Cyberpunk 2077: You Shall Never Have To Forgive Me Again

Ch. 2 Espresso

Jackie had been a beta who desperately wanted to be an alpha.

'There's no real difference. Y'know that, right?'

'Ahh, but chica, there is! Ever wonder why all the big time warlords and CEOs are alphas? Respect. '

V scoffed at that.

'First, not all of them are alphas. Example: Petrochem's Mr. Who, Lars whats-his-face, a beta. Second, gonks who respect alphas just for being alphas aren't worth shit. And neither are the fools who throw around their alpha title.'

It was no secret to friends, even associates, of V that she hated alphas. Hated their smugness, their arrogance. Hated how society looked at someone who happened to present as an alpha versus a beta or even an omega, and decided they were suddenly more capable than the rest. This presumption that somehow a person's second-gender was the deciding factor in whether they would make a strong leader, a critical thinker, someone who can plan two steps ahead. V had some personal experience with this, to say the least.

'Of course, of course! You know I don't judge a book by it's cover, V.'

'I didn't know you could read.'

Jackie laughed, a big-bellied, throwing his head back kind of laugh. Always had to do everything big.

'What I mean is, people see you as an alpha and suddenly you got a free pass to the top! No more worryin' 'bout where the next eddies are gonna come from, how you're gonna feed your family. That's the kinda life I want.'

It was also no secret how desperate Jackie was to leave the streets of Heywood behind, not that she could blame him. But she knew him like the back of her hand; she specifically knew how he didn't put much thought into his plans, liked to take shortcuts. And that was dangerous in their line of business, let alone Night City.

'I see where you're coming from, Jack, but I fail to see where you're going.'

With a smirk, Jackie leaned closer into her space, over the booth they were sitting in at El Coyote Cojo.

'Let's just say your choomba here got his hands on some grade-A cortex chrome.'

Oh, boy...

'Really, Jackie? Blackmarket? You can't be serious.'

'Oh, but I am, holmes. Serious as a fuckin' heart attack. Que descanse en paz, abuelo.'

Jackie made a quick little prayer gesture. Then he made a thumbs up and pointed it to behind his neck.

'S'called a Synth-Odorant Releaser, or some shit like that. Klepped it off an R.M.C storage container while doin' some biz for Wako. She graciously let me keep it.' Jackie chuckled.

V whistled.

*'Klepped from Raven? And lived? Guess you really are gettin' good at this whole solo thing.' A jest, of course. Despite Jackie's terrible habit of rushing through shit, he made for a good merc. 'And what does this chrome do, exactly?'

Jackie's eyes lit up with excitement, ready to reveal his master plan.

'Well, to put it in layman's terms,' i.e. even Jackie didn't know how to explain it. 'You get the chrome installed at the top of your spine, connected to the fluids there, and it works like an OS. Get to pick and choose your presentation for the day. Sweet, right?' He was embarrassingly giddy over this, practically bouncing in his seat.

'Uh-huh... So, what, you just wake up and decide 'think I'm gonna be an alpha for today'?'

'Exactly! I knew even you would get it, chica.'