Chapter Text
David Martinez awoke alone again, feeling the chill of the morning air, wondering where the missing heat from his mother had gone, until he heard the blare of the news on the apartment's holo screen. The apartment had enough space for one bed. He found her sleeping again on the couch, pulling up her fluorescent yellow jacket to cover her better. He headed to check on the washer.
David grabbed a prepackaged XXL breakfast burrito from the fridge, now with real (synthetic) flour, and sat, staring at the washing machine. As he tried to process the feeling of the Sandevistan from the BD he just watched. He called Doc Borg his XBD dealer,
“Hey Doc, got the BD wreath patch ready? I need it today for school.”
“chill chill, Davey, choom, I’m pushing it to your Wreath now. How was the latest BD?”
“Wicked, I still got chills,” he said, remembering the feeling of the military-grade sandy, the control over his surroundings, the cops couldn’t touch him, the thrill and euphoria of being the apex predator. But then it all went wrong when Maxtac dropped in using EMP weapons or something, which disabled the feeling, leaving only mounting horror in what was left of the guy’s brain.
Whilst eating, he looked at his BD wreath. A loading bar showed the installation progress of the software patch Doc was applying remotely, while he stared at the spinning washing through the see-through door.
“They're done, David, don’t say I didn’t do anything nice for you choom,” said Doc,
“Nova, thanks, Doc, got buyers all lined up for more XBDs”, replied David as Doc ended the call. He was conveniently leaving out how he charged him for these updates, significantly less than Arasaka, but still quite a bit for David.
The washing machine stopped and started yelling, “Washing Cycle stopped, suspended due to insufficient funds, cycle suspended due to ….”
Instinctively, he reached out to restart the machine, transferring the eddies.
“Payment processing, please wait. The account balance is now sufficient to continue the wash cycle… Unexpected stop in washing cycle,” it yelled. “Restarting washing cycle, Please ensure the door is closed, NC Corp accepts no responsibility for unwashed clothes, damage from water, over-washed clothes….”
Shit, his uniform won’t be ready for school today.
Ripping his mother from her slumber, “Mijo, Mijo”, she sleepily said, slowly rising from the couch.
“Keep sleeping on the couch like that, and you’ll get early-onset arthritis”, he said, walking up to her, kissing her forehead.
“Sorry, Mijo, I was just dead tired from my night shift.”
“You and the washing machine both, I re-upped it, but it started again, I don’t have enough time for it to re-wash my clothes”, he said, gesturing down to his singlet underneath his academy blazer and his short pants, with the suspenders hanging over his legs.
“Oh, money, right! You mentioned a wreath update for class. Has that happened yet? When did you say you needed it?” Gloria didn’t acknowledge David’s modified uniform, but focused on remembering the last thing she was thinking of, the upcoming payments for David’s attendance at the Prestigious Arasaka Academy.
“no. no. It’s fine. Got Doc to handle it.”
Responded, David, waving her off
“What do you mean, handle it?” she replied, sitting up straight, exposing herself to the chill of the morning air.
“I’m good, all set”, continued David, not meeting her eyes.
“Don’t go cutting corners, Dee. Already cashed my pay check. You’ll get it updated right. Hear me?” She said, looking sternly at David, trying to gauge his reaction
“Mum, seriously, just get some sleep. I’ve fed the washer.” He said, trying to change the subject, that he had no interest in paying the Academy's extortionate fees, even as Doc was once again offering a better rate.
“Mijo that’s my responsibility, how much eddies did you pay? I’ll send you that amount. I just forgot this time, you know it. Promise me you’ll buy the update”
“Okay, okay,” he placated his mum.
“And you’re really going to school dressed like that?” she said, finally observing his interesting uniform.
“Uniform is soaked”
The background Holo TV beeped annoyingly, switching from the regular program to a News 54 update on the James Norris cyberpsycho case. Streets painted in blood, with no bodies, as Gloria appeared wheeling away a covered stretcher.
A military-grade implant has gone missing from the body of LT. Colonel James Norris. Courageously stopped, shot dead by MaxTac last night with minimal casualties.
The NCPC is investigating the crime. All NC residents are encouraged to report any information about the missing implant.
On behalf of all of us at News 54, we’d like to thank our brave heroes at MaxTac for keeping the streets safe.
“Mum, you’re on TV. Nova,” he cheered.
