Chapter 40: Rebecca's Best Partner
"You guys..."
Before the words "What are you doing?" could fully leave his mouth, Rebecca exploded past Rhys. Her jump was astonishing; she cleared Rhys's shoulder, brought her knee up, and slammed it directly into the face of the man who had just turned around.
CRACK—
The sound of bone splintering echoed sickeningly. Yellowish fluid and blood sprayed from the man's shattered face as he crumpled backwards, slumping against the restroom door.
The sudden violence stunned the remaining men for a split second, but Rebecca was already moving again. She landed lightly, ducked low, and lunged forward, jamming the steel fork she'd grabbed from the table deep into another man's thigh.
"Fuck! Marlos! Shit, they zeroed Marlos! Waste 'em!"
Zeroed? Not quite. Just a fractured skull, though it looked brutal.
With shouts of alarm, they fumbled for their iron. The few remaining diners scattered, screaming in terror as they scrambled out of the restaurant.
"Cyberpsycho! It's a cyberpsycho!"
"Call NCPD!"
"Don't wanna die! Please, don't kill me!"
Amidst the chaos, Lucy sat calmly at her table, chin resting in her hand, idly stirring her soup—a murky concoction of spices and synth-meat—with a spoon. Her eyes, however, never left Rebecca. Iridescent light flickered in her optics. Though she thought Rhys and Rebecca were meddling fools, she was ready to intervene. Why?
Kindness? She'd discarded that liability back in her childhood. Who had it worse than her? Snatched by her own father, sold to Arasaka as expendable netrunning fodder... Her whole life felt like a cruel joke. Betrayed by the people closest to her, the pain ran bone-deep, forging the cold, detached person she was today. She had no anchor, no sense of belonging, nowhere in this world she could truly call home.
So... was it for the five thousand eddies? Yeah, let's go with that. You always needed a reason, even a flimsy one. It was a habit of hers.
But just as Lucy prepared to act, her hand slipped, her chin nearly hitting the table. She stared, dumbfounded. A blur of black and red light flashed past, radiating intense heat.
"Aaargh!"
A bloodcurdling scream tore through the air as two massive arms—both right arms, inexplicably—were severed at the shoulder, still clutching pistols.
Rhys retracted his katana, his left hand shooting out, palm open, slamming into the stunned, stubbled face of another ganger. With a surge of force—
BOOM!
—he sent the man flying backwards, crashing into the restroom door alongside the one Rebecca had taken out, the metal frame buckling under the combined impact.
Rebecca deftly dodged a clumsy lunge from the last man standing, dropping into a boxer's stance. She weaved under a wild swing and buried an uppercut deep into his gut. Her small size belied her strength; just like V could rip open synth-doors, Rebecca, packed with implants, hit hard. The blow folded the man like cheap cardboard. Following through, she puffed out her cheeks, concentrating her force, and delivered a final, devastating uppercut to his jaw.
She spun around, ready to help Rhys, only to find him calmly talking to the terrified waitress. The thermal katana in his right hand was held casually behind his back, its tip resting inches from the throat of the last conscious ganger, who was frozen in place.
"Don't worry," Rhys was saying gently. "Later, I'll talk to a friend of mine, someone connected with the Valentinos. This is their turf, right? They'll help you out."
He wasn't just making empty promises. The Valentinos had a reputation—La Familia, Heywood is family. They looked after their own.
The waitress looked up at Rhys with tear-filled, grateful eyes, bowing her head. "Thank you, thank you... If it wasn't for you, I don't know what would have happened. As for later... it's okay. My cousin is Valentino. I'll explain the situation to him."
"You've already done so much," she whispered.
Rebecca walked up, looking from the waitress to Rhys. After a moment, she asked quietly, "Rhys... will this cause trouble for you?"
Rhys... wasn't he already wanted by the Tyger Claws? And now he'd pissed off these guys too... Rebecca recognized them now. Animals. Only they got that huge without significant chrome, just pumping themselves full of 'roids and combat stims.
