Making It in Night City

After finally making some headway with Arasaka, a lovely night of sleep was exactly what the doctor ordered. As I roused from my slumber, the feeling created by the pocket of warm air separated from the cool morning air made my bed feel like my own personal heaven. It was peak comfort. Well... Almost.

My nose twitched, and part of that sleep magic was dispelled when what felt like twine tickled my face. I groggily opened my eyes and looked to see what dared disturb my tranquility, only to be greeted by locks of Panam's hair. I would have been annoyed, but I could never stay too miffed at Panam. Not to mention that a significant part of my current comfort was from her perfect rear end snuggling up against me. 

It might even be too comfortable. I already had a semi, but the way her cheeks hot dogged my member made my morning wood rapidly approach a full-blown hard-on. Feeling her buns get stuffed must have stirred Panam as she released a quiet moan before she pushed herself further into me. Like a cat getting comfortable sitting on their favorite person, she wiggled around until she found the perfect spot, making sure to settle into me as much as possible.

Responding in kind, I wrapped my arms around her waist and let my head rest in the crook of her neck. I gave her little kisses as my hands slowly climbed up, gliding over her stomach, to her underboobs, before cupping both of her heavy melons. Panam's soft sighs turned into light pants as I gently caressed her beautiful orbs.

Panam's body reciprocates, her thighs rubbing together, causing her ass to gyrate and gently massage my erect cock. The collective heat kept rising as our bodies mingled, serving to increase our arousal further. We continued for several minutes until I was finally forced to stop myself. If I had to endure her body inadvertently stroking me off any longer, I might have blown my load right then and there.

Panam softly mewled in disappointment as I pulled away, but her dissatisfaction didn't stay for long. Instead of continuing to fondle each other, I ducked under the sheets and flipped Panam onto her back. I started from her chest, kissing between her breasts and working my way down her toned stomach. Her body twisted, the sensations building as I worked my way lower, past her belly button, over her waist, until I found myself at the top of her panties.

Getting a grip on my teeth, I slowly dragged them down until I was met face-to-face with Panam's lower lips. Her mounds were beginning to glisten, her arousal lightly lubricating the surface for what her body knew was coming next. I teased her, kissing the spots around her inner thigh, circling her garden but never quite intruding on it. When her panting became sufficiently lustful, I finally got to work on the main event.

Panam yelped as I raised her hip and forced her legs apart to make eating her out more accessible for me. I loved how her back arching pulled the skin on her belly tight, showing off her abs. My tongue started by gently trailing her folds, drawing light circles around her womanly cave, and occasionally sucking on her clit.

She moaned as her hand settled on my head, pushing me further into her depths. Happily obliging, I grabbed ahold of her legs and began to push my tongue past her labia. Her insides squirmed as the intruder started to swirl around, caressing her inner folds. I ground my face further into Panam's mound so I could get deeper, nose rubbing against her clit just like how I know she likes it, driving her up the wall.

A moan escaped her as I pushed my tongue upwards, brushing against a sensitive spot of hers. Her musky scent muddled my mind, moving aside any other thoughts other than making this woman cum. I doubled my efforts, going from gentle prodding against her weak points to outright attacking them. My tongue flickered between her folds at a lightning pace, only stopping to jab and poke where she was weak when I felt she was getting too comfortable with the pace.

I felt the beating of her pulse quicken and her vagina puff up from the constant attention. Her moans got louder, and I felt her peak quickly arriving. As Panam rapidly approached her crescendo, I angled my face away so my nose could make way for my hand to begin pinching and twisting her clit.

"Ohhhhhhhhh!~ Fuck, Yes! Basil!"

Having her O button played with was what sealed the deal. Her hand, combing through my hair, grabbed it and locked me in place. I watched from under the sheets as Paname froze up, her form only occasionally interrupted by jerks that sent shockwaves coursing through her. Her orgasm was accompanied by her vagina getting wetter, liquid gushing out of her depth and onto my tongue and face. I let her ride out her high, and once her mind finally caught back up to her body again, I slowly rested her lower body back down onto the bed.

It was beginning to feel like a sauna under the sheets, so I pulled the covers off to get some fresh air. It was already bright out, and some of the light was able to pierce through the sheets and give me a look at Panam while I was eating her out, but it didn't do her incredible body justice. I couldn't help but get hornier as I looked upon Panam's glistening form.

