1 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners – Episode 11 - a story by Raggalaus A uthor’s thoughts: I am that kind of person that hates tragedies, especially love tragedies. The anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners made my heart break apart like it hasn’t happened for quite a while It felt like a ripperdoc opened my chest, took out my heart, split it in half, threw one half away and put the other back in. I was alive, but something was missing. I was shocked and my feelings were scattered as I was slowly starting to realize that the ending was indeed going to be AS bad as it is. When I first watched the final episode , it was the moment in which Rebecca got smashed by Adam when I knew that nothing was going to be alright . Even though we could have guessed the theme of this show from th e very beginning and it was even more ob v ious after Maine died, I just had some hope s left, but they were crushed . Eventually I started crying as David was seemingly headshot by Adam Smasher. I just stared at the screen with an open mouth, left speechless until after the ending credits had finished. After that I started crying hard again and I felt seriously depress e d . I couldn’t stop thinking about this anime even days after I finished it, be cause it left such a big impact on my mind and heart and left me crying every time I listened to the song “I really wanna stay at your house”. Depressing ending s like that are ev en worse when considered the fact, that I absolutely love everything else in these kinda shows . It is a dystopic world in which almost no one is getting a happy life . In the end we all want ed to see at least one glimpse of hope in a dark and disgusting pla ce as Night City. That’s why for me the story would have been complete with David and Lucy – at least those two – getting a happy ending , to show, that love is truly stronger than anything else and it will in fact prevail even before the darkest times. Yet , we did not get that ending and this is something that I could not accept. Why bring love into that kind of genre in the first place, if you are not pulling through with it? Even after searching the world wide web, I only found fractions of what I imagined to be the perfect ending that they deserved. Thankfully , I found something really good pretty soon, where an artist calling himself Liping54009663 created some wonde rf ul pictures of what could have happened and released them on Twitter and P ixiv (Link to the p age : https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/6777796 ) It was showing David defeating Adam Smasher, saving Rebecca by bringing her to the r ipperdoc and David following Lucy on to the moon with his own stole n rocket . It is a nice fantasy and almost perfect already, but I can’t really think of this ending as the actual ending since it wouldn’t add up with the events of the Cyberpunk 2077 game in which Adam Smasher is supposed to still be alive A lso , the fact that David went to the moon on his own after Lucy when he has defeated his opponent anyways is kind of strange, cause why wouldn’t they fly together in the first place ? And w hat’s with his cyberpsychosis? The thing is, I can’t really relate to an ending as the actual ending when it doesn’t add up with what’s canon and is obviously a wis h - ending that cannot happen in that way , as nice as it would be Therefore, I thought I tr ied to write my own ending of the story, which, in theory, from my pers pective , could be quite possible considering everything we see and know from the anime and the game so that it might as well be treated as canon for people like me, that can’t accept the tragic end of this beautiful love - story. 2 While writing this fan fiction I was in fact la rgely inspired by the work of the already mentioned artist, but I wanted to change some things to make it more fitting and realistic . Also, a s much a s I love pictures , without any te xt it feels incomplete to me So, here’s my episode 11 fo r Cyberpunk: Edgerunners as it should be possible without redoing any parts of the actual story – just filling in some extra content with maybe a little bit of fantasy ( it is a scifi - fantasy anime after all ) at the right times to basically make the same en ding , but it is a happy one due to the additions I’m doing. Just imagine the ending to have been the penultimate episode before the actual final one is shown. It seemed to be dramatic to shock the viewer, but now in the REAL last episode, the true ending is revealed. For that purpose , we need to go back to a certain event of the previous chapter. We start off at the moment where Lucy got into the car with Falco and he told her about David’s last request. 