Chrome Syndrome

"S-sorry. I got a little carried away."

Lucia wriggled out of the hug with an awkward little shuffle.

Would've been fine if she'd kept going. Shame.

"You don't see an immunosuppressant this good in the Lower District." Her eyes lit up as she looked at me. "Did you really make this?"

"I did."

"How?"

"I used your tools, Miss Lucia."

Her gaze snapped to the workbench.

"With that old junk?! You're a genius!"

"Is this immunosuppressant really that impressive?"

I knew it was a dumb question. Right now, though, information was the difference between living and dying. I needed to understand how this world worked.

"In the Lower District? Absolutely." Lucia studied the syringe, turning it in the light. "The Upper District has plenty of better stuff, sure — but down here? This quality, you take what you can get and you say thank you."

"Hard to get your hands on, I take it."

"Exactly. That's why you're a big deal."

Huh. That impressive, huh.

All I'd done was follow the system's guide. Honestly, if I walked Lucia through it, she could probably pull it off herself before long.

"The purity on this is insane. Alright! Yoo Jinwoo! Work with me. Keep making this stuff."

"There's barely any of it."

"That's fine. I've got a way to cover the supply."

"You saved my life. Of course I'll do it."

"Heh. Good. The stew's ready, too — let's eat."

I followed her into the kitchen. Empty cans of beans and tomatoes sat on the counter, scraped clean.

"Careful! It's hot."

Wearing oven mitts, Lucia set the pot down in the middle of the table.

"This is my go-to stew. Tastes incredible."

"Thanks for the meal."

"Eat up."

She kindly ladled a portion onto a small plate for me. The smell wasn't bad. Beans and tomatoes, though? I'd never had that combination in my life.

"Miss Lucia."

I'd called her name to ask about the immunosuppressant, but she folded her arms, looking distinctly unimpressed.

"Just call me Lucia. Keep tagging on 'Miss' and you'll make me sound like somebody's aunt."

"Ah. That bad?"

So we were settling the names.

"I'm twenty-six."

"Eek — you're a total old man!"

Lucia stared at me like I'd grown a second head. So twenty-six made you an old man. Depressing. I'd done my military service, finished university, and gone straight into a job — and that was the age it put me at.

"How old are you, then?"

"Uh. Ahem. Twenty-three…"

Her voice shrank into her collar.

"Speak comfortably, then."

"Hmph. You first."

"Alright. Lucia."

"I'm not calling you Oppa, though. Got it?"

She said it like a warning. Whatever her reasons, the word sat wrong with her.

"You can just call me Jinwoo."

"Fine."

Names settled, I scooped up a bite of stew. It was better than I'd expected. This came out of cans?

"This is good. Thanks for cooking."

She started eating too, without another word.

"The immunosuppressant eases Chrome Syndrome, right?"

Back to the question I'd actually meant to ask.

"That's right."

"So… what is Chrome Syndrome?"

"Wait. Did your memories get wiped when they dumped you?"

"Looks that way. I don't remember anything except my name."

Amnesia. I'd decided to run with it. Convenient little cover, if I was being honest.

"Once we're done eating, I'll give you a full workup."

"I'd appreciate that. So — Chrome Syndrome?"

"You know what Chrome is, right?"

Atomic number twenty-four? The silvery-white transition metal? I went with something I'd overheard on the street on the way here.

"Cyberware. That kind of thing?"

Lucia nodded.

"That's it. Cyberware, cyber sockets, all the rest of it — Chrome is the slang. Short. Easy. Everybody uses it."

"Then Chrome Syndrome is… what happens when you load up on too much cyberware?"

"Exactly. You're quick."

Then her voice dropped into something colder.

"Pile on enough Chrome and, depending on the person, you get side effects. You lose your mind."

She made a gun with her fingers and mimed blowing her own brains out. I'd only ever seen that gesture in American TV shows. Never thought I'd see it across a kitchen table.

"So the immunosuppressant gets rid of Chrome Syndrome?"

"It's a suppressant. Literally. A stopgap. That's all."

She let out a short breath and kept going.

"Push past the limit, and you become a Cyberpsycho."

