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-+=[BoG]=+-
To pass the time, he decides to work a bit on his Technical Ability.
Going into his stash room, he grabs the copperhead off the wall and began disassembling it.
It took a little bit of time but he got a notification.
Gunsmithing +100
Now it was time to put it back together and he did so as the gun looked exactly the same as it did before he touched it.
He also got another notification for that.
Gunsmithing +100
Marcus was having fun with it and wondered when he could start modifying them which would be cool, but he doesn't have any tools for that, so he'll stick with what he has.
It would also cost money to do so, but he will probably use the training shard before he tries anything in the real world.
He put the gun back and was about to sit down before there was banging at the door.
Walking up to the entrance, he saw a message from David saying that they were here, so he opened the door.
"Yo!" David waved and Gloria could hardly look him in the eyes.
"Hey, wanna sit down?" He knew there would be a talk so he got right to the point as he went over to the couch.
"Yeah." David sensing that it was a bit awkward decided to just go along with it since his mother was silent.
They sat down across from him and he brought out a cigarette and lit it.
"Since when did you start smoking?" Gloria finally spoke up.
"A while ago, so what's up?" Marcus took another drag.
"John...I'm sorry for what I said. I shouldn't have pushed you away." Gloria looked down and even David was affected by her words.
"It's fine. You're here now, aren't you? That's what counts." He was a bit hurt in the moment, but being sad wouldn't change anything, plus he has new people in his life that more than make up for it.
"It doesn't erase what I said." Gloria wasn't about to let him sweep it under the rug.
"You're right it doesn't, but I understood why you did it. Would you be here if David didn't want to be an edgerunner? Probably not, but why feel grief over what-ifs when we're living in reality." The truth is that he had gotten over it especially when he had his talk with Misty. He had more pressing things to attend to and prepare for.
Gloria looked guilty as she knew the answer.
"Come on, you heard what he said. It wasn't right, but we're here now to work together." David chimed in with a smile and that seemed to pull Gloria out of her funk.
"Right, okay. You are training to be an edgerunner and David wants to be one too. He said something about a training shard, right?" She asked him.
He took a drag.
"Yeah, I got one. It's pretty comprehensive. All kinds of guns with a range and even practicing live combat, unarmed combat, knives, and blunt weapons with bots too. Techie training where you can build all sorts of things, stealth scenarios, netrunning practice with breaching, programming, and live application. Hell, you can learn to drive too." Marcus explained with a laugh at the end.
Their jaws dropped.
"That's preem, John!" David was excited as he knew training shards were expensive but he didn't know one that in-depth. He definitely wanted to learn how to drive.
Gloria was the same way, but she was glad since it could help David a lot and clearly Marcus has been using it.
"You can just call me Marcus now. It's fine." He waved off taking a drag.
Her stomach dropped.
"Are you sure…?" Gloria didn't know why Marcus' name was changed. She knew that his parents died but she was told that his name was John now by the caretaker, but it must've been to protect him, so she didn't pry.
David was confused.
"What are you talking about?" He asked.
"My name is Marcus at birth, but was legally changed to John. Marcus John Linder" He shrugged.
"Oh, well I'm too used to calling you John." David didn't really know what to think of that.
"That's fine." Marcus wouldn't force his cousin to call himself something different after years of only knowing him as John.
Gloria sighed.
"So do you have a plan, Marcus?" She asked.
"I'm going to be training for a bit longer with the shard, so David will be able to use it maybe tomorrow or the day after, but I'm going to hit up a scav den I found earlier in the next couple of days." He took another drag.
"Do you really have to jump straight to that? Scavs are vile sure, but they aren't pushovers." Gloria asked with concern.
"I'm confident enough to not die taking them on myself." He reassured her.
"Huh, I'm not going?" David asked in surprise.
"NO!" Gloria snapped at him.
He deflated.
"Why not? I can help him. It's better than going by himself." David tried to point out.
Gloria was about to give a ton of reasons why that was a terrible idea before Marcus beat her to it.
"Have you ever shot a gun before? Pointed it at someone? Killed someone? Because that's the reality of what's going to happen when I pull up on them." He laid down the harsh truth.
David froze and he knew that let alone shooting a gun, he never even held one, but he latched onto one of his questions.
"Have you...killed anyone?" He asked in uncertainty.
Gloria looked at him with concern.
"Yes, four people." Marcus nodded before taking a drag.
David's eyes went wide and Gloria just looked sad but she understood. The streets were dangerous so it was your life or theirs. She just hoped that it wouldn't affect her boys, but considering that they both want to be edgerunners, it's a good lesson to learn before you're forced into a situation where you'd freeze and die.
"Seriously? When?" David was interested but also a little concerned that he'd have to do so as well if he wanted to run the edge.
"The first was on the metro. I was talking to a girl before this guy pulled a gun on me trying to rob me, distracted him, and then killed him with my own. The next three cornered me on an elevator with the same intention. Got all three of them without an injury. All happened on the same day." Marcus explained as he took a drag.
"Damn, nova." He could imagine the scene of his cousin taking on three guys at once without even a scratch. David wanted to be able to do that too.
Gloria smacked him on the shoulder.
"The thing is, those three guys? They were about your size and build David. Any gonk can have a gun and shoot at people, but as I said, look what happened to them. You don't want to go out there without any preparation. It would also be good to get a gym membership." Marcus told it like it was.
