After Jackie handed over the sheathed katana, he asked, brow furrowed in curiosity.
"Alright, hermano," he said, "you told me to make damn sure this thing got here in one piece. So—what's the deal with it, huh? Some secret project?"
Rebecca leaned in, wide-eyed. "Yeah, I was wondering too! You've had that sword forever. I thought you tossed it after we got outta the Sapphire Hotel. What's so special about it? It's not even good for cutting people!"
Lucy's azure cyber-eyes flickered as she studied the weapon. "That's not a standard blade. It's a prototype shell—an experimental chassis. It only looks like a katana, but it's not built for melee use. The question is… what's its purpose?"
Even David, standing off to the side, spoke up quietly. "I'll admit… I'm curious too, Neo."
And then Maine's booming laugh broke through. "What's got everyone so serious, huh? What are we geeking out over now?"
He strode in with Dorio and Pilar, all three eyeing the strange, sleek blade like it might bite them back.
Neo smirked faintly, glancing around at his crew—all eyes fixed on him, waiting. "You all really wanna know?"
A chorus of nods.
"Alright then," he said, voice lowering into that calm, steady tone that meant something was about to happen. "This isn't just a sword. It's a key."
Rebecca tilted her head. "A key to what?"
"To someone."
With that, Neo thumbed the activation node.
The Unregistered Katana X hummed to life—soft at first, then building into a low, electric vibration. The air shimmered around the blade's edge. When he swung it, just once, light spilled from the motion, forming into a flickering, human-shaped projection.
For a breathless second, no one spoke. Then Lucy's voice, thin and stunned:
"…Impossible."
Rebecca blinked, rubbing her eyes. "Wait, wait—no freaking way. That face—oh, I know that face!"
Panam stared, frozen. "You're joking."
Jackie took a step back. "Holy shit. Johnny… Silverhand?"
David's jaw slackened. "I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming."
"Damn," Maine muttered, low and half in awe. "Didn't expect to see that name again."
Even Pilar, usually too busy cracking jokes, could only gape. "Bro. That's—like—the guy. The legend."
The hologram flickered once, then solidified—too real for a ghost. A digital man.
Johnny Silverhand blinked, dazed, taking in the half-circle of faces staring at him like he was some rare zoo animal.
"The hell—?" His voice rasped with static, half-glitch, half-human. "What is this? You drag me outta cyberspace just to stare? What am I, your pet data monkey?"
Neo crossed his arms, unfazed. "Johnny, relax. You're not here for show."
Johnny scowled. "The fuck does that mean?"
"You're here because I need you," Neo said simply. "We've got a little problem tonight. You see this town? Every mech, turret, generator, and power grid in it—I want you to control it."
Johnny blinked. "Control it? Buddy, I'm a ghost in the code, not a janitor."
Neo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Think for a second. Anything electric runs on algorithms, AI subroutines, or base logic loops. If your processing core's strong enough, you can bypass and override it all. You've got enough computational muscle in that digital skull to hijack a city."
He leaned in slightly. "So yeah, I'm asking you to take the reins."
Johnny squinted at him, suspicion mixing with grudging intrigue. "So basically, you want me to play remote operator for your war. Using me like some glorified RC controller?"
Neo smiled faintly. "That's one way to put it."
Johnny snorted. "You're outta your chrome-plated mind. Johnny Silverhand doesn't do fetch quests. I'm the guy who blew up Arasaka Tower, remember? Not your personal botnet."
Neo's smirk sharpened. "Oh, right. The guy who tried to blow up Arasaka Tower. And then got his skull turned into paste by Adam Smasher."
The words hit like a stun round. The air went still.
"You—" Johnny started, but Neo cut him off.
"Let's not rewrite history. You carried a nuke and got turned into roadkill. I killed Smasher with my bare hands. No gun, no fancy toys. Just skill."
The silence that followed was thick enough to taste.
Lucy's brows lifted. Maine's jaw hung open slightly. Rebecca covered her mouth to hide a snort.
Johnny just stood there, eyes flickering with a cocktail of pride, disbelief, and, somehow, reluctant respect.
"…Hah," he finally muttered, kicking at a loose pebble—his foot phasing through it uselessly. "Can't even touch the damn ground. Feels like hell, being a ghost."
He looked back up, eyes glinting faintly. "Alright, tough guy. You want me to dance with the machines? Fine. But when the blood starts flowing—save a few for me. I want to kill something."
Neo nodded. "Deal."
"Then it's settled." Johnny's form began to dissolve, fracturing into a swirl of neon code. "You better make it worth my while, kid."
And just like that, he was gone—his data scattering like smoke through the air, seeping into the town's dormant power grid.
...
For a long second, no one spoke.
Then Rebecca broke the silence. "Okay, what the actual fuck just happened?"
Lucy crossed her arms, voice low. "Add me to that question."
Panam let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Johnny Silverhand. Alive—or something like it. I can't believe it."
Jackie whistled softly. "So lemme get this straight. You've got Johnny Silverhand living inside that sword. And you can just… call him out? Bro, that's some god-tier netrunning voodoo right there."
Neo slid the katana back into its sheath, expression calm as ever.
"Let's just say," he murmured, "some ghosts are too useful to leave buried."
Above them, the wind shifted. The lights of Rocky Ridge flickered, pulsed—then steadied, burning brighter.
And somewhere deep in the circuitry, a familiar digital voice chuckled darkly.
"Alright, chooms. Let's raise some hell."