The moment David caught Lucy red-handed, the charming, flirtatious look on her face vanished.
Her expression turned cold.
"...Guess I've been caught."
With a nonchalant shrug, she sighed, "Fine. I'll give it back."
She slowly opened her palm.
But of course, Lucy wouldn't just return something so easily.
With a flick of her wrist, the stolen chips suddenly flew into the air, scattering in different directions.
David's eyes widened.
The train was packed with morning commuters. If those chips hit the floor, they'd disappear in seconds—snatched up by salarymen desperate to make a quick buck.
Lucy smirked, watching his reaction.
That was exactly what she wanted.
With the crowd panicking over the flying chips, she'd have the perfect cover to slip away. And if she was lucky, she could even reclaim some of them herself.
Her left hand relaxed, the golden sheen of her cybernetic wrist flashing in the light.
Thin as spider silk, sharp as a razor—her weapon of choice.
It could cut a man's throat in silence.
It could also snatch small objects midair.
Lucy was seconds away from making her move when—
Something impossible happened.
The chips, which had been flying towards the ceiling, froze in midair.
Then, as if pulled by an invisible force, they reversed direction, floating straight back to David's outstretched hand.
Lucy's breath hitched, her eyes widening in shock.
Even as the train started moving again, she remained frozen, staring at him in disbelief.
Meanwhile, David calmly pocketed the chips, sat down in an empty seat, and exhaled.
"Hah... good thing I had breakfast."
Then, as if nothing unusual had happened, he glanced up at her and said, "Hey, next time, how about giving it back properly instead of playing tricks?"
His tone was casual—almost playful.
What... the actual hell?
She had stolen from countless people before.
Some got angry. Some chased after her. Some even tried to kill her.
Not only did he not get mad, but he was scolding her like she was some mischievous kid?
And now, he was just... sitting there, relaxed?
Who the hell was this guy?
More importantly—what the hell did he just do?
David leaned back against his seat, watching Lucy process what had just happened.
Her expression cycled through several emotions—confusion, disbelief, maybe even a little bit of curiosity.
Honestly, it was kind of funny.
Seeing her so lost in thought, David couldn't help but smile.
The Lucy he knew from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was a hardened edge-runner. Someone who had seen too much, done too much, and had long abandoned the idea of a normal life.
David could tell—this was before she met him.
Before she met the David Martinez from the anime.
Before everything went to hell.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was a tragedy.
A story where people with no money and no power were doomed from the start.
David had watched it unfold before—had seen the pain, the loss, the inevitable downfall.
And looking at Lucy now...
He couldn't just ignore it.
Couldn't pretend he didn't know how her story was supposed to go.
But this wasn't a show anymore.
And this time, he wasn't just watching.
Lucy was still standing there, stuck in her own thoughts.
David raised an eyebrow.
"What, still in shock?" he teased. "It's just a few chips."
She snapped out of it, scowling at him. "That was not normal."
David just shrugged. "Define 'normal' in Night City."
Lucy narrowed her eyes, studying him carefully.
Messy black hair. Dark eyes. A lean, athletic build.
No visible cyberware. No enhancements.
Just flesh and blood.
And yet—he had done something no normal person could do.
For the first time in a long time, she was curious about someone.
And that annoyed her.
Clicking her tongue, she crossed her arms. "You're not scared of me?"
David smirked. "Should I be?"
Lucy scoffed, but she couldn't hide the slight twitch at the corner of her lips.
The train continued its smooth journey through the city. Outside, the neon lights of Night City flickered in the early morning haze.
After a long pause, David patted the empty seat next to him.
"Well? Aren't you tired? Take a seat."
David wasn't worried about her running anymore. She had nowhere to go while the train was in motion.
And, for whatever reason, she didn't seem as eager to escape as before.
Finally, after a few moments of silence, she sighed and slid into the seat next to him.
The two of them sat there, side by side, watching the city blur past the window.
A strange sort of harmony settled between them.
David didn't notice it yet...
But this moment—this meeting—felt eerily similar to how Lucy and David Martinez had first crossed paths in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
David was the one in control.
Was the one caught off guard.