Cyberpunk: Arasaka Secret Son

When the doors of the vault slammed shut with a bang.

A grotesque droid with its artificial muscles swollen to the point of deformity stood motionless, clutching Morgan's coat with one hand, while the other dripped with his blood after nearly piercing through him.

Its muscles began to deflate as the other AIs left its frame, returning to their inert bodies lying on the floor.

As they began to rise, eight men dressed entirely in black became visible in the hallway. Their leader, with a voice devoid of emotion, asked as soon as he deactivated his camouflage, "Do you have it?"

The rogue AI did not respond immediately. Instead, it looked at him with a glint of superiority in its synthetic lenses. Finally, in a tone laden with sarcasm and disdain, it replied:

["The one job you were supposed to handle...?"]

Some of the men exchanged uneasy glances at the machine's blatant contempt, but none dared to respond. The AI continued, as it confidently opened Morgan's coat:

["I warned you that you weren't needed, but the human part of the deal... ins-"] Until even its expressionless arrogance came to a halt.

Expecting to find Lieutenant Norris's Sandevistan, it found only a coat full of weapons and other gadgets, carefully concealed within the lining... with no trace of their "objective."

The hallway fell into a tense silence as the droid and the leader of the mercenaries stared at each other. Though he tried to avoid it, a slight raise of the mercenary's eyebrow betrayed his skepticism at the AI's words.

Although the AI wanted to kill him, it wasted no time. Without showing any emotion, it let its coat drop to the floor and crushed it under its foot, destroying several of Morgan's weapons hidden inside.

Without further delay, it began furiously pounding on the door of the vault where the "dying" human who had managed to deceive them was hiding. The sound of the blows grew louder as the other droids joined in.

Although Blackhand's trick had complicated the mission, the mercenary leader couldn't help but feel a pang of satisfaction at the sight of the restrained anger in the droid's gaze. It was a small human triumph in the midst of a bad situation.

However, noticing how his men were beginning to grow uneasy, with time running out, he decided to intervene. "There are still twelve more like them, causing chaos nearby. We still have time."

His words managed to calm the tension among his men, though only for a brief moment.

Suddenly, the droids stopped pounding on the door and looked at each other. If the mercenaries had to guess, they would say the droids almost seemed worried.

For the AIs, a sudden void in the network was palpable: their twelve brothers outside had vanished completely.

It wasn't that their bodies had been destroyed; it was their total absence from the network that disturbed them deeply.

-

On the other side of the door... 

The puppy sat in front of Morgan, staring at him intently until a familiar voice, out of sync with its appearance, resonated in Morgan's mind: "You look like shit..."

Noticing that his Cyberware was deactivated, except for his Sandevistan, the puppy added in a heavy tone, but with a hint of mockery or condescension: "So... the scorched earth protocol, huh?"

"Kid?!" the "dying" Morgan exclaimed aloud, causing Trevor and Roxy, confused, to turn toward where he was looking.

"Is he delirious?" Trevor inquired, while Roxy, concerned, asked, "Morgan, are you okay?"

Morgan ignored them, and as if speaking through his IDn, he questioned, ["What the hell are you doing in my IDn? Have you hacked me? No, wait... I'm disconnected from the network... you shouldn't be able to..."]. The next possibility alarmed him even more. ["Don't tell me you've created an AI with your personality!"]

The idea of dealing with two versions of that nefarious personality terrified Morgan. The puppy, imagining what he was thinking, responded by narrowing his adorable little eyes with restrained resentment: "No, but you can think of me that way if you want..."

Suddenly, Morgan noticed how the puppy began to dig into the ground, pulling out some cables that it bit and spliced as it pleased, causing interference in his software and uncontrollable movements in his black arm. ["What the hell are you doing in there?"] he asked until the interference stopped, and he regained control.

"Done, now you can move your arm. Don't worry, as long as I'm here, I won't let it strangle you... also, you can get up now, but not too quickly."

Trevor and Roxy's eyes widened in amazement as they saw that just a few seconds after the syringe's contents were injected, the fatal wounds on Morgan's shoulder and back were covered by a black layer, also patching up his damaged heart, allowing him to lift the upper part of his body while spitting out the remaining blood from his mouth and esophagus.

