Jun 18, 2026 · 22 min · 9 segments
One gig, that's the price of freedom in Night City. Except when that Gig means going into Maelstrom territory to retrieve a cyberleg.
We pulled out of the camp and onto a dirt road that wound back toward Rocky Ridge.
The badlands at night were a different animal.
Quiet in a way Night City never is.
Just the engine, the wind, and Ash.
If we could have escaped then and there, I'd have kept riding.
The pressure of her hands on my stomach, her chest against my back, her chin close enough to my shoulder that I could feel her breathing.
The implant was supposed to dull distractions.
Wasn't doing a great job.
Night City's glow sat on the horizon like a tumor.
From this distance, all light, no detail, you could almost convince yourself it was somewhere worth going back to.
We had a long ride ahead.
Watson was on the other side of the city, which meant moving through without getting spotted.
The Arasaka waterfront was walking distance from our destination.
Kabuki and Japantown were out too, for obvious reasons, which left the scenic route.
Charter Hill first.
Ivory towers where corpos jerk off down at the streets below while the rest of us wonder if the sky is falling.
Then into North Oak, where the old money lives.
Kerry Eurodyne had a place up here.
Villa overlooking the city, studio in the basement, the whole rocker boy retirement package.
Kerry fucking Eurodyne.
The band was in my blood, my bones, my wiring.
Except it wasn't, was it? Never Fade Away was the first song I'd reached for when Byte asked me to grasp for something real.
But was it real? Or had Leon picked it off a shelf? Here's your personality.
Here's your taste in music.
We pulled out of the camp and onto a dirt road that wound back toward Rocky Ridge.
The badlands at night were a different animal.
Quiet in a way Night City never is.
Just the engine, the wind, and Ash.
If we could have escaped then and there, I'd have kept riding.
The pressure of her hands on my stomach, her chest against my back, her chin close enough to my shoulder that I could feel her breathing.
The implant was supposed to dull distractions.
Wasn't doing a great job.
Night City's glow sat on the horizon like a tumor.
From this distance, all light, no detail, you could almost convince yourself it was somewhere worth going back to.
We had a long ride ahead.
Watson was on the other side of the city, which meant moving through without getting spotted.
The Arasaka waterfront was walking distance from our destination.
Kabuki and Japantown were out too, for obvious reasons, which left the scenic route.
Charter Hill first.
Ivory towers where corpos jerk off down at the streets below while the rest of us wonder if the sky is falling.
Then into North Oak, where the old money lives.
Kerry Eurodyne had a place up here.
Villa overlooking the city, studio in the basement, the whole rocker boy retirement package.
Kerry fucking Eurodyne.
The band was in my blood, my bones, my wiring.
Except it wasn't, was it? Never Fade Away was the first song I'd reached for when Byte asked me to grasp for something real.
But was it real? Or had Leon picked it off a shelf? Here's your personality.
Here's your taste in music.
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