240. Caffeine


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Alright, who gave Tomoka coffee?” Hinata asked with her hands on her hips trying her best to ignore the utter mayhem going on behind her. A few weeks have gone by since the trio met Maine’s crew. Today they were going to do an extermination gig. However, as soon as they arrived at the location Tomoka… well…


    <span style="font-weight:400">“My leg!” Yeah, someone gave her a carbonated can of coffee not knowing what would happen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Uh… me?” Sasha answered, cringing a little hearing the screamsing from the poor sixth street members. Hell, some of them looked like they were having PTSD episodes from the unification war. Nozomi opened her mouth to say something however at that very moment she was interrupted by a very recognisable scream.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Was that a wilhelm scream?” Nozomi asked as she turned around to see a guy flying through the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Focus Nozomi.” Hearing Hinata’s tone, Nozomi just shrugged. What was she to do? No one has so far figured out how to stop Tomoka once she gets caffeinated. Best bet is to wait for her to crash after the effects wear off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“What kind of chrome does she have to do that? Sandevistan?” Maine for his part couldn’t remove his eyes from the sight in front of him. Tomoka was moving like she was possessed. Dashing from cover to cover while shooting, hell some of the bullets she shot would ricochet around hitting people hiding behind cover.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“No, she has a cyberdeck tho.” It was then that they saw multiple people from sixth street suddenly immting as their crome leaked mmable chemicals onto their overheating servos.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Should we go help them?” Dorio asked while watching Ba having the time of her life shooting from behind cover using a stolen rifle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I mean, if you want to get in the middle of that.” Hinata pointed behind her just in time for a nade to go off igniting arge gas tank resulting in a big explosion that made her hair fly every which way. Mad cackling could be heard from the gremlin and the red-head as they enjoyed the chaos.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Nah thanks Choomba, I’m good.” Seeing what was happening Pr decided to not get involved. He didn’t want to die today, thank you very much.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A whileter all sixth street gangsters were dead. Hear or rather not hearing any more gunfire the rest decided to go search for their members in the mess. The first one to be found was Ba who was currently busy gathering guns with a wide smile on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hey Ba, know where Tomoka is?” The gremlin just pointed further into the warehouse. It was then that Tomoka walked into view from behind some crates carrying a box with a wide smile on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Package secured!” Seeing the state she was in everyone raised an eyebrow. Tomoka’s hair looked like she had been strolling through a storm, not too far from the truth that. What was even more eye-catching was the visible blood shot eye and bleeding nose.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Tomoka, are you alright?” Hinata asked while motioning to her nose so Tomoka would realize she was having a nosebleed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah, I think I abused the deck a bit too much and my brain too. Boi, am I going to have a nasty headache once I wake up.” Having said her part Tomoka fell face first on the floor while holding the box above her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Is she going to be fine?” Reba asked while trying to hold all the guns. Sure, most of them were trash but she could use them for parts or sell them, waste not what not and all that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah… probably. Hey, Maine, mind driving us to Vik’s?” Nozomi asked while she took the box from Tomoka''s hands before handing it to Maine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Sure thing.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Woo coffee!” Suddenly everyone turned to see Tomoka still in the ground reaching for a can of carbonated coffee. In an instant Hinata was there kicking the can as far away as she could.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“NO MORE COFFEE FOR YOU!” The re Hinata gave Tomoka could have frozen hell a few times over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Ouw but I like coffee.” Having said her part, Tomoka''s face once again hit the floor as she passed out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A whileter Tomoka woke up with the mother of all headaches on Vik’s operating chair. Her cyberdeck had gotten hot enough to cause her brain matter to get inmed. Thankfully, it hadn’t been enough to cause any permanent damage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I have half the mind to take that thing out of your skull before you cook your brain.” Vikined in that fatherly fashion as he gave Tomoka onest check.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“In my defense, I was given coffee.” Hearing that made Vik stop for a moment to raise a questioning eyebrow. What had coffee to do with anything?


