Chapter 50

As I thought Thornton was headed toward the deal location... something felt off about the road.

Why are we heading down the freeway? I glanced beside me to find Panam grinning ear to ear, flipping the bird toward what looked like a cave.

"...Panam? What about the deal?"

"Well, I thought we might be short on supplies. This is the place they said Nash was holed up."

"...Hah. Well, fine, I guess. I’m still collecting the reward though. This is outside the job."

"Sure, no problem. As long as I get to hear that asshole’s death rattle. One night at the motel cool with you?"

"All-nighter it is. I’ll front the cost, just cover it up for me."

"Thanks. You’re the same as ever, Vincent."

"And you’ve grown a lot, Panam. Back then you were all flat and skinny."

"Well, I was a teenager."

"...Huh? You never told me that?"

"Of course not. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have touched some innocent little girl, right?"

"This one’s on you, Vincent. Good thing we’re out in the Badlands, beyond the reach of the law."

"Shut it."

Johnny snickered and kept egging me on, but Panam didn’t seem to mind a bit.

Sigh... this is why women from the Badlands are something else. No birth records, just fakes or whatever story they spin.

Anyway, I should inform Team Holo that we’re continuing the mission. Just tell them some of the stolen goods are missing.

Once I got the okay back, I gave Panam the go sign. She grinned and floored the Thornton.

...We're way too close to the cliff wall!!

Damn it, this is why I can’t stand women from the Badlands!!

Same as Vally—Nomads are often car freaks, and just as often, maniacs behind the wheel.

Panam ran over some guys loitering mid-road, splattering the Thornton red, and casually raised her middle finger again with her free hand.

The place we arrived at was a makeshift hideout, formerly a relay station for the mines.

First things first—pop open the window and toss in a flashbang. Let them regret ever noticing us.

I quickly shielded Panam’s eyes, protecting her from the brief flare of light in the dim surroundings.

『Overtime’s starting, motherfuckers!!』

"...You sure there’s not some personal grudge mixed in here?"

Hiding behind the rocks, I readied the Nekómata and started a quickhack.

Hah, weak-ass ICE. I’m already through. Take this, visibility jam demon!

And while we’re at it, eat some chemical contamination—contagious type, at that!!

Even though Jack and the others hadn’t caught up yet, the gunfight had already broken out, so I just said screw it and started lobbing everything I had.

Like grenades I borrowed from that Raffen Shiv's belt—tossed them over, and fragments burst through the wire mesh, shredding the guys covering their eyes.

It felt like shooting ducks. Until a bullet grazed overhead in return fire.

Huh, nice gear. I’ll pick that up later.

I rolled a flashbang from the opposite side of the rock, and the shooter, thinking it was a muzzle flash, shot at the decoy.

Location was... looks like the second-floor office. Heh, amateur.

Charged the Nekómata and shot him in the torso, followed up while he was down, and finished the job.

Tech sniper rifles are no joke. Cute name, but deadly bite.

『This the festival grounds?! Hell yeahhh—Die, you bastards!!』

『Nice and flashy. Makes it easier for us to move.』

『You’re awfully fired up, huh? What was the bonus, I wonder?』

『Oh, it’s coming out of Vitt’s account, by the way.』

...And Sasha found out.

Actually, Vally’s intuition is insane—was that a straight-up guess or what?

Well, she’s not wrong, so I can’t really deny it!

Goodbye, ten thousand eddies. Sasha, you’re absolutely ruthless!?

Guess I’ll just take all this resentment and unload it on the Raffen Shiv. Heh, now this is getting fun.

"...How do I put this—your whole crew’s just combat freaks. Including you, by the way."

"Give it a few months and Panam’ll be just like us."

"I will not! In fact, I’m quitting the mercenary gig—I refuse to end up like you people!"

Does she even get to say that while firing a Grad out of the Thornton’s trunk?

She’s got the brightest damn smile while turning people into minced meat.

