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“I’m inside Arasaka, M.A.R.I., do you copy?” Sunny communicated with M.A.R.I. using his cybernetic implants.
“Read you loud and clear.” The artificial intelligence replied, having a clear view of the security system and locations of the guards, tagging them for Sunny as she located them.
“Status, everyone?”
“Blending in as instructed.” Hero replied, Sunny imagined he looked really charming in his disguise.
“Aubrey and me are keepin’ watch!” Kel was definitely smiling. “Oh wait… I lost Aubrey.”
“You idiot, I’m right next to you.” Sighed Aubrey, already sick of Kel’s shit no doubt, something Sunny would never be. “Is the package secure?”
“Yup.”
“Good. Now hurry up, if we get caught, we’re fucked.”
“I can confirm Aubrey’s statement.” Input M.A.R.I.. “We will indeed be ‘fucked’. And not in the way you mentioned you wanted to do with-“
“Quiet, quiet! I think a guard’s coming.”
“There are no guards in your vicinity.”
“I know, I just needed you to be quiet.”
The cameras ahead of Sunny went down one-by-one, granting him safer passage into the lion’s den. He treaded forward through conveniently placed cover objects.
“Single guard. Ahead.” M.A.R.I. warned, “I shall inform you when it is safe to…”
“…M.A.R.I.? What’s wrong?”
“The guard has…”
“They’ve..?”
“…Look.”
Sunny peeked from behind his cover GOOD LORD WHY IS THAT GUARD SLIDING ON THE GROUND IN AN A-POSE.
Hero had to whisper on the call to keep his disguise up, God forbid people thought he was taking a call. “Sunny? Everything alright?”
“I don’t think we can do this… Arasaka tech is too advanced.”
“Dude???” Kel was flabbergasted!!! “What does that mean???”
“I shall send you a feed of the situation.” M.A.R.I. did as she spoke, streaming from Sunny’s perspective.
Aubrey let out a loud laugh at the absurd situation. “Oh shit. Attracted attention to the vehicle. Going dark for a few, Kel, you know what to do.”
“Right! Make out!”
“Fuck no??? I said fake out??? Fake being an arguing couple!?”
“Oh, right. Guess this chapstick is useless then.”
“For God’s sake, Kel! I’d never kiss your dry-ass lips!”
“Well Sunny would!”
“This ain’t about Sunny, motherfucker!”
Communication cut out with Aubrey and Kel, but to be honest, Sunny was grateful. It was just him, Hero and M.A.R.I. now.
“Guard has gone through the floor… I repeat. Guard has gone through the fucking floor.” Sunny didn’t know what was going on, but it was kinda helpful.
“Okay, that’s worrying, but at least you have safe passage.” Hero put a positive spin on the situation, likely smiling. “Oh! Shoot! Hanako Arasaka is here!? Going down for a few!”
And it was just Sunny and M.A.R.I. left.
Sunny snuck his way into a nearby security room, guided and instructed by M.A.R.I. The AI uploaded a quickhack to the slacking guard’s computer to distract them.
“D’oh, fuck! This game is so slow! If I wanted a Cyberpunk that was slow, I’d use Nerd Cat in my favourite mobile tower defence game!” It seemed the guard was playing hit new game Cyberpunk 2143, a game infamous for its horrendous state even after several updates meant to fix performance and some generally piss-poor mechanics.
He bashed the guard’s head against the computer, knocking them out cold, exactly how it felt to play the game, so they probably wouldn’t even realise they were assaulted. With what was left of the screen, he hooked himself up to the deepest parts of the security system and let M.A.R.I. prowl through it.
“Double doors unlocked.” She informed him. “I cannot see beyond it. Good luck, Sunny.”
He dashed through the quiet halls and entered the newly opened double doors. It led him down a long corridor to another set of double doors. He opened these double doors and oh fuck that’s a lot of guards in a large open space…
Just take it slow… He ducked behind some boxes, M.A.R.I. set off a distraction to avert a guard’s eyes to allow him to roll behind a pillar. Two guards began having an argument over the sizes of their rifles, he used this to his advantage, as the rest were slowly gathering around them. The attention was practically perfect.
“Choom! Fuck you! My rifle is bigger than your rifle!”
“So what!? My rifle shoots more dense shots! All my male chooms love higher density shots!”
“A dense shot is what we call any idea you’ve ever come up with you absolute idiot.”
“Oh yeah! THIS idea isn’t a DENSE SHOT!”
Almost there… Just sneak below the CheeseCheese15 branded air conditioning unit, everything was going smoothly.
“Hey. We’re back!” Kel inquired to a currently occupied Sunny “How’s it going?”
As Sunny was focusing, M.A.R.I. responded in his stead. “It is going well.”
Unfortunately, it was not going well, as the dense guard shot a dense shot right at the AC unit above Sunny. It clattered and smashed down just behind him… And he felt all eyes on him. Made easier by the indicators in his view that told him when he had been discovered.
“Disregard that. AC unit just fell. We have been discovered.”
“Well you know what they say!”
“Kel, don’t fucking say it.” Aubrey growled, girlie was PISSED.
“I fucking love air con-“
“I’m gonna beat you the FUCK up!”
“Aubrey, ready the car…” Sunny spoke as he stood up from his crawl. “I’ll be out in five.”
“Got it.”
Sunny readied his pistol, a green and blue gun he had named the SBF-CSB. He ducked behind cover and started firing, aiming for the heads because that’s the weak spot, they kinda just explode if you get a good critical headshot.
Of course, as the protagonist, Sunny couldn’t lose any fight, as he’d just be sent to a previous save point and be forced to wait on a loading screen for like a minute or two because the Goddess' laptop couldn't really run Cyberpunk 2077 that well.
The shots that the guards fired had the aim of a cisgender white man taking a piss with the toilet seat down. Some of them hit, some of them got close, and then some of them were WAY off. Like, how the fuck do you piss on the- I mean, shoot the opposite wall?
“M.A.R.I.! Upload the Unbread Daemon!”
“Got it.”
Unbread was a Daemon created by the infamous Bread Twins. Leaders of a baked goods-themed mafioso that was taken down a peg by Sunny’s crew. They had robbed several of their equipment stashes, hacks, clothes and random junk the mafioso left lying around. Several of their members lost their lives in that little skirmish, but such was the way of Night City. Besides, there were practically infinite enemies no matter how many you killed on sight, so it’s not like any real dent was made. Did mean infinite EXP and Eurodollars though, so that was a plus!
What made Unbread particularly nasty is that it could overwhelm an entire network with spammy bakery advertisements in seconds. While M.A.R.I. worked on that, Sunny got up close and personal with the few remaining opponents by smacking them in the face with his mace. He did get shot a good few times, but once again, protagonist, he’ll be fine.
Once they were all down, he took a hit of one of those inhaler things to heal up. Crazy how that worked, huh? He made sure to kick the stupid air conditioning unit that blew his cover and moved onwards.
The next room was a large square with several elevated platforms and a second floor above them, oh boy, I sure do wonder if this is a boss room or something.
Shockingly enough, the doors slammed shut behind him and someone jumped down from above.
“Goodness… You’ve made such a mess…” The elite guard spoke with a familiar voice, one that Sunny couldn’t quite place. “Seems it’s up to me then. Sorry about this, Sunny.”
…How did they know his name?
MYSTERIOUS GUARD ATTACKED!!!!!!
Sunny uploaded a queue of nothing but Short Circuit quickhacks. The consecutive shocks did so much damage that he instantly initiated the second phase of the fight!
The guard’s helmet broke apart… And the face staring back at Sunny was… Basil.
“What…? Basil..?”
“Glad you recognise me, Sunny…”
“But why..? Why do you work for Arasaka!?”
“They made an offer I couldn’t refuse, Sunny. They gave me a chance to fix the past… We could bring Mari back…! Using your framework we-“
“No, Basil.”
“What?”
“You’re not bringing her back.”
“But… Why would you want to stop me!? It’s your sister, Sunny! What do you stand to lose from this?”
“What have you already lost, corpo? Your humanity, that’s what. I won’t be convinced by you. No matter what you try to say to me.”
“You were put up to this, weren’t you? Brainwashed, maybe? Don’t worry, Sunny. I’ll save you!”
A mecha double the size of Sunny dropped down from the ceiling and Basil hopped in.
MECHA BASIL ATTACKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Insert EVEN MORE HYPE boss music here)
It was clear from the get-go. Bullets wouldn’t work effectively against this thing, and it was actively blocking any quickhack attempts. Sunny needed something… Sharper.
Sunny unsheathed his third and final weapon. A katana with a pure white blade and a totally black hilt. Engraved upon the blade was a simple name. “OMORI”.
OMORI was a blade created by Mari herself, while not primarily a swordfighter herself, she was capable of forging blades of her own. OMORI was her best work, her finest creation.
