“Aww, Jackie and Misty, nice and cozy,” I teased him, “You two are so cute together.”

  “Thanks, V,” Misty smiled as I playfully wrapped my arms around Jackie, “And you two are just joined at the hip, huh?”

  “Eh, what can I say, she can’t live without me,” he laughed, “I ever tell you the story of how we met?”

  “Oh fuck no, Jackie!” I interrupted him.

  “Hey now, it’s a good story, really brings out my bad side,” he pulled my dangling arm, “See this big ol’ pile of rice? I found her ass-deep in Mexico, doin’ a weapons exchange for her nomad tribe.”

  “Yeah, I was-”

  “My story,” he lightly kicked me, “She was workin’ undercover with this group that was in tight with Militech, but they set ‘er up. Turned out she was made and had no idea, so they sent ‘er to swim with the sharks along with a few other gullible assholes they wanted to get rid of.”

  “Yeah, it was a convoy mission-”

  “Ey, I don’t interrupt your stories, do I?”

  “You do literally all the time, Jack,” I shook my head and laughed.

  “Bah, you and your fairytales,” he snickered, “Anyway, so there she was, this military kid, lyin’ face-down and playin’ dead, surrounded by 4 dudes who were actually flatlined. Sorted through the bodies to loot ‘em, and saw her eyes move. So I looked around and whispered that we need to help each other. Slipped her a piece, then picked her up. Had all the trust in the world right off the bat there. We went back-to-back and took out like ten dudes, like ‘bam, buh-bam!’ Fuck yeah,” he imitated the firefight with his dual finger-pistols, “And after that, jacked the cartel truck. Got all shot to shit, so we had to ditch it and we walked like 4 days through the burnin’-ass desert ‘fore we found a shitty old Galena and got it running. We ended up soupin’ it up-”

  “Actually I souped it up, Jack. You just looked pretty.”

  Part of me still misses that old Galena… the piece of shit it was. Kept blowing the radiator, not exactly helped by the sheer dry heat. Electrics were constantly rotting. I couldn’t get rid of it fast enough once I fixed up my Skyline, but I concede that it did get me home when I needed a ride. That’s better than many vehicles we came across.

  “Yeah whatever, same thing,” he retorted, “So she souped it up and we drove all the way back to Night City after livin’ in this old garage for like 6 months.”

  “Wait, what were you doing for 6 months in a garage?” Misty asked.

  “Fixing my Skyline over there,” I nodded to my car parked on the side of Buran Street. “Not like they had a parts shop, so it took a hot minute.”

  “Mm, and she does mean hot,” Jackie nodded, “Place felt like it was gonna melt in the sand, I swear.”

  “Good times, though,” I smiled.

  “Heh, yeah… built up a bit of a heat tolerance, tha’s for sure.”

  “So we headed back to Night City once it was fixed, and I rejoined Arasaka’s ranks at that point. Got my sword fixed up, Jackie laid low during the War, and here we are.”

  “That’s sweet,” Misty spoke cheerfully, “Glad you two found each other when you did.”

  “Me too… What about you, how’d you two meet?” I asked Misty.

  “Oh, we met back when I was a kid,” she smiled, “Found me sittin’ on the side of this alley in Heywood. I tried to lift his mother’s wallet, didn’t really work out. Then he snuck out one day and bought me breakfast. Was his whole life-savings, little 12-year-old he was,” she heartily smiled, “And, well, we’ve been inseparable ever since.”

  “Yeah, he’s got that effect on people,” I replied happily, rubbing Jackie’s hair and messing it up a bit.

  “What can I say, just a lotta me to go around,” he joked, “Can’t resist the Jackster.”

  “Sure, Jackie,” I teased him, “Anyway, I gotta go see Vik, you two behave, alright?”

  “No promises,” Jackie laughed before Misty punched him in the shoulder, “Ow, fucking- Heh. Anyway, we’ll be at the shop after you meet up with Dex, okay?”

  “Sure, I’ll see you then.”

  “Good luck, chica.”

  “Thanks, bud.”

  –

  Holy shit, it’s been ages since I’ve seen a real, live cat! But, sure enough, there he is, the little munchkin, eating some food just outside of Vik’s. As far as last sights go, this is perfect. I couldn’t help myself but to pet the cute guy and he started purring and rubbing on me in return. Right, if I ever get the chance, I’m adopting a cat, I don’t care what it costs.

