The Brink and Back - Tinker of Fiction

I spent the rest of the day designing, building, and then throwing away a few dozen different bits of tech. None of it was really worth mentioning specifically, but together, they did end up expanding my knowledge base. I didn't quite regret not realizing the usefulness of just expanding my knowledge earlier, but I was glad I realized it when I did.

I now felt more confident in working different bits of technology together, and I was starting to feel good about where I was for the next tech tree. I ended up staying up until midnight and letting the Become Human tech tree fade as I worked. As usual, the timer slipped into its place, reading down from seven days. While I was a little annoyed that the break time was the same as it would have been if I had held on to the subject for an extra week, that was mostly because I was anxious to see what would happen next.

Once the tech tree faded, it didn't take long for me to head to bed, staying up just long enough to toss my creations into the mass recycler.

The following morning, I crawled out of bed and into the shower, spending too much time under the warm water before eventually making my way out of my trailer. As I made my way to the garage, I was surprised to find that Jackie was up before me. I found him sitting on the roof of the garage, watching the sunrise as I first got there.

"What the hell are you doing up?" I asked, climbing up stair along the side of the building. "Aren't you supposed to be taking it easy?"

One of the first things Noah did when starting the garage addition was to take the stairs along the back of the garage and swing them around to the side so they would be out of the way. I was pretty sure he had plans to replace them with something a bit more sturdy, but they worked for now. Once I was on the roof, I made my way to the side of the building, sitting beside my choom.

"I'm just about healed," He explained, passing me some sort of pre-packaged coffee drink that reminded me of the Starbucks glass bottles you could buy back home. "And I couldn't sit still anymore. I woke up a few hours ago and couldn't fall back to sleep."

I cracked the drink open and took a small, hesitant sip. It actually tasted pretty good, all things considered. Coffee was one of the few plants still mass-produced enough for ordinary people to have access to it, and I wasn't surprised that a coffee-flavored beverage was pretty accurate.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, sneaking a peek at his neck and shoulder. There wasn't any redness or swelling, and to my amateur eyes, everything looked pretty healthy.

"I feel fine. I guess my neck feels a bit heavier, but that's normal," he responded with a shrug, noticeably not wincing. "Frank says I can test the implant out later today."

"Good, I'm ready to see what you can do," I said, slapping his stomach. "Don't worry about it. Even if you aren't compatible, I'll come up with something better. You might not be blurring around like a ninja, but I guarantee I'll be able to make something better eventually."

He nodded in agreement, and we chatted for a few hours before the sun got too much for both of us. I left to get to work designing the necessary gadgets for our next gig while Jackie got some ammo for his new pistols and spent a few hours practicing his shooting. He complained that they had a different feel than guns, but once he had some practice under his belt, he was shooting better than ever before.

When I finished the design phase for my newest piece of equipment, I left the construction to a MRVN unit. Jackie, Kaytlyn, Murtaugh Riggs, and Frank had all gathered at one of the parking lots further into the town, waiting for me so that Jackie could start testing his Sandevistan.

"Finally, took you long enough," Kaytlyn said when I arrived. "C'mon Jackie, let's see it!"

"Wait a minute!" Frank said as he fiddled with something for a moment before affixing a small device to Jackie's neck. "This is a sensor. It will allow me to monitor your vitals closely as you experiment. Please be careful. It is very delicate."

"Thanks, doc," Jackie said, standing up straight and stretching a bit. "I appreciate all the help you've been giving."

"Of course, it is my job," The AI robot responded with a nod, watching his patient as he made his way to one end of the parking lot.

"Are you sure he is ready?" I asked Frank under my breath so that Jackie couldn't hear me.

"The scans are all clear, his body is mostly healed, and all signs point to the cyberware being properly implanted," Frank confirmed with a nod. "The sensor will alert me if there are any major issues, and I brought enough equipment to supply a small army. He is as ready as we can make him."

He gestured to a large white bag with a red cross stenciled on the front. I nodded, trusting the AI to know what he was talking about. I programmed him to, after all.

"Okay, Jackie. Let's start off with a single short use, just a few seconds, relative to you," Frank said, increasing his volume slightly so Jackie could hear him clearly. "Whenever you're ready."