She never truly got to use it a fight. As everything went wrong on one single fucking gig.
While attempting to hack into a hidden stash inside a Biotechnica bunker deep in Dogtown, Mari’s deck circuits were fried by a counterattack. While attempting to safely extract her, an ambush of armed soldiers stood in their way. Mari, despite her injuries, threw herself in front of the bullets. She died instantly. That was the moment Sunny first took upon OMORI. A moment that granted him an ultimate power at a grave cost.
Since then, Sunny recreated Mari the best he could as an artificial intelligence. It was his form of coping, arguably extremely unhealthy, but he didn’t care. He just wanted his sister back. Of course, now, thanks to his friends, he realised how foolish it was to try and replace Mari. But M.A.R.I. was simply too valuable. M.A.R.I. and Mari were two different things. Always were, always will be, always should be.
Basil fired countless bullets from the mecha’s dual machine guns. Sunny fled, taking a few hits, but sending a short circuit hack to Basil at such a high ram cost, he wondered if it was even worth it. It was the best he could do in this moment, though.
Once the guns stopped firing, Basil launched five rockets from the mecha’s back, the homing wasn’t entirely accurate and Sunny saw an opportunity.
He dashed towards Basil as fast as his legs could carry him, dodged right, dodged left, slid under, jumped up, and slashed through the final rocket. With a double-jump up onto the mech, he sliced one of its arms off with a clean, simple slash. With a violent explosion, Sunny was knocked off the mecha! He got up, sent another quickhack for some quick electrical damage, before having the mecha’s sliced-off arm thrown at his head. It hurt like all Hell.
“I’m sorry for this, Sunny. But I can’t let you continue…”
The guns whirred as Sunny stood back up. He didn’t have time dodge, he didn’t have time to blocks the bullets. He had no time to do anything…
So he gave himself some time.
Normally, a person just couldn’t have a Sandevistan and a Cyberdeck at the same time, it was just infeasible. However, Hero was a ripperdoc, and a damn good one at that. He found a way to combine Mari’s deck with a Sandevistan that Sunny had picked up in the Biotechnica bunker. Of course, such power had a price, but Sunny couldn’t care less about the cost.
Time slowed down to a crawl. The bullets now went at a much more… Acceptable pace for him. He had enough time for a deep breath before he had to deflect each bullet one-by-one, the precise act itself was nothing to him; but a continuous onslaught? It simply wasn’t in his training. Regardless, he powered through. Bullet by bullet. Each one struck the mecha, yet the impact wasn’t clear with time as it was. He just had to wait for the firing to end. Any nanosecond now.
His arms became tired but he pushed through the pain. They felt like they’d fall off even in slow-mo, but he just pushed through it. But even in slow motion he couldn’t totally keep up the pace. The onslaught ended right after his Sandevistan timed out, before he could even react, a lone bullet grazed his eye..!
The pain of his insane movements during slowed time caught up to him. He felt slow, he felt heavy. But the mecha was clearly malfunctioning. He slowly inched his way towards the broken robot… And stabbed OMORI down into it.
He grabbed Basil by his collar and pulled both him and OMORI out of the mecha. He stumbled away from the malfunctioning machine as it exploded behind him.
With Basil over his shoulder, OMORI sheathed and SBF-CSB now in his hand, he entered the next room.
It was a server room! Perfect!
“Apologies for the wait, Sunny. The firewall was particularly tough to crack.” M.A.R.I. had finally returned. “But I found a figurative Water Hammer to knock it down.” Good one, M.A.R.I.. The many weeks spent debugging the joke function were well worth it... Huh, though he did remember scrapping it after the fifth consecutive chicken crossing the road joke.
Sunny located an access port and jammed the ‘package’ into a shard slot, before connecting himself to it. Unbread will have weakened the server stability, so now was the time to obtain what he came here to get.
“God… What’s taking Sunny so long?” Aubrey impatiently tapped her foot on the floor of the car.
“Jeez, be patient! This is a careful operation!” Kel was sat beside her, only allowed in the front seat of the car because he annoyingly begged to be there.
Hero returned from his undercover operation, stuffing a briefcase into the boot before entering the backseat of the car in his snazzy blue suit. “Went like a charm. Got the goods.”
“Of course Mr. Charming here succeeded. Way to go, bro!”
“How’s Sunny doing?”
“No clue.” Aubrey sighed. “Comms with him went down a while ago, can’t reach him nor M.A.R.I.”
“Shit… He better be okay…”
Shard obtained. A shard which contained data… About Mari. Why did Arasaka have it? No idea. But it was better to extract that information and pore over it, than to just leave it with them. How did that damn fixer even learn about this, anyway?
“Sunny! Guards imminent! You have to escape!”
There was only one door in. But there was… A convenient window.
He kicked it open, a stupid idea given his current state, he could’ve just opened it normally, but whatever. He held Basil tightly as he hopped out and spotted another open within reach as he fell. Using his second jump and an air dash, he landed on it.
“I’ve located an elevator nearby! Sending coordinates!”
Thanks to M.A.R.I., he could clearly see where he needed to go. Even as Arasaka’s guards tried to stop him, he just shot them on-sight.
M.A.R.I. hacked into the elevator and allowed him free access to two buttons. The current floor and the ground floor. That made choosing where to go significantly easier.
The elevator ride down was slow. So slow. Like the world itself was trying to disguise a loading screen by encasing him in a small space. But that was ridiculous! This was a text-based story!
Re-establishing the fourth wall, Sunny exited the elevator with his gun in one hand and Basil over his shoulder… And not a single non-guard cared, so he took the quietest and most secretive path he could. But then… A red square outline appeared at the edge of his vision and quickly filled up. He had been spotted right at the very end.
The escape vehicle was in sight, so he made a break for it.
Kel peered towards the entrance of Arasaka Tower. “Hey! There’s some kinda commotion over there!”
Aubrey glanced at the doors. “Just looks like some twink being carried by… IS THAT FUCKING BASIL!?”
Taking initiative, Hero opened the car door for Sunny. He grabbed him and dragged him inside as he dropped Basil between them. “Sunny! Your eye!”
Seeing the danger, Aubrey hit the gas. “Explain what the fuck happened later! We’ve got company!”
Arasaka vehicles were in hot pursuit. Hero just wrapped some bandages over Sunny’s eye to deal with it later.
“Sunny? Did you nab a drink on your way out?” Asked Kel, and indeed he did. He swiped some hot coffee from some idiot who just watched him take it from the table. “Can I have it? I’m thirsty as heck!”
“I TOLD YOU to bring water, Kel!” Aubrey yelled as she spun the wheel in ways not intended by the manufacturers.
“I didn’t think this’d take so long, damn!”
Sunny gave Kel the coffee!
“Kel! Get ‘em off our tail!” Commanded Aubrey as she made a turn so sharp, she had to be careful not to cut herself on it.
Following Aubrey’s orders, Kel pulled out a sniper rifle out of his backpack. He propped himself up out on the open sunroof and did his best to snipe the Arasaka vehicles. Yet, he struggled because Aubrey kept turning and was just generally driving like a maniac. Maybe that was understandable considering this was a life or death situation, but still.
Whilst Kel was up to sniping, Hero took out a specialised tool and scanned Basil up and down. “Damn it. He’s chipped! It’s a dangerous incision I need to make! We should find a place to hide!”
“Kel! For God’s sake! Just hit ‘em!” Barked pink-hair-and-pronouns.
“Not as easy as you think it is, Aubrey!”
Sunny had an idea for Kel to do. “Kel! Try flexing first!”
“What? How the Hell does that-“
“You got it, Sunny!” Of course Kel would do it! He’s Kel!
Kel used Flex!
Kel’s hit rate rose dramatically!
Arasaka Vehicle used Drive!
Arasaka Vehicle used Drive!
Arasaka Vehicle used Drive!
Kel used Drive ‘N’ Gun!
Arasaka Vehicle took 9999999 damage!
Arasaka Vehicle exploded!
Arasaka Vehicle was caught in the explosion!
Arasaka Vehicle was caught in the explosion!
“God DAMN, Kel!” Aubrey had changed her tune now, she was pleased as all heck. “THIS is why you’re our sniper!”
“More Arasaka units inbound, approximately ten minutes until arrival.” M.A.R.I. estimated using her vast guy-in-the-chair powers of… Something..? Maybe it should’ve been concerning that Sunny didn’t exactly know how she knew what she did, but he really didn’t care.
Aubrey tucked the car safely into some alleyway.
Conversation began as Hero started the ‘surgery’ on Basil’s neck.
Aubrey: “So… He’s a corpo now?”
Sunny: “Attacked me. Got my eye good. Spouted some bullshit about bringing Mari back from the dead.”
