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Skitterdoc 2077

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ptbptb said:
Evolution is also like, "You sure you're sticking with that 'walking upright' thing? Because I've been working on it but there is still a bunch of stuff to fix"
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"For instance, I gave you the damn musculature to have a decent chance of surviving being gutted, and what do you ingrates do?! Stand up, like a weirdo."
 
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Jeeze, Wakkako should be burned in Tay's mind due to this, she's supposed to be a professional, and given that she failed her proper diligence and pushed for the creator of the med to show up in person rather then do this through dead drops and remote access... it's not a good look, even if she wasn't in on the double cross- and my first thought would be on putting a bet with her pulling a team to double dip. Get a reward from Taylors 'cut' and then a reward from the Corpo for hiring through her for the clean up.
 
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I wonder what happened to Jean? Presumably if he was in any state he'd be trying to salvage the double-cross.

I suspect the handy passer-by was a member of Taylor's quasi-protection detail, checking that she wasn't actually dead or dying. Maybe they grabbed Jean too, to see who he sold her out to?
 
TheWiseTomato said:
Obviously it'd be an escalation, but I like the idea of Taylor just releasing the 'stolen research' to Biotechnica's competitors as well.
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Winged One said:
That'd be amazing. Just open source the thing with a note explicitly calling it retaliation for the kidnapping and murder attempts. Could probably destroy some careers right there.
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Thirding this. Have Wakako on standby to release a pre-set Open Source publication before anyone else can patent it, as a nuclear option if Biotechnica fucks around. Which, they did, so now they get to find out.
 
SpiraSpira said:
Instead of shrieking her voice got really, really cold and she asked, "How dead?"

Johnny was confused, "Stone dead, ma'am." What the hell did she mean?

Her voice shifted to exasperated, "No, you fu... No, Johnny... I mean, what were her injuries? What's the status of her skull and brain? WHAT HAPPENED?"

"Ma'am, it looks like there was a struggle. I don't know what happened; maybe the boy can tell you as he musta have seen it. Distraught, he is, but long story short, the guy shot her in the chest twice with double ought buck. But, I mean, I guess her face is okay; we can make it an open-casket funeral and all," he said. Although he had to admit that nobody actually had funerals like that anymore, despite what he saw on his westerns, so he wondered why it mattered.

The voice was intent and commanding now, "Johnny, I need you to do two things right away."
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Silly Johnny. That's only a reasonable amount of dead! Kumo-kun's more dead than that, by quite a lot even!
 
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Tired Iron said:
Kind of expected those two to turn traitors. Allure of easy buck is just too great for some people.
I wonder what TC think about doc Taylor now.
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They know perfectly well that she's a mad scientist corpo princess who is an excellent neighbor. ;) If they stop to think about it for 5 seconds, they'll probably realize she claims to not be a ripperdoc for corpo reasons.
 
And this is why you never. Ever. Reneg on a deal. Unless you have clauses in a contract about it you dont ever betray the client. And you especially dont do the shit while in the middle or at the tailend of a job when adrenaline is still high and people are still defensive. And you sure as hell dont involve third parties. Like say...friends,family,and lovers. Also rus might have done some research but the idjit didnt do enough. There is all kinds of whack ass ridiculous tech in cyberpunk. But gas that does what taylors did was a bridge too far? Really? What a fracking jackass. They can live on the moon,shoot people with microwave weapons(look it up its hilarious),people can literally change their race/become cyber furries and kiwi can just turn your implants off with a thought but the gas grenades were like "magic". He deserves the shot in the face. Just for being a dumb moron.
Then we have biotechnica. Cant just complete the transaction. And leave it at that. Some jerkoff middle manger wanting a promotion needs to push the forced recruitment/elimination of competition angle as well. Make the deal. Keep the deal. Offer another deal. People being forced to work for you will not be loyal. And may end up costing you more then you stand to make. DEAL IN GOOD FAITH and you usually wont have that problem! Jebus. Ok im done ranting. Good entry btw.
 
Fun fact: That stimulant that Taylor was selling earlier is a Biotechnica trade secret, but they did not patent it because they don't want its formula and synthesis method to get out. Hopefully there is no one who knows how to make it who also now has a grudge againts Biotechnica, because that could hurt their profits a bit.
 
