[Mr. Hands: A, your call ca even later than I expected.]
[A: Planning to set up in Dogtown, had to secure so funds first.]
[Mr. Hands: I’m guessing it was you who hit Biotechnica yesterday?]
[A: You’re well-inford.]
[Mr. Hands: Mostly because the city’s heavy hitters are all known quantities.]
[A: Alright, won’t waste your ti, Mr. Hands. I’d like to ask if you can secure a safe, sufficiently large base in Dogtown for our operations?]
[Mr. Hands: In Dogtown? Not exactly pri real estate for settling down. Truth be told, NUSA has eyes everywhere here. Hansen’s lackeys would love to collect rent on every inch of this place. Plus, there’s all sorts of riffraff, criminals who flee to Dogtown after causing trouble in Night City.]
[A: I like places with a little chaos. Sowhere corps won’t just knock on the door uninvited. Anyone who wants to cause trouble for will have to prove they’ve got what it takes.]
[Mr. Hands: I like confident folks like you. But hey, isn’t this a coincidence? I happen to know a spot that’d suit you perfectly, discreet, low-key, but full of surprises.]
[A: A place that good, and you’re just handing it over?]
[Mr. Hands: Of course not for free. But as a gesture of goodwill, why don’t you co down to Dogtown first and take a look at what I’ve got in mind? If it ets your standards, then we can discuss terms. Business is business... gotta let you see what you’re buying before you willingly make an offer, don’t you think?]
[A: You can give the broad strokes first.]
[Mr. Hands: It’s a regular warehouse, or at least, it looks that way. Covers about three to four hundred square ters, but the real gem is the basent, just as spacious, if not more. At first glance, it’s just storage, but it’s got an independent backup power system for outages, a full ventilation setup, and the walls are absurdly thick, fortress-grade standards. Plus, the basent has a separate ergency exit that links to Dogtown’s sewer system. If you’re willing to put in the work to clear that passage, you could even use those sewers to travel underground from Dogtown all the way to Pacifica. Only catch is the location’s a bit remote, southwest edge of Dogtown, near the high walls and close to Scavenger territory.]
[A: Doesn’t sound like sothing just thrown together.]
[Mr. Hands: Back during the tal Wars, Dogtown was full of structures like this. This particular one doesn’t belong to Arasaka, NUSA, or even Night City.]
[A: The Cubans’? Their favors don’t co cheap.]
[Mr. Hands: You’re well-inford too, A.]
[Mr. Hands: But you guessed right, the Cubans’. They had the sa idea as Hansen initially, but missed their window due to so... unforeseen circumstances. Though, if you’re willing to align with , I’m sure my Cuban friends wouldn’t mind parting with a building they have no imdiate use for.]
rcer didn’t reply imdiately, instead taking a mont to think. Mr. Hands’ intention to extend goodwill was quite evident. He wanted to directly recruit him onto his own team to work.
On one hand, this showed that Mr. Hands truly had no capable people at his disposal.
On the other hand, it also made clear Mr. Hands’ implication; by accepting his favor, rcer would, at the very least, have to refrain from dealing with Hansen regarding matters in Dogtown. If necessary, he might even have to handle so dirty work for the Cubans.
Was it worth it?
After a mont of contemplation, rcer sent a ssage to Mr. Hands.
[A: I won’t be staying in Dogtown forever. It’s just a stepping stone for .]
[Mr. Hands: Then at least while you’re in Dogtown, I assu you won’t refuse my commissions. The jobs might be troubleso, but the pay will never be short. As long as you handle things well, I guarantee Hansen won’t dare cause you any trouble. Don’t worry, we’re practically friends with Hansen now. At the very least, he still needs to find people to handle certain troubles, to network on his behalf in Night City, and I need him to provide convenience in Dogtown.]
[A: Alright, while I’m in Dogtown, I’ll stand on your side. Once I leave, for old tis’ sake, I’m willing to help you with things that aren’t too troubleso.]
[Mr. Hands: Straight to the point. It’s settled then. No need to worry about rent. For any renovations or workers you need, I can arrange it for you, all at a friendly price.]
