Maine was clearly interested in the cyberware clinic.
He stood up and looked in its direction.
“Got any more info?” Maine asked Kiwi.
“Not much.
Just that most of the customers are Tyger Claws, and its reputation seems pretty good.”
“I’ll go check it out.”
Maine nodded and started walking toward the clinic.
Maine had always been obsessed with getting stronger, to an almost pathological degree.
He was still looking to install more cyberware, but his usual suppliers hadn’t had any high-grade chrome to offer lately.
Maine decided to check out this new clinic.
There was no harm in looking; maybe they would have something he wanted.
“I’m coming too,” Rebecca said, raising her small hand to signal that she wanted to tag along.
Kiwi showed no interest whatsoever.
“Knock yourselves out,” she muttered, turning back to her drink.
Dorio, who had been about to get up and join Maine, sat back down when she saw Rebecca going.
Two of them were plenty.
Besides, the clinic was right next door; if anything went wrong, they could back them up instantly.
Maine and Rebecca walked side-by-side toward Loki’s clinic.
As they reached the entrance, the door slid open, and a heavily chromed-up man walked out.
The man stared at his left palm, clenching his fist in the air a few times, looking highly satisfied with his newly installed grip cyberware.
Suddenly, a heavy hand rested on his shoulder.
Feeling the weight, the man looked up at the giant, dark-skinned man wearing sunglasses.
“Can I help you?”
The man’s tone was annoyed at being stopped by a stranger, but he didn’t snap immediately.
As a fellow cyberpunk in Night City, he wasn’t exactly terrified of this towering giant, but there was no need to start a fight.
After all, he wasn’t a cyberpsycho.
Maine didn’t mind the man’s annoyed expression.
He raised his other hand, nudging his sunglasses down to reveal his eyes, and smiled.
“Relax.
Just wanted to ask how this ripper clinic is.”
Realizing Maine wasn’t looking for trouble, the man’s expression softened considerably.
“It’s decent.
Wakako recommended this place to me.
If you guys are cyberpunks, you should know who she is.
The clinic itself is great, though the cyberware is slightly pricier than other back-alley joints.
But the chrome-job and medical skills are top-tier for Japantown.
Supposedly his maintenance work is excellent too, though I haven’t tried it myself.”
“Thanks,” Maine said, nodding.
Having built such a reputation in just three days, this ripperdoc had to have some serious skill.
With that in mind, Maine pressed the buzzer at the clinic door.
Inside, Loki, who had just finished installing cyberware, hadn’t even finished cleaning up when he received the buzzer notification.
*Did the previous customer change their mind?* Loki wondered.
In his confusion, Loki pulled up the security camera feed, only to be surprised to see Maine standing outside.
Loki had expected to run into Maine’s crew eventually, given his location, but he hadn’t anticipated it happening so soon.
Loki picked up the pace, clearing away the surgical waste while buzzing Maine in.
The clinic door slid open, and Maine and Rebecca stepped inside.
“Welcome.”
Loki looked over and only then noticed Rebecca standing right next to Maine.
Maine’s massive frame had completely dominated the camera feed, and the petite Rebecca had been totally blocked from view on the side, making Loki think Maine had come alone.
The cyber-loli stood before him, her light green hair tied into twin tails.
Her petite frame formed a stark contrast with the towering, dark-skinned giant beside her.
Underneath her oversized black jacket, she wore nothing but black underwear.
Her crimson cybernetic eyes and pink tattoos miraculously did not detract from her cute appearance.
Instead, they perfectly blended cuteness with a sleek, cyberpunk aesthetic.
Looking at the petite girl standing at the door, Loki’s heart skipped a beat.
Having lived in the cyberpunk world for over two years, Loki had naturally seen plenty of beauties.
He had experienced them in braindances and even visited dolls.
But he had never met anyone who made him feel this way.
Perhaps the aesthetic of this cyberpunk world didn’t quite mesh with his system.
In any case, when the Rebecca he had admired in his past life actually stood before him, the mysterious system that had been dormant in his body for so long seemed to finally wake up.
His mind raced, but it didn’t slow down his actions.
“What can I do for you?” Loki asked, looking at Maine, who was leading the way.
Maine looked around the clinic as he spoke.
“Let’s see what kind of cyberware you’ve got.”
“One moment.”
After quickly wiping down the operating chair, Loki motioned for Maine to take a seat.
“Plug in your personal link.
The system will analyze what’s compatible and show you what we have in stock.
You can browse through them.”
Maine took the link Loki handed him and plugged it into the port behind his ear, beginning to browse the clinic’s inventory on the operating table’s monitor.
Meanwhile, Loki pulled up Maine’s biometrics and cyberware data.
*Projectile Launch System, Gorilla Arms, reinforced tendons, subdermal armor…*
Loki frowned slightly as he looked at the sheer amount of cyberware packed into Maine’s body.
As a ripperdoc, Loki knew exactly how much cyberware a normal human could handle.
He knew the human body’s limits, and he knew how terrifying cyberpsychosis was.
This was why, to this day, Loki had only installed a cybernetic right eye, other than the cybernetic arm he had been forced to get when he first transmigrated.
Loki didn’t think he was special like David, nor did he think he was uniquely gifted.
Therefore, he had no desire to load himself up with heavy chrome just to get stronger.
Instead, he had chosen to train under Vik, learning boxing to build his natural strength.
Looking at the cyberware on Maine right now—though it wasn’t on the level of chrome-fiend Adam Smasher, let alone the cyberpsycho V, or even the future David—it was still an incredibly alarming amount for a standard Night City mercenary.
In Loki’s experience, anyone loaded with this much chrome eventually ended up going cyberpsycho.
Maine was already pushing his limits.
If he didn’t downgrade his cyberware, going psycho was only a matter of time.
Installing even more would only accelerate the process, pushing him past the point of no return.
While Loki was lost in thought, Maine finished looking through the inventory list.
“The cyberware you have here is too weak,” Maine said, clearly unsatisfied after browsing Loki’s stock.
“Don’t you have anything better?”