WarpDancer (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners)

Told You So

How long has it been?...

I often end up looping back to that question in times like this. Propped up in the operating seat, my arm splayed open on one of the rests as Simon meticulously inspects every component. Regardless of how long it had been since then it was still a macabre sight, watching idly as the parts you had come to know as your body were split open and dug into. Paneling removed, synth skin split, connectors separated, even now it was hard to watch... 

How long had it been anyways? I think it was the legs that were the first to go, or maybe the hands? Those years were little more than a blur by now so it was hard to remember when's and where's. How long has Lucy been around? Three years? Man, I must've been young when the first piece of ganic meat came off... damn.

"Your friend doing alright?" It had caught me off guard, Simon normally isn't one to say much while he's focusing. Suppose that's a good sign, things must be looking good so far.

"Good as she can be. Got a little carried away last night, now she's paying for it. Tossed me out cuz apparently seeing me fine while she was pukin her guts up was pissin her off. Said something about going out if she was feeling better though."

"She doesn't have any detox implants?" 

"Just the net kit. Besides, she doesn't have the build for something like that." 

"What about you? You weren't partying with everyone else."

"Doesn't sound like something I would do."

"Course not, far be it for you to have any fun." Simon rolls his eyes, adjusting the manipulators on his finger tips briefly.

"You of all people should not be dragging me for being no fun."

"Fair." He smirks, before continuing once more when his adjustments are finished.

The remainder of the physical doesn't last too long. Soon the unnerving sight of my limbs split open is relieved as all the plating and paneling slides smoothly back into place, and just like that you could almost never tell it was ever any other way. As Simon began carefully repairing the breaks in synth skin from the inspection a memory came back into my head, that look on Sasha's face last night...

"Hey, when you do the data link, run a system scan first."

This earns me a withering glare from the doc. Not the kind of look that says I've offended him in anyway, or said something wrong, but the kind that a parent gives their child when they know the little shit is hiding something from them. 

"I know that we're of the same mind that it's 'better to be safe', but part of working with other people is offering some degree of trust." He sighs. Despite his scolding the monitor read-out shows that he's at least playing along. I completely agree with him, scanning the surface layer of a neural link is pretty over the top, but there's a nagging voice in the back of my mind that tells me something about that interaction was off. 

"Like I said, perfectly normal. Whether you like it or not sometimes people aren't always out to-" He pauses, furrowing his brow as he examines the read-out. It looks like he re-runs the scan, and checks through it all a second time but he's working fast, and I'm not nearly familiar enough to recognize any of what I'm seeing. 

"It's wrong..." He finally finishes, though it sounds almost more like a question.

"What is?" 

"The data for your self ICE, it's wrong. I helped format it, I installed it, I check it every damn time you're in here. I know what it's supposed to look like, it's supposed to have dynamic readings but this is... static, more like the over the counter stuff we install for corporate workers. Give me a moment."