This was the second day of V's three-day window.
While she was busy arranging every detail, running herself ragged, David Martinez was rotting in idleness—wandering the streets like a stray dog with nothing to do.
His mom was unconscious in Viktor's clinic.
School had suspended him.
He wanted to go home, but the landlord had frozen the apartment over unpaid rent.
With nowhere to go, he drifted through Night City, walking all the way from Watson to the Corporate Plaza.
Even though a horrifying firefight had taken place here just two nights ago, Memorial Park was still overflowing with crowds—flashy, noisy, full of life.
Public screens blasted updates about the incident:
"According to NCPD investigation, the military-grade cyberware inside cyberpsycho Lieutenant James Norris has gone missing. After fifteen hours of expert analysis, the conclusion is—its whereabouts remain unknown."
"Fuck!" David cursed. Why was he watching this depressing shit?
He plopped down on the park steps. An old man approached him:
"Don't EMO so hard, kid. You're sitting on spit."
David EMO'd harder.
He boarded the metro—he had a month pass—but had no idea where to go. Night City was huge, but he had no place in it.
When he got off randomly, he discovered his personal shard had been stolen.
"Fuck! God, just finish me off already!!"
He howled like a beaten dog.
He thought nothing could get worse—
until a pale-blue-haired girl walked up, tossed his shard back at him with a disgusted look, and muttered:
"Broke-ass idiot."
…Okay, so things could get worse.
"Wait!" David stepped in front of her.
"What?" The girl looked him over, unimpressed.
"You're a thief."
"Yeah, I'm a thief. And?"
"I'm guessing you've got an NCPD bounty, right?"
The girl smirked.
"No wonder your shard's empty. You're fucking starving for eddies."
"Listen—I don't want to hurt you."
He tried reasoning.
She chose violence.
Grabbing his wrist, she slammed him against the wall.
A polymer monowire shot from her wrist with a sharp zzzip, wrapping around his throat like a snake.
"Be good," she whispered, body pressed against his, voice low and teasing. "Let me in."
David's face flushed bright red.
But when he saw her hacking into his shard and digging through every file—his face went green.
"Don't look at my browser history! Don't look at my browser history!"
"Oh?" The girl snorted. "Tastes pretty heavy, huh?"
She pushed a choice onto his shard.
"Two options.
A: I make your browsing history public—"
"BBBBBBBBB! I choose B!!"
He surrendered instantly.
"Good. From now on—you're mine."
She released the monowire and stepped back.
David rubbed his neck, cheeks still flushed.
"I'm… not for sale."
"Who the fuck said anything about that?" She flipped him off. "I just need a gopher."
David felt even more heartbroken.
"S-So… does it pay?"
"You really are desperate for cash, huh?" She lit a cigarette. "What—want to buy Braindance Delusion? Or not enough Glitter?"
David's face dimmed.
"My mom… was in a car crash. I need money for her medical care."
Her hand paused for a second—
then resumed lighting her cigarette.
She took a long drag. Exhaled.
"Well, you picked the right person to follow. Work hard for me, and in two years, you might earn half a second-hand bathroom in the Badlands."
David's eyes went wide.
"T-That much?! That's huge!!"
The girl laughed.
"Still planning to hand me to NCPD?"
"I don't even know what direction NCPD's entrance faces!"
"What about your sense of justice?"
"For money, I can abandon justice!"
"Heh. Alright then—starting today, I'm your mentor. We split earnings 20/80."
"Why do I only get 20?!"
"I swear I'll smack the shit outta you.
Name's Lucy."
"David."
And that was the first meeting of the two kids.
Two hours later, David and Lucy were trussed up and hanging upside-down from a warehouse beam.
"Fuck—did you steal from the wrong person or something?" David groaned.
Lucy snapped back immediately:
"Don't lump me in with rookies! This must be your fault!"
"Impossible! I'm a model student—I never cause trouble!"
A muscular man walked in and slapped David across the face without warning.
Lucy burst into laughter. "Hah! Told you they're here for you!"
Then a muscular woman entered, punched Lucy, and nearly knocked out her last meal.
Lucy panicked.
"No—wait, wait! We're not together! I just met this idiot today!"
"Don't touch her! Come at me instead!" David yelled, full big-brother mode.
The man blinked.
"He protects you that much, and you're saying you two ain't together?"
The woman nodded knowingly.
"Kids these days call this tsundere, right?"
"I thought that trend died decades ago."
"Trends are circles. Twenty-year rotation."
The two were convinced Lucy and David were a couple.
Lucy's face turned green—like she had swallowed two pounds of shit.
When David kept shouting, Lucy snapped:
"Shut the fuck up already!!"
The man pointed at them.
"See? Hitting is affection, scolding is love. They're definitely a pair."
Lucy's face darkened further.
Then a green-haired twin-tailed little girl walked in.
"Stop messing around. Do the job."
"Right, right."
The man gave David another punch, grabbed him by the hair.
"You're Gloria's kid, right? Before she ran, she owed me something. So now I gotta take it from you. Pray she comes back for you."
David gritted his teeth.
"My mom didn't run."
"Oh yeah? Then where is she? She hasn't answered my calls."
"She got in a car crash. She's still unconscious at a ripperdoc's.
She might wake tomorrow…
or never again."
"Ah, shit. That explains it."
The man patted his cheek.
"Sorry kid, but I really need something from her. Can you take us to her clinic?"
"You won't hurt her, right?"
"Relax—we're cool with Gloria. If she didn't bail on purpose, we won't touch her."
"…Fine. I'll take you."
They were freed.
Lucy tried to bail instantly.
"I'm not involved! Can I go?!"
