Cyberpunk: Arasaka Secret Son

"Tch! Demon," I thought as I finished throwing up everything I had eaten, realizing just how tough this was going to be.

"If that's all you have, then I can only say... disappointment. Tell me, Sora, with that half-hearted swordsmanship, did you really think you could beat me? That I'd reveal secrets to you that you're clearly not ready to know? And with only that level of skill, do you plan to dedicate yourself to something as dangerous and fleeting as being a mere Merc? Do you know how many of them retire and live happily ever after, Sora? NONE! Do you really want to throw your life away like that?"

'Damn, old man, have you no compassion?' I strained my exhausted body and mind, still reeling from that green-eyed bastard. 'Give me a break, will you!'

And now, on top of all that, I have to face this... this ONI standing in front of me. Stronger, faster, and more experienced, with his four chromed limbs and who knows what else. He looks at me with that single, piercing eye, the other covered by some kind of implant... Damn old man. But he was right about one thing... I can't keep running my mouth like this. If it weren't for the spark inside me... If Green Eyes hadn't shown up or if Barry hadn't paired me with Mendez...

I could've gotten us all killed. I could've gotten Jud killed... Damn it! My mouth, my stupid, uncontrollable mouth... When Mendez insulted my mother...

I was lucky...

Just lucky...

If it were up to me, I would’ve already died several times over without being able to do anything about it.

As I thought about all this, I felt helpless, almost defeated... When was the last time I felt like this? It made me remember my other life... my sickly body...

Grandpa said one more thing that struck a nerve... my fears.

"Sora, tell me, do you want to burn your life away with reckless behavior and end up injured, in a coma, dead, or worse... alive but in so much pain that you wish for death?"

When he said that, I knew all too well what he meant.

I was suddenly in a black void within my mind, facing someone in a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown over a sickly body... reminding me of my former self. But that past, imaginary version of me suddenly raised his head, and I saw his face... my current face, Sora’s face, asking me, "Is this how you want to end up?"

Is this how I want to end? Is Grandpa right? Do I want to die without ever truly living, just because of my foolish behavior? As I grappled with those thoughts, feeling small and weak, like my wings were being clipped...

Something interrupted me.

A soft vibration in my hand pulled me out of those dark thoughts. It felt like something was alive, trying to comfort me, telling me not to dwell on the things that weighed down my heart.

When I looked at my vibrating sword, I asked myself...

SINCE WHEN?

SINCE WHEN HAVE I BECOME SO PATHETIC?!

THAT MY OWN SWORD HAS TO COMFORT ME AND KNOW THE WORST PART OF ME...?

DAMN IT! I SWORE TO MYSELF I WOULD NEVER FEEL LIKE THIS AGAIN!

What does the old man want from me? To suddenly change? To become someone else? To use this 'potential' I supposedly have and become some white-collar worker? To become a corpo? NO WAY!

Or maybe an engineer, just another corporate pawn? Is that what he wants? HELL NO!

To live a normal, repetitive life?

To follow what everyone else does like cattle?

To hide from danger and run away?

To stop doing the things that excite me, that make me feel alive and love this life?

SCREW THAT!

I pictured that sickly Sora in the wheelchair again in my mind. I approached him without hesitation, imagining Getsuga in my hand.

I grabbed that sickly Sora by the neck, lifted him out of the wheelchair, and SWISH! I thrust my sword into his chest, pulling him close to me. I whispered to him...

"YOU are not me... YOU are just my fears from my old life haunting me... I'm not going to end up like YOU... I AM NOT GOING TO CHANGE!"

I said this to the sickly Sora, who was my subconscious taking the form of what I feared most in this life.

He looked at me, surprised at first that I had run him through with the sword, but then...

He smiled, leaving me with some final words...

"It took you long enough to figure it out... Idiot... Don't end up like me! Get stronger! You don't have to do it all by yourself, you know? After all, everything inside you... is part of US!"

As the sickly Sora said this and disappeared like dust, I...

"ONE MINUTE! TAKE THE SHACKLES OFF MY... NO! Off OUR body... Give me one minute to fight the old man... CAN YOU HEAR ME... ARC?!"

Coming back to reality, not even knowing if that thing heard me, I turned back to Grandpa, thinking... TO HELL WITH HIM! I gritted my teeth and forced my tired body to stand.

Forcing it to stand, I faced Grandpa again... I may not win today... but...

I WILL NOT SURRENDER!

I gripped MY sword tightly (thank you), trying to channel my resolve into it, and...

I closed my eyes again, stopped overthinking the fencing techniques I had been trying to mimic without truly understanding...

Thinking instead, "What am I losing? What am I missing? What is the essence of it all?"

I recalled all the lessons this damn ONI had taught me about the sword... About the essence behind every swing...