Well, at the very least, that's 2 million in cash. Since the Idiot Duo are dead or otherwise gone, that means an equal split with Kiwi, leaving roughly 1 million for both. That's assuming there is a convenient hack/virus that slipped through and incinerated the electronic payment, but that seems like it'd be kicking the horse while it's already dead. I think enough went wrong as it is. No need to twist the knife. So, 2mil for each, excluding Wakako's cut.

Was it worth it? I dunno, but Kiwi probably won't turn into a complete cynic, since Taylor will have saved her life AND shared the cash, despite having the perfect chance to get away with everything.
 
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The Reservoir Dogs reference had me worried there, but things turned out not too bad for Taylor. Time for Taylor to express her artistic tinker side on Gloria.

SpiraSpira said:
The van was a lot worse for wear, but it probably wouldn't get that much attention, as I had seen a lot of vehicles in a lot worse shape driving the streets day after day.
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MAYBE BECAUSE YOU KEEP STEALING THEM!!! Vans are basically public vehicles for mercs in Night City.
 
ChaosTheVoid said:
That was a fantastic chapter. Taylor continue to cement her status as Femme Fatale.

I feel for her, the betrayal really stung.
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Yeah. Ruslan I can only say this. Rot in the street you kovarnaya krysa. And only then because Taylor does not have the time to cut you up for parts when she is focused on kiwi and Gloria.

As for Jean. If he is very, very lucky he will die soon in a manner that exceeds Taylors definition of almost dead. Because all the other options are ultimately worse.
 
They didn't get Taylor, the cash, or the hostages. Nobody involved in this is going to walk out smelling clean.

Also, explaining to the local Yakuza why her ripper clinic has tech Saburo probably used within the last few decades should be fun.
 
I'm surprised you didn't have Johnny say "Nani the fuck?".

I was also surprised that it wasn't Kiwi that executed the sudden-but-inevitable-betrayal. You'd think they would have realized that they had just saddled a tiger the moment they pulled their stupidity.
 
Holy shit, fantastic chapter! Thanks for not cutting it early like you could have. Sad to see Rus and Jean betray Taylor like this, but I really enjoyed seeing her reaction, can't wait to see how it affects her going forward to have more friends betray her yet again, especially with it echoing her past trauma. Will she hold tighter to the people she thinks she can still trust while paranoia-ing even harder about strangers, or will she start to shut herself off from what people she's grown close to?
Edit: also what's going to become of Jean? Where's he gone to, and did he and Rus tell anyone else about Taylor?

Plus Kiwi's willingness to slam full on into oncoming traffic is the best. Ride or die, Kiwi, ride or die.
 
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SpiraSpira said:
To be perfectly honest, before I met Ruslan, I didn't even know that country existed.
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Can't blame Taylor, really. On one hand, she's an American and their European geopolitical knowledge is memetic. On the other hand, Earth-Bet. Belarus and fellow sister republic likely were fully assimilated by still kicking, if severely wounded by endbringers Union.

You know, it's kind of weird in hindsight that both setting still have USSR around. Though, if I remember it right, Cyberpunk's Union also collapsed and then reassembled itself after a few decades in a coup by their oil corp. Which is both funny and ironic
 
Absolutely fantastic chapter. I was on the edge of my seat the whole way down.

Akasha said:
Well, at the very least, that's 2 million in cash. Since the Idiot Duo are dead or otherwise gone, that means an equal split with Kiwi, leaving roughly 1 million for both. That's assuming there is a convenient hack/virus that slipped through and incinerated the electronic payment, but that seems like it'd be kicking the horse while it's already dead. I think enough went wrong as it is. No need to twist the knife. So, 2mil for each, excluding Wakako's cut.

Was it worth it? I dunno, but Kiwi probably won't turn into a complete cynic, since Taylor will have saved her life AND shared the cash, despite having the perfect chance to get away with everything.
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Kiwi is only promised the pay for the job that otherwise would have been split 3 ways. The problem here was that Taylor essentially dangled a massive payday in front of two guys who were in early stage psychosis. They had shown multiple instances of becoming increasingly less rational actors and Taylor really should have known better. I'm also half convinced that part of the reason the payment amount was explicitly spoken of in the meeting was so encourage this kind of shenaniganery. Hell, Taylor should have really considered something was up with the way that they ran up the room service bill considering that was likely very much a "time to ride or die feast." look.

