threw her bowl in the sink and grabbed her bag.
"Hey, hold up!" Cypher yelled before the two left. "Two weeks from today. It's gonna be the grand opening of Club Atlantis. You better drag your ass there, no excuses. And you too, Evelyn."
This is fun! Indeed, a gold digger.
Cypher loved it as Evelyn's eyes widened in real ti. She stared at him like a fool.
"You? You're opening a club?"
"Let's go." Judy didn't wait and dragged Evelyn away. "I'll explain."
Cypher remained in his seat smugly eating trash and hating it, but having to because the body needed it.
After eating, he stretched his arms and did so quick push-ups to scare away any sleep remaining. "Get ready, Atlas. Lots to do today. Check up on the kid, then inspect the club and the building, and then buy supplies for the itch."
Atlas' human avatar ford nearby, lavishly seated on Judy's couch, legs crossed. This ti, his voice ca from nearby speakers in the house.
"There is a more significant concern at hand, Cypher. Gloria Martinez has been caught."
"Huh? What do you an by caught?" Cypher attentively stood up.
"An NCPD unit is already on its way to detain her for misappropriating REO atwagon property. In precisely ten minutes, they will arrive at her door. She is at ho with her son. They are arguing about you. Her son wants to et you, but Gloria Martinez is refusing."
"..."
"Why the fuck am I getting pulled into this?"
"That matters not. The arrest of Gloria Martinez is imminent. Unles—"
"Nah, leave it." Cypher cut Atlas off. "She brought this on herself. You caught her, didn't you? She held back on the chro and kept hustling the high-end stuff behind my back. That's on her. Let it ride. Maybe it'll knock so sense into her."
"That is wise. However, the matter at hand is her arrest. Gloria Martinez will comply quietly with the NCPD. Her son, on the other hand, lacks restraint. He is immature and impulsive. He will shout your na to the NCPD without hesitation. The probability of this occurring stands at eight out of ten."
"Yeah, well, fuck , I guess." Cypher huffed, leaning back on the kitchen counter. "I can imagine that. He probably has a neural link, no? Can you stop him?"
"I can, and I will, Cypher. Your na is not sothing to be spoken so freely."
"In that case." Cypher shrugged and walked away. "I hope David doesn't get himself a migraine. I'm gonna go check up on Lucas."
"I will keep you inford as things progress. Would you like to assign her legal counsel, or should she remain in custody? I have accounted for either outco."
Cypher gave a slow nod as he fastened his tie. "Yeah, get the most expensive lawyer in the whole damn city. And I an stupidly expensive. Make her owe big ti. I warned her not to screw over, and she still went and did it. This is gonna be her life lesson."
"It will be done, Cypher."
______________________
Check out Cypher X Panam, Cypher X Gloria, Cypher X Judy NSFW ART, and advance chapters at [email protected]/MrPlotThickens Or Subscribestar.adult/mrplotthickens
Advance chapters on [PATREON] are in long-form format. I have 6 long chapters of this story on P@treon. That's equal to 24-26 Webnovel chapters.
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