Panam's smooth, long legs were followed by incredible, thick, thunder thighs that could probably crush a watermelon. Those thighs formed deep V trenches flowing into her wide hips. Her midriff was separated by soft lines, showing just enough muscle. Then, her breasts, those wonderful, flawless, almost gravity-defying orbs. Brown caramel tits topped with two dark chocolate Hershey-like nipples. All of that perfection wrapped up with her perfectly sculpted face. She was still panting, a light blush on her cheeks from getting worked over. Her fuck me eyes boring into me, clearly expecting more to come.

I grinned at her, loving that look on her face.

"Morning."

She snorted, amused at the mundane line after what we'd just done.

"Morning to you too, Basil. It's been a while since you've done that. I almost forgot how good it feels."

"Remind me to do it more often."

I let my hand roam her body, exploring her every nook and cranny.

"God, I love this perfect body. You're just too fucking sexy."

Panam moaned as I caressed her breast, raising a finger to her mouth and playing with her lips erotically while her other hand trailed down and wrapped around my member.

"Mhmmph... And I love how I can turn you on like this."

Her hand traveled back and forth, pumping me and keeping me hard as a diamond. I grunted from the simple movement, causing Panam to smirk. Happy with her ability to make me aroused, she slowly pulled on my member, literally leading me by my cock. It didn't take long for her to get me to her destination, and she stopped when I felt my glans push against her soaked entrance.

Her tugging me forward made me fall forward. My arms spread on either side of Panam's head, our faces inches away as we looked into each other's eyes. She bit her lower lip sensually, egging me on.

"Well? What are you waiting for, Tiger? Take me."

A shiver went through me as she called me by the nickname she only used during sex. The temptation was too great, and I gave into my carnal desires and thrusted myself into Panam, bottoming out and burying my entire length within her warm confines.

"Ohhhhhhhhh fuuuuuuuuuck! That's the spot!"

Her inner folds gripped onto every inch of my cock, undulating in such a rhythm that it felt as if it was trying to milk me for all my wort. The feeling was pure bliss, and my body moved on its own, pulling out until only the very tip of my penis was still inside before slamming back inside. My hips continued, sawing back and forth as if possessed, trying to pound Panam through the bedframe and onto the ground.

I leaned down and kissed Panam on her lips, her hand roaming my chest before cupping both sides of my face. Our tongues entwined, dancing around each other, wrestling, and trying to get as much contact as possible. We moaned into each other's mouths when I felt my tip brush up against the entrance to Panam's baby oven. Something about being so deep, feeling all Panam has to offer me, kicked my mind into another gear.

*Clap Clap Clap*

Everytime I bottom out, my balls slap into Panam's thighs creating a slapping sound. My hands wandered to her magnificent tits, mauling and deforming them. Her nipples were like glass cutters, sending tiny jolts of electricity up her spine every time I pinched and tugged at them. Suddenly, her cunt clamped down tight, liquid spraying onto my sigh as a soundless moan was released from Panam's mouth and into mine.

"Wai-! Ohhhhhh, shiiiiiiiiiiiit I'm cummmiiiiiiiing!!!!!"

Her heightened sensitivity from getting eaten out made her come earlier than usual. I might have stopped to let her catch her breath if I was in the right mind, but having her butt-tease me after waking up and not getting any gratification while eating her out has put me in a certain mood. Deciding to take advantage of the moment, I did one of my favorite tricks and activated my Sandi.

Time crawled to a snail's pace, and I pulled away to see Panam's eyes rolled up into the back of her skull as her mouth opened into a wide 'O'. I sat back up and lifted her left leg onto my chest to get a better angle at her and started thrusting like my life depended on it. Going twice as fast as usual while Panam was experiencing time at half speed drove her nuts. Add onto that that she was still mid-orgasm, and I watched as Panam wholly locked up, and her body began to convulse quickly, even by the standards of Sandi time.

Recognizing that we might become a public nuisance to our neighbors if Panam got too loud, I muffled her inevitable scream with a hand over her mouth. Her pussy's death grip on my cock was quickly bringing me to the finish line. I rutted inside Panam like an animal in heat. Her velvety insides, oven-like heat, moistened walls, and constricting hold fried my processing centers, making me see white.