"Cyberpsycho?"

"The cyberware overloads and drives you into erratic, violent behavior. Your physical abilities spike on top of it. That's what makes it so dangerous."

"Is there a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cure?"

"If there were, the corporations wouldn't be sweating it."

Lucia dragged her spoon around the empty stew bowl in slow circles.

"The Lower District is relatively safe from Cyberpsychos, at least. That's an Upper District problem — and a mercenary problem, the ones who chrome themselves to the limit. Down here, this is where the discarded people gather."

Something in her face caught on that word — discarded — and went quietly sad. Pushing for the story behind it would have been cruel, so I changed the subject.

"But if immunosuppressants are selling, that means plenty of people down here have Chrome in them too, right?"

I thought of the mohawked guy who'd thrown me a rag in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠street. The one whose entire face had been machine.

"That'd be the Nemesis Gang. A washed-up outfit that got shoved out of the Upper District and dumped down here. They run this place now." She said it like the whole subject exhausted her. "Most of the people hunting for immunosuppressants are them, too."

"They giving you trouble?"

"Not like that. The problem is they bleed me for protection — Credits, free surgeries, the whole lot."

"That is giving you trouble. They're bastards."

"Pfft. Yeah. They're bastards. Not like I have a choice, unless I'm going up to the Upper District."

"Then go to the Upper District."

"What, you planning some kind of revenge?"

Revenge. As if. A mod conflict had dropped me into this game in my own body — nobody else's. If I wanted revenge, I'd have to take it up with the developers. Or the modders. Or maybe past-me, the idiot who'd stacked too many mods in the first place.

The ridiculous train of thought was what finally made it sink in. I was really in this world.

"Can't just rot down here in the Lower District, right? Everybody wants to go up. Breathe some clean air."

"Haha. 'I wanna play in the big leagues.' That what you're getting at? That's the kind of thing the Nemesis boys say."

Lucia stood and started gathering the empty pot and dishes. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd cleaned my bowl too, so I helped her carry everything to the sink.

"Want me to wash up?"

"The machine does it all anyway. More importantly — go lie down on the exam table. I'll run that workup."

I sat in a chair that looked like it belonged in a dentist's office and waited for her to come back.

"Been waiting long?"

"Not really."

"Still. No chrome at all. That's actually kind of amazing. No cyber socket, either. Is this guy even from this world?"

Lucia muttered it under her breath as she prepped the equipment.

"This might sting a little."

She seated a device against the nape of my neck and ran a cable from it into the port on her own. Nobody had explained cyber sockets to me, but I could tell on instinct — that charging-port-looking thing at the base of the skull was a cyber socket.

"Mm. Hmm."

Her pupils flickered blue. Those weren't her original eyes, either. Cyberware, most likely.

"Organs look fine… bones are fine. You're in perfect shape. But you really never got chromed."

She tilted her head, then pulled the connector free.

"Is that so weird? Not having chrome?"

"It is. Most people get a cyber socket installed at birth."

Right. From this world's point of view, I was plenty strange.

"It's unusual, sure, but it's not a bad thing. Chrome's just poison for the body anyway."

She talked as she packed the equipment away.

"Oh, and just so you know — we'll have to share a bed."

"What?"

"What? Do I make you uncomfortable?"

"N-no, it's not that. Are you okay with it?"

I was uncomfortable, if I was being honest. I, Yoo Jinwoo, twenty-six years old. Virgin. Forever alone. Sharing a bed with a beauty like Lucia?

"For the time being, we don't have a choice."

Equipment stowed, Lucia led me into her room. It was a little gloomy for a young woman's bedroom, but decent enough — not scattered so much as deliberately kept in order.

"Lie down."

She claimed her side first, then patted the mattress with her fingertips.

"It's big."

"I like them big. My sleep habits are pretty rough."

"Sleep habits?"

"You'll find out soon enough, won't you?"

I lay down beside her, and Lucia switched off every light in the room.

My heart hammered against my ribs. I was in a bed with a woman. A younger woman. I was nervous, sure — but I had neither the intention nor the guts to try anything. Honestly, all I wanted was to open my eyes tomorrow and find myself back in my studio apartment.

