The Wannabe
"And that concludes today's lesson. May you have a productive rest of your day." The fake holographic teacher in the braindance droned before the inevitable blinding flash of white snapped him back to the real world.
David Martinez groaned in discomfort, uselessly trying to rub the spots from his eyes as he sat up and absently observed the other students doing the same.
Those that didn't get preem top of the line optics from their rich parents anyway.
He must have taken too long because a moment later the grating, mocking voice of the class asshole came from his right "Still haven't got your eyes done, Martinez? And here I thought you started pretending you were up to standard."
Holding back the urge to blow up on the asshole, David grit his teeth and slowly stood up and faced the other teen "No reason to change something that works, Tanaka."
The Asian just smirked at him "How earthly of you, Martinez."
David's eyes flickered behind Tanaka, meeting the stern look of the teacher, and taking the hint he simply nodded at the other student and walked by him.
"Hey I'm talking to you!" Tanaka rounded on him and snapped.
And immediately shut his mouth.
"Don't forget to do your homework this time, Martinez-san." The teacher said blandly as he reached the exit.
'Remember, slow incline of the head, and a show of deference.' His mind supplied as he did just that "Thank you, Takahashi-sensei."
The teacher hummed with disinterest and let him leave.
As soon as he left the room, he felt himself deflate.
Pretending to be one of these slimeballs was always super exhausting.
'At least I can avoid Tanaka like this.' He scowled as he tossed his backpack over his shoulder and started walking out 'I'll keep it up just for that.'
The asshole only got worse after his choom got his life support cut, pushing around anyone who looked at him wrong, or just existed in David's case.
Too bad they didn't switch places.
At least Werner was just a spoiled brat.
David shook the thoughts away, walking out of the Arasaka Academy with a confidence in his step he didn't feel.
He barely walked out of the building before his phone rang.
[Hey mom.]
[David.] Gloria smiled [How was school?]
[It was fine.]
And for once he wasn't completely lying.
It felt like both an eternity ago and yesterday when his life had been flipped upside down through no action of his own and he was still stuck trying to get fully used to all of it.
When his mom returned home and happily announced she found a new job he thought it was going to be just more of the same, but then the first salary came and she dragged him out shopping, buying him everything he needed for the academy without bothering (much) about the price.
And to his utter bafflement, it never stopped.
Life just kind of... seemed to get better from there.
His mom looked better, healthier, like she wasn't fighting for every single day, and he no longer felt the urge to lower his head whenever he walked the academy grounds, even if the corpo kids still tried to push him down.
He even said no Doc's offer to smuggle BDs on campus.
Realized how much of a gonk he had been to even think about it too, fucker was preying on his desperation and he didn't even notice it.
Because yeah he was getting desperate.
He cut all contact with the shithead after that.
And then something even weirder happened.
One day, out of nowhere, his mom sat him down and started coaching him how to behave around corpos, and once he got the hang of it (through much protest) everything seemed to change like in some sort of cheap magic trick vid.
Everyone, even the asshole, treated him differently.
Oh he was still very much the gutter rat, but he started respecting the unwritten rules, playing the game, so the insults became insinuations, the threats became jabs, and...
David still felt like he was pretending to be somebody else.
He looked up at the Arasaka Tower above him with narrowed eyes 'I hope you're worth it.'
[-avid are you listening to me?] The voice brought him out of his thoughts.
[Yeah, sorry mom.] He lied [I'll be home soon.]
[David.] She sighed deeply [We have dinner with my employer.]
'Shit! That was today!?'
[Ah, right!] He scratched the back of his head [I'll be there soon.]
[What am I going to do with you mijo?] Gloria shook her head [Are you fine taking the NCART? Do you have enough money?]
[Yeah, don't worry mom. I'll be fine.] He reassured.
She smiled while still looking at him with warning eyes she said [Call me when you get there.] and ended the call.
His expression turned strained, but he shook his annoyance off, straightened out the collar of his brand new, chemically treated Arasaka Academy uniform...
Promptly unzipped it, shoved his hands into the pockets, slouched his back, and left for the NCART.
If anything, meeting the person who helped them out so much was something he was looking forward to.
-----
'I really should have called her.' He decided as he stared down the barrel of a gun.
"So this is how its gonna go, choomba." The skittish, frantic and wide-eyed street kid hissed "You empty out your pockets, and I don't gut you." He sniffed "And take that suit of too, looks like its worth a few eddies."
David slowly raised his hands took a step back, only to bump against the wall "Look-"
"Shut the fuck up!" The teen became more frantic "Do what I said!"
He closed his eyes, feeling his heartbeat in his head as images of his mom's tired face flashed through his mind.
