01x07 - Stronger

[bunniefuu]

Got ants in your pants, Julio?

No way!

Wakako's bitch, right?
Newby-boobs she stuck us with.

Heard you're David's fan.

But what
do you mean "stuck with us"?

Wow! You're that!

You're actually a fans now.

Probably because you got all swole.

Got iron?

- Huh?
- Carrying, right?

Yeah, I've got a Lexington.

Don't cut it.

Peashooter like that
won't even dent Maelstrom metal.

Try this one out.

Seriously, choom? A Satara!

f*ck me. Nova!

Tech shotties, man.

Preem as hell.

Charged-up sh*ts.

Oh yeah. Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

- Knock it off!
- Wait! Watch my knees!

Wait. Knees.

So annoying! Why!

Just remember to stay behind me.

And be smart. Don't rush.

You mean you want me to take rear?
Hey, I ain't no newb, man

Attention, ladies.

We're 'bout a minute out now.

♪ Eyes, burning a way through me ♪

♪ Eyes, destroying so sweetly ♪

♪ Now, there's a fire in me ♪

♪ A fire that burns ♪

♪ This fire is out of control ♪

♪ I'll burn it, I'll burn it
I'll burn it, I'll burn it ♪

♪ I'll burn it, I'll burn it
I'll burn it, I'll burn it ♪

Got a small army on our hands.

Heaps of iron and turrets. Multiples

Can't ping them all for quickhacks.
Not enough time.

Front door's a dead zone. That's crystal.

So, plan B. Find the back door.
Definitely.

Easy-peasy. Plan C's my pick.

Agreed.

No backdoor swoop-in? Why?

Knock yourself out. Get to it

Hey, wait. Don't leave me.

Front door's all, looks like to me.

You think. move.

Hey. Who ordered lunch, mate?
You little babies lost?

Think they're here to scout something?

You dirtbags wanna get punked?

Better start talking now, scumbag,

before I drill you a fresh eyehole.

You better stop before I do the same.

Yeehaw!

Tagging complete. Short circ incoming.

Done.

Not a millisec to spare, Mr. Plan C.

Oh! They've got a netrunner!

I don't wanna die, man.

Damn. Missed a few. All yours.

Come on! Come on! Let's go.

Toys run dry.

- That little bitch ran out of juice!
- f*ck her up!

And now, here comes the big g*ns!

A g*dd*mn turret!

Kiwi.

Hey! Runner's grabbed a...

Please, Kiwi. Give me some, Kiwi.

Tiny birds. Aren't you scared?

Yo! The f*ck. Is that human?

Huh?

Did you never learn to fly?

Time for major d*ck show.

No, thanks, choom.
I know how to fly just fine.

Nova! Zoot-zoot-zoot, bang!

Those your fancy new leg implants?

Looking damn good.

No more. All clear. Last one.

Room behind you. Target's there.
Her, others too. All friendlies.

Roger, roger.

Yo! Back room. On it.

- Wait! Julio!
- Bang!

- Watch out for...
- Bang!

Isabella Morgan, you in here?

I'm here 'cause your dad put out an SOS.

You're safe now.

Wakako, there?

You safely secured the target, I hear.

Our client will be pleased.

Yes, that Isabella was saved,
not-not butchered like cattle.

Just did my part.

Yes. Most impressive.
True. The rumors of you proved true.

Oh, sorry about Julio.

No, no. Do not apologize.

The boy, fool,
insisted on the work with you.

Not ready, I said. Not ready, indeed.

Any new lead we get,
we-we will be in touch, David.

Yeah. Good doing biz.

Thank you kindly.

Appreciate the ride, Falco. Really.

Always happy to keep the engine rolling.

Come on. Dependable
wheelmen are hard to find.

Oh, not sure about that. You've
gathered yourself quite the fan club.

Oh. Julio, you mean?

Knew that goose was bluffing
the moment we met.

We'd land better talent if we
were all vets. Not everyone's like Maine,

willing to take a chance on us.

Have to admit,
when I got the call,

I took you for a pusher-punk wannabe.

Truth is, you were.

But now? Well...

Expect you'll fly higher
than Maine ever did.

Right. Gonna roll
before this all turns to goop.

Buzz me for your next big gig, huh?

Till then. Later, David. Kiwi.

- Yeah.
- Later.

Honestly?

I doubted you had it in you,
to take the reins.

Couldn'ta. Not without
the city's preemest runner.

Both know you don't mean me.
Where is she?

Been asking her?

Not anymore. Kinda gave up trying.

Never pegged her as the type
to get all shook-up.

More than what happened
to Maine and Dorio is at play, I think.

At the warehouse,
Lucy was acting, I don't know, strange.

Strange how?

Hard to say. Whole thing's kind of a blur.
It might have been nothing.

By the way.

Wasn't it you who brought Lucy onboard,
found her a spot in the crew?

That's right.

