Cyberpunk: XYZ

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Chapter 25: Blood On Metal I

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X was officially broke, having only a few more eddies for food. So few that they would probably last him a few days.

The takedown operation on the websites is out of his hands right now, left for the Tyger Claws to complete for him.

However, that can not happen overnight, and even if he completes the operation, he can not directly withdraw the money.

He would have to provide proof that he was the one who led to the downfall of the websites, which is easy.

What's difficult is transferring the money to offshore transnational accounts, and discreetly passing the funds around till those watching lose sight of it.

The operation is too big not to be noticed, so they'll try to trace him back, whether it's the Tyger Claws or the vengeful Maelstroms.

That's why you usually need fixers. They do all the fixing themselves, washing the eddies from any traces, albeit at a cost.

X now can only try to finish some of the other gigs, mostly investigative gigs.

However, the life of Netrunners isn't so easy. According to what X found, the earnings of an average Solo Netrunner are around 600 eddies per month.

The average Netrunners only deals with public gigs which they usually work on for a week, a sprint to completion lest the competition finish the gig before them, and thus all of their hard work for naught.

These types of gigs usually pay at most 300 Eddies. Someone can theoretically make 1200 Eddies a month, but it's not common at all.

Netrunning is a very top heavy field of work. What the top 1% look for aren't these types of common gigs, but the jackpots.

The top Netrunners are the opportunists who look for that piece of information and data that changes everything.

They usually earn nothing a month because they're pursuing a big target, and when they hit, they hit big, earning tens of thousands of Eddies to even hundreds of thousands.

X hit the jackpot in the websites takedown operation.

Now, however, all that's left is the average Joe gigs which he determined could earn him about 500 to 800 Eddies a month if he uses his free time well.

Just yesterday, he finished a gig, so why is he still so broke? It's because of the thing before him, a piece of art.

What a gorgeous piece of metal it was. It just sat there, in all of its glory, reflecting the rays of light falling upon it from the bench lamp.

It was a weapon that didn't look as gorgeous as X sees it. Whatever he sees is farther from reality.

What he sees is a pristine ebony Smith & Wesson Model 500, a five-shot, double/single action large-caliber revolver produced by Smith & Wesson, firing the .500 S&W Magnum cartridge.

It was his weapon, his partner in crime... Unfortunately, it didn't follow him here.

The reality is that the thing sitting on the table is a Malorian Overture,

A .42 caliber, six-shot, semiautomatic, double-action, Power-class revolver.

It's crafted with the classic Malorian traits – heavy, reliable, and packed with firepower.

Although Malorian has been faring worse on the market than its competitors in recent years, the Overture is still an iconic, high-quality weapon that can be found on the streets.

The weapon was bought on the streets for no more than a few Eddies, and that's because it's an old defective product that attracts the attention of only rust, not customers.

If he were to buy the preem version, he would have to pay a lot more, money he doesn't have, and it's cheaper this way, thus the basket of similar rusty weapons by his side.

If the weapon inside were just broken and rusty, it wouldn't be a problem. What's problematic is that they're defective, just garbage thrown by the Emperors of fraud, corpos; to the streets.

X first checked all of the guns, making sure they were unloaded before evaluating the damage.

The ones with only external rust damage were put to the side while the ones severely corroded were put to the right.

The disassembly process then started by removing the grips and separating the side plates, then carefully dismantling the internal components.

The Overture's cylinder was oversized with locking mechanisms thus needing detachment from the frame.

He Extracted the ejector rod and inspected it for bending, wear, or any defect.

X then applied rust remover for surface rust before cleaning each component with a soft brush and gun cleaning solvent.

Naturally, he also had to polish the components to restore the chrome, giving the weapons back some of their visual allure.

He isolated the broken parts from the intact ones. Some of the broken parts were so busted that it just wasn't worth it to repair them, so he put them to the side for recycling.

Now for the repair, the very reason why he is in Vik's clinic right now despite there being no work today.

There was everything he needed in the clinic, starting with Vik's external cyber arm.

He attached the necessary tools to his cyber arm and started repairing the components that were mildly damaged.

Most of the barrels were corroded. Some of the cylinders had issues while the ejector rods were bent or misaligned.

The hammer and springs were straight-up broken, and so were the firing pins.

He started by using Smart Micro-Welder, perfect for sealing cracks in frames, rejoining parts, or building up worn-down areas on metal.

The included heads-up display (HUD) or holographic overlay allows for visualizing heat zones.

Another necessary tool would be an electro-sonic cleaner that uses ultrasonic vibrations along with electromagnetic pulses to break down contaminants and lift rust particles.

It's commonly used by Docs to clean tools and cyberware, the same with precision laser cutter to customize parts.

Most of these tools require augmented reality glasses which provide a heads-up display overlay, helping with identifying parts, viewing real-time assembly guides, and even simulating how the firearm should operate.

They also feature thermal and stress analysis to identify potential weak points.

All of the previous also allowed X to craft some custom parts, from simple springs to modifications and improvements for the gun, specifically for more power.

That went on for several hours before the reassembly process took place, starting with using several types of lubricants.

X knows there are machines for such processes, one called Smart Lubricant Applicator, but Vik doesn't seem to have that, likely too expensive to be worth.

Therefore, he did the work himself, having to precisely apply a Graphene-Based Lubricant to parts like the hammer, trigger, and cylinder.

The said lubricant bonds well with metal, making it ideal for high-stress parts.

Then he applied Smart Fluid, an adaptive lubricant that changes viscosity based on temperature or friction levels, maintaining a stable lubricating effect even under heavy use.

Here he was now, left with parts for three Malorian Overtures despite first starting with more than a dozen broken revolvers, not bad at all.

X started carefully reassembling the parts while double-checking their condition, Beginning with the internal mechanisms like springs, hammer, and trigger.

He then attached the side plate and grips, and naturally, the cylinder and barrel were last.

Then came Inspecting the action by Manually cycling the action to ensure smooth function, and Checking for proper cylinder rotation and hammer engagement without ammo.

X polished the exteriors for that black steel finish, chroming them up and paying homage to his partner in crime.

Conducting a dry fire test is of course necessary, testing the trigger pull and hammer mechanism to check for smooth operation and proper alignment.

He even conducted an actual fire test in the back room just to make sure. Anyway, not like the people of Night City would give a fuck since gunfire is a common occurrence to them.

X took a shower and used a cologne to get rid of the smell of metal before wearing his clothes and slotting in the guns and several knives in his gun belt.

Putting on his wool coat ensured the belt was hidden, and only then did he walk out to an inky sky.

He must've forgotten about time while at work because despite coming in very early to the clinic, he still was able to finish his work only by four in the morning.

X forgot to sleep, eat, or anything else for that matter, solely focused on the task beforehand, a task he has yet to complete, 'Now, we have the metal... We just need blood.'