Chapter 146


    I was back outside the next morning, after spending all night working on the program I was out at the gym. Pushing myself as hard as I could to try and get more Body XP.


    There was no John bothering me today thankfully. Just me and the weights that I was pushing myself against.


    And the new chrome was making a massive difference.


    I was pushing weight I never would have managed before. My arms were connected to my body far more intrinsically now. No more tingling feeling around my shoulders telling me I was pulling at my bones a bit too much.


    No, I felt strong. My chrome secured into the whole making Motoko stronk.


    I finally put down the weights, wiping my forehead on a towel, as I then wiped down the weights.


    That was a good physical workout, but I had more to grind.


    I cleaned up a bit and double checked my boots were secure before I started jogging.


    Down the neon lit stairs and to the street and then I turned right and started moving. Pushing myself to keep going despite already being tired. I jogged all the way to where the road ended, Jig Jig street just below, I took the elevator keeping myself moving as it went down by shadowboxing and keeping my heart rate up.


    When it opened I was out and moving, jogging quickly through the dark street of Jig Jig, ignoring the looks I was getting as I ran through and then ended up at Sakura Market. Though this time I didnt stop for Ramen.


    Instead I ran up the concrete stairs, ending back up on the upper levels, I ran towards home. Sprinting and jogging in bursts to try and push myself even more.


    By the time I made it back, I had earned some alerts for Athletics, and Body, but no level ups.


    I sighed, heading upstairs ignoring the noise of Rockerboy Neighbor ying her music again and headed in for a shower.


    As I finished that, head half covered in a towel, Jun was up. Jun was making himself breakfast, and looking at me tiredly.


    Mornin.


    Morning Jun-Nii. Sleep well?


    He blinked at me, both eyelids closing at slightly different paces.


    Slept okay. Not enough. He grumbled, and I nodded, walking over and patting his back.


    Cant go back to sleep for a while?


    Got a gig from Fujimura-Sama. Just bodyguard stuff like usual, but he wants me.


    Hmm. Well if you start feeling too tired, you tell him that you need a break to get some sleep. I ordered as I wandered away. I knew Jun wouldnt and couldnt do that, but I cared more for Juns health than I did Fujimuras wants.


    Sure Imouto.


    Iughed at his obviously insincere reply, but that was fine. I buzzed around Jun, making sure his XXL burrito was warmed enough but not too hot before plopping it in his hand, which he stared at in surprise for a moment before looking happy as he took a bite.


    My own breakfast was a mix of a few other things I liked that I could find in vending machines in the area.


    I choked it all down as fast as I could, ignoring the taste as most food in Night City I could only just stomach, and certainly didnt enjoy.


    But food was food, and while it didnt taste good, one thing NC did have was a dietary fulfilling foodstuffs.


    Jun seemed to finally wake up a bit after his breakfast, looked at me as I was sitting at the living room table tinkering with the ECM program. What about you? Doing anything today?


    Mostly programming this Militech ECM unit. Its gonna take a while, but everything is quiet at the moment. I told you about the eddies we made in the bands, so we arent exactly hurting right now.


    Jun just snorted.


    That gig made more than Jun made in a year and then some.


    Dont rub it in. He told me with a huff, and Iughed shaking my head.


    I wasnt! Although if you ever want to leave the gangoon biz Section 9 would consider your resume Consider it. I offered, eyes narrowed like I was judging him and he instantly grabbed a pillow off the couch andunched it at me.


    But I was too fast!


    I saw iting, and leapt leaping backwards from where I was sitting tond crouched on the back of the couch having dodged his attack!


    Nin-nin!


    Fuck off! He snapped half serious and halfughing at me as he wandered to the bathroom for his own shower.


    I was actually a little disappointed that Jun didnt want to rough house, but he was pretty tired.


    Id make sure he got a good nights sleep tonight and wake him up with a pillow to the face tomorrow for daring to attack me!


    I was grinning evilly as I settled back onto the couch to continue the programming.


