David: Come on out, man.

Jin: You fucking kidding me? I’m in the middle of a speech, here!

David: Trust. Once you come out here, you’re gonna wanna kiss me.

Jin: …in the mouth?

David: Tongue.

Jin: Motherfucker. Alright.

Just like that, I had gotten Jin to meet me in the hallway of his mansion, halfway to the media room. I carried with me a bag of BDs, and he honed in on that bag like a hawk.

“That’s not what I think it is, choom.”

“It is. And it’s fresh. The high-res shit, too,” I promised. “What do you think?”

He froze dead in his tracks.

Then he turned to his wall, and punched. His chrome fist punched clean through the cement wall, all the way to the wrist. He wrenched his fist out, grinning like a loon all the while, before turning to me. “You FUCKING BASTARD!” He rushed up to me and hugged me.

I could sense that he was trying to squeeze me to the fullest of his extent, but it didn’t hurt one bit.

Once he split off from me, he was all questions. “Which ones are these, choom?” He growled.

“The scav killings,” I said.

“How the fuck—“

“That’s for me to figure out, Jin,” I said. “I’m on the case, too.” I stepped towards him. “And get this,” I grinned widely. “I got that motherfucker on camera. D.”

Jin’s eyes widened. “No fucking way.”

“I got the footage of the gonk who dropped this shit off,” I said. “And it’s D. I’m sure it is. Either him, or it’s someone connected to him. Someone high up in the BD chain.”

“Holy fuck,” Jin cursed silently. “How?”

“I hacked every fucking localnet for surveillance footage, choom.”

He nodded along, still frowning in thought. “You said scavs. What about Tijuana? Actually, scratch that. What about the Tyger Claw rampage?”

I shook my head, clicking my tongue as I did. “Nah. Not them. Not yet, at least.”

Jin chuckled. “You got work ahead of you, choom. But,” he stepped towards me, and put a hand on my shoulder. “This is some good shit. I’m telling my dad right now. You’re on that task force, choom. One hundred percent.”

I blinked. “You sure?”

“Am I sur—bitch! You just got a lead on the BD trail! That’s money right there!”

I nodded in satisfaction. “Alright, then.”

“But hey,” he said. “Listen closely. Counter Intel ain’t a fucking joke. I can give you my co-sign and sing to those spooks until the fucking cows come home, but it won’t stop them from somehow figuring out a way to rub your ass out of the equation if you start rocking the boat too hard. Hear me? This is serious biz. These guys get paid to make mishaps happen.”

Get on their bad side, and they’ll make it look like an accident.

I nodded. “I hear you. But… I think I can do this.”

Jin laughed. He grabbed my arm and pulled me along, into the media room. “I believe you, choom. I do.” Once we reached the room, he addressed the remaining corpo brats inside. At this point, it was only Varian, Masaki and Kitty Galore left. Militech, Jin’s rival in Arasaka, and Zetatech. Hard-boiled motherfuckers. I had seen Ling Ruomei downstairs, and I had wondered about her specifically. Not so much Leon Öz, though. He was never a serious contender in this fucked up game.

“More D! Hot off the press!”

Varian stood up abruptly and glared at me. “How, motherfucker?”

“Company secret!” Jin grinned.

Varian looked ready to burst, but he held his temper in admirably. “Alright, then,” Varian said. “Which ones?”

Jin nudged me as we both proceeded down to the bottom of the auditorium. “The Scav Killings. Scavpocalypse.” Neither Judy or Reyes had seen fit to change the name of the BD series. “Nine BDs of Scav killings. Nothing on Jotaro Shobo yet. Or Tijuana.”

“And how the fuck did your bitchass get your hands on ‘em first?” Varian asked.

“I’ve been in bed with these XBD suppliers for a while now,” I said. “I hung onto D cuz I thought he had potential. And D, or maybe the supplier, wanted me to push ‘em into the corp circle for good publicity.”

Varian wrinkled his nose at me. “Can’t fuckin’ believe it. You’re just a fuckin’ XBDealer? That it? Some lowlife piece of shit?”

I frowned at him. “Got a problem with that?”

Kitty Galore just purred. “Leave him alone, Vary. Everyone needs to make a living, right?”

“Right,” I said, nodding at her. “Thank you for understanding.”

“Fuckin’ hell,” Varian spat.