"How?" Trevor asked in disbelief, watching as his brother stayed alive against all odds.

Morgan, with a pained smile, repeated as a simplified response, "The Kid..."

Trevor sighed in relief, allowing himself to be distracted by the golden reflection that caught the corner of his eye. Realizing where they were trapped.

Bringing his hands to his face, he said excitedly, "I've never seen anything so beautiful."

Around him, security shelves embedded in the walls with reinforced glass windows displayed trays lined with luxurious red velvet. On them, dozens of carefully organized gold coins gleamed under the dim light of the room, reflecting a golden glow that contrasted with the cold steel surrounding the place.

With dozens of these shelves, holding hundreds of trays, together they housed millions of coins that made up an entire fortune.

Roxy, unaware that Iron Beast’s headquarters hid such an amount of Lazarus Coins, whispered in surprise, "Is this the boss's?"

"Heh, he wish..." Morgan replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm, teasing the being—or at least a small part of him—that kept him alive as he slowly stood up.

"After the kid gave us an entire wing of his headquarters, Lazarus finally made his entrance into Night City," he continued in a graver tone. His gaze swept across the shelves, as if contemplating a treasure whose true value only a few could understand. "Everything you see here," he gestured broadly, "is the available capital of Lazarus Coins of the entire city..."

Lazarus' gold coins not only served as a symbol of the organization but were also used to pay part of the salaries and rewards for its employees and mercenaries. With them, one had access to a global network of exclusive services provided by Lazarus.

These included safe havens, high-tech vehicles, specialized clothing, military-grade cyberware, and all kinds of weapons. Additionally, there was access to more "practical" services like "discreet cleaning" or, if possible, more "favorable" treatment from the authorities, though this depended on the city.

Being made of pure gold, while costly for Lazarus, their value was assured. Even if the value of money and the market suddenly collapsed, Lazarus could still maintain a certain active economy.

The tempting sight, especially for Trevor, was abruptly interrupted when the thundering noises resonating through the door intensified, making the ceiling and walls vibrate. The armored door slightly dislodged from its frame, causing a thin layer of dust to start falling from the ceiling.

Trevor pulled out Norris' Sandervista and remarked as he handed it back to his brother, "It seems they’re not very happy..."

As he took it, Morgan interrogated the pup within his software, asking, ["Where the hell?”] his real self was.

The pup simply shrugged, as he had no idea, after waking up in a reinforced chamber, completely cut off from the network.

After a heavy sigh, Morgan watched as the armored door began to give way under the pressure, with cracks rapidly spreading around its frame.

He forced his heavy and injured body to move and said, “Prepare yourselves... the door won’t hold much longer... all we can do is hold out until reinforcements arrive...”

Roxy nodded, while Trevor sighed reluctantly.

A few seconds later, they hid behind the columns of the chamber.

The armored door fell, along with part of the wall and its frame, with a crash that made the entire floor shake, filling the room with thick smoke.

Amidst the haze, the red lenses of the droids lit up, casting an ominous light as they prepared to enter the chamber.

Just as the droids were about to break in, and Morgan, Trevor, and Roxy readied themselves to open fire, cursing and praying at the same time for the same name to appear...

Something unexpected happened...

Suddenly, someone kicked out the AI that had taken control of the plant's system, and from the PA system...

[♪ "Life is a mystery" ♪][♪ "Everyone must stand alone" ♪][♪ "I hear you call my name" ♪]

(Song, Like a Prayer (Epic Version). Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE2FnSgzKh4 )

Roxy, being too young, didn't recognize the song. However, the 90-year-old brothers, Trevor and Morgan, immediately did.

"Madonna?" Trevor murmured to himself, incredulous but grateful, being a huge fan.

[♪ "And it feels like..." ♪]

Morgan, upon recognizing the song, sighed wearily as he reconsidered his life. Imagining the jokes that awaited him, especially from "him," he reflected to himself: 'Maybe... having to keep living like that after all of this... simply isn’t worth it'

[♪ "And it feels like..." ♪]

The music abruptly halted the droids, forcing them to turn mechanically around, when suddenly, a terrified scream was heard behind them.