A few dozen pumps later, and right as time sped up again, the dam finally broke, and a mind-numbing orgasm ran its course from the tip of my toes to the very top of my scalp. A literal torrent of baby batter was shot inside Panam's depth, painting her inside white and marking it as mine. A muffled scream almost broke through the gaps in my fingers, but thankfully was covered up. My back tensed, and I held my position, not moving a single inch as the sensations overwhelmed me. Panam's mind seemingly broke as she orgasmed again while still riding out the prior one. Her body spasmed as if she had lost control of her limbs. Her eyes crossed in a fucked-drunk way, and there was no doubt in my mind that of my hand wasn't blocking her mouth, she would have gone full ahegao.

What felt like minutes later, my cock gave a final jerk before finally running dry. I collapsed onto Panam with my erection still inside her. We embraced each other, panting, trying to catch a breath and let our minds recuperate. Eventually, we got a hold of ourselves, and I rolled off Panam onto my side of the bed, my half-flaccid cock popping out of her.

"That was fucking amazing. I wish we could just do that for the rest of our lives."

I felt Panam's hand tap around searching for mine. Meeting her halfway, I raised my hand to hers, and our fingers intertwined.

"Are you trying to kill me? I thought I was getting my soul sucked out of me."

Panam did that cute snort and flipped over to glue herself to my side. We enjoyed the afterglow of sex for another few minutes, knowing that we both had busy days ahead of us and this might be the only peace we get for a long time. Once Panam had her fill of relaxation, she let go of my hand before sitting up.

"Alright, time to tackle the day. I know you have to figure out that whole situation with Michiko and her little problem. Come on, we'll need to clean ourselves up."

Panam got off the bed before walking to the crate where she kept her underwear. I watched as she bent over while digging through the contents, showing me the perfect view of her ass. Her shaved pussy was framed by those flawless checks, and I watched as my cum began flowing out of her garden, staining her thighs and leaving streaks of baby batter.

Panam turned around after getting her change of clothes, only to be greeted by the sight of my cock back to full mast. One of her eyebrows quirked up, and she popped a hip and placed one of her hands on her hips.

"Really? Already?"

I looked back at her, feigning offense.

"What, you expect to show me that rear end of yours and for me to not get a massive rager? Where's the justice?"

Panam rolled her eyes at my antics, a smile tugging at her lips. However, that didn't stop her from stealing glances at my towering pole, and I could see that I was affecting her, too. I could see her think for a moment before she turned around and bent over, resting her upper body on a table and presenting herself to me.

She turned her head and stared at me with those sultry eyes, biting her lower lip in arousal.

"Well, I guess I'll have to take responsibility and let you have another round."

I almost leaped out of bed when Panam said those words. I'd have to be the biggest gonk of all time not to take her offer.

After another round and a shower

"What the hell?"

"Hmm? What's up?"

"Uh, nothing. Thought my Kiroshis were glitching out for a second. Just something in my eyes, that's all."

Hearing that there wasn't anything wrong with me, Panam focused back on the laptop in front of her.

It was the day after the meeting with Michiko, and we were currently in the mobile command center that the Aldecaldos use as their HQ. After the meeting, our group was flown back, and I decided to stay in the camp. V took Evelyn and Judy with her, dropping Evelyn off at an apartment owned by Danger Gal while she stayed over at Judy's place. Finally, Takemura ran off to wherever he was hiding in NC, presumably to prepare for the upcoming trip to Tokyo.

Getting a deal done with Michiko took some stress off my shoulders, so I slept like a baby, but it didn't mean we were done. If anything, there's more work lined up now, as we have a new gig in the form of extracting Michiko's detective from a covert Militech safehouse. That's why, after our shower, Panam and I had to go to work.

Well, it's as close to going to 'work' as a nomad and merc can get. We were both on our laptops, Panam checking how the Aldecaldos were doing and me reviewing Michiko's intel about her detective, Violet Riggs. The game never really went into details like this, but Merc life had a lot of busy work. Meeting clients, going over specs, maintaining gear, etc. It was while looking over Michiko's brief on Violet Riggs that I had a strange text box spring into my view. 

Cyberpunk 2.0 Update Installing

Progress... 0%

Right under the progress percentage was a physical bar, filling out at the same rate as the percentage progress. At first, I thought it was a popup for my laptop telling me it was being updated, but when I tried and failed to click out of it, I realized that the text box was directly in my vision and not on the computer screen. That made me think it was a firmware update for some piece of my cyberware, but those have to be accepted first, and pulling up my biometrics showed that there are no pending updates.