    --


    I ran the program through the ECM unit, seeing it turn on, I cobbled together a holo emitter to get it to actually disy showing just a circle of light that activated.


    Everything looked good.


    But I would need to actually test it.


    Gathering up a unit, as well as grabbing a spare Yukimura from the Arasaka equipment, I loaded it up and left the apartment.


    Couldnt exactly do any shooting in here. In fact I couldnt do it in most ces.


    I loaded up and drove north. Taking the long circuitous road out to Westbrook. It didnt take too long to find a side of the road that was full of trash and empty enough I could do some practice.


    I plopped the ECM unit on an old crate, and then walked away, hooking the Yukimura up into my Smart link and then cing a target to the side of the ECM.


    I didnt exactly want to shoot it after all.


    Then I remotely activated the ECM unit and opened fire.


    Pretty much instantly the rounds shot forward and then simply went wild as their targeting systems fed them nothing but false data.


    Bullets instead of shooting straight went wild thunking and mming into the ground, one even got so turned around it spun towards me, and I had to duck out of the way as it zipped past.


    Well that was A thing. I muttered. Quickly checking the ECM System and checking the programming. Finding out how it handled actually being targeted.


    Most of that was stripped wholesale from the original programming. So it handled it just fine. A few quick tests, and a few more rounds shot towards the ECM, and I was convinced.


    It works.


    Not it was time to install.


    --


    What are you doing? Jun asked as he got home that night. I looked up from the chest rig I was rigging the holo emitters through to shake it at him.


    Armor!


    Yes I see that. But what are you doing?


    The little boxes right there? ECM modules. Im outfitting the chest rigging with the holo emitters it needs to spoof Smart weapon tracking right now. The dang things are fiddly.


    He nodded as he picked one up that I already finished and settled in its ce, looking it over as I continued to work.


    I was almost done!


    The hardest part had been peeling apart the cloth sections, to slip wires through to power the emitters. I had to do actual sewing, but sewing with Ker wasnt easy.


    The work looks good. Why do you need holo emitters?


    Same reason your tattoos glow. The smart weapons tracking gets spoofed by the data in the hologram.


    Why not just get a ECM tattoo then? They arent expensive.


    While having an ECM on me at all times could be useful I dont like tattoos. I said and Jun actually looked shocked at what I just said.


    Whats wrong with tattoos!?


    I just dont like them. I finally got the wire to go through! Quickly soldering it into the power system, I started sewing ker closed again.


    Well You should! Mine are preem!


    I looked over to Jun. His stupid vest-like jacket that didnt cover his chest or arms to show off his chrome muscles, and the dragon tattoos across his chest


    If you say so. I answered, earning an honest squawk of outrage from Jun.


    My Tattoos are awesome Motoko!


    Im d you like them. I answered and he grumbled deep in his chest and my continued disinterest.


    You just arent preem enough to have tats.


    Reverse psychology? I wouldnt want them even if they were offered. I replied, continuing to sew up the armor. Cmon so close to being done!


    Juns big hand suddenly reached over and fell over my head patting me lightly and I scoffed a bit, but leaned in and nudged him to show that I appreciated the attention.


    Done! I proimed holding up theplete chest rig and then just as I expected. I got the alert I needed.


    *100 Technical Ability XP Gained*


    *Technical Ability Leveled up!*


    Tech 6!


    I giggled and clutched the rig tight as I luxuriated in a job well done!


    Whats with you?


    I finished it! Well okay no I still have a lot of work to do, but I finished the ECM units! These were such a pain in the ass Jun!


    Well thats good. Im proud of you. He offered awkwardly, not sure what else to say, but honestly?


    That was perfect.


    I threw him a bright smile as I rose up holding the rig. I still need to color, adjust, and do some tinkering on these so Im not done done, but this was a big step! I informed him proudly as I sauntered back to my room.


    Now I just needed to fix the helmets so they didnt look like kitty ears. Which they dont. My chooms are just dumb!