[♪ "And it feels like..." ♪]

The youngest mercenary covering the rear froze before a scream escaped his mouth. He saw the bearded face of his comrade, who had helped him adjust his vest, and another one... rolling lifelessly alongside the metallic skulls of several droids.

[♪ "Home" ♪]

-

In a crowded elevator.

A young girl, excitedly holding her Pow, Pow, got ready to dash out as soon as the doors opened. However, she was abruptly stopped when someone stepped on her long braids.

"Hey!" she complained, frowning.

"Wait..." he replied, calmly checking his Malorian.

"Wait for what? You said Morgan is in danger," the young girl retorted, impatient.

"Do you want to save him, or embarrass him because you did?" he asked, seriously.

"The second one!" she answered without hesitation, while Tashin, who had been listening, shook his head, disapproving of his brother's "playful" attitude.

"Alright then..." Sora paused for a second, his eyes gleaming as he took control of the PA system.

[♪ "Life is a mystery" ♪]

As the first verse began to play, he smiled and said, "Let's go!"

Stretching out his hand, he ordered, "Cymbal, the heads."

The droid, with a mismatched body and head—its body, recycled from an enemy droid, a metallic skeleton with black artificial muscles, and its head a cartoonish monkey welded onto its shoulders—handed over one of the heads it was carrying

-

After throwing them, triggering a scream of terror...

[♪ "Home" ♪]

Sora, Erin, Tashin, Eco, and Cymball rounded the corner of the hallway, revealed in slow motion...

[♪ "When you call my name, it's like a little prayer" ♪][♪ "I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there" ♪]

To divert the attention of the droids and prevent them from taking hostages, Sora raised his black hand and projected the hologram of 7 AIs from his "cyber-stomach."

[♪ "In the midnight hour, I can feel your power" ♪][♪ "Just like a prayer, you know I'll take you there" ♪]

He then clenched his hand tightly, crushing them with force, causing a distorted scream, almost like a binary whisper through the network. This triggered a slight power surge, making the hallway lights flicker.

[♪ "I hear your voice" ♪][♪ "It's like an angel sighin'" ♪]

Upon witnessing seven of their brothers being brutally destroyed, compressed until annihilated, the remaining rogue AIs unleashed an uncontrollable fury.

Without a second thought, they charged at Sora... who, calmly but without missing a beat, took up his new guitar. As a black cloak emerged from his metallic hand, Sora joined Madonna’s rhythm with an electric touch.

When the nanobots completely covered the guitar, Sora's black arm charged with electricity, increasing the guitar's maximum current capacity. This amplified the lightning bolts that shot out from the end of its neck, making them significantly more powerful and capable of jumping between the droids by increasing their voltage.

As the fight unfolded before them, the eight mercenaries activated their cloaking devices and took off running. They were able to pass by Sora and his team, who seemed too preoccupied to stop them, even if they could detect them.

The mercenaries headed toward the opening they had entered through, believing they could escape. But as they rounded the last corner, they came to a sudden halt. Two women stood waiting for them.

For a moment, their beauty made the mercenaries doubt what they were seeing, as if they were a mirage in the midst of the panic-induced desert of their escape. But reality hit them quickly as they recognized them...

The first had long white hair that cascaded down to her hips and shook like a waterfall of silver silk when she elegantly waved her arms, deploying a red-hot nanocable. It sizzled as it burned the ground beneath her feet.

Beside her, the other attractive woman, with short hair that faded from dark blue at the roots to lighter shades at the tips, snapped her fingers.

Immediately, a mechanical sound echoed through the corridors, surrounding the mercenaries. From the corners, large dogs of various breeds emerged, all wearing security vests bearing the Iron Beast logo. The robotic dogs advanced silently, but their eyes glowed with a restrained ferocity as they slowly closed in on the eight men.

The blue-haired woman, the CEO of Iron Beast herself, spoke with icy coldness: "Surrender... or don't. Let's see how you fare."

The leader of the mercenaries, nervous but trying to maintain his composure, asked in a voice devoid of emotion, "If we surrender... will we receive the same treatment as my two men, whose heads were cut off?"