3 Chapter I “I’m sorry, we couldn’t go to the moon together.” That’s what he told me to pass on to you. Lucy’s eyes are widening in shock. Her heart freezes when she realizes how David promised to bring her to the moon, but never promised to actually come with her. Is this how it ends? Is she going to leave the love of her life back to die only to accomplish her own selfish dream? A dream that she does no longer hold anymore since it was a childish way o f thinking that she had before she even met David. No. This cannot be the end. She won’t accept it. “Falco, I beg of you! T urn around the car immediately!” Lucy panics “I won’t leave David to die like this!” “I already told you, I can’t. It’s David’s last favour he asked of me .” Falco replie s , while trying to stay strong as he too can feel the pain hurting in his chest. A moment later he can hear the sound of a gun releasing the safety catch behind him. Lucy is pointing her weapon to his head. “You are my friend. I really don’t want to hurt you, Falco... b ut I’ve killed countless times in order to save David. Please don’t make me do this.” Falco hesitates and slowly releases the foot from the gas pedal. “Lucy, this is suici - “ “I WILL GO BACK! WITH OR WITHOUT YOU!” she screams. “You have 5 seconds to decide if I go alone or if you want to get your stupid ass up and help me out, dammit! ” Falco is in a pinch now. He is fully aware that the chances of them saving David from this hopel ess situation are probably not worth risking their lives Although he isn’t even sure , if Lucy would actually really kill him, he is not ready to take the risk , considering her actions “Shit.” He hits the break hard while turning the vehicle around 180 degrees “You better not mess up If anything happens to you David is gonna kill me.” The car is heading back at full speed. Lucy is lowering her weapon. “ Thanks, Falco...” “So, what exactly was your plan again?” Lucy is thinking fast . “I know we can’t win against this monster. He is a killer machine My cyberdeck was n’t even able to leave a scratch on him ... so, w e quickly jump in, take David with us and make for a run.” “You are too optimistic to think this will work.” At this point Falco doesn’t believe that they will be able to get out of there alive anymore. Nonetheless, he is thinking of David. When he drove away from him just seconds ago, he hated himself for doing so. This way , at least, he can die leaving no regrets. “Falco, slow down!” Lucy points at something on the ground as they arrive back at the battle scene. Falco understands and acts accordingly. Lucy manage s to pick up what’s left of Rebecca’s body and put s it into the backseat of the ir car while passing by. Everything has to happen very fast if they want to have a chance. “Hold out for a little longer , Becca.” 4 From the remaining distance, they can identify Adam Smasher standing over David who apparently is losing the fight. They continue to drive at high speed until they reach their desired destination just at the last possible moment , crashing the car into the killer machine Adam Smasher who is slightly surprised of what is happening around hi m . The impact is tossing him a few meters through the air , deflecting his aimed gunshot and ultimately sa ve s David from his impending destiny , which would have awaited him if they were one second late. “ How do you like this?” Falco shouts while bringing the car to a standstill. “Lucy! ? What are you doing here? I thought you had gotten out already !” David is shocked. He sacrificed himself to get his love to safety. Now why is she here again? Lucy ha s no time to answer. In the chaos they created, the woman is quickly separating David’s torso from the remaining strings attached to the cyberskeleton with her monowires and grabs the limbless body while Falco is shooting some bullets at the somewhat confused Adam Smasher Obviously, they don’t do any damage at all , but Falco i s hoping to buy them a few seconds that way “Now that makes everything easier for me. Thanks for coming back, that way I don’t need to run after you.” Smasher states. He is slightly impressed by their insanity an d prepares to kill them all together , by pointing his guns at them . Lucy is ready to be killed, since everything she has left to lose is right here so it’s do or die anyway s David on the other hand remains speechless as he doesn’t understand what’s happening Even before Lucy is able to fully pull the torso into the car, Falco is already hitting the gas pedal on maximum output to gain some space between them and the ir opponent The netrunner almost loses grip of David but eventually manages to drag t hem both into the vehicle . If Falco had waited for one more second, they would have been killed by the projectiles fired at them. “David! Thank God, you are alive ! ” She is hugging the immobile body. “ W hy did you come back? I told you to bring Lucy to safet y , Falco! ” David utters. As the driver is focus ing on getting away, he decides to skip his answer. “ David. Listen to me. I don’t want to go to the moon without you!” Lucy starts with watery eyes while the airstream is running through her hair. “You wanted to sacrifice yourself for my dream to go to the moon . But it seems you gravely misunderstood my feelings.” Falco is checking the side mirror to find that Smasher is closing in on them. David starts to look confused, yet averts his eyes from her , fee ling a little guilt y , cause a part of him already knew that truth, but he just couldn’t think of another way to get them both out. He remains silent. “ I was still clueless when I told you about this naive dream of mine . It’s true, I hate this city. It feels like a prison. It always felt like that. But that was before I met you. Since I got to know you, I realized that , no matter , how hard or suffocating the world is, as long as you have someone to share those feelings w ith, everything will be alright.” A tear is running down her face. Her voice is shaking. 