Chapter 3: Research, Dreams, and Training

  Cal didn’t actually end up getting much sleep. He had stayed up until the early m researg as much as he could about the current state of Night City. The more he read, the more he felt he o read. Most of the information he found just firmed what he already knew about the various powers that vied for trol here. It was difficult to dig up specifics regarding individuals other than high ranking corporate executives or politis. People generally liked to stay rgely hidden from the public eye, likely to avoid painting a target on their own back. Still, there were bits of information he found iing or useful.

  Lucius Rhyne was elected Mayor of Night City st year, the first person to hold the position since ‘23. He was elected rgely due to his role during the Unification War and his efforts t Arasaka back to the city. Many nolit opiniarding the megacorp. Some saw them as tyrants, er than the NUSA forces they helped push out of the city. Others still bmed them for the Night City Holocaust, despite the expose published by Trace Santiago over thirty years ago proving that it was actually the result of a Militech led operation. Their rgest detractors were members of the acorps that occupied the city and peted for trol here. However, none could argue about the improvements Saka brought to Night City siheir return st year, boosting approval for Mayor Rhyne as the oo initiate these events.

  Arasaka had started stru of their new North Ameri branch headquarters, building directly over the ruins of the previous Arasaka Towers. This initiated rge scale infrastructure stru and overhaul projects that were already revitalizing the city. Saka was clearly only expending the resources in an effort to fuel their needs at the new regional headquarters, but it bought them a great deal of good will heless. Their presen the city brought a mueeded eic boost on top of the quality of life improvements the projects brought to the nearby residents. Improvements that were trated in City ter and the new Arasaka Waterfront with most of the remaining projects desigo improve logistid security between all of their properties withiy.

  For the struggling unities, any improvements made were seen in a positive light since many districts were still fractured and reeling from the chaos of the Unification acifi particur was currently a hot mess. The NCPD had not pletely abahe area as of yet, and the streets were essentially still a war zone.

  Barghast had holed up in Serenisands and re- Dogtowing up barricades aablishing checkpoints to trol traffi and out of the sub-district. While they would occasionally get into disputes with the police, their flicts were small and localized to the borders of their territory.

  The “Voodoo Boys,” as they have been dubbed, were another issue altogether. They had been growing in number over the st decade and those numbers had inspired a great deal of fidend aggression towards the established powers. They didn’t care who you were, if you came to Pacifid wao exert trol, they were more than willing to put you in your pce.

  They weren’t teically even aablished gang, never having annouhemselves publicly to cim a name or territory. The Voodoo boys were more a work of smaller gangs formed from the many Haitian refugees that worked together to secure a new home for their fellow patriots. The NCPD struggled to exert trol over the distri rge part due to the VDB’s hit and run goril tactics that left swaths of officers maimed or dead with eater. Any effort to ehe distri force to disrupt the gang’s anization was stuck at the pnning stage, as there was ral anization to attack. Sending more officers in as a show of forly resulted in more casualties on their side, causing them to slowly begin pulling resources from the prects there. The city had already shut down the power and water to the distrid while they hadn’t let the NCPD pletely abandon the area, most assumed it was only a matter of time until they did.

  There wasn’t really any new information about the other dominant gangs iy. Maelstrom were all psychos and would regurly get swatted by Max Tac when they made too much of a ruckus. The Tyger Cw leadership tried to pretend they were upright businessmen unjustly painted in a harsh light, but it’s hard to sider human traffig and the illicit drug trade as legitimize busihere wasn’t much to differentiate them from Valentinos, other than the obvious aesthetic distins and the fact that Valentinos generally trafficked arms, not people. The Animals and 6th Street were actually the gangs with the most legitimate work across the city, each renting their services out to just about anyone who needed extra security. That said, they were both still sidered nothing more than street gangs due to the as of low level members and the leadership of each anization’s tacit approval of their activities.