That said, I can't really blame Taylor for not seeing this coming. She got a bit too comfortable and for all she has been immersed in NC for years at this point, it's somewhat easy to miss the rank nihilism that runs through the city like blood. It means that even people who are fundamentally rational actors can sometimes have completely alien goals that end up with you not really being able to predict their actions.
 
Logos01 said:
was also surprised that it wasn't Kiwi that executed the sudden-but-inevitable-betrayal. You'd think they would have realized that they had just saddled a tiger the moment they pulled their stupidity
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IIRC Kiwi's motivation for betrayal in the anime was an outgrowth of a similar betrayal to this in canon that left her with a "everyone screws over everyone else, I need to stay ahead of them" mentality.
 
"No Particular Organization" was hilarious. I wonder what's going to come out of that. If that accidental "intelligence" turns out to be good, she might have a favor owed without realizing it.

Probably end up as an international woman of mystery in a few years without realizing it.

Eagerly waiting the next chapter with Taylor going mad surgeon on Gloria and Kiwi.
 
Set-ups, backstabs, and betrayals; Just another day in Night City. Never forget kids, in the world of Cyberpunk the light at the end of the tunnel IS the oncoming train. So keep your rocket launcher handy or you'll get run flat.
 
The 'No Partciular Organization' stuff at the start was very funny - Taylor was just giving good advice and they took it as something else entirely. Honestly with how cloak and dagger Cyberpunk stuff can be, I'm surprised that stuff like this doesn't happen more often.

Well, the Biotechnica ambush was expected, and dealt with remarkably well, but the Jean and Ruslan double cross was a bit more surprising. They handled the ambush quite well, making quick work of many teams of Biotechnica agents. And in the aftermath of the double cross, we see that William's people were indeed keeping a close eye on things.

That double cross hurt Taylor, but I think it really affected Kiwi the most - she's been far more innocent and open here than she was in Edgerunners, so a lot of things must have happened to make her that way. Jean and Rus might have done something similar in the canon timeline. Or others. The City of Night is a pretty terrible place afterall.

I was almost laughing when Taylor asked 'how dead', because my first thought at learning that Gloria was dead was 'wait, Taylor can fix that'. And indeed she is. Even for people who had an inkling that she was a 'gud medic', I think this will be eye opening.
 
This update was a bit of a trip. I, like several others, did not see the Ruslan and Jean choosing this specific gig to betray Taylor. At first I thought that Jean had been grabbed by another member of the Astor-Armstrong protection team under really good stealth, but it seems more likely that Jean really did manage to escape on his own.
SpiraSpira said:
[William] put his thinking cap on and sent a message back. The team captain was to send one team member on an overnight stay at the resort [...]
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Super funny how Taylor immediately incapacitated probably the only member of the protection team in contact with the situation. Guess the agent wasn't sufficiently briefed on her potential competencies.

I'll argue that it would be unfair to fault Wakako for the betrayal, since the involvement of Jean and Ruslan was put forward as a client request by Taylor.
SpiraSpira said:
I slowly nodded. That did make sense, "Okay, push that, then. We'll need to secure a group of mercs and maybe some extra muscle on top of that. Do you think Kiwi's team might be appropriate?" [...] Wakako looked thoughtful for a moment, "I might not have thought of them first, but if you're comfortable working with them, they could work with you as the exchange team, but we'd probably need a couple of additional people.
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Taylors clinic in the near future is going to be the home of so many gloriously awkward issues now.
  • Head-in-a-jar Gloria
  • Paralyzed Kiwi
  • British spec-ops trying to convince Taylor that he has nothing to do with Biotechnica
  • British spec-ops wondering why Taylor is trying to brain scan him
  • Confused Tyger Claws protecting dangerously capable ally
  • British protection team busting into clinic to rescue primary
  • Traumatized David
  • Taylor, stressed, betrayed, triggered, armed with a need to fix things and the temptation to use just a bit of all this convenient biomass
Naturally the most important one of all these is how Gloria is going to clock into her next shift. "I got shot but I got better, but in a way that means all my biometrics and cyberware doesn't match my identity. Just so you know if this ends up being too much of a hassle I might go with a better offer that I got from this overprotective...ripper, I guess."

PS: Super fun update, looking forward to where these plot threads go over the next couple of updates.
 
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