He realized he did not feel it was outrageous, but when he thought about it, a full synthetic fried chicken meal in Night City only cost eighteen or twenty Eurodollars. A price difference of fifty times was already extreme.
"It is fine for us," Oliver said. "But for ordinary people, a whole month's pay might only buy one real chicken. Add checkpoints, inspections, hiring drifters from Badlands, and the final cost might be more than one thousand Eurodollars. You might not even get it in the end. That is why real meat is so rare in Night City."
He continued explaining. "Pork is actually easier than chicken. Because of past bird flu, poultry is tightly controlled in Night City, and customs bribes cost more. If you really want some, I recommend real pork."
"Then if I want a whole pig, how much would it be, including everything?"
"Ten thousand Eurodollars should get it here safely."
Ten thousand Eurodollars.
Carl had about fifty two thousand Eurodollars in total right now. That meant all the money he earned by pushing himself with G-Force would only buy about five pigs.
Someone like Blanca, who spent money freely like a true Corpo Rats, was rare.
"That kind of money could buy some decent Cyberware," Jack Welles said, clicking his tongue.
"The meat you cut off when swapping Cyberware is not worth as much as a pig," Oliver replied.
He took a bite of his burrito filled with synthetic meat. "So what do you think, Carl? If you want, I can try to contact people over there. Or you could get used to this synthetic meat that can barely pass as 'real meat.'"
"Do you two not want real meat at all?" Carl asked.
He was already planning to spend the money. As a merc, he did not want to suffer when it came to food, but before deciding, he wanted to know if Oliver and Jack Welles would split the cost with him.
"Synthetic meat is made from worms and locusts and things like that," Oliver said. "I have eaten it since I was a kid. My taste is used to it. If I suddenly ate real meat, I might dislike it the way you dislike synthetic meat now. I will pass."
Oliver had no interest in buying pork, but Jack Welles seemed tempted.
"I will buy some meat too," Jack Welles said. "Oliver, can they also bring real corn from Badlands? I want to try making cornmeal steamed pork."
Cornmeal steamed pork was a traditional dish, served during Day of the Dead, weddings, and birthdays. It was one of Jack Welles's favorite foods, though he had only ever eaten versions made with synthetic meat and cornmeal. If he had the chance to try the real thing, he had no reason to refuse.
"I will contact them later," Oliver said. "I will tell you the exact price then."
As he spoke, he glanced up at the television. It was showing an updated follow-up on the Kabuki cyberpsycho incident in Watson District that had already been reported while they were out.
"The cyberpsycho has disappeared before the arrival of the counterterror unit. Citizens in nearby areas are advised to stay alert."
Carl and Jack Welles were also drawn to the report.
"Disappeared," Jack Welles said, frowning. "How far is Kabuki from here?"
"Thirty minutes on foot," Carl answered.
He had walked back to the apartment earlier that day after detouring from Industrial District through Kabuki. He knew the distance from personal experience.
"Good Morning, Night City!"
With the familiar voice of the Night City broadcaster Stanley coming from the TV, Carl slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He saw Oliver and Jack Welles sprawled crookedly on the couch, with empty bottles scattered across the floor, while he alone had ended up on the bed. The screen was still glowing, as if it had been left on all night.
"Was this thing on the whole night?"
Listening to the broadcast, Carl yawned and rubbed his eyes. He had not been drinking yesterday, but the day had been packed with too many things, and he was worn out. While Oliver and Jack Welles were competing with each other over alcohol, he had planned to lie down for a short rest and get back up, but he had drifted straight into sleep instead.
He really had been too tired.
Yawning again, Carl did not bother the two who were sleeping soundly like dead pigs, Oliver and Jack Welles. He walked into the bathroom in Oliver's room, identical to the one in his own place, splashed water on his face, and brushed his teeth with his finger and water as best he could. Only then did he feel a bit more awake.
The water in Night City had a strange smell and was only good for washing. If you wanted to drink it, you had to buy proper purified water, and that stuff cost more than a bottle of alcohol. Even so, it was something you still had to buy.
He went to the vending machine in the room and bought a bottle of purified water for twenty Eurodollars, about the price of a synthetic rib steak. He used it to rinse his mouth again, spat into the trash, and then started gulping it down. After finishing nearly three hundred milliliters in one go, the odd taste left from yesterday's food and drinks finally faded a little.
He checked his messages, but no one had sent out new Contract jobs these past few days. That Fixer named Faraday was quiet as well. It felt like everything had suddenly gone idle.
"Too free."
Looking at Oliver and Jack Welles sleeping peacefully, Carl resisted the urge to buy more purified water and splash it on them. After some thought, he decided to pick up breakfast for the two of them instead, leaving a message before heading out. Even so, he still grabbed his Kenshin Pistol before leaving the room.
In Night City, you had to stay careful at all times.
He took the elevator down to the first floor and walked toward the food stall he had seen on his first day in 2075. It looked much the same as before. The Chinese food had been replaced by Japanese dishes, and the owner had changed, but the stall was still there, and so were the same types of customers.
It was like parts in a machine. When one broke, it got replaced, as long as the whole thing kept running. He wondered when the day would come that the machine would collapse completely, when replacement would no longer be enough.
At the stall, he ordered two large Sushi platters to take away and one bowl of ramen without meat to eat on the spot. Sitting down on a seat that was still greasy and cracked, now with an extra hint of blood compared to the past, Carl only hoped he could finish a meal in peace today.
But things rarely went the way he wanted. Just as if he were destined to never eat properly at this stall, gunfire rang out nearby before the owner even started cooking. This time, though, the owner had learned from past experience and immediately abandoned his work, diving under the counter the moment the shots sounded.
Fine then.
Carl tightened his grip on the Kenshin and looked toward the source of the noise to see who dared interrupt his breakfast. The last Maelstrom idiots who had done that did not even have clear graves anymore. As he looked over, a bullet flew straight at him and was split in half by the casually flicked Monowire.
He had seen plenty of Braindance where samurai cut bullets with blades. Compared to them, with his "Militech parallel lines" running through a Cyberdeck and boosted by G-Force, Carl cutting a bullet with a Monowire was not that hard. Of course, while it was possible, his current setup still did not allow him to face machine guns or rifle fire head-on, and this kind of stray bullet was about as far as he could go.