She, like, ever talk to you about her past
or anything?

Most of the cybes in our league
don't bring up the old days.

Shame, greed. Some.
Whatever.

Either you're looking for a way out,

or a way up, doesn't matter.

- Yo, yo, yo!
- Hmm?

David, why the long face?

This nagging old hag keeping you
off the dancefloor?

Although, some edgerunners die
in more shame than they started with.

Yo. It ain't right to badmouth the dead.

It's not my bro's fault
he got zeroed by some bare-d*ck psycho.

Oh, whatevs! Have you ever seen
David dance? It's a riot.

Sounds preem,
but I think I'm gonna bounce.

- I gotta stop by Doc's.
- Seriously? Again?

Been tellin' that bastard
you desperately need a dance chip.

- At least a pop hit grind!
- Will do.

See ya.

Hey! I ain't good at playing just friends.

Considered shaking up your approach?

Yeah? How you figure?

'Stead of hot and loud,

I try cold, distant, and nerdy?

It's an oversized faucet.
Arm socket connector's warped.

Jamming that fucker in was a miracle.

My advice, trash it.

Got all kinds of next-gen chrome out back.

I know you got the scratch.

Nah, this one's good.

Tsk. Fine. It's your funeral.

Got any fresh muscle reinforcers?
Kiroshi's new model, maybe?

Excuse me. Didn't know I had
a corm jack on my table.

Oh, come on. I'm not.

You need to chill, choom.

Unless you want a strict diet
of immunoblockers.

I'm doing just fine, Doc.

Better than fine, actually.

It's like, I feel better in metal
than in my own skin.

Well, your affinity for cyberware
is f*cking nuts, I'll grant you that.

Ain't never seen a kid
bogged out quite like this.

Lotta other peeps woulda cut by now.

Believe yourself to be special?

Must just be special, I guess.

Ha! Makes you
Adam Smasher 2.0, choom.

- Adam who?
- Christ.

All this time
and you're still a f*cking newb.

Adam Smasher. Name to know.

To some, a hero of the 4th Corporate w*r,

to others, a fully cyborged
boogeyman, a walking nightmare.

But to all, a living legend, a skinny one.

What kind of legend?

The kind that fills graveyards
on Arasaka's orders.

An urban myth, that's all.

Kiwi?

What... What's up?

Afterlife. Stop by. Can you come?

Party's rolling. By the bar.
How many now?

No, no. Possible client.
Wants to meet you.

- David.
- Yo. 'Sup, Kiwi?

Good luck.

I believe this is the first
we've met, Mister Martinez.

Not exactly. Saw you swing by once
to talk to Maine.

Indeed. Well, it's a pleasure.

The name's Faraday.

Got a job for me?

Where's the fire?
Let me buy you a drink.

I've heard a great deal about you, David.

You're building quite the reputation.

The Sandevistan from Santo
is one name I've heard.

Got more than just the Sandy now.

True. It's difficult
to spot the 'ganic amidst all that steel.

Maine and I had an arrangement,
as you may know.

I heard about it.

He understood the need for crew chemistry.

- Yeah.
- But as you saw,

his flaw was in personal attachment.

Familiarity muddies the mind,
leads to ruin.

I hear you're also a teambuilder.

Keep biz and private seperate,
if that's what you mean.

I need convincing that you can work
at Maine's level, deliver as he did.

- A test?
- You're welcome to think of it that way.

Test all you want,
but we don't do jobs on the cheap.

I assure you.
Nothing from my desk is cheap.

A job from Militech?

Arasaka's bitter rival.

Megacorps offer the most lucrative
contracts. That's no great secret.

Do you foresee a problem with this?

- Not at all.
- That's what I like to hear.

There's a contract
I'd like you to take over.

It should seem familiar.

You talking about Tanaka,
the data heist gig?

I received a report

- that Tanaka posess no relevant data.
- Yeah.

But I also learned how you
managed to pierce Arasaka's ICE.

A new netrunner on the crew cracked it.
And without Kiwi's help.

True. Our crew has had
some luck with runners lately.

Excellent. However,
I hear she's gone dark.

Yeah. Been taking a break
since that gig.

But why?
Such a waste of talent, potential.

Her heart's just not in it.

I suggest you give her a nudge
in the right direction.

Easier said than done. Huh?

But Arasaka knows Militech's
after them. Ain't that right?

Them and everyone else.

So, what's Militech after
that they'd risk such a ballsy move?

That is for me to know.
It is certainly no concern of yours.

Unneeded details also muddy the mind.

Learn anything new that might help us?

I'm afraid not. But good things
come to those who act.

First, prove you're worth my time.

You're home.

Pretty late.

Got a little caught up.

Victory lap at Minjung's?

Hm-mmm.

Any hiccups today?

We did lose someone, yeah.

Who?

Rookie solo. Wakako's.

But everything else
went alright?