Jackie nodded, taking a moment to shake out his tension. After he was settled, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

Then he was a blur.

In a split second he was more than halfway across the parking lot, having moved across the entire space in a blink and you'll miss it moment. He stopped at the other side and turned back to face us, standing there as if he expected to collapse any moment despite the fact that he looked fine.

"Well done!" Frank called out. "I'm reading some raised vitals, elevated heart rate, stress on your nervous system, elevated temperature, slightly lower glucose levels…and few others, but… everything is within acceptable levels. How do you feel?"

"I feel… okay, like I just ran around for a bit," he responded, standing up straight and examining himself for a moment. "Nothing I haven't experienced before."

"Good, very good," Frank said with excitement. "These readings are fascinating. Why don't you try again, another short burst like before."

Jackie nodded, and after a moment, he blurred again, suddenly standing back where he had started. This time, he stumbled forward a bit, recovering after a moment.

"Readings are a bit higher," Frank said, raising his hand to tap his metallic chin. "I'm worried about the increase in temperature and his heart rate. Jackie, come back and sit down for a minute or two. Then I want to test a long sustained burst, the maximum the unit is capable of."

The next few hours were spent testing how well Jackie's body could handle the Sandevestan. At some point, both he and I put on our armor and undersuits so that we could spar a bit, which was really just me getting tossed around a bit, but really fast. Jackie also spent a not insignificant portion of that time sitting down and recovering, eating sugary foods to maintain his glucose levels. He handled the experiments pretty well, and by the end of the testing, Frank delivered the verdict.

"As you can obviously tell, since I didn't immediately tell you to stop, your physical compatibility with the Sandevistan system is pretty decent," The AI doctor explained. "The pace we set for taking breaks and refueling is more or less stable, but I suspect it is also your normal limit. What it comes down to is the frequency of use. Using it once or twice over the span of an hour, every hour, all day would leave you feeling like you put in a long, hard day's work, assuming you hydrated and consumed enough food. On the other hand, using it six times in five minutes will leave you feeling like you are recovering from a bender under the hot sun. It won't kill you, but you might wish it did."

"That's great news, Doc," Jackie said, sitting back in his chair. "I'm really all set?"

"Physically, your body is handling the stress well. You will come in for a check-up after every mission to make sure it stays that way," Frank said in no uncertain terms. "I'm also going to formulate a pre-mission supplement. It will help your body resist the shock of using the Sandevistan system several times in rapid succession."

"Yeah, alright, Doc Frank. Thanks."

"You are welcome. How do you feel mentally?"

"I… I'm happy, excited, and eager," he responded. "Other than that? I'm fine."

"Fascinating. Very well, I am giving you the green light to use your Sandevistan system while on missions," The AI confirmed with a nod. "You will come in if you or anyone else notices any change. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, Doc, I understand."

"Good. Now, take it easy for the next several hours, and then come see me in my office. I want to run a full workup, just to make sure."

Jackie nodded while Frank grabbed his things and walked away, heading back to the BD shack.

"Congrats Choom!" Kaytlyn said, thumping the bigger man on the shoulder. "Sounds like you're keeping it!"

"So far so good," He admitted with a smirk. "We'll see if I can mentally keep up with it."

"Cyberpsychosis is most prevalent with people who are already mentally unhealthy," I assured him, patting his opposite. "We will keep an eye on you, and as long as you're honest if you feel off, I have a feeling you'll be okay."

"Thank's choom," He responded, patting my shoulder as he stood. "I need to give Misty a call and tell her that everything is going well."

"Fuck that choom!" Kaytlyn said, shaking her head. "Cmon! This is something to celebrate! Tell her to get out here, and we can have a party!"

"Chica, I think it's a bit early to be throwing a party," Jackie said, scratching his cheek. "Besides, it's just a bit of chrome."

"Just a bit of chrome? Don't be stupid, Gonk! That Sandy is worth more than all the other chips you've got in you, and then some!" She said. "What's going on with you? You've been a mopey mess since we found them!"

Jackie looked at me for support, and I made a vague agreeing gesture.