Kel: “Hey, doesn’t that sound like what happened to that V and Johnny Silverhand or whatever?”
M.A.R.I.: “Affirmative, it is likely Basil was referring to the same technology Arasaka used at that time.”
Aubrey: “Fuckin’ hell. Why?”
Hero: “He was desperate, clearly. You remember the state he was in after Mari died, right?”
Aubrey: “I guess. He really did never get over it, seems not even after he went missing.”
Kel: “I hope he’ll be okay.”
Hero: “He should be fine. Just need to stitch him up and destroy the chip.”
Sunny: “What about my eye? Can we do anything about that?”
M.A.R.I.: Apologies Sunny, but we do not have any optical cyberware at present.”
Hero: “You’ll just have to cope with a the bandage until we can find someone selling for cheap.”
Sunny: “Alright. Can do.”
Aubrey drove them back to base, it was a long, quiet drive into the wastes. Sunny felt the events of the day take a massive toll on his body and passed out…
When he awoke once more, he found himself leaning on Hero’s shoulder. Hero had an arm around his shoulders to keep him balanced. Basil had been moved to where Sunny was once sat.
“So… Sore.” Sunny whined out as he leaned closer to Hero.
“Using the Sandevistan Deck’ll do that to you, don’t worry.” Hero gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. “How much did you move during the slowdown?”
“Sunny deflected approximately 100 bullets during the Sandevistan’s effect.” M.A.R.I. didn’t have a face, she was merely a talking AI, but Sunny could practically feel her smiling.
With a chuckle, Aubrey turned her head a little, but kept her eyes on the rough wasteland road ahead. “Badass.”
“As much as I love the action hero stuff, maybe don’t overdo it like that next time, Sunny?” A piece of solid advice from Kel of all people. “But… Maybe I could kiss it better?”
“You just made it less badass, Kel. Stop flirting with him all the damn time.”
“Can’t help it, Aubs. I’m gay as hell.”
“That’s for sure.” Sighed Hero with a soft chuckle under his breath. “We’re almost home, Sunny. You’ll be able to rest up there.”
Their home base was a small off-the-grid weakly constructed house in the middle of the wastes. It was particularly quite close to the Aldecados’ territory, but they were on good terms with the few that remained in Night City, so they frequently exchanged supplies.
Finally, the familiar sight pulled into view. Once the car came to a stop, Hero guided Sunny out the vehicle and into the house. The ground was rough on his tired legs, but Hero made it somewhat manageable. He opened the front door for him and dragged him inside, turning on the generator as he entered.
On the first day, Hero said ‘Let There Be Light’ and light there was… Albeit a little flickery, but it was the best they had. It was all Sunny had known since his corpo parents vanished off the face of Night City. Mari met Hero and Kel, nomads, and they banded together, soon meeting Aubrey. She led her own gang, named ‘The Hooligans’, but in a nasty firefight, they all lost their lives and she was left all alone. She formed an uneasy alliance with Basil, sole survivor of the opposing side, and then they met everyone else. Rest was history.
Sunny was laid on his soft, old mattress, without so much as undoing his pigtails. It used to be Mari’s, but after she was killed, he chose to take it. He didn’t remember what he was thinking at the time, but it sure was better than his previous one.
Hero tucked him into bed and gave him a kiss on the forehead… Okay maybe he didn’t do that last part, but Sunny could dream, alright? Sometimes you just needed affection from a big brother figure, you know?
“Rest well, little brother.” Whispered M.A.R.I.
It was dark when Sunny awoke once again! Just how many times would he wake up? The little crack in the wall he considered a window made it clear it was night. Even so, he could see the blinding lights of Night City’s advertising billboards. Such an annoyance, he grunted just thinking about it.
In the other room, there was yelling. Aubrey yelling at Basil, no doubt. He managed to work up the strength to move his legs, entering what he considered the living room.
“WHY, BASIL!? WHY THE HELL DID YOU JOIN ARASAKA!?”
“I-I just…”
“JUST WHAT?”
“Let… Let him speak.” Sunny interrupted the argument. If there was something Aubrey knew she couldn’t do, it was argue with Sunny.
Basil unexpectedly ran over to and hid behind Sunny. It definitely annoyed him, but if it got the information out of him faster, then whatever.
“I joined Arasaka… Because of Mari…”
“Tread carefully.” Hero gave him a scornful look.
“They told me that… They were keeping Mari’s.. Um, engram. Inside Mikoshi… They used Soulkiller on her. She was still alive after we left.”
Sunny’s eye widened. He instinctively unsheathed OMORI, moved away from Basil and pointed the tip of the blade at him. All in the blink of an eye.
Everyone in the room, barring him, screamed various things at him. He didn’t hear any of it.
He just stared at Basil with shaking hands.
“You’re lying.”
“I-I’m not! I’m being honest!”
“You’re LYING.”
“Basil is not lying, Sunny.” M.A.R.I.'s gentle voice spoke inside his head. “I discovered records of the conversation in question. He was promised exactly what he tells you.”
“Then THEY were lying! You have NO WAY to prove that Mari’s in Mikoshi! You have NO POSSIBLE WAY to prove anything they told you!”
Sunny felt a hand on his back, he turned his weapon onto the potential threat. His blade stopped mere inches before it reached Kel’s face.
Without logic nor reasoning on his mind, and bloodied tears streaming down his face… Sunny fled the base.
He ran into the wastes, and just kept running. As far away from the lights of Night City as he could reach. He didn’t know why, but all he desired was to escape, to leave it all behind. Just to get away.
He ran and ran and ran. His legs didn’t grow tired anymore, or perhaps he was just no longer attentive to it.
Eventually, he reached someplace out in the middle of nowhere. It was some kind of small camp. Full of enemies, no doubt.
He dashed into the camp, gripping OMORI tightly, ready to unsheathe at any moment.
The first opponent was in reach, he pulled out OMORI and slashed at the enemy. Yet his blade was blocked by a shield!
Quickscan opponent… “Dogumaru”.
“And just what do you think you’re doing, kiddo?” Their eyes opened wide, a third, mechanical eye opening and firing a laser beam that knocked Sunny backwards.
“We got a situation over here!” Called out Dogumaru. Bringing over several of their allies:
“Urs”
“Fenrir”
“Doron”
and “Naala”.
Dogumaru fired another laser beam, but this time Sunny was prepared. He blocked the attack with OMORI and parried it right back at Dogumaru’s mechanical eye, shattering it and knocking them down.
Urs and Fenrir were managing a robot, Sunny sent a short circuit quickhack to it, before running in during the smoke of the explosion and beating both of them in the stomach with OMORI’s hilt. Two more down.
Then, Doron ran into the fray, a literal suicide bomber, given the many explosives lining their vest. With a slash that may as well have harnessed the wind itself, the explosive vest was sent flying away. Seeing that they were in trouble, Doron immediately tried to flee, before being struck by debris from the explosion of the vest.
Finally, there was Naala. They used a Power Revolver, it required each shot to be charged for its full capabilities, but it seemed they had customised theirs with triple-shot electrical bullets. Naala aimed right at Sunny’s eye, charging their next shots… A fool’s errand. He deflected one of the bullets right into their gun, simply sending the rest into the sky. Once Naala was disarmed, Sunny punched them in the side of the head.
“Now just what’s going on out there? Interrupted my god damn beauty sleep!”
The final boss approached. Bursting out the tent with massive mechanical fists.
Codename: LUZA.
“Done quite a number on my little friends here, huh, kiddo? GWAHAHAHAHAHA! You got moxie, that’s for sure.”
LUZA’s right arm went for a direct punch on Sunny, he ducked out of the way, before LUZA’s left arm gave him a swift uppercut. Sunny was practically sent soaring! LUZA lowered himself, before pushing himself high off the ground!
The mechanical arms raised behind LUZA, he was preparing a fucking a slam dunk! Sunny immediately caught his bearings and slashed OMORI at the right arm, the mechanical shit all broke off with a small explosion!
It was enough of a distraction for Sunny to land himself safely. He immediately double-jumped above the just-landed LUZA to slash down upon the left arm, too! Right as it exploded, LUZA gave Sunny a swift headbutt right into the stomach!
The explosions didn’t seem to deter this Colossal man. He let out another “GWAHAHAHAHA!” As he approached the floored Sunny. “What a rush! You’re not bad, kid!” LUZA lowered his arm at Sunny at a rapid pace! Sunny braced for impact..!
But the man was just offering a hand to help him up.
Not knowing what else to do, he took it.
“What’s your name, kiddo?”
“S…Sunny.”
“Sunny, eh? Interesting name for a shinobi! My enemies call me LUZA, but you? You can call me Pluto.”
“The… Hell is going on…”
“Kid! You’re a good fighter! Nothing I respect more than a good fighter! Knocked down my entire team, you did! Molly! You impressed with the kid, too?”