No, he wasn't going to let some asshole steal something she worked so hard for. Fuck. That!
His eyes snapped open and he prepared to go for his legs only to see something smash into the teens face as he doubled over with a grunt and a groan and a group of four men in black coats began beating down on him with telescopic batons.
"Fifth fucking time this week, Martin!" One of them, a tall Latino spat out as he gave him one last kick "Toss him out, and someone call the pigs to pick the shitheap up."
"You got it, Es." Another gave a mock salute and the three of them quickly carried the goon away.
David breathed out, feeling the adrenaline drain away from him "And I thought it was the Tygers that were meant to scare me shitless."
He laughed even if he didn't know why "Thanks for the save, man."
"Yeah, no problem choom." 'Es' nodded, pulling out a pack of cigarettes "Want one?"
David politely waved the offer off "Why'd you help me anyway?"
"'S what decent folks do." The man shrugged before his expression turned grim "And we don't let assholes like him do what they want around here. Seen what happens when folks don't defend themselves."
"The place did seem quieter than usual." David muttered, much to the man's visible satisfaction "So what, you some kind of gang?"
"Eh." Es shrugged "Just folks banding together to protect what's ours. Though some of the kids decided we had to have a name so we settled on The Watchmen." He pointed at a golden eye insignia under one of his breast pockets "Name's Estaban by the way."
"David." He returned.
"Guessing you're here to see The Doc?" Estaban asked as he turned and waved for him to walk alongside him.
"Yeah." He said with some confusion "How did you know?"
"No other reason for anyone dressed like you to come here." He shrugged "Come along, I'll show you to the place."
"That's..." David began but the man was already walking 'Alright then.'
None of them noticed the camera above them flicker before resuming its usual rotation.
---
"Here we are." Estaban said as they reached a duplex section straight out of a corpo sector.
Suddenly, David felt a hand land on his shoulder and looked up to see the Latino's expression had changed to a grim one "Look, Dave. The Doc helped a lot of folks around here when he didn't have to, so remember to keep respectful, and don't start any shit, yeah?"
"Got it." David nodded shakily.
That seemed to satisfy the gangoon and he walked off, leaving him alone.
'Mom must never find out about this.' He decided and walked up to his destination.
He looked up to the bright red sign of [Ars Magos Mechanica] welcoming him as the doors opened on their own letting him enter, revealing his mom sitting at the shiny silvery-white reception table, rapidly typing away on a laptop.
She looked up as she heard him and beamed, the exo-implant scanner over her right eye rising above her head as she stood up, revealing another pair of external mods hugging her hands from beneath her red and white uniform "David, you made it."
"You don't have to sound so surprised, you know." He grumbled.
She just gave him a look at that that said 'You know what you did.' "The doctor should be just about done now, so why don't you go in and say hello while I go upstairs and help set things up?"
He shifted uncomfortably "....uhhhh."
"You'll do fine." Gloria patted his head, and walked off upstairs before he could even process it.
David went to call out for her to wait, half raising his hand before letting out a sigh.
"Might as well just get it over with." He muttered and entered the clinic.
And immediately went very, very still.
'Ah shit.' The sign really should have been enough of a hint.
Lucyna Kushinada
"Seems Gloria is starting to get ideas again." The annoyed ripper told the new arrival without turning away from her implant "Give me a minute I'm just about done."
The cyborg proceeded to ignore them for a few minutes as he finished and stepped around to loom over Lucy "You are as healthy as you can expect to be while in the business. The deck needed only basic maintenance and a few components switched."
"Thanks doc." She yawned and stretched a bit before hopping up, narrowly missing the pile of metal that just happened to be one of the few rare actually trustworthy ripperdocs in the entire city and landing lightly on her feet.
"Didn't sound too excited about the deck this time." She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow and crossed her arms "Am I starting to get boring?"
"The only thing that was ever interesting about you is your deck." The expected response came, even if she noted the slightest upturn on the borg's barely visible lips "So no, you won't be getting any freebies from me again." He paused and dryly added "And you are not nearly as good at fishing for information as you think you are."
She shrugged innocently.
"Yes, yes, you have no idea what I'm talking about." He drawled and began waving her off "Now shoo. It seems I have a guest to entertain. Return in three months at the latest for your checkup."
"Sure thing doc." She mock saluted and went to leave before finally paying attention to the 'guest', and most importantly his uniform.
"What's this?" She asked as she approached the rat "A 'Saka wannabe decided to slum it out with us mortals?"
She kept her voice playful as she approached the kid, who looked out of place in his own clothes, and ruffled his hair while picturing the head under it cracked open.