Taking a closer look, the wording worried me. 'Cyberpunk' makes sense, but only in a meta context. The people of Cyberpunk don't refer to themselves as from the 'Cyberpunk' world; it's just 'the world' to them. I might be overthinking it, but for some reason, I think this might be an update to the game-like system I was given when I transmigrated here. There were rumors of a game overhaul when the new DLC would be released, but I left my world long before that happened, so I wonder if this is in correlation with that rumor.

Cyberpunk 2.0 Update Installing

Progress... 12%

Considering that many of my crucial abilities are related, I was worried about what might happen once the update finishes if it is tied to my system. Would parts of my chrome glitch out? Regardless, it's best to play it safe and let the update play out in a private environment. It probably wouldn't, but I would hate for this to be why people find out about my powers.

Getting up, I walked over to Panam and gave her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Hey. How're things with the clan?"

"Pretty good. We've already found a buyer for that first batch of guns you gave us. A clan that's part of the Thelas Nation is interested and will be sailing near the Channel Islands." 

"Thelas, as in the marine nomads?"

"Yup, we usually don't deal with the Thelas too much since we don't have the boats to do so, but the Surveyor could be our way in with them. We won't make the most profit if we take this deal, but it's a good start and test for the AV."

After clearing out the Wraiths, I dropped off a few crates worth of Arasaka Rifles with the Aldecaldos as part of my deal to help them get their smuggling operations back up and running. It's good to see that they already got a bite on a potential buyer.

"Sounds like a good way for the Surveyor to test the waters. Pun unintended. Anyways, I gotta make a call, be back in a minute."

"K. I'll text you if I leave the command center."

The installation was now at 18%, progressing at a pretty healthy rate. Judging by the speed, it'll probably be done in two or three minutes, so I shouldn't dilly-dally for too long. I made a beeline for Panam's tent, trying to see if I had the option to stop the update or postpone it to a later time—no such luck. By the time I got to the tent, the progress bar was just under 62%.

"I should probably have a plan just in case something goes wrong."

Pulling out my phone, I wrote a message to Panam and V to check in on me at Panam's tent and set it to send 10 minutes from now. If the update ends up paralyzing me for whatever reason, that'll at least give someone a chance to find me earlier rather than later.

Putting down my phone, I rechecked the update's progress and saw it was now 83%. Getting onto the bed, I lay down on my back and crossed my fingers.

Cyberpunk 2.0 Update Installing

Progress... 91% ... 94% ... 97%

Whatever this was going to do, it was going to happen now, and I'll just have to improvise. Once the percentage reached 100%, the bar filled up and flashed a few times before my vision went dark. There was a moment when my anxiety spiked. Losing your vision unprompted will do that. But before I could freak out, another box popped up in my view.

Cyberpunk 2.0 update has been installed. Skills, levels, cyberware, and operating systems have all been overhauled. You will also no longer receive quests to accomplish. In return, all actions that provide experience points have received a slight boost, and defeating difficult enemies will provide scaling exp. The world has been paused, and you have been given one free reset where all character attributes and skill points are refunded. The user can end the reset when the new attributes and skills are compatible with the current cyberware. 

Despite it being somewhat anti-climatic, I was still relieved that the update seemed to be just that and not something that would cripple me instantly. It was also nice that time has been stopped, though that does raise the question of how time could be stopped, presumably for the entire world. I'm not too bummed by no longer receiving quests. If this were a book, how infrequently those things popped up would indicate the author forgot about them. I should probably be more worried about the implications of what's happening, but my very existence is so complicated that I think spending any brain power trying to figure this all out would be a wasted effort.

New Quality of Life functions have also been added for the user. These can be viewed in the Cyberpunk 2.0 System introduction. Would you like to start the introduction?

Yes/No

Mentally confirming yes, a new screen showed a first-person view of some generic NC street that clearly wasn't the tent I should currently be in. It took me a moment to realize that this wasn't my view of the street but a rendered screenshot meant to be a tutorial to show me something. A few arrows pointed at various objects in the picture, with accompanying text explaining their functions.

