Chapter 48

Having received the Little Boss’s approval, I opened the chip, only to recognize the contact listed.

Panam Palmer. A woman from the Nomad clan Aldecaldos who resides in the Badlands.

Of course, we’ve met before.

Back in my Corpo days, I nearly had a client list stolen by the Raffens out in the Badlands. She was the one who helped me escape during that whole chase... well, she was a girl then, but she’s a woman now.

Feels like calling up an ex. We parted on good terms, sure, but we definitely did the deed, so it’s a little awkward.

The contact info’s still saved in my holo, but the last call was from years ago.

She’s probably going to say something like, “Why are you calling me now...?”

"Why the long face, V? Just call her already," said Jack.

"Hey, Jack... if I told you I knew the woman behind the contact, would you laugh?"

"...You’re seriously too much, man. Maybe ease up a little?"

"I haven’t done anything since quitting the Corpo. That was all just a form of escapism. These days, I’m doing well—having fun goofing around with you, even. Haven’t been that stressed, honestly. I’m living healthy."

"Hah, guess that’s divine intervention. ‘Love thy neighbor—but don’t love them too much.’"

"Maybe. ...Haaah, the girls are gonna give me that cold stare again."

"Like that’d be anything new."

"...Yeah."

As Johnny silently taunted me with a ‘fuck you’ gesture—his thumb and index finger making a ring and moving back and forth—I braced myself and called Panam using the outdated contact info.

『Hello? Vincent, right? Long time no see. How’ve you been?』

『Yeah, it’s been a while, Panam. I left the Corpo and became a cyberpunk. Been doing alright—well enough to get gigs like this, anyway.』

『A gig? ...Wait, don’t tell me. From that crusty, conniving old hag? Hmmm... I’m happy to talk to you again, but not thrilled about why we’re talking.』

『Sorry. I took a gig to recover some stuff that was stolen from you. You’re in trouble, right? Let me help you this time.』

『You already helped plenty that day. Because of you, I haven’t gotten a boyfriend since—Mr. Ever-Ready, Girthy Frank?』

『A-Ahaha... Is that really my fault? Maybe the others just suck in bed.』

『You’re great at finding erogenous zones, but when it comes to a woman’s heart, you’re clueless, V.』

『...Yeah, I hear that a lot. So, where should I head to? Let’s meet up.』

『Let’s see... Come to the drop-off point on Ponyta Street. I’m fixing up a clunker there right now.』

『What happened to that car? Wait... Don’t tell me... the stolen vehicle’s—』

『Exactly. That car. The one that was our little hotel on wheels. Someone stole it. I’m gonna kill them the moment I find them.』

『Ah... Right. I’ll head there now. Want me to come alone? I’m working with a team these days, so we usually roll together for stuff like this.』

『Nah, that’s fine. It’s been three years—honestly, I’d like to see the kind of crew you run with.』

『Haha... They’re a lively bunch. I think you’ll like them.』

『That so? Well, I’ll be looking forward to it. See you soon.』

Panam ended the call with a smile that had grown more alluring since I last saw her.

...She’s really grown. She used to have that cute charm, but now she’s full-blown beautiful.

Even through the holo call frame, it was clear how much she’d blossomed.

Ponyta Street, huh? That’s just before the eastern Badlands.

Kang Tao’s transport AVs run a route that skirts the southern and eastern Badlands, so the Aldecaldos’ territory must be somewhere in the southeast.

Otherwise, Rogue wouldn’t have suggested I work with them.

The Badlands wilderness sees its fair share of hurricanes, so it’s the kind of place only those familiar with the terrain can survive in.

And the Nomads have that kind of strength.

Because I once benefited from that strength, I could seriously consider Rogue’s proposal.

"If Nomads are involved, better bring Vally too. Evelyn’s not dead, so it’s about time she got back to work."

"Yeah. Let’s just meet at the location. Give her a call."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Feels like I’m getting saddled with all the annoying stuff, but I don’t trust Jack with it either.

He’s fine with guys, but when it comes to women—aside from Misty, he’s clueless. No idea how to handle the nuance.

When I holo-called Vally, she picked up immediately.

『You free, Vally?』

『Yeah, I’m good now. Judy visiting Evelyn seemed to help—she’s stable again. This is about work, right? Should I take the Thorton?』

『Glad to hear. This job involves Nomads, so I wanted you on board. I’m marking the meeting point now. Share the team map with me.』

『Got it. ...Oh, looks like I’ll get there first. I’ll be waiting.』

After ending the call, I nodded to Jack and climbed into the Delamain.