Whatever he was about to say died in his throat.
She narrowed her eyes, and smirked "Try not to fall and break your neck, rat boy."
"Kushinada." The warning in the synthetic voice behind her was clear.
"Sorry doc." She stepped back and gave an annoyed backwards wave "I'll get out of your hair." And left.
Michael 'Magos' Sobronov
"Your heart skip a beat there, Martinez?" I drawled down at the starstruck gonk.
"Uh... wha?" Was his very intelligent response.
"Truly." I kept my voice flat "You are the voice of a generation."
Finally, Gloria's kid managed to collect himself.
Or not, judging by his immediate question "Who was that girl?"
"You want me to share patient information with you?" I gave him a flat look "You sure have some balls."
Too much balls, if his little suicide attempt outside was anything to go by.
I should send Estaban and his squad of goon posers some drinks for sparing me Gloria's freakout.
His face clenched "Forget about it."
"That's what I thought." I chuckled darkly and enjoyed his discomfort "Anyway, we've met already but introductions are still in order. Michael Sobronov."
"David Martinez." He returned the gesture instinctively before realizing who he was shaking hands with "Uh..."
"Please don't tell me you are a fanboy." I pleaded as I looked up to the ceiling.
"Uh." He repeated, again, very intelligently "I won't?"
You know what?
We take those.
"Good enough." I decided and stared down at him again "Needless to say, the only reason I'm trusting you with my name is because your mother earned it. You don't share it around to any random gonk that asks, got it?"
He made a zipping notion across his mouth and nodded rapidly.
"Good." I said "Now let's get upstairs, the food should be hot I can't be asked to put my skin on right now."
The look of horror on his face quickly evaporated whatever annoyance I was still feeling.
---
I wasn't wrong about the food and after a quick round of introductions we got to eating the delicious fillet. Everyone up to and including Rebecca not saying a word as we devoured what was effectively meat shaped gold.
Well, Gloria looked mildly uncomfortable while her kid looked like he wasn't sure if he should eat quicker or slower and ultimately just ended up staring at his plate in indecision until his mother poked him a few times.
By the time we were done, everyone except me was leaning back against their seats, blissed out and making satisfied noises.
"Its been years since I've had one of these." Gloria said "Thanks Lana."
"Not that many places that sell them for a price that doesn't sound like a joke." Mom nodded along before adding "And don't mention it, friends don't bother with tiny little details like that."
Gloria smiled brightly "Of course."
And David looked more and more awkward with each word shared.
So I got up and said "Why don't the two of you catch up and me and 'Becca go show David around?"
"Running away already, Mikey?" Mom teased and quickly went on "Oh go ahead and leave us old women to gossip, you do need more friends your own age."
"First off, I'm older." I raised an imperious finger, ignoring the gawking street kid pretending to be a rat as I did "And second off." I went on in a far more pleasant tone "You aren't old, for you, my lady, have aged like fine wine."
She rolled her eyes and laughed, quickly joined by a more subdued Gloria.
The Wannabe
He was still so stuck processing the fact he had just eaten actual real food for the first time in forever, that he barely even noticed as he was dragged out of the dining room by his mom's boss.
Who was apparently around his age, and a famous merc as well! (What in the actual fuck was he doing with his life at this point?!)
And his far too cheerful mainline, who was giving him amused looks the entire time for some reason.
At least they got him out of there before his mom started sharing the embarrassing stories.
"You back with us Martinez?" The Magos waved a metal hand in front of his face.
"Yeah." He nodded after a moment "Its just... weird. Real food I mean." He paused and before he could offer his thanks he noticed something behind the looming cyborg and his eyes widened "The fuck is that?"
The borg looked back to see his mainline rubbing the chin of some big ass lizard while muttering "Whose a good little boy?" Under her breath.
"Ah, that." Magos deadpanned "David, meet Gorlock the Destroyer." His voice was utterly dead now "Gorlock, meet David."
The lizard's head twitched in his direction and it flicked its forked tongue at him before going back to being pampered, much to the amusement of a snickering Rebecca.
"I'm not sure if that's preem or fucking terrifying." David muttered 'Probably costs more than my apartment too...'
"Probably both." Magos said in agreement "Come on 'Becca you can pester the little parasite later."
"Oh fffiiine." She pretend whined and stepped away from the terrarium "Where did you get the meat anyway? That stuff tasted way too fresh for the usual dealers."
"Found a guy in Dogtown if you'll believe it." The borg shrugged "The man sold homegrown stuff for cheap so I grabbed it."
'Wasn't homegrown stuff dangerous?' David thought.