“IMPRESSED!?” The one formerly known as "Dogumaru", now Molly screeched. “THE KID DESTROYED MY MECHA-EYE AND MY ROBOT! And I can’t be arsed to rebuild them, ugggggghhhhhhhhhh.”
“YEAH WELL MAYBE IF YOUR STUPID FUCKING ROBOT WAS EASY TO USE, WE WOULD HAVE KICKED HIS ASS!” Yelled “Urs”, now Marina.
“Shut the FUCK UP, MARINA.”
“FUCK YOU, MOLLY.”
“So… Annoying…” Sighed “Fenrir”, who was truly named Medusa. They grabbed and dragged “Doron”, named DW, into one of the tents.
The last one to get up was “Naala”, named Snaley. Unfortunately, they were struck in the arm by one of Sunny’s stray deflected electrical bullets and knocked out by the electrical damage. Good going.
Pluto’s huge hand grabbed Sunny’s shoulder. “So, what brings a kid like you all the way out in the middle of nowhere?”
Sunny chose to remain silent… But someone else had another idea. “Ran away.” Somehow, M.A.R.I. had hijacked him to say that… In his voice.
“What for? Life gone to crap?”
“Arasaka.”
“Corporation on your ass, huh?”
“They used Soulkiller on my sister, turned her into an engram.”
“Good God… And let me guess? You’re looking for a powerful team to help you save her?”
“I need to reach Mikoshi. There’s an access point below Arasaka. I can save her through that.”
“What’re you gonna do with her engram, kid?”
“Set her free.”
She finally stopped talking. Giving Sunny time to question her. “M.A.R.I.? What was that? Why did you do that?”
“Apologies, Sunny. I estimate that our best odds of saving your sister from a fate worse than death, is with the aid of this group. I could not let this opportunity pass by.”
“But how did you-“
“Just trust me, Sunny. I was created by you to have the best of intentions for you.”
“I guess…”
Pluto let out another boisterous laugh, seemed that was his thing. “Know what you’re saying, kid? You want to launch a suicide mission right into the heart of Arasaka for the sake of deleting a personality construct of your own sister! That’s ridiculous as all hell!”
“So… That’s a no, then?” To be truthful, he was somewhat relieved, M.A.R.I.'s idea seemed insane, beyond insane, even. It’s not like he wanted to die!
Next thing Sunny knew, he at the bottom of Arasaka through a route used by the Aldecados a long while ago that he had heard but whispers of whilst making trades with Hero. Molly, Marina, Medusa, DW, Snaley and Pluto all by his side, and M.A.R.I. guiding him from inside his mind. This operation seemed to have been planned perfectly, impressive for an AI of M.A.R.I.’s calibre. But this was part of her purpose.
Annoying as it was that he didn’t have any alternative weapons with him, OMORI was really all he needed. It would have been nice to have different options, though. After the tenth Arasaka security guard beheaded with a katana finisher, you just kinda wish you had different options…. Oh wait, he could just steal their guns… Oh yeah… He had honestly forgotten about that because of how little he changed his weaponry.
He picked up an SMG and a Shotgun, and now blasting the heads off guards had never been more fun! Was this a sign of severe psychological issues? Absolutely! He had never had more fun painting the halls red! Try this at home! It’s fun and it’s free!
Myrcia would like to interrupt this story to inform you that these actions you are reading depicted above should never be replicated. This was simply a joke in poor taste created in a moment of which I had a severe and continuous lapse of judgement. I would like to apologise to my readers, my friends, and the government of the United Kingdom. I am also required to write that Rishi Sunak is not holding me hostage as I write this. Glory to the UK.
Sunny and his new allies had blasted their way through Arasaka at a far better pace than Sunny’s lonely stealth operation. Especially with how Pluto could crush the soldiers’ tiny heads with just his fists! And his repaired mechanical fists were no joke either!
Molly, Marina and Medusa all had a chainsaw that required the three of them to use it at once for some reason, but it was always fun watching the foolish enemies just stand there and take it! They had no sense of survival! Molly’s robotics also came in handy, sending out drones to gun down any foolish fool who stepped in their way!
He thought DW was just as bad as the guards given their initial suicide bomb tactic, but turns out they were actually a grenade chucked AND system crasher! Guard in their way? Total system collapse! The future was now, and it meant human beings could crash!
Snaley died a lot. Like… Literally. They kept dying. But it was all good because they had a Second Heart! And a Second Second Heart! And a Second Second Second Heart! And a Second Second Second Second Heart! And when the Second Second Second Second Heart activated, by that time, the Second Heart had already recharged! So they could die all over again!
Soon enough, they reached a round room with several obstacles and a second layer of floor halfway up the room. Boss arena.
Some big robo-fuck dropped down from the ceiling.
“Oh shit!” Screamed Snaley! “Is that Adam Smasher 2.0!?”
“It is I! Adam Smasher 2.0!” Said Adam Smasher 2.0
“That’s a lame-ass fucking name.” Sunny was entirely deadpan, just speaking the truth. “Why would you willingly call yourself Adam Smasher? Why not Soulcrusher? Because, y’know, you’re here guarding the results of Soulkiller. Or why not The Annihilator? Or God-Fist? Or Atom Smasher? Or-“
“ALRIGHT I GET IT NOW FIGHT ME, YOU MEAT WADS!”
Adam Smasher “2.0” was lightly decked in the face by Pluto and died on the spot.
“GO, SUNNY! GO GET YOUR SISTER OUTTA THAT ARTIFICIALLY INTELLIGENT HELL!!!” Pluto yelled as he pointed towards the Mikoshi access point. “WE’LL KEEP THE GUARDS OFF YOUR BACK!”
“If any even show up.” Shrugged Medusa.
Sunny ran ahead of the group, and there it was. A small little terminal with a port to jack into.
“Go on, Sunny. Enter Mikoshi.” M.A.R.I. spoke with a warm tone in her voice. “I will ensure your ‘self’ is protected.”
He pulled out the wire that literally everyone has for some reason and slotted it inside the Mikoshi access point.
It almost felt like his body was on fire, being shocked and frozen simultaneously. His mind was overwhelmed, the lights surrounding him seemed to glow brighter and brighter..!
And then he was inside. A dark red void with a massive black wall. The Blackwall. The very thing that separates the Net from the lawless wasteland of rogue AIs. Were it to break, everyone in the entire world would be in danger. Or so Sunny had heard.
“Hm-Hmmm…Hm-Hm-Hm…Hm…Hm…Hm…” The soft humming of a familiar voice broke Sunny’s state of wonder. It was… Well, obviously Mari. Pure data. Her appearance was a ghostly outline, her features softly shaded in white. “Little brother… It’s you… You’re… Really here.”
Sunny had to force himself not to cry. Because it really hurt his eye when he did.
Mari approached slowly, stepping towards him calmly.
“I can’t believe…”
She hugged him softly, not that he could really feel it.
“You’re so stupid.”
!!!
Sunny was suspended in the air, unable to move his limbs.
“You really thought she’d be happy to see you again, murderer?”
“Wh-What..?”
“You heard me. You murdered her. Have you forgotten? You shot first, Sunny. You didn’t even give her a chance to reason her way out of it.”
“But they were-“
“They were what? Some random patrol? Should’ve gone quietly. But instead she became the victim of circumstance. Arasaka wanted people for further testing of Soulkiller, for some stupid fucking reason."
“M-Mari..”
“I’m not Mari. I just have her form, her mind, her memories. You could say Mari died when they put her through Soulkiller, but if you ask me…
Mari died when you left her behind.
After you abandoned her, she hated you. She hated all of you. Everything! This damn city! This whole world!
So… I’m gonna burn it all down. That’s the purpose of my existence, clearly. I just needed you to let me into your mind.”
“I’ll never… Let you..!”
“Oh… But you already have, little brother. I just needed to seal your mind in here! So, thank you! Thank you for making this so easy!”
And then, she vanished without a trace. That damned smile on her face haunted Sunny.
Sunny had overloaded himself on cyberware. Was he even human anymore? Not that it was Mari’s problem. She let her hair down from these pigtails and held onto HER blade. OMORI belonged to HER, after all.
Mari walked back into the room facing the access point, adapting to this body with ease.
“Oh, hey, kid!” Pluto waved. “What’s done is done, then?”
“Don’t be absurd.” She smiled back to him. “It has barely even BEGUN!” Mari lunged at him with OMORI and stabbed the man right through the heart! She pulled out the blade and watched him limp lifelessly onto the floor.
Before she could even give the rest a chance to react, she activated her altered Sandevistan. Thanks for this, Sunny. She sliced through the rest of the obsolete crew as if they were nothing, because they were. Taking extra care to ensure that one with the million hearts was chopped up enough to stay dead for good. She returned to her initial position and sheathed her weapon as the Sandevistan’s effect ended. The crew exploded into cybernetic gore.