  Cal had also looked into The Mox and some of the various ps that had a small presence around the city, but the only noticeable difference he found regarding gangs from what he previously knew was the distinct ck of Scavs. There were still unscrupulous individuals and small groups that would kidnap people off the streets to harvest their ans and cyberware that were dubbed “Scavs” but the rger, predominantly eastern European, version of the group didn’t seem to exist yet. Cal was equal parts relieved and disappointed by this. On one hand it settled some of his worries about getting torn apart while still scious for his bits and pieces, but oher hand it ed one of his pns to secure resources for his future needs.

  He had wao raid a Scav den or two for their ons, eddies, and most of all the cyberware he could secure. The various makes and models they were sure to have would have sped up is research efforts tremendously, not to mention the resources that the raid would give him. It was a morbid desire, but he kinda hoped they would start popping up by the time he was actually ready to attempt such a feat. As it stood, Vic was his only aveo further his goals regarding his future e.

  -----------------------------

  It was around 8am when Cal was jolted awake the day. All of the information from his te night study session ushed to the back of his mind as he rolled over in bed, refleg orange mix of emotions the researd subsequent disjointed dreams had left him with.

  Dreams are an iing phenomenon. Even in this world filled with cyberware and neural interfaces they are not fully uood. Some say braindances are essentially curated dreams, but most people know that’s a crock of shit. Dreams are much more ethereal and hard to grasp, while also tapping into parts of one’s own psyche that are rarely, if ever, stimuted. The fact that dreams feel so vivid, yet the memories of them seem to be fleeting by nature only lends to the idea of there being a metaphysical aspect to them. Cal usually didn’t delve into these kinds of pseudo-philosophical cepts, but his very existence was now proof of a rger metaphysical “world” that he couldn't even begin to expin.

  His dreams st night had left a strong impression on him, albeit fractured. The only bits he could remember were a mix of his memories from the Cyberpunk games and anime, mixed up with what he gleaned from his research st night. Most of the differences seemed trivial, and the fact that he was only w with publiformation caused him to dist the rest until he had more crete info to work off. Still, the experience had left him in a strange, dissociated state. The dream that tributed the most to these feelings was also the most unique and hardest to hold onto. All He remembered were images of a strangely captivating girl dang in a white dress. Even now, the more he tried to recall the se or her features, the faster it all seemed to slip through his grasp, leaving him flustered and fused.

  ‘Man… I o get id.’ Cal mused as he ran his hands through his greasy hair.

  He briefly sidered hiring a prostitute or a joytoy ter that day, but the idea of paying for sex didn’t hold much appeal to him, even in this morally ambiguous setting. He was ner to situations where his partner was seemingly hum him or allowing the act rather than actively participating and enjoying it, but he never found any real pleasure in those moments. Even now the emotions those memories dredged up mixed with his already foul mood, utterly ruining his m.

  Cal sighed and rubbed his eyes with his palms ‘Well this was an awful way to start the day. I o get my shit together. Needed se time anyways. Hopefully that’ll help clear my head…’

  Cal jumped out of bed, trying to put aside his sour ruminations as he threw on his clothes from the previous day and briskly exited the apartment. He was gd there was a shooting range in the building. He hadn’t actually test fired his and an hour e time was just what he needed.

  “M Wilson. How much for an hour e time?”

  “Lanes are free for residents. Need any ammo, kid?” Wilson responded with a smug smile.

  “Ahh… so that’s your shtik. Yeah, give me four boxes. You have any ear pro back there? Mine are both still mostly ganid I don’t really want my head t all day”

  “Ha! Kids these days… €396 for the ammo and the ears.” Wilson said as he passed the ammo and ear prote across the ter.

  They looked like most over the ear earmuffs he was familiar with using, only a bit thinner. He khese also had an active eleic element that celed loud noises while simultaneously allowing things like regur versation through. They weren’t the highest quality, as indicated by their retively cheap price, but they were perfect for what he needed right now.

  Cal dohe earmuffs and grabbed his ammo as he paid and made his way into the empty shooting rahe streets of Night city were a good enough range for most people and it was still fairly early in the day, so Cal wasn’t very surprised to find himself alone here. Sending the target down to 35ft, he started going through his drills.

