[NORTH KABUKI – Kowalski’s Clinic]
Saturday| 19 JUN 2077 | 06:35
[NCPD FINDS HUMAN REMAINS AT GOLDSMITH STREET FOODSCAPE ON NORTHSIDE]
The basement surgical suite had been renovated extensively both by Will and various contractors over the past ten days. It was barely recognizable from the horrific scene of a massacre and a now-defunct organ-harvesting operation. Now it was Will’s turn to lie under the bright surgical lights, hooked up to an external biomon with a half dozen tubes sticking out of him in various places.
Naomi Alexis was in charge of sedation. Will would be only partially anesthetized during the procedure, unless things got dicey. Working with nanotech was often seen as safe in comparison to the more invasive cyberware implantations and limb replacements, not to mention drastic surgeries like full body conversion that only the most elite customers could opt for. Will must have looked more nervous than he felt, because Naomi patted his head in a motherly way. He looked up to her and said, “It’ll all turn out okay, don’t you worry.”
That’s when the drugs hit. Naomi pumped large amounts of nitrous oxide through the breathing mask. “I’m not worried, Will. We got you.” Then came the airhypo shots. Will didn’t even feel the sting as localized pain blockers entered his bloodstream. They had TactiGone on standby just in case things got dicey. For now, Will just enjoyed the dreamlike state and general feelings of numbness throughout his body. It was all very relaxing.
“Blood pressure is normal, oxygen is optimal, administering nerve block now,” Naomi said before unveiling the next contestant in the surgical game of horrors. This time, it was a large-bore needle that was going to deliver the numbing agent as close to his spine as possible. He felt the pressure building in his back and his muscles involuntarily tensed. His body jerked against the restraints, but he was completely immobile. “You’re okay,” Kowalski said in a low voice next to his ear. Will tried to speak back, but his mouth wasn’t working.
That wasn’t so bad. He thought for a second before they pulled out the drills. They pulled each one from a matte silver suitcase and surgical waldos, like metallic scorpion tails, snapped the attachment drills on with quick, targeted strikes. The bone lace procedure required rapid direct access to the bone marrow so that the nanoids could start from the inside out. Will’s bones would transform as the nanoids weaved a three-dimensional network of multi-walled carbon nanotubes directly into the bone matrix. The ‘lace’ was designed to mimic the natural structure of the bone, while drastically increasing the toughness. The second phase involved blasting graphene oxide into the bone lattice to increase the mineral density by catching calcium ions, like a fishing net, at a significantly higher rate than normal bone. His bones would be supported by materials a hundred times stronger than steel yet significantly lighter. The third and final phase wouldn’t kick in until the second week, when the nanoids would integrate synthetic myofibrils into the muscle tissue around the bones, further increasing density and promoting self-healing. The cocktail of drugs that accompanied the nanoids was designed to increase his body’s production of follistatin, a myostatin inhibitor that prevented the body from setting caps on muscle growth. It was nothing compared to what the Animals were doing to their bodies, but it was enough to prevent muscle loss and actually grow a little extra muscle during his recovery.
Will had been told all of this multiple times before he had headed down into the basement surgery suite. He understood the delicate balance between tendons and muscles and how the nanoids would enhance and support his joint cartilage, while at the same time increasing his tendons’ ability to work with the enhanced muscle. He understood that, basically, he was going to be stronger and tougher.
“Waldos calibrated,” said Naomi.
There was no way, however, to make him understand the pain of having his bones drilled into by a dozen surgical waldos simultaneously except by having it done to him. The metallic tentacles whipped around in a display reminiscent of Medusa on a bad hair day. Will screamed as the first nanoids blasted into his bone marrow. It felt like hot broken glass flowing through his bones. He felt pain in places he had never felt anything at all. Naomi was quick with another airhypo into his neck and then another nerve block near his spine. The roar of pain died down enough for him to gasp. He had apparently stopped breathing for a moment, and now he was taking in huge gulps of nitrous oxide.
“Will, stay with us,” Naomi ordered Will, who just wanted more than anything in the world, to pass out.
