Cyberpunk: Asuka Vektor

The next day, Asuka headed towards Viktor's clinic, her bike roaring through the streets of Watson. She decided to take the back way in, through the gate that led around the back of Misty's Esoterica. As she approached, she caught sight of a group of guys running out through the gate, clearly in a hurry, tripping over each other in their desperation to escape. Asuka frowned, slowing down, her eyes narrowing as she recognized the look—scavs, probably up to no good.

Just behind them, she spotted her dad, standing at the gate, watching them run with a grim look on his face. He noticed her approach, and his face softened just a bit, the tension loosening from his shoulders.

“Hey, pops, what's going on here?” Asuka asked, parking her bike and walking up to him, her chrome fingers flexing as she eyed the retreating figures.

Vik shook his head, a sigh escaping him. “Ah, just some gonk scavs. Idiots thought they could roll up on me, try to threaten me into being their personal ripperdoc. Wanted me to chop up folks on demand, do implants for their low-life friends.” He cracked his knuckles, a grim smile crossing his face. “Guess they didn’t realize whose clinic they were dealing with.”

Asuka couldn't help but smile at that. Vik might have been a ripperdoc, but he wasn’t one to back down from anyone, and certainly from some scavs.

“Want me to go after them, old man? You know where their base is?” she asked, her voice carrying a hint of eager anticipation. There was nothing she enjoyed more than dealing with scavs who thought they could prey on the people.

Vik gave her a knowing look, shaking his head with a sigh, but there was a glint of something close to pride in his eyes. “They’re holed up in the nearby megabuilding. Think they have new hideout there, been hearing whispers. If you want to give 'em hell, kid, be my guest.” He paused, giving her a serious look. “Just be careful, alright? Scavs are like roaches—never alone.”

Asuka nodded, her grin widening. “Thanks, Dad. I’ll handle it, promise.” She turned back to her bike, a fire already lit in her veins. There was no way she was going to let scavs think they could get away with messing with her father.

Vik shook his head, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Just remember to keep your head, Asuka.”

Asuka made her way to the nearby megabuilding, her expression serious as she strode into the dimly lit lobby. The atmosphere was heavy, filled with the usual hustle of residents just trying to survive. The building had seen better days—graffiti on the walls, flickering lights, the faint hum of music leaking from behind closed doors. She moved between the people milling about, her sky-blue eyes scanning her surroundings as she asked if anyone knew where the scav hideout was.

Most people ignored her, eyes averting, hurriedly walking away as if they wanted nothing to do with whatever trouble she was looking for. Asuka understood—this was Night City. No one wanted to get involved in someone else's business, especially if scavs were involved. Still, she wasn’t about to let them off the hook just because no one wanted to cooperate.

That was when she spotted him—a guy lurking in the corner of the lobby, his face twitching slightly, eyes darting around. He was wearing a tattered jacket, one that looked suspiciously like it was covered in bloodstains. Asuka narrowed her eyes. He had the look of a scav—a certain twitchiness, a discomfort with staying in one place too long. She started towards him, her footsteps echoing on the grimy tiles of the lobby floor.

The second the guy spotted her, his eyes widened, and he bolted, trying to push his way through a side door. Asuka’s lips curled into a grin, and she activated her Sandevistan. The world slowed to a crawl, and she moved like a blur, her chrome limbs a streak of pink and silver.

She pulled out two pink knives, their blades glinting as she threw them with deadly precision. The knives sailed through the air, embedding themselves in the guy’s legs, hitting both knees and destroying the ligaments with a satisfying crunch. The scav let out a pained yell, crumpling to the ground in agonizing slow motion from Asuka's perspective.

Time snapped back to normal, and she was suddenly there, looming over him. The scav groaned, his face twisted in pain, his hands grabbing at his ruined legs.

Asuka grabbed him by the collar, hoisting him up slightly, her expression cold as she looked into his panicked eyes. “Where are your friends hiding?” she demanded, her voice calm, but there was a dangerous edge to it.