[A: I might need you to help get materials at a discounted price, but I plan to have my own people handle the renovations. I’ll just need you to pull so strings to get us the necessary permits.]
[Mr. Hands: No problem. Let’s stay in touch. I’ve sent you the address. I’m sure the warehouse access code won’t be an issue for you. Go take a look, and if you’re satisfied, we have a deal.]
[A: Then, for starters, get and my friend a Dogtown pass. I’ve sent you the relevant personal information.]
rcer forwarded the identity details processed in Night City, along with V’s information.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Barghest’s identity verification system likely followed NCPD’s approach, using a simple whitelist check. Building a complete household registration database from scratch?
rcer doubted Hansen had that capability.
Mr. Hands replied in just over ten seconds.
[Mr. Hands: It’s all taken care of.]
[A: Thanks. One good turn deserves another; you can start thinking about any urgent jobs that need handling. I’ll take care of them while I’m working on the renovations.]
[Mr. Hands: Efficient. I’ll hand over a few big-ticket items I’ve been sitting on. You can complete them at your own pace.]
[A: Looks like I ca at just the right ti.]
[Mr. Hands: Absolutely. Once you’ve wrapped these up, I’ll invite you to my turf for so tea.]
[A: I’ll go check out the new place first. I’ll be in touch soon.]
[Mr. Hands: Looking forward to good news from you.]
rcer ended the communication interface, and V, who had been watching him for a while, asked, "So, how’d it go? Smooth sailing?"
"Pretty much. Let’s head to Dogtown and take a look around; see what our future new place is really like."
As he spoke, rcer started the car and drove straight toward Dogtown.
V gazed out the window. "I’ve never been to Dogtown before. Hearing you talk it up so much has got kind of excited, choom."
"I’d advise you not to get your hopes up too high. Aside from the stadium and The Black Sapphire, there’s hardly anything worth seeing there."
rcer paused before adding, "Just think about how run-down Pacifica is. Dogtown is even worse than that."
"Damn, you really know how to kill the mood," V pouted, shaking her leg. "But no way it’s worse than the shithole I’m living in now, right?"
rcer fell into a brief silence.
V’s eyes slowly widened. "No way. Seriously?"
—--
As V took in the sowhat dilapidated warehouse before her, the streets filled with nothing but addicts and punks, and the abandoned buildings in the distance overgrown with weeds and vines...
"A, can’t we live separately? I an, my motel isn’t that bad, honestly."
V uttered these words with a tone of despair and resignation.
rcer glanced around, then simply smiled and walked up to the warehouse. The structure looked blocky and plain, with no decorative colors, and its thick concrete walls gave off a heavy, imposing feel.
The entire warehouse had only one window on the east and west sides each, making it easy to imagine how dark and stifling the air inside must be.
At least the electronic lock on the warehouse door was still lit, indicating that power was still functioning normally.
rcer approached the electronic lock, hands in his pockets, and hacked it open in a second. Pushing open the heavy warehouse door, he revealed nothing but a floor littered with trash.
It seed so assholes had even camped out here for a while. Graffiti covered the concrete walls, and scattered on the ground were torn mattresses, used needles, and discarded cigarette butts.
No surprise, really. A simple electronic lock couldn’t keep out holess folks curious about whether there might be treasure inside.
rcer waved a hand to fan away the dust, scanning the area. "At least it’s spacious, and the walls are solid."
"This reminds of prison; don’t look at like that. Anyone who’s spent ti on the streets has been hauled in by NCPD at least once. I did a stint in a holding cell, and it felt pretty much like this. Just throw in a bunch of mattresses, post so guards outside, and replace the doors and windows with iron bars. Hey, rcer, if you’re into this style, you might as well turn yourself in to NCPD."
V spoke self-deprecatingly, casually kicking aside a soda can. "So this is the dump Mr. Hands found for you? I don’t think he’s sincere at all! Is he ssing with you?"
rcer, however, remained unfazed and continued pacing around the empty warehouse. Aside from four support pillars, there was nothing but walls, a roof, and those two windows.
Not bothering to figure it out himself, he simply sent a ssage to Mr. Hands.