    --


    Sleeping in past noon was my duty as a teenager, and I really needed eight hours after all the work I had done.


    Painting, and doing adjustments to the armor to fit my chooms. I had even spent a little time in CAD adjusting the directional mic housing so I would stop getting teased.


    But honestly. It was mostly done.


    It was time to bring the chooms in.


    *Motoko: Section 9! Assemble at my ce for final adjustments to our new armor!*


    This time there could be no confusion! They had totally failed my original assembly call, but this time!


    *Hiromi: Okay. Ill be on my way after ss.*


    *Ichi: Okay. Im just hanging out today. Ille over.*


    *Malcolm: Yeeees! Im in! Gonna suit up! You got rid of the cat ears right?*


    *Motoko: IT WASNT CAT EARS!*


    I promptly ignored all the messages in return because my chooms were definitely going to mess with me!


    Instead I ran around prepping some snacks and things for everyone. It might take a bit of time to adjust everything to each person after all.


    Ichi arrived first knocking on the door and I smiled as it opened to him.


    Ichi! Come in! I wanted to get one of you suited up first anyways. The others can be surprised at how nova you look when they get here.


    Ah Im the guinea pig. He said tly, nodding along as I ignored his words and dragged him into my room.


    Okay everything should be straight forward. You know how to wear armor right? Go ahead and suit up and-


    Nope. He interrupted me instantlypletely monotone.


    And Ill show you! Easy! Nothing to worry about choom, not everyone knows how to wear good armor after all. I redirected instantly without worry.


    Ichi thenughed at me, but nodded and I grabbed the first set of armor and showed it to him.


    The color is


    Listen. I had to think about what color scheme to use and since all of you wanted bright colors, I used my rights as the one who is updating these things to pick a nice gray and ck camouge.


    At least it matches our old suits?


    Thats the spirit! I chirped as I started throwing the baseyer at him. Even though it didnt have a Netrunner suit to properly armor him, I threw the pair of pants and the upper jacket. And then turned around and whistled so he could get changed.


    Cant I do this in the bathroom?


    Ugh. Fine Ill walk out of the room, just call me when you are decent! I rushed outside my bedroom and tapped my foot impatiently. Cmon Ichi!


    Alright.


    Great! Now this. I threw the boots at him which he juggled for a second but slipped off his old shoes and into thebat boots. As he was struggling to get them secured, as they used a weird not-Velcro system. I ran around and prepped the outeryers. The chest rig wasnt just a chest rig, and actually connected to the pants with some kinda neat future faulds. Although I had slimmed down the chest rig by removing most of the pouches.


    Pouches were good, but if they stuck out too much it made it harder tofortably hold a gun! Silly Arasaka. This was the sort of design issue mandated by a boardroom and not by soldiers.


    Done? Ichi finally called more questioning than sure.


    Great. Chest rig next. Slide into it, and then Ill show you how it secures on the sides.


    Right. He muttered as he slipped in, the armored future-gorget taking a second for him to get used to. I had to adjust it down so he could actually look down without just getting stuck on it.


    Yep Ichi was definitely shorter than thest person to wear this stuff.


    Here are the straps. Just tighten these, and it will keep your faulds in ce.


    He did so with a bit of trouble and then I had him walk around a bit getting used to the armor.


    It was thick. That was the first thing I noticed he struggled with. He kept brushing his arms against the chest rig as he moved around.


    Youll get used to it. I assured him as he was looking a little annoyed.


    Is this necessary?


    If I pulled out my Lexington and shot you right now, you would be fine. I exined in very blunt terms and for some reason Ichi looked nervous like I was going to actually shoot him.


    Silly! I wouldnt do that.


    Okay here are the gloves. They are nice and bulky, good for punching, and protecting your hands.


    I helped him slip those on, as he adjusted to the fit, I brought out thest item.


    It still looks like cat ears.