The scav barely hesitated, the pain clearly overriding any sense of loyalty he might have had. He grimaced, his eyes widening with desperation. “W-wait, wait! Don’t kill me! I’ll tell ya! They’re on the seventh floor! Apartment 704!” he spluttered, his voice breaking as he pointed upwards shakily.

Asuka gave a satisfied nod, her expression never changing as she stared him down for another second. “Good boy,” she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

She let go of his collar, the scav dropping back to the ground, clutching his legs and whimpering in pain. Without another word, Asuka turned, stepping away.

As she moved towards the elevator, she couldn’t help but grin to herself, the thrill of the hunt making her blood pump faster.

Asuka paused as she walked towards the elevator, a thought suddenly occurring to her. She had left her pink knives in that scav's legs. Turning on her heel, she retraced her steps back to where the scav was lying, still groaning in pain on the ground. Without a word, she knelt beside him and, with deliberate slowness, pulled the knives out of his legs one by one, twisting slightly as she did so. The scav screamed, the sound echoing in the otherwise empty hallway.

Asuka looked down at him, her expression indifferent, her lips curving into a cold smirk. “Thanks for holding onto these for me.” She slipped the knives back into their sheaths and turned away, not even sparing him a second glance as she made her way back to the elevator.

Arriving at the seventh floor, Asuka stepped off the elevator, moving with purpose towards apartment 704. Loud music blasted from behind the door—a typical scav soundtrack, heavy with bass and chaos, masking whatever horrors were taking place inside. She approached the door and knocked casually.

A voice from the other side shouted over the noise, “Who is it?!”

Her optics whirred softly, scanning the layout of the apartment. The interface showed her the blueprints—a small entry room with only one person in it, followed by two other rooms, one with four figures and another with five. She grinned. Just enough scavs to make her day interesting.

Without another word, Asuka ejected her mantis blades. The twin chrome blades extended with a satisfying metallic click, and without hesitation, she stabbed them through the door. She felt the blades connect with flesh, heard the crunch of bone as they sank deep into the scav on the other side. The music muffled the sickening thud as his body slumped to the ground.

With the scav taken care of, Asuka stepped back slightly, her mantis blades slicing through the door in a wide arc, cutting a large opening that she stepped through effortlessly, her chrome limbs gleaming under the apartment’s flickering lights.

Inside, she found herself in the entry room. The guy she’d stabbed was sprawled across the floor, his head split where the blades had pierced his skull. Asuka didn’t waste a second, moving quickly down the hallway towards the first room with five figures inside. She kicked the door open, her optics pinpointing her targets.

The scavs barely had a chance to react before she activated her Sandevistan. Time slowed to a near crawl, the world blurring around her as she pulled out her Malorian, her fingers pulling the trigger with ruthless precision. The gunshots echoed sharply, each one punctuated by the splatter of blood as the bullets found their marks—five headshots, each one clean, each one ending a scav.

Asuka moved on, not even pausing to take in the carnage she’d left behind. The next door led to the room with four scavs—two working over a corpse, their faces twisted into expressions of concentration as they cut through the remains, and two more sitting nearby, drinking and laughing, their backs turned to the door.

A cruel smile tugged at Asuka’s lips as she took out her pink knives. With a flick of her wrist, she threw them, both knives embedding into the heads of the scavs cutting the corpse. They crumpled immediately, their bodies slumping over the table, blood dripping down onto the mangled remains beneath them.

The other two scavs barely had time to react, their drunken laughter cut short as Asuka raised her Malorian once more, pulling the trigger twice. The bullets found their targets, and the scavs fell back, their drinks spilling across the dirty floor, blood mixing with the alcohol.

With the room silenced, Asuka let out a breath, her eyes scanning the area. She moved deeper into the room, her eyes catching on a bathtub filled with ice. The sight made her stomach churn, though not out of fear or horror. It was a sick pleasure, knowing she’d put an end to the kind of filth that would do this to others. The tub was filled with half-frozen, pale figures—victims who hadn't even been given the dignity of death, left to suffer in agonizing cold as their bodies were harvested.