The update gave me a few UI interfaces similar to the game's. It wasn't like I had a health/stamina bar, but I got a box each for my phone, medical items, grenades, and my Sandivistan/operating systems. A weapon icon with numbers to the left was on the other side. Obviously, the numbers represented how much ammo was left in the gun. Before, I had to use specific tech weapons and matching cyberware to get that information. Another new addition was Street Cred. This was in the game as an representation of V's notoriety in the merc world. Higher Street Cred normally meant lower prices and access to locked purchases. It would be interesting to see what impact Street Cred has in this world.

But even more interesting was that the text box also told me that my magazine pouches would always have a fresh magazine for their respective weapon types available. The magazines would be pulled from my pool of ammo that I still had to keep on me. There was a similar effect on consumables as well. I could "activate" consumables, and instead of stockpiling MaxDocs, Bounce Backs, and explosives, I traded in all my hoarded items for an infinite amount. Of course, that would be too broken, so the trade-off is that they are on timers, as indicated by progress bars gradually decreasing on the item icons.

This was kind of a nerf, as explosives were one of my get-out-of-jail-free cards, and throwing as many as I had in my inventory was a very nice capability to fall back on. The same could be said about healing items. I've never had to use them in quick succession, but after my fight with Caesar, there was peace of mind knowing that I could just keep stabbing myself with Max-Docs. Not to mention all the crafting components I lost from crafting a small mountain of MaxDocs and frag grenades.

There was also now a direct connection to my phone, and I could take/make calls and view/send texts without touching my device. This technically was a feature that I could have already gotten, but it did require a new phone, chrome, and, like everything else in this world, a subscription service. And since I didn't particularly appreciate paying for those services in my cars in my past life, I sure as hell wouldn't do it in my new one. At least the update gave me a free version that applies to all electronics, so I can't moan too much.

After reviewing everything in the new UI, I was offered the chance to continue the tutorial.

Would you like to continue with the new crafting system?

Yes/No

Next was the crafting and modification system, which was still organized similarly, with a section for crafting and another for upgrading.

Items can still be crafted as long as the user has the crafting spec, but upgrades are now only applicable to iconic weapons. Upgrading and crafting items require components; different tier upgrades/crafts require corresponding tier components. Component tiers and crafting are no longer locked behind perks. Similarly, components can also now be crafted without the related perks.

While iconic weapons are the only ones that can be upgraded, they can no longer receive performance modifications. Similarly, operating systems, clothing, and cyberware can no longer accept modifications but can be upgraded directly by the user in the cyberware menu.

So, it seems the barrier to entry has generally been lowered. I would no longer have to get to 18 in the tech attribute and perks like Edgerunner Artisan to craft legendary items. In return, there were more limitations, like chrome and clothes no longer having mod slots. I'm not sure whether this was good or bad. I guess I'll just have to see how it goes.

Would you like to continue the guide and view the new skill system?

Yes/No

Since there wasn't anything more to see in the UI, I chose the yes option and moved on to the skills and attributes.

Attributes are divided into five categories (Body, reflexes, technical ability, intelligence, and cool). A new tier of perks is unlocked at 4, 9, 15, and 20 points in each attribute. Perks are further divided into subcategories, each specializing in a specific aspect of that attribute. Sub-skills can branch off from primary perks, and some perks can bridge the gap between subcategories. These perks require prerequisites to unlock.

The original skills, body, reflexes, cool, technical ability, and intelligence have been replaced with headhunter, netrunner, shinobi, solo, and engineer. The exp you've put into the old system has been calculated and redistributed to the new system.

Going by the intro, the perk system was slightly altered but maintained the overall structure. Perks were now locked behind tiers, and it seemed there were clearer focuses and specific builds that required investment in a line of perks. The tiers were Rookie, Pro, Phenom, and Legend and were unlocked at attribute levels 4, 9, 15, and 20, respectively. The skills were also slightly altered and seemingly separated by play style instead of attributes.

You have finished the tutorial. All your attributes and perk points have been refunded, and you will be allowed to respec your build once for free. After you exit the tutorial, you can refund skill points without limit but are only allowed one more attribute respec.

You will now be taken to redo your attributes and perks. Some perks have been heavily modified or may no longer exist. There is also now a cyberwar capacity tied to your levels and specific perks. If your cyberware exceeds your capacity after your new build, you will incur a health penalty of 2 points per cyberwar capacity exceeded and be unable to add new cyberware.

The cyberware capacity thing is slightly concerning. So far, I've only been limited by my attribute points, but there's now an additional limiter in the form of cyberware capacity. Hopefully, this doesn't impact my current setup too much. If it does, fingers crossed it can be remedied with a few perk points.