“Not Nova, David, a bloodbath”, she sternly corrected, as she only called him david when he was in trouble or serious about something.
“Go on off to school”, she said, shooing him away from the news.
“Bye,” he waved,
He rushed through the crowded, littered streets of NC, walking past people who more closely resembled toasters than humans. Others were so out of their minds they were playing in traffic, lost in an imaginary world, all whilst an NCPD member sat in their car, eating a doughnut, observing the scene as if it were a holo movie.
Boarding the crowded N cart, he stared out the window as the trauma team responded to a call. It was reassuring to know that the trauma team was on the case, helping everyone in need. But it would probably be expensive to get such treatments, and it would significantly dent his savings.
Exiting the N cart, he walked across the busy street, teeming with people in their own little worlds. He waited for the signal to allow him to cross, as cars flew by him at truly ridiculous speeds.
There was a reason pedestrian collision insurance was a thing here. A choom had gotten hit by a drunk driver a while ago. His family was lucky not to be sued by the driver, who informed them that the walkways are technically a mixed-use zone.
Walking through the corpo plaza, where all the major mega Corps had their buildings, he looked at the bright, manicured gardens, the clean streets being swept by robots, and the giant holographic koi fish swimming aimlessly above them all, each the size of a building. Everyone here walked with purpose, their eyes tinged with the telltale orange of a holo call or of accessing the city net, while using automated collision-avoidance chips to keep them safe in public. Everyone wore black or colours so dark they might as well have been black.
A flash of white caught his eye, standing out from the crowd. He ran to investigate the anomaly; it looked like a hot woman in edge runner attire. He hurried up the stairs to get a better look at her.
Reaching the spot where he had seen her, he was disappointed to find the same clothed people he had seen below.
He looked up at the buildings, which seemed to touch the sky, their gleaming metal and bright lights.
Entering the Academy building, he scurried into class, ignoring the usual piercing stares and whispers of the other students, which were extra loud today because of his improper uniform.
He jumped into his spot, supported leaning spot, next in the classroom, next to Katsuo,
“Martinez, David, you are not in compliance with the Academy’s dress code.” Noted the holographic homeroom program, as the rest of the class glared at him, this would reflect on the class when competing with other classes.
“Yeh, Real sorry about that, afraid my uniform’s still at the cleaners” he responded as the rest of the class snickered.
“Do you have a spare uniform?” the monotone voice prompted
“Yeah, Spare’s there too.” He responded, and the snickers in the classroom increased.
“Understood. Please submit a Uniform Exception form after class,” continued closing out the issue.
Katsuo called him. In school, he was always told to be available for contact; declining a call required a contractibility waiver approved by the class president, Katsuo.
“What’s with the change in uniform? Did you have to sell yours, you gutter rat, rat from the streets? Are you that tight on money? ”
“Chill, chill, choom some of us are here to learn to learn”
“I’d be too embarrassed to show my face here. Did you run out of ennies?”
Well, the selling of his uniform was a new insult; he’d probably overclocked his neural processors to think of that, so he’d give him a solid B, not his best insults, but a few new ones in there, even if they weren’t too imaginative.
He slipped the modified wreath over his eyes, tense with anxiety. He needed this to work, watching it boot up and connect to the school's network, the loading screen running, until an error message popped up, then another and another until his screen was filled with them. He saw the smirk of satisfaction on Katsuo’s face as the entire class was disconnected from the virtual green room.
Marteinez, David, report to the principal’s office, echoed through the room,
As Katsuo and the rest of his friends stared, filled with mockery, their eyes lit up with the silent holo calls they were having.
He grumbled, walking down the deserted halls of the academy to the office. Doc’s updates always worked before. Why did it have to fail now?
He boarded the elevator up to the school's administrative level. The decor improved on that level: large windows covered the left walls, and pictures of former students with their current titles hung on the right. Executives, directors. He spotted Katsuo Tanaka’s father; the reflection of the Sun covered his first name, but not his title: Research and Development Executive, American region, Arasaka Night City Branch.
He noticed they all looked to be of Japanese descent, except the Chief of Security, who was African American.
“Mr Martinez, please take a seat, your legal guardian has been contacted”, a feminine monotone voice said.
“But I am willing and able to discuss the matter with the principal directly; there is no reason to bring my mom into this, " he argues to the receptionist, who didn’t react apart from repeating her earlier statement, acting like she didn’t hear him.
