The Edgerunner who defied Night City

Like a Boy

15 March 2076

Ernesto woke up in his apartment. He wasn't lying elegantly on his bed, but at least he had managed to get there. He had to thank genetic engineering for the hyper-enzimes that prevented him to ever get completely wasted on alcohol.

The clock signaled 9AM.

"Fuck." he groaned. That was way too late for someone like him.

He checked whether his mother had tried to call before going to her morning shift, but he found nothing.

Now that was getting worrying.

In exchange, he found a missed call from Pétran, so he called right back.

"Captain Martinez. I hope your rest was satisfactory." he said in a cordial tone that Ernest wasn't expecting after losing a call.

"I apologize, sir. Took a drink too much yesterday."

"It's important that you lay your mind off the mission, from time to time."

"Thanks. So, you needed me for something?"

"Just wanted to check whether you recovered the Sandévistàn."

"Not yet. My mother wasn't picking up last evening. She was probably pulling an extra shift."

"Having your supplier so hardly available seems quite the inconvenience. You sure you don't want us to send some extra funds on your mother's account, so she won't need to work all those hours?"

"Her bank is controlled by Arasaka. If we do that, they'll find out quite easily, it's not like paying the rent directly to the landlord."

"I see. Still, I urge you to recover the device as soon as possible. That said, there have been some critical development. Head to the safe-house on the Sierra Nevada to receive the intel, highest priority."

"Can't talk even on an encrypted channel?"

"We rather not risk using technology at all, in this case."

Ernesto pinched his nose and rubbed his eyes. "On my way, sir."

"Excellent. Once you're done there, proceed to recover the Sandévistàn. Central, out."

The Legionnaire took a deep breath and stood up from the bed, suited on, took a bite and then headed out. The drive was going to take three hours, meaning he was coming back to the city for the evening. He tried to raise his mother again, but nothing. Honestly, he was starting to get worried.

"One thing at a time." he murmured to himself, putting the pedal to the metal, darting through the desert.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally reached the cove. A hidden hut among the canyons of the Sierra. The sun was hitting like a hammer on his still-mostly-organic body, but there was a car next to the hut, meaning he wouldn't have to wait.

Indeed, when he opened the door, he found two men in suit waiting at the table in the center of the room. They quickly got back into more dignified postures and the one on Ernesto's right started talking.

"Captain Martinez. It's an honor to meet you. I'm Agent Kenson, this is Agent Dibbet.

Ernesto reached the chair in front of the two. "Nice to meet ya, gentlemen. So, what's the big update?"

From under his seat, Dibbet took out a reinforced suitcase and opened it, then turned it around so Ernesto could take a look inside. He found what seemed to be the blueprint for some sort of cyber exoskeleton.