Chapter 79

"Good evening, Night City! I'm your buddy—Stan!"

The familiar opening line woke her from sleep.

So noisy.

Her eyelids trembled slightly, then slowly opened, searching for the only light in the dark room.

"A new serial killer is rampaging through Night City unchecked. Thirteen people have already fallen to his blade! It's utterly lawless! The NCPD spokesperson vows to deploy every officer to apprehend the murderer and avenge the three fallen comrades!"

Ha. Another cyber-freak.

She lazily yawned.

Night City never lacks overworked drones and lunatics.

"Crystal Palace! The real paradise! Spearheaded by Arasaka Corporation, built on ESA's most advanced aerospace technology and in collaboration with super-companies worldwide, we've crafted your true utopia! The Moon, Mars, even the stars and oceans—none are mere fantasies anymore..."

Another one of those hollow, grandiose ads. Ha... only works for the rich.

She picked up the TV remote beside her pillow and flipped through channels to avoid the long, boring ads following the brief news bulletin.

"Biotechnica's top shareholder, the Betancourt Family representative, has publicly announced plans to sell their company shares..."

"Kang Tao Corporation unveiled its new Kang Tao Robot sales plan; stock prices rose slightly again..."

She didn't really like watching the news.

But there was no choice—only through this could she keep some sense of time passing.

"Sasha?"

A familiar voice broke her aimless, endless thoughts.

"Ah... Rebecca..."

Sasha tossed the remote onto the nightstand and struggled to sit up to greet Rebecca, who looked worn from the weather.

"Lie back down!"

Rebecca immediately dropped her wet umbrella and plastic bag, gently pressing Sasha back down as she tried to rise.

"Oh."

Feeling the firm, caring pressure on her shoulders, Sasha smiled helplessly and lay back.

"Don't be so tense—I'm already much better..."

"Hmph! Don't try to fool me! Just let me take care of you! No resistance!" Rebecca crossed her arms, her twin tails swaying with each nod of her head.

"Fine."

After locking eyes with Rebecca's determined red pupils for several seconds, Sasha surrendered.

"Is it raining outside?" Sasha asked softly, glancing at the black umbrella carelessly tossed on the floor, silently weeping.

"Yeah, pretty hard," Rebecca said, rushing to the window and slowly pulling back the hospital curtain.

Countless cascading waterfalls plunged straight from the endless night sky onto the vast earth, shattering the city's once-vibrant lights into scattered, chaotic splashes of color.

"It's hard on you to come all this way in the rain and wind to look after me," Sasha said, watching Rebecca's back, her voice tinged with guilt.

"What are you talking about? Do we need to be so formal with each other? Aren't we a Team? Team = Family!" Rebecca turned, sticking out a cute tongue at Sasha.

"How's Mann? He must be exhausted because of me."

"I knew you'd ask that every day!" Rebecca gave Sasha a blatant eye-roll.

"Thanks to help from other teams, Mann's workload has dropped a lot..." Rebecca said, running to the door, grabbing a plastic bag, and plopping down beside Sasha's pillow.

"What's in here?"

"Pears! Your throat was hoarse before..."

"That's nice." Sasha smiled faintly, slowly pressing her face against Rebecca's warm body.

"How's your leg?"

"The first surgery is done. The doctor says it went well."

"I'm sorry... I couldn't be there with you during the surgery... Mann needed me—he couldn't keep doing everything alone..." Rebecca gently stroked Sasha's head resting in her lap, her guilt spilling over.

"It's okay, Rebecca. I'm fine," Sasha murmured, shifting her head slightly, "So tiny, yet you care like a mother."

"You can be cute with me, little baby Sasha..." Rebecca pinched Sasha's nose lightly, getting back at her for calling her short.

Sasha didn't answer, only pressed her forehead tightly against Rebecca's sharply defined abdomen.

"Don't fall asleep again—eat your pear!"

"Ah..." Sasha closed her eyes, slightly opening her mouth.

"You're impossible..." Rebecca sighed, slicing the pear into tiny pieces and carefully feeding them one by one into Sasha's open mouth.

"I'm a little sleepy..."

As the pear pieces disappeared, her closed eyelids grew heavier. Sasha mumbled, falling asleep for the seventh time, safe and warm in Rebecca's arms.

"Goodnight, Sasha," Rebecca whispered, gazing out the window at the endless rain, lost in thought for a long while.

◎

"Please

Cast me

Into your halcyon sea

Under your wings of tranquillity."

The thin hoodie tried to keep out the cold, but couldn't stop the damp, chilling air from seeping in everywhere.

She involuntarily shivered; the hood slipped slightly, revealing a streak of brilliant color.

Even the ethereal music looping in her headphones couldn't drown out the mournful cries of countless falling raindrops.

She stood beneath the eave, head tilted straight up, gazing at the dark, cloud-choked night sky.

Countless slender, transparent blades extended from the bottomless dark, all piercing downward toward the earth, as if conducting a grand judgment.

Lucy hummed softly to the music in her headphones, tiny sparks of starlight flickering at her fingertips, stepping in tango rhythm along the edge where rain met skin, spinning once before returning beneath the eaves.

She loved rainy days, loved wearing headphones alone, strolling through slanting winds and fine drizzle, using the rain's chill to sense the warmth of her own soul.

Unfortunately, tonight's rain was a bit too heavy.

Lucy didn't want to get soaked like a drowned rat, catch a cold and fever at midnight, then be frantically knocked awake the next day by some silver-haired girl who'd insist on caring for her.

She crushed the last cigarette, still smoldering, then turned and walked toward the snack stall, beginning to wander aimlessly.

It was all Hita's fault—for posting those flashy food photos online, or she never would've remembered she'd skipped dinner.

Lucy muttered a few silent complaints under her breath, pulled her hoodie's hood back over her head, grabbed a large bag of snacks, and hurried toward the elevator.

A boy with a punk haircut brushed past her; she paid no mind, only quickened her pace toward the warm light of the elevator entrance.