Now that the tutorial ended, I was in an incredibly similar UI to what I had before, except now all my attributes were three across the board like when I first started. I did the mental equivalent of cracking my fingers and rolling my neck.

"Alright. Time to see what this whole Cyberpunk 2.0 thing is about."

*Sometime later*

My eyes opened, and I was greeted by the familiar sight of Panam's tent. I grunted and sat up, swinging my legs off the bed and stretching my body. My body wasn't tired since time had stopped, and I was lying down, but I felt like I had just spent hours staring at a screen optimizing my build. Remembering my failsafe, I deleted all the timed messages so people don't freak out.

The system wasn't lying when it said many things have changed. My skills were either revamped, replaced, or completely removed. Not to mention how most of my chrome was nerfed considerably. Optical Camo now takes less time with higher detectability and recharge time, and Operating Systems can no longer be modded, destroying my plan to make the two-second cool-down Sandivistan build. Not to mention breach protocol being completely removed.

All of this meant I had to redo my build completely. At least following the survivability onion concept gave the process some logic. I focused mainly on the most effective outermost two layers, 'don't be seen' and 'don't be hit'. Then, 'don't be damaged' and 'don't be killed' received secondary focus. After that process, my new build following the 2.0 update looked like this.

I still had a good chunk of Attribute and Perk points left, and that was because I was unsure about most of the new perks and how this new build was going to work out. After I put myself through the paces, I'll spend the remaining points where needed.

My process started with choosing what I wanted for my cool perks. If my perks were what made up my survivability onion, cool would be the outermost 'don't be seen' layer. In conjunction with the central stealth perk line, the perks also enhanced throwing knives, silenced weapons, pistols, precision rifles, and sniper rifles—the common tools of a stealth build.

While looking through these perks, I realized a new mechanic was attached to stealth Detection by enemies, which can be tied to a new factor called mitigation. Essentially, whenever I take damage, there is a chance to reduce incoming damage by the mitigation strength. By default, mitigation is set to 50%, and you can get other perks that increase this number.

Now, why is this important to stealth, you ask? Well, that's because of a perk called blindspot, which increases detection time the higher the mitigation strength is. With this in mind, I put another nine attribute points into this attribute and spent 8 perk points picking Feline Footwork, Blind Spot, Killer Instinct, Quick Getaway, Gag Order, Scorpion Sting 1 and 2, and Neurotoxin.

Feline Footwork increased movement speed while crouched and Mitigation Strength by 15%. The increased movement speed paired with blindspot increasing detection time will make it more challenging to see me while I was being sneaky. I considered getting Small Target or Unexposed, which increased mitigation while crouched but not moving and when aiming from cover, but if I was aiming a weapon or not moving while crouched, I probably wasn't too worried about being detected.

Then there was Killer Instinct, Quick Getaway, and Gag Order. These were all skills that increased my abilities to dispatch foes undetected quickly. Killer instinct increased damage with knives, axes, and silenced guns outside of combat by 25%. It also gave a nifty indicator that told me how much damage the enemy would take, which would be interesting to see since my world seemed more realistic and people didn't have a 'health pool', so to speak.

Quick Getaway gave a 10% increased movement speed after neutralizing an undetected enemy, making jumping from one enemy to another easier while stealthed. Gag Order made it so that landing an attack on an enemy right after they detected me would also delay any nearby enemies from catching me. These two skills combined should make it easier to take down small clustered groups of targets undetected.

Moving on to the Pro tier skills in Cool, Scorpion Sting 1 and 2, and Neurotoxin made thrown weapons more lethal. Scorpion Sting 1 reduced throwing weapons recovery time by 15%, and level 2 applied a poison status to enemies hit by a headshot or critical for 5 seconds. I wanted the poison effect because it paired with Neurotoxin, which made poisoned enemies blind and unable to sprint. Some enemies, like the Animals, were challenging to kill with melee weapons, who typically have head armor because of their fighting background. These two perks should make them less of a threat if they aren't immediately dispatched.

Why was throwing weapons a part of the 'don't be seen' layer of the protection onion? That was because, if I remember correctly, throwing knives was the stealth-ranged attack that did the most damage. And instantly, dead enemies can't detect you. Before the update, throwing weapons was a perk that required investing perk points, so I never got around to messing with it. With the 2.0 changes, it seems that it's no longer valid and just a skill I have now, so I might as well make the most of it. Having skills I never knew loaded into my brain through perks made me feel like Neo from The Matrix.