"I wouldn't put it like that, but you have been putting a lot of thought into it," I responded to his unasked question. "I get it, though. It's a big deal. But she is right about this being something to celebrate. You got some major chrome, and you're still healthy. It doesn't have to be anything big, just call Misty out here, and we can do what we did when I got my skin bioware. And considering the paycheck I just got, it's on me. We can go grab some food and celebrate. To good health and friends."

"... you know what? You're right. This is something to celebrate," He said, shaking himself off a bit and nodding in agreement. "Okay, I'll give Misty a call. Do you mind if I invite Vik out as well? He is the one who installed it, after all. That, plus I can tell he has been dying to know what you've been doing out here."

"That's a good idea," I agreed with a smile. "He is more than welcome out here."

Jackie nodded and walked off, standing up straighter than before. A hunch I had missed was already gone, and he seemed to be a bit more awake and happy.

"Good call," I said, giving Kaytlyn a look. "I noticed his funk, but I was just hoping the good news would break him out of it."

"Any idea what's causing it?" She asked with a frown. "He's not the kinda guy to get mopey usually. You don't think it's the Sandy, do you?"

"No, it started before that. It's a guess, but a lot has changed over the last couple of weeks," I guessed with a shrug. "He might have just lost his bearings, between us becoming a deadly hit squad basically overnight. Now he has a bit of cyberware he never dreamed he would get. It's possible he is starting to wonder what happens after we get into the Afterlife and 'make it big.'"

She frowned, nodding at my explanation.

"Guess we will just have to keep him busy, show him what happens next," She guessed. "I should probably keep it to myself that I'm already allowed into the Afterlife as well."

"Really?" I asked, a bit surprised. "How did that happen?"

"Got hired to protect someone, ended up getting ambushed in our safehouse," She explained with a shrug. "Had to fight our way down and out of a six-story building. Ended up skipping three floors by jumping and using a big squishy solo as a cushion, then blew up the building to slow them down. Cost me an arm, but I completed the mission, so I got an invite."

"Damn."

She nodded before slapping me on the back and heading off to prepare while I went back to my trailer. I stopped by the garage first to let Samwise know what was happening, and he promised to get the MRVNs to help set up the firepit and some chairs.

I quickly took a shower and changed before stepping out to find Jackie waiting for me, his customary grin on his face.

"C'mon Genio, I got an idea for what we can eat, assuming you don't mind buying a few expensive things?"

"We are celebrating, so it's fine," I said with a smile. "As long as you don't completely bankrupt me."

"I won't, I know a guy who will give us a good deal," He said. "And I'll make you a family recipe."

We hopped into the Emperor and pulled out of town, heading back to the city. Both Vik and Misty had agreed to come, but thankfully, we had just enough room. However, rather than pick up our friends first, we went shopping. Our first stop was a higher-end store around the corporate plaza. We got a lot of looks walking in there, but they weren't crazy enough to kick us out. Jackie filled a basket with a few things while I bought some drinks, and it was all charged to me, waving my Keyphone over their scanner. I couldn't help but wince at how much my money dipped, but judging from what Jackie was hinting at, this was nothing on our next stop.

When we were done, we headed back into Valentino territory. Jackie directed me to stop by a random-looking house, nodding for me to come with him. We walked up to the front door, and Jackie knocked, ignoring the doorbell. He then talked in rapid-fire Spanish before the door opened, and a man armed with a Carnage and enough chrome to use it properly was revealed.

"Jackie, good to see you," he said, gesturing for us to come in. "Been hearing good things about you and your new team, congrats!"

"Thanks, choom. Listen, is Armando in?" Jackie asked, the armed man nodding.

"Oh, he is in, down in the basement with the goods, you know the way."

The shotgun-toting man sat down heavily on a worn-out couch, leaving Jackie and I to head downstairs. As we stepped out of the stairs and into the basement, the temperature dropped several degrees, and I could see the room was filled with freezers.

Armando, the only person in the basement other than us, greeted Jackie like an old friend. After a few minutes of polite catching up, he walked us back to one of the large freezers along the back wall. He cracked it open to reveal a bunch of frozen food. To my old life, it would have looked like an ordinary freezer, but now, the dozen bags of frozen vegetables and the pile of frozen meat looked like nirvana on Earth.