Judy looked him directly in the eyes, her expression unreadable. "I have no idea... I don't know what he’ll do to you. But if you valued your life so much, you shouldn't have killed the scientists. He hates it when they kill scientific personnel."

She replied, fully aware of her partner’s past, including his time as Arc.

The leader opened his mouth to respond, "Then—" but he didn’t have the chance to finish.

In a flash, Judy disappeared and reappeared in front of him, firmly grabbing the hand he was about to raise. "I don’t like it either..." she whispered in a dangerous voice.

Then, with a quick motion, she extended two fingers of her other hand, whose nails turned metallic and grew instantly. Like a guillotine, she brought them down on the mercenary’s arm, slicing it cleanly.

Pointing at the rest of the mercenaries with the severed hand of their leader while he screamed in pain, Judy asked. "You haven't decided yet... Do you want me to give you a hand?" As she spoke, the rest of her nails extended, turning into sharp blades, transforming her hand into an intimidating claw.

Six of the seven remaining mercenaries, terrified, followed their leader's example and quickly threw down their weapons, falling to their knees on the ground.

However, one of them, desperate, tried to shoot Judy.

Before he could pull the trigger, Lucy’s nanowire coiled around his neck, burning it until it decapitated him. At the same time, Judy's claws plunged into his chest, piercing through his armor and heart with ease, killing him twice.

Iron Beast’s guard dogs, which had remained silent until then, began growling and baring their teeth, as if they were just waiting for the order to pounce on the remaining mercenaries and tear them apart.

They were shaken by anxiety when the sounds of battle on the other side of the level ceased.

-

When Sora pulled the blade of his guitar out of the shattered skull of the last droid, he noticed how the black, viscous oil dripped from the edge of the instrument. He wiped the blade on his clothes, unconcerned about the stains, and activated one of the rings in the helix of his ear.

"All clear. You can come up now," he said over the base channel.

In mere seconds, the floor was flooded with different Lazarus teams that had been waiting to avoid further casualties. Footsteps echoed through the corridors as a team of medical technicians hurried towards the vault, from which they extracted Morgan on a stretcher, followed closely by Trevor and Roxy, who were visibly exhausted and injured as well.

As they passed by Sora, Tashin, and Powler, Morgan weakly raised a hand, signaling the technicians to stop.

Sora was the first to break the silence. "You look like crap."

"So I've been told," Morgan replied with a sigh, before adding, grateful for the intervention of his 'mini-me' that saved his life, "Thanks." Then, in a tone as tired as it was exasperated, he asked, "But... did you really have to pick Madonna?"

"What's wrong with that?" his brother asked seriously, not seeing anything wrong with the choice. His tone challenged Morgan to find any flaw, clearly showing that he didn't care that Morgan was on a stretcher to “debate” his arguments.

"It's true, I liked it too. Don't complain, old man," Powler chimed in with a playful smile, and Sora joined her, both looking at Morgan like wolves waiting for him not to die so they could start...

Morgan, fearing future jokes and seeing those smiles on their faces—like wolves holding back while he was injured—wanted to escape from there. But before leaving, he handed something to Sora.

"Take this, kid. I've heard about what happened with the science team. It's better for you to keep this until we figure out what's inside."

"Give it to me, I'll find out," said Powler, extending his hands toward Norris's Sandevistan.

"No, you take care of something else. We have bigger problems," Sora replied seriously, as he took the cyberware from Morgan's weakened hands.

Worried by the tone of his voice, Morgan, still on the stretcher, asked, "What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, Sora surprised everyone when, without warning, he violently thrust his black arm through the chest of one of the fallen droid bodies. With a firm pull, he tore out a complex spherical component, attached to a base by both hemispheres, composed of small decagonal cells separated by a faint amber glow.

"A quantum microprocessor?" Erin asked, skeptical of what Sora considered a "major problem." Although rare and strictly controlled, quantum microprocessors were not exactly forbidden technology.

Sora dropped the component into Powler's hands and, while walking away to check on Judy and Lucy, said, "When you discover the problem, inform the Boss as quickly as you can." He added with an enigmatic tone as he left alongside Eco and Tashin, "Things are getting complicated."