Jack plopped down in the passenger seat, so I took the wheel.

Once I gave Delamain the destination, it quietly started moving—the steering wheel turning on its own.

Ponyta Street is near the industrial zone between Japantown and the eastern Badlands.

On the way there, I shared the mission details with Vally and Sasha, making the recovery of Panam’s stolen car our top priority.

"Still, can’t believe the target’s one of your downstairs buddies. Night City’s smaller than I thought."

"I told you, it was a clean one-night stand. Well, okay, maybe we did it a few times... The adrenaline from the escape probably triggered our survival instincts. Yeah, that must be it."

"...Was Corpo-V that much of a menace? You sure she didn’t hide a kid from you? There might be a mystery child out there."

"No way. I’ve got implants managing my testicular function—always in safe mode. No risk of cuckoo’s eggs here. I’m not about to take responsibility for a one-nighter like that."

"You’re really thorough when it comes to sex... Thoughtful, from a woman’s perspective, I guess."

Ignoring Johnny’s mocking gestures from where he lay across Delamain’s hood, I received a not-so-cold, almost lukewarm stare from the girls.

What can I say... If I hadn’t taken that route, I’d probably be doped up on stress meds, puking my guts out.

Most Arasaka employees can’t rely on horizontal relationships. Your coworkers aren’t friends—they’re rivals to beat or annoyances to crush.

Even the Frankfurt leak incident was probably just internal drama made worse by outside interference.

"Haaah... It’s not like I was born a womanizer. It just happened that the only escape route led straight into the bedroom. Not my fault."

"Oh, she ran away. She did the deed and dashed!"

"Shut up. Want me to spend the night with you, brat?"

"Kyaaah, I’m gonna get violated—wait, come to think of it, when I had my limbs blown off by a shotgun, I didn’t get raped, so I’m technically still a virgin. Guess I was too gory, huh?"

"Unless someone’s got a very particular kink, nothing’s getting it up in that scenario. Well... the usual advice applies—do it with someone you like."

"Ehehe, guess I better get Jugra-san to take care of it, then."

"Nah, Jugra... or maybe? I dunno. She seems pretty normal, but maybe she swings both ways."

"For someone who’s bi, she’s got great chemistry with David, huh?"

"David, huh... Yeah, she just treats him like a regular guy friend. That’s why I trust her. If she made a move, I’d know what kind of person she really is... She might throw a little material my way, but I doubt she’d go all the way."

The three of them nodded in unison with an "ahh" of understanding at my speculation.

It depended on the Little Boss's feelings, but from the outside, David looked like he was in that space between more than a friend and less than a lover—what you'd call the best friend position.

Too far to cultivate love, too close to nurture just friendship.

…It’s complicated. Well, the Little Boss is a teenager, after all. It's all still ahead of them—probably.

They say if you meddle in someone’s love life, a ninja in a mask will kick you out of the shadows on horseback, so I should probably just stick to being a sounding board.

While we were chatting about that, I saw a familiar sight in the distance—Thorton.

Valerie had already gotten out and was talking to someone by a nearby car... Wait, isn’t that Panam?

She’d said she was fixing up her clunker, so she was probably helping out.

By the time we pulled up nearby, the repairs must’ve been done, because the two of them high-fived and looked pretty happy about it. Damn, they’re close.

I got out of Delamain and walked over to them, only to be completely distracted by how much Panam had matured.

…She used to be flat, but now she’d really filled out.

As I was thinking that, Panam ran over to me with a big smile on her face and gave me a bone-crushing hug as a greeting.

…This girl’s a D—no, an E…?

"Vincent! Long time no see! You’ve really bulked up!"

"Yeah, and you look like you’re doing well too, Panam. Unlike the old job, this one’s all physical labor. Couldn’t stay a scrawny bean sprout."

"Nah, you always had a pretty insane lower body, remember? You still running?"

"Mm, here and there. I hit the gym sometimes. …Thanks to the Little Boss, I’ve gotten kinda famous, and now I’m scared of every shadow I pass."

"Heh, sounds like you’re going full cyberpunk now. I wanted to try something new too, so I started working as a merc. My first gig was a courier job, but the guy I partnered with from Six Street double-crossed me—took my car and the goods. The timing was too perfect for it to be a coincidence, so it had to be him. Hah, what an idiot. You’d think people would’ve learned not to get greedy and blow it by now."

"Agreed. Seems like you caught the eye of someone scarier than your average merc. The Rogue you’re working with is one of the top fixers in Night City. If she asked someone to clean up the mess..."