5 “And before I even knew it, you have already long become my dream .. I love you! S o, if coming back to you means death for the both of us, I will gladly die with a smi le. I’d rather go out with a blast together with you than live on the moon without you for the rest of my life Because Y OU are my moon, you are my man. ” She is kissing her boyfriend. David is still speechless, but as he can see the determination in his girlfriends’ eyes , he takes a deep breath with what’s left of his lungs. “ I understand I’m sorry, Lucy. It seems we didn’t talk enough lately. Let’s make that up in the future.” He smiles. “Alright. Let’s see if we can get outta here first . This is our last fight. Let’s freaking do this!” H e is shouting at Smasher : “Hey, shithead! Now tell me, how often were you able to use the sandevistan consecutively in a day ?” Smasher doesn’t answer as he wasn’t sure of the last time he tested his limits , since the reach of limits hasn’t occurred for a long time to him Instead , he proceeds to lift his arm in preparation for the next shot. “It doesn’t matter, be cause this is the end for you.” “ Hehe, t he sandevistan was my first implant, it’s basically a part of me. I’ve used it day in day out to perfect my usage of it. Let’s see if you can beat me in my specialty ... Falco, keep going at full speed!” “ You don’t need to tell me that.” Lucy realizes what David is trying to do. “David, you can’t! Your body won’t be able to take the damage !” “It’s our only chance, Lucy. Hey, t rust me, like always.” He grins “Just keep holding us tight.” Lucy nods and keeps embracing David with one hand, while the other is reaching for Falco. Then David activates his sandevistan to slow down time around him , allowing the car to travel at a much higher pace relative to what other people around them are able to perceive He has used thi s technique together with vehicles in the past already, so he knew this would work and it wa s the only possib le way to escape. Through the physical connection between his friends, David was able to project the ability of the device on Falco , who could now make use of the “speed boost”. While they keep driving away , Smasher is following them , of course using his own sandevistan to keep up the pace , but his shot misse s them once again due to the ir devices’ activation just at the right time. David continue s to activate it again. He coughs up some blood between the usages , but goes on to use it a couple more times. Adam does the same. Eventually , after a crazy and exhausting race , Adam Smasher finally stop s chasing after them, as he is no longer able to keep up with them due to the ir utiliz ation of the sandevistan together with a vehicle, leaving Smasher no other choice but to give up due to him still being limited to his features of a human being, in which there is no realistic way of outrunning a car. The mercenary stops to watch his prey wandering off until he can no longer see them. 6 “To be able to run away from me... you really are slightly better than my usual targets . Well, I had my fun. You probably won’t be abl e to stay alive in your condition anyways. ” Adam is talking to himself, then turns around to head back. “What was your name again... right, Martinez. I’ll remember you.” Meanwhile, t he group is leav ing the Arasaka tower far behind them . They keep on driving for a while to be sure that they lost their pursuer for good. “Did... did we do it?” David screeches. “I think it’s safe to say we are out of his range for now.” Falco admits before David coughs up mo re blood until he finally loses consciousness Even though he manage d to safe himself and his comrades , the situation is looking bad. After all, that was the first time David used the sandevistan that often in such short amount of time plus he has already been in bad shape , physically and mentally, before the battle even started. “Falco! You know where we need to go, right? Please! Hurry!” “Yes, I know.” 7 Chapter II As soon as they arrive at their trusted ripperdoc’s place, they immediately carry the unconscious David , as well as the ripped - apart Rebecca , into the clinic and lay them down gently but determined onto the operating table Doc is surprised to see them still alive , even only barely. “Whoa, don’t come rushing into here so casually... hm? If th at isn’t David... or more, what’s left of him.” “Get to work, old man! You need to save them and you need to start right away!” Lucy declares as she is putting the money for the service onto the table. “Well, this looks like a big pile of shit you came to me with. I’m not sure if there is anything left to fix, girlie.” Doc is taking a pack of eddies and starts sniffing on it while directly looking into Lucy’s eyes. Lucy proceeds with doubling the amount of money and keeps eye - contact with him. “Please!” H e finally stands up, taking a closer look at the two bodies in front of him. While he is leaning down on David to see if he’s still breathing, the boy suddenly opens his remaining eye “Ple... se... sav... Be...cca...” is the only thing he is able to mutter before h is eyes are strangely circulating around his face. He is on the verge of going into cyberpsychosis but then falls asleep again. The doctor is looking at Rebecca to check her status. “ That one is probably beyond repair.” he is pointing at her Lucy and Falc o are lowering their head. “For any normal ripperdoc, that is.” He starts grinning. “Good for you, that I ain’t a normal one.” “Can you save them?” Falco asks again. “I may be able to. But it’s critical.” he puts Rebecca in place and starts his work . “You two better get the fuck outta here while I do my thing. I’ll call you when they are either done , or dead.” Lucy is missing the words to respond. She can’t handle the thought that they are not going to make it. Sh e just risked everything, only for them to die? That was not acceptable. “Come on, let’s head out.” Falco grabs her shoulders and is escorting her out of the room. Now they wait. The waiting feels like eternity . They are just sitting next to each other on the bench, not speaking a word. Normally, this would be the time when Lucy starts to smoke another cigarette, but she really doesn’t feel like it. She keeps staring into space, not moving an inch. Some sketchy people are passing by but even if they were up to something , she wouldn’t be able to realize it. Her mind is empty. And so, the hours are passing. “Huh? Where is Falco?” she thinks to herself , still staring straightforward . “I thought he was sitting next to me... well, I really can’t care about everything.” Something cold touch es her cheek and snaps her back into reality. “Lucy. Here, your drink.” Falco is handing her a canned beer. “Thanks...” He is taking a seat next to her and they both open their drinks. 8 “How many hours have passed?” “ ... i t will work out, how about you go back into the car and sleep for a while. It’s better than letting those thoughts get to you.” “No, I wanna stay here until David wakes up.” They continue to sit in silence for a while. After some more time Lucy’s eyes s lowly begin to close before she finally falls to sleep. “...cy ... ucy...” Lucy wakes up, not knowing how she got into the car. It must have been Falco. “ What day is it?” “ One day after our fight. The doctor said, we can now visit them.” She is wide awake immediately after hearing that message. “Let’s go.” They enter the operating room, David still lying on the surgical table, while Rebecca is sleeping tight in a bed next to him. “That sure took me an all - nig hter. That means extra costs for you. ” “How did it go?” Lucy asks, a little afraid of the answer. “I got good news and bad news for you.” Doc replied. Lucy’s heart - rate is increasing rapidly. “What... is wrong ? ” The ripperdoc is standing up and approaching the netrunner “I managed to get the girl into a stable state. She lost about 60 percent of her original body. I replaced it with implants largely similar to her original petite physique. She is still asleep now, but her brain functions seem to be intact, meaning that she will probably wake up in a few hours .” Falco seems relieved, whereas Lucy’s fears are growing. This obviously counts as good news, so does that mean ... David is... “I also got super fresh limbs for the little boy Even though they are only replacement parts, not meant for fighting, but only for the original purpose of a human being. Not the type of cyberware stuff the kid is normally getting. ” “Does that mean he is alive?” “Yeah.” Lucy deeply exhales as her worst fear has been overcome She feels like in a dream and is finally able to stop trembling. “But...” Doc continues, “ ... he has another problem in which not even I can help him. It seems your man has finally lost his mind to cyberpsychosis.” The two of them make wide eyes , Lucy starts trembling again. 