I don't know how much time passed, but when I remembered a particular piece of advice Grandpa gave me...

I finally understood.

---

[Musashi's POV]

"Not bad... even after everything he's been through today, he can still move like that without cyberware. He can definitely hold his own in close combat... but it’s not enough, SORA!"

"MUSASHI!!!" Aoi shouted in concern... I'm sorry... but.

"STAY OUT OF THIS, AOI!" I shouted back without looking at her... This boy won't listen to anything we say. This is the only way left...

...

...

"If that's all, then I can only say... disappointment. Tell me, Sora, did you really think that with such half-hearted swordsmanship you could beat me? That I'd reveal secrets to you that you're clearly not ready to know? And with just that level of skill, you want to dedicate yourself to something as dangerous and fleeting as being a mere Merc? Do you know how many of them retire or have a happy life, Sora? NONE! Do you really want to throw your life away like that?"

I watched as my grandson's expression of helplessness grew... making my heart clench with the cruel words I was saying and the guilt for downplaying Sora's skill... the boy I love like a son... But this is something that has to be done...

Sora needs to realize that, even though his mother enhanced his body to near-obsessive levels, it can give him a false sense of security that makes him reckless, makes him think he can survive anything. Maybe, unconsciously, he knows his body isn’t normal...

"Sora, tell me, do you want to burn your life away with reckless behavior and end up injured, in a coma, dead, or worse... alive but in so much pain that you wish for death?"

When I said that, I hoped Sora would think about all the stupid risks he had taken, putting his life in danger for... NOTHING! I wanted Sora to mature, to examine his actions and realize that if he continued down this path... it wouldn’t end well. I know this might change him, might even depress him, but... at least he'd be alive... I don't want Sora to end up like... his brothers... NO! SORA HAS TO CHANGE! Even if it means going against Hanako's wishes, even if it means clipping his wings... Making him plant his feet on the ground.

As I thought all this, I looked at Sora again, TCH.

His expression had changed again, from one that seemed to be reevaluating his actions to one full of denial and anger, as if his gaze alone could send me to Hell for everything I had said. He gritted his teeth, forcing his tired body to stand after the blow I had dealt, barely managing to hold on after the strain caused by the nanobots.

They had overridden the safety protocols Hanako had programmed, pushing Sora’s body to save him from a life-or-death encounter.

Before I could say anything, Sora barely managed to stand and closed his eyes again, as if searching for the flaw in his swordsmanship that he clearly didn’t understand the essence of.

A few seconds later, when he opened his eyes... I was surprised. Not by the light in his eyes or the nanobots taking over... I was surprised by the look on Sora’s face... even with his body in tatters... This kid looked like he had found the answer to his question, like he believed he had a chance to beat me with that newfound understanding, his face alight with determination and excitement.

What surprised me most about that look was that part of me... believed him.

Sora’s confident gaze made me curious, even expectant, to see what this boy would do with his body in that state, barely standing on his feet.

...

"I may act rashly, I may be childish, even idiotic... but I’m LIVING the way I want to, with a smile on my face. DAMN IT! That’s not going to change! Old man, you're right about one thing, I need the strength to take responsibility for what I say and to protect the ones I love from the consequences of my actions, but... THAT'S IT!!!

-

[Sora's POV]

(Flashback)

"Grandpa, I don’t understand. I’ve been training with the sword for four years, but when I do the same moves as you... they don’t sound or feel as sharp."

"Let’s see how I can explain this... Sora, do you remember when you begged us for weeks to buy you a guitar? And then, after we finally got it for you, you wouldn’t stop bugging us until we sang a song together?"

"Do you remember the advice you gave me to sing better?"

"You said, 'Grandpa, don’t just recite the words out loud, try to remember a memory that the music brings up, and sing with that memory in your voice.' When you said that, Sora... you surprised me."

"The same applies to fencing. It’s not just about putting emotion behind the sword; it’s also about understanding the essence of each style. You need to know not only the movements but where they come from.

What do they mimic?

What inspired them?

What’s the idea behind each motion?

When you understand these questions, then you can say you know the essence or the idea behind the swordsmanship you’re practicing.

Are they mimicking an animal? Or were they inspired by nature? There are all kinds of sword styles, many of them incredible, and many lost because their essence was forgotten. Every style has a lesson, a core idea, and if you truly want to master it, you first need to understand that essence."

(End of Flashback)

When I recalled that conversation with my grandfather, back when I was just ten, it made me think... What is the fencing I’m trying to replicate based on? Where is this style inspired from? What memory should I put into my sword?

The moment those questions entered my mind, it was like I was underwater again... back when I held Jud in my arms before the truck exploded... and when it did, I relived the force of the currents pulling us deeper into the water.