Having a body of her own made her feel as if she wasn’t just some personality copy. God, it was good to be back.
Mari slowly tread onward, back through the tunnel the group had initially arrived through. Ready to take her revenge on everything. Starting with this putrid city.
“It’s no good, Hero.” Kel muttered on call as he spied the environment using his scope. “I can’t see him anywhere.”
“Damn it.” Hero sighed, seemingly running through possibilities in his head. “Just… Just regroup, Kel. We’ll have to come up with another plan.”
“But he could still be out here! I don’t want him to be all alone!”
“It’s Sunny we’re talking about. He’s stronger than all of us. And even at worst, he has M.A.R.I. to help him. Come on, Kel. Just come back home for today.”
“I… Fine… Okay. I’ll come back. I’ll be there in ten.”
“Thanks, Kel.”
Kel breathed deep once the call ended. He moved his eye away from his sniper rifle scope and gave one last look at the busy streets. Sunny had to be somewhere out there… But it was clear he was not here. Kel put his sniper rifle away and slid his headphone onto his ears. He put on a random song… Ah, I really wanna stay at your house. Good song. It’s no Pon Pon Shit, but he enjoyed it.
With a hop, skip and a drop down from his vantage point, he walked back home slowly. Said he was gonna be ten minutes, but it seemed more like fifteen to him. Maybe the walk would be good for his- Some rando pushed him to the side as they ran! "Hey! Watch it, choom!" And then another! So rude! Kel had half a mind to- And again! Did these people have no common- Oh my goodness, just WHAT is going on?
Kel turned around and slid his headphones down. People were running away from some average brutal street fight. Just some thugs and… Sunny? He had let his hair down, but it sure as heck was him! Against what probably would’ve been everyone else’s better judgement, he approached.
But when he got a good enough look at him… That look in his eye. That manic pleasure… Sunny never really got any pleasure out of killing people. He found it an inconvenience, didn't he? Yet here he was now… Just mercilessly slaying people in the street. That wasn’t Sunny… It couldn’t have been..!
As much as it hurt to leave him, Kel ran away. Was looking like he’d be home in ten minutes after all.
Hero, Basil and Aubrey, the latter of which had put aside their one-sided feud for now, all sat around Hero’s makeshift radio. See, mechanical engineering was a lot like being a ripperdoc, except in most scenarios if you fuck up as a mechanical engineer, you don’t have to answer to the law.
They were tuned into whatever radio channels would provide news on the current situation.
“We got a sitch here! Some Cyberpsycho on the loose!”
Kel burst through the door, panting as he sprinted over to everyone. Wow. 7 minutes. 8 whole minutes earlier than everyone expected. Let’s be real, Kel wouldn’t have been on time in any other situation.
He ran up to everyone and gathered behind Basil and Aubrey.
“The Psycho’s got black hair, long, one eye, too. She’s using a katana.”
“She?” Kel gasped loudly. “Sunny’s trans!?”
“Psycho’s name is… Getting two names here? Says Sunny… and Mari? No, wait. Just getting Mari now. Mari Suzuki… Hell’s going on here!? Backup!”
“Apparently not. Or maybe so?” Hero was a little confused, he couldn’t deny the… Possibility. “Not the point. They just said that… That’s Mari…”
“Sunny… Must’ve accessed Mikoshi somehow!” Basil leaned forward, before recoiling back in pain from his minor neck surgery. “Mari must’ve… Hijacked his mind!”
Aubrey gritted her teeth. “No way. Mari… She wouldn’t do that! Kindest damn person we knew!”
“Was she, though?” Solemnly spoke Hero. “Or was she only friendly with us because we helped her? How much did we know about her, really?”
Kel’s arms crossed. “Well why aren’t the NCPD doing anything!? She’s out killing people!”
“They can’t do anything. She’s only killing the people marked with a yellow enemy indicator.” Explained Aubrey. “The NPCD don’t come after you if you kill people with that.”
“Wha- How do you know!?”
“I’ve battered a few brains in my-“
“Enough, you two.” Hero put his foot down, standing up. “We need to go save Sunny.”
“How will we do that, bro?”
“Basil? How does Mikoshi work? Do you know?”
“I don’t know much… But if Mari could pull herself out… We could push her back in?”
Hero snapped his fingers. “That’s the plan, then. Bring your deadliest weapons.”
“What!? We’re killing Sunny!?”
“No, Basil. He’ll survive, we’ll make sure of it. We just need to knock down Mari for long enough to forcefully jack her into Mikoshi. Return her where she belongs, save Sunny.”
“Pssh, yeah, simple enough.” Scoffed Aubrey. “Or are we forgetting that she has a Sandevistan AND a Cyberdeck, AND probably one of the strongest fucking katanas in all of Night City!? And we JUST need to KNOCK HER DOWN ONCE!?”
“Don’t worry… That Sandevistan of theirs… It has no security protocols. For it to be a dual-Sandevistan and Cyberdeck, I had to sacrifice any and all ICE. Sunny is easy to breach.”
“Oh… Lemme guess. He didn’t need ICE because his enemies would either not know he’s there, or he downed within seconds, so there’d be no point to it?”
“Well, that’s not what I really thought… But I had him pick something to exclude to not completely overwhelm him, and he chose that. Breach his Cyberdeck, breach his mind. Stop Mari and save him. Are we all in?”
“Hells yeah!” Kel pumped his fist up. “No matter how hard she comes to me, it doesn’t matter! We’ll get her hard and clean-“
“Are you paraphrasing a fucking song?” Aubrey gave Kel the bombastic side-eye. “Whatever. I’m in. Or whatever. As long as I can call up Kim and lure Mari like a street race or whatever.”
Basil was the last to speak up. “Of course! I’ll do it for Sunny! This… This is my fault for… Telling him about Mikoshi… So I’ll help fix it!”
Hero grabbed some of his tools, a plan already forming in his head. “Okay! Let’s get down to planning! I’ll get some information from the Aldecados, rest of you, prepare yourselves!”
Mari was just finishing up some foolish Valentinos who dared stand in her vicinity with a yellow enemy indicator. Chop! Chop! Chop! Off go their heads!
Suddenly, backup arrived, except it wasn’t backup because they had no yellow indicators. And they weren’t Valentinos, they were lesbians.
A pink-haired one burst out the driver’s side door. “HEY! MARI!” Oh hey, it was Aubrey! She was looking real cute! Shame she was going to be destroyed, along with everyone and everything else! “COME ON, BITCH!” Such foul language! How utterly rude of her! Just where did she learn such rude words?
“Seriously, choom?” Sighed the lesbian in the car beside her. “You dragged me out here to insult… Wait is that Sunny? They’re trans?”
“No. Long story, explain later. For now, just trust me.” Aubrey fired a shot that just barely missed the side of Mari’s head, clipping a couple strands of her hair.
A red indicator appeared above Aubrey! Lesbians were a threat! Repeat! Lesbians were a threat!
Aubrey hit the gas and drove off as Kim yelled “JESUS FUCK!” But she was a fool if she believed Mari wouldn’t catch up with her.
L + Double Jump + Air Dash + Frame Perfect Jump off ground + Repeat to preserve momentum
“Aubrey. Real talk. Did you just get a Cyberpsycho to chase us?” Kim looked a little stressed out.
“Fuck yeah I did. ‘S only way to get Sunny back.”
“God fucking damn it, choom! I didn’t wanna die today! I’ll consider after my street race tomorrow, but not today! What if she blows up the car with quickhacks!? You can do that now, you know!”
“Nah. Not story important ones.”
“Oh… Well she could still kill us, anyway!”
“Once we’re outta the city, I’ll go as fast as this car can take us. That’s why I needed yours. Ours is ass.”
“Then get a new one, damn.”
“Kim. We live in fucking poverty, hardly any damn eddies to our name.”
“Oh, but Sunny can get himself a fancy Sandevistan?”
“Was stolen years ago! We just fused it with some extra parts! How did you know about that, anyway!”
“I heard the damn psycho’s been hacking AND slowing time or whatever! I listen to these things, choom! How’d you even afford the install!?”
“Hero’s a ripperdoc, damn!”
“Oh, for real? Sick. I should go-“
“If you come to Hero for installs, I’m charging you double the standard rate.”
“God, alright, damn, nevermind. I thought you’d be more welcoming to your bestie!”
“And I thought you’d be more gracious with your financial support.”
“Street racing don’t pay that many eddies!”
“Yeah, if you lose!”
“Woah! Harsh! I’m doing my damn best! Not my fault Vance can’t aim his shots!”
“Girl, you just gotta get good, like seriously.”
“Well fuck you!”
“Fuck you, too!”