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Ah, right, well you see Tomoka has a special constitution. Caffeine for her is like cocaine for normal people. Actually scratch that, it''s like a mixture of cocaine and alcohol. Then again, alcohol makes her act all mellow so that doesn’t work that well.” The rest of Hinata’s rambling went ignored by Vik as he figured out what she wanted to say.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Well, as your doc I prohibit you from drinking coffee again.” Hearing Vik’s orders Tomoka pouted petntly. She really liked the taste of coffee but no one would let her drink it. So what does it matter that she gets a bit crazy when she drinks it? The world would survive… probably.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Fine, now changing the subject. Have you figured out anything from the instant heals we gave you?” Hearing this made Vik dete a little. He is no techie and even then, he doubts any run of the mill techie could figure out what is up with those things.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“No, those things are way outside of my league.” Hearing Viks answer, Tomoka just shrugged. She had expected as much to tell the truth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Now unto more important things!” From her jacket Tomoka pulled out a piece of chrome still covered in blood. It looked like a high end neural link, the type that would be attached to a good portion of someone’s spine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Where did you get that?” Vik asked with a wry smile. He could guess to tell the truth, specially taking into ount he could see bits of bone and flesh attached to the thing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Well, you see. It all started when I went for a walk.” And so, Tomoka began telling the story of how she was minding her own business when this sixth street gangoon decided to conveniently fall in front of her dead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“So I thought that it would be a waste to leave this behind so I took it.” By the end Nozomi was on the groundughing her lungs out while Hinata and Vik gave tired sighs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Anyway, What do you say to getting this thing installed?” Tomoka asked Hinata, still holding the piece of bloody chrome in her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I am guessing that it is a sandevistan.” Tomoka just shrugged before answering Hinata.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I would guess so, the guy was moving really fast before I tlined- I mean, before he suddenly fell dead.” Yeah, no one was buying Tomoka’s tant lie but then again, no one felt like calling her out on it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Before any of that I will need to clean it and run diagnostics.” Vik said while taking the piece of chrome from Tomoka.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After cleaning the thing and running some diagnostics on its systems Vik was able to figure out what it actually was. The body of the thing is in fact a neural link as expected, a military grade one if slightly old. The sandevistan on the other hand isn’t as old though nothing out of this world either.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Alright, this thing is a zetatech sandy. Not the best out there but not the worst either. While it can’t elerate you all that much it canst a lot longer.” After saying that Vik began exining some of the sandy’s parameters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Depending on how well Hinata could handle the eleration she could keep it up for up to a whole minute of real time. Taking into ount its eleration of twenty five percent, which isn’t all that much mind you, Hinata could experience up to a minute and half of rtive time to the one minute of real time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Although it’s not much, I think you should get it installed. That way, you can get used to time eleration and you could get a better one in the future.” Tomoka reasoned while stretching a little. She had been seated on a rather ufortable stic chair while they waited for Vik to finish the diagnostics.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Sure, though this will put me out ofmision for a while since we have no more insta-heals.” With that said Hinata looked towards Vik waiting to see if he agreed to the instation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Normally I would be against installing new chrome so soon after a previous instation. However, taking into ount you three used that miracle drug I guess I can make an exception this time.” That said Vik went ahead to get everything ready as Hinata gotfy on the operation chair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Now all we need to get is your Keren Nozomi.” Nozomi just shrugged at that. She could wait for it since she has already gotten used to not having her eye powers for now. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t want the Kerenzikov.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Meh, I can wait. And to tell the truth I am more interested in getting some reinforced ankles. I miss being able to jump around more than anything else.” Having heard her, Tomoka and Hinata nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">““Same.”” It was then that Vik entered the room, ready for the operation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I have some contacts that might be able to get some for cheap. The kind athletes like basketball yers use. With those you should be able to leap a few good meters off the ground. Though I won’t be installing them on you if you don’t wait the necessary time for recovery.” Thatst part had been directed towards Hinata who nodded a bit dejected.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Knowing Vik, that recovery time would be around a month or more. This also made Nozomi go into thought, what did she care more for, the ability to leap or the keren. In the end she just gave a mental shrug, she would instal whichever came first.