  “Vikky, looking spry as ever! Get my order in?” I exclaimed as I headed down into Viktor’s clinic.

  “Good to see you too, V! And glad you’re in such high spirits. Normally patients are anxious as all Hell before procedures like this.”

  “Hey, I’ve been waiting since I was 15 to get my natural eyes back, I’ve had plenty of time for that, believe me.”

  “Heh, fair,” he chuckled, “So what else is new, how’s Jackie?”

  “Jackie’s good,” I brushed my hair back, “He’s upstairs with Misty.”

  “Mm, be up there for a while, I bet.”

  “Ha, no doubt,” I remarked, “Oh, and I think there’s a bug in my OS. Neurovirus or… something. Not sure – picked it up on my last job.”

  “Hm. Experiencing migraines, nausea, hypersensitivity to bright lights?”

  “All of the above.”

  “Alright, kid, we’ll fix you up in a flash,” he said reassuringly, pulling out his chair, “Sides that, how’re things?”

  “Things have been… uh. I don’t really know.”

  “Hm?”

  “You ever heard of the fixer Dexter DeShawn?”

  “Sure, a little. Known quantity from the Afterlife. No denying you two’re movin’ up…”

  “But?”

  Vik shuffled uneasily on his chair. “Keep your guard up, that’s all. I heard some things about Dex. Word is, he’s not as ‘chill’ as he makes himself out to be.”

  “Hm. Interesting.”

  “One thing I will say, though. If you’re lookin’ to take on hotter work, you best get gear that’ll perform.”

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “Now Vik, you know how I feel about-”

  “I do,” he stopped me, “Don’t worry, I’ll be respectful. But look, your tech’s over a decade old. At least let me replace those microrotors of yours.”

  “I’ll be honest, Vik, I don’t really think it’s all that necessary. But if that’s what you want to do, then… fuck, I don’t know…”

  “V, listen, you’ve known me for what, six, seven years now? I know you’re slow to trust, so I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.”

  “Promise me, Vik.”

  “I promise.”

  “Grr…” I grumbled, “Alright, fine, let’s talk details.”

  “Step into my office, please,” he nodded, heading over to the chair. “Look, I want you to know that I recognize how big a step this is for you. So I’ll walk ya through everything I do, okay?”

  “You know, Vik… When I drove over here, I was excited… apprehensive, but excited. This whole thing with Dex has thrown my mind out of whack. My natural eyes, my implants – you’d think I’d be happy. But I’m not… What does that say about me, about my state of mind?

  “I’ll tell ya,” he smiled reassuringly as he prepped his left hand with an airhypo, “It’s the same thing all my other patients feel their first time. ‘Cept this ain’t your first time, V. And you got som’n none of those guys have.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A definite sense of self. You know whatcha want, what your limits are, and you’re comfortable with that. So you’re not a fan of tech – that’s fine. So are half my patients, but lemme tell ya somethin’. You’re gonna go places regardless.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “Well you made it this far, haven’t you?” he deduced, “So I’ll tell ya what we’ll do. I’ll keep all the old systems, just upgrade ‘em to current specs. You got subdermal armor, yeah? So let’s give you the latest model. That sorta thing. Won’t put any more chrome on you than y’already got, okay?”

  “Okay…” I breathed out, “I’ll try. Just… please don’t do me wrong, Vik.”

  “Hey, you’re in good hands,” he reassured me again, “Take a seat. Promise, this’ll be as painless as possible.”

  “Thanks…” I sighed as I got into the chair, my hands trembling uncontrollably.

  “You want a muscle relaxant ‘fore we start?”

  “Sure, uh… thanks,” I mumbled, “Sorry.”

  “Don’t have anything to be sorry for, V… Here,” he gave me an anesthetic in my neck, deadening everything further down. “Now you shouldn’t feel anything, but that’s normal. Gonna have to open up your back and shoulders to install the armor. We’ll do the eyes last so you can observe what’s goin’ on, okay?”

  “Alright… Fuck… Okay,” I struggled to remain calm, “Sorry…”

  “You said that already, don’t worry,” Vik smiled before plugging into my neuroport, “Take it you had a bad experience or two?”

  “Yeah, uh,” I wetted my lips, “The last time someone did anything drastic was 2064. When I got everything put in. I… uh… they added a lot that I didn’t want.”

  “Oh? Like what?”

  “The usual stuff. Biomonitor, ultra-high frequency inner ear, optics, extra neuroport, trauma response nanomatrix… I got most of it removed, save for the optics because they were mandatory for Arasaka.”

