Homecoming (Cyberpunk)

Homecoming is the thirteenth episode of Cyberpunk. The previous was Now or Never.

Story
Six months had passed since the rebellion of Cyclops and the mutants. Even though the Upper Ring was fully reconstructed and those in it were returning to their normal routines, their distrust of the people in the Lower Ring hadn't faded one bit. The contempt they had for the impoverished masses before the rebellion was now mixed with fear. That fear got stronger as the months passed, and threatened to consume the Upper Ring and start an all-out class war.

It didn't help that Cyclops copycats from the Lower Ring popped up in the Upper Ring every few weeks, stealing from houses, spraying graffiti on walls, and causing general mayhem. Upper Ringers wanted Mayor Milton to intervene, but Milton feared that cracking down on the Lower Ring would threaten any chance the two sides had for reconciliation. He wanted Alveus to be united again, despite the rebellion and all that had gone on since then.

Charles Rutherford, the richest man in Alveus, walked into Milton's office one day.

"Hello, Mayor Milton," said Rutherford.

"H-hello, Charles," said Milton.

"You know, me and my friends have been wondering for a while just who you represent."

"I represent the city of Alveus."

"Cut the bullshit. The 'city of Alveus' didn't bankroll your run for mayor. My friends and I did."

"And I appreciate that, but I'm not going to squander my responsibilities just to make you and your friends happy."

Rutherford laughed. "Don't you get it? Your responsibilities are to make us happy. And we aren't very happy right now. You do realize that you have a re-election campaign coming up soon, right?"

"What about it?"

"Well, until we know whose side you're on, we'll have to consider scaling back our support for that campaign...considerably."

"Tell your friends that I'm on nobody's side and that no amounts of threats from you will change that," Milton said through clenched teeth.

"Very well," said Rutherford. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Is that all?"

"For now, yes."

"Then get the hell out of my office."

Rutherford walked out of Milton's office, and Milton used what was left of his strength to slam the door behind him.

"Neptune," Milton whispered. "What do I do now?"

SpongeBryan walked into Pat and Ron's grocery store. Pat and Ron sat on the counter, eating candy bars and watching cartoons on a holographic television screen.

"How's business?" asked SpongeBryan.

"Terrible as usual," said Ron.

"Yeah, we haven't had a customer in weeks," said Pat.

"I told you that this grocery store was a bad investment," said SpongeBryan.

"What are you talking about?" said Ron. "We have a ton of free food and a holoscreen! This was a great investment."

"But what'll happen when the free food runs out?" asked SpongeBryan.

Ron shrugged. "We'll just replace it with the money we get from our shopping trips, like we've been doing for the past six months."

"Speaking of that," said SpongeBryan, holding up a folded piece of paper. "I've just finished planning out tonight's trip."

SpongeBryan unfolded the paper on the counter next to Pat and Ron. It was a blueprint of the Upper Ring.

SpongeBryan continued, "I'm thinking we can stop by Rutherford's mansion again. I heard he got a new security system installed, and I'd love to try it out."

"Why do those people even keep trying?" Pat shook his head and chuckled,

"There's no key you can't crack," said Ron.

Wally rushed into the grocery store with SpongeBryan's laptop.

"Am I late?" Wally asked.

"No, you're just on time," said SpongeBryan.

Wally pointed to the blueprint. "Pen and paper? Isn't that a little old-fashioned?"

"Yeah, but it gets the job done," replied SpongeBryan. "Anyway, when you're running a criminal enterprise, you shouldn't have everything in one place."

"A criminal enterprise?" Wally laughed. "Is that what we are now?"

"That's what we've always been," said SpongeBryan, opening up his laptop.

SpongeBryan typed Charles Rutherford's name into the universal search bar on his home screen, and links, images, and news articles popped up in succession.

"Perfect. He has a meeting tonight with Cecil Carpfish in Pacific City, so his home will be unoccupied," said SpongeBryan.

"Speaking of the Carpfish clan," said Pat. "Jim called us this morning to tell us that he's coming later today."

"He did? Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" queried SpongeBryan.

"I don't know," said Ron. "Talking to him hasn't been the same lately. He keeps asking us to come to Pacific City with him, tells us that this life isn't suited for us."

"You should take him up on his offer," muttered SpongeBryan.

"What was that?" said Pat.

"I said that you should take Jim up on his offer, okay?" said SpongeBryan, louder. "How many opportunities do you get to leave the Lower Ring? How many opportunities do any of us get to leave the Lower Ring?"

"We like it here," said Ron. "I thought you did, too."

"I do," said SpongeBryan. "But you can't help thinking that there's more to life than this, stealing to sustain ourselves, always wondering where our next meal will come from."

"I know where my next meal will come from," said Pat. "Aisle 3."

"We won't be somebody's charity case," said Ron. "Our mother raised us to be independent, and if it means having a lower standard of living than we'd have in Pacific City, so be it."

"Should I come back later?" said Jim, standing in the doorway.

"Jim!" cried Ron.

"How did you find us?" wondered Pat.

"Your wrist-phones have GPS technology. It wasn't hard," said Jim. "Anyway, my offer still stands."

"And the answer is the same: no," said Ron.

"I just don't understand why you choose to live down here," said Jim, using the grocery store's doormat to wipe pieces of rotten fruit off the sole of his shoe.

"Hey! I chose to live down here," snapped Wally.

"Yeah, and for good reason," said Pat. "Our friends are down here. Our lives are down here."