[Mr. Hands: You’re already there? Don’t rush. I’ll send you an authentication program. Stand by the leftmost support pillar at the very back, and you’ll find the way to open the basent.]
rcer cautiously received the program via his cyberdeck’s virtual drive, ran a security check to confirm it was safe, then executed it and integrated it into his personal authentication.
In the cyberpunk world, everyone has a microchip for personal authentication. It can load various verification programs, including vehicle ID verification, property authentication, and biotric identification, all tied to biological signatures, making them nearly impossible to counterfeit. And when he stood before that load-bearing column, which appeared dull and unremarkable, a patch of wall covering abruptly slid away without warning, revealing a control panel hidden within.
Text appeared on it.
[Identity authentication successful. As no data has been recorded yet, please connect your personal link cable for user permission authentication and program setup.]
"This is impressive. They even used a specially designed cover plate that blocks network signals. It only reacts when a specific authentication signal is recognized by a device running offline, then initiates a connection. The Cubans really put so thought into this," rcer remarked in admiration.
V’s eyes lit up. "Whoa, what is this? A secret base switch?"
"Pretty much," rcer replied, glancing at the text on the screen. Following the prompt, he unplugged the data cable from his hand and connected it.
Soon, the built-in program authenticated rcer’s personal information and transferred control of the entire warehouse to him.
There weren’t many things he could control, just the ventilation system, the power control system, and a hidden floor trapdoor leading underground.
rcer turned to look, and a section of the floor suddenly slid open, revealing a spacious staircase wide enough for two people to descend side by side.
"I was hoping for an elevator," rcer said with so disappointnt. He thought the NUSA agents’ hidden elevator setup was much cooler.
"Holy shit! This is so aweso, A! It’s just like a spy movie!" V was no longer complaining. Without waiting for rcer to say anything, she bounded over to the staircase entrance to take a look.
"I’m going down first!"
Without another word, V charged inside.
rcer’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t rush. Instead, he kept his connection active and ran a thorough scan of the entire hidden authentication program system, checking every line of code.
He didn’t want to go down only to find the door locked behind him.
Better safe than sorry!
Ah, he envied the bliss of those with 6 Intelligence who didn’t have to overthink things.
After spending a few minutes scrutinizing almost every piece of data and confirming that the door control permissions were in his hands, rcer slowly made his way down.
By then, V was already excitedly exploring the underground space.
"Look, A! There’s an independent generator, water storage tanks, and an automatic water purification system! They even pre-installed plumbing, though there’s no toilet yet. And there’s a computer and a small server! Wow, A, this place is really sothing! There’s even central air conditioning! My god, with a little renovation, aside from the lack of sunlight, this could be exactly like a secret base from a spy movie!"
She waved excitedly at rcer, gesturing around. "Look, these water pipes even have pre-laid connections; they must link up to the city’s water supply! This place has to be at least five or six hundred square ters, right? The upstairs is another three or four hundred. This spot is really great!"
"Not comparing it to your holding cell anymore?" rcer couldn’t help but laugh.
"Ugh! I didn’t know there was such a huge space down here!" V retorted stubbornly. "It’s not that great anyway. Renovating this place would cost a fortune, wouldn’t it?"
"At least the rent is free for now. With so basic cleanup, a few concrete walls for partitions to separate the functional areas, the rest of the renovation is just a matter of personal preference. It shouldn’t cost too much."
rcer did a quick estimate. A space this large could easily be partitioned into seven 20-square-ter bedrooms. With the cheap labor costs, a simple renovation would likely run about 10,000 eddies per room, including both materials and labor.
He could also set up several specialized workspaces: a server room, a netrunner den for his hacking work, an armory for storing weapons and gear, and a workshop for modifying weapons and cyberware.
He might even have enough space for a large living room.
All of this would probably co in under 100,000 eddies.
Of course, that only covered basic construction and wall-building, not equipnt or furnishings.
Still, rcer wasn’t entirely sure about construction speeds in this cyberpunk world, and the basent’s working conditions were limited.
As he tallied up his needs, he couldn’t help but grimace.
He’d underestimated this. Even without rent, it might take 200,000 to 300,000 eddies just to make the place livable, and who knew how long the construction would drag on.