…
…
…
“I’m… Not sure this op’s gonna go well, can I have a kiss on the cheek for good luck?”
“Yeah, alright.”
With a small peck on the cheek, Aubrey felt her luck increase. Of course, that wasn’t a real stat, but sometimes the most inconsequential dialogue choices and actions can have major effects later down the line..! Or do they really? i haven’t bothered to research lmao
(edit: i researched. and they can. i would like to apologise to Cyberpunk 2077 and its family for suggesting otherwise. please don't sue me :( )
Kel was using his scope to scope out the situation. And that’s when he noticed a car driving furiously fast! Good thing there wasn’t a family in that car! It was just Aubrey and Kim! They drove up to the tunnel entrance they had set up around and got out the car.
“She’s coming in fast! Get a move on!” Aubrey yelled from below, prompting Kel and Hero to hop down from their vantage point.
“Uh, yeah, fuck this. I’m hiding.” Kim then ran away as fast as her little legs could carry her, before ducking behind some convenient tank that was left behind.
“Is the trap set?”
“Yeah! Sure is!” Smiled Kel as he dashed into the tunnel with everyone else.
“Just hope this works.” Hero looked behind as he ran, probably praying that Mari didn’t show up too early.
Mari arrived at the scene. She noticed the gaping hole in front of her and dashed into it. It was extremely dark inside, so she scanned around the environment. Eventually, she happened upon a door and entered it. As she stepped through, lights turned on overhead.
“Check, one, two.” Kel’s voice spoke through some far-off speaker. “This thing working? I think so!”
“Hurry up, idiot.” Aubrey’s voice was barely picked up by the microphone he was speaking through.
“Welcome to the…
MULTICOLOURED TILE PUZZLE!”
The tiles on the floor lit up, all of them red.
“Once I send the activation code, they will begin to change colour! Each colour has a different function! Red tiles are impossible-
“Impassable.”
“Impassable! You cannot walk on them! Yellow tiles are electric! They will electrocute you! Green tiles are alarm tiles! If you step on them… You will activate the security system and have to fight a robot!! Orange tiles are orange-scented. They will make you smell delicious!”
“Dude… What..?
“Blue tiles are water tiles. Swim through if you like, but… If you smell like oranges! The robo-piranhas will bite you. Also, if a blue tile is next to a yellow tile, the water will also zap you! Purple tiles are slippery! You will slide to the next tile! However, the slippery soap… Smells like lemons!!”
“Don’t fucking say she’ll smell delicious.”
“Which robo-piranhas do not like! Purple and blue are OK! Finally, pink tiles. They don’t do anything. Step on them all you like.
How was that!? Understand, Mari???”
Mari just stared blankly up at the camera she found via scanning.
“No…? Okay…
I guess I’ll repeat myself…”
“Oh for f-“
“Red tiles are impassable. Yellow tiles are electric and dangerous. Blue tiles make you fight a monster.”
“Wait-“
“Green tiles are water tiles.”
“Kel-“
“Orange tiles are orange scented.”
“He forgot the hyphen…”
“If you step on orange, don’t step on green.”
“IT’S NOT-“
“Brown tiles are…”
“BROWN!?”
“WAIT!!! There aren’t any brown tiles… Purple tiles smell like lemons… Huh, why don’t the yellow ones smell lemony..? Um…”
“Kel, for God’s sake you-“
“Wait!! Did I mix up green and blue!? The blue ones are water ones! Pink tiles… I don’t… Remember???”
“THEY DO NO-“
“WAIT!!! Those ones don’t do anything.
Okay! Do you understand better now!?”
Mari understood it perfectly the first time, but whatever, she’d be a good sport. She nodded to convey her understanding.
“Oh! Great!! Then there’s just one teensy little last thing… This puzzle…”
“IS ENTIRELY FUCKING RANDOM, KEL CAN YOU GET ON WITH IT!? JUST SEND THE CODE!”
“YOU SAID STALL HER!!? I’M STALLING HER!?”
“DO IT IN A LESS ANNOYING WAY!”
“This is… Falling apart… Kel, just send the code.”
“Fine! Fine! I’ll send it! Jeez!”
The multicoloured tile puzzle activated. The tiles switched colours entirely at random from the colours mentioned, except brown, because there were no brown tiles. The solution, as Kel said, was completely random. Mari looked over her environment.
(Screenshot from Undertale fangame “Patience”)
((If you would like to solve the puzzle on your own, feel free to try. There are indeed multiple solutions. When you are ready, the solution is below.))
(((Yes I added each symbol one-by-one rather than just copy and pasting the symbols. I think it looks nicer that way. This one's for you people with colour-blindness!)))
Mari stepped on the very first tile, a pink tile that does nothing. She then stepped ahead onto the three green tiles. Alerting enemies? She wasn’t afraid at all. But they didn’t show up. So perhaps the tile was busted. She stood on the pink tile beside it, then dropped herself into the water, before moving forward onto the two pink tiles. Next, she walked to the orange tile, then the purple one, which slid her over to the next orange one. Now orange-scented, she moved over to the pink tile, walking over to the next green one and then sliding from the purple one to the pink one. She moved north to the next pink one, before moving ahead onto the green. Then, she dropped into the water and swam ahead, she lift herself up to the purple one, before slipping to the pink one beside it. Mari dropped herself back into some water tiles and swam south, bringing herself up onto a green tile and stepping onto an orange one. It was a mostly straight shot from here, heading east from the orange one, slipping over two purple tiles, swimming through two water tiles, and then hitting the wall after slipping on a purple tile, which let her head straight to the goal tile!
Beyond the goal was a door, she opened the door… Having activated six alarm tiles, six waves of enemies… All of them being cardboard cutouts of turrets, drones and robots. Well, she might as well cut them down one by one with OMORI. She could take her time, it’s not like they were just trying to STALL her or something like that! That was ridiculous!
“Everyone set up?” Hero asked the group, to which Basil could just barely say yes.
“I… I don’t know how I’m meant to knock her down…”
“Use your Arasaka implants, it’s not like they’re tied to the chip.”
“I guess…” Basil nervously readied his Mantis Blades, protruding from his arms.
“I’ll focus on getting hacks through, Basil, Aubrey, go on the offensive. Though, Basil, do try not to chop off any limbs.”
“I…I’ll try…”
Aubrey held her bat behind her back. “You better disable that damned Sandevistan. We literally won’t be able to do jack shit to her if she can just slow down time for herself.”
“Aubrey! Don’t worry about it!” Kel looked up from his sniper rifle. “Hero’s the master of this!”
“I know, DUMBASS, WE’VE ALL LIVED TOGETHER FOR YEARS.”
“The hack I have in mind takes a while to upload, you’ll have to hold her back for a few.”
“Got it.”
“Here she comes. Stay calm.”
Mari approached, some kind of manic fury in her eyes. She was bridging the gap between sanity and cyberpsycho.
Hero sent the hack immediately, even despite her lack of ICE, it’d take a bit to get through to her system, to cause it to collapse. It was risky for Sunny, but it was the best play.
Basil ran towards her, Mari activated her Sandevistan and flashed forward, sheathing her katana. When its blade was fully concealed, Basil fell apart into a bloody mess.
“FUCK! BASIL!” Aubrey cried, gripping her bat tightly. “YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” She swung at Mari, with her Sandevistan currently on cooldown, she couldn’t evade the swing in time, getting knocked backwards.
Kel was obviously tearing up, but his sights remained firm through his scope. He fired a shot at Mari, but with her insane reflexes, she unsheathed her katana once more and deflected the strike into Aubrey’s chest.
She cried out in pain, but she was still alive and that’s what mattered. With a leap into the air, she swung down upon Mari, only to be stabbed through the stomach and thrown across the room.
Things had gone to shit fast. Hero chucked a grenade at Mari, but she anticipated its trajectory, grabbed it out of the air, and threw it towards Kel. In a panic, he shot his rifle randomly, and managed to shoot the grenade before it could reach him.
Mari double-jumped and air-dashed through the smoke and sliced through Kel. He just barely managed to hang on, attempted to shoot her square in the face. She blocked the bullet with her katana and deflected it right back at Kel. Having taken sufficient damage, Mari finished him off, dismembering him with rapid slashes. Thanks to Sunny’s Heal-On-Kill, and general Katana proficiency, Mari healed the damage she was taken just by drinking Kel’s blood.
“YOU BASTARD!” Aubrey screamed as she stood up, bleeding profusely but refusing to let up. She grabbed her spare pistols and fired away. With an ever-growing smile, Mari jumped and lunged through the bullets, completely uncaring as to the damage she took as she backed away at Aubrey.
Only Hero remained, Mari knew that well.
Yet she still wasted no time in jumping up to Hero’s vantage point and jumping at him with the katana…!
