MC POV — Cyber Dogs Hideout
"Say something, damn it," David said, looking around the room.
We all just stared at him—then, like we'd rehearsed it, we smiled and waved in perfect unison.
No words. No mercy.
The look on David's face was priceless—a mix of confusion, annoyance, and embarrassment. Lucy chuckled quietly next to him, trying (and failing) to hide the slight blush on her cheeks.
Their relationship was official now. And honestly? Good for them.
It always bugged me a little how, in the anime, after someone important died, David and Lucy jumped straight into bed together. It felt too sudden. But here, living it for real, I kinda got it. This was Night City. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed. People cling to what little light they find in the darkness.
Since the cyberpsycho incident, things had cooled off. Pilar was out of action, recovering from his injuries. Doc said he'd be fine, but he needed time.
In the meantime, the Cyber Dogs decided to chill. No gigs, no trouble. Just us, some martial arts movies, and a bucket-load of snacks.
David left with Lucy. He still ran gigs with Maine's crew, pushing himself harder than ever. Guess he felt like he had something to prove.
Right now, the rest of us were crashing on the hideout couches, watching some old-school martial arts flick—the kind where people wore colorful robes and somehow glided over rooftops like it was no big deal.
"Man, this movie is entertaining even though no one has a gun," Jackie said, shoveling popcorn into his mouth like a man possessed.
I smirked. "That's the charm, man. Back before chrome and bullets ruled the world, people solved problems with fists and fancy footwork."
V, stretched out across two beanbags, tossed a popcorn kernel up and caught it expertly with her mouth.
"I think it's kinda sweet. Y'know, simpler times," she said, her eyes never leaving the screen.
I leaned back, arms behind my head, feeling strangely at peace.
"Yeah... movies like this, I used to watch with my dad all the time. We'd sit on the old couch, pretend we were kung fu masters. Heck, I'd even try to copy the moves after the credits rolled. Jumping around the house like an idiot."
(To my readers: it's true. Some of my best memories with my dad are watching those old kung fu movies together. You know, the ones where people run up walls, glide across lakes, and fight twenty guys at once without breaking a sweat. I love that stuff—even today.)
On the screen, a dramatic fight was reaching its climax. Two masters leaping through bamboo forests, weapons flashing like lightning. The hits sounded like thunderclaps. The music swelled. And somewhere between the action and the over-the-top wirework, time slipped by.
Without even realizing it, night fell. The city outside hummed with neon and the low buzz of distant sirens, but inside our hideout, it was just laughter, warmth, and the faint smell of buttered popcorn.
For once, we let ourselves relax.
But Night City doesn't let you forget for long.
The moment the movie credits ended, my phone buzzed. I glanced at the ID: David.
Frowning, I answered.
"Yo, what's—"
"Guys, I need your help."
His voice wasn't just urgent. It was desperate—like someone standing on the edge of a cliff, holding on by their fingertips.
The room shifted instantly. Jackie put down his bucket. V sat up straight, tossing the last popcorn aside. I was already standing, grabbing my gear without a word.
The movie glow faded into the dark.
Reality slammed back.
Something had gone wrong.
Something big.
And David needed us.
David's POV
Maine called me for a gig.
A big one.
Recover some important Arasaka data from a corpo named Tanaka. Problem was, they couldn't find the bastard. He was slippery. It went back and forth for a while until Kiwi mentioned something—BDs from a guy called JK. Then I told them I had a plan to smoke Tanaka out.
Of course, Maine couldn't resist teasing me, making jokes about me and Lucy being a thing now. I just rolled my eyes.
Some time later, we were dragging Jimmy Kurosaki's unconscious ass through Night City. He tried to hit us with an EMP. Pretty smart... if we didn't have me.
The EMP hit everyone nearby hard—optics glitching, chrome sparking—but me? 8's focus tech kicked in automatically. Protected my systems, kept me standing. It even hit JK harder than anyone else, knocking him out cold.
Now I get why 8 still uses an old-school phone instead of jacking it straight into his head.
One hack and it's game over. One second you're standing... next second you're dead.
We got JK back to his workplace—his fancy BD studio. The second we walked in, two big-ass drones popped out—heavy arms, bulletproof plating, fast. Normally they'd tear a normal crew apart.
Too bad for them I brought my new pistol.
One shot. Drone one drops.
Second shot. Drone two crashes into the editing bay.
Maine gave a laugh. JK, after seeing that, decided it was time to cooperate. Smart choice.
Tanaka had booked a private BD tonight. All we had to do was wait.
