Despite our penchant for overplanning, it quickly became apparent that there wasn't much planning to be done for this mission, as it was pretty clear-cut. Most of the, with metal railing and walkways installed for the workers. On top of that, most of the interior was open to the elements, with only one side covered in walls, making it a sniper's dream. I was pretty sure that Kayt could handle most of the mission herself, since there was a building not too far from our target that had a clear line of sight. There was no better place for her than that building, so that's where she would be stationed.

  We quickly decided that, once Kayt was in place, Riggs, Jackie, and I would start at the bottom and work our way up, first clearing the construction site and then starting on the building. Once we had reached the stairwells, firmly cutting off the gang's exit points, Kaytlyn would start to work her way from the top down, picking off any targets that came out of cover, which, considering how little cover there was, would be a significant portion of the group. Until then, her job would be to keep anyone from running out of the site.

  Once we had a basic plan, it was time for us to move out. The sun was already starting to set, and while waiting for the dark to settle over Night City might be a bit overkill, it was better to be safe than sorry. We all had access to night vision through our helmets or scopes, which meant once the lights went out, we had a significant advantage over anyone we faced who was ill-prepared.

  Once we were stocked with ammo and finally ready, we took two separate cars, Kaytlyns and one of the business Type-66s. I was surprised to find that Kayt had modified her passenger seat considerably, making it just big enough to fit Riggs. When I asked, she admitted that Samwise had helped her out, so the seat was just as armored and protected, but now it had room for the large armored AI. It was unexpected, but I wasn't going to question it, as it certainly made things easier.

  The drive through the Badlands and into the city was uneventful, the dark streets intermittently lit up by the highway lamps. Once in the city,l we cut through Sixth Street and then Valentino territory. We paused along the outskirts of the latter to let Padre know we were moving in, and to keep any gang members he wanted to keep alive out of our way. Once he had confirmed our message, we carefully parked our cars in an alleyway not far from our target. Once we were all clear and set, we shifted to moving on foot, first stopping by the building Kaytlyn would be shooting from.

  With her rifle on her back and Nova under her arm, she quickly and cleanly climbed up the side, using her jumpkit sparingly so as to not stand out too much. Thankfully, it was already dark enough that most of her movements were hidden. When she was in place, she contacted us through our radios, which meant it was time for us to move in.

  Slowly, we made our way around a cluster of buildings, finally reaching our target after walking around two blocks. It was just as Jackie's pictures had shown, but much more heavily populated. I could see more than a few people, most of them armed, walking around most of the floors. While I couldn't say for sure, it definitely seemed like it was on the high end of Jackie's estimation.

  "You guys ready?" I asked, watching both Jackie and Riggs pull out their pistols while I double-checked that my SMG's safety was off.

  When both of them nodded, I grabbed my helmet, pulling it down over my face, watching Jackie as he did the same. When he nodded that he was ready, I looked forward and started to walk towards the construction site. As we got closer, we picked up the pace, getting faster and faster as we approached. Just as I hit a full sprint, Jackie and Riggs thumping behind me, I activated my jumpkit and boosted up, easily clearing the outer chain link fence, which was woven with plastic slats to block out curious eyes.

  As I cleared the barbed fence, I spotted my first two targets, both of them turning towards the noise. I boosted again, this time pushing forward, riding the Gs before hosing down both of the armed gang members with my SMG. One of them was down before he even knew what was happening, while the other managed to at least start trying to aim at me before he was perforated. Beside me, I could hear Jackie and Riggs firing their pistols as they picked off a few targets of their own.

  The second we started opening fire, I could hear the snap of Kaytlyn's rifle firing, and I looked around just in time to see someone near the front entrance collapse, missing their arm.

  As I ran and jumped around the piles of metal, piping, and other construction materials, clearing the lot to keep anyone from sneaking up on us, Riggs and Jackie quickly killed their way to the unfinished concrete stairs, holding off anyone from pushing down towards us. Twice I heard Riggs' mag cannon tear through whoever was trying to rush us.

  Once they were stationed there to hold off any runners, Kaytlyn started picking off targets higher up. At one point, I heard a shot ring out,l followed by a descending scream, falling from the upper floors. I happily looked away to continue looking for people around the construction site, wincing as the poor bastard hit the ground hard enough that I could feel it.