Powler, reluctantly heeding his cryptic warning, put on her multi-goggles and began to carefully examine the microprocessor. A few seconds later, when she found no serial number, she turned pale and screamed, "Aaah!"

"What's going on?" Morgan asked, still holding back the technicians who wanted to take him to the infirmary.

Erin stammered before running off. "I-I need to inform the Boss."

"AT LEAST TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Morgan shouted, frustrated.

Unable to shout something like that, Powler paused for a second and called Morgan before hanging up immediately after finishing:

["It doesn't have a serial number... Someone's building them without us noticing."]

Upon realizing the gravity of the situation, Morgan cursed under his breath, "Damn..." Then, with a sigh of resignation, he said to the technicians, "Take me to the infirmary."

As they carried him, a sense of unease settled in his mind. He realized that over the years, he had let his strength stagnate, allowing the younger ones to surpass him. Now, that feeling burned inside him, driving him to "upgrade."

-

When Sora, Tashin, and Eco appeared in the hallway where Judy, Lucy, and the detained mercenaries were, Sora was playing with their target in front of them—the old Norris's Sandervista—tossing it in the air.

The leader was the first to speak. "Kill me, but my men—"

Before he could finish... "Agreed," Sora interrupted, drawing his Malorian and blowing the leader's head off, leaving him with an expression still processing his sudden end.

Crouching in front of the shocked mercenaries, tapping the ground with the barrel of his silver pistol, unsure when he would use it again, he said, "What a leader you had, huh? All me, me, me... You should have chosen someone who would plead for his men, something like, 'They were just following my orders...'"

'That's what he was trying to say!' they all exclaimed in unison in their minds, not daring to say it out loud, fearing they would be the next to have their heads blown off.

Fully aware of what they were thinking, Sora smiled as he responded, "The order... does alter the outcome. I'm magnanimous enough to grant one of his requests... too bad he asked me to kill him... first."

Erasing his smile as he stood up, Sora looked at them one last time with eyes shining a pale blue devoid of humanity and said, making them regret it just from his tone matching his cold gaze, "I promise you... I will make you regret every life you took from the scientific staff..."

-

While the assault on Iron Beast was underway...

David got off the motorcycle and removed his helmet with clumsy movements, as if trying to hide his slight discomfort after having been holding onto the rider for the entire trip.

After a second of looking around, he quickly recognized the pedestrian market of Little China, on Urmland Street.

The street was a mosaic of shops and establishments, most of them bars and brothels, with red-lit storefronts extending throughout the street, where the "merchandise" was displayed.

"Let's go," said Rebecca, interrupting his thoughts with a friendly tap on the shoulder.

David nodded, following her through the crowd. As he diverted his gaze to avoid provocation, his eyes ended up resting on a solitary figure on the sidewalk. on the sidewalk. A man, wrapped in what seemed to be a piece of black plastic—a makeshift outfit resembling a trash bag—began shouting fervently.

"And I tell you, no!" the man exclaimed, his hoarse voice rising above the market's noise. "The Arasakas aren't just any clan! They're not even human! VAMPIRES, all of them! Their bodies don't age, just look at their eyes, cold and inhuman! Their corporations are just a front for their wicked intentions..."

David stared at the man, who acted like a mad preacher in the midst of the apocalypse. He was pulled back to reality by Rebecca, who tugged at him. "Ignore this nutcase, follow me," she said, heading towards a small shop a few steps away.

"Ah... yeah," David murmured, shaking his head and following her through the door of Misty's Esoterica and Chakra Harmonization.

The change in atmosphere was immediate. A dense aroma of incense and lit candles hit David's nostrils. Around him, the shop was cluttered with what could only be described as "junk": old jars filled with unknown substances, fortune cat figurines that seemed to stare from the shelves, and piles of esoteric trinkets crammed into every corner.

As his eyes roamed the strange shop, something else caught his attention. In one corner, a screen was broadcasting live footage of the Iron Beast assault. The headline at the bottom of the screen provocatively asked: [Has he really returned?]

Perplexed, David tapped Rebecca on the shoulder and pointed at the screen.