9 “While operating him , he woke up from time to time and I could see his mind going crazy , if only ever for a few seconds before he went to sleep again After I finished attaching one of his limbs, he even attacked me with them , so I had to handcuff him to the table. ” Only now is Lucy noticing that David is tied up to prevent him from moving She is throwing a serious look at Doc and runs up to her boyfriend. “Hey, don’t give me that look. There are many reasons to have handcuffs...” “David! David, can you hear me?!” she is leaning over his body, the boy unconscious. “Wake up, David! It’s me, Lucy!” David is slowly opening his eyes. “Lucy? I’m glad you are safe.” “David. How do you feel?” “I f eel weird... somehow, far away... where am I?” he asks absentmindedly. “Everything will be fine, I promise.” she hugs him, still lying on the table. “ Mom?... hehe... yes, mom. I did it ...” David’s eyes beg i n to roll again. He starts screaming and tries to get out of his shackles, but fails, since he has normal arms now, without any superhuman powers. The mental illness is striking once again. “David! Come back to me! I’m here with you, don’t leave me alone.” She gives him a long, but effective kiss. His eyes are gradually returning to normal. “Lucy, I’m sorry. Thanks for saving me ... again.” “David, you came back to me.” Lucy feels relieved and puts her head onto his chest. 10 Chapter III A little later that day, Falco turns on the TV to watch the news and distract himself a bit . Lucy is still lying next to David. “ That must be uncomfortable to sleep in a position like that ” , Falco thinks to himself. “Hey... seems we did it , after all.” A silent voice can be heard in the room. Falco turns around . Much to his joy, he finds an awoken Rebecca, waving her hand in his direction. “Rebecca! You are finally awake! How are you?” Falco asks while sitting down next to the still weaken e d little girl Doc doesn’t move an inch out of his chair, only catching a glimpse of them before continuing to count his money. Lucy is starting to move and turns her head to Rebecca , slightly lighting up a little. “Only thing I can remember... is being crushed by some black fat dude. Thought I was a goner for a second ... Where’s David? ” Falco is looking into the sleeping boys’ direction. “Well, he is ok ... to an extent, it seems.” “ I understand, ... t hat’s good.” The little solo is happy to hear that message , but at the s ame time remembers the last time she had seen David He was clearly going into cyberpsychosis and judging from Falco’s phrasing, it didn’t just go away overnight While they are enjoying the somewhat cheerful atmosphere , they can hear the news in the background. The assault on the Arasaka tower that they made is already spreading word. It seems that the groups’ actions gave them some reputation, to say the least. Not many people are as stupid as to attack a corporation as big and renowned as Arasaka head - on “The leader of the assault group , a mercenary called David Martinez, had stolen one of the Arasaka’s newest technologies , according to nearby witnesses it seemed to be some type of exo - skeleton, and killed hundreds of night city’s police officers and the corporations defen se forces. Eventually, the attacking group was able to be pushed back and the ir terrorist leader is presumed to have been killed in the process.” “It seems, that you are a living legend now, kid.” Doc states with his usual mirky grin. David is awake and has been listening with one ear. “Heh... well, if that isn’t a perfect way of ending things. ” “David, you are awake...” “Lucy.” He looks at her and continue s. “I think I’m done with this shi t. That was the last time I worked as a merc. ” They are holding hands. “Let’s finally go to the moon.” He smiles. “ If I’m with you, anywhere is fine .” Lucy replies But at the exact moment, she finishes her sentence, David starts to panic. His eyes seem to lose focus once again, as it has happened so often these past hours. “David? Not again!” 11 He screams and starts to slash a round himself, as much as his handcuffs allow him to. Lucy is kissing him again in ho pes of bringing back his mind No change. “David, can you hear me?” Lucy starts to panic herself. Her voice and touch are the only things to have been able to bring him back in the past. Why doesn’t it work anymore? “What do we do?” she frantically asks in to the room , looking at Falco first , who seems to doesn’t know an answer , then proceeds to glare at the ripperdoc. “It’s not like I didn’t warn you about it. He was never list en ing to good old D oc. He should have downgraded way earlier. Now his mind is not stable anymore, and may never be the same. ” “There’s something we gotta do!” “The way I see it, ...” Doc continues, “... cyberpsychosis is a mental illness just like any other, caused not directly by the act of implanting too much cyberware into one’s body, but rather the psychological problems that occur together with the act of doing so. ” “What are you trying to say?” Falco replies. “ The mere act of implanting any artificial parts cannot harm the min d as they are obviously not directly connected to each other. It’s the person’s view of themselves and their according behaviours after modifying the body , which results in going crazy The more artificial a body is becoming, the less that person is