David looked introspective and agreed. He could only imagine what he could do with some training.
"Is that how you got so big? You didn't look like that the last time I was over. Did you get chipped?" David pointed out the massive difference in his physique from when he was over before.
Gloria also noticed but didn't really think too deeply at the moment since she was ashamed in how she handled the incident in her home, but looking at his body now, it seemed impossible to get that muscular in such a short amount of time.
Marcus sighed as he was going to have to show his physique off again.
He took his shirt off and Gloria gasped in shock. Not a single sign of cybernetics.
Even David looked impressed and noticed the same thing.
"So I can get that big by going to the gym?" He looked excited and wondered how he'd look if he put on some size.
"Yeah, lifting weights and eating more." Marcus believed he could considering his current Body stat was at the peak of natural gains. Of course, the system skipped a lot of time and streamlined his physique to be the perfect balance of size and functionality. That would be difficult to do without such help, but not impossible.
"Could I go to your gym?" David asked.
"Unless you've been moonlighting as a boxer, then probably not. It's recommendation only." Marcus shook his head before taking another drag.
"Darn. Wait, you box?" David grew intrigued.
"Yeah, the training shard helped a lot, plus my ripper was a retired boxer and after seeing what I could do, he sent me the address and is now coaching me." He shrugged.
That made David giddy as he could also learn to box.
"There's a gym in our megabuilding, so I'll look into that." Gloria chimed in as she let David take the front seat and if he realized that he was in over his head, then she could offer some advice and help. This was the life he wanted.
David nodded ecstatically.
"Alright, so I'll ring you up on the holo when you can use it. In the meantime, hit the gym and exercise. You could do bodyweight stuff too like pushups and all that good stuff." Marcus finished his cigarette.
He was about to walk them out when he got a message.
Lucy:
I'm here
The sound of the door banged and Gloria grew alert.
"You expecting anyone?" She asked in a serious tone.
David fidgeted not knowing what to do.
"I am now, it's fine I know who it is." Marcus got up and answered the door.
He was suddenly grabbed by the front of his shirt and yanked down into a fierce kiss.
"I missed you, handsome." She pulled back and gave a flirty smile as she hugged him.
"I did too, Lucy, but…" He was interrupted by a voice who just stood up.
"Who's this, mijo?" She looked at the unknown girl in her nephew's doorway.
David's mouth was on the ground when he saw that scene. His cousin had an output? When did this happen?
Lucy noticed them and blushed deeply at what he did in front of them.
"I didn't know they were still here." Her face turned hot.
Marcus laughed at the situation.
"Lucy, this is my aunt Gloria, and my cousin, David." He introduced them.
Her eyebrows raised.
"Gloria? As in friends with Maine?" Lucy recognized the name from talks with her mentor.
The mother's heart dropped to her stomach as she finally recognized who she was.
"Lucy? Kiwi talked about you." She was surprised that her nephew knew her and seemed to be intimate with her.
The rainbownette looked at both her and David before responding.
"Yeah, that's me. I'm his output." Lucy smiled a bit admitting to that.
Gloria didn't know how to take that and wanted to know why he didn't tell her instinctively but remembered what she said to him and suppressed that urge. She had no right to ask, but now that things are better, she can finally tease him about it.
"Oh? When'd you two meet?" Gloria grew very interested.
Lucy, remembering how they first got to know each other, blushed a little.
"3 days ago." She admits.
Gloria looks at his nephew and Lucy with surprise.
"That's quite fast." She commented.
"It felt right, in more ways than one." Marcus grins as Lucy turns beet red.
David made a gagging sound while Gloria's lip twitched.
"Okay, we were just about to get going anyway, come on David." She did not want to be there, especially from what she just saw.
The shorter male nodded enthusiastically before hurrying out the door with his mother.
Gloria turned to him with a serious look.
"Wear protection."
Lucy and David were mortified.
"Where's the fun in that?" Marcus gave her a mock confused look
Once again, Lucy wanted to hide in a hole and be buried in it while David was nowhere in sight. It seemed he ran off.
Before she could get a brain aneurysm from talking to him, she waved goodbye and left with the door closing behind her.
His output smacked him on the chest with a look of irritation.
"Did you have to say that in front of your relatives?" Her face still red in embarrassment.
"Who else would I tell my undying love for you to?" His grin widened.
Her heart fluttered and she looked at him with wonder.
"Do you really mean that?" She was emotional and could even feel tears about to come out.
His smile softened.
"I don't know about love quite yet, but I want you in my life and would hate if you'd leave." He brushed a strand of hair out of her face.
She nodded a few times in emotion as she hugged him. Lucy never felt this way before. She was used to people coming and going but never felt what it was like to have someone want them in their life.
But she also felt fear. Intense dread as she never told her where she came from, or who she was running from. Would he still feel the same? It's one thing to say to want to destroy the corps, but it's another to be hunted by them. Her mentor always said to never trust anyone in Night City and that mentality is making her doubt if he'd really feel the same if she told him.
Maybe she could feel him out a bit before dropping that bomb or maybe she won't. She didn't want to ruin this with her baggage.
"That's okay with me." She pulled him for another kiss.
-+=[BoG]=+-
And boom another chapter down.
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