He paused his viewing of the wall, turning to look at the receptionist for the floor.
She was well made up, her hair styled perfectly, her face locked into a slight smile. Her arms moved almost robotically, gesturing for him to sit. She was dressed in a standard dark suit with a white Arasaka logo pinned to the lapel.
“The Principal will see you once your legal guardian arrives”. " Continued the receptionist, looking at him with disdain in her eyes, but a perfectly pleasant expression on her face."
He sat in the chair, staring at the Japanese-themed decorations.
He began wondering why the BD wreath update failed on his device. He checked the hardware compatibility, and Doc’s software ran solidly, fully meeting the academy’s other virtual environment requirements. He remembered the smirk on Katsuo’s face as all the BD’s were ejected from the collapsing environment, the same look he had when he thought he got first place in the class, before he was de-throned by his score.
He heard them enter, the frantic, fast-paced thuds of his mother’s boots on the polished marble floor and the slow rhythmic click of one of the heeled shoes from one of the headmaster’s many assistants guiding his mother to the reception area.
“Martinez, Gloria, please be seated. The principal is currently occupied and will see you shortly.” She said it again, robotically, as the assistant exited the room through a hidden door in the wall.
He tried not to look his mum in the eye, looking at her reflection in the opposite wall. She looked furious, as if she were barely holding it together.
She leaned over, whispering in his ear,” Listen to me closely, don’t speak unless you’re addressed from now on and tell me exactly what happened, the truth”
“It wasn’t my fault, it...”
Gloria reached around, grabbed his other ear, and twisted it.
“Shush, shush, Mijo~, try again, but keep your face still, there are eyes and ears everywhere. Now just the facts,” she said sweetly, tightening her grip on his ear.
“Then my wreath failed and caused the classroom environment to fail. They should already be up and running now; it’s been working well for the past year. I think Katsuo had something to do with it.” David said,
“Sigh, Dee, if you can’t prove it, it doesn’t matter if it did or didn’t happen. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.”
The receptionist addressed the room once again.
“The principal will see you now”
She was not even bothering to look at them, her expression perfectly fixed, as if it wasn’t hers, the same expression he saw on all the receptionists and support staff, assisting in the running of the academy.
The door at the end of the hallway opened on its own, and the floor pulsed, revealing the path to the room where the principal resided.
Gloria got up, keeping him behind her, walking towards the open door. The room was well lit with a massive window overlooking the corpo plaza below them, on either side of the principal were walls filled with digital stills of him with various other board members, awards for achievement and dues provided to the company. His suit looked fancier; the threads seemed to reflect the light, giving the black suit an additional layer of depth.
“Mrs Martinez, Mr Martinez, please take a seat. This has been a rather eventful morning for me, as I’m sure you understand, especially given your interesting interpretation of our dress code.”
He said, gesturing towards the seats on the other side of his desk.
His mum sat on the edge of her chair, her back straight, unmoving, staring at the principal, who was unmoving, staring back.
“I’m so sorry for the inconvenience my son has caused.” Started with his mother, admitting fault first. This was not the best opening. They should have asked for evidence first and never admitted responsibility. He leaned forward to interrupt as his mother's arm snaked under the table to pinch his waist hard. He instinctively stilled.
“ I wouldn’t call this a matter of money, Mrs Martinez. Although I must say it was quite an expense for us to restore the system,” He lied.
David thought, he’d seen similar crashes occurring from incidents as small as a bad update, to a classmate trying to stream a spiked XBD in the class environment, causing the entire server rack to be replaced; It was why they kept spares on site after all, in both aforementioned cases, the classes were up and running again within 15 minutes after the incident.
“Of course, and I will pay for the repairs”, Gloria interjected, trying to cut off the principal’s train of thought,
David turned to look at his mother in disbelief. "You never give the opposition what they want straight away; you should make them feel like they earned it from you." Besides, none of the other students had to pay for repairs,
“While that is appreciated, this is not my main area of concern, you son, Mr Martinez himself utilised firmware from unauthorised external third parties to avoid paying the licensing fee. Using a wreath which I must remind you was officially phased out of our approved Wreath list 2 years ago”
“I’m sorry, we’ll update his wreath with the correct software, including paying the licensing fees,” she said
“This is not consistent with the behaviour of a household with a sufficiently financially stable home required to maintain a good social standing in this institution. I believe this is an opportunity to provide MR Martinez with a more suitable learning environment. “
“It’s not a problem really, we can afford it. David here, just thought of it as an extracurricular activity, a chance to show off his skills,” she continued, digging a hole he thought.