With all that chaos done, we moved into cleanup... but the stench from the corpses Panam blasted with the Grad was awful.

She really didn’t hesitate blowing out someone’s torso.

"Panam, if you’re using that, aim for the heart or the head. You’ve scattered undigested crap and used-to-be-life everywhere."

"Huh, there’s a method to killing?"

"It’s about cleanup, dumbass. You shoot below the gut, and this is what you get. The ones we took down look decent, right?"

"Oh, you’re right."

"If this were a frequently visited place, it’d be a damn nightmare to clean up."

Noticing the horror in front of her and catching the stench downwind, Panam approached, face pale and wincing.

Hey, don’t try to neutralize the smell by pressing up against me.

The hell with that, you adorable little menace...

『You’re so damn whipped. Try matching your words to your actions, teen-fucker.』

(...You’re one to talk!? A 7P with fans? What are you, cheese?)

『...Things just clicked with the booze, you know? You get that, right? Mood’s everything.』

(Shut up, underage-fucker.)

Don’t shrug at me like that. You’re just as bad.

Kinda frustrating that I actually get where he’s coming from.

I nudged Panam from behind and searched for Nash’s body. Looked like it was the guy holding a modded tech rifle.

...A modded Achilles, huh? Let’s bring it back and check the internals.

It’s always fun inspecting scavenged mods. Feels like finding treasure.

"I thought you didn’t steal anything valuable?"

"This is just a hobby. It’s fun seeing stuff others put so much work into. And the owner’s clearly fine with me taking it without a word."

"...Well, whatever. Let’s see... ah, here it is. Safe key. Hopefully there's something worthwhile inside."

While poking around the office, we found a safe under the nap bed. When we cracked it open, it had cylindrical medical supplies inside.

"Thought so. There weren’t any Delamain Pharma antibiotics around, so someone must’ve hoarded them. Out in the Badlands, meds are essential, but getting them is a nightmare."

"Heh, now that you mention it, Delamain doesn't supply the Badlands."

"Probably because they know they can’t charge for consultations. Not that they turn people away, so I can’t complain."

"Well, Little Boss is a businesswoman too... she’s probably just trying not to play favorites."

"That reminds me, your crew rode in on a Delamain, didn’t they? I always thought Delamain was just a taxi company—what’s going on there? Some kind of AI rebellion or something?"

"Nah, uh... it’s hard to explain, and I don’t really have solid proof. If I had to put it simply... Little Boss ‘first-love-killered’ a Delamain that was starting to develop emotions and got it to stick around, I guess."

"...The hell does that mean?"

All I could do was give Panam a vague, awkward smile at her baffled expression.

To be honest, even Little Boss was on the receiving end—just doing her business and somehow ended up getting fallen for and served by a smitten AI.

...And the fact that she just rolled with it is so like her.

Little Boss hates discrimination. She makes distinctions, but not judgments.

She welcomes anyone, turns no one away. Except drug dealers and scavengers—they’re the line. She treats everyone else the same.

That’s why even after flipping off Arasaka head-on, no one can lay a hand on her.

Why? Because the story of her mouthing off at Afterlife has spread around so much it’s basically a myth now.

From a different perspective, she’s said to be the closest thing to a cyberpsycho, and yet she’s terrifyingly sane. People believe her actions come from that duality.

Apparently, the whole incident of her grafting two Arasaka military test models onto herself caused a massive stir.

Plus, there’s a rumor she’s got the rest of the cyberware as well.

...One of them is clearly the electromagnetic-accelerator projectile launcher embedded in my left arm.

...I tried to ignore it, but Vanny’s arms and legs seem to have that same build too.

The firepower on those gorilla arms of hers is off the charts, and those mantis blades that shoot from her shins? They move like an acrobat’s and tremble faintly—so sharp it’s scary.

She’s got the whole set, and she’s using them already. Isn’t that just peak insanity? ...Yeah, I’m done thinking about it.