"You can make lives in Pacific City," said Jim. "Better lives."

"What if we don't want better lives?" suggested Ron.

Jim sighed. "Okay. I'm not here to argue with you. I'm just here to catch up. How are things going?"

"They're going fine," said Pat. "In fact, we were planning our next shopping trip."

"Really?" said Jim. "What mall are you going to?"

SpongeBryan cleared his throat.

"Oh," whispered Jim. "That kind of shopping trip."

"Well, we don't all have rich daddies," said Pat. "Some of us have to make a living."

"Hey! Just so you know, my father cut me off six months ago when I refused to join the family business. All the money I have now was earned from my job as a waiter," said Jim.

"So you know what it's like to get your hands dirty," said Ron.

"My hands aren't nearly as dirty as yours," said Jim. "Stealing? I thought you gave that up after we came back from Insulam."

"In exchange for what?" said Pat. "In case you weren't aware, the job market in the Lower Ring isn't exactly thriving."

"That's why I want you to come out of the Lower Ring. There are opportunities in Pacific City you won't find here," said Jim.

"For the last time, no!" screamed Ron.

"Ron, calm down," said SpongeBryan.

"Yeah," agreed Wally.

"No!" said Ron. "He insulted our way of life! He talked to us like we were inferior! I want you out of here, Jim! If you love Pacific City so much, you can go there in your fancy boat and never talk to us again!"

Jim gasped, and then he looked at Pat, who nodded.

"Fine," said Jim. "You try to help out some old friends, and this is how you get treated. Don't blame me when you end up getting shot down here, or worse."

Jim stormed out of the grocery store, and SpongeBryan cleared his throat again.

"So, Rutherford's?" SpongeBryan mumbled.

"Yeah," said Wally.

"Yeah," said Pat and Ron.

That night, Charles Rutherford walked into a Pacific City restaurant. Cecil Carpfish was beside the door waiting for him.

"What did you want to talk about, Charles?" asked Cecil.

"Let's sit down first," said Rutherford. "Waiter!"

The waiter, standing a couple of yards away, glanced in Rutherford's direction but quickly turned his head.

"How rude!" shouted Rutherford.

Rutherford sprinted to the waiter, grabbed his shoulder, and turned him around to realize that he was Jim.

"Oh, my," whispered Rutherford.

"Jim?" said Cecil.

"I-I was just going to ask about our reservation," said Rutherford.

"You and Mr. Carpfish will be sitting at table 12," said Jim.

"Thank you," said Rutherford.

Cecil stared at Jim for a second, then he followed Rutherford to their table.

"So, how are things going down in Alveus?" Cecil asked as soon as they were seated.

"Not too good," said Rutherford. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Are the problems reconstruction-related?"

"No, the reconstruction went great. The problem, you see, is with our mayor."

"Well, I don't think I can fix that."

Rutherford smiled. "I think you can."

"Huh?"

"Cecil, have you ever thought about running for office?"

"I've thought about it, but with the company and all the duties that come with it, I've never had the time."

"What if you did have the time?"

"That's a big 'what if', Charles."

"I don't think our mayor will survive past his current term, and I think you'd be an excellent candidate for replacing him."

"Why me?"

"You're a household name. Your successful reconstruction of the Upper Ring will easily get your its votes, while your rags-to-riches story will make you a shoo-in for winning the Lower Ring as well."

"I could win in any city in the ocean. Why should I choose yours?"

"Because I asked first."

Cecil scratched his chin. "I have been considering retiring from FutureWorks, and politics would be a nice way to keep myself busy while staying in the public eye."

"Is that a yes?"

"I'll get back to you."

Jim walked up to Cecil's and Rutherford's table.

"May I take your order?" murmured Jim.

"You know, you're always welcome if you decide to come back," said Cecil.

"Thanks, but no thanks," said Jim. "Now I'll ask again: May I take your order?"

SpongeBryan, Pat, Ron, and Wally flew to the Rutherford mansion in their rocket boots. SpongeBryan opened up his laptop and tried to hack into the mansion's security, but he was unable to. Pat, Ron, and Wally were pointing laser guns at the door.

"We're ready when you are," said Pat.

"Just wait a minute," said SpongeBryan.

SpongeBryan tried to override the security again, but he couldn't.

"This has never happened before," said SpongeBryan.

"What's going on?" asked Wally.

"It's not letting me in!" revealed SpongeBryan.

"What?" said Ron. "What do you mean it's not letting you in?"

"I mean it's not working! I can't disable the security system!" said SpongeBryan.

"Should we try to break in anyway?" asked Wally.

"Yeah, if you want the entire Upper Ring to know what we're doing," quipped Pat.

SpongeBryan sighed. "Okay. Mission aborted."

SpongeBryan typed in a line of code to grab information about Rutherford's security system and put it in a separate file.

"I'll analyze this later, and see if we can do this again," he said.

"SpongeBryan, will you be okay?" asked Ron.

SpongeBryan ignited his rocket books and flew off without saying anything.

"I'm worried about SpongeBryan," said Wally.

"So am I," said Pat. "There's never been a security measure he couldn't bypass."

After SpongeBryan got back to his apartment, he sat on his bed and opened his laptop. When he opened the file containing the security details, he saw a giant name at the top.

"'HARP00NER'?"

SpongeBryan got a notepad out from under his pillow and wrote Harp00ner's name in it. He fingers tightened around the notepad as he looked at the name he had just written, and in a fit of rage, he threw it across the room.