“Be that as it may, I see an opportunity here to improve David’s situation.” The principal suggested, his expressions and posture remaining unchanged, like a statue
“Meaning what exactly?” she snapped
“David is not a good fit with his classmates. He could benefit from a change in environment.”
“No, wait, please, I mean, he must stay here. He deserves this education as much as every other child in this school.” She begged
“While that may be true, his recent actions do not reflect that. Maybe some time away from this academy will allow Mr Martinez to sufficiently reflect on his actions and the harm he has caused to his classmates”
“No, I still believe this academy provides the best education in Night City, and if you look at David’s grades, he’s at the top of every class he’s in”
“While that may be true, grades are but a small part of the education provided at this institution. We aim to simulate the corpo environment to make sure our graduates are fully prepared and ready to contribute to the glory of the company from day one. This includes synergistic interactions among team principals and understanding the hierarchy, based on social cues. Given that your son requires considerable improvement, I feel educational institutions may not require such stringent requirements, which may better suit MR. Martinez here. However, it is your decision, Mrs Martinez. I was merely taking this opportunity to ensure you were aware of your options.”
“Thank you for your thoughts, principal, but I believe this is the best institution for David”, replied his mother
“Of course, should you change your mind, I stand ready to assist, MRs. Martinez, would you kindly escort MR. Martinez of the establishment grounds, I believe he will need to meditate on the events of today to gain a deeper understanding of our shared culture here.”
The principal said, turning to look at David.
“I expect you to share this deepened understanding with the class upon your return. Of course, an unexplained post absence form will need to be completed and submitted before your return.”
The door opened again, and the floor lit a path out of the office to the lift, its doors open.
He followed his other in silence until they reached her car and exited the school building.
She turned to him.
“What happened? Didn’t I tell you to get the upgrade?” she asked, turning her head to look at him.
“Yeah. Doc’s damn fault. Gave me a fully borked firmware or Katsuo, who did something to my wreath,” said David Curing
“There is no proof there, you just tried to get around the system, didn’t you?” Mum
“Mom, there was no evidence it was me, they just called you to spook me, the system was fried, and all of our bd Wreaths shorted out, so there was no evidence, all they have is that my wreath didn’t have an active license. They are just blaming me because they don’t like me. That’s what they teach us in school, rules are there to be bent and skirted as long as you don’t get caught, it’s in legal compliance 101,” David said proudly.
“What are they even teaching you in school? Now it will cost us ten times more.”
“Sorry, but mum, you’re supposed to negotiate when you’re caught, never accept the initial deal, force them to prove what they know and make them work for anything they want to receive. Deny, deflect, shift and defeat them. Always know your liabilities before you make a move. Other students got away with breaking the homeroom environment and negotiated it down to a public speech and company service as waiters or assisting corporations on their projects.”
“Dee, what are you picking up at school? If it’s something you gotta apologise for, maybe don’t do it in the first place. ‘ey?”
“You said you didn’t have the eddies when I asked, so I contracted out the work to a third party, compliant with the project specifications…”
“I was waiting for payday, you know, we don’t have that kind of cash just lying around, can’t you sit still a minute. Sigh, I Mijo, you’re supposed to take the best from the street, inventiveness, drive, passion, friends and family with you to the corpo world, not combining the worst of the street and corpo.”
“You know I’ve been thinking lately”, he decided to air out his inner thoughts, the constant stares, overcritical thinking, the additional scrutiny, the isolation all weighing down on him.
He’s lost contact with his friends from before the academy; ever since they learned he was attending, they've abandoned him.
“About what?”
“Maybe I drop out. Find some work or whatever, I’m stuck, between the streets and corpo world, and I fit into neither.”
“Do you hear yourself?!”
“C’mon, seriously, you know we can’t afford those repairs. Plus, you have no idea how bad I stand out compared to all of them, no matter how corpo I act, what I wear, the big words I throw out like synergise, bandwidth, move the needle and holistic. They know I’m not from their world, and they hate it. Anyone side’s, a true blue corpo gets shit on. Even if I do graduate, they’ll never accept me. No kid from Santo will ever be a suit. I don’t want to be one anyway, not with the way I have to act to succeed.”