Jin took over from then, mercifully enough. “Now!” he snatched the bag from my hand. “Who’s ready to liveblog some fresh-of-the-dome D content? I sure as fuck know I am!” he turned to me for a moment. “Invite the others, too. I’m sure we’ll get some interest.”

I chuckled. “Sure thing, boss.”

Jin looked at me for a moment. “You seen them, yet?”

“All of them,” I grinned widely. “They’re good, man. Trust me.”

He chuckled. “Fuck yeah!”

000

I went downstairs and did as Jin asked.

As expected, nobody took Jin up on his general invitation.

I didn’t force the issue. Now that I had some me-time, I looked for some alcohol.

I spotted Allister and Wallace—wait, Walter—chilling outside near the pool, playing a game of Holo Battleships on the pool, from the kitchen slash living room. I had no interest in chatting with them, though. I simply sent Allister a friendly greeting through text.

And promptly ignored his counter-greeting, implying that he needed something from me for the favor that he had done me for introducing me to Jin. Hah. Fuck that.

Rather than entertain all that nonsense, I grabbed myself a whole bottle of… something called ‘Everclear’. It was a rather ludicrously alcoholic drink. Ninety-five percent alcohol by volume, in fact.

I grabbed a bottle of apple juice and a glass to go with it, and went to the backyard, in search for a place where I could drink in peace, while making my phone calls as I did.

All the parasol tables and all the chairs were being used.

I sighed.

I walked up to one table and put down my drinks, and looked at all the corpo brats. “Fuck off.”

They looked up at me in befuddlement.

“Who the fuck are—“

I grabbed him by his collar, pulled him off his seat, and threw him into the turf.

Then I glared at the other ones. “Fuck. Off.”

They scattered.

I sighed in relief.

Then I sat down, watching them all scatter away.

I knew the score. Eventually, they’d ask around for the data on who I was, realize that I was with Jin, and immediately give up on any thoughts of revenge.

I started mixing myself a drink, all the while as I--

Just as I was about to call Lucy, I received a call from an unknown number.

I accepted it immediately.

D: Who’s this?

???: It’s Isabella, remember? Daughter of Selina, your mother’s sister.

Ah.

Her.

???: Apologies for the abrupt call, but I felt I had to tell you. Do you know about a man called Faraday?

I frowned. The fuck?

D: Start talking, cousin.

Isabella: He’s digging. And from what I can tell, he’s already close with your crew, no? Is this a big deal, cousin?

I sighed.

D: Thank you for calling.

Isabella: He tried to make your girl Kiwi turn. But she behaved. She’s gone now, though. But… to be honest, I wouldn’t trust that bitch.

Shit.

D: What do you mean ‘tried to’?

Isabella: It means what it means, cousin. Tried to. He tried. She hung up and blocked him. And then she fucked off. Halfway to Kenya by now.

I added a bigger measure of Everclear into my apple juice. Then I drunk the whole glass in one go.

D: Thank you, cousin. By the way. Are you still partying?

Isabella: Of coooourse!

Fucking hell. She was drunk.

D: Please be—

Isabella: Be serious? Hahah! Make me.

I couldn’t help but chuckle angrily. Then just chuckle at her audacity. And then just chuckle in amusement.

D: Alright. Tell me exactly what Kiwi said to this guy.

All the while, I sent the entire crew a message.

‘Faraday’s trying to fuck us. Night City’s still hot. Be cautious.’

Isabella’s message largely corroborated the same thing.

Except…

D: Kiwi. What’s her word?

Isabella: Nothing. She cut and ran without saying a word. In her defense, she had been trying to say her goodbyes since yesterday, but we didn’t let her leave.

Fuck.

I texted Lucy almost instantly.

‘Crash somewhere else from the apartment, Luce. Please.’

Lucy responded almost instantly.

‘Got the data before you did. I’m safe. And I trust Kiwi.’

Inadvisable.

Isabella: That’s all, really. Come by again sometime. When you do, please bring with you some preem programs from Night City. I can pay for them myself, so you shouldn’t worry.

D: Just text me whatever you need. Bye.

I hung up then and tapped my foot as I stared over the fence of the backyard, revealing more of North Oak’s giant lawn that stopped at a wall separating the subdistrict from the Badlands.

Trust Kiwi…

Nanny manifested next to me on an empty chair. [This is all on Faraday, anyway. We should be eyeballing him.]

