"We're back."
"Nothing happened on the way, right?"
"Of course not. Everything went smoothly."
Karl greeted Mama Welles, and when she noticed V behind him, she smiled warmly and stepped forward.
"You must be V. I've heard about you from Karl and the others."
"Hello…"
V looked at her smiling face, paused a mont, then smiled and reached out to shake her hand.
"I'm V."
"And I'm Viktor."
Old Vik had already arrived, though no one noticed when. He patted V on the shoulder and nodded.
"Just call Old Vik, like Jack and the others do."
"You're the ripperdoc they ntioned?"
"Yep, that's . If you ever need to patch up your chro, co see . I promise I'm as good as anyone back in your clan."
While Old Vik and Mama Welles welcod V, Jack had drifted over to Misty, who had been watching V curiously from afar. The two began chatting, while Karl and Oliver headed to fry up so French fries.
Tonight, all the kitchen equipnt had been moved to the pool table area in the Wild Dog Bar. Everything was cooked fresh, on the spot.
"Make them crispy. Can you even cook?"
"Why don't you do it then? All you ever do is talk while refusing to lift a finger."
Oliver rolled his eyes but kept working the fryer. He asked:
"You're heading to Arasaka Tower tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Like I ntioned before—I've got a bodyguard job there."
"Bodyguard at Arasaka Tower… be careful."
"I know. It's Arasaka's central hub in the Aricas. There'll be a ridiculous concentration of high-value targets. Wouldn't be surprised if soone tried sothing."
"That's not what I ant."
Oliver kept his eyes on the frying basket.
"I an if things go south—run."
"I'm the bodyguard. Running's not really part of the job description."
"Screw the job. If it's your life on the line, you run. You're more important than a paycheck."
Oliver stirred the fries with the skimr.
"With all the Arasaka top brass in one place, if sothing goes down, it's gonna be corp-on-corp bloodshed. Don't get involved. Just bail."
He glanced at Karl.
"Last ti, you lost both arms on a mission. I don't want to see you co back missing legs—or worse, not at all."
"Not co back…"
"If it were a normal job, I wouldn't say anything. You'd have , T-Bug, Jack—we'd back you up. But tomorrow? You're solo. None of us can follow you into Arasaka Tower. You'll be deep in a viper's nest. If things go wrong, even storming the tower might not be fast enough."
Karl was silent.
Oliver continued, voice calm but serious.
"This ti, Karl… if you cry for help, we won't hear it."
After a few seconds, Karl replied quietly.
"I understand, Oliver."
"That's all I wanted to say. Jack and the others feel the sa. You're the sharpest one in our crew. Just don't die. If it gets bad—run."
Oliver began scooping the fries from the oil.
"If you can reach a safe spot to ping us, we'll charge into Arasaka Tower and pull you out. Rember—you're not alone anymore."
"Yeah."
Karl nodded with a smile. He didn't care about calories—he grabbed a fry straight from the tray.
Still sizzling hot, it didn't burn his hand. That arm, barely damaged yesterday, had already been patched up by Old Vik last night. It looked good as new.
He blew on it a few tis, then popped it into his mouth. No salt, no ketchup, just pure golden crunch and the earthy aroma of potato starch.
His eyes lit up.
"Damn, Oliver. Didn't think you had it in you. These are great."
"Of course. I just never had a chance to show off."
Oliver accepted the complint with pride.
Just then, T-Bug arrived.
She already knew Mama Welles and Old Vik, but this was her first ti eting V in person. After exchanging greetings, she strolled over to Karl and Oliver, peeking curiously at what they were frying.
"Are those fries?"
"Yup. Karl's favorite snack here. Might not beat Mama Welles' version, but I've got so confidence. He even complinted . Wanna try one?"
T-Bug wasn't in her usual black ops outfit today—just casual wear. Intrigued, she eyed the cooling fries and picked out a smaller one.
"Careful, they're still hot," Karl warned.
But T-Bug's cybernetic eye flashed with data.
"This one's the coolest of the batch. I already scanned it—it's safe to touch."
"You're scanning fries with your optics…"
Karl watched her nibble the fry, chewing slowly and thoughtfully. Before he could ask, she gave her verdict:
"Another few seconds in the fryer would've improved the texture. And while plain fries are decent, they lack depth—so seasoning would help."
"Wow. Professional."
Karl chuckled, knowing she based her judgnt on the data fed through her sensors.
T-Bug looked at him again while munching on another fry and casually remarked:
"You're going to Arasaka Tower tomorrow."
Sa line. Sa concern.
And Karl gave her the sa serious answer.
He didn't say "Oliver already asked ." He just wanted his teammates to feel reassured.
But it didn't stop there.
"You're going to Arasaka Tower tomorrow?"
Now even Jack, Misty, and Mama Welles—all who'd heard about it—started asking with worry in their eyes.
Being worried about…
Karl couldn't help but feel a little awkward.
But also… just a little warm inside.
.
.
.
📢 Chooms, Listen Up! 📢
You can now jack in and get 100 chapters ahead on Patreon for Cyberpunk: The Relentless! 💾🔥
Stay synced with the chro, the carnage, and the chaos—early access is stacked and ready. 🧠💀
🔗 Join here: patreon/c/MrMagnus👤 Patreon na: SrMagnus
Preem support as always, chooms. See you in Night City. 🌆💫
Reviews
All reviews (0)