I let Lucia's soft breathing become a lullaby, and sank into a deep sleep.

"How were my sleep habits?"

"You're a real kicker, huh."

There'd been more than a few moments in the night when she'd thrown a leg over me and I'd nearly jumped out of my skin. She'd even clocked me in the face with her hand a couple of times.

"I'll try to get another bed soon."

"Thanks for thinking of it."

"I'm the one who should be thanking you. That immunosuppressant! It'll sell like crazy, I bet. If we're lucky, the Nemesis boys might even leave the Lower District."

"Leave?"

"They've been saying they'll climb back up to the Upper District."

"That's good news."

"Anyway — they said they'd stop by today. Time to show them what this immunosuppressant can do."

After that we ate breakfast, and I watched TV, trying to get a sense of how this world actually ran. It wasn't a pleasant picture. I'd already lost count of how many reports I'd seen about politicians getting assassinated.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

"Lucia! Lord Dumdum has arrived!"

"Yeah, come in."

She worked a control, and the blast door that served as the entrance rumbled up. Dumdum — the man who referred to himself with a title — spotted me and immediately shoved a pistol in my face. His entire face had been replaced with machinery, red light gleaming from his optical sensors. Pretty terrifying.

"Who the hell is this guy?! You're taking in people now?"

"He's staying here for a reason. Is that a problem?"

"Ha! Get a load of this bastard."

I wasn't so even-tempered that I'd just sit there and take someone picking a fight.

"Calm down, Dumdum."

Lucia tried to head him off. It only made him bristle harder.

"It's not Dumdum — it's Lord Dumdum!"

"Yes, Lord Dumdum. He's my business partner."

"Business partner? Ha! What, did a partner just fall out of the sky?"

Lucia let out a short sigh and held the immunosuppressant I'd made up in front of his face.

"Take a look. You keep us supplied, and he can make stuff even better than this."

"An immunosuppressant? Ha, if our gang modified one we could get performance just as—"

The words died in his throat as he actually looked at the syringe.

"Holy shit! I've never seen an immunosuppressant this pure! This looks better than Upper District stuff!"

Dumdum lowered the gun.

"You made this badass shit?"

"Yeah. I made it."

"Ha! I don't buy it. Lucia, this for real?"

"When have I ever lied to you?"

"Mind if I test it right now?!"

"Go ahead."

THUNK. A sharp hiss.

The immunosuppressant punched into his forearm and vanished into his system in a heartbeat.

"This is fucking incredible! This is better than our stuff!" Dumdum was practically vibrating. "You can make more of this? You?"

"As long as I've got the materials."

"Alright! I'll tell the boss. You stay put right here."

The moment Dumdum turned to leave, a system window bloomed in front of my eyes.

Right. Perk Points.

I'd forgotten. Yesterday, when I'd crafted the immunosuppressant, I'd received one Attribute Point and one Perk Point. Time to take a look.

Status window.

Every attribute was sitting at six.

And the perks?

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I selected Engineering. A cascade of related perks unfurled down the window.

Like a more granular breakdown of the attributes.

So perk points were what let you unlock specific skills under each one.

What do I take? Anything that helps with crafting, right now?

There.

This one first.

I spent one of my two perk points and locked in Part Disassembly.

Should I look at the others? More importantly — which attribute do I put a point into?

That one, I had to think about. In this world I was a nobody without even a cyber socket. Dumping points into Body or Reflexes didn't seem like it'd pay off much. I'd be better off just asking Lucia to install some chrome.

So Intelligence or Engineering, then.

And then Reason caught my eye. If it was Reason, did that mean the ability to make cold, level-headed judgments without getting swayed by emotion? What, did it turn you into a psychopath?

I selected the Reason attribute, and a list of related perks unfurled. Among them, one was blinking with a blue light.

What is this?

It's a mod?!

Judging by the name, this had to be a leftover from the Ghost of Cyberpunk mod pack.

It can read an NPC's dependency and affinity?

And their physical condition on top of that? This was exactly the perk I needed right now.