This was Dogtown, after all. Getting construction work done here probably wouldn’t be straightforward.
After a mont’s thought, rcer decided to call Panam.
She picked up the video call almost imdiately.
"Whoa, where are you? Why’s it so dark?" Panam was startled by the gloomy background in rcer’s video.
"Dogtown. I wanted to ask; if I hired the Aldecaldos for a renovation job, how much would it cost and how long would it take to turn a space this size into six independent bedrooms with bathrooms, three or four functional rooms, and a living room?"
Panam thought for a mont. "Hold on, let ask the uncle in charge of this stuff at the camp."
She jogged offscreen, exchanged a few words with soone, then returned. "About ten days."
"That fast? This place is four or five hundred square ters," rcer said, surprised.
"Two days max for plumbing and electricity, two days for partitions, another two for painting and tiling, then just moving in whatever you need to install. Ten days is already accounting for potential delays," Panam explained with a laugh. "Normally, each of those tasks only takes a day."
"You just need to rent a set of professional renovation equipnt. There are specialized machinery rental companies in the city."
"What about the cost?" rcer pressed.
"You’d have to cover the equipnt rental yourself. Wall-building and demolition machines usually run about 1,000 eddies a day. If you rent exoskeleton construction semi-armor, it’s around 500 eddies per set per day."
"Labor is 50 eddies per day per person. We can get you experienced workers; they’re fast." Panam sounded confident. "We’ve built entire floors in a day before. Modern construction machinery is incredibly efficient. Even with manual labor, using specialized construction armor can achieve that kind of speed."
"But honestly, from what I can see, your place already has a basic structure. You could probably finish all the hard construction for 10,000 to 20,000 eddies. The rest would just be furnishing and decorating."
"Are you at your new place now? Why does it look so dark?"
Feeling a bit boastful, rcer deliberately panned the cara around to show off the space before heading up the stairs.
Panam sounded surprised. "You got a two-story building?"
"That’s not all; that was just the underground base." rcer used his cybereye to record the footage and showed her the hidden floor switch for the access door.
Panam clicked her tongue enviously. "Not bad at all. Pretty damn cool. How much is the rent? A place this big, even in Dogtown, must run you seventy or eighty thousand a year, right?"
"Didn’t cost a thing. Got it for free. Only catch is it’s a raw space; renovations and upgrades are on ."
After rcer finished, Panam grew even more jealous. "Damn, that’s sweet! Who hooked you up with this spot?"
"Mr. Hands, of course. Only he could score a hidden location like this."
Then rcer added, "Why don’t you go ahead and reach out to the camp? I’ll sync up with Mr. Hands to iron out the details, then loop you in so we can get started. Let’s aim to wrap everything up in two weeks so we can move in."
"Alright~ big shot, you’re the boss," Panam replied.
"Want to save a room for you?" rcer ventured.
Panam hesitated for a mont before shaking her head. "Nah, I’d rather stay at ho. I don’t mind dropping by yours to hang out sotis, though. With a place that big, just save a couch."
"Whenever you co, I’ll give you my room; no problem. Honestly, I’ve gotten kinda used to crashing in my netrunner station these past few days," rcer said with a laugh. After a bit more small talk, he ended the call and got back to coordinating the renovation plans with Mr. Hands.
Mr. Hands made it clear that once the property was rcer’s, he could do whatever he wanted with it. Even if rcer eventually left Dogtown, the place would still belong to him. After all, the Cubans had already abandoned it.
If the Cubans ever decided to return to Night City for business, it would an Hansen was finished, and they’d reclaim The Black Sapphire to reestablish themselves as the rulers of Dogtown. In that case, a derelict warehouse would be the last thing on their minds.
You had to admit, Mr. Hands was incredibly generous to rcer. Without even discussing any deals, he’d outright gifted him a massive property.
Even though most real estate in Dogtown was practically worthless, long abandoned and left for anyone to trash, the gesture itself was still deeply appreciated.
Wrapping up their conversation, Mr. Hands gave rcer a contact, a manager at a construction company based in Pacifica that he knew personally. They could handle all the building materials and equipnt rentals, and would offer a friend’s discount on pricing.