Yes, those currents—unrelenting and fierce—were just like the ones I felt in that moment.

When I snapped out of the memory...

I...

THUMP THUMP, BA BOOM, BA BUMP, BA BUMP, THUMP THUMP, BA BOOM, BA BOOM, BA BUMP, BA BOOM.

.

.

"I might act rashly. I might be childish, even foolish at times... but I’m living the way I want to, with a smile on my face. And damn it, that's not going to change! Old man, you're right about one thing—I need the strength to take responsibility for my words and protect the people I care about from the consequences of my actions. But... THAT’S IT!!! I'M NOT CHANGING! SCREW YOU, OLD MAN... I'M GONNA BEAT YOU!"

The moment I shouted that... suddenly two things happened, like my body was reacting to what I had just declared.

I felt my eyes light up again... but this time, without any emotions weighing me down or holograms guiding me. My eyes just lit up... as if...

♪...♪

Then I started hearing music in my head again. When I recognized the song, I knew Arc agreed with what I had said. He played the final verse of Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd:

♪ Lord knows, I can't change ♪
♪ Lord help me, I can't changeeeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEe♪
♪ Lord, I can't changeeeeeee ♪
♪ Won’t you flyyyyyyyy high, FREEEEEEE!!!!! BIRD!!! ♪
♪ YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! ♪

It wasn’t just the music. I felt my body heating up. My skin reddened for an instant, as if my body was burning some kind of fuel. I started sweating, and steam hissed out like my body was reacting to whatever ARC had triggered.

It filled my exhausted body with energy, but also intense pain—so much that I had to clench my teeth just to bear it. Then, suddenly, the pain shut off, like someone flipped a switch, as if my brain had just cut off the signal.

It was a warning—a sign that my body couldn’t hold out much longer. I had to act fast.

Without wasting another second, I turned toward the old man. The music kept playing in my head, the guitar solo building as I focused more and more. The rhythm in my head synced with my movements. The more I concentrated, the slower the music seemed to play... until all that was left was Grandpa and the music.

[Musashi's POV]

.

.

“...I’M GONNA BEAT YOU!”

When Sora said that, two things happened that I couldn’t process at the time.

The first was that his eyes lit up again, glowing a much stronger blue than before. But there was no change in Sora’s determined, defiant expression.

The second was that his skin turned red, as if he’d suddenly come down with a fever. He was sweating heavily, steam rising off his body, like he was burning himself from the inside out, drawing energy from wherever he could.

"You’re NOT cutting off our wings, OLD MAN!"

He shouted at me with sharp, intense eyes... and then he started... nodding to some rhythm I couldn’t hear. It was as if Sora was following music in his mind, and with every second, the sense of danger around him grew.

“COME ON, GRANDPA! TIME TO START ROUND 2!”

That snapped me out of my shock as I watched him take a deep, audible breath—like he was about to dive underwater.

And that’s when I realized... The kid had done it! He understood the essence behind the swordsmanship that had eluded him.

Without wasting any time, Sora charged at me, leaping into the air with his arms spread wide, like a bird opening its wings, only to cross them mid-flight, sword tucked under one arm.

The moment he came within range, Sora grinned as he released the breath he’d been holding, swinging his sword in a strong horizontal slash. It felt like a powerful current of water flowed behind his blade, lending strength to his attack.

“Damn,” I muttered, surprised by the force behind it. I had to respond seriously, countering with a vertical slash.

Our blades collided, generating sparks—stronger and more intense than any clash we’d had so far.

Sora’s horizontal slash met my vertical one, and for a moment, neither of us budged. But then... the illusion of the current following Sora’s sword pushed it forward, giving him strength.

To my disbelief, my sword began to inch back toward my face. I couldn’t believe it. For the first time, Sora had overpowered me in sheer force. His blade came dangerously close before I managed to stop it.

When I finally halted his attack, his sword was mere inches from my face. An uncontrollable grin spread across my face as I realized the boy had tapped into something new—something powerful.

The illusion faded as our swords locked, like a wave crashing against the rocks. But the excitement in Sora’s eyes... it was unmistakable.

And then I noticed it—a small cut on my cheek. He’d drawn blood.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

'How long?'

“...HAHA..!”

'HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE SOMEONE MADE ME BLEED WITH A SWORD?'

With renewed energy, I planted my feet and countered, pushing his sword back.

Sora, feeling the force of my blow, released the pressure on his own attack. He used my strength against me, kicking off my chest and launching himself backward.

He flew across the room, twisting in the air, only to land on the wall, legs coiled like springs, absorbing the impact.

Then, like an arrow loosed from a bow, he launched himself at me again, sword held high.

This time, I prepared to meet him, positioning my sword to block his downward slash.

But just before he reached me, Sora flipped mid-air, spinning with his sword...