While we were killing time, I started poking around JK's files. And that's when I found it. A BD of James Norris.
The original owner of my Sandevistan. He was a MaxTac lieutenant—strong, fast, a real legend...
Until he lost it.
Until the chrome took over and he turned full cyberpsycho. Wrecked a whole street before MaxTac finally gunned him down.
JK must've seen the look on my face. The bastard started talking, trying to get inside my head. Telling me it was only a matter of time before I snapped too.
Said no one could handle that much chrome forever.
Said even the strongest fall eventually.
I didn't say anything back. Didn't need to. I know my body. I've got Vik watching over me. I've got 8's tech keeping me stable. I'm not James Norris. I'm not some broken MaxTac dog.
Still...
For just a second, there was a flicker of doubt. I crushed it before it could grow.
Tanaka was coming.
And when he walked through that door, we'd make our move.
"You're ahead of schedule. It usually takes months before I hear about your next release," Tanaka said coolly.
"Perspective, as always," JK replied with a smirk. "Quality scrolls are hard to come by. But see, that's exactly what makes this one special. I assume you'll want this baby tuned right away?"
JK kept rambling, hyping up the BD like it was the next brain-busting masterpiece. But Tanaka's patience was clearly wearing thin. Same went for us. We weren't here to listen to corpo-fluff. This was our window—no escape routes, no backup for him.
Tanaka still kept his calm, that smug expression like he had it all under control. Until shit hit the fan.
He raised his arms, and suddenly—his hands started launching goddamn nails. Auto-injectors hidden in his wrists, launching them like bullets.
Everyone dove for cover. JK wasn't so lucky.
I triggered my Sandevistan, time slowing as I dashed behind him and slammed my pistol into the back of his head—hard. Tanaka dropped, unconscious before he even hit the floor.
Everyone was okay… except JK.
One of the nails had gone straight through his eye.
He never screamed. Just dropped. Dead.
Poor bastard.
Kiwi's voice crackled in over comms:
"Trauma Team en route. Fast."
No time to waste. Maine and I grabbed Tanaka's limp body, and we hauled him out of there. Tied, gagged, stripped of anything useful. We tossed him in the van and got the hell out.
The drive was silent, the weight of the situation hanging heavily in the air. Tanaka had been knocked out cold, his face pale under the harsh lights of the van. We'd thrown him in the back, tied up and gagged, just to make sure he couldn't pull any last-minute stunts. He'd been a little too confident back there in the BD studio, but now? He was just another corpo scum, one we were about to make pay for his part in this mess.
But even though Tanaka was out, something else felt off. I could feel the pressure building, that familiar tension that made my heart race. It wasn't just the job — it was the crew.
Maine had been quieter than usual. And that wasn't a good sign.
He sat next to me in the back of the van, his arms crossed tightly, staring out the window. His hands kept twitching, like he couldn't quite control them, and there was a strange, unsettling calm to his face. His eyes, though… they didn't have the usual spark. The lights in his pupils flickered, a cold, metallic gleam in them.
"Yo, Maine," I said, trying to snap him out of whatever headspace he was in. "You good?"
He didn't answer at first. Then his lips twitched, a faint grin spreading across his face. But it wasn't a friendly smile. It was something else.
"Just thinkin', kid," he muttered, his voice oddly distant. "Thinkin' 'bout how much chrome I got in me. All the shit I've been through. Feels… good, y'know? Feels like I could just rip everything apart."
I could hear the edge in his voice. The hesitation in his breath. The telltale signs of cyberpsychosis.
"Shit, Maine…" I muttered under my breath. I looked over at Dorio Her face was pale too, concern flashing in her eyes, but she didn't say anything. It was like we were all too afraid to mention it, even though we knew the inevitable was coming.
Maine's POV
The world felt like it was narrowing down, the voices in my head growing louder. The overwhelming urge to smash something, tear someone apart… it was hard to ignore. I wanted to lash out. Wanted to tear Tanaka's throat out right here and now But I couldn't. I had to keep it together.
"Get outta my head," I muttered to no one in particular. But the thoughts kept growing, the rage bubbling up, thick and black like tar. My fists clenched involuntarily. I could feel the grip tightening. The others were too busy with the task at hand to notice, but I could hear their hearts racing. I could hear them wondering if I was going to snap.
David's POV
Chaos—that's the only way I can describe everything happening right now.
Maine's on the verge of turning cyberpsycho.
He knocked out Kiwi while she was still in a deep dive searching through Tanaka's data.