  “Ah, turnin’ you into a regular super-soldier?”

  “Yeah…”

  “Alright, so let’s see. You still have the slot for the nanomatrix, could equip that to help repair your subdermal armor. Slots in where your appendix was-”

  “No- Well…”

  “If you don’t, then it’s no deal-breaker. Just means you gotta keep comin’ back every time you break another plate.”

  “Fuck… Alright, fine, since it’s already there.”

  “Sure. Got one in storage, let me go get that…”

  Despite the anesthetic, I could sense that my body was still shaking… I could still move, just not feel. “Alright, got it,” he came back with a cylinder, “Right, this is gonna take trust, okay? So here’s what I’ll do,” he held up a neural jack, “Take this whenever you feel ready. I’ll plug you in and getcha all sorted out. This’ll put you out, but you can view the camera feeds at any time, okay?”

  “Alright… thanks, Vik. For being so accommodating.”

  “Hey, just doin’ my job.”

  “I know. But you don’t have to go out of your way. You did, though. So, well, thanks.”

  “Sure. Oh, wanna see your new right eye?”

  “What, you have it?”

  “Yeah, sittin’ right next to ya. Blood vessels and all. Go on, have a look,” he directed my gaze over and pointed the light at the deep brown eyeball. Fuck me, I didn’t even notice that. “Courtesy of Kiroshi Optics.”

  “Kiroshi? Not Biotechnica?”

  “Nah, Biotechnica just did the sampling and gene therapy. Kiroshi constructed them. They’re 100 percent all-natural eyes, built from the ground up with stem cells using your own DNA blueprint. No optical enhancements, obviously, and you’ll need smart contacts to see things like holoads and shards, but I-”

  “No, no contacts,” I insisted.

  “Oh, hm, sure,” he nodded, “I’ll give ya a set just in case you absolutely need them, but it’ll be up to you, how’s that?”

  “Hm…”

  “Throw ‘em out if you want, they’re a dime-a-dozen. Nobody wears ‘em. Most shards aren’t even compatible with the tech anymore.”

  “...Alright, fine.”

  “Okay then, let’s get to it.”

  “Right, uh, sorry again, for giving you such a hard time.”

  “Hey, it’s all good. To be fair, was rude of me to insist on smart contacts. I’ll leave that up to you. Course, these bastards’ll burn a nice hole in your pocket-”

  “You know I’m good for it.”

  “Hey, I’ll take an IOU if you’re not, it’s a lot of eddies so I understand.”

  “No no…” I plugged myself in and wired the 430,000 eddie transfer, “Here.”

  “...Oh. Well fuck me, okay,” he laughed, “Perks of bein’ a noble, I guess.”

  “Nah, that’s about 90 percent of my savings, man.”

  “Ah… Hey, though,” he smiled, “You’re finally gettin’ exactly whatcha wanted. Gonna do anything to celebrate?”

  “Yeah, look up at the sun for the first time.”

  “Hey, just make sure to wear sunglasses when you do, no auto-tint, remember?”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Also, since these run off your DNA, the colors are set, as are the structures. So we’ll have to do a follow-up in 3 days when the bandages come off to see if you need corrective lenses, okay?”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Okay, ready to say goodbye to the artificially-enhanced world?”

  “You have no idea, Vik…” I clutched at the chair as I swiftly fell asleep.

  –

  “Scream until you are heard.”

  Mom…?

  “Louder.” Her voice sounded cold. Artificial. It broke like glass, a digital code fell apart around me. “Scream.”

  Fire raged around me… A great, burning inferno… I cowered in the face of it as it threatened to consume me. My body was as ice, melting into nothing.

  Mom? Dad? Anyone…? Help… Let go… Stop, it’s too tight, stop…

  The crackle of embers dancing off my hair in front of my face…

  I have to go… Let me go…

  -

  Vik gave me a stim to help the nerve endings take, saying I’d be good after three days. I chose to keep the bandages on for five, though, to make extra-certain that everything healed properly. “Alright, ready to see what the world really looks like?”

  “More than anything.”

  He slowly unwrapped the covering, revealing an intensely-blurred yet heavily-saturated kaleidoscope of color. “Okay, you should have some basic vision…”

  “Yeah, barely… fuck, it hurts,” I squinted.

  “Don’t worry, that’s normal. Takes time to adjust. Your body needs to re-learn how to focus your eyes, so everything’ll be blurry for a time. Just stay here and practice for a couple hours.”

