Disembarking in Night City did not feel like arriving.
It felt like being processed.
Void stepped out of the plane into a corridor that glowed softly blue, light panels embedded in the walls like veins. The air was warm, scented faintly with something floral that had no business existing inside an airport. Automated voices murmured in half a dozen languages, each one perfectly modulated, perfectly calm.
She snorted under her breath.
"Oh wow," she muttered. "Look at you... All shiny and polite. Did someone finally put manners into capitalism?"
Szczecin's airport had always felt like a repurposed warehouse with opinions. Concrete. Flickering lights. Hardware that looked like it had lost arguments with time. This place looked like it had been designed by someone who wanted travelers to forget they had bodies.
Glass everywhere. Holographic signage floating midair. Floors so clean they reflected her boots back at her like they were trying to make her stare deep inside her own soul.
Terminal D, the sign read. For international travel.
"D for 'Drive You Insane'..."
Border control was painless. The scanner hummed. The officer barely looked up.
"Purpose of visit?"
"Medical tourism," Void said.
The officer's eyebrow twitched. "Enjoy your stay."
Void passed through baggage claim, which looked more like an art installation than a conveyor belt. A sculptural spiral of chrome rotated lazily in the center, luggage gliding down its surface like offerings to a machine god.
"Jesus," she muttered. "Even your suitcases get better housing than our people."
She exited through the sliding doors and was hit with heat, noise, and unhealthy amounts of light pollution.
The Night City Metropolitan Airport was a cathedral to excess. Giant animated ads climbed the sides of towers visible straight from the terminal. Air traffic drones stitched glowing lines through the sky. Taxis idled like predatory insects, doors hissing open and shut.
Void adjusted her hoodie and stepped onto the curb.
"So this is what it looks like when the future doesn't bother pretending to be humble."
She took three steps before she noticed them.
Four of them, leaning against a matte-black transport with gang tags burned into the side. All augmented. All poorly disguised about it.
One had chrome plating along his jaw that caught the light like a blade. Another's eyes glowed faint red. The third had an arm that ended in a hand merged with... Chainsaw? Something like that. The fourth just smiled a little too much.
They noticed her noticing them.
"That's a long walk for a lone girl," Chrome Jaw said, pushing off the vehicle. "You lost?"
Void stopped.
"No," she said. "I just didn't realize the airport had a clown exhibit."
Red Eyes laughed. "Spicy."
"Come on," Chain-Arm added. "We're just being friendly."
Void tilted her head. "Your definition of friendly involves blocking the exit?"
Chrome Jaw took a step closer. "You ain't from around here."
"Good deduction," Void said. "You see me blending in with the locals?"
Red Eyes circled slightly. "You carrying?"
Void spread her hands. "Just trauma and bad decisions."
Chain-Arm reached out and hooked a finger in the strap of her bag. "Maybe we check anyway."
Void slapped his hand away. "Touch me again and you'll regret it."
Chrome Jaw grinned wider. "With what? Your attitude?"
Her pulse spiked.
No gun. Zero chrome. Backup...? Pfft.
Brilliant.
"You know," Void said, voice steadied by habit alone, "statistically speaking, this is the part where you underestimate me and die dramatically."
Red Eyes snorted. "Statistically speaking, you're about to donate your organs to the sidewalk.
The fourth one, quiet until now, leaned forward. "Boss says tourists are good for parts."
Void took a step back.
"Boss needs a better hobby."
Chrome Jaw lunged. Then... Everything happened all at once.
Chain-Arm grabbed her jacket. Red Eyes shoved her towards the transport. Void rammed her elbow back into someone's ribs, but flesh and bones were no match for synthetic fiber and metal.
"Fuck off, you creeps!"
"Get her down-"
A thunderclap cut the air in half.
Something wet and heavy splattered across the side of the transport.
Chrome Jaw's head did not explode so much as... Stop existing.
For a heartbeat, nobody moved.
Then screaming.
Red Eyes staggered back, slipping in blood. Chain-Arm released her like she was suddenly radioactive.
"Fuck-!"
"Sniper-?!"
"No- Shotgun!"
Void stared.
Behind them, standing in the shade of a parked Thorton, was Sandy.
Sawn-off shotgun resting casually on his shoulder.
Barrel still smoking.
"Hey, assholes," he called. "You blocking traffic or auditioning for a closed-casket funeral?"
The gangoons scattered like roaches under light.
Chain-Arm ran first. Red Eyes limped after him. The last one looked once, thought better of it, and vanished between two vehicles.
Sandy lowered the gun and looked at Void.
"You really cannot go ten minutes without 'making friends,' can you?"
Void exhaled shakily. "You could've said hello."
"I did," Sandy added, nodding toward the smoking shotgun. "With punctuation."
Sandy reached into his coat, pulled out a heavy revolver with polished steel lines and that unmistakable brutal profile, then shoved it into her hands grip-first.