I wanted to abandon this gig. I really did.
But Lucy stopped me. Said we can't back down.
In the end, she decided to finish it… but I had to stay with her.
"Deep dive port?" I asked, confused.
She didn't answer. Just looked at me. So I didn't push. I just jacked her in.
Lucy's POV
"I really don't want to do this… but I don't have much of a choice. I'll make it quick," I muttered.
So many firewalls. But I pushed through in time.
Found what I needed. Started downloading the data.
Then something popped up. A file.
"David?" I whispered.
I opened it.
James Norris – Missing cyberware. Sandevistan currently used by David Martinez. Known by few.
David's POV
What the fuck is happening?
Why is everything spiraling so fast?
Tanaka almost died. Maine's losing it. Trauma Team is inbound.
I couldn't think straight. But Dorio snapped me out of it.
No choice—I grabbed Lucy and took her back to the van.
We waited. For Maine and Dorio.
But then—gunshots.
I was about to run back in. Help them.
Lucy grabbed my arm. "Don't," she begged. "Please… don't."
I looked her dead in the eye.
"Lucy… is there something you're not telling me? Something you saw in Tanaka's file?"
She didn't answer. Just stared at me, that complicated look in her eyes.
This was going to end badly.
I couldn't do it alone.
So I called 8.
8's POV
We pulled up to the location. First thing we saw—Lucy. Sitting alone in a van.
V went to check on her.
Me, Lola, and Jackie headed up the stairs.
I told Jackie I'd go on ahead.
Then I stopped time.
Now it was just me and Lola.
I moved up the stairs. Everything frozen.
David—mid-sprint—frozen in motion.
Past him. Deeper in.
Trauma Team. Frozen.
Then deeper still—chaos.
Maine and Dorio, surrounded.
Maine had his gun pointed at her.
She was dodging, barely keeping up.
I took a deep breath.
"Maine… you fucking idiot."
Me and Lola got to work.
Took out Trauma Team and the cops.
Tied them up.
Quickhack—knocked them out cold.
Dragged Dorio to safety.
Disarmed Maine.
Then—
I started time again.
"What the hell—where's my gun?" Maine growled.
"Maine. You fucked up."
"That voice… 8?" he said, confused.
His eyes locked on me—but he wasn't really seeing me.
"Go to sleep, Maine."
No hesitation—quickhack. He dropped.
"Maine!!" Dorio screamed, running up.
Then she saw me. Confused.
"He's fine. Just knocked out. But we don't have time. More are coming."
Footsteps echoed. Dorio raised her gun.
I gently pushed it down.
It was David.
Relief on his face.
Then more footsteps. Jackie.
"8! You came. What a relief. Is Maine—?"
"He's okay. Unconscious. But we need to move."
I nodded toward the hostage.
"Let's untie Tanaka. Jackie—you carry Maine to the van. I'll stay behind, distract them."
"OK," Jackie said.
He picked up Maine like nothing.
"Thank you," Dorio whispered.
Everyone ran.
Except David.
"Let me help."
I shook my head.
"David… go to Lucy. She's not okay. She needs you right now."
He looked like he wanted to argue—
But then he saw me. Changing. Morphing.
I became Maine.
"David. Just go. Trust me."
I spoke with Maine's voice.
He froze. Shocked.
Until Lola bit him in the ass.
"AH! Damn it, Lola!"
He left.
I turned to Lola.
"Okay, girl. Take this C4. Plant it where I marked. Then join the others."
Woof [Got it.]
MaxTac was almost here.
Time to give them a show.
I stepped onto the balcony, holding two things—
Tanaka, unconscious in one hand.
A detonator in the other.
They saw me.
I took a deep breath.
"FUCK YOU, NIGHT CITY!!!"
BOOM.
Half the building came down. Rubble swallowed everything.
"That should be enough. MaxTac'll think Maine died here."
Then—
I activated Ghost. Phased through the rubble.
Let them dig through ashes.
I made a call.
"Vik… I need your help. Time to downgrade an idiot."
End of Chapter.
"This chapter took me a long time to write. To be honest, I was stuck and didn't know what to write. I used ChatGPT to help me come up with ideas. I also rewatched the episodes, trying to make it unique—I didn't want to just copy and paste.
Each time I wrote something I didn't like, I deleted it. When I thought something was good, I used ChatGPT to fix any errors and read it over again. If I still didn't like it, I erased it and started over—rinse and repeat.
I finally finished the chapter, and I think this might be the longest one I've written, or at least the one that took the longest to complete."