Digital Higanbana (Lycoris Recoil x Cyberpunk Quest)

"I was specifically one of the regular cleaners who went in to help patch everything up," You recalled, looking at the mirrored glass. "I did a little bit of everything, from putting the bodies in bags to collecting the bullet casings. We couldn't leave a trace after all."

"I see. Is that all?"

"Well, er," You coughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of your head, almost bashfully. "I...tried to tidy up the scenes really well and make them even prettier than before. I actually made sure to top it all off with a nice vase of colorful flowers to make beautify, if you could believe it."

"You, or rather, the record does suggest you add a bit of extra flair to your duties," The Doctor chuckled, dropping the sterile attitude for a moment. "A bit of flowers to brighten up a day after a killing, huh?"

"It never fails to perk me up," You softly said with a quiet melancholic smile. "That actually leads into my next mention, of which you'll find early in my service history. In one of my first outings as a Lycoris, the clearing team missed a trapped body and didn't defuse it when the Cleaner Agents showed up. I was the unfortunate one who shifted the body, and paid for it with my own body."

"How bad was the damage?" They quietly asked, even though they already knew the answer.

"It was pretty bad," You admitted and looked down your arms, at the pristine skin that once was covered in streaks of blood. "I was hospitalized for a long while, and being a rookie, I didn't have many friends then. But some of the girls still took time to leave a flower with well-wishes at my bedsides, so I grew enamored with them. It never failed to keep my spirits high while I recovered."

"Did you make a full recovery?"

"Somewhat. I still do get the shakes here and there," You admitted and clenched your fists, feeling the slight shakes of a phantom pain that you doubt would ever go away, even if you replaced everything with cybernetics. "But I remained pretty sharp and had plenty of inspiration to get even better. It actually led to the Blossoming, which I'm proud to have come up with."

"Is that so? Please explain what that is."

"A few years ago, Lycoris ambushed a group of yakuza attempting to muscle into Kyoto with illegal firearms. The ambush was not as effective as planned and there was a chase through the streets that culminated in a shoot-out in a public park." You shook your head, recalling the expressions of your dismayed colleagues when they realized how much of a mess they had to clean up. "The scale of the operation was so large that the public naturally caught wind of it. Lycoris as an organization was on the verge of being unmasked to the people, which would threaten our entire existence. So I made a proposal."

"What sort of proposal could cover up an incident of this scale?"

"Simple: it so happened to be the flower-viewing season soon," You mentioned with a nod. "So to match with the festivities, we spun the encounter as a movie shoot about a crime drama, about the death of sakura blossoms and like. We even took the smuggled firearms and threaded flowers from the barrel to act as props, leading the public to fawn and think it was all just a stunt for a movie."

"Wouldn't the public get suspicious of the school girl actors using guns however?"

"But right there, you've proven that it works." You smiled and pointed a finger gun at the mirrored glass. "You immediately assumed we were actors, not something else. That alone has people skip and glance over the entire thing, thinking more about how silly the movie plot was compared to the reality of it all. So, the public continue to go about their day, not knowing what goes on behind the veil."

"...I see. It's very clever," The medical professional praised and you could sense that they meant it. "It's slightly astonishing that you came up with that all while restricted to headquarters with a light duty restriction. But perhaps that was a good indication that you were a great Cleaner, even when not on the field."

"I was still pretty eager to get back on the field," You admitted with a scratch of your cheek. "I event spent most of my light duty restriction on the range, to really bring my shooting skills up to snuff."

"Of course, of course. I think that it doesn't even need to be mentioned that every Lycoris is at least very skilled with handguns, specifically the Towa 14 Police Pistol."

"The standard-issued handgun for all Lycoris, and the main tool for our work," You dutifully recited.

"Very good. But not every Lycoris has the same firearms training, do they? Variety is key to success, after all." There was a pause, then the Doctor casually added another critical detail. "And that includes your cyberware as well, doesn't it? You've got some unique parts on you besides the standard suite of universal installs."

That was true. You blinked and your vision swim when your optical cyberware kick in, a HUD system popping up. It was a custom piece of software that was installed in all Lycoris to allow for direct peer to peer communication on the field, along with linked targeting systems. You were sure your eyes were glowing while you tested all systems and tried to ping for nearby units as a test.

There was a muted silence for a moment and your hand clenched up. No...no it couldn't be-!

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

You let out a relieved sigh when suddenly, three friendly pings responded, indicating at least three nearby Lycoris units. You at least weren't alone in the medical center. "Juliet 702, please refrain from getting ahead of yourself," The Doctor dryly requested and your face was flushed with embarrassment at the technical breach of examination protocol.

