MHGA Chapter 271 – David's Confession
"..."
In a temporarily rented apartment where Maine's crew had gathered, David stood before them with a serious expression.
In his hand, he held a data chip—and from the look on his face, the others could tell he had something important to share.
After the last incident where every cyberware implant in Night City had been forcibly ejected, Maine's team had suffered heavy losses.
All of their cyberware had been expelled along with the effects of the Recovery Medicine. Though they hadn't lost their implants permanently, the cost of reinstallation alone was substantial. And with the downtime, they had lost a lot of work…
Right now, the most crowded places in Night City were the clinics of ripperdocs. The lines stretched for blocks, with people waiting to get their cyberware reinstalled.
"David, looks like you've got something important to tell us," Maine said as he narrowed his eyes at David. "So why'd you call us all here today?"
"Big Bro Maine… Today, I'm going to tell you everything I know! It's something the Guildmaster advised me to do," David said, taking a deep breath.
David had spent a long time agonizing over how to handle his relationship with Maine's crew. In the end, it was Kairo Retsu who gave him the answer:
Since everything was already over, why not just… show them Cyberpunk: Edgerunners?
Those events had already changed, and there was no longer any need to hide the truth. Explaining everything through that story might be the best way.
After hesitating for a moment, David slotted the chip into the media player, tightly holding Lucy's hand. He took a few deep breaths before pressing play.
"This is… something someone showed me. It's the future that was originally meant to be mine."
Ten episodes in total, around twenty minutes each without openings or endings… they watched for over three hours in silence.
Pilar was in disbelief at how easily he was killed by a cyberpsycho's hand cannon—and how pointless his death had been.
Dorio didn't expect to die either… and that Maine would succumb to cyberpsychosis, going down with her in the end.
"So I turned into the bad guy, huh?" Kiwi said dryly, watching herself betray the team—and then get betrayed and die in turn. Her expression didn't change much.
"Fuck! I knew I didn't like that Adam Smasher bastard!!! Dammit! I should've just blown his remaining brain matter out with my shotgun!" Rebecca shouted, furious after seeing herself get stomped into "Rebecca jam" by Adam Smasher.
And the final scene—David being awakened by Lucy's kiss, using his life to buy time for Falco and Lucy to escape, ultimately dying at Smasher's hands.
Lucy eventually reached the moon… and there, she saw David's hallucination.
Rebecca felt… a little crushed.
She had just started realizing her feelings for David, only to discover she had become the loser in both reality and that version of the story. A double loss.
After the finale, Maine sat in silence for a long time. Finally, he turned to David and let out a deep sigh.
"You've really… been through a lot, David. Seriously."
Maine realized that, thanks to David's efforts, he and the crew could now sit here and watch what had once been their inevitable future. And David had done all of that…
…without them having ever done much for him. He had changed the future, simply because he knew what was going to happen.
"What do you want to do now, David?" Dorio asked him gently. "What are your plans from here on out?"
"I…"
David paused, then said, "I want to change the world."
"?"
Everyone looked confused—except Lucy, who already knew he would say that.
"Nice joke," Pilar chuckled.
"I'm not joking. I seriously want to change this world," David said firmly. "Just like in that original future… If I hadn't received help from the Guildmaster and the others, I never could've changed anything. This world was already messed up!"
"But now I have the chance to change it! I don't want things to stay like this! This is my world! It shouldn't be left to rot in the hands of those bastard corps!! No matter how long it takes… no matter how many years… I want to try!"
With unwavering resolve, David declared, "I'm going to change it all!"
"..."
Maine stared into David's eyes for a long while. Then he looked around at his crew and finally spoke.
"Anyone… want to walk away now?"
Maine laid it out plainly—his intentions couldn't have been clearer.
No one in the room left.
"Well then, I'll take that as unanimous agreement," Maine said, turning back to David. "David, I'm guessing… you could use some help."
"Big Bro Maine, you mean…?" David blinked.
"Idiot! He means we're gonna help you!" Rebecca snapped.
"Really?!!" David lit up with joy. "Big Bro Maine!"
"Just doing… what a man oughta do," Maine said, folding his thick arms. "Looks like our story isn't over yet."
"If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call," Dorio added with a warm smile, looking at David like he was her little brother. "You don't have to do this alone."
"I will!" David said, a little emotional. "Oh right! Since that's the case… I want to introduce you all to some people!"
"Hm? Your Hunter friends?" Maine asked curiously.
"Uh… no. They're locals in Night City. And one of them—you definitely know."
David scratched his head sheepishly.
"Let me call them real quick!" he said, then dialed out. The call connected almost immediately.
"Mr. Raizen, Maine says he wants to help us too! That's great… Oh, V and Jackie are there too? Then next, we'll…"
As David spoke into the phone, he hung up to find Maine looking at him with a mix of confusion and surprise.
"That Raizen you mentioned… is he…"
"Oh! The new head of Arasaka! Mr. Raizen! He shares the same goal as me!!" David beamed. "Our team just got even bigger! We're definitely going to change the world! I know we will!"
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