"Yeah… I lost her trust and got cut loose. And now, Killzem’s pet crew—you guys—showed up. Nash’s luck ran out. Well, I’ll be settling things with his head."

"Hahaha… Killzem?"

"You don’t know? There’s talk about a fixer who acts as a counterbalance to grudges, bitterness, and injustice. Every single one of their targets ends up dead, no survivors."

"Ahh… that kind of story…"

Yeah, definitely a name we picked up from how efficiently Team One handles jobs.

Though, aren’t we pretty bad ourselves? What’s my current kill score again?

『As far as I know, your score is one hundred and seventeen. Damn, you’ve killed more people than most cyberpsychos.』

Seriously? It was mostly scavengers, but still, for that many bodies to drop and never hit the news…

I pictured Little Boss walking a dog wearing an N54 collar in my head.

No—more like, it just never makes it to the surface.

…Come to think of it, didn’t we cooperate with the NCPD during that Biotechnica job?

Now the leash’s end is sporting an NCPD logo too. It’s basically Orthrus now.

Maybe it's just that we’re hitting gang hideouts and offices, places no one bothers searching. Even the Little Boss probably can’t cover all that up.

Or maybe it’s just that our combat style is built around stealth kills, so nothing leaks.

…Yeah, that makes more sense. The Little Boss always tells us to avoid flare-ups too.

Which means there are still corpses left behind?

…They won’t get found until they start stinking, huh. I really don’t wanna be that guy.

"Anyway, back to business. They're using a ghost town called Rocky Ridge as their hideout. Since the Raffen Shiv guys were involved in the heist back then, that jerk's probably their pawn. He’s acting as a vanguard coming in and out of Night City. He’s targeting nomads like me who try to leave the Badlands. Figured we’d just cry ourselves to sleep since we’ve got no clan to fall back on."

"Hm? You're not with Aldecaldos right now?"

"…Let’s just say I ran away from home for a bit. You know how Biotechnica fell apart? Saul—the clan leader—had plans to cozy up with the corp, and when that failed, he started spinning out. He even started talking about teaming up with Militech. I tried to talk him down, and he told me to get out. This kind of thing’s happened before, so I set it up so someone will contact me when Saul cools off. Until then, I figured I’d try some new things."

"I see. In that case, how about we give you a job? We’ve got a big one on our hands right now."

"Oh? Sounds good. Once I get my car back, maybe I’ll head back to Aldecaldos. And thanks for helping with the repairs, V."

"It’s no big deal. We’re both nomads, after all. So, V, you ride with Panam, and I’ll take the Thorton."

"Yeah, sounds good. Let’s do that."

"By the way, what kind of car is that? I’ve never seen anything like it."

『Nice to meet you, Ms. Panam. I am Delamain, subordinate of the great fixer Jugra. This vehicle was once a taxi belonging to the Delamain Corporation, which Jugra modified to possess the durability of an armored vehicle and the speed of an F1 car. It is a one-of-a-kind original.』

Panam looked utterly stunned by Delamain suddenly speaking, her mouth opening and closing like a fish before turning to me.

Don’t look at me—it’s not my doing. That’s one of the Little Boss’s subordinates. If anything, they’re more of a superior to me in the chain of command.

It looks like any other car on the outside, but apparently it can deflect anti-material rifle rounds. Freakin’ terrifying.

Panam cautiously looked at Delamain, then let out a long, almost lustful sigh of desire.

Yeah, I get it. Nomad V looked just like that the first time too.

"Self-driving cars? Doesn't that completely ruin the courier business...? Maybe I should just quit."

"Nah, handing off cargo's still tricky... though there was that time with the 《Delamains》. Are they getting into logistics now too?"

『There are currently no such plans. The transport industry is vast, and disrupting it could cause chaos in Night City, so we have been instructed not to interfere.』

"So basically, if they weren’t told not to, they’d be doing it already..."

"Well, it's the Little Boss we're talking about... They've been raking in way more than your average rich punk. If they wanted to, they could."

"Eep... You really are lucky, huh? Just like back then. You quit your corpo gig, and now you’re practically back on top?"

"Yeah, I’m aware. When it comes to real-life luck, I’m pretty solid. Even met some amazing women, after all."

When I teased her with that line, Panam’s cheeks turned faintly red. She muttered “Idiot,” and hurriedly climbed into her car.

I figured maybe I’d pushed it a bit far—until she unlocked the passenger side door, only to slam it shut again when I tried to open it. A little prank in return.

When I looked over, she stuck her tongue out with a playful "bleh." Geez… Still a handful, huh? What a cute little wild filly.