Cyberpunk: Archangel

Chapter 15: Ghosts Of The Past

Night City, Japantown, August 26, 2074

It was late in the evening, and some sort of large late-summer festival-type event was thrown in the middle of Japantown. It was being advertised everywhere, so Rebecca begged Michael to go with her. Of course, Michael agreed he would, and he did. Rebecca was holding a bottle of some sort of hard seltzer in one hand, and was holding Michael's hand in the other, as she dragged him over to the various booths and attractions she wished to interact with. Michael went along with it, as he was happy to simply be spending time with her.

Rebecca suddenly stopped walking. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed with glee as she pointed over at a nearby booth. The booth looked like some sort of game, with a small plastic rifle, and several targets. The grand prize was a large teddy bear with a cartoonishly angry expression, holding a pair of fake stuffed pistols. "I need it!" Rebecca shouted in excitement as she stood on the tip of her toes and shook Michael's shoulders. "Okay, okay," Michael replied, as Rebecca stopped shaking him, and he held his own head. Michael followed Rebecca over to the booth. "Hello, hello!" The man running the booth said in an exaggerated happy voice. "Care to give it a go?"

"What exactly do I have to do?" Michael asked. "Simply use this BB gun to shoot as many targets as you can, and knock 'em down before the timer runs out." the Man explained. "Ok, sounds simple enough." Michael said. "How much you want?"

"It's five Eurodollars per play!" the Man answered. "Jesus...." Michael muttered. He knew how much Rebecca wanted that bear, so he was willing to pay for it. "Ok, we'll go for it." Michael said, as he transferred five Eddies to the man hosting the game. "Hell yeah!" Rebecca cheered. "I wanna try first!"

Michael stepped aside and watched as Rebecca picked the plastic rifle up, and the targets all raised up and began moving back and forth. She snickered as she began rapidly shooting at all of the targets in a sporadic manner. She knocked down a couple of the targets, but didn't quite get enough. "Fuck!" Rebecca grumbled as a bell rang, signaling that the time was up. "Wanna give it another go?" Michael asked. "Hell yeah I do." Rebecca replied. "I'm getting that fucking bear."

Michael sent the man another five Eddies, and the targets all lifted back up and started moving back and forth once more. Rebecca attempted the same strategy as before, and got a similar result. "Damn it!" Rebecca shouted in frustration. "You want me to try, maybe?" Michael asked, as he touched Rebecca's shoulder. "No!" she responded, raising her voice slightly. "I can do it!"

"Ok...." Michael sighed, as he transferred another five Eddies to the man. "Here's a tip, though.... Try to pace yourself a bit. Sometimes, slow and steady wins the race."

"Slow and steady, huh?" Rebecca muttered to herself as the targets shot back up and began to move back and forth. This time, Rebecca took it a little more slow, and focused a bit on each shot. She did way better than she did last time. But unfortunately, as she was down the last target, the bell rang out, and the target went back down on its own. Rebecca growled in frustration and tossed the gun back down. "You did way better than the first two times, 'Becca." Michael reassured her as he touched her shoulder once again. "Good job."

"Thanks, Michael...." She replied, calming down, but still pouty. "You can try it now, if you want."

"Alright...." Michael said,as he transferred another five Eddies to the man, and picked up the rifle. The targets went back up, and Michael began shooting. He did about as well as Rebecca did on her last attempt, if not a little bit better. Michael shot down the last target just before the bell rang. "Congratulations!" The man yelled in fake excitement. "Go ahead and pick a prize!"

"The bear with the guns, right there." Michael said, pointing at the stuffed bear. The man reached up and grabbed it, turning around and handing it to Michael. "Twenty Eddies well spent," Michael said with a smirk. The man let out a fake chuckle in response. While the bear itself was maybe worth fifteen Eddies at most, it was still worth it to make Rebecca happy. He turned and handed the bear to Rebecca, and her eyes lit up as she smiled with excitement, took the bear, and gave it a squeeze. "Nova!" She shouted with glee as she hugged the bear. "Thanks, Michael."