“So you tell me what I have been busting my ass for then, huh? Everything I do, I do for you, Dee. Don’t you see that? You’re breaking my heart, mijo,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Wait, what?” he said, surprised at her hurt tone.
“My sweet baby boy. So smart, so talented. You’re everything to me. I want to give you a fighting chance in their city and a good education. It’s why I put in all those hours. Why I’m never home,” she continued as the tears fell from her eyes.
“Ug, I’m sorry, shouldn’t have brought it up. Don’t cry, mum,” He tried to placate her. He hated it when she cried.
“Think I don’t know how they treat you? Think I don’t get treated the same way? But that’s why you have to prove them wrong, you have to work hard and rise through the ranks. My son at Arasaka tower top floor. I can see it. You’ve got this, Dee. You’re my son.” She continued, as her tears stopped falling and her eyes dried
“Yeah, well, easier said than done, but I’ll give it a go for you... Huhh?’’ He said, internally evaluating the odds of that statement being true somewhere around 3% requiredin 2 acts of God as he spotted a machine gun through his window with the business end pointing their way.
“MUM BREAK!!!” He yelled, dropping into his seat as memories of another flashed through his mind. He knew what was going to happen next; since the machine gun didn’t work, they would use something bigger, like a rocket launcher, or a gonking missile launcher. They needed to slow down and put some distance between them and the upcoming blast.
He watched his hand reach for the steering wheel, as if he remembered doing so before, trying to wrench it from his mum’s locked grip and failing; her strength from her work made it impossible for him to overpower her.
She looked in confusion at him as the gun opened fire, tearing through the front windows of their car, inches in front of his face, as the limo on the right sped up, showing a trail of dents where bullets continued to impact the limo.
The van sped up, with both cars overtaking it, before a trail of smoke rose from the van, heading toward the limo, its windscreen shattered, glass flying over both of them and obscuring their view of the road ahead.
Until they exited the smoke, to see the limo now flipped horizontally descending on a collision path with their car.
“MUM!” he yelled again, watching in what felt like slow motion as the car descended on them, as his mum stayed frozen and unresponsive. Crunch and blackness
He came to upside down, feeling the seat belt dig into his shoulder, it felt like a XBD, he paused waiting to see what happened next, except this one didn’t move, nothing happened, he looked at the driver’s seat, finding his view moving like he commanded it, he tried moving his hands in front of his face, and they obeyed.
He panicked at the realisation that this was all real, that it actually happened to him. He looked for his mother, saw the seatbelt hanging where she had just sat a moment ago, and snapped.
He then saw her in that bright yellow jacket she always wore, lying motionless on the road. He screamed,
“MUM, MUM, are you ok, say something?”
He kept screaming until he saw the telltale signs of trauma team landing one of their Avs.
The blue glow of their projected landing zones seemed to glow in the haze surrounding the crash, yes, yes, he cheered internally as the AV landed, the massive flying van’s side door opened, disgorging 4 paramedics, who split up, moving to the two vehicles, a pair moved closer to him. Help, my mum needs help,” he shouted at him. They kept walking, taking out a scanner and pointing at mum, they must be checking her vitals, good, he thought, until the robotic voice said
“Not a policy holder, check the other one,” as they moved to him, and he felt the telltale pricks against his body of an invasive scan.
“This one’s also not a policy holder, move to the policy holder, the one who called this in, leave them for the meat wagon”
He screamed until his voice went hoarse as they ignored him and left with one of the men from the limo.
He grabbed a piece of broken glass from the windscreen and cut the seatbelt and hand at the same time.
His legs were weak and uncoordinated as he crawled through the overturned car until he reached his mother, who was breathing. He found a piece of shrapnel embedded between her and the coat. He put pressure around the wound to slow the bleeding, waiting until help arrived.
After what felt like forever, they showed up. He recognised them from one of his mother’s photos, as his vision started to darken,
The last thing he heard was “Pay up, gonk, I told you she would end up dead from associating with those corpos”
He came to sit in a bathtub, with a hospital tag around his wrist.
He groggily got up, his legs deciding to be more useful this time, as he walked to a counter, where an older woman sat, her eyes glowing orange from her use of holo vision, excuse me, where am I? Where is my mother?