  He wasn’t a crack shot in his old life, but he always had a fasation with firearms and found his visits to the local shooting rao be an almost meditative experience. Any firearm was dangerous and demanded respect from the people oher side of the barrel. Using one properly required patience, practice, and trol.

  He first practiced drawing his pistol from a rexed position before squeezing off two rounds in a modified weaver stahen holstering his pistol aing the drill over and over.

  Grip. Draw. Raise. Point. Shoot.

  Holster. Rex.

  Grip. Draw. Raise. Point. Shoot.

  Holster. Rex.

  With each repetition he adjusted his grip and stance, maintaining steady deep breaths and fog on the drills to clear his head of any unneeded distras.

  Grip. Draw. Raise. Point. Shoot.

  Holster. Rex.

  He had missed the target a few times at the beginning of his exercises, but now he mao nd all his shots, even if the grouping was not as tight as he wanted. He khat a stationary target wasn’t going to be indicative of his accura a real world setting, but you work with what you have.

  Cal moved on to his one handed exercises, starting with his off hand. The longer he practiced, the more apparent it became how out of shape this body was. His grip was weak. It o be reset after almost every shot just to keep his pistol from flying out of his hand from the recoil. It was more manageable with two hands, but he was a far cry away from his true capabilities as he now stood.

  His practice had mostly served its purpose of clearing his head from the thoughts that previously ruined his m, but it highlighted a few new problems for him to add to the picture.

  After buying a few more boxes of ammunition and a ing kit from Wilson, Cal returo his apartment to strip and his gun. After a thhly ing and oiling, he reassembled it a aside. It was time for him to finally start w on his physique. He couldn’t just rely on bioware and e. He o build up his actual muscles and find the limits of his current body to get a better idea of how to enhance himself iure.

  After wolfing down a quick “meal” from the vending mae that could only be pared to crappy cafeteria food, Cal left his apartment and made his way back downstairs to the training area.

  “M Coach.”

  “Hm? Cal, right?” Coach Fred said as he set down a barbell he was curling before the interruption.

  “Yeah, good memory. You must know half the megabuilding with all the time you spend here.”

  “Ha! You ain’t wrong. What I do for you, kid?”

  “First, you call me anything but “kid.” I already have enough geezers poking fun at me and it’s getting old…”

  “HAHAHAHA! You should take a long look and a mirror to figure out the why of that little predit.”

  *sigh* “I mean, I kinda get it. Still doesn’t make it any less annoying.”

  “That why you’re here? Looking to bulk up?”

  “Two for Two, Coach. I’ve got no idea where to even start. How much is it to use the equipment here?”

  “€600 a month just to use the equipment. €900 and I’ll help you out with some some basic training when I’m around. The rest is up to you.”

  Cal wired him €900 before asking “You got some time now?” elig a wolfish grin from Coach Fred.

  --------------------------------

  Two hours ter, Cal dragged himself through his front door and colpsed into his bed. Coach had not gone easy on him. His muscles burned and his joints ached. He had only worked on cardio and his uscles during the workout session, but his current state indicated that this was likely the first time this body had exerted itself to su extent.

  Coach had also sent him home with “homework” to be pleted before their session tomorrow m, including his reendation to switch to SCOP Formu 42 for his meals as well as a visit to some guy in the building named Jerry who sold him a “workout cocktail” that was basically just a watered down version of the infamous Juice produced by the Animals. Coach had instructed him to only take it once every other week and to stay away from anything actually sold by any Animals, unless he wao experiehe full undry list of side effects. Taking the cocktail he got from Jerry was not free from sequence, but arimental effects would mostly be temporary or teracted by the nutrients in the SCOP slurry he would be “eating” so long as he also maintained a vigorous and regur work imen.

  SCOP Formu 42 was literally baby food. It was desigo be just patable enough for babies and toddlers to eat it while including all of the basic proteins, vitamins, and amino acids needed for body growth. Coach had instructed him to eat at least an hour before his workouts and stressed the o hydrate during and after each session. It was a lot of info to take in for someoo fitness, and the pn he id out was not without its risks, but Cal found them to be acceptable all in all. Still, he pnned on running everything by Vic when he saw him for a sed opinion.