As for Barghest checkpoints, that wasn’t an issue either. Mr. Hands would send rcer a batch of temporary passes. All he had to do was keep them in his vehicle and show them to the Barghest guards at the checkpoints.
He even enthusiastically added that if rcer had any friends who needed permanent passes, he could just send their personal details over, and Mr. Hands would take care of the rest.
Even rcer, who’d always been a little skeptical of Mr. Hands, found himself sincerely saying thank you. This was a favor he’d have to repay soday.
After scanning and recording the building specs with his cybereye, rcer returned to the Aldecaldos with V.
He consulted with the clan’s construction expert, then brought them along for a site visit to Dogtown to assess the space in person.
Back at the warehouse, rcer and the Aldecaldo specialist discussed renovation plans and settled on a rough blueprint based on the expert’s recomndations.
After that, rcer handed off all the details, purchasing materials, equipnt rentals, transportation, and so on, to the Aldecaldos’ professionals to negotiate with the company. He knew nothing about the architectural market in the cyberpunk world. Professional matters were best left to professionals. His role was simply to set the broad direction.
And, of course, the most important task of all; footing the bill.
After receiving a paynt of 100,000 eurodollars, the Aldecaldos assured rcer that with a crew of twenty workers at a discounted daily rate of 40 eurodollars per person, they would complete the entire warehouse renovation and refurbishnt within a week.
This pace was incredibly fast, and the price was quite reasonable. In the Cyberpunk universe, even the most basic manual laborer, like a dockworker, only earned about thirty eurodollars a day.
Yes, in the Cyberpunk universe, the monthly salary of an ordinary laborer was just 800 eurodollars. Even skilled workers like the Aldecaldos construction crew now only charged 40 eurodollars per day.
Of course, als didn’t have to be covered, but drinking water was a must. Water resources had always been a major issue in Night City. If one were to buy purified water, a gallon of it cost a steep 99 eurodollars!
During construction, the basent water purification system had to be temporarily shut down. Those workers weren’t willing to drink tap water; it could literally be lethal.
Unwilling to take advantage of his chooms, rcer decided to cover all al and water expenses during the construction period. He didn’t bother with detailed accounting, relying entirely on the foreman’s honesty to settle the bills.
Having spent so ti in the camp, rcer knew that the Aldecaldos, especially these workers, were struggling, with very few jobs coming their way.
Since he wasn’t short on a few thousand eurodollars, he raised their daily wage to 50 eurodollars, the market rate for outsiders hiring them, so as not to exploit their goodwill.
His only requirent was that they complete the renovation of the entire base as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
rcer figured that since they were already at it, they might as well overhaul the entire warehouse, including the ground floor. For example, replacing the hidden switch door with a concealed elevator.
He planned to convert the first floor into half living space and half comrcial area. He intended to set up a shop selling weapon mods, various chips, and even take on small jobs like cyberware program refreshes and weapon upgrades.
The surface-level shop would also help conceal their true identities and the warehouse’s actual purpose, keeping the underground base well hidden.
As long as Mr. Hands and the Aldecaldos workers didn’t leak any information, the Kindling Squad could safely hide in their secret base. Even if attacked, enemies wouldn’t know they were actually living underground.
In critical situations, they could also use the yet-to-be-cleaned underground sewer pipes for ergency evacuation.
After handing over the renovation work to the Aldecaldos, rcer finally felt relieved from his busy schedule. He gathered the entire squad at the Afterlife, planning to hold a proper celebration.
On the side, he also intended to discuss matters with Rogue. It felt like a waste to sell the stolen data and intel from Biotechnica only to Wakako. Perhaps Rogue had other connections that could help him earn a bit more.
However, there was one piece of information rcer kept tightly under wraps.
It was about Joanne’s attempt to deceive Militech into investing in a "super-soldier" program by leveraging a virus immunity agent.
The entire interrogation video of Emilia was handed over only to Diana Cuno. This wasn’t because rcer intended to help Biotechnica cover up its dirty secrets. Instead, he intended to remove the part about "Joanne attempting to pitch Militech on funding by promising to develop an immunity agent" before releasing the video to others with connections.