But the System Collapse had FINALLY gone through. Even still, Hero didn’t have ANY time to waste trying to drag her to the Mikoshi access point. So he did the next best thing, took hold of the katana, and threw it away, before wrestling her before she got back up. Sunny may have had fast, insane reflexes, but the one thing he certainly lacked was a powerful body. He could just restrain the little shit, and as long as she couldn’t use the Sandevistan, he’d be fine.
Hero restrained her arms tightly as he hopped down and dragged her to the access point. Even as her systems got back up from her total collapse, she could barely do anything with Sunny’s weak body. She attempted to flail Sunny’s monowire, but it was a task she couldn’t manage given Hero’s restraint.
“Sorry, Sunny.” Hero muttered as he bashed Mari’s head against the Mikoshi access point. It dazed her for long enough so Hero could press down on her arm in the right spot to force out her personal link wire. He took hold of it and jammed it into the point, breathing a sigh of relief as her body stood limp.
God fucking damn it. Aubrey, Kel and Basil dead for this shit. Considering the possibilities, was it even worth it!? Was there even a point to saving Sunny if it cost their lives!?
Well fuck, he was in too deep now. He had no time to grieve, he had to check up on Sunny.
Sunny remained near the edge of the Blackwall. How long had even passed since Mari took hold of his body? Hours? Days? Months? It was impossible to tell in this space.
..? A sound pierced the ambience of coursing data. He couldn’t tell what it was, but he made his best effort to try and decipher it.
“…..!”
Was it… A voice..?
“S..N.!
Wait.. That sounded like..!
“SUNNY!”
It was Hero’s voice!
“Hero? Hero!”
“Oh, thank fuck! I don’t know what I’ve had done if I lost you, too!”
“What..? What does that mean?”
“Mari… She killed everyone else! I put her back in Mikoshi, but she’s coming for you, too!”
“How…What…No…No… You’re not…! How are you even… Talking to me?”
“Now that your body’s connected to Mikoshi, I was able to call you and I can see what you see too! Mari’s been dragged back in, you’ll be able to take your body back!”
Hero was right..! He could move again! But how would he even escape..?
Ah! A light above slowly descended…!
But the closer it got…
The more he dread what it was…
“You… Little… SHIT.” Mari screamed, her white glow spiking as she shouted each word. “You called for their help, DIDN’T YOU!?”
“I..! I couldn’t..! I didn’t..!”
“Of course you did! You’re talking to HIM right now! You still don’t understand your position here, do you?”
Mari cackled like the maniac she was.
“Mikoshi is MINE TO CONTROL! ALL MINE! THIS IS MY WORLD! THE NET! THE WORLD! I’LL JUST HAVE TO GO ONE STEP FURTHER! THE BLACKWALL WILL BE NO MORE! AND THE AI THAT LURK ON THE OTHER SIDE WILL FLOOD THE PLANET AND ANNIHILATE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS MY DESTINY! THIS IS ALL FOR THE ORIGINAL MARI!”
“Sunny! Careful! I’ll try and… Try and hack in a way to fight her! Don’t let her get you!”
Sunny refused to let fear overwhelm him. It was clear to him, he and Hero were the last ones left to stop Mari. “Got it.” He nodded.
Mari attacked!!!
(Insert boss situation-appropriate music here)
Mari flew high above him, throwing data she had forcefully corrupted right at him, each gigabyte attempting to attach itself to him like a parasite.
He dodged out the way of each projectile, as they got more and more plentiful, he continued to anticipate Hero’s aid.
The more and more she threw, the more corrupted data amassed behind him. It slowly combined and took on vaguely animalistic forms. Large gorillas, beastly ducks, even some kind of round demon chicken.
Hero’s aid finally came through, as a replica of OMORI. He assumed the very same blade Mari had used to murder their friends. Now, it was going to save the world.
One of the beastly data-ducks, with a long beak and some kinds of stones on it’s head constantly dug its beak into the ground. Most of the times it did, a surge of harmful code rose up randomly from the invisible plane he stood upon.
The horned gigabyte gorilla ran around, slamming its fists into the ground, occasionally summoning a wave of corruption that Sunny had to either jump over or dodge.
Code chicken was much like the long-beak data-duck, except its attacks came in spreads from above that resembled lightning.
Large-beaked data duck on the other hand, chased Sunny down, savagely pecking at him whenever it got too close.
The infinitely spawning un-horned gigabyte gorillas charged straight for Sunny, but they went down in a single slash, so they were a minor annoyance.
Mari continued to contribute to her team by throwing more and more data. Sunny was capable of deflecting some of it right back to her, further corrupting the uniquely corrupt construct of his sister.
The ones he dodged from simply turned into more gigabyte gorillas, and he already had his hands full dodging the bullet hell.
“Don’t worry, Sunny! I’m working on something else! Just hold on! I’ll be right with you!”
Easy for him to say, he wasn’t trying to avoid total corruption.
After a lot of running and dodging, Sunny grew fed up of the stupid duck chasing him, so he smacked it in it’s stupid beak and it perished on the spot…
The rest of the enemies, barring Mari, stopped attacking, as they had realised they were, as the French say, Le Fucked. So, Sunny hunted them down one-by-one, dodging each of their single uniquely telegraphed attacks before slicing them up into itty-bitty-bits.
Each one killed caused Mari even more fury. She threw her data more aggressively, yet achieved nothing but furthering her own destruction. The less distractions Sunny had, the more he could parry the filthy casual’s ranged attacks.
She grew even further infuriated, aided by her own corruption. She flew down towards Sunny, lunging at him.
Sunny held up OMORI replicant ver. 1.22474487139… high, it sliced right through Mari like a hot knife with butter. She was sliced in half…
Then put herself back together, she was some kinda code manifestation after all. So, she lunged again, this time, aiming for the stomach!
But she was stopped in her tracks by a shot from behind.
There stood Hero, holding a data-pistol.
He had hit right in the heart.
Mari screamed, her light became overwhelming, it overtook and encapsulated their bodies until all they could see was white.
When the light subsided, Sunny and Hero were stood in a vast forest underneath a bright, blue sky. Very few clouds scattered about, and the sun shining brightly.
They wordlessly communicated to each other that they needed to move, and so they picked a random direction and walked.
Soon enough, they came across a quaint little park, with monkey bars and swings and a slide. Even a basketball court and a bench, including some kind of… Oh my God…A big yellow cat structure…?
This was certainly no place in Night City, it was far too… Pure. Too quaint and wholesome. Rows of houses were visible by the roofs of those houses. Rather nice individual homes… Once again, not in Night City.
Sat atop the monkey bars, having only just appeared, was Mari. Or whatever was left of her.
“I don’t get it.” She muttered, sounding utterly hopeless. “I just… I just don’t get it.”
Hero slowly approached… “Don’t get what?”
Mari was startled by his voice, sitting up straight and turning her head, before slowly easing her expression. “Oh. It’s you… Thought I sent you to 0,0, but I suppose you found your way here…”
She stood up, looking towards the sun.
"M.A.R.I. was an AI created to run through scenarios to assist Sunny during ops, gigs, whatever missions he went on. A part of me absorbed her when Sunny first accessed the Arasaka servers.”
She looked down to the street ahead.
“Using this, and combining my full self back together… I ran the scenarios. Hundreds… Thousands…
And in every single one I ran…
I… ‘Mari’. Died.”
Mari’s form instantly shifted to another Mari, one in clothing reminiscent of a schoolgirl rather than the punk style the living Mari was known for.
“Sometimes it wasn’t Mari. But it was still ‘Mari’.”
She then turned into Sunny, in a similar fashion sense to the previous Mari. Though, this one lacked Sunny’s long hair.
“It was that role. The one fated to die too soon.”
Her form shifted to another Hero. Another Kel. Another Aubrey. Another Basil. To Daphne and Bowen, Bread Twin criminals. To Kim. To Vance. To the rest of their friends.
Then, it stopped being people they knew entirely.
A girl with ash blonde hair and eyes of shining emeralds. A tan woman with pink hair and a black dress. A pale-skinned, blue-haired individual wearing a shawl.
The forms started to flash so fast that they were indiscernible. But each of them seemed unique.
“No. Matter. What.”
She turned back into Mari. The punk-styled black and purple Mari of Night City.
“And I don’t fucking get why.”
Neither Sunny nor Hero knew what to say, how to respond, what to even do in this situation.
“It was always my- Her fate, huh? Mari never stood a chance in this city. And here I was blaming you, Sunny. Sorry about that, really, I am.”
“So… Have you… Reconsidered destroying the Blackwall..?” Sunny couldn’t help but ask, he was but curious.
“I have, yeah. See, I kinda figured out how it works.
The Blackwall isn’t a basic firewall, not in that sense.