"Trouble?" Rhys shook his head, reaching out to gently ruffle Rebecca's green pigtails. He smiled. "Nah. You just do what you think is right."
Rebecca blinked. "Maine and the others won't like it."
"If that were true, they wouldn't have made us partners." Rhys gave her a wink. It was Maine's idea. Pair the crew's strongest member, Rhys, with Rebecca, precisely so she could act on that dangerous empathy of hers without getting herself killed.
Rhys understood empathy. The values from his past life still shaped him, and he refused to let them go. It was the only thing that proved he was different from this world. Susan chewed him out for it constantly. If Rebecca pulled the same stunts, Susan would probably just beat her.
How strong was Rebecca's empathy? Strong enough that if she saw a stray cat wander into the middle of a firefight between two gangs, she'd charge into the bullets to save it. Her biggest childhood dream was to get a puppy and shower it with love. Her brother and father used to lecture her about it constantly. Pops Sunrise's warning—that her heart would get her killed someday—was specifically about this.
But now, two empathy-ridden gonks had found each other.
Rebecca stared at him for a second, then broke into a wide grin.
Rhys turned back towards the diner. "Lucy," he called out across the room. "We should go. Cops will be here soon."
Lucy stood up and walked towards them. She glanced briefly at the waitress, then met Rhys's eyes. "About that thing you mentioned... I'll think about it. But I need some time."
"Okay," Rhys nodded.
Lucy turned and walked out of the diner without another word. Rhys and Rebecca followed.
They got onto Rebecca's motorcycle. She drove, Rhys sat behind her. His hands initially gripped the side rails, but Rebecca reached back with both small hands, grabbed his, and pulled them firmly around her waist.
Rhys froze, staring at the back of her head, the green hair neatly parted down the middle. Rebecca didn't say anything, just revved the engine. Rhys awkwardly kept his arms around her... waist? Did Rebecca even have a waist? Kids didn't really have waists, did they? He shook his head, amused.
...
Santo Domingo, Arroyo.
When Rhys and Rebecca arrived back at the container hideout, Maine and the others were already there. Parked beside the container was a sleek red car Rhys hadn't seen before. Looked expensive.
Inside, Maine, Dorio, Pilar, and Jackie were waiting. As Rhys and Rebecca entered, Maine started to speak, but Pilar cut him off, staring at Rebecca. "What's got you grinning like that? What happened?"
Rebecca shot her brother a glare. "None of your damn business!"
"I'm your goddamn brother!"
"Brother, brother! One of these days, you asshole, I'm gonna kill you!" Rebecca retorted, flipping him the bird.
Maine and Dorio exchanged a look. They both knew. That particular smile on Rebecca's face meant only one thing: she'd 'helped' someone. See? Pairing her with Rhys was the right call. Rhys is the perfect partner for her.
"Alright, break it up," Maine interrupted their bickering. "Rogue sent over the details for the next gig. That's why I called Jackie over too."
"Afternoon!" Jackie waved from his seat.
"A gig? Where's Sasha?" Rebecca asked immediately.
Dorio looked at her. "She can't make it. Said she's going to Dogtown with her sister to handle something. Fucking weird... I just found out Sasha's brother-in-law is a cop."
"A cop? Interesting," Rebecca murmured.
"Kiwi's on her way. When she gets here, I'll brief you on Rogue's gig. It's... not dangerous, but it involves going out of town," Maine said with a grin. "See? Told you we needed more netrunners. Sasha's out, but we've got Kiwi."
"You should tell her that when she gets here. She'll be thrilled," Pilar muttered sarcastically.
Rhys nodded and sat down next to Maine. "Okay."
Out of town... In five years, Rhys had never once left Night City. He felt a flicker of anticipation about seeing the world outside, the Badlands. It would probably be even more chaotic than the city itself.