“You’re the one who bruised his face, aren’t you?” In the dark.
David heard his mother Gloria’s angry demand.
“So what if I did?” Maine said nonchalantly, “I already paid, but where’s my chrome?
If you don’t hand it over soon, it won’t just be a single punch next time.” David slowly opened his eyes.
A dull ache at the back of his head made him wince.
He was lying on a cracked leather sofa, the reassuringly familiar smell of home drifting into his nose.
This was Megabuilding H4—the home he missed so desperately.
David looked up.
His mom, Gloria, was standing in the middle of the living room.
She was still wearing her bright yellow EMT jacket, her shoulders tense and rigid.
Maine stood in front of her, flanked by Dorio and Pilar.
Lucy stood at the very back, leaning against the wall, a cigarette held between her fingers.
The four of them stood in a tight group.
Opposite them, his mom stood alone, looking hopelessly outnumbered.
“That’s still no reason to hit him.” Gloria’s voice trembled with anger.
“Don’t forget, I’m your employer.” “Cut the crap!” Maine waved a hand impatiently.
“Where’s my deposit and my cyberware?
Hand them over.” At that, Gloria’s imposing front collapsed.
She glanced at David, then quickly looked away.
“I…
don’t have it on me right now.
Give me a couple of days.
I’ll get it to you in two days, guaranteed.” She didn’t say David had taken it, terrified of causing more trouble for him.
“Gloria, I gave you that deposit because you were a trustworthy partner and you needed the cash,” Maine said, his brow furrowing.
“You’ve never made a mess of things like this before.” “Today, you either refund my deposit or give me the cyberware.” Gloria opened her mouth, unable to utter a word.
She couldn’t produce the chrome, and she had no money.
Maine’s deposit had been a full twenty thousand eddies.
She had paid this quarter’s rent, cleared several overdue fees at David’s academy, set aside a commission, and kept a little for living expenses.
Adding it all up, she couldn’t even scrape together ten thousand eddies now…
Lucy had noticed Gloria’s earlier glance and had roughly guessed where the cyberware ended up.
Leaning against the wall, smoke drifted slowly from her fingers.
“If I had to guess…
that Sandevistan is on David, isn’t it?” “What?!” Gloria whipped her head around to stare at David.
Maine froze for a moment too.
Because of her words, every pair of eyes fell onto the teenager who had just sat up from the sofa.
“I took it.” David didn’t shrink away.
Meeting their gazes, he stood up from the couch.
“That cyberware…
is installed in me.” “David!
You…” Gloria found it almost impossible to process.
That was military-grade cyberware.
Even a career soldier like Lieutenant James had turned into a cyberpsycho after installing it.
How could David possibly handle it?
“Tch…” Maine turned to Gloria with irritation.
“What the hell?
How did my chrome end up inside your kid?” “So what now?” Crossing his heavy metallic arms over his chest, he said annoyed, “Today, we either find a ripperdoc to pull that piece out, or you pay me back.” Before Gloria could speak, David shot Lucy a look and said resolutely, “This cyberware is mine now.
You’re not getting it.” Fake.
It was all a lie!
Only the evil spirit and the chrome were real.
This was Night City—every beautiful thing was nothing more than a pipe dream…
“If you force it off me, I guarantee you’ll regret it,” David said with dead seriousness.
If he lost the Sandevistan, he couldn’t imagine what outrageous things that entity would pull the next time it took over his body…
“You threatening me, kid?” A menacing glint flashed beneath Maine’s sunglasses.
Seeing tension spike, Gloria hastily shielded David behind her.
“Maine, he didn’t mean it like that.
I’ll refund your money…” She didn’t understand why David wanted to keep such cyberware, but she didn’t scold him in front of them.
She decided to see Maine off first before getting the full story out of David.
“Hmph!” Maine didn’t give the mother and son any leeway.
“Transfer it right now then!” “Could you give me a few days?” Gloria looked at Maine, keeping her tone as gentle as possible.
“On my end…” “No!” Maine shook his head.
“I want it right now.
Either money back or chrome back.
No third option.” “I know, I know…” Gloria’s voice grew quieter and quieter, practically begging.
“I’m so sorry, but I really can’t produce that much money all at once…” She apologized over and over, bowing her back low.
Watching his mother bow repeatedly before Maine made a heavy, suffocating knot form in David’s chest.
“Hey!” David looked at Maine and asked coldly, “How much does my mom owe you in total?” “Deposit was twenty thousand, commission was eight thousand.
Since we know each other, I’ll take five thousand for the fee.
That’s twenty-five thousand eddies total.” Maine raised an eyebrow.
“What?
You gonna work off the debt for me?” If Gloria didn’t have the money, how could this kid possibly come up with it?
Lucy put out her cigarette and looked at David, her delicate brows knitting slightly.
Could he really pull twenty-five thousand eddies out of thin air?
“David!” Gloria’s voice instantly strained.
“Don’t talk nonsense.
You still have school.
I’ll figure out a way for the money…” “No need.” David interrupted her.
Scanning Maine, he initiated a transfer request.
[Authorizing Transfer…] [Sender: David Martinez] [Amount: €$28,000] [Ding!] A crisp, pleasant notification tone chimed in Maine’s head.
He glanced at the number.
“Three thousand over.” “A tip.” David said quietly, “Thanks for coming all this way.” Gloria stared at David, her lips parting slightly, unable to say a thing.
Twenty-eight thousand eddies?
Where did he get that much money?
David didn’t look at his mother.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the stolen datashards—in reality, drawing them from his spatial storage.
He walked over to Lucy.
Her fingers still held the near-burnt butt of her cigarette, her expression still seemingly nonchalant.
She had expected David to curse or yell at her.
But he said nothing.
David simply opened his palm.
A few thumbnail-sized datashards lay quietly inside.
They were the ones she had guided him to steal tonight.
Every single one was accounted for.
Realizing something, the expression on Lucy’s face froze.
“What is…?” “Tuition.” David placed the shards into her hand and offered a calm smile.
“You taught me a lot, after all.” Lucy looked down, staring blankly at the shards pushed into her hand.
Tuition?
The fact that David could cough up twenty-eight thousand eddies at a moment’s notice proved he didn’t need money at all.
So those flawless team-ups on the train, those thrilling chases, those quiet conversations under the moonlight…
was he just playing along with her foolish games?
Lucy clenched the shards tightly in her grip, her fingernails pressing hard enough to bite into her palm.
“Now that the money’s paid back,” David turned his back to her, “please leave my apartment.” “Let’s go,” Maine called out to Dorio and Pilar.
He threw one last glance at Gloria before leaving.
“Hope you don’t mess up like this on future deals.” Gloria nodded.
The string inside her heart, pulled taut all day, finally snapped slack.
Regardless, this matter was temporarily over…
The group followed Maine out of the apartment.
As she reached the door, Lucy paused.
She opened her mouth to turn back.
But the door slammed shut right in front of her.
*Click.* A quiet sound, but utterly decisive.
Lucy lingered outside for a long time until Dorio’s voice called out from down the hall, prompting her to walk away.
She couldn’t stop herself from thinking: Had she really done something wrong?