Cyberpunk: XYZ

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Chapter 2: Y

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"They traverse the badlands in trucks, yes. But when the full moon rises, they remove their human masks.

And what hides underneath, you ask? Reptilians? I answer you "No!" Not reptilians, but werewolves.

At sunset they strip off their clothes and dance nakely, giving in to an animalistic ecstasy.

Then, once they've transformed into the fanged beasts, they set off on the hunt, hungry for human flesh.

Dozens of miles they cover in darkness with ferocious speed like arrows in the night.

And the cause behind these monstrous horrors? Years ago a ship from Alpha Centauri crash landed in the badlands.

Legend tells that it carried a substance highly sought after by the vampire elite in Arasaka.

It could transform Saburo's enemies into werewolves. Leashed and bound to his will. But the crash thwarted his plot.

They spoke not in the language of mortals, no. They howled, screaming in agony, forever removed from their earthly form."

The man's voice was loud and earnest as if he truly believed all that he was spouting, nonsense to all that pass by, usually ignored by everyone... Not today.

"How do you know such things, Garry?" Today, X was comfortably lying by his side, taking occasional whiffs of the incense in his hand.

"I hear them! The voices... They're in my head!" Garry passionately responded before continuing with his preaching... Only to be interrupted yet again.

"Why do you care?" X questioned again, seeming curious.

"Are you out of your mind? Why wouldn't I care?" Garry seemed appalled at such a ridiculous question, "They have to know, the people! The truth is the only thing that can awaken us from this horrible dream!!"

"Dream, huh? What if this is really just a dream?" X muttered to himself, most curious he was, much different than his previous self, "Are you even real? Am I real? Is this world real, or is it just a prison, created to hold us back? I can hear voices, voices from far away, but are they real?

If I take a walk right now, will the world be created around me, or will it always exist? What if the world that I see and hear is the only one that exists, and that right now, nothing exists around the corner of the street?"

Too many questions... I was mistaken. There was an error in the matrix. Have I slept for too long? X is not the one speaking, Y is. He's the most curious of spirits, and no, Y, I would never want to create a prison. I would never want to hold myself back.

However, Y brings up a good point... What's this world? It was an imaginary world. Is it real now just because he exists in it?

"..." Garry was perplexed, bombarded with so many questions that he had to take a minute to process them, halting his speech as he sat by Y's side, "We don't know... I guess all we can do is assume until we find the truth? We gotta believe in something right? And think about it, wouldn't the aliens know?! They're among us! We can find out!! That's right!!"

"Yeah," Y nodded, "We gotta live as if everything around us is real... That's what we've always done, and it served us well so far, hasn't it?"

"X, Vik wants to see you," The conversation was interrupted by Misty's gentle voice, likely bringing good news.

"Know why?" Y wondered.

"Let's just say that fortune is with you," Misty responded with a giggle.

"Fortune?" Y eyed Misty strangely before letting out a smile, "You're lovely Misty, thank you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Misty shrugged.

Y made his way to Vik's clinic, finding the man awaiting him. He really didn't expect to only take one week before being accepted into slavery, all thanks to Misty no doubt.

"Name? Real name I mean?" Vik straight up asked, a job interview no doubt.

"Real name?" Y raised a brow, stroking his chin, "Don't remember, my alias would be Y but you can refer to me as X... That's what everyone calls me."

"Don't remember, huh?" Vik sized up the very peculiar man before him, "Misty told me you refer to yourself as X, why the change in heart?"

"Sometimes I feel like X, sometimes I feel like Y, you know what I mean?" Y shrugged as he took a seat before Vik.

"No, I don't know what you mean," Vik shook his head, feeling like the kid before him will become quite the headache, "Where are you from, kiddo?"

"Don't remember," Y shook his head, "I do remember jumping off a bridge only to find myself here... Don't think It was a suicide attempt though?"

"Huh?" Vik was baffled, with so many questions in mind, but in the end, he only asked the most important question, "Why do you want to become a Ripperdoc?"

"Why?" Y let out a smile, "I've been living far far away from this city, from any city for that matter, so I don't have neither a Neural Link nor an interface plug and If I want them, I would want them implanted by someone trustworthy, preferably myself. Also, the concept of modifying the human body sounds fascinating to me."

"A Ripperdoc lies somewhere between a surgeon, techie and tattoo artist, requiring deep knowledge in all fields... You aren't here as a blank paper, are you?" Vik questioned.

"I had a Master's in Medical Science and a Doctoral in Psychology. I chose to pursue the latter but I remember everything I learned in regards to medical science." Y responded swiftly.

"Oh really?" Vik let out a sigh, certainly not believing Y, "You don't get a Master without having a Neural Link and an interface plug. Many operations require them."

"Hm, I thought as much," Y strangely agreed, "Well, I might be a few years behind on this kind of thing, but I can learn very quickly."

No, not just a few years, but decades behind. How does one adapt to a future so far ahead? So much information and progress can be overwhelming, not to Y.

"Becoming a Ripperdoc takes years to decades, including not only having the necessary knowledge but also the financial capability to start the business... Then comes the hardest part, building up a trustworthy reputation, and just surviving," Vik stated before asking, "So are you sure that you're ready to take this path?"

"I am," Y instantly nodded.

"We'll see," Said Vik as he stood up, "You'll be my assistant from now on, and remember, the only thing you'll be getting paid by is knowledge and my experience. Now, take a seat there."

"Thank you," Y nodded, thanking him not only for accepting him as an assistant but for what he was about to do.

Vik realized that for some reason, Y considers him to be trustworthy, meaning the latter wouldn't mind Vik implanting the Nueralware and the interface plug.

The two are necessary for being a Ripperdoc. Hell, they're necessary for Night City or any other city for that matter, especially the Neural Link.

Y tried to find some knowledge, yet he came to realize that physical books are a rarity in this day and age. There are shards that contain information and books that unfortunately require Neural Link to access, so he couldn't perform his role.

Y took a seat at the operation table, neither he nor Vik spoke about the price of the operations, something Y asked about and found out that they cost a combined 1000 Eurodollar, or 1000 Eddie for short.

"Let's start," The operation started. It's strange that in a city of misery, there can be some kind hearts, very rare, and certainly very temporary, maybe soon to be corrupted by the darkness of the city.

That's certainly a possibility. There is also the fact that X, Y, or someone else spent a lot of time across the last week, chit-chatting. Maybe that someone isn't the kindest of hearts... Through words alone, that may or may not have led Misty to further his goals.

Implanting a neural processor is far easier than one would expect, thanks to the science of nanotechnology.

The basic module is surgically affixed to the spine, where it releases a flood of nanosurgical units into the spinal column.

These microscopic machines thread tiny linkages through the central nervous system, hooking nerve endings to the neural processor.

This process takes some time, about a week before the nanosurgeons have worked their way through the entire body and all the connections are hooked up to the neural processor.

The interface plug on the other hand was much easier, taking only an hour to implant, the process of which Y watched carefully. That's his job, to ask questions, to receive information and store it.

However, there is only so much he can do without access to more detailed information. He can only wait for another week, "This city... Such an intriguing thing."