  Finally, when the lot was cleared, Jackie and Riggs pushed up through the stairs. Meanwhile, I jumped up a pile of piping and then boosted up to the second floor, meeting Jackie as he finished climbing the stairs. Together, we cleared the unfinished floor, starting on the outside and working towards the center, with Riggs working on the opposite side. The sound of Kaytlyn's rifle echoed over and over again, the sniper tearing through the upper floors like shooting fish in a particularly shallow barrel.

  Slowly but steadily, we cleared each floor, working our way up. By the time we finished the third floor, Kaytlyn was no longer shooting, having already cleared the top floors of easy targets. She was still watching, waiting for people to step out of cover, Nova's drones keeping an eye on everything.

  Unfortunately, most of the remaining people were hiding inside the few blocked-off rooms, or what little cover they could find. That meant that flushing them out was up to us. This would have been difficult and risky, but Kayt kept us informed on who was where using both her own sight and the information Nova's drones were feeding her.

  After the first few clearings, the three of us quickly fell into a rhythm, clearing room after room, moving up along the floors. We realized our mistake on the sixth floor, when one of our targets panicked and blind fired around the corner at just the wrong time, several of the rounds catching Jackie in the leg. Thankfully his armored underlayer took the hit and held strong, but the damage was enough that the system partially locked up, forcing him to walk with a limp. He was considerably slowed, but still capable of hobbling along and covering our backs.

  As we stopped to examine the damage, he claimed the bullet hadn't made it through the underarmor. I quickly injected him with a stimpak anyway, just in case. I also happily pointed out that if he had been wearing leg armor, he would have barely even felt it. As of now, even with the stimpak he was certainly feeling sore.

  After that, it took fifteen minutes in total to clear the remaining floors, all three of us ascending to the top, where there was no roof or walls. After a quick check around the entire floor, we realized that there was no one left.

  "Jesus… I almost feel bad," Jackie said, looking around. "They didn't even have any Borgs to give Riggs a workout."

  "Don't complain about easy work," Riggs said, Jackie, shrugging in response.

  "Not complaining about the work, just saying I feel bad for wiping them out like that," He responded, reaching out with his foot to flip over one of the corpses, his eyes still on Riggs. "They didn't even-"

  The corpse rolled over, revealing a man, maybe a few years younger than me, with a hole in his gut that blasted all the way through. And yet, as he rolled, he shifted, clearly not dead yet. Even worse, he had been hiding something with his body and jacket, a blood-soaked.

  With a wordless snarl and the kind of strength only metal limbs and the desperation of a final act could provide, the survivor dragged his weapon up, braced it against his body, and took aim at Jackie, somehow steady despite the obvious blood loss. With a smile, his teeth red with blood, he pulled the trigger and held it down.

  In a split second, I moved. Jackie was too distracted to see it fast enough, and Riggs was too far away. Jackie's sandy could get him out of danger, if he had been paying attention. Plus, too much of his body was uncovered. He was going to get shredded.

  Thankfully I had seen the survivor start to move first and was already moving to cover him. I dove and shoved Jackie back, the bigger man stumbling behind the cover of a thick concrete pillar. Before I could even try to do anything, the inevitable happened, and the first burst smacked into my back. Sixteen rounds in total made it out of the HMG before Jackie finally reacted, activated his sandy, blurred around me, and neatly beheaded the gunner with his axe. Out of the sixteen rounds, ten of them hit my back.

  My two layers of armor tried valiantly to protect me, but even through them, the impact was enough to damage my internals. Warning lights filled my vision even before the last three rounds blew chunks out of my back, exposing my internals to the world.

  As my legs gave out, Jackie blurred again, this time coming to my side, holding me up, cursing loudly, already scrambling for my Stimpaks. It wasn't until he got a closer look, and realized that my internals were sparking and clicking, my parts failing due to all the damage, that he realized something was up.

  "Jay! Your back! What in the fuck is-"

  "It's fine, Jackie, it's fine," I explained, patting his shoulder, quickly turning my dulled pain sensors completely off. "This isn't my real body, I'm controlling it from back home."

  "You… What!?" He asked, now shouting. "What the fuck, pendejo? What did you do?"

  "My implant? The one that lets me link perfectly to anything electronic no matter the distance?" I prompted. "Yeah, sorry for the scare, buddy, but I'm fine. I'm back at home, lying on the couch. Riggs, tell Kaytlyn it's fine before she panics."