“Thirty milligrams of bimagrumab should help the muscles respond properly to the damage,” Kowalski told Naomi as he injected another fluid directly into Will’s IV. “Will, are you ready for round two?”
“No,” he managed. Or at least he thought he had said it out loud. Naomi pulled an aerosol can from a cooler and attached it to his face mask and shot a foul, metallic-tasting gas into his lungs. His lungs were instantly on fire, but Will had no strength to resist. Pain, like that which he had never experienced in his life, flowed through every part of him.
“Hit him with another round of endorphine boosters and morphine,” Kowalski said urgently.
Will wasn’t sure if it was from the drugs or the pain, but he began to hallucinate. In his mind, he was overcome with a vision that his body was being buried under a pile of red-hot coals. He tried to escape, but the more he climbed up, the more flesh and muscle burned away from his body until he was nothing more than a skeleton.
“Respiratory tuning complete, Doctor Kowalski. I think we’re done for the day.” Naomi said, a hint of pleading in her voice.
“Yes, his body can’t handle much more. The new respirocytes should help keep his oxygen up. By tomorrow, he will be producing specialized hemoglobin, should help healing process.”
‘Conscious sedation’ had not been all it was cracked up to be. Will had been told that some patients didn’t even remember what happened while undergoing it. Twelve hours later, his body was still feeling like it had been dragged across a bed of nails and twisted into a pretzel. He remembered every single jab.
[NORTH KABUKI – Kowalski’s Clinic]
Saturday| 19 JUN 2077 | 22:15
[RUMORS OF TAINTED OVERLORD BREAKUP AFTER PLAGIARISM ACCUSATIONS]
The TV was on. Will was only faintly aware of anything that was going on outside of his body. His body ached constantly, and every few minutes, he was hit with intense, sharp pain in his bones and muscles. Even then, he still had the odd feeling that the only thing they ever played on the stupid TV was commercials.
“Will, time for more pain meds,” came the voice of Bob Jones Jr. He could feel his IV line jiggle slightly before the warm numbness ran across his body. The floating feeling was nice, but it didn’t help him think or comprehend what was going on around him. That was a consequence Will was willing to live with.
Bob sat across from the bed in a visitor’s chair and scratched a few notes analog. After a while, the sound of another person moaning in the room got Will’s attention. It was Yoshi Ogata, the Tyger Claw, whom they had brought back from the dead the previous day. Apparently, he and Yoshi were sharing a room now. That was nice. Will opened one eye just in time to see Bob pushing past the privacy curtain that divided the room. Bob was talking to Ogata in a low voice, words that Will couldn’t quite make out.
Will closed his eyes, not to sleep, just to rest his eyelids.
[NORTH KABUKI – Kowalski’s Clinic]
Sunday| 20 JUN 2077 | 07:45
[POISONED WATER CRISIS: TAINTED BOTTLES FLOOD NORTH WATSON]
Doc Kowalski was standing at the side of Will’s bed when he woke up. The privacy curtain was pulled back, and Ogata was eating a hearty breakfast of pork-flavored scop and noodles. The IV leading into Will’s arm was hooked up to various bags: glutamine, arginine, carnitine, lysine, proline, glycine, and taurine. I guess that’s my breakfast.
“Will, how are you feeling today?” asked Kowalski as he pulled the curtain closed.
“I feel like I just went ten rounds with Adam Smasher, but other than that I’m okay.”
“Muscle and bone lace are progressing, but pain should be less now. Respiratory augmentation is completed, should be easier to breathe now. Oxygen levels are excellent. Your body did surprisingly well. You are ahead of schedule in recovery, believe it or not.”
“I don’t believe it,” Will said simply.
“You’ve already gained ten pounds. Bone density will keep increasing until you can survive a 40-foot drop with only minor injuries. Muscles will continue to grow at very low rate through process, but it would be good if you could get into a gym once you’re up and walking. Resistance training can speed up process.”
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“Finally gonna get that perfect beach body, huh?”