viewin g himself as a human. ” The doctor goes on “That’s why every person reacts to implanting cyberware on a different basis. While very little changes have almost no impact in general , the more you alter yourself to become a killing machine, the easier it gets to you. Still, every person has their own limits as to how much they can take, proving that it is only a question of someone’s perception. David has implanted more than the avera ge person and still kept his brains intact for a long time before he finally overdid it.” “But there are rumours that there are some people who have been cured... that’s what I heard at least.” Falco adds. “True, I never said he doesn’t have a chance.” The ripperdoc goes on. “What I was trying to point out to you, is that there is only one way to safe him ... he has to figure it out for himself.” Lucy turns back to David who is still affected by his self - caused condition. Rebecca is gently lifting herself up in to a sitting position “In other words, David can only be cured by the same means that kept himself going in the first place.” A short moment of silence persists before she continues. “ His dreams.” “His dreams...” Lucy is lowering her head, going off into her thoughts. Then she has an idea and starts to put her hand into her pockets to take out a small chip. “You always lived for the dream of someone else. Even though no one asked that of you .” She inserts the chip into a nearby braindance recorder and attaches it to David. After a few seconds the expected result is kicking in . It seems he is slowly calming down and after a few minutes , Lucy takes off the gadget and looks into his eyes, who have reclaimed their usual ste ady gaze. 12 “Lucy... I went psycho again, right? But then I dream ed of being on the moon again. Like the first time we met.” She only gifts him a smile. “BD’s are indeed one of the few therapy methods there are... or so I’ve heard.” Doc states. Then they hear a sudden noise outside on the street. Lucy and Falco have the same hunch and immediately aim to get behind a pillar. O nly o ne second after they manage to hide, the front door is blown up and gunshots enter the room. “ Alriiight , let’s get the netrunner bitch , you can also kill all the others.” The ripperdoc is jumping down from his chair to hide behind one of his cupboards filled with his drugs Two mercenaries enter the room and a n unexpected encounter seems unavoidable. Falco shoots at t he m, hitting the first one on the should er which forces him to fall down. His partner is answering with some bullets in the nomads’ direction to avenge his crewmate . He is able to graze Falco but one second later he is plummeting under his own weight due to Lucy’s quick, but effective hack. A third person is entering the room simultaneously already pointing his gun at Lucy “Lucy, watch out!” David shouts. S he is not able to react in time and closes her eyes as a nother gunshot echoes the room. T hen, t he person at the door yields as his brain was perforated from across the room. Lucy turns around to look at her saviour. “ Damn, it just doesn’t feel the same without my shotgun.” Rebecca states as she is lowering her power pistol , wearing only a hospital cloth before dropping herself into the bed again. “Thanks Becca, I owe you.” “I guess we are even now.” She throws a wink at the netrunner. Falco checks the bodies of the three mercenaries and proceeds to pull up the one he has spared, but incapacitated “Who are you and how did you find us?” he asks while throwing a threatening look at him. The merc seems to be afraid to die “Please, will you let me go if I tell you?” “Depends on what you tell us... now spill the beans.” Falco tightens his grip. “Alright, alright. We work for Arasaka. They hired us to check out the status of that girl over there.” His eyes are switching over to Lucy. She remains calm. “Some fixer known as Faraday seems to have already captured her once an d implanted some form of tracker into her system. That way we were able to find her. Since she escaped, we were tasked with going after her and ‘finish’ the job. ” Falco exchanges a worried look with Lucy and the others. The doctor sits down on his chair ag ain while keeping silent. “I don’t know what the fuck she did to piss off a corporation that big , but it seems Arasaka wants to see her dead. ” “That info is more than enough. Wise choice to cooperate.” 