Eyeball? That ship had sailed.

D: We should be looking for a way to flatline him.

Near me, something changed. A distraction in the area around me.

Why was I still here at this stupid party, and not immediately heading out to deal with this Faraday problem? But for now I was still stuck here, damnit. But even as my thoughts twisted in dark and darker directions, the chatter by the pool thinned, heads turning.

Despite myself, I looked up, wondering what the commotion was.

Ling Ruomei and her little coterie of Kang Tao girls were drifting my way.

No, scratch that. She was heading directly my way, passing through the groups of lesser corpo kids like they didn’t even exist, all of them parting before her like a sea of peasants.

My eyebrows raised when she took the seat across from me at my empty table. Directly across.

Across means respect, in their world, when interpreted generously. Less generously, it also meant: I’ll deign to pretend we’re equals for the next five minutes; and if you make me regret it, you will suffer.

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“David Martinez,” she said, expression unreadable. “A belated congratulations on your victory in the Nightmare Rally. Kang Tao loves a spectacle.” A faint curve played at the corner of her mouth. “Less impressed with you turning down my offer. We also prefer it when the city’s spectacles are on our payroll.”

Did Kang Tao’s princess in Night City really come over here just to give me shit? “Happy Memorial Week to you too,” I said, raising the glass. “Offer was generous. I’m allergic to collars.”

She smirked. “And yet you turned down my offer in favor of the Ryuzakis.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “I have my reasons.”

One of her hangers-on—some Chinese girl my age with all-gold hair, eyes, and eyebrows, like literal gold—opened her mouth. “Who do you think you’re even talking to, you xiāng bālǎo—”

Nanny translated that for me quickly, and I laughed. Something along the lines of country bumpkin, or yokel. Ten times harsher, more derisive than it sounded even when translated.

“Leave us,” she said to her hangers-on. She didn’t look at them. “And clear the area.”

Nobody argued. Her hangers-on dispersed, quickly spoke to the other corpo kids in the area. And before long, this entire side of the pool area was empty. We had almost the entire backyard to ourselves, though I was aware of the stares from farther off.

Ruomei watched them go, then touched the rim of her glass, not drinking.

“So,” she said lightly, “There are new D braindances upstairs. The scav killings. A… fresh delivery, I’m told. Someone very generous provided them.”

“Someone,” I agreed.

Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Where did you get them?”

“Company secret.”

“That excuse works for about five seconds,” she said, still light.

I said nothing. I just stared at her, wondering what this was about.

Unfortunately, this girl was too much of a smokeshow to just ignore. Even as… whatever this was, went down, she absently leaned her head back, slightly, folding her dark hair back behind one ear. She really did look like something out of a modeling billboard, looking at me with dark red irises that caught the lights and flared slightly, like smoldering coals.

She didn’t need to try to look seductive—hell, she probably wasn’t trying at all—but everything about her, from the lazy curve of her smile to the way she swirled her glass, radiated enough allure to make my throat dry, slightly.

I knew better though. This was Kang Tao’s princess in Night City. Daughter of Ling Xiaohan, one of the most powerful figures not only in Kang Tao, but in the Chinese Communist Party. Here to ‘study abroad’ in Night City.

David Martinez, an uplifted Arroyo hood rat, didn’t belong in the same stratosphere as someone like this… and as long as things stayed that way, good. This girl was more trouble than I ever needed to associate with.

Her eyes sharpened. “I’ll ask again. Tell me, David. Where did you get them?”

I met her gaze, my mental gears churning. There was something off about her tone. Yes, she was fishing for information, but… this wasn’t about the investigation, or Kang Tao, or Arasaka. She wasn’t even trying to frame it like that—if she had been, this would have been a very different conversation.

No, she was asking… for herself.

“You’re not asking for Kang Tao,” I said carefully.

Her smile widened. “Very astute.” She tilted her glass, watching the wine catch the light. “You see, I enjoy… authenticity. The uncut nerve of human experience. These recordings… they capture something I’ve never seen before.”

My skin prickled. What was really going on here?

“Aren’t you Jin’s supplier?” she asked.

I hesitated, then nodded once.

Her eyes lit up. “Perfect.” She didn’t bother with negotiation or subtlety—she just leaned back, a satisfied smirk on her face. “I’ll pay ten thousand for every braindance. No…” She licked her lips, almost unconsciously. “Fifty thousand. Each. From now on, indefinitely. Plus twenty thousand for copies of the same quality, up to the count of ten. As long as you keep it a secret from your employer.”