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A few hourster Hinata stood up from the operating chair with her new neural link and sandy installed. Carefully she moved this way and that feeling of the flexibility of the imnt on her back. The extra weight felt a little weird and that lever in the back of her mind that would activate the sandy was a somewhat strange sensation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Everything alright? No pain or difort?” Vik, always the diligent doc asked as he cleaned his implements. Hinata for her part just shook her head. Vik had done a spectacr job as always.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Good, take this, two puffs now and then two in the morning until it runs out. No using the sandy until tomorrow evening at the earliest. Preferably don’t use it at all for the week. Other than that, you are good to go.” With that done the trio left Vik’s.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Heh, in other words Hinata, don’t pull a David.” Hearing Tomoka’sment made the other two smile. Afterall, David had used the very experimental mil-spec sandy the very same day a shitty doc had installed it without anesthesia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Come on Tomoka, you know I am not like him. After all, he is built differently.” Hinata’s smile turned into a mocking grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah, he was built stupid.” Nozomi added before the three of themughed. Sure, they enjoyed shitting on David but when the chance came they would try and save him, and his mother if at all possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After walking through the back of Misti’s they came face to face with the goth looking owner, Misty herself. She was currently bussing herself by shuffling her deck of tarot cards. Clearly bored due to theck of customers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Oh, you girls are done? Care for a read?” Misti’s expresion lit up with the hope of somepany as she pointed to her deck of cards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Sure thing Misty, I had actually wanted a read for a while but every time we came I kinda forgot.” Tomoka answered quickly as she moved to the front of the counter, almost vibrating in ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Misty’s readings in the game had been spot on and so she had been wondering what kind of reading she would get. Sure, she could ask Oracle for her future and a bunch of other things but that would beme.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Eager are we. Okay let''s start then.” Having said that Misty gave the deck onest shuffle before taking out four cards cing them face down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Now I will ask you to be the one flipping them over. I have found that this way the readings tend to be more urate.” Nodding Tomoka flipped the first car. In it a burnt city in the form of a man apeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“The world, reversed. Normally the world represents the end of a journey in a fulfilling way,pletion and harmony. The world is the end of the fool''s journey. Reversed it is the end of the journey in an unsatisfying way, iplete without closure, without harmony. This card represents your past.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tomoka closed her eyes thinking about it. Her first life was like that wasn’t it. It had ended suddenly, it had ended unfulfillingly, aplete waste of a life if you ask her. Even before that it would still fit. She was iplete, not having connected with her true self then. Truly, Misty’s reading was quite something.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Opening her eyes, Tomoka flipped the next card. In it two indistinct people were kissing. Their genders couldn’t be figured out but seeing the card one could tell they love each other very much.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“The lovers. Representing union, partnership, not necessarily romantic but it could be such all the same. It represents the half of another, be it a person, an object or something else. It is a good omen in most instances.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tomoka smiled seeing a simr smile on her lovers. This card fitts too, after the end of her first life, her first journey she met her lovers, her partners, her anchors and her better halves. The ones that helped her put herself together. With that smile still present she flipped the next card.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Death. Many would hear the name of the card and think it represents something bad but that is not the case. Death represents the end of a cycle and the beginning of another, change would be the best word to describe it.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again it did fit perfectly. Her old broken self died when she worked with her lovers to put herself back together. Her old cycle ended and a new one with aplete her, a new here began. Finally she flipped thest card.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“The fool. Interestingly, it is rare for someone who has such a journey already to have a future represented by the fool. The fool is innocent, a free spirit searching for a journey, a new beginning.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">And what a fool she is, isn’t she? Tomoka would forever be a fool looking for a new journey, a new adventure apanied by her lovers. A journey that would never end as despite all that she knows all that she is and all that she could do, she is still the innocent free spirited fool looking to travel the world for a fulfilling journey.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Thanks misty.” Tomoka smiled, this little card reading had helped her a lot. Even now she feared for the future to an extent. Sure, she is confident nothing could ever go wrong as long as she is involved. Even then, emotions are hard things to control. She would know, she failed spectacrly doing so in the past. This card reading had helped her keep her head up and just enjoy the journey ahead.