  “Alright… ugh…” I groaned, lifting my hand up to my face until it came into focus. “I can kind of see right here…”

  “Good, that’s good. Now try and get your brain to lock onto a specific area, then slowly draw your hand away from your face. Try and see if you can keep a focus that way.”

  “Okay…”

  “Any luck?”

  “Yeah, some,” I nodded, “Still find it hard to focus on distant objects, though.”

  “That’ll come with time and practice, hopefully. Like I said, come back in a few days if it doesn’t take and we’ll getcha some corrective lenses.”

  “Sure… Ugh, fuck…” I felt nauseated from the disorientation.

  “Ey, take it easy. Here, let’s try an exercise,” Vik suggested, “Get out your piece and see if you can draw a bead on a distant target.”

  “Oh? Interesting doctor’s orders.”

  “Hey, gotta work with personally-tailored physical therapy sometimes.”

  “Right, um…”

  “Shit, yeah, that’s way better,” I nodded, “Muscle memory?”

  “Likely, yeah. Like riding a bicycle. The muscles are still there, just haven’t done anything in a while. Give it time, you’ll get used to it,” he placed a stim on the arm of the patient chair, “Take this for another 5 days for the armor and nanomatrix and you’re good to go.”

  “Fuck… I-I don’t know what to say, Vik…”

  “No need to say anything, ‘sides a promise that you’ll remember to take your meds.”

  “Promise… Fuck… Everything looks so different…”

  “Mm, forget what the world actually looked like, huh?”

  “I gotta see this for myself,” I jumped up with excitement, “Wait, what do they look like?”

  “Why don’tcha walk home and have a look in the mirror? Trust me, though – they look great.”

  “Thank you so much, Vik… Thank you, thank you! I swear, you’re the best.”

  “Hah, thanks, kid,” he nodded, “Now go on, git. And show ‘em whatchyour made of.”

  “With pleasure!” I exclaimed as I jumped out of the chair and rocketed outside.

  I had never before seen color like this… Everything was so vibrant and bright, like someone turned on a bloom filter on the world around me… I spun around in-place, utterly lost in the captivating majesty of what is otherwise a filthy, disgusting alleyway. But it didn’t feel like that to me, not anymore. It felt like I’d been born again, like I was seeing the world for the very first time. I couldn’t believe it… I’d waited so long for this…

  I came back later that night after unwrapping the bandages Vik assigned me. Thank God for modern medical advances. If you can afford it, at least. All that aside, I just… I couldn't believe it… How much of my world has been hidden from me all this time?! How much color, vibrance, even the subtleties in the texture of my hands… It was incredible. I had to change into something with more color to really appreciate it. And all of that without the intrusive advertisements everywhere?! This has been the best money I'd ever spent, by far.

  My watch said it was the late-evening, though it’s hard to discern from the fact that one hardly sees the sun here. I called up Jackie and told him to send Dex my deets – time to meet up with this guy. Just gotta go home and get changed first. And admire my new peepers, of course.

  The first thing I noticed about them, looking at them now, is that the colors looked a bit different to how I remember. My left eye has a lot of brown in it, circled by grey; my right eye is brown with a golden ring. Fuck, what a pattern… I love them. I can’t stop looking at them, I just want-

  Fuck, Dex called, he’s parked down by Vik’s. Well that ended the celebrations early. Time to throw on a kimono and meet him in-person.

  Produced: December 1970

  Body style: 2-door coupe, front-engine rear-drive

  Color: Black / black

  Engine: S20 water-cooled straight-six, 185 horsepower @ 8000RPM, 140 lb/ft torque @ 5500RPM, gasoline-powered

  Transmission: Manual, 5 forward, 1 reverse gear

  Weight: 1100kg

  Wheelbase: 2570mm

  Running-gear: Front MacPherson strut with disc brakes, rear trailing-arm coil spring with drum brakes, mechanical clutch limited-slip differential

  Wheels and tires: Hayashi 15-inch center-lock with Archer run-flat tires

  Interior modifications: 6-point rollcage, 4-point racing harness, bolted seat brackets, modern on-board diagnostics suite with digital readouts

  Exterior modifications: Front and rear lip-spoilers, monocolor paintwork

  Performance modifications: High-profile camshaft and lifters, lightweight pushrods, titanium valve springs, heavy-duty clutch, heavy-duty oil cooler, high-flow muffler