"I scanned it, obviously." The borg gave him a look "And yes it is written all over your face."
'I must look like such a gonk.' He tried and failed to keep his face from showing his embarrassment.
"Dogtown?" He changed topics as he was led into a bedroom/living room almost as large as his apartment "Isn't going to that place-"
"Fucking suicide?" Rebecca cut in with a small grin before slapping the cyborg's ass "So is trying to flatline a walking tank."
She wasn't exactly wrong there.
"You know he isn't exactly wrong to be worried there." Magos said, completely ignoring the smack and reaching for a small fridge instead "You drink?" He asked him.
David nodded.
The borg started picking out bottles "Dogtown is not a safe place by any means. Everyone and their mother is heavily armed, and more importantly they know how to use those arms. So unless you are bulletproof or have a full security detail just don't bother going. Otherwise even leaving alive turns into a coin flip."
David was so distracted listening about the urban myth of a place that he didn't even react when a long metallic snake-like limb offered him a cold bottle of broseph, merely nodding on autopilot and taking a seat as he listened.
"But they have such preem weapons!" Rebecca whined playfully.
"I already got you a grenade launcher." Magos flicked her lightly "Don't start getting greedy on me now."
"Fiiine~" She grumbled before plopping onto the bed and facing David "So Davey, how is that Saka brainwashing center been treating you?"
"I'm also curious." Magos added, taking a seat in a large reinforced armchair "Surprised you didn't get eaten alive within a month. Which means you are either lucky or actually competent."
"They tried." David told him with a bit of pride, and then turned to Rebecca "How do you know about that anyway? We've literally just met."
"You mean aside from the uniform?" She looked at him in a deadpan.
"Yes, aside from the uniform." He mirrored the expression "You sound way more familiar than that."
He felt like he had just stepped on a trap as she smirked "Your mom doesn't shut up about you. Ever."
Immediately, he felt his world become wobbly 'Not again...' "What, what did she tell you all?"
"What didn't she tell us?" Rebecca's grin became even more pronounced "I've known Glori for years."
"Oh for fucks sake..." He lowered his face into his hands, much to the duo's amusement as they chuckled at his misery.
"So how is it?" Rebecca repeated after a few silent moments.
"A fucking slog and a pain in the ass, especially with all the spoiled corpo brats." David said, looking back up with a scowl "But you get used to it."
"I see my little gift helped then." Magos notes.
"You gift?" David frowned before catching on "That was you?"
"Yep." He nodded, rising his bottle "Gloria complained about it once so I downloaded a few instruction manuals for her."
"Just like that?" David asked with a frown.
"Just like what?" The borg tilted his head "It isn't like it cost me anything."
''S what decent folks do.' Echoed in his mind and he felt his fear for the looming death machine slowly dissipate.
"Normal people don't help others, Mike." Rebecca snapped his fingers at him "Told you you are just one big softie."
"Well normal people suck ass." The borg shrugged "Corpo etiquette is easily available information if you know where to look."
"Well, it saved me from a lot of headache, so thanks. I owe you one." David gave him a firm nod "Everyone used to be insufferable at first, but now they treat me more like a curiosity than a threat. Lets me breathe at least."
"You don't sound too happy about that." Rebecca points out.
It was weird, but despite all the weirdness he was surrounded by, he was already starting to relax with the duo "Well yeah, sometimes it feels like I'm going there for my mom instead of myself."
"But you can still profit from it?" Magos asked "Build a life around it?"
"Probably." David shrugged "We're on the general curriculum for now, but we are choosing specializations next year."
"Got plans on what you're going to choose?" The borg prompted.
"Management or something technical." He said "Sounds like the best way to go." He looked away "I wanted to try security at first but becoming a corpo goon sounds like a good way to get flatlined before my first payday."
"Hah. True." Magos huffed "Do you even know how to shoot?"
David shifted in his seat "A bit?"
"How much is a bit?" Rebecca asked, voice filled with genuine concern.
"I held a Unity once?" He said with a wince.
The horrified look she gave him was beyond anything he had expected at the admission.
"Yeah no." She stood "Get up, we are going to the range."
"Right now?" David asked hesitantly.
"Yep." She popped the word "I'm not consoling Glori just because you are too much of a gonk to pack some iron." She stopped and gave him another horrified look "You don't even have a gun, do you?"
At this point, all he could do was just look away.
A metal hand fell on his other side, an amused Magos staring down at him "She's right. But don't worry, you aren't leaving this place until you can zero a few gonks at least. You have my word."
That wasn't nearly as reassuring as it should have been.
-------
Hippity hoppity, your stone is the cult's property.
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