  "Already done," He responded, shaking his head slightly. "A warning would have been nice, Jay."

  "It was a last-minute thing, and I wanted to see if you guys would notice," I explained with a shrug. "I was very careful, and I would have said something if I felt like I couldn't keep up."

  Jackie, who was still holding me up, sat me down against the concrete pillar, which let me sit upright despite my failing lower half.

  "So… you're still back at the Ridge?" Jackie asked, standing up slowly. He seemed a bit off, which wasn't all that surprising considering what just happened.

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  "Yeah, Jackie. I'm fine back at the Ridge," I assured him again, letting out a sigh and sagging slightly. "Look, I know it maybe wasn't super cool of me to just sneak in an experiment, but I didn't expect last stand Rambo over there to show up. I was confident in my tech, and I did put the control interface through some dexterity checks while I was getting ready. Like I said, if something was off, I would have spoken up."

  "Yeah… I get it choom," Jackie said, still sounding a bit hollow. "I'm just… contemplating how close we just got to dying. If you hadn't been experimenting…"

  "I likely wouldn't have been fast enough," I admitted, nodding in understanding.

  "I would have…"

  "One of us would have finished him off, and I could have saved you with stimpaks," I assured him, before adding with a wince. "Unless one caught you in the head or something. Stimpaks are hit or miss on direct brain damage."

  We were silent for a moment, letting what had happened settle in. We had gotten cocky, set into a rhythm, and relaxed before we had actually finished our task. A little bit of looseness in your process was good, but that whole ordeal, this whole mission, had been approached poorly. We had gotten damn lucky, but that only hammered home how much we, myself included, had fucked up.

  "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought this frame here without more extensive testing and a conversation with you guys," I admitted after nearly a minute of silence, this time without trying to downplay it. "Regardless of how it worked out in the end, I still fucked up. Sorry."

  "It's alright, Jay. This… this whole mission could have been done better," Jackie admitted. "We got cocky."

  I nodded and looked at Riggs. Before I could say anything, he spoke up.

  "I didn't mess anything up," he said. "I was on point."

  "No, I wasn't insinuating- Dammit, Riggs, just help me up. I'm sorry, but I need you to carry me down, some of the damage must have affected the control system, my legs have completely failed," I explained. "And we need to look around for any parts that might have fallen out of me. I don't want to leave anything behind."

  Riggs and Jackie spent a few minutes making sure we didn't leave anything behind for someone to find and sell before the large AI picked me up and unceremoniously put me over his shoulder.

  "Really?" I asked, looking down his backside as he and Jackie started making their way down. "Can't even face me forward?"

  We quickly made our way down and out of the unfinished building, crossing the dark streets of Night City. We met up with Kaytlyn on the way back, the skilled sniper waiting for us, her cat sitting by her feet. A short walk after that and we were back at the cars, the vehicles untouched in the alley we parked them in. After Riggs put me into the passenger seat of one of them, Kaylynt leaned on the door frame, shaking her head.

  "You're an idiot, you know that, right?" She asked. "A lucky idiot, but still a fucking idiot."

  "Yes, I fucked up," I acknowledged, pulling off my mask and instinctively rubbing my face. "I should have said something about the frame."

  "You should have," She agreed. "I know you trust your tech, and you have good reason to, but you had no right to do that without our agreement first."

  "Yeah. Sorry."

  "You're also an idiot for not realizing you could have disconnected earlier instead of hanging out like a dead weight that can talk."

  I looked at her for a moment before cursing and slapping my forehead. She was absolutely right, I could have ejected whenever I wanted, instead of bouncing around on Rigg's shoulder like a crash test dummy. Kaytlyn started laughing, shutting the door for me as she shook her head. She clearly told Jackie and Riggs, as seconds later, when Jackie slid into the driver's seat and pulled off his helmet, he was at least wearing a small smile while shaking his head.

  "You gonna shut down or whatever, Jay?" he asked, looking over at me. "Or you're gonna make Riggs carry you inside too?"

  "Yeah, I'll let everyone know the mission went fine," I said, pulling on my helmet so Jackie didn't have to stare at my vacant, powered-off face for the whole ride home. "See you when you get back."