“Tch... just when we leave, the good stuff happens...” Rebecca responded, frustrated. After a brief shrug, knowing that if they had needed her, they would have called, she turned toward the woman who had come out to greet them from the back of the shop.

“Oh! It’s you, Rebecca! If you’re here to see Viktor, he’s with a client right now,” said a woman in bohemian clothing, her voice soft.

“We’ll wait, someone still needs to bring me the chrome... How’s everything, Misty? Still chasing after that Latino merc?” Rebecca asked shamelessly.

Misty Olszewski, the shop owner, grew nervous for a moment at how Rebecca indirectly referred to Jackie. She had a slender physique and pale skin with a calm presence. Her hair was short and blonde.

Before responding, Misty exchanged glances with Rebecca, then looked at the young man with Latino features who accompanied her. The little space between them was filled with an uncomfortable tension, just enough for her feminine intuition to pick up on

With a mischievous smile, unusual for her, she fired back. “Not as well as you, it seems,”

"Ugh..." Rebecca let out a pained sigh, feeling like she was the one who got burned. She tried to ignore David's confused gaze, who, like a good man, had no idea what was going on.

Changing the subject, Rebecca pointed at the screen with her thumb. "Do you know when this all started?"

After Misty shared what she knew, she turned her attention to the young man wandering around the shop, exploring the strange objects around him. Misty smiled softly and spoke to him.

"David, right? Nice to meet you... Come, why don't you let me read your fortune? That way, we can get to know each other a little better," she suggested, her voice calm and soothing, But with a hint of mystery and... "Don't worry, the first time is free," playfulness.

David looked at her, hesitating for a second, but eventually nodded.

"To start..." she said in her gentle voice, while shuffling the tarot cards. "Let's see what kind of person you are, and what's happened in your life recently, before we check what the future holds for you, okay?"

Misty drew the first card and placed it gently in front of David. The image of a young man with one foot on the edge of an abyss and the other on a path appeared before them.

Smiling slightly and nodding as if the card confirmed her intuition, Misty explained:

—"The Noob. Someone who has just chosen their path. You're just beginning to walk it, right? Everything is new and uncertain."

She combined the information revealed by the cards with her intuition about the reason for his visit. ‘Could it be that he’s here to install his first Cyberware?’ Misty thought.

David, surprised, nodded awkwardly, starting to pay more attention to what he had dismissed as ‘nonsense.’

The next card showed two skeletons: one emerging from below and the other descending from above, with abnormally long, sharp tongues extending from their mouths, curling until they met in the center.

—"The Lovers." Misty smiled and shook her head at Rebecca’s hasty reaction, as she pointed to herself. Although the card was related to love, its true meaning was: "A bond. Not necessarily romantic love, but an intense and meaningful connection."

Needing more information, Misty added nothing more and drew the next card.

In the background, two towering skyscrapers tinged in red contrasted with a sky as black as ink at the top of the card. In the center of the image, slightly to the right, stood a solitary female figure, tinted in blue, with her eyes closed, looking to the side.

"Ah... The Empress," Misty remarked as she placed the card on the table, beginning to understand. "A powerful female figure, a strong woman... and alongside The Lovers." She paused, assessing the meaning of the three cards before asking, "You live with your mother, right?"

David barely had time to nod before Misty revealed the next card: a desolate image of ruined cities covered in snow. "The Winter," she murmured. The tension in her face eased a little as she drew the next card: a double-edged blade cutting through the drawing from side to side. "The Sword."

David frowned, uneasy. "What does all this mean?"

"Wait a moment, let me finish," Misty replied seriously, without taking her eyes off the cards.

Finally, she drew two last cards. The first showed a man connected to a chair by countless cables tangled around his head, his eyes glowing a deep blue while his face remained in shadows. "The Emperor."

The second card, reversed, depicted a punk walking on the edge of a rooftop, about to take a step into the void without realizing it, accompanied by a famished dog. He had one arm extended forward while the other held a stick. "The Fool."

Misty blinked, surprised by the combination. Rebecca, who was watching closely, felt a chill run down her spine. She knew those cards all too well and what they meant when they appeared together and in that position.