Asuka's eyes narrowed, her fingers flexing as she retracted her mantis blades

She moved quickly, her chrome arms reaching into the ice, her strength easily pulling three people out of the tub. They were barely conscious, their bodies shivering, their breaths shallow. One of them started to have real difficulty breathing, their chest heaving in short, desperate gasps.

Asuka pulled out an injection. Without hesitation, she jabbed it into the person’s neck, the drug quickly taking effect, easing their breathing and stabilizing them, if only for a moment.

She turned each one over, her eyes narrowing at the back of their necks where she found the chips—standard scav tech designed to prevent their bodies from alerting Trauma Team or anyone else to their dire condition. Coldly, she ripped the chips out one by one, her fingers precise, each motion swift and deliberate. One of them had a gold chip, and the rest were silver.

She knew what would happen next. Asuka propped the barely conscious victims against the wall, her optics scanning their vitals, ensuring they would hold on until help arrived.

Moments later, she heard it—a distant rumble that grew louder. A Trauma Team AV came into view, the flashing red lights casting a pulsing glow into the room. Asuka stepped back, her job done here. There was no reason for her to stick around.

She turned and left the apartment, her footsteps deliberate as she made her way down the hallway. She had just exited the building when she found herself face-to-face with a small group of mercs, their expressions somewhere between frustration and anger. They looked like newbies—fresh faces, clean gear, and the kind of attitude that screamed they were still learning the ropes.

One of them, a guy who barely looked older than nineteen, stepped forward, his hand on his pistol, his face twisted in a scowl. “Hey! You! That was our gig, you just stole it right out from under us!” he shouted, his voice cracking with inexperience and anger.

Asuka barely blinked, her blue eyes narrowing as she sized them up. They were too clean, too unsure of themselves to be any kind of real threat. She crossed her arms, her chrome limbs glinting under the streetlights.

Another one of the mercs, apparently more eager than the rest, raised his gun, his finger trembling on the trigger. “I don’t care if she’s some big shot. You can’t just—”

But he didn’t get to finish his sentence.

Asuka activated her Sandevistan. Time slowed, and she moved like a blur, her body a flash of pink and chrome as she dashed forward, her knee driving into the guy’s stomach, her fist following up with a knockout punch to his jaw. His body crumpled, dropping to the ground, his gun clattering uselessly beside him.

Time resumed, the rest of the mercs standing there, wide-eyed, their faces draining of color as they watched their friend drop like a sack of potatoes. They looked at Asuka, their anger replaced with fear, uncertainty written all over their faces.

The mercs glanced at each other, their eyes full of doubt now, no one daring to make a move. Asuka turned her back to them, her indifference clear. She walked away, leaving them to gather their knocked-out friend.

Asuka pushed the door to her father's clinic open, the familiar hum and the comforting scent of antiseptic filling her senses.

Vik's brow furrowed in concern as he walked over. "You okay, kid?" he asked, his tone gentle but laced with the unspoken worry that only a father could have.

Asuka flashed a grin, shrugging off his concern. “Yeah, pops, I’m alright. Took care of those scavs for you,” she said, her tone casual. "Gave them a little reminder not to mess with Viktor Vektor's clinic."

Vik sighed, shaking his head, but there was a small smile tugging at his lips now. “You’re just like your mother, you know that?” he said, his voice carrying a mix of pride and nostalgia. “But as long as you’re okay, kid, that’s all that matters to me.”

Asuka reached up, her chrome fingers gently patting his arm, her grin returning. “I’m fine, Dad. Promise.”

Vik nodded, giving her one last look before stepping back. “Alright then. Why don’t you sit down for a bit? Let me take a look at you. And don’t argue—just humor an old man, alright?”

Asuka rolled her eyes, but she moved towards one of the chairs, sitting down with a sigh. “Alright, alright. You win, old man. Just don’t make a habit out of worrying about me.”

Vik chuckled, grabbing his tools. “Not making any promises, kid.”