Valued

A friend of mine is planning on running a Cyberpunk 2020 game and we spent some time creating a character for me. From those notes I’ve been writing up some backstory for that character.

My Grandad was a bastard. In every sense of the word. That’s what this world makes you. If you want to survive in it, if you want your family to survive in it, you have to be ruthless. Otherwise, it chews you up and spits you out, to steal a common phrase.

It’s funny, in this city where every building has bright neon advertising adorning every wall, the last place you’d expect to find is a dark side street. But, the brightest of lights cast the darkest shadows. For me, this alley had just become darker.

It all happened in complete silence, at least how I remember it. A deal gone bad, one of my early interactions with the family business. My Grandad had taken me under his wing, started taking me on some of his minor work trips, nothing too dangerous. In this line of business, in this family, what a joke. Everything is dangerous. And now, as I listened to the steady thud of boots echo into the distance, I had been thrown right into it.

The pool of blood was slowly curling around the back of my boots as I watched the steady drip, drip, drip, of blood fall from the corner of his coat onto the trash covered ground. I felt the wound as if it were my own, standing there petrified.

There was only one guy, didn’t look special, especially to a twelve year old. Until he changed, revealing outlawed biomech modifications. His arms opened up like a dreadful maw, revealing deadly blades. One swipe was all it took.

He reached up to me, with what energy he had left, grabbing the bottom of my coat and pulling me to my knees. He said something to me, but I couldn’t hear anything over the sight of blood leaking from his mouth. Clasping my hand tight, his final bloody bubble of breath left him.

I was halfway home, my feet unconsciously guiding me, before I realised I had his watch in my still clenched fist. An antique, never knew why he kept it running, no one around knew how the damn things work anymore, he still managed to keep it going. It was his most valued possession, he never let anyone touch it.

My Grandad was a bastard, to everyone but me.