“Just stay out of water, okay?”
Doc Kowalski had only been gone a few minutes when the Tyger Claw across the room started talking. “You helped save my life, right? Will?”
Feeling marginally stronger, Will reached out and pulled the rope to open up the privacy curtain. “Ogata?”
“Call me Yoshi.”
“Yoshi, yeah, I was there. Doc gets all the credit, I just held his tools for him.”
Yoshi laughed, then looked like he regretted the act immediately. “Try not to be funny for a bit, please. Insides still feel like they were put through a blender.”
“Sorry, I think I know how you feel.”
“Maybe, you don’t look chromed up, choom. What did they do to you?”
“Something called muscle and bone lace, oh and ‘respiratory tuning’, whatever that is. Glad they talked me out of the whole package at once.”
“I know how that is,” Yoshi said in a low voice, like he was reliving something horrific, “Both legs. Fortified ankles, Zetatech make. Even after they put the RealSkinn over it, felt like I was walking around on somebody else’s legs. Hurt like a bitch.”
“What led you to this room?” Will asked curiously.
“Secret. Top secret, in fact. That means a bunch of scavpunks jumped me while I was drunk.”
Will laughed, then gripped the bed guardrail. Yoshi winced empathetically, “Sorry. Yeah, guess you can’t laugh either.”
The two talked for a while longer, until Naomi brought in their scheduled pain meds. She had a new hire trailing her as she administered the drugs. Will didn’t catch his name before he was faded to black by chemical brute force.
The next time Will woke, Yoshi was being walked out of the room by two other Tyger Claws. He didn’t look happy. Neither did they. When he asked Kowalski about it, he just changed the subject to the next procedure. The subdermal skin weave injections would be much less painful, he promised, and could be done from the comfort of a ripperdoc chair and not a full-blown surgical table with restraints. If that went well, they’d go ahead and inject him with the nanosurgeons, the toxin binders (he could finally start drinking tap water without fear), and the course of DNA-Encoded Monoclonal Antibodies that were supposed to enhance his senses and give his immune system a boost.
It was a giant leap forward for Will, but compared to someone with extensive cyberware, he wouldn’t be able to match in size or toughness, but he would come within throwing distance. More importantly, at least to Will, he wouldn’t stand out. To the untrained eye, he would appear normal. To those who knew where to look and what to look for, he might catch a look or two. The trick would be to stay out of sight.
Ping.
[NEW TEXT MESSAGE]
Sender: Regina Jones
Time: 18:22
[IMPORTANT]
“I need you to call me as soon as you get this. Client wants to meet.”
The client? That felt like a lifetime ago, but it was just Thursday. Will dutifully called Regina, apprehensive, but also high on dorphs and a cocktail of pain killers and mood enhancers.
“Hey Will, thanks for calling me back so fast.”
“No problem, uh, so the client wants to meet?”
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s bad, otherwise I’d tell him to get lost. Still, you never know if someone’s going to try to kill you until they actually try.”
“That’s not really inspiring optimism, you know.”
“He wants to meet you. In person. Want to risk it?”
Will thought about it for a second. If the same guy who had given him a ten-thousand-eddie bonus wanted him dead, he could have paid someone to make that happen (or paid someone to throw him in a trunk this time). “Sure, why not? I’m in the clinic.”
“You mean, ‘in the clinic’ as in working or being worked on?”
“I can’t really get out of my hospital bed right now, so if he wants to meet, he’s going to have to come to North Kabuki and meet.”
Regina was quiet for a heartbeat, “Okay, I’ll let him know. Let me know how it goes.”
“Oh, I will. Regina, if he does kill me, I want you to know that you’re my favorite fixer.”
“Will, I’m the only fixer you know.”
Will hung up with a mental flick. Laughing still hurt, so he just smirked extra hard.
