Chapter 25: Roland’s Bafflement

Roland stared blankly at the sudden pop-up from the System, completely bewildered. He couldn’t recall doing anything that might’ve changed the storyline.

“System, explain.”

“...Host, your encounter with Maine altered his mindset, indirectly leading to a deviation in the narrative.”

“His mindset changed…”

Roland frowned deeply. From what he remembered, he had a good impression of Maine—like an older brother figure. Right now, though, the guy was just a green rookie soldier.

“Your meeting with him sparked a desire to become a legend. Originally, Maine only became an Edgerunner out of circumstance, but now his perspective has shifted. Because of you, he may either die sooner—or grow even stronger.”

Roland’s face stiffened. He sighed helplessly. To become a legend in Night City meant getting more Cyberware. Maine, after all, had gone Cyberpsycho from too many augmentations, even though it was just to protect his friends. And now, with the added dream of becoming a legend… well, blessing and curse always came hand in hand—though the curse seemed far more likely.

“Right, Lissandra, how’s our collaboration with that company coming along?”

“They’re still hesitating, no response yet.”

“Hesitating? Sounds more like scheming. Tell them if they don’t give us an answer by the day after tomorrow, we’ll move on to another partner. Oh, and make sure to tighten the company’s security while you’re at it.”

Roland snorted in annoyance, though the situation still gave him a headache. Night City wasn’t just filled with powerful megacorps — there were plenty of smaller firms surviving off their scraps.

Of course, there were also tech companies like his own, carving out a niche through independent R&D. The one they were dealing with now was among them, though its reputation wasn’t particularly great.

This partnership had been initiated by the other side, and Roland wasn’t one to turn away paying clients. After all, most companies already knew he collaborated with major players like Arasaka and Kang Tao, so they rarely tried anything reckless.

However... what Roland didn’t expect was that this particular company would turn out to be a bunch of stubborn fools — or worse, gamblers, betting they could steal PROJECT Corporation’s tech and use it to catch the megacorps’ attention.

 ...

Late at night.

“That’s the PROJECT Corporation building…”

Rook parked the car at the roadside and pointed toward the distant tower marked by a glowing inverted triangle.

Hearing that, Gauge and Kiwi nodded. They grabbed their gear and stepped out of the car.

“Hey, Kiwi, be careful.”

Brew suddenly called out after her, but Kiwi didn’t even glance back. She just kept walking straight toward PROJECT Corporation.

“Quit staring. Take it from someone with years of experience—you don’t stand a chance, kid.”

Roxy clapped Brew on the shoulder, blunt as always.

“Didn’t have to crush my hopes like that…” Brew sighed, hanging his head.

Meanwhile, Kiwi and Gauge had already reached the front gate.

“I’ll take control of the main gate’s surveillance feed and then head to the Backdoor. Keep an eye on the front—if the security lights flash red, let me know immediately.”

“Got it. Don’t worry.”

The moment Gauge confirmed, Kiwi’s eyes flickered with a faint orange glow. In the vast sea of data, she quickly located the entry point.

The surveillance cameras at the entrance blinked a few times, then turned green. The feed conveniently rotated away from Kiwi’s position. She slipped through the blind spot and vanished inside.

Before long, she reached the back door, connected her electronic monowire to the terminal, and began hacking the lock.

“Sir, your company is under netrunner attack.”

“What?!”

Roland jolted at Lissandra’s announcement, spilling red wine all over himself. Standing there, dumbfounded, he felt like fate was handing him one surprise after another today.

“What’s going on? Pull up the footage.”

Lissandra immediately brought up the entrance feed. Roland narrowed his eyes. Even at a glance, he spotted something wrong—a clear blind spot in the camera’s coverage.

“Override the system. Scan the area.”

“Understood.”

At that same moment, Gauge saw the feed flicker red, the camera slowly panning toward him. Startled, he dove into a corner and contacted Kiwi.

“Kiwi, it’s red!”

Kiwi froze mid-hack, her brows furrowing. She hadn’t expected the system to respond that fast.

“Looks like some little thieves made it to the backdoor… Lissandra, send a few security bots to check it out.”

Roland leaned his chin on his hand, amused. He wanted to see which foolhardy rookie had the guts to break into his company.

Click.

With a sharp snap, Kiwi unlocked the back door and slipped inside. It led to a storage room packed with uniforms and miscellaneous supplies.

Her eyes gleamed. She quickly stripped off her own outfit and changed into a janitor’s uniform. Peeking through the door, she confirmed the coast was clear, then slipped into the hallway.

She immediately reported her status to the team.

“Kiwi’s in. Everyone get ready—the company’s already on alert.”

Roxy turned to the others. Hearing that, Rook and Brew tensed up, grabbing their weapons and checking their gear.

“Gauge, I need a distraction. Can you handle it?”

Kiwi spotted a few security robots approaching and spoke into the comm channel.

“Got it. Leave it to me!”

Gauge responded quickly, pulled down his visor, drew his handgun, and opened fire on a surveillance camera.

On Roland’s end, one of the screens went dark, immediately triggering the building’s alarm system. Within seconds, dozens of automated security bots began converging on the main entrance.

“Ugh… idiot…”

Kiwi sighed deeply. If she’d known his idea of ‘distraction’ was shooting the cameras, she wouldn’t have asked him.

But what was done was done. All she could do now was finish the job fast.

She sprinted deeper into the facility, hoping to snatch the data before the bots reacted.

Watching the chaos unfold, Roland’s mouth twitched in disbelief.

This was beyond unprofessional—
Where the hell did this chrome-brained hotshot crawl out from?!