  He nodded, and I accessed the controls for the connection, disengaging it with a thought. To keep things from being disorienting, the shift faded me to black before slowly fading back in. I could skip through it if I wanted, but switching around near-perfect mind linkage like that in an instant wasn't something I was not interested in enduring if I had any choice.

  I slowly stood up to find that both Samwise and Frank were standing over me. There was also a trio of standing nearby. Sam and Frank were leaning over slightly, closely observing me while the combat robots stood guard silently.

  "Hey guys, what's up?" I asked, rubbing my eyes before stretching my arms.

  "We were monitoring you as you worked," Frank responded, slowly running a scanner over my head and chest. "I seem to recall asking to be informed when you first connected to a frame with full sensory inputs?"

  "Ah… right. Sorry Frank," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "I sort of rushed into it… Not my smartest choice."

  "No harm, no foul, I suppose. Samwise was kind enough to call me," He explained, gesturing to his AI brother. "Either way, I did not pick up any sort of side effects or abnormal readings."

  "Were we worried about side effects?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as the AI doctor pulled back.

  "Scientifically, no," He responded simply. "And yet I have been reliably informed that you are living proof that things are not that simple."

  "Fair, but I'm glad nothing happened," I said honestly. "What's with the shades?"

  "Murtaugh was concerned that you were vulnerable when not aware of your surroundings," He explained. "He stated that if you were not going to relay yourself to the safety of the vault while you were so vulnerable, you should at least have shades standing guard."

  "I… yeah, sure, fair enough," I agreed, scratching my head. "Any idea when the Vault will be open?"

  "We are putting the finishing touches on the living spaces as we speak," Samwise responded. "We are, of course, rushing the first layer of quarters so that you may move in. Once they are done, we will be increasing the workforce and continuing to build."

  "What's your estimated completion time for the five thousand-person mark?" I asked, more out of curiosity than anything.

  "We anticipate that it will be completed in several months, but it will be completed in stages so that some parts will be ready before that," Samwise responded. "Your rooms will be ready in a day or so. The first complete module, the one your homes will be in, with complete support systems, including entertainment and other facilities, should be completed in two weeks. That said, there are a few things we would like your help with."

  "Oh? Like what?" I asked, interested in what they may need me to do, as together, Samwise and Noah were more than competent enough to perform most tasks.

  "We would like you to help design a butler, internal security, a janitor, and a chef," He explained. "We have attempted to already, and they simply look like reprogrammed MRVNs, which we believe do not send the right message."

  "You need a bit of artistic flair? Sure, buddy, I can do that," I said, considering it for a moment before continuing. "Though I would say that the butler and chef, perhaps the janitor as well, could be the same design with different software. And maybe a different paint job. I'll think about it and design one before my break is over."

  "I will remind you that you agreed to help Jackie with implants to better utilize his Sandevistan." Frank pointed out. "Did you have an idea in mind for that?"

  "I did," I confirmed with a nod, rubbing my face. "I was thinking of some bioware enhancements for his lungs and spinal column to better handle the load, and maybe some sort of second heart to handle the shock it puts on his circulatory system. Improving his base heart would probably be smart as well. Then I was thinking of uplifting the Institute's Monocyte Breeder implant, to help the rest of his body heal from the strain."

  "I will begin working on the lung enhancement, we have plenty of data on that to begin extrapolating improvements," Frank volunteered. "Perhaps you should begin working on the Monocyte breeder? I believe all three human members of this team would benefit from getting it."

  "Yeah, I would probably get it. Between it and my nanohive, I would have a minor but noticeable healing factor," I admitted with a nod. "Alright, I can take care of that… Probably a project for tomorrow."

  Frank nodded, and after he finished up his scans, he left, the shades leaving with him. After a few more minutes of recovery, I headed out as well, hedging to the Shack. Rather than going inside, I sat outside along one of the concrete barriers, waiting for my friends to get home. It took twenty minutes for them to get back, and I spent it fiddling with the Monocyte Breeder through my implant, just getting reacquainted with its internals. I was pretty sure I already knew how to improve it pretty well, but there was no reason to rush. It was getting late already, and I had planned on getting to sleep early.

  When the group finally pulled in, I stood to greet them. Riggs was kind enough to grab my shell, which I told him just to chuck into the scrap, with orders for the MRVNs there to scrap it immediately. Between my protomatter generators and molly makers, it was easier to scrap and reprint it than it was to spend the time diagnosing what was broken and printing out the proper parts. Riggs nodded, walking off with the frame over his shoulder, Kayt walking with him.