After Cool was Intelligence, this is where all the netrunning and smart weapon perks were located. This is where things like Breach Protocol used to be. I was never much of a neturunner and only used the cyberdecks to use Breach Protocol and turn off cameras. Now that Breach was gone, all I did was invest one point to unlock the Rookie rank and spend two perk points getting Eye in The Sky and Optimization.

Eye in The Sky automatically highlighted all access points and cameras. Considering that while I was playing the game, enemies noticed me most of the time when unmarked cameras detected me, this skill was a must-have for not being seen. Optimization simply increased the RAM recovery rate by 35%. While I didn't upload quickhacks often, when I did do so, I often found that I was limited by the amount of RAM I had. This perk should go a good way in alleviating that issue.

Moving on to the 'don't be hit' part of the onion, next was Reflexes. Here, I also invested 9 points to unlock the Pro tier of perks. I spent almost a third of my remaining perk points in getting Slippery, Muscle Memory, Dash levels 1 and 2, Lead and Steel 1 and 2, Seeing Double, Mad Dash, Flash and Thunderclap, and Bullet Deflect. These perks affect my weapons handling, with most enhancing my abilities to wield a sword.

Slippery gave me an additional chance at avoiding enemy fire the faster I moved, with an extra boost while dodging, dashing, sliding, and vaulting. While I tried to finish all my engagements before anyone noticed me through stealth, speed, and violence, sometimes, it couldn't be helped, and someone would see me. While the description is vague, this perk should give me some buffer space to work with and hopefully force some errors out of the enemies. 

Muscle Memory was a simple perk that let me reload while sprinting, sliding, and vaulting. In the heat of battle, I'm not always able to time when I run out of ammo. Being able to dive for cover while reloading will make catching me off guard harder and keep me in the fight for longer.

Next were Dash levels 1 and 2, Mad Dash, and Flash and Thunderclap. Dash level 1 reduced the stamina cost of dashing and dodging by 20%, while level 2 unlocks the Dash ability, which, going by the text, looks pretty similar to what those annoying Tyger Claw katana users were able to do in the game. Mad Dash gave a +100% dash range whenever I dashed toward an enemy. Flash and Thunderclap allowed me to leap at enemies with a heavy attack like the iconic blade Byakko's ability. The perks allowed me to flash step toward my enemies, making hitting me harder and closing the gap while using my katana much easier.

Then there was Seeing Double. Seeing Double increased damage and stun chance when I countered an enemy melee attack. I didn't do this often, as dodging is usually more manageable, but I needed this perk to unlock Flash and Thunderclap, so I got it. I guess it doesn't hurt to have it.

The last two perks I got in Reflex was Lead and Steel 2 and Bullet Deflect. Level 1 was relatively unexciting. A -15% stamina cost for all attacks with blades made it so I could wield my katana longer and attack more times. The effect was a welcome boost, but compared to level 2 and Bullet Deflect, it didn't seem very interesting.

Level 2 of Lead and Steel granted me the ability to block projectiles with my blade. That's right, I'm a straight-up cyber samurai from an anime now. I always thought that the game should have had something like this, and when I saw the video explaining the perk, I instantly dumped two points to get it to level two. Bullet Deflect was even cooler, giving me the ability to deflect the rounds back if my stamina was high enough. Honestly, the idea made me giddy with excitement. First, this just gave me another layer of protection. Second, it was just cool as fuck.

After 'don't be hit' was 'don't be damaged' and 'don't be killed'. Starting with the Body attribute, like intelligence, I only invested one point to unlock the Rookie tier. With the Rookie tier unlocked, I spent three perk points getting Painkiller, Comeback Kid, and Dorph-Head.

Painkiller unlocked health regen in combat and made it so there was no delay after no longer taking damage. This was nice just because if I ran out of healing items, I knew that at least I could start working on getting some of that health back by running away and hiding. Comeback Kid was a similar last-resort perk. I got a percentage increase in health regen for every percentage of missing health. Hopefully, I never got into a situation like that, but if I did, Comeback Kid would make it harder to kill me if I turned tail and ran.