[NORTH KABUKI – Kowalski’s Clinic]
Monday| 21 JUN 2077 | 09:02
[MAELSTROM RITUAL GONE WRONG: CYBERPSYCHO RAMPAGE ROCKS LITTLE CHINA’S MEGABLOCK H10]
It was still too painful to walk, but he could feel something happening to his body. Everything just seemed to fit differently, including his body. Doc Kowalski had allowed him to eat a real breakfast, imitation eggs, pork-flavored scop, and a medical-grade protein log that advertised ‘500g of protein with half the taste’. The protein log tasted only half as bad as it sounded. His body was demanding fuel. So he kept eating, no longer caring so much about whether it was algae, worms, or real.
Will was looking over the ‘Straight Shooter’ private citinet forum, checking out deals on guns and body armor, when a tall older man in a light blue business suit entered the room. The client’s face was hard to read.
“Mr. Scrap?” he asked in a voice that betrayed nothing.
“Will, and you?”
“Elias Voss. Thank you for agreeing to meet me on such short notice. How are you doing?”
The name didn’t ring any bells, but Will wasn’t exactly up to date on Night City’s rich and famous. “I’m recovering,” he answered, not sure if he was referring to the bioware or the gig the client had given him. “Before you tell me why you’re here, I need to know something.”
Voss looked a little taken aback, “Okay, what would you like to know.”
Will worded it carefully, “I retrieved a car for you and placed a package in the trunk.”
Voss nodded, face still neutral.
“Has the package been disposed of?”
“The package,” Voss let the word hang in the air. “It’s gone. Why do you ask?”
“I needed to know. It became personal.”
They were quiet for a moment.
“I imagine it couldn’t have been easy for you, Will. You, uh, you have no idea what you have done for me. You couldn’t have known what you were doing…”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. What am I missing?”
Elias Voss looked like an upper-tier corpo exec, only without the sociopath eyes. Will figured he was old money. Voss took a deep breath before answered, “I’m here because you gave me and my family something far more valuable than a car. My granddaughter.”
“Jazz?”
“Her real name is Jennifer. She had been missing for weeks. NCPD did nothing to find her. Private investigators had no leads. It was Regina’s people who figured out she was in a trafficking ring run by the scavenger gang. We had no clue if she was even alive, but you, through providence, saved her life and sent her back to her mother and father. It wasn’t in the job description. Most mercenaries would have written her off, perhaps even…” he let the dark thought fade. Mercs in Night City weren’t exactly known for their humanity.
Elias had tears streaming down his face, but he still managed to look dignified. Will just lie there on the bed in disbelief. The Universe was working around him again.
“I was wrong about you. In my head, you were either some rich gonk playing at being a hard-ass, or mixed up with the Butchers and their business. This, though, I don’t even know what to think.”
“You’re not totally wrong about me being a rich gonk. If I had been smarter, Jenny would have never gotten involved with those people in the first place.”
“If I had shown up an hour early or late, it could have gone the other way. I found…um…found a girl,” he broke out into a sob that shook his insides. He winced through the pain and finished, “She wasn’t so lucky. I put an anonymous tip in so they could pick her up. The Butchers though…I cleaned up. Kept the receipts.”
Voss nodded gravely. “When Jenny came home, she told us about the BDs.”
“It’s going to take weeks before they figure out the network and everyone involved. The smart ones are probably nuking their hard drives and leaving town.”
Regina’s people were working on it, and just in case they could provide some support, Will had sent copies to his old buddy in Vice, Detective Winger. He gave the chances of them producing any arrests at around fifty percent. It was better than nothing, though.
Voss cleared his throat, back in control of his emotions. “I want you to know you have my full support. Our family has some influence, not as much as we once had, but what we can’t do in political favors, we can make up in eurodollars.”
Will didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t.
“I’m not suggesting that giving you money is going to make us even. What you did, we owe you more than that, but we can give. Let me do the one thing I know that can help.”
Will nodded, “I have more than I need, honestly, Mr. Voss.”
“Elias,” he corrected.
“Elias, I really don’t need anything. If you want to help, though, there’s always the Kowalski Medical Fund.”
Elias Voss didn’t even hesitate for a second before transferring a small fortune into the clinic’s coffers.
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