“Your plan doesn’t cover questions, as required by law. The location of your mother is in surgery room 3. I’ve sent you a pin; find the place yourself”, she said, not looking at him, with annoyance written all over her face.
He walked down the dark, dingy corridors, the flickering lights making it hard to see clearly. Until he found an unmarked door that matched the pin’s location,
He crumpled to the bench waiting for news, losing track of time as he pondered how it all went wrong so quickly.
Suddenly, the door opened,
“Her plan has 5 minutes for questions”, said the man who looked kinda like a knock-off doctor,
“Let me start with the usual”, he continued before david could get a word in
“You have 3 days to pay, the bill has been emailed to her next of kin, one Martinez, David. Here are her possessions. Any other questions?” he droned out like a prerecorded script.
“How is she? Can I see her?” he frantically blurted out.
“The Surgery was successful, she’s stable, no, her budget plan doesn’t cover visitation or provision of medical reports to the family, " he droned on, like this was standard news. That’s why everyone wants insurance, especially those that come with most corpo jobs. We’ll be in touch when she’s ready to go, one way or another,” He said, pulling out a cigarette to smoke as he slowly walked away.
David turned following the exit signage, flickering dangerously, threatening to go out at any moment.
He walked through the city, finding it feeling colder than he remembered in the usual afternoon warmth. The building's shadows seemed to drown out the warmth.
He trudged to the N-Cart and then his usual way home. Until the door didn’t open, a rent past due hologram was floating in front of the door.
He climbed in through the bathroom vent, turning on the lights. As he collapsed in bed, he paused, remembering his mum yelling at him for not dirtying the bed and not eating, always yelling at him from the couch. He looked for her like he normally did.
This time, he found the couch empty.
He got up like she was here, heading for the shower, and he paused, seeing his uniform ironed and folded from the washing machine.
He continued into the shower, rinsing off all the road debris and hospital smell that he picked up over the course of the day, now feeling the pains from all the abrasions, cuts and bruises he gained during the day.
He exited, donning his sleepwear as he headed to the kitchenette, where he found a plate of tacos with a note.
Mijo, I’ll be off to work early again. I’ve made dinner, placed the plate in the microwave for 2:32, and don’t forget to do your homework and brush your teeth, Mum.
He sat at the terminal while the tacos warmed and began writing a reflection on his actions. He made all the right points: how we all worked for the corporation, how he apologised for disrupting the class, and the importance of licensing and standards compliance. Just the standard corpo speech, why they were caught lying, deny, deny, deny and then distract, never admit responsibility.
He got up to the kitchen, grabbed the tacos, and ate them as he checked the news,
News 54 breaking news alert live,
Today, there was a drive-by of a citizen by a suspected gang. Trauma team reports only one NC citizen injured in the latest round of senseless violence, who is well on the way to recovery. The police commissioner has vowed to find the perpetrators, that the full weight of the law will fall upon them, now to…
He turned off the TV, almost sending the remote into the window in rage.
What about his mum, what about him, did he not matter to anyone?
Did only the corporators matter? He raged, pausing as he received a holo call from Doc,
“Davey, my choom, got my money, did the update as you asked, and you said you got a lot of buyers “
“Doc, what gonk borked piece of garbage did you give me? The entire environment crashed ”
“Chill, chill, Davey, chill. I’ve done countless patches for you, right? None of them has failed, so it must be another factor, like a spike by someone who’s got it in for you, but choom since I’m such a nice guy, I’ll let the fee slide this time”
“Doc, what do you mean, spiked?”
“The patch was to prevent remote injection and execution of code from others on the same local network. I’ll need a sample to properly duplicate it, but I put together something that ticked the academy’s checker, Davey. I gotta go, got a customer here, call me when you make some sales,” he said, hanging up.
David carried himself off to bed, feeling the heavy weight of waiting form his mum to heal, he opened the bad of her effects, finding her fluorescent yellow jacket he grabbed it heading to bed, stopping when he felt something sold inside it, looking down he saw a cyberwear, there were no markings on it, it was brutal, chunky, with no sleek lines, purely performance, with no paint or real skin.
He pondered the reason his mother would have this before coming to the realisation that she had scavenged a dead body.
He collapsed into the bed, unsettled with the thoughts, of his mum harvesting cyberwear, mashed up with BD’s where his mum replaced the victims or the killers harvesting cyberware