"No. If you run, how do I threaten your boyfriend? Get in."
"He's NOT my boyfriend!!"
David was injured—emotionally and physically.
Lucy was shoved into the car anyway.
They rushed to Viktor's clinic.
Seeing Gloria unconscious, the man sighed.
"Sorry, kid. Life's rough."
"She's not dead!" David snapped.
The muscular woman, Dorio, began searching Gloria's belongings.
"Hey—stop!" David moved—
the big man grabbed his throat with one hand and lifted him again.
"Nothing," Dorio said.
The man shook David.
"Where did your mom hide the Sandevistan?"
Sandevistan?
David remembered the masked woman taking something.
"I—I don't know. I've never seen any Sandevistan!"
He lied.
Why?
Because the masked woman saved both him and his mother.
He was poor, powerless—but not vile.
He could sell pride for money, but not betray someone who saved his life.
Another slap. Blood flew.
"Kid, I don't want to do this," the man said seriously. "But I took a job. I bought that Sandevistan from Gloria. I paid. You two gotta deliver. If you don't want more pain—hand it over."
David was dizzy.
Lucy, furious and scared, cried:
"Give it to him, David!"
"I… really don't know!"
SLAP.
"One last chance."
David roared back:
"FUCK YOU! I SAID I DON'T KNOW!"
The big man grinned.
"Kid's got guts.
But wrong answer."
Just as his hand came down—
A voice cut in:
"The Sandevistan was taken by a woman wearing a Reaper Mask."
Everyone turned.
Viktor stood against the wall.
"My clinic is for saving people—not killing them. Put the kid down."
David was dropped. Lucy caught him.
"Sorry, doc. I broke your rule," the man said. "But I need that Sandevistan. Tell me where she went."
"I don't know," Vik replied. "She left right after dropping Gloria off. Didn't say a word. Later I found a hundred-thousand eddies in my account. Must've been the medical deposit."
"100,000?!"
The three mercs—including the twin-tailed little gremlin—were stunned.
David, too.
And deeply grateful.
He swore he would repay the masked woman, no matter the cost.
"Doc… since she left that money, can't you… y'know, give me some to cover the Sandevistan loss?" the man asked nervously.
Honestly—it wasn't a bad idea.
Even David hesitated.
But Viktor shook his head.
"No. That money is Gloria's lifeline. You saw her state. No one knows when she'll wake. Every eddie you take is a piece of her survival."
"Then we just eat the loss?" the little gremlin, Rebecca, yelled.
The man held her back.
"He's right. Gloria needs that money. I oversimplified things."
"But Maine—we need that Sandevistan!"
"Vote."
He looked at Dorio. "Your call?"
"Let's go. Don't disturb the patient."
"That's two to one. Rebecca, we face fate bravely!"
Indeed—this trio was Maine's crew.
As they turned to leave—
"Maine," Viktor called. "Why do you need the Sandevistan?"
"For a job," Maine answered.
"Can't you give it up?"
"Probably not. It's a debt."
Blackmail, leverage, favors, or promises—
a mercenary's currency came in many forms.
Mercs were mud on the ground,
but their word was iron.
You could call it honorable.
Or stupid.
Viktor didn't dislike people like that.
"In that case, I have advice," Viktor said. "Sandevistans aren't easy to buy. You won't find a replacement fast.
I don't have one—but I do have a Kerenzikov.
Not as strong, but boosts reaction speed significantly.
I'll install it for you. Free. With full service."
"Sounds good." Maine grinned. "And the price?"
"You drop your conflict with David."
David stared at Viktor, overwhelmed.
From this moment, he knew—
this was another person he would spend his life repaying.
Maine frowned.
"Doc… why get involved?"
"Maybe because someone dropped 100k into my account," Viktor said.
A joke.
No one laughed.
Because they all knew—
even without the money, Viktor would have done the same.
Maine removed his shades.
"Doc. Your name?"
"Viktor."
"Mister Viktor. I accept."
He trusted Viktor completely—
—but ten minutes later he regretted it.
"I WON'T install Kerenzikov for you!" Viktor said firmly.
"What the—Doc, you played me! You said—!"
"That was then. This is now."
Vik enlarged a scan of Maine's internal systems.
"You're sick. Very sick. You installed too much chrome. Each piece is crushing your psyche. You are one step from cyberpsychosis. Installing Kerenzikov won't help you—it'll KILL you."
Vik repeated:
"This clinic saves people. Not kills them.
As compensation—I'll downgrade your cyberware. Free."
"No! Don't touch my chrome!" Maine panicked.
"You want to go cyberpsycho?!" Viktor roared.
Silence.
Dorio's face fell. She looked at Maine.
Maine looked away.
The answer was clear.
"How long does he have?" Dorio asked quietly.
"Not long," Viktor said. "He needs the downgrade now."
"Maine…" Dorio whispered.
"Don't." Maine forced a grin. "We can't stop now. You know that."
He turned to Viktor.
"Thank you, Viktor. I mean it. But I still have a job to finish. I need the strength.
But I promise—after this gig, I'll come back for the downgrade."
Viktor and Maine locked eyes.
Then Vik released the restraints.
"Remember your promise."
"Mercs never break their word."
"And the Kerenzikov?" Viktor looked at Dorio and Rebecca. "Neither of them can use it well."
As they hesitated—
"I'll do it," David said.
Everyone turned.
"This all started because of me. I won't run from it."
"Kid," Maine warned, "the place you're going is hell."
"It's fine."
David pointed a thumb at his chest.
"I've been in hell for a long time."
Somewhere along the way—
the boy had begun becoming a man.