The old man laughed at me while I stared at it, my jaw hanging open. He explained that he was at the tail end of a smuggling operation that mostly dealt with food stolen from Corpo hoarders. Jackie negotiated for a bit to buy a big slab of fish, the cheapest meat he was selling. When he was done, I bought a chicken breast and a small cut of steak, as well as a few bags of frozen fruit and vegetables, including peas, corn, and strawberries. Jackie looked at me like I was crazy, but Armando looked like he had won the lottery. He offered me a cut of bacon for cheap since it was technically past its prime, and I bought that as well.

In total, including what I bought from Jackie, I spent thirty thousand eddies on meat and vegetables. Armando threw in a portable freezer for free, shaking my hand as we left.

"Jackson, that was a lot of fucking money!" Jackie said as I put the freezer in the back. "You buying with your stomach, not your wallet."

"We aren't eating most of that food, Jackie," I explained, shaking my head. "I'm handing it over to Frank and asking him to try and find a way to make more."

"What! You're not even gonna eat it?!"

"No! It's thirty thousand eddies worth of food!" I said, shaking my head. "There is no way I am eating it until I know if I can replicate it or not!"

Titanfall had never had the food issues that Cyberpunk had, since their expansion included worlds on which they could grow more food, and they never experienced the same sort of apocalypse that Cyberpunk did. Those two things combined meant that the Titanfall tech tree did not have a clear-cut solution to my food dilemma. That said, the medical equipment I had access to was way beyond what Cyberpunk had access to, and the molly makers were impressive tools that were in the same boat.

I was hoping that between the two advancements, and with the right samples, that I would be able to reproduce or create more palatable food. Up until this point, I had simply been biding my time, trying to come up with a way to get access to the samples I needed. Now I find out that Jackie had a contact this entire time. Looking back, I should have probably guessed he would, as the friendly Gonk had a contact for everything.

If I had known Jackie had access to real food… well it was probably better that I hadn't, because I probably would have ended up spending a lot of money buying some, money that, until now, we really couldn't waste. I wasn't sure if it was going to work, after all, even if I was hoping and praying it would.

After we picked up food the ingredients for Jackie's surprise dish, we stopped by Misty and Vik's to pick them up before heading back to Rocky Ridge. Vik was excited to see what we had been working on, and Misty was just happy to get out of the city. When we arrived, Duke greeted us with an excited bark. We had been forced to leave him behind since we weren't sure if the Emperor would have enough room if he had come with us. By the time we got back, a fire pit and grill area had been set up, and Kaytlyn was starting the fire.

It didn't take long after we arrived for Jackie and Misty to get to work cooking up a storm. While they did that, I gave Vik a short tour of the town, starting off by introducing him to Riggs and Murtaugh, followed by Noah and Samwise. After that I brought him to Frank, carrying the portable freezer of food with me.

"And this is Frank, our doctor droid," I explained, the medical robot reaching out to shake Vik's hand. "He's been keeping an eye on Jackie as he recovered. Frank, this is Vik, our Ripperdoc."

"Nice to meet you," Vik said, shaking the AI's hand.

"And you as well. Your work is exemplary," Frank said, genuine approval in his voice. "Jackie's latest Cyberware has healed well and was installed beautifully."

"Yeah, about that. Did he really try it today?" Vik asked, sounding a bit concerned. "It's about a day or so too early for that, but I gave it a quick look over earlier… It looked remarkably well healed."

"I prescribed a few… additive ingredients to the regimen you gave him," Frank explained. "They lower his swelling, increased receptiveness, stimulated nerve growth, nothing too intense so it would heal as stable as possible."

"Where did you get those?" Vik asked, confusion in his voice and face.

"We made them," Frank explained, gesturing around his workspace. "We have access to… a few extraordinary tools here."

Vik gave me a look, and I shrugged.

"I'm sorry, I know that look, but how quickly do you think a corpo would be kicking down our doors after we start feeding you miracle cures?" I pointed out. "We have our own Corpo… You know, maybe I should have invited her… Anyway, we have someone working on a way to prevent that from happening, but until then, and honestly after then too, we have to be careful."

"Yeah, I get it," He said, letting out a long breath. "Just so sick of giving kids drugs I know are cheap or inferior. Ignore me, I shouldn't have brought down the mood."