My jaw nearly unhinged. Fifty grand, per XBD? Twenty thousand for copies? I gave her a wary stare. What was really going on here?

“You think I’d keep this a secret from Jin?” What the hell was inside her skull if she thought I’d betray Ryuzaki for… chump change?

Honestly, it was almost funny.

She laughed, lightly. “The xiǎo huángdì?” Her voice was mocking.“My, aren’t you a well-behaved vassal?”

“It’s called professionalism.” Really, it was called ‘covering your own ass’. “Sorry to disappoint you, but the ‘little emperor’ is gonna know. Them’s the breaks.”

Ruomei sighed. “So be it. But you are amenable to supply me, are you not?”

“You’re my second priority, after Jin. But… yes. I don’t see the harm in letting you get some good looks in, after a point in which Jin doesn’t deem it too unprofitable for you to have your own high-res copies. But hot-off-the-skull BDs are out of the question, unfortunately. Jin’s got first dibs on those. Is that fine?”

Ruomei hummed. “I suppose it’s fine. Do we have an accord?”

I hummed. The money didn’t phase me so much as her interest did. This was an opportunity to have a corpo princess in my own private network. That was worth a hell of a lot more than the money she was offering. With Judy gone, guess I’d have to find a new braindance editor going forwards. “Fine. You have a deal.”

“Good.” She rose in one fluid motion, her hangers-on re-forming behind her like the loyal coterie they were. She glanced back at me, her eyes burning red—and after a moment, I got a text from her. It had various points of contact information. “Send them to Hou Ken. I’m going upstairs now…” she licked her lips. “To watch the scav braindances.”

And then she was gone, leaving the scent some smoky perfume in her wake.

I stared after her, still reeling. She… really hadn’t been probing me for intel for Kang Tao. That was something else entirely. What the hell.

[It seems Night City’s Kang Tao princess is fan-girling for the city’s newest serial killer. And now she has contracted you as her XBD dealer! Congratulations!]

I rubbed my face, grimacing as I saw dozens of corpo brats from around the mansion’s pool area all staring at me.

I rolled my eyes and focused on Nanny’s projection.

D: It’s just good biz.

[I never said it wasn’t.]

D: I can sense the doubt and sarcasm radiating off you.

[In my defense, I don’t really have to try all that hard to imagine all the ways that this can go wrong.]

D: As far as my long list of ill-advised gambits go, I’d put this one somewhere at the bottom.

I tapped my fingers on the table.

D: Anyway, she’s not important. Faraday is.

Fucking Faraday. My thoughts hardened, now that I was alone again, and I gave this problem every bit of my attention.

I wish I could say this betrayal was a surprise—Maine’s own fixer turning on us—but it really wasn’t. Maine had made his distrust of this particular fucker pretty clear almost from day one.

I called Reyes immediately.

D: Need data on Faraday. Movements. Where he hangs out—

El Capitan: Whoa-whoa what the fuck, D. What happened?

D: He’s poking around. He needs to go.

El Capitan: You sure do have bad luck with fixers, D.

D: Yeah. You’re not so bad.

El Capitan: The situation in the Afterlife is… muy complicado. On paper, you’re a folk hero. Everyone loves you. In practice, it won’t take much scratch for any of them to turn on you. Except Rogue. She loves you to bits. Word to the wise, get her to keep loving you. Do something for her only you can do.

D: As for the rest… no promises?

El Capitan: Never any promises when it comes to fixers or mercs. But you make an example of Faraday, people will listen. People will love you and fear you.

D: Just tell me how much for the data.

El Capitan: How’s fifty sound? With fifty, I can get my best chicos on the case. They’ll tell you exactly where you can nail him.

D: Good doing biz, Capitan.

I hung up.

Ugh. Who else do I gotta call, now?

Evidently, no one, as I just saw Fei-Fei walk out of the mansion, into the backyard, on her way to me while smiling. “Hey there,” she said. “Happy Memorial Week.” She wore a pretty white knee-length sundress, and a golden belt around her waist that glistened in the sun.

“You too,” I said as I got up from my seat and nodded at her. “Glad you could make it. Jin’s been… terrorizing his guests. The usual.”