So much so that it made her mutter under her breath, "Witch..." with a tone filled with awe and fear.

"That's quite a compliment to me," Misty responded with a slightly proud smile before asking seriously, "You've noticed, haven't you?"

"Tch..." Rebecca clicked her tongue, clearly irritated by what she couldn't explain logically. "How could I not notice? Those cards... in that exact order. They came up when you pulled this same crap on me... referring to..."

Just as they were talking, a change on the screen caught their attention. It showed a close-up of a young and attractive man with black hair tied back in a short ponytail, his shirt open, as he exited the bar, firing his silver Malorian

Rebecca, looking at Sora on the screen, finished the sentence in a low voice, "Him..."

David, who had remained silent, feeling out of place and not understanding what they were talking about, finally spoke up, confused. "Excuse me, but... what does all this mean?"

"Oh! Sorry..." Misty murmured apologetically. However, instead of explaining, she calmly asked, "David, have you seen Sora recently?" as if she already knew the answer perfectly well.

David nodded again, "I saw him today for the first time since I've known him for seven years."

Misty, her eyes fixed on David, continued, this time with an even more personal question. "And your mother? Is she okay? Did Sora do something to make sure she was?"

Although the sudden question took him by surprise, David responded straightforwardly "Yes, she’s admitted to the Medical Center... If it hadn't been for him... she most likely would have died."

"No kidding," murmured Misty, nodding her head while looking at the white card with the image of an unforgiving winter.

Having a general idea but wanting to be sure, David decided to ask, "Could you answer me now? What does all this mean?"

Pointing to the cards of "The King" and "The Fool" reversed, Misty said, "These two together represent someone contradictory... someone born from greatness, but at the same time, fighting against that destiny, trying to avoid the responsibilities and the weight that comes with it."

"Does anyone come to mind with that description?" Misty asked, with a penetrating gaze.

This caused the image of a person banging his head against the steering wheel, reluctant to get out of the car and face the long line of employees waiting for him, to appear in David's mind.

As well as the expression of displeasure he made when he "kindly" asked them not to do it again.

"Sora, right?" said David, as if confirming something he already knew deep down.

“Yeah…” Rebecca responded, with a mix of resignation and acknowledgment. “The same cards came up when Misty did it with me.”

“What did your cards say?” David asked, curious about Rebecca's reading.

With a bitter expression, seeing that she didn't seem like she was going to answer, David asked Misty, “And the rest?”

Misty gave a slight smile, as if the answer was obvious, but still. “I don't think it needs much explanation, but these three cards —The Noob, The Lovers, and The Empress— represent you and the strong bond you share with your mother.”

David nodded, a bit embarrassed, recognizing what the cards were revealing.

“And the Winter…” Misty continued, pointing to the white card lying among the others, “It's the time when everything ends”

“So, the sword?” David asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“The sword is one of the most powerful cards; it symbolizes power,” Misty explained, her tone infused with an almost reverential respect. “But not physical power. It's the power of intervention, the power of a decision… capable of altering the course of something as powerful as death.”

Misty paused, her dark eyes fixed on the cards as if trying to decipher the mysterious wisdom they held. “And when it appears alongside The Emperor and The Fool reversed…” Her words trailed off briefly as she searched her memory.

“We’ve learned from experience that it’s about… Sora,” she said, looking at Rebecca, recalling her reading, and concluded, “Doing somthing that change your destiny.”

With a hint of resentment, Rebecca added, "In your case, saving the woman you care so much about... Mama's boy!"

David, too shocked to feel embarrassed by Rebecca's words, sighed quietly. He knew himself that he owed a lot to Sora... but now, when even the cards told him so... it was shocking for him.

Beginning to believe like Rebecca and seeing Misty as some sort of witch, David voiced the question that was troubling him inside. "Can you check if I'll be able to repay him?"

Before Misty could respond, a new "client" entered the shop—a crow, walking cockily on two legs, carrying a small briefcase, the size of a pencil case for a human, in its beak.

-

Sorry for the delay, I was stockpiling content... But now there are two chapters available in advance on my Patreon. Link in the comments.

I hope you enjoyed it. Don’t forget to leave a comment—hearing your thoughts really helps.