    I am going to give you the benefit of pretending I didnt hear that. I told him as I handed off the helmet. He slipped it on, struggling a bit with the face mask part of it. The helmet had a built in menpo, an armored face guard.


    As always Arasaka made all their stuff look like future samurai, which was pretty cool. But it was always kinda hard to get situated right.


    Okay. You are all set. How does it feel?


    Uh Not too ufortable? He said, sounding a little confused as he turned this way and that, feeling the range of movement he now had.


    Youll get used to it. Now, take your personal link and slide it into the helmet right here. That will download themand codes for the radio.


    I helped him plug in, and then he had ess to the radio.


    Ive messed with the settings. Channel 1 is our personal radio contact. You wont need to change from it very often. Channel 2 isnt the radio at all, but the Directional mic built into the helmet No, it''s still not cat ears.


    I could see him smirking behind the helmet, and so since he was properly armored I punched him in the shoulder. Hard.


    Ow! Motoko! He yelped, rubbing his shoulder but giving up on it pretty quickly.


    You barely felt it. Now switch to the mic, and Ill show you how it works.


    I quickly ran Ichi through the process walking all the way across the apartment and then whispering. The fact he could still hear me throwing me a thumbs up when I asked for it was all I needed.


    Perfect! Now we just need to make some minor adjustments. Make sure everything is fitting exactly how it should.


    So what do I do then?


    You? Stand very still. Then just to fuck with him I pulled out my knife, and moved behind him. Of course I instantly put the knife away, but he didnt know that.


    Motoko? Whats with the knife? Motoko? Help?


    There is no help for you Ichi!


    --


    Whoa. That actually looks pretty scary. Malcolmmented as he finally arrived over an hourter.


    I had even finished adjusting Ichis armor!


    Malcolm! You arete! I proimed finger pointed as I stood up.


    Sorry choom. My dad needed help with something. He offered actually sounding a little contrite, and I instantly lost my irritation.


    No no! Thats fine. Parent stuff is important. Anyway we are still waiting on Hiromi. Cmon let me show you how to suit up.


    Good luck. Ichi said from the couch where he was syed out acting as if he was exhausted.


    Ignore him. Cmon! I urged, pushing Malcolm into my room to get ready.


    Half way through, Hiromi finally appeared cheerfully bouncing into the apartment and calling out her arrival.


    Give me a sec Hiromi! Malcolm is almost done! I called out, as I was helping Malcolm secure the armored faulds.


    A littleter Malcolm finished suiting up and I pushed him out into the living room to show off.


    See? It looks great!


    It makes me feel like I have a corporate hit squad I love it! Hiromi chirped, smiling brightly as she looked at the two boys. Ichi just slumped deeper into the couch, still not getting up while Malcolm stood tall and puffed himself out.


    Just remember to pay your henchmen well or else! Malcolm proimed and Hiromi immediately faux gasped.


    No! My henchmen are betraying me! Quick! Help! Motoko! My right hand and ever loyal minion! Discipline this unruly henchman!


    Pfft. Motoko should join us and get paid bett-H-hey! I walked behind Malcolm and just lifted him off his feet. Malcolm might be a little taller than me, and a bit more with the boots and rig on, but I was fucking fit! My arms went around his waist and I just picked him right off the floor.


    As you wish my Corporate overlord. I stated in an utterly t voice earning a delighted giggle from Hiromi as Malcolm struggled in my grip.


    Hey! Let me go! Motoko!


    Hehehe. I eventually couldnt hold it in and startedughing at Malcolms attempts to get back on his feet. He was new to the armor and was like a turtle stuck on its back. Eventually I dropped him. Okay. Enough ying around, Hiromie on. Time to suit up.


    Im the fixer Motoko, I cant go around wearing armor like that, everyone will think Im some-Eep! I ignored Hiromi picking her up like a sack of potatoes throwing her over my shoulder and walking into my room.


    Any argument about not wearing armor would immediately be ignored!


    Protection was god!


    M-Motokoooo!