Watson, Little China.
Vik's basement ripperdoc clinic.
Under Vik's guidance, Kai quickly scanned and registered his biometric data, then logged into his company identity credentials and activated the smart glasses, Dragon Fist.
[Kai]
[Date/Time: 2076/6/16; 15:32]
[Employee ID: NC770416]
[Message Alert: You have thirteen unread work emails // Biometric reminder: psychological consultation this week.]
[Biometrics: Trauma Team Medical Center reminds you that you have reached the compatibility age for full-body cyberware implantation.]
Dragon Fist included not just scanning and identification, brain-machine interaction, and an external camera jammer module, but even partial remote net intrusion functions.
Vik's smoky voice was rich and rough as he added,
"I also opened a little backdoor in Dragon Fist. Straight into the NCPD personnel archive. Don't know a few street punks, don't know what they're capable of."
While adjusting the glasses, Kai said,
"Vik, the company came looking for you again lately, didn't they? Honestly, with your skills, you could at least be a technical R&D director."
Vik rolled back to his workstation, glanced at the boxing match still playing, and answered with a helpless chuckle,
"Heh, same old story. At least the corps have learned to keep a little distance now. These days everyone on the street only cares about having the flashiest chrome. Actual performance doesn't matter as much anymore."
Hearing that Vik's work and daily life were still stable, Kai felt that Vik had a kind of quiet happiness to his life.
Then he asked one last question.
"Vik, how much did these glasses cost you? Just tell me straight. I'm not short on money right now."
Vik did not seem to care.
Still watching the match, he replied,
"All the chrome and electronic modules I stripped and rebuilt for it came to about sixty thousand eddies."
Even Jackie was stunned when he heard that.
Just the components alone were worth sixty thousand eddies. Once Vik's labor and technical work were added on top, the value of these glasses had probably broken past the hundred-thousand mark.
The problem was that this kind of smart eyewear had limited appeal. Once most people reached compatibility age, they just went straight into cyberware conversion.
Jackie joked,
"Vik, your secret stash really all comes from winning bets on boxing, huh?"
Now that he understood the price, Kai also understood just how sincere Vik had been. Dragon Fist had been custom-built for him from the start, which meant Vik had never really cared what it cost. He had only cared about making it as good, as useful, and as comfortable as possible.
"Vik, this kind of gift can't be repaid with money. At this point, I'll cover your retirement for the rest of your life. I'm serious. You're the real big brother."
Kai directly opened his account through Dragon Fist and prepared to transfer Vik one hundred thousand eddies.
That money had come from the years he had worked at Arasaka, plus a bit he had left over from before, but pulling out a hundred thousand in one shot still hurt.
But Vik refused the transfer outright and instead tried to reassure him.
"Don't rush to pay it back now. Money earned in that company is blood money either way. Just don't forget your old choom when you make it big someday."
"No matter what, come back alive."
At that point, there was nothing more to say.
Kai stopped trying to argue and decided that after they finished the beer, he and Jackie would head out.
The three of them clinked bottles again, then drained them in one go.
Kai had no intention of disturbing Vik's boxing world any longer.
Vik was not someone who opened his heart easily. He always seemed the same, sitting at his bench and watching old fights.
When you first met him, he just seemed quiet.
Only after knowing him for a long time did you understand how good he really was.
Like an older brother in the family, always waiting in the harbor where the storm could never reach you.
Kai stopped at the barred door, turned around, and said his goodbye.
"Vik, it's damn good having you around."
Vik kept his eyes on the screen and just waved a hand at them, telling them to hurry up and go.
Jackie was already itching to move.
"Don't worry, Vik. I still haven't finished gambling on boxing with you. You beat me last time, but next time I'll win it back for sure."
With that, the two of them said goodbye to Vik, left the basement clinic, and returned to Misty's Esoterica upstairs.
Jackie wanted to say goodbye to Misty again.
Not wanting to intrude on the two of them, Kai went up to the rooftop balcony first to start the AV.
Standing again on that once-familiar rooftop, Kai almost thought he could still see Johnny sitting on the edge, rambling on about that final choice in life.
When Kai had been making his final decision back then, he had called many familiar friends from this very rooftop.
Now, standing here again, he could not help feeling something stir.
For a moment, even someone like Kai, who never smoked, found himself unconsciously rubbing his fingers together.
"Looks like it's not really the cigarette I want."
He thought about it for a while.
Then Jackie came striding back onto the rooftop and said excitedly,
"We're ready to go. I'm telling you, tonight's gonna end well. Misty just gave me a lucky card and hinted that my future is going to change in an unbelievable way today."
"A good kind of change."
Kai looked at the big guy in front of him and gave him a silent blessing before smiling and saying,
"We both know Misty's readings are always on point."
"So this time, we definitely beat the future."
"Jackie, let's move."
The AV lifted from the open rooftop and flew north toward the industrial district in Watson.
Kai landed it in an abandoned public lot. From there, walking to the abandoned steel factory in Watson's old industrial district would take about half an hour, while the AV could reach them again in under five minutes.
Ever since that meeting at Lucy's place with Maine and the others, Kai had not contacted them again once.
If the company were not specifically digging for connections, it would have been extremely hard to uncover any link between Kai and Maine's side.
So for this operation, Kai had piled on every insurance policy he could.
No mission could ever be guaranteed to succeed completely.
The two of them got out of the AV and walked side by side toward the destination.
Because the old industrial plants had polluted the area for years, most of the buildings along the streets were buried under a permanent gray film.
The abandoned factory walls were full of cracks left by time, while every empty stretch of street had been covered in layers of bright, chaotic graffiti.
And among all those street murals, one image appeared more than anything else.
A blood-red skull spider.
The spider's body was white, but its skull had five eyes, hollow and weeping blood. Six black mechanical legs extended from it, sharp and vicious.
Just looking at the image made you feel cruelty, violence, and something deeply unnatural.
That blood-red skull spider was the totem of Maelstrom.
And Maelstrom really were exactly that kind of crew: violent, insane, and drowned in extreme cyberware.
Seeing that symbol in Watson's old industrial zone meant you had entered Maelstrom territory.
Jackie looked at the endless blood-red skull spider graffiti all around them and kept gesturing while he complained,
"Maelstrom really are a bunch of brain-dead cyberpsychos. Honestly, I almost admire their courage. They split open their own heads and jam hunks of metal in there like it's nothing. Damn. Aren't they worried their brains are gonna rust?"
Kai knew Maelstrom far too well.
Back then, those maniacs had pulled off an attack on a Militech convoy and gotten their hands on all kinds of nasty gear.
One of those prizes had been the little Flathead bot. For that thing, Kai had taken V and Jackie and practically washed Maelstrom in blood before grabbing the Flathead and, on the way out, pulling Brick loose from captivity too.
There had also been that guy Dum Dum, who was not bad. He had hooked Kai up with plenty of synthcoke and top-grade black lace.
Thinking back to those days when he had first arrived in Night City, there had not been as much bitterness weighing on him. And because he had already told Arasaka to go to hell back then, there had been a kind of reckless madness in the way he handled things.
Now, though, Kai could clearly feel something pressing down on him, forcing him to think ahead and design every move carefully.
It was not that he was some man of pure reason over emotion.
It was just that, deep down, he still lived with real feeling.
Still, he had never spoken of those old stories to anyone.
And right now, there were more important things waiting ahead.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]