13 “ Right? Will you now let me g - “ , Falco hits the cyberpunk on the head to get him unconscious. “I’ll take care of him, later.” He turns to Lucy and continues. “It seems they won’t let you go so easily. If what he said is true, then I’m sure more will come... can you get rid of the tracker?” “I’ve installed a jammer signal just now, that might cover us up a little, but since I don’t know what kind of tracking system it is, I don’t know how much long er until they find us and if I’m able to dislodge it in time I’ve checked my body already, ther e seems to be no hardware attached, so the tracker might be implanted in form of a software. I am sure t hat I can get it off , every intruder leaves some trace, even if it’s just a faint one , but it might take quite some time...” “As things have come to this, I think it would be best for you to leave for the moon as soon as possible.” Falco opines. “I’m sure the tracker doesn’t have the reach to pinpoint your location anymore , once you arrive the re .” They remain silent for a while. Then doc starts to spea k again. “Well, I don’t really care how long it takes , but I just wanna make clear , that you don’t need to get comfy here while doing it. My house is not the base for your breakneck activit i es. You almost got me killed just a minute ago. ” He points at the mess they had made. “The physical treatment is finished for these two. I won’t get involved in any more of your shit. So, you better pack your things and get the fuck out.” Lucy is turning around, walking back to David. “Fine, we are going to leave anyway .” She is removing David’s shackles , but he doesn’t move an inch and keeps staring down. “What’s wrong, David? ” “... Lucy, I’m sorry. I can’t go to the moon with you just yet.” “What are you talking about?” “It’s just... I’m not stupid. I know that I have long gone past my limits. For me, everything started by implanting the sandevistan into my spine I was able to meet you thanks to it... but then I wanted to soar even higher and put more and more stuff into my body. Even though it seems that Doc has removed most of the cyberware with the latest operation , I feel that I might go crazy again any second. ” Lucy can tell from Doc’s look that he was thinking the same thing as she took off David’s chains. “It will be ok, David. As long as you stay with me, I can b ring you back, I’m sure.” “Lucy. You are the first and only person that I have ever loved. You are my reason to keep on living ... and that’s why I can’t go together with you unless I feel mentally stable enough to do so .” Lucy is starting to feel tense. “What are you saying?” “If I were to hurt you in any way, because I lose control over myself again , I could never ever forgive myself ” “David, this is - “ “I really think Falco is right, you should leave to the moon as soon as possible.” “What do y ou mean, I should leave? We are leaving together!” 14 David hesitates. “I will remain here to defeat cyberpsychosis first.” “Fine, we will defeat it together. I won’t leave without you.” “Lucy, those Arasaka bastards are still after you. And I’m sure after their failure today, they will come back with even more skilled mercenaries tomorrow. In my current state ... I’m not strong enough to protect you.” “You don’t need to protect me! I will handl e them on my own.” Lucy is tearing up. “Please, don ’ t make me to this .” Falco is intervening. “Lucy, you need to understand his feelings. He wants to know that you are safe. If he wants to have any chance of defeating his mental illness, this is the first step t hat needs to be done. Worrying about you all the time, hoping nothing happened to you yet, he will never be able to find the way back to his sanity.” Lucy starts to realize the meaning behind their words. Falco was right. David is doing this for their mutual dream. He is doing it for her. “Besides, you are also endangering him when you stay. Your pursuer might harm him too in the process of trying to kill you, or even use him as bait for you.” The longer she thinks about it, the more she understands, that this might be the only way to go with. “David. I just got you back, I don’t want to leave you again ...” she continues. “But...” she pause s for a long time before finally finishing her sentence, “... I will trust you.” She takes his hand again. “ Under one condition, that is.” David keeps eye - contact and waits for her to continue. “ You promised , that you would take me to the moon.” David is smiling weary. “ Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about it ...” “No, that’s not what I meant.” She goes on, “I want to extend y our promise ...” He looks a little surprised. Lucy keeps staring at him with a gentle smile. “ Promise me, that you will take US to the moon ” David understands. He needs to win the fight over himself, no matter what it takes. “I promise.” he replies and Lucy can feel the same determination in him as the last time he made a promise to her. She is striking out to kiss him passionately , then proceeds to hug him. “I will wait for you. Don’t you dare let me wait too long.” She adds while a tear is running down her cheek as she is holding him tight in her arms, her eyes closed. They continue to stay in that situation for a while before Rebecca finally breaks the sile n ce. “Alright, now that we cleared that up, let’s get our asses moving, shall we?” The girl is hopping out of her bed, suddenly feeling energetic. “I need some fanc ier clothes.” 