Finally, there was Dorph-Head. Dorph-Head increased the chance of mitigation by 100% for 2 seconds after using a health item or blood pump. If I were hurt enough to need a health item, getting lucky and activating mitigation would completely neutralize one attack from whatever threat got me to that point. It might also be helpful if I needed extra stealth to sneak past something or someone.

Finally, I invested 9 points into the Technical attribute. This would also be part of the 'don't be killed' layer. Technical was the attribute that was linked to health items/grenade recharges, cyberware, and tech weapons. While the tech weapons perks were more or less useless to me, the cyberware and recharge lines were vital as they decided how much chrome I could take and how often I could heal myself/use explosives. This attribute also used to be where all the crafting-related perks were, but as I hinted at with no longer being able to automatically scrap stuff, all of that was gone. 

After unlocking the Rookie and Pro tiers, I invested 8 points to get Glutton for War, First Aid, Transfusion, Health Freak 1 and 2, Demolition Surplus, Coming in Hot, and All Things Cyber. Glutton for War gives a 5% instant item recharge whenever I neutralize an enemy and is the required perk to open the perk line. First Aid and Transfusion both focus on healing items, with First Aid giving +15% health item recharge when only one charge is used, and Transfusion giving an additional +30% health when the last charge of a health item is used. Without an essentially bottomless supply of health items, these two perks helped to keep a charge ready in a pinch.

In the Pro tier, Health Freak's first level gave +8% recharge for healing items, while level 2 gave an additional health item charge and +150% health item recharge outside of combat. Similarly, Coming in Hot increased grenade recharge, this time +50%, but only when there were no more left, while Demolition surplus gave an extra grenade charge and +250% recharge rate outside of combat. Finally, All Things Cyber gave all of my chrome a 10% boost across the board.

After going over my perks again, just this time in the real world, I got up from the bed. I stood still for a moment, just to be sure there wasn't anything wrong with me. Once a minute passed, and I didn't suddenly get dizzy or have a heavy nosebleed, I decided everything was fine and got out of the tent.

Making my way toward the control center, there were a few moments of Deja Vu and incongruity. People I last saw an hour ago still stayed in the exact general locations as if time had barely passed, which was technically accurate for them. The more I thought about it, the more I gave myself a headache, so I decided not to worry. Besides, there were other things to focus on.

Like the fact that I only used 75 of my 137 cyberware capacity. I wasn't going to go full borg or anything, but it would be a waste not to maximize my potential. Not to mention that there were perks that required me to get a certain amount of chrome to get its benefits.

I also had to worry about my side businesses with how crafting changed. No longer having automatic scraping made the margins on ammo not worth it, so I had to cut that off. Weapons still seemed to be alright, considering that the profits were higher and the demand for quantity was lower.

But I really couldn't even afford to focus on that too much. With Michiko's support on the line, we had to figure out how to get Violet out of the hole she found herself in. That meant recon, sketching up a plan, getting gear, assembling a crew, and whatever else was needed.

As I got within viewing distance of the Aldecaldo HQ, I saw that Panam was still there. She also caught sight of me and gave a short wave and a smile. I stopped and smiled back at her before she turned away and started talking to a nearby Aldecaldo, probably about whatever contract or clan business she had oversight on.

God, I loved this woman. She was funny, intelligent, confident, and the prettiest person I've ever laid my eyes on. It was hard to get our schedules lined up, but we'd sneak away whenever possible and try to make the most of it. Sometimes, we'd just stare at each other for what felt like hours, just enjoying each other's company. That's why it kills me that I'm keeping secrets from her.

I hate that I haven't told her about Saburo's engram, my strange powers, or that I'm from an entirely different reality. I kept telling myself that the time wasn't right, that I had to get everything under control before I could drop such a bombshell on her. But that was all a lie. Deep down, I knew I hadn't done it yet because I was scared she would leave me.

That it would all be too much. And Panam would kick me out of her life. I knew it was irrational, but I didn't want to lose her. I also didn't know what I would do if my closest connection in this world was no longer there for me. While berating myself for being an untrusting partner, I didn't realize I was just standing in the middle of the camp looking dazed. I wasn't aware, but Panam was.

"Basil! Snap out of it! Stop standing there like a dorphed out gonk and come over here. I want you to take a look at something."

I guess someone standing doing nothing and staring at someone would be weird. I smiled at her and started walking over. I'll tell her one day. Just... just not now.