I nodded in commiseration, patting his shoulder before putting the portable freezer up on one of the clinic countertops.

"Frank, I have a new project for you," I said, getting the AI's attention. "I want you to work on scanning and analyzing the food that's in here as precisely and completely as you can. I want you to have records of every aspect of its internal structure, chemical makeup, everything. Then, I want you to work with Samwise to come up with a way to print it on a modified molly-maker. Compromise on that part if you have to, but do your best."

"Interesting. Sounds like an acceptable challenge," Frank said, nodding his head. "I will see what we can come up with. Working alongside Samwise will be an interesting experience. If I might make a request?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Working on biological projects such as this would be made significantly more simple with proper laboratory space," He explained before gesturing to the room around us. "This room is… acceptable for my current needs providing emergency treatment and care, but it is ill-fitted for proper experimentation. On top of that, should you ever have the... desire to study biology, it will come in handy."

I frowned, and for a moment, my mind was filled with images of what would happen if my next tech tree was Zerg, or maybe the Yuuzhan Vong from Star Wars. I might voluntarily skip those if I ever got them, just to keep any of their stuff from existing in this world, but having a biological research space was very smart. So far, I had only rolled tech trees that require engineering, but who knew what I would get next?

"That's a really good point, Frank," I admitted with a frown. "But it's going to be a while before I can build you a full lab."

"Why not allow me to work with Noah to convert the BD shack into an appropriate space?" He asked, tilting his metallic head slightly.

"Because we use it as a meeting and break area," I explained. "We were gonna tear it down and put something else here, but we have plenty of room…"

I turned and stepped out of the side room, looking around the BD shack interior. After a moment, I nodded and returned.

"Okay, how about this. We seal off the open space on the second floor and convert that into a lab space for you," I explained. "You can even add something to get equipment up to the lab using the bar space. The rest of the bottom floor stays the same… and I want you to keep all the equipment movable or at least marginally transportable. Eventually, we are going to knock this building down, and I want your gear to be moved out into its new home before that."

"Thank you, Jackson, I will start discussing the idea with Noah," Frank said with a short bow. "I am sure he will run further plans by your first."

After discussing what his first steps would be, all three of us made our way out of the BD shack and back outside, where everyone had gathered around the fire pit. The pit was now full of burning cacti and bramble while Jackie stood close by, still cooking up a storm with Misty's help.

"Sit down and grab a beer!" He said as we got closer. "No more talking about business or projects!"

Vik chuckled and shook his head, both of us claiming seats. Murtaugh was sitting down beside Kaytlyn, while Riggs leaned against the garage. Even Samwise and Noah were close by, sitting on a crate, listening and enjoying a break.

About twenty minutes after we sat down, all of us drinking and laughing around the fire, Jackie's feast was done. He set out the food along a folding table, showing off a line of ingredients for fish tacos, including the perfectly grilled fish. Misty and Vik, both of whom had apparently had these before, were in line first, but soon enough, we had all gotten our food. Once we were all sitting and eating, the only noise making it around the fire pit was the crackle of burning wood and the occasional noise of appreciation.

"Holy fuck, Jackie, these are Nova," Kaytlyn said eventually between bites. "What the hell?"

"I can't take credit, Chica, it's a family recipe, handed down on my mother's side," He explained with a smile and a shrug. "I made a solemn vow to Mama Welles to never make them with anything other than real fish, and never for people who aren't friends, or better yet, family."

With a smile, he raised his beer, holding it up to all of us.

"To family," He said. "Always happy to cheer you up and knock you out of your blues."

"To family," Everyone said, taking a long drink.

I just barely managed to smother my chuckle and keep from calling Jackie Vin Diesel since none of them would get the reference anyway.

Together, we spent the rest of the night talking and laughing, trading stories and making jokes. I was happy to see that all of the AI were fitting in, and equally satisfied that no one questioned how the obvious robot could make a joke good enough to get Jackie to spew beer from his nose. When the night was finally winding down, MRVN units showed everyone their trailers, and I spent some time putting out the fire and cleaning up. When I was done, I said goodnight to Samwise and the others before making my way back to my bed, Duke trailing after me.