Fei-Fei snorted. “I heard. I assumed you’d be attached at the hip to him, but I’m glad to see that you broke away.”

“For the time being,” I sighed. “Jin’s dragging me around like I’m his prize Pomeranian. It’s fucking exhausting.”

Fei sat across from me and I sat down again. She looked at the bottle of Everclear with a furrowed eyebrow. “Why?”

“I’m bored,” I shrugged. “And I got cyberware to sober me up if the need arises, so who cares anyway?”

“Is that… apple juice?” Fei asked. “Who uses apple juice as a mixer?” She stuck her tongue out in disgust. “You should use a lemon soda or a Nicola or something.”

“Efficiency,” I said. “Plus, I don’t like fizzy drinks.”

Fei reached for my glass and took a sip of it.

She made a valiant effort to not do a spittake. I could see it in how her face twisted up.

She gently pushed the glass back to me. “That was disgusting,” she whispered.

I chuckled. “A drink worthy of a drinking game, don’t you think? At least in this case, you’d want to avoid losing the game.”

Fei grinned at me, and shook her head. “You can’t goad me into something that stupid, David. I’m not a fifteen-year-old boy.” I snorted. “Anyway,” she went on. “What was that call you were just on? Seemed quite serious.”

“Oh,” I said. “Just… work stuff.” I frowned. “Speaking of work stuff, Fei. Uh… so some stuff happened. Remember I told you that Jin was eyeing me for vassalization or whatever?”

Fei raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“And Qiang assumed that I wasn’t owned by Arasaka.”

Fei nodded slowly. “So… you’re Jin’s vassal now? Officially?” I nodded. Fei sighed. “Well, for one, how do you feel about that?”

I sighed. “It is what it is. Wouldn’t have been my first choice, but Masaru Ryuzaki doesn’t take no for an answer. Helps that I’m getting something out of it, though.”

She nodded. “Are they treating you well?”

“Masaru is a hard-ass, but… yes,” I said. All in all, at least. “He knows about my QianT deal. Wants to see me go ahead with it. What I want to know is, do you think this changes anything?”

Fei frowned. “David, I don’t think Qiang will appreciate the double-dipping. But if you explain to him that you didn’t have a choice, he might let it slide.”

“What about the board?” I asked. “I’m Arasaka now. And Arasaka left you guys out to dry when they didn’t buy you out.”

Fei shook her head. “I think… Qiang’s the only one who really believes that QianT has a future. The board have been piling on more and more responsibilities on the main family, and my grandfather has… increasingly become unfit for leadership,” she spoke carefully. “The board would jump at the opportunity to make inroads with Arasaka again, or they might view it as an insult to have a lowly agent of theirs buy the stake. Either way, it’s Qiang calling the shots, now.”

“I should call him,” I said. “Set up a meeting and explain the situation.”

“Already way ahead of you,” Fei said, her eyes flashing orange for a moment. “I’ll let you know what he decides, and if we’re still on for Saturday.”

“You’re preem, Fei-Fei,” I nodded at her. I looked at her seriously. “And I want to thank you, with this special concoction I made,” I pushed the glass back to her. She pouted at me.

“If this is how you treat your friends,” she said, taking the glass, “Then I’d hate to see how you treat your enemies.”

I chuckled.

000

As the corpo brats filed out of Jin’s mansion, getting into their cars as they made their way to Japantown for the Omatsuri, Fei and I cut our merriment short. A bit into our hang-out, we had switched out the Everclear for more sensible liquors. Fei had only taken two sips of the death concoction before throwing a fit about how ridiculous I was being.

She even went as far as to mix for me a non-fizzy cocktail. A Bloody Mary of all things, extra on the hot sauce. I enjoyed the novelty more than I did the flavor. The vodka sort of… made everything taste like shit, no matter what was used to mask it. She drank a more conservative glass of champagne, which she insisted wasn’t champagne because it wasn’t made in France or whatever.

Tasted exactly like champagne, though.

Eventually, all good things had to come to an end. We were almost the last to leave, having lagged behind with Jin while he made sure to chase everyone out of his property, even the ones that had not gotten the point of ‘pre-drinks’ and were already blacked out in some of his closet rooms, utterly unconscious.

Eventually, we were the only ones left. Jin, Fei and I, standing in his living room, the former two doggedly ignoring one another. “Fucking hell,” Jin panted. “Fuckin’ hate this clean