237. Upgrades people, UPGRADES!
237. Upgrades people, UPGRADES!
“For all of this I can give you ten thousand max” The gun store owner said while looking over the many guns. In reality all of this was closer to thirty even taking into account they are second hand, used goods.
“Give us fifteen and we come here to sell more at a later time.” Tomoka knew very well that the guy was trying to rip them off. She didn’t care all that much about it though, haggling would take time, time she would rather use to flatline more gonks.
“Deal.” And so the trio walked out of the store with a data chip holding fifteen thousand eddies. Due to being new to the universe none of them had chrome or a bank account. Hell, they didn’t even have any form of identification.
It took a while, having to drive around, zeroing unhelpful gonks, selling more loot. By the end of the day the trio had gotten a good chunk of eddies saved up in their brand new bank account. Who would have thonked that in the dystopian future of Cyberpunk banks would give a shit about the legality of the individuals working with them.
“Do you think this much will be enough to get what we need?” Hinata asked, looking at the stolen terminal in her hand. The thing had been ripped off of a random bending machine then rewired and reprogrammed by Tomoka to work like a sort of phone.
“Sure hope so, as heretical as it might sound I am kinda getting tired of killing.” At that both Hinata and Nozomi looked towards the red head with raised eyebrows.
“What? I like killing as much as anybody else, it's just that I would also like to do other stuff too. Not to mention the food we have tried so far from the bending machines is packaged garbage.”
Yeah, the duo could agree with that last statement. Most of the foods they had tried tasted like plastic seasoned with chemicals not apt for human consumption. It wasn’t straight out vomit inducing, just not palatable in the least.
“So what's the plan?” Hearing Nozomi’s question, Tomoka looked down at her own stolen datapad. It was already quite late, she doubted vik’s would be open at this hour, much less for some rando who just decided to drop in.
“Let's find a motel to crash on. Then tomorrow we go get our implants and then we go looking around for a fixer.” With that plan settled the trio got back in their stolen car. This car was a different one as the first had run out of CHOOH2 somewhere along the way.
The next day Viktor Vektor was watching an old boxing match as he would usually do in his free time. His attention however was taken away by the sound of the shaking of the metal grate separating his clinic, if it could be called that, from the main door.
“Yo! Vik! we need a good doc and we heard you’re the best in the city.” As soon as he had turned he heard the voice of one of his guests. Three girls, perhaps no older than sixteen, maybe seventeen. No noticeable cybernetics anywhere in sight. Somewhat oriental facial factions.
What Viktor did notice was that all of them were armed. not something rare in night city, except their armaments weren’t something people would carry for just self defense. Their clear asian descent made him wonder if they were Tiger Claws however, there were no visible gang marks chances were they weren’t gangoons. No, most probably they were mercs.
Tomoka instantly noticed Vik’s analyzing eyes, especially when they landed on their very visible weaponry. That is when she realized that said weaponry was probably making Vik a bit wary.
“Right, sorry, is there anywhere we can leave this?” Tomoka said while pointing to her pair of shigure’s hanging by her waist. She had gotten so used to carrying them around she had almost forgotten about them. Following Vik’s instructions the trio left their weapons in a locker outside before being let inside.
This chapter upload first at NovelUsb.Com
“So, what can I help you with?” Even though the trio had left their weapons outside Vik was having a hard time relaxing. He had been a professional boxer in the past. Any professional of any fighting style could tell when they were faced with another. It had to do with the way such people tended to move.
“Right, we came to get some cybernetics. We are fully ganic, meaning we don’t even have neural links or optics. So, we came here to change that. Nothing top notch though, we are a bit strapped for cash at the moment.”
Well, Vik expected a lot of things, this however wasn’t one of them. In this day and age it is extremely rare to see anyone without the least bit of cyberware. That made him wonder where these girls came from. Not like he would ask, the less he knows the better. Especially with people like them.
“Alright, I do have some optics and links laying around.” With that said Vik got to work opening the catalog of what he had at hand before handing it to the girls. Prices for the installation service as well as the hardware itself were already noted.
It didn’t take long for the trio to decide on what they would get. It just so happens that Vik had some very chip options for cyberdecks. Stuff that even three or four years back was considered average. Even so, in the hands of someone as proficient as Tomoka it could still perform miracles.
“Alright, three Zeta-Tech CI-13 mk1 cyberlinks, three basic kiroshi LO-42 mk1 as well as a militech ‘paraline’ mk1 for me.” Having placed her order as well as looked over what else Vik had for offer Tomoka felt satisfied.
Unlike in the game, Vik’s catalog wasn’t walled by level or rep. Unfortunately, unlike the game Vik didn’t have access to top of the line stuff either. Truthfully, that was to be expected. All Vik had in store was civilian grade. Sure, there was some really preem shit there. Still civilian grade though.
It is worth mentioning that civilian grade stuff in the cyberpunk world is still very powerful and very lethal. Afterall, law and order here is more like a suggestion made by that annoying aunt than the rule.
“Alright, who is going first?” Hearing Vik Tomoka was about to offer herself when she found Hinata already seated on the ripper’s operating chair with a smug grin on her face. Accepting her defeat Tomoka just shrugged before pointing towards Hinata.