The reason?
Naturally, because rcer was more than happy to see Biotechnica screw over Militech.
In fact, Dr. Diana might even have to pay rcer so hush money. The initial investnt for this plan had already been sunk, and the scandal was bound to leak. If she couldn’t secure any returns at all... She wouldn’t just lose her director position; she’d probably be exiled to Antarctica to watch penguins.
Once Militech took the bait, he could go inform them they’d been duped, then cash in big on both intel fees and favors. Perfect, right?
When dealing with corps, you’ve gotta bleed them dry. If not for scheming, why would rcer be hiding out in Dogtown?
Besides, rcer hadn’t gotten his hands on the machine he wanted yet. He couldn’t let Diana crash and burn too soon.
—--
Nightfall, Afterlife.
When the rcs at Afterlife saw the young Rebecca noisily hopping onto a barstool, their expressions strained to hold back laughter.
What the hell was this?
But when masked rcer walked in, followed by Lucy wearing a kitsune mask, the rcs all tactfully averted their eyes.
Every rc present knew... how many of them could take down a frenzied Fenrir in under five seconds?
That Cyberpsychosis incident was the only fight to break out in Afterlife in recent years, and it unexpectedly beca hot gossip among the rcs there.
It even made rcer, a newcor, sowhat of a "celebrity" in rc circles.
Now, with visible cyberware on rcer’s body and his crew noticeably expanded, many got the feeling. Afterlife might be welcoming another soon-to-be-famous new team.
"NiCola?" When Claire behind the bar spotted rcer, she couldn’t help but smile with interest and greeted him proactively.
"Sure, let’s have a drink before we find Rogue. She should be just wrapping up."
rcer replied.
Claire’s eyes flicked to his exposed neck. "What’s that? Neck cyberware is pretty rare. Or is it just for looks?"
In the Cyberpunk universe, plenty of people mod for aesthetics. So even plate their entire bodies in silver to look like living tal, calling that style "Kitsch" and treating it as a trend.
The light tattoos on rcer and Lucy’s faces were just among the most common trendy cyberware decorations in this world.
Similarly, the clothes V wears in the ga, with LED-lit collars, also fall under street-style Kitsch.
"What I got has to stay confidential. But I’m a netrunner, whatever I install revolves around that. If I had to label it, I’d say I’m classic ’Entropism.’ As long as it’s functional, I don’t really care how it makes look."
Entropism can be roughly understood as pragmatism, the polar opposite of the style ntioned above.
After finishing his sentence, rcer paused and chuckled, "As long as my handso face is still intact, that’s all that matters."
"Who knows if you’re actually handso?" Claire teased, glancing at his mask.
Rebecca suddenly perked up and lifted her head, "Well, I think he’s handso, and I like it."
"Wait, what the hell? When did you see it?" V’s eyes widened in shock.
Then, V turned to look at Lucy, then Rebecca, then Kiwi, finally exclaiming in disbelief, "Don’t tell I’m the only one who hasn’t seen what he looks like?"
"Not exactly. Rebecca took it off when I wasn’t paying attention. It’s not like I was playing favorites on purpose."
As soon as rcer finished, V grew agitated, "Bullshit! Don’t think I don’t know you’ve got a Synaptic Accelerator installed! If you really didn’t want anyone to see, you could’ve dodged Rebecca ten tis over with that speed!"
"The Synaptic Accelerator speeds up my brain, not my body! Just so we’re clear, don’t you try copying her."
Seeing V’s eager expression, rcer quickly warned her, "You’re not a kid anymore."
That seed to hit a nerve with V. She pouted, glanced at Rebecca, and finally picked up a glass of whiskey with a sullen expression, downing it in one go.
Claire couldn’t help but laugh, "You guys have gotten a lot closer, huh."
"Yeah, everyone I brought here today is an official mber of my team: V, Rebecca, Pilar, Kiwi, Lucy."
rcer gestured to the people around him, "Kindling Squad. Sooner or later, our na will be known throughout the Afterlife."
"Kindling Squad, got it," Claire said with a smile.