Nothing tricky.
Kid just got excited. Hasty.

Now, why does that sound familiar?

Watch it.

- Hey.
- Hmm?

Landed something pretty big for us today.

Sounds like fun.

So, uhm, have you considered
coming back to the crew?

Two netrunners on one team
sounds like a crowd.

Lucy, we both know I'd always
rather have you around.

- Please, David.
- Huh?

I just need a little more time.

Of course. No problem.

More diving today?

Hm-mmm.

Buy a runnersuit, why don't you.

Don't need one.

Should get you
a new chair at least.

That ice bath can't be comfy.

Thanks, but never liked
chairs, suits.

Oh.

Sorry. Didn't know that.

- David?
- Huh?

Come on.

Uh...

Whoa! Look at all those stars!

Can't get a view like this in the city.

Maybe I'll catch one.

You're lucky you're cute.

Sure wish the moon was out.

You can see the stars better, brighter,
when it's stays away.

Really?

Really, really. The moon outshines 'em.

Are you sure you went to Arasaka Academy?

- I'm dropped out, remember?
- Ah, right.

You know, I've never been
outside the city before.

Is that right?

But you have had a life
outside Night City once?

Looks like a prison from here.
A cage of light.

Might not remember...

Hmm?

Said once you and I were
worlds apart.

Yeah.

What'd you mean by that?

Rather not say?

You'd rather not hear.

It's just...
I'd like to know more about you.

Arasaka.

- Arasaka?
- Yup.

I was born in another country,

raised in an Arasaka facility.

There were 13 of us.

Kids who passed a proficiency test
were tagged to become netrunners.

Kids who wouldn't be missed anywhere else.

"We'll serve the world's most powerful
megacorp one day."

That dream got us through
the toughest days, the toughest training.

Its the dream we were given.
A dream we never questioned.

One day, training was done.

We expected corp assignments
the world over.

Instead, they moved us underground.

And day in, day out,
they forced us to dive.

Old Net's where they sent us.

Wait. The Old Net?

But I thought that whole system collapsed
something like 50 years ago, didn't it?

Brought down by history's greatest
netrunner, creator of daemons.

He was a true savant, super hacker,
legend Rache Bartmoss.

Oh, sh*t, yeah.

That guy corrupted like 78 percent
of the global net in single day.

Hm-mmm.
DataKrash virus shattered cyberspace.

Broke the Net into a scattered mosaic
of isolated localnets.

Connection severed, data lost.
It was chaos.

Arasaka's purpose
lies somewhere in the Old Net.

They're searching for legacy info,
lost knowledge.

All of us kids, we were soldiers sent into
a nest of daemons and.

Only an advanced runner can interface
using their whole mind.

A deep-dive.

It gives shape and form
to cyberspace, a way to traverse it.

But whenever we uncovered
any rare data cache...

...Rogue AIs would find us and swarm.

We were picked off one by one.

More empty chairs after each dive.
And my hope, each dive would be my last.

Wasn't long before there were only
a handful of us left.

We were chasing someone else's dream,
throwing down our lives to do it.

So we realized, "If we're goners,
why not die chasing our own dream?"

The tech staff didn't stand a chance.

Not in the face of the skills
they'd taught us.

I ran and ran.

Heard sh*ts, my friend's screams.

But I never looked back.

Next clear memory I have
is of a junkyard.

Home, I guess.
But I was too scared to stay long.

I roamed, place to place.

But there's no place like Night City
if you wanna hide.

And even now,
still feel like they're chasing you?

Not really, I guess.

Maybe I've just grown
too comfortable here.

Or maybe I've grown used to being scared.

Your hand.

It's nothing. It'll be fine in a sec.

Haven't changed, have you?
Still chasing someone else's dream.

It's not like I don't understand.

Just that... that things are different now.
Can't be afraid for myself anymore.

Only if you're now is...

Someday, you'll...

Yes.
I managed to retrieve most of the data.

But the vital's file
for one of the test subjects

was completely corrupted.

Yes. Manipulated deliberately.

No trace in the ICE. No.

But this level of precision,

well, there's only a handful
of netrunners capable of it.

No. I don't believe that.
Tanaka had no reason to do so.

My assumption. His system
was breached when he was captured.

Understood.
I'll do what I can do to restore it.

Goodbye.

♪ They will finally feel the flames ♪

♪ Flames that run down through my veins ♪

♪ I will make the city burn ♪

♪ When I'm planning to return ♪

♪ Trying so hard to be free ♪

♪ To make you see what I see ♪

♪ Hold on to your wishes ♪

♪ If you can't hold on to me. ♪

♪ Forgive me for letting you down ♪

♪ Forgive me for letting you down again ♪

♪ I guess I'm not strong enough ♪

♪ Right now ♪

♪ Let you down ♪

♪ Oh, let you down ♪

♪ Let you down ♪

♪ Oh, let you down ♪