Chapter 72: The Moon Fanatic of the Braindance Store
Standing in front of the "Niche Scenery" braindance rack, Lucy bent over, her tight black pants accentuating her curves.
She wasn't in her usual work gear today—no white jacket, no black netrunner suit. Instead, she wore a simple, form-fitting black hoodie, matching pants, and a pair of clean white sneakers, rather than her usual custom-heeled boots. The look made her seem less like a hardened edgerunner and more like a captivating, youthful woman.
She picked up a "Lunar Exploration" BD, studied the cover, read the synopsis, and then glanced over at Rhys.
He was browsing too, and had just picked up the same lunar exploration BD. He looked at it for a moment, then put it back, his eyes drifting to another one.
Going to the moon wasn't a big deal in this era. If you had the eddies, you could book a ticket, put on a suit, and enjoy a three-day lunar vacation. But obviously, that cost a fortune. And besides, Rhys had never felt any desire to leave Earth. The moon would be the same. Oppression was everywhere. Night City... this was the best place for someone like him to survive. A place where savagery thrived could sometimes breed strange kinds of hope.
Rhys was debating between the moon BD and a Mars colonization one when he heard Lucy's voice.
"How come you guys aren't all together today?"
"You mean Maine and the crew?" Rhys replied distractedly, picking up the Mars BD. "It's a downtime day. Everyone's got their own business. Jackie's car shopping, Kiwi's at a netrunner shop in Japantown buying plugins, and Rebecca and Pilar are getting chrome upgrades. Heard they're visiting Wakako, too."
"What about... Sasha?"
Rhys looked at Lucy. She was staring intently at the BD in her hand, not meeting his gaze.
"She's in Dogtown. Handling some family stuff," Rhys answered. He put the Mars BD back. Yeah, I'll go with this one. Heard Mars is actually habitable now, they've even got cities. Compared to the barren, tomb-like landscape of the moon, Mars seemed more his style.
But as he went to put the moon BD back, Lucy stood up straight. "You're not getting this one?"
"What's wrong with it?" Rhys paused.
Lucy just stared at him silently for a moment, then began to speak. "Mars might be habitable, but it's all corpo-owned, already sectioned off and claimed. The moon is different. It's under Federal jurisdiction. Up there, you follow international law, not corpo..."
Rhys blinked, surprised, as Lucy kept talking, her voice suddenly passionate.
"They can't control the moon. And it has all kinds of attractions. You can take a rover, feel a different kind of gravity, step on a hoverboard... you can feel..."
Her words, usually so clipped and sparse, were suddenly flowing. Rhys's puzzled expression softened into an amused smile. He just listened, watching her.
Then, he reached out and took the lunar exploration BD he had put back.
Right... Just like Sasha was a die-hard Dangerous Girls fan, the moon... the moon was Lucy's thing.
Her behavior now was exactly like Sasha's, when she'd enthusiastically shown off her Dangerous Girls collection. It was that simple, human desire to share something you love, to have someone else see the beauty you see in it.
A wild Moon-Fanatic has appeared in the braindance store! This shop should be paying her a commission.
"Alright, fine. I'll get it," Rhys said, adding the moon BD to his small pile.
"..." Lucy froze, then her usual cool mask slipped back into place. "You won't regret it. I promise. The view from the moon... it's beautiful."
Rhys took his selections to the checkout counter. The overhead turret swiveled to track him as the cashier waved him over. He placed the BDs on the scanner.
"That'll be 7,352 eddies."
He paid and was about to leave, ready to go home and veg out, when Lucy's voice stopped him.
"Have you eaten yet?"
Rhys turned. She was standing there, just watching him.
"Not yet," he said. "What, are you offering to buy me lunch?"
"..." Lucy blinked, then scoffed. "No way. We're going Dutch."
Buy him lunch? The word "treat" wasn't even in her vocabulary. She needed eddies, fast. She was saving up... to get to the moon for real. A ticket alone was 250,000, maybe 300,000 eddies. And the cost of living there... she'd need a million, easy. Or at least 500k to get started.
The only reason she was "slacking off" today was because the payout from the gig with Maine's crew had come through. She finally had some disposable income, so she'd come here to buy a new BD. She loved anything and everything related to the moon. Not because she was an astronomy geek, but for one simple reason—
There were no corporations on the moon.
Rhys smiled, but before he could answer, Lucy added, "I wanted to talk to you... about your crew."
"That? We already said you're welcome anytime. Nothing to talk about," Rhys said.
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Let's talk anyway. It's not like you're busy, right?"
She walked past him, already leading the way out of the store.
Rhys considered, then shrugged. He was bored, feeling adrift on his own. Hanging out with Lucy was better than nothing. He fell into step beside her. "So, where are we eating?"
"I know a place. It's pretty good," she said, walking ahead, the little drawstrings on her hoodie bouncing. She walked on her toes slightly, her hands clasped behind her back.
Rhys was alone. She was alone.
Night City... it wasn't so bad. It had been three months since she'd arrived, and she hadn't seen a single Arasaka agent. This chaotic, filthy city... it gave shelter to the lost and the broken. It never turned anyone away, even if it was still a shithole.
The constant tension she'd lived with for years was finally starting to ease. And with it, she realized she was missing something.
What was it? She didn't want to admit it. She didn't need that.
But if you don't need it... why did you just invite him to lunch?
Was it just because he bought the moon BD? Or was it... business? But he'd just said there was nothing to talk about.
For a moment, she felt genuinely conflicted.
"So, you're really not going to treat me?" Rhys asked, walking beside her, his tone serious.
"You should be treating me. You have more eddies," Lucy shot back, rolling her eyes.
"I've got other plans for my money," Rhys said thoughtfully.
"?" Lucy gave him a look reserved for complete gonks. Whose money doesn't have a purpose?
"My money has a purpose, too," she replied coolly.