  I turned back to find Jackie had already started to pack up his stuff, ready to head back into the city, this time to his home. After a long moment, I brought up his upgrades.

  "Hey, Frank and I are getting started on those upgrades I mentioned," I said. "We should be finished tomorrow afternoon. After that, we can get Vik out here to take a look at them."

  "Upgrades?" He asked, looking a bit confused.

  "Yeah, the stuff to let you use your sandy more, make it safer long term," I said, understanding lighting up behind his eyes. "I'm probably going to be getting at least one of them, potentially two."

  "Sorry, I kinda forgot about that, choom," He admitted, sitting on the hood of the car. "What kind of chrome is it going to be? I would love to use my sandy more, but you know I like to keep it pretty light."

  "Well, most of it's going to be bioware," I explained. "Some enhanced lungs and some sort of improvement to your heart to let it take the shock better, as well as a reinforcement to your nervous system, for the same reason. Then something similar, at least in function, to my nanohive kit. That last one is the cyberware, and it's what I'm definitely getting as well."

  "Lung replacement?" Jackie asked, visibly unsure. "I don't know…"

  "That stuff is all bioware," I reminded. "The good stuff too. I promise, other than the fact you'll be able to run a marathon without losing your breath, you won't be able to notice a single difference. This is not some simple stuff, it's going to be beyond even my nanohive in quality. Hell, it will even be made from your DNA, not an empty compatible matrix."

  I had gotten seriously lucky with my first bit of bioware. A friend of Vik's just so happened to have a client pass over a custom-made medical nanohive, all organic and capable of giving someone a slight increase in their rate of healing. It was honestly top-of-the-line in a lot of ways, including integration. Most accessible bioware from this world puts a strain on the body in terms of blood pressure, resources, and other ways, but mine only required the occasional special vitamin. That was the mark of high-quality stuff, and what Frank and I would put together was even beyond that. The Institute was many things, but when it came to understanding and modifying the human body, they were at least a solid hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty years beyond what this world was doing, they just had a different implementation ethos.

  "Hell, if it makes you feel better, I'll get the lungs first," I added with a shrug.

  "Really? I mean, you don't have to do that, I believe you… but really?" Jackie asked. "You went from panicking about some weaves to getting a massive implant in your skull… now you want more?"

  "I'm only human, Jackie. I'm allowed to have complicated feelings about implanting myself with all sorts of stuff," I said with a shrug. "It doesn't have to make sense."

  "That's alright, can't say I blame you," Jackie admitted. "You grew up different from me and Kayt, not that surprising you aren't a fan of chrome."

  "Thanks," I said with a nod. "Well, I'll let you get back to the city. Sorry again about today."

  "Like we said, we all messed up," he responded. "We all share the blame."

  I nodded, Watching as he climbed into the car and pulled out, honking as he left. When he was gone, I made my way inside the Shack. Kayt was already going through the fridge for a snack, and when I stepped inside, she threw me a sealed plastic container. Inside was a fruit salad, which I happily cracked open. As I threw a chunk of strawberry into my mouth, Kaytlyn cracked into a beer.

  "You alright?" She asked, sitting down at the table as well.

  "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

  "You were one bad, spur-of-the-moment choice from being a one-use bullet sponge for Jackie," she pointed out, her eyebrow raised. "That tends to leave an effect on someone."

  "I… Yeah, I know," I agreed, leaning back heavily and leaving the fruit on the table. "I would have likely survived. My nano hive would have kept me from bleeding out, and I was carrying four more stimpaks."

  "Unless you got caught in the head."

  "Yeah. Unless I get my head popped," I admitted, looking away and chewing on my thumbnail. "...I guess it hasn't hit me yet?"

  "Maybe. It might never," she pointed out. "Your gear might give you an advantage, but you're not invincible, and this wasn't your first rodeo. With experience comes a certain level of jadedness."

  "So either I'm jaded and broken, or I'm going to have a severe panic attack shortly. Yeah... I kinda don't like either of those options," I admitted, running my fingers through my hair. "Any way I could trade either of those in for 'peace of mind'?"

  "Sorry, no refunds," She responded with a snort, taking a long drink from her beer. "Either way, you'll be okay. Just don't close yourself off or start drinking heavily. Neither does much to help."