"Here," he said. "Figured you might need a proper greeting card."
Void blinked down at it, then up at him. "So... People around here just carry guns like their umbrellas?"
"Yep. Only natural when the city rains problems."
Void curled her fingers around the grip, the familiar weight grounding her.
She looked down at herself.
Blood spattered across her jacket and boots.
"...I think I got some on me."
"Ya think?" Sandy said. "Emmie's gonna love that."
A figure stepped out from behind the truck.
Emmie.
Dark coat. Blue hair tied back. Eyes sharp, she was quiet as ever.
She looked at Void.
Then at the blood.
Then back at Void.
Sandy translated immediately. "She says you look like shit."
Void smiled weakly. "Missed you too."
Emmie stepped forward and hugged her without warning. Tight. Brief. Like something she'd planned for hours before to execute efficiently.
Sandy nodded. "Says she's glad you're alive."
Void swallowed, then looked at the bloody mess again. "Me too."
Sandy gestured towards the car. "Come on. Before someone calls this in to the badges."
He looked at her again. "And seriously, Void..."
"Yeah?"
"You should get that blood off you."
Void glanced once more at the dark stain on her sleeve and shook it to get rid of a flesh bit sticking to it.
"...yeah," she said. "That sounds like step one."
The ride out of the airport was a blur of neon and layered noise.
Sandy drove one-handed, shotgun resting between the seats like it was just another cup holder accessory. Emmie sat up front, window cracked, cigarette glowing faint blue as the city streamed past. Void took the back seat, Malorian Overture heavy in her lap, trying not to look like she'd almost just been turned into street mulch.
They merged into traffic that didn't so much flow as threaten its way forward.
Void leaned forward between the seats, peering out the windshield. "So this is it, huh? The legendary asphalt nightmare. I expected more screaming."
"Oh, it'll scream. You just caught it during foreplay," he said, flicking on a turn signal that nobody respected. "Give it five blocks."
Emmie huffed, a soft sound that was halfway to a laugh. "You always bring chaos with you," she said quietly, voice low and smoky like she hadn't used it in a while.
Void blinked, then looked at her. "Wow. A full sentence. I feel honored."
Emmie glanced at her. "You arrived wearing someone else's face."
"Accessory blood. Very in this season."
Sandy snorted. "Last time we've seen each other you stole a Corpo shuttle by accident."
Void raised a brow. "It was a necessity."
"You hijacked it because you thought it was a taxi."
"The logo was misleading."
Emmie smirked faintly, exhaling smoke out the window. "You still owe that pilot an apology."
"I left him a data shard with a poem."
"It just said 'sorry' seventeen times."
They passed under a holographic billboard showing a smiling woman holding a glowing spine.
UPGRADE YOUR TOMORROW.
Void stared at it. "Wow. Szczecin gets 'buy bread.' You get 'replace your skeleton.' Keira would love that one."
"Perspective," he said. "So. When's the surgery?"
Void hesitated. Just a fraction. "Soon."
Emmie turned slightly in her seat. "You look like you're lying."
"I look like I almost died at the airport."
"Same thing," he muttered. "Who's cutting you open?"
Void leaned her head back against the seat. "Havelock Reyes. Little Europe."
The car swerved a little.
"...No."
Emmie looked over. "That name smells bad."
"He installs secondhand firmware and calls it 'vintage.' Last I heard, he bricked a netrunner and blamed solar flares."
Void shrugged. "Prototype. We're all gambling."
"There's gambling and then there's letting a drunk sculptor rewire your brain."
"Chill. Worst case scenario, I become art."
Emmie studied her. "Why do you always pick the hard way?"
Void looked out the window as they passed a row of burned-out warehouses tagged with luminous graffiti. "Habit."
Silence stretched, filled by engine hum and distant sirens.
"You could've stayed where you were, y'know," he said eventually. "Quiet city. People who care about you."
Void swallowed. "That's why I didn't."
Emmie's voice softened. "They're scared."
"So am I."
Sandy glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "How about you stop acting like you're bulletproof, hmm?"
Void gave a tired grin. "Can't. It's part of the aesthetic."
They turned off the main artery and into the industrial veins of Heywood. Old ironworks loomed like fossilized giants, rust glowing orange under strip lights. A cluster of garage complexes squatted between rail lines and scrap yards, patched together with sheet metal and stubbornness.
Void leaned forward again. "This place looks like it lost a war against itself."
"Fuck off. It was affordable and it needed work. Our vibe." he said, pulling into a lot guarded by a flickering sign and a bored-looking turret drone.
Emmie opened her door first. "You're staying as long as you need."
Void paused. "I don't want to be a burden."
Emmie looked at her. "Too late."
Sandy killed the engine and spread his arms. "Home, sweet fucking home!"