Not wasting any time Vik got to work. Truthfully, this would be a first for him. Sure, he had installed cyberlinks and optics before. Never before had he done so on someone completely organic. With that in mind he began by attaching a few sensors on Hinata. Then a shot of anesthesia.
An hour went by of delicate work. He needed to cut away flesh and bone to get access to the spine. Then he would need to install the cyberlink’s connections to it at the base of the skull. Having done that, he went ahead and replaced the missing bone with quick setting bone plaster before sewing the wound back up and using a healing agent to close the wound.
“That is the cyberlink done, now the optics.” Unlike the link which was a much more delicate operation, the optics would be a simpler thing. All he needed to do was connect his computer to the newly installed link. Then he would connect the link to the optics. Having Hinata passed out would make things easier as well since he wouldn’t need to disconnect the optic nerve beforehand.
After linking up the optics with the cyberlink it was a matter of pulling out the organic eyes. Installing the necessary nerve link to the optic nerves and then installing the kiroshis. Using a bit of organic plaster to attach the optic muscles to the cybernetics and done. All in all, each eye took around twenty minutes. He could have done it in less time but Vik liked making sure his work was as clean as possible.
“Alright, that’s it. She shouldn’t do anything straining her eyes for a week or so while the muscles and nerves get used to the change.” As always he gave his medical prescription, although he had learnt throughout the years that those that followed it were few and far in between.
“Or, I could do this instead.” Hearing the voice of the redhead by the side… Vik just realized he didn’t know any of their names. Anyway, he was about to ask what she meant when she saw her pulling an injector out of her pocket. Before he could do or say anything the girl injected the brunet with the contents of the injector.
Vik had a moment where he didn’t know what to do. He was a bit angry at the girl’s sudden action but his professionalism won over. His patient could be in danger and he would be damned before he let anything happen to someone he was treating without trying his best.
“Wha… What!?” It was a moment later that Vik’s voice escaped him in disbelief. From the readings he was getting. The brunet was healing at a ridiculous pace. Not only that but the organic plasters he had used were being replaced by their natural counterparts.
“So, how did it go?” Hinata asked as she woke up. The Insta-heal Tomoka injected her with had also gotten rid of the rest of the anesthetic she had been injected with.
“Quite well I would say, Vik is an expert of his craft.” Nozomi commented by the side with a bit of awe. In the year Tomoka had been under she and Hinata had gone to study under Orochimaru. While Nozomi preferred the study of chakra and jutsu more, she still learnt quite a bit on the biological side, which was more of Hinata’s thing.
“How are your eyes?” Hearing Tomoka’s question, Hinata blinked a few times. Although they felt a bit weird it wasn’t exactly uncomfortable.
“Feels a bit weird, but otherwise they are fine. Though I will need to figure out how to use them properly.” Afterall, she could see a few icons in her vision that would swim around whenever she moved her eyes.
“Ah that, yeah, since this is your first time getting optics installed your are in user setting mode. Here, let me help you out.” The next five minutes or so were spent with Vik explaining to Hinata how to set up her hud. Although he had been extremely interested in whatever the redhead had injected the brunet with. He was still a professional and he still had a patient to help.
“Alright, with that done, would you mind telling me your names, and what you injected her with.” Now that Hinata had her hud setup Vik could contain his curiosity anymore. Whatever that thing was, it was revolutionary. If he could replicate its function somehow he could help a lot of people.
Hearing Vik’s question the trio blink slowly before looking towards each other. It was like they could have an entire conversation with just a glance. It was then that the three realized that in fact never introduced themselves to Vik.
“Right, sorry about that. I am Tomoka Fushi. It is a pleasure to meet you, although please just call me Tomoka.” Following Tomoka Hinata quickly introduced herself with a tinge of pink on her cheeks showing her embarrassment at her lack of etiquette.
“I am Hinata, thanks for the good work doc.” Finally Nozomi introduced herself with a little wave and a somewhat cheeky smile.
“The name is Nozomi Uchiha, a pleasure.” Done with introductions, Tomoka gave a little cough before speaking again.
“Well, I can tell you what I used, However, I know you will ask where I got it from and if I told you you wouldn’t believe me.” Tomoka just shrugged once she finished her part. However, seeing how Vik’s interest wasn’t diminished in the least she decided to tell anyway.
“It's called Insta-heal. It is an extremely dense concentration of nutrients that contain a culture of nanomachines. Once injected the little things become active, scan the body and DNA structure before fixing any damage they might find. They also possess a dumb eye that is capable of full on analysis. That is why they didn’t attack the cyberware.”
Vik’s jaw had almost hit the floor hearing that. It is a well known fact that AI requires ridiculous amounts of computational power to work. Sure, he isn’t a techie so he couldn’t know how much that would be. However, he is very sure that it wouldn’t fit in that little injector.
Well, Tomoka had called it a dumb AI but then again, how dumb could it be if it could run a full body and genetic scan in seconds. Not only that but it was smart enough to know when something is and isn’t a desired factor in the body. Like for example when cyberware is installed or even the necessary microbial life in the intestines.
“That is… how can something like that exist?” Vik's question was met by a shrug of the shoulders and some giggling.
“Again, if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. Anyway, if you want I can leave a few of them with you. Now, would you mind doing my cybernetics next please?” Again Vik suffered a bit of whiplash hearing Tomoka’s nonchalant tone. In the end he decided to swallow his questions for later. He still had two patients to work on.