"Anyway, that wraps it up. Now go make the drop, alright?"

"Haha, there’s nothing more after this, promise. Honestly, this part of the deal was the main thing, so not having it would've been the problem."

"...If you’d told me that from the start, I wouldn’t have treated it like an extra job, you know?"

"Sorry?"

"...Sigh, whatever. It was the Sunset Motel, right?"

"I said I got it. This thing doesn’t even have a nav system, so don’t bother looking."

Cracking jokes and bantering at a scene covered in splatter... I’ll never get girls.

As the sun set and the team disbanded on-site, those of us staying at the motel were casually left behind with a “You get it, so take care of it.”

Watching Panam handle her business in the parking lot, I passed the time by checking out her finely sculpted butt.

Whenever I get some quiet time like this, a thought crosses my mind.

...What is Little Boss trying to make us do?

Little Boss—Jugra Kagura. A sixteen-year-old girl, and already a fixer with a piece of Night City under her belt.

And she’s supposedly taking on a job just to help me extract this embedded Relic?

It’s clear she wants to do something with Relic.

Otherwise, I don’t get why that contrarian Johnny keeps singing her praises.

She must’ve said something to him during my heart transplant.

"...I don’t get it. Hey, Johnny, what is Little Boss really carrying?"

『...Did you think I’d be easy to sweet-talk, you coward? That girl’s trying to play god. Unconsciously. Because she sees everything, she ends up thinking she’s all alone—and she’s terrified of missing something. ...Even I don’t know her full reasons. But she wants to accomplish something using me. ...Otherwise, she wouldn’t have done that to her body before she’s even married.』

Johnny, slouched in the passenger seat, looked bitter without even pretending to enjoy his cigarette.

『That girl, she added four arms just to save you. That jacket—sure, it’s clearly got a bit of respect for me, but the real reason is to hide. A heart transplant isn’t something you normally do alone. But she doesn’t trust anyone. She’s a ball of distrust. She can’t count on others, but she can’t grow extra limbs either—so she physically added more arms.』

"...What?"

『Man, it was a sight. From your limp-ass perspective, lying there unable to move, I looked up and saw three pairs of arms spreading wide. She had this stone-cold expression—looked like a damn angel. She did everything alone, brought you back to life, and you know what she did after that? Tried to kill herself. Took the scalpel she’d been holding with her bare hands and went for her own neck. And two pairs of mechanical arms stopped her. Absolute madness. ...That girl’s already a cyberpsycho. She’s completely lost it, and yet she’s still sane. ...How the hell do you watch someone like that and stay chill?』

Johnny crushed his barely half-smoked cigarette in his left hand and let out a deep sigh.

I... couldn’t say anything.

Cyberpsycho? I recall Little Boss as she always is.

Laughing with Jack and the others, being looked after by Delamain, going out with David—those scenes come to mind.

I can remember them—clearly—

"This is where it all begins. It begins... and finally, the day will come when it can end."

In a pure white space, Little Boss appeared, the tip of a scalpel cutting her throat, a thin trickle of blood trailing down.

Before the small hand clutching the scalpel could drive it in deeper, mechanical arms gripped her wrist and joints, stopping her.

Was this... Johnny’s memory?

No, this was Johnny seeing my point of view through me—my memory.

Eventually, the Little Boss in that memory gently placed the scalpel on a silver tray and, with her tiny hand, held mine.

『You two are the ones who can end this. Isn’t that right, V, Johnny?』

...Guh— The memory snapped like a taut thread, and my vision returned to reality, where I was once again staring at Panam’s ass as she talked with our contact.

Johnny, who’d been beside me, had disappeared. He must’ve been pretty drained too.

...Ahh, now I was sure of it.

By chasing the Relic, I’d uncover whatever it is Little Boss has been hiding.

And if I can pay her back for the life-long debt I owe her, then I’ll see it through.

First, Anders Hellman. I will get my hands on him.