The night passed quickly. By the ti Arthur dragged himself off the sofa the next day, the sun was already high.
He needed to start looking for work, and it would be best to bring along that rookie who still hadn’t gotten up. They were both in the sa situation now—flat broke.
Jessica was even worse off; she still owed him a hefty sum.
If only he could sell that gold right away, all his financial troubles would disappear.
This frantic search for jobs reminded him of the days right after his recovery.
After sending word out, Arthur roused Jessica, who had been tossing in light sleep.
“If you spend all day with nothing to do, you won’t last long in this city...
And the first thing—you’ve got to get up earlier, around nine or ten in the morning.”
Through bleary eyes, Jessica saw Arthur already dressed, urging her to rise.
She rubbed her eyes, let out a long yawn, and sat up.
The loose white nightgown she wore was the one Arthur had bought for her.
“Mr. Arthur, I’m sorry...
Did you get up very early?”
She stretched as she asked drowsily.
“Of course...”
Trained by old swindlers, Arthur lied without a hint of hesitation, speaking casually.
“Get cleaned up and co out. We’ll stop by Vik’s clinic first.”
Arthur had gotten into the habit of visiting—partly to check in with Jackie, whom he hadn’t seen since that brief mont during Gloria’s treatnt.
At the covered walkway near the elevator, Arthur leaned against the waist-high wall, faint smoke curling from his fingers, almost invisible in the bright sunlight.
The brim of his hat shielded his eyes as his gaze stretched into the distance.
Without realizing it, he had grown used to this view—
The spiral staircase winding down into obscurity, the ground nearly impossible to see, bundles of unknown cables dangling overhead, and the over-the-top advertisents plastered across every corner of Night City.
His mories of the past kept drifting farther away. He still rembered everything clearly, but the emotions tied to them had faded.
It seed this world was slowly gaining weight in his heart.
“Mr. Arthur... we can go now.”
Jessica’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.
When he turned, she was standing there with a white lace-brimd cap on her head, mimicking his look.
“Looks like you’re wide awake...
Let’s go!”
Seeing her so energetic, Arthur gave a satisfied nod and flicked the cigarette butt to the ground.
After a short walk, they reached the entrance to Vik’s hidden basent clinic.
Inside, Vik was leisurely watching a boxing match. Jackie stood behind him, the two trading occasional remarks.
“Look who’s here. Since you took our little ray of sunshine, you’ve been gone for days.”
Victor’s familiar greeting ca as soon as he spotted Arthur.
“Only four days, Vik.”
Arthur also noticed Misty Olszewski inside, busy around Gloria’s dPod.
“How’s she doing?”
He gestured toward the pod as he asked.
At the question, Vik perked up, sitting a little straighter.
“If we’re right, she should wake up in about ten days.
But that’s not the interesting part.”
He paused, gathering his words before continuing.
“The dicine you brought back worked wonders. It restarted the cell division in her brain.
But recovery takes ti. Think of a broken bone—it takes months to heal.
Gloria’s the sa. Her injuries won’t vanish overnight; it could take up to half a year.”
“But you just said she’d wake up soon?”
Arthur frowned at the contradiction.
“That’s the thing. When she wakes, she’ll be like a newborn.
Her mind and mory will return gradually, piece by piece.
It’ll be like growing up again—innocence, rebellion, all the phases that co with age.
Of course, the process will be compressed into six months.”
Arthur’s expression grew tense as he listened.
Jackie and Misty hardly reacted—they’d clearly heard this before.
“I just hope she doesn’t rember any of this.”
His strange expression softened into pure pity.
He couldn’t imagine how crushing it would be for soone nearing forty to go through this.
“Sadly, she probably will.
The good news is her mory will develop in sync with her brain’s recovery. So she won’t rember things like wetting the bed.”
Vik’s voice carried resignation.
Though he treated Arthur and Jackie like brothers, he was nearly fifty himself.
He considered himself open-minded, but even he knew he’d struggle to face sothing like this.
“Really...”
Arthur rested one hand on his belt and rubbed his chin with the other, his face hidden beneath his hat brim.
He fought the twitch at the corners of his mouth, forcing back a smirk.
“This really isn’t good news.”
...
Later, once Arthur let it be known he was looking for work, it didn’t take long for a fixer to reach out.
The fixer, Daino Tynovich, worked mainly in City Center and often dealt with Corpo clients.
“Arthur, right? I’ve heard of you—the cowboy stirring up trouble in Watson. That’s what people call you out here.
I rember you wrecked a major Maelstrom job. Not sothing an ordinary rc could pull off.”
“Uh... looks like I’ve made a na for myself. But I don’t take just anything.
Tell the gist, if you can.”
Arthur’s tone over comms was casual.
“You know how it is—most of my gigs are Corpo screw-ups, but at least the pay’s good.
This ti it’s Militech. They had sothing stolen by the Animals.
They’re offering a hundred thousand eddies. Whatever it takes to get it back, no questions asked.”
Arthur had been in Night City long enough to know why the Corps weren’t handling it themselves—
Most likely so employee’s personal mistake. Rather than face heat inside the company, they’d chosen to pay their way out.
“Got details? You know the Animals over there, right?”
Arthur already had a sense of it. On the surface it looked like Corpo business, but it wouldn’t be too tough. A hundred thousand might even leave so extra.
“The address, who’s holding it—it’s all in the intel.
So, you taking the job?”
Arthur exhaled slowly and glanced at Jessica, chatting with Misty in the back of the clinic. He hesitated. After all, Militech was involved.
“I can handle it...”
Revisiting the past dragged Jessica’s mood down. Her eyes flickered, but she pressed on.
“It’s not like all of Militech is after us...
Anyway, there are so many of them, I can’t possibly hate them all.”
Arthur raised a hand, tilted his head, and patted her shoulder without a word.
He knew too well the feeling of losing soone close.
Ti could smother grief.
But when the mories resurfaced, thinking of the dead always tore a hole through the heart.
Back to business, Arthur spoke into the comm.
“Uh... tell more.”
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