15 Falco is helping David out of the bed but handcuffs him again, once he is stan ding. “Thanks, Falco. You really think of everything. I owe you” “Don’t mention it. Let’s get you back to your apartment first.” They are on their way to head out of the devastated clinic when David is turning around again. “Thank s Doc, for fixing us. I will clean up this mess later.” “You better.” The ripperdoc is smirking as they leave and get into their car. 16 Chapter IV Back at David and Lucy’s apartment, they are carrying the hand - and fee t - cuffed man into their bedroom and chain him to the bed. “You better start seizing some stuff already, Lucy ” Falco declares while making David as comfortable as his situation allows him to be. “ I’ll help you with deciding which clothes you should take wi th you.” Rebecca heads off to the wardrobe , partly in hopes of finding something fitting for herself. To her unsurprising disappointment, nothing really fits as Lucy has a wholly different body type as her. S he decides to wear a random oversized shirt and leave out pants as she normally doesn’t wear them anyways. After Lucy had finished taking a shower and packing a little above the bare necessities, she is looking into the mirror one last time. She stops for a moment, and practices faking a smile, as she can’t take the pain of parting with her beloved one , but doesn’t want to leave him in worries. “Ok. I finished.” Lucy looks at her three companions. She had known them for quite some time. They fought together . They drank together. They laughed together. She is now going to leave all of this behind. Falco starts talking. “ We don’t know when the next killers will make their move. Let’s not waste too much time. Are you ready? ” “Not really, but I know this is the best for all of us.” She leans down to David lying on his bed . They kiss. “I will catch up to you soon.” “I know. I will wait for you every day. ” She pulls out the BD of the moon - landscape. Her favourite braindance. “ I d on’t need this anymore at the place I’m going to . You take it from now on. Think of me, when you use it.” She puts it down next to the nightstand “Thanks...” David recognizes her odd behaviour. “ I don’t like it when you are faking The next time we meet, I promise to make you smile from the bottom of your heart again. ” Lucy can’t hold back her tears anymore and bursts out crying. “Damn right you will!” She gives him a tight and long - lasting goodbye - hug before releasing him. A few seconds later cyberpsychosis starts kicking in again . He starts rampaging, but can’t get out of his chains , since he doesn’t have superhuman cyberware anymore. “David!” Falco is holding back Lucy as she tries to get closer to him again “Lucy, we need to g o now. Rebecca will take care of him.” “Sure will. You better get out of here to get yourself to safety. If anything happens to you, David would be pissed, you know.” 17 The little solo is starting to activate the braindance recorder and puts in the BD Lucy has left for David. After connecting his mind to the virtual experience, David is slowly calming down again, but fails to re gain his conscious ness. “I’ll watch him for you.” Rebecca is holding up her thumb as a sign to show that she is in charge of the situation. “Thanks, Becca. I will never forget what you did for us.” “Hey, stupid. Don’t act as if we will never meet again. Goodbye isn’t forever, you know .” “You’re right. ” Lucy fake - smiles again. “Take care, Rebecca.” “You too .” Becca replies befor e tending to David again. “Alright, I’ll drive you to the space station. Let’s go, Lucy.” Falco urges, still aware of possible dangers. The two of them leave the apartment , leaving Rebecca and David behind. “ Really... what a troublesome woman. Why did you choose her, when you could have had....” She mumbles to herself, but stops in the middle of the sentence to crack a smile. “You idiot.” 18 Chapter V Falco is guiding Lucy all the way to the space shuttle to make s ure there won’t be any unforeseen troubles and to guarantee her safety. “Thanks, Falco. I guess I will be fine from here on out. Also... sorry for threatening to kill you when... you know...” “Love is a dangerous, but beautiful thing. It’s not unusual for peopl e to kill for their better halves . In the end, we made it, so, actually, I have to thank you. It would have left another deep scar on my soul if I had left my crew back to die. But I alone wasn’t brave enough to even think of going back. ” He gives a quiet smile as he adds “Thanks for dragging me back there.” Lucy feels a little better, knowing that her selfish act was of use to someone else as well. “That’s only natural.” They close in to give each other a final hug “The space is a cold place , or so I’ve heard. Stay safe out there ” “I’m not sure, if Night City is any warmer. So, y ou better be careful too.” “Haha, you have a point there. Let’s see, if this city has anything left for me.” They release their hug. “Until next time, Lucy ” “Goodbye, Falco.” Falco keeps waving at Lucy while she is entering the shuttle that is about to leave. She is heading out to