"My apologies."

There was a good-nature sigh, one that made you sure the Doctor was slightly smiling behind the glass. "We may as well skip forward then if you're that eager. A quick detailing of your combat capability and your cyberware will suffice as an apology."

"Sure. Let's see…"

Choose two weapon combat skills
-[ ] [Weapon] SMG: Covers high damage weapons that are excelt at close quarters, but struggle with piercing armor.
-[ ] [Weapon] Assault: Covers excellent standardized firearms that do well in all categories, but don't usually excel in a single one.
-[ ] [Weapon] Rifles: Covers very long range guns that are more suited as assassination tools than direct combat, especially up close with a low ammo count.
-[ ] [Weapon] Shotgun: Covers very short range weapons that deal high damage and piercing, at the cost of ammo capacity.
-[ ] [Weapon] MG: Covers bulky machine guns that are very powerful firearms but struggle badly when brought into close quarters.
-[ ] [Weapon] Explosive: Covers very limited but powerful weapons that are capable of destroying terrain and vehicles alike.
-[ ] [Weapon] Melee: Covers a range of both traditional and modern weapons meant for getting up close to swing away.

Choose two Lycoris Cyberware
-[ ] [Cyberware] Minerva Optics: A proprietary Lycoris software attached to the optical cyberware that directly tracks and reads the body language of designated targets with incredible detailing. This feeds into a program that quickly analyzes and predicts the target's next moves, allowing for one to even theoretically predict when they will fire a gun at the user. This is most effective at close range, where the detailing system will have the most to work with. Effects: +1 Empathy. You will have an Empathy-based chance to evade bullets at close and short range.

-[ ] [Cyberware] Hound Arms: Advanced artificial musculature is weaved and integrated together in such a way that the user is magnitudes stronger than what normal cyberware can provide. It has been designed this way to allow for Lycoris to still blend in with the populace, but yet have the shocking capability of lifting and wielding heavier weapons with little struggle in combat. Effects: +2 Body. Halves accuracy penalties of MG and Explosive weapons.

-[ ] [Cyberware] Decentralized Cardiovascular: The user's heart has been replaced with an artificial heart that has been carefully spread around the body, making it so that they no longer need rely on a single organ to keep their blood flowing. It has been designed with a Pain Editor so Lycoris on the field can keep fighting in spite of critical injuries, a double edged sword when it comes to survival. Effects: +1 Body. You do not suffer penalties for being wounded.

-[ ] [Cyberware] Surge Sandevistan: A rudimentary piece of cyberware that has been taken to a new cutting edge of speedware technology for Lycoris. A single thought is all it takes to accelerate one's reflexes and actions to a point where it feels like the world is still around the user, without the risk of biological degradation. This comes at the price of it being less powerful than the destructive Corp variants. Effects: +1 Reflex. You gain a +20 to all Initiative rolls.

-[ ] [Cyberware] Panther Paws: Stealth functionality integrated with advanced musculature creates leg cyberware capable of moving quickly without making a single sound to alert the enemy. It is popular for Lycoris that prefer either getting up close quickly or quietly depending on the situation. Effects: +2 Cool. Negates enemy cover penalty for shooting.

-[ ] [Cyberware] Mantis Shears: At a single thought, a set of sharp blades shoot out of the user's arms that can easily cut through flesh with little effort. The name comes from how the twin blades placed together can resemble a set of garden shears. Very fitting of Lycoris. Effects: +1 Tech. Gain the Mantis Shears cyberweapon.

-[ ] [Cyberware] Linked Assessment: Lycoris authorizations enable for direct connection to local police servers to access their profiling system, providing a wealth of information about local citizens. This is combined with access codes to public camera systems to enable for indirect trailing of identified targets alongside updating profiling programs. Effects: +2 Intelligence. Provides active profiling for characters, revealing a depth of information about affiliations, crimes, bounties, and more.

-[ ] [Cyberware] ECM Tattoo: Defensive cyberware meant to defend against Netrunners comes with the slight embarrassment of having a garish tattoo inked onto the user's back. For Lycoris, most opt to simply have it take the form of a red spider lily to help earn some popularity with their sisters. Effects: +1 Intelligence. You gain a +20 to all Tech rolls resisting Quickhacks.

- Please note that this is all cyberware developed by the government for Lycoris. In short, these are the very powerful and near-unique versions of the technologies that you can't find on the streets. Choose wisely.
- Some cybernetics happen to synergize with one another. You'll unlock a hidden bonus if you can figure them out, but I do think they might be rather obvious.