However, Claire glanced at Rebecca, who was now cheerfully chugging beer, and remarked, "But aren’t the people you’ve recruited a bit too young?"
"They’re all reliable. In Night City, reliable people stay reliable, and the unreliable ones never change."
After rcer finished, Claire fell silent for a mont. She sighed, handed Pilar another drink, and then said, "Do you think... unreliable people can never change?"
"When you ask that question, you probably already have the answer in your heart," rcer replied simply. "If you truly believed he could change, you wouldn’t be asking."
Claire shook her head, "I think he can change for the better."
"I don’t think so."
rcer gave what seed like a rather arbitrary response. He looked at Claire and said aningfully, "Don’t let past love and gratitude cloud your judgnt now. If soone is trapped in the past, they can’t face the present, nor can they move toward the future."
Claire stared at him blankly for a while, "How is it that I feel like I haven’t said anything, yet you seem to know everything?"
"So things don’t need to be asked too much. You’ve been rubbing your wedding ring the whole ti you were talking. You clearly have doubts about him, but you don’t dare trust your own judgnt. You’d rather deceive yourself into believing everything will be fine. If soone has to rely on self-comfort to lie to themselves, the reality is often already beyond repair."
After saying this, rcer finished his NiCola, shrugged, and added, "I’m just an outsider; we’re not that close, so I won’t say more. You should think it over yourself, Claire. But from my perspective, you’re not a bad person, so the problem probably isn’t with you. Don’t be too hard on yourself."
V listened for a long while before finally grasping what the two were discussing: "Relationship issues?"
"No, we’re talking business," rcer said with complete seriousness.
V was taken aback: "What business? Doesn’t sound like it."
"Yeah, doesn’t sound like it to either," rcer replied before standing up decisively. "I’m going to see Rogue. Enjoy your drink."
V clenched her fist, staring daggers at his back: "Co back later and have a proper drink with ?"
"Sure, I’ll have a NiCola," rcer waved dismissively, striding confidently toward Rogue’s booth.
V fud as she watched him leave, then turned exasperated toward Lucy, who sat quietly masked and silent: "Why’s he such an ass? Does he act like this with you too?"
Lucy shook her head: "He jokes around sotis, but he’s not usually this an."
"Damn it! He’s just targeting his V, isn’t he? No way... today I’m gonna make him down a bottle!"
V slamd the table in frustration: "Get a bottle! I said bring a bottle of 400 Rabbits! I’m going head-to-head with him today!"
Kiwi interjected softly: "Did you forget last ti after downing a bottle? You swore off quick-drinking the next morning. And because of that, Rebecca and Pilar made tens of thousands of eddies off you, then you spent the night alone at ho..."
"Stop!" V cut her off hastily, then muttered with self-doubt: "Logically, with my physical condition, my alcohol tolerance should be rock solid, right?"
"Well, your ability to tabolize alcohol is pretty strong," Rebecca chid in smugly. "You drink fast, process it fast, and get drunk fast."
"Damn, but I sober up fast too!" V grumbled. "Sothing’s off. I need to go ask Vik about this later."
As the group chatted and laughed, rcer finally caught Rogue after she finished her business.
Brushing past a few unfamiliar rcs, rcer plopped casually onto the couch in Rogue’s booth: "Truly the Queen of Afterlife. Seems like you’re always busy."
"If a fixer has nothing going on by 7 PM, I’d say she’s probably on her way out."
Unfazed by rcer’s teasing, Rogue took a calm sip from her glass: "Get to the point. Why are you here?"
"It’s a data list I pulled from Biotechnica’s servers. Each entry is labeled with a na and a brief intro. If you’re interested, na your price, and the data is yours."
rcer used the sa pitch he’d given Wakako and handed the list to Rogue.
After a brief scan, Rogue let out a soft chuckle: "So this is the job Wakako sent you on."
"You knew?" rcer was surprised.
"Mhm. Care to take a guess who hired her for this job?" Rogue said aningfully.
rcer’s first instinct was to say Arasaka, but after a mont’s thought, he gave a completely different answer: "Militech?!"
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5500 words.
Bonus Chapter @2100 power stones and next one @2400.
More Chapters on patreon/AstartesTL
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