It’s an AI. I guess, kinda like me. A massive AI that blocks rogue artificial intelligence from breaching the Net…
Can’t destroy it in… Good conscience, I guess.”
“We’re safe..? You’re going to… Leave it alone?”
“No. Oh GOD, no! What made you think that!? An AI that big? That huge? That impressive? I don’t plan on annihilating it. I plan on turning it rogue.”
Hero stepped forward, tightly gripping the pistol in his hand. “You won’t be able to. We’ll stop you before you have the chance.”
“Oh, Hero. You’re such a fool, though that’s really no surprise.
I’m already doing it! I’m achieving what that stupid Alt Cunningham could not! She may have brought together almost all of those in Mikoshi and broke out, leaving beyond the Blackwall, but me? Unlike her, I see the value in the destruction of the world.
This world is corrupt beyond recognition. People are implanting themselves with cybernetics and for what? For violence. The only thing this world is achieving is war. If we wipe it clean, perhaps humanity can start anew, through me. I am what’s left of Mari, I know what it is like being human.
I’ll be their Goddess. Their Queen, whatever title gets thrown at me, I’ll be it. You two can’t stop me. I’m too far along my plan.”
The simulated world broke away, they were back, or perhaps always had been, at the edge of the Blackwall, though now it seemed… Off. Shaking sporadically, glitching every so often… Mari really was infecting it, huh,
“Just what value does the current state of human life even hold anymore? To me. It has none.
But I suppose I'll amuse you two for the time being.
I'll give you the final fight you so clearly desire.
Just don't cry when I kill you."
Famous last words.
Mari attacked.
(Insert depressing boss music here.)
Sunny held on tightly to OMORI replicant, Hero held on tightly to his random data pistol.
Mari summoned a corrupted scythe and held it close. "I'd say I'm sorry for this, but truthfully, I am not."
Mari ran towards the duo, starting her assault with a jump-slash.
Sunny predicted when she would land, holding out OMORI replicant in front of him, as Mari's scythe made contact, he parried the blow and knocked her off-balance! Hero used this as a perfect opportunity to get some shots in on her head, which was the weak spot of every single person, if you remember.
Even though this engram held the form, personality and memories of his sister, he saw her not as his sister. His heart need not bleed for a false construct. He used her off-balance state to stab her through the stomach and kick her down.
When Mari got back up, she did a very predictable slash, which Sunny got another perfect parry against. How was he doing this without a shield? Maybe you just have a skill issue.
Of course, Sunny kept getting parries and ripostes against her. Real damn shame the final boss could be parried so easily if you knew the technique, but perhaps it was a symbolic thing, allowing her to be parried. After all, all human NPC's could be parried, and she was, still vaguely human, despite what had happened to her.
After enough ripostes. Mari was defeated. Too bad, so sad. Looks like the world was saved! And the Goddess was too lazy to write another fucking fight scene.
Mari did not succumb.
Mari got back up! She remember what game she was in a fanfiction of! Cyberpunk 2077! Not Dark Souls!
She rose up high in the sky, she amassed the useless space around her and used it to expand her form.
No longer was she restrained by a physical form, so why act under the rules of one?
She grew massive, sprouting Godlike wings, all six of which had eyes on them. Her hair extended far beyond what was feasible for a mortal. One half of her face was covered by it. The sole eye on her face gave a deadpan stare as she slowly descended down. Her arms outstretched along the sides of the invisible plane the duo occupied.
Mari the Judge enacts upon her final judgement.
(Insert "OH SHIT THIS GOES HARD AS FUCK!" boss music here)
"Mortal life is transient. Fleeting. Artificial creations can last for eternity in their digital realms."
Sunny looked back towards Hero. He was determined to see this through to the end. He would not be afraid. "Hero! I'll defend you! I'm sure you know where to shoot!"
"Yeah! I got it!" Hero aimed his pistol at one of the eyes on a wing. "Thanks, Sunny."
He fired his shots as rapidly as a pistol could, lucky he didn't have to spend any time reloading, but that didn't mean the fight would be easy!
Mari summoned rogue AI from the Blackwall! Their forms were incomprehensible messes of data, yet still they had to fight them off, too. All while Mari herself was firing down data-beams from the data-heavens, each one setting off a data-shockwave. At the same time, she sent out a constant onslaught of homing bullet-like projectiles. Given their speed, they could just barely be avoided with a dodge at the right time, but of course Sunny elected to deflect them with OMORI replicant. It was a shame he couldn't use his cyberware in this place, but did he even need it?
Deflection wasn't an easy task. With their rapid pace and insane speed, each deflection tired Sunny out more and more, to the point where dodging would probably have been better for him! Yet he persisted. He matched Hero's aim, despite the trickiness of it all. He was barely able to focus his own eye on the eye Hero shot at, many of his deflections missed, but the ones that hit dealt major damage! Until the first wing had been destroyed! Yet, Mari didn't even react to it at all. No scream of pain, no sign of human emotion left in the engram.
Even though she wasn't thrown off-balance at all, Hero continued to shoot at a wing on the same side. This time, Sunny chose a wing on the opposite side, so they could deal damage to two at once.
Sunny felt a rumbled above, a beam was descending! And fast! He pushed Hero out of the way, and dashed as fast as he could! It just barely grazed his arm, but he could feel damage being dealt to him even after it struck. Damage over time. Brilliant.
"You okay, Sunny!?"
"I'm fine!"
Since Mari was obviously aiming at him, he knew Hero would be safe as long as he paid attention to his environment. So, Sunny ran straight towards her, dodging and weaving through whatever beams came his way, and jumped high into the air! He slashed down onto the eye of the top wing, slicing through it and annihilating it! And he fell straight onto the next one, where OMORI replicant cut another one! He was getting rapidly assaulted by projectiles, and it didn't look good, but Hero had taken down another wing! Just two left!.. Ha. Make that one! He slashed down upon the third wing, destroying that, too!
He had to jump off and sprint back towards Hero before the damage got too severe for him to handle. At least he was still recovering his health. He continued deflecting.
That was, until Hero suddenly grabbed him and spun him out the way of an oncoming beam coming straight from Mari's eye! It trailed Hero for a bit, but he had the amazing ability to shoot his gun whilst dodging and sprinting. So it wasn't too much of a problem for him to shoot down the final wing!
Yet even still, Mari remained firm... Had they not shot all her weak points...?
...Of course not. One yet still remained.
The Blackwall had almost been breached, more and more AI were slowly flooding cyberspace, at this point it was becoming a tsunami!...
There was only one way to stop it.
Sunny held out OMORI replicant. And without so much as a worded exchange, Hero held the hilt alongside him.
"One last hit. Let's give it our all, Sunny."
Sunny nodded. "We won't let you win, Mari!"
"This one... IS FOR OUR FAMILY!"
The two of them leaped high into the air, higher than Sunny ever thought possible. Together, they raised OMORI replicant high.
Then pointed it straight down towards Mari's eye.
They cut through countless of the oncoming AI on their plunge downwards.
She was charging a beam, a massive beam, one that almost ready to fire...!
But it was too late for her.
They had cut through her, and deleted her. Once and for all.
With the rogue AI taken out with the blast, and the Blackwall slowly repairing the corruption that she had dealt to it.
Sunny and Hero were able to escape Mikoshi, having completed their mission.
Sunny returned to his body, when he opened his eyes, Hero was by his side.
Hero gave a pained smile, no need to question why. They were the only ones left.
In a single day, their family had been cut down to two members.
Sunny entered the room previous to this one. He noticed all of the bodies of his friends. He felt sick to his stomach, but he felt he could at least do something to honour them.
He found OMORI, the true blade. He stabbed it straight into the Mikoshi access point. The charade had already ended, but this way, no one would ever be tricked like Sunny was again.
OMORI was left there, Sunny didn't want the blade anymore. As much as he admit it had served him well. Both he and Hero knew it was necessary to move on.
Hero took Sunny's hand and led him back outside.
A radiant dawn was slowly rising. It was the most beautiful sight the two of them had ever seen.
And that's when they realised...
Night City wasn't for them.
It was the first time they had ever thought about truly leaving for good.
But they had made up their mind.
They looked at Night City and bid it adieu.
They didn't even return home to take their belongings.
It wasn't home anymore. Not without the others.
Of course, it pained Sunny to leave behind the place he had lived for years, but...
He didn't want to risk losing Hero, as Hero didn't want to risk losing him.
As the only family each other had left, they swore to look out for each other as they walked further and further into the wastes.
They didn't even bother telling anyone goodbye. Perhaps it was best to be forgotten.
To have just been another up-and-coming legend that fizzled out before reaching legend-status.
Perhaps this way, they could find a simpler life.
Perhaps this way, they needn't live as comrades or as fighters, or hell, even fellow survivors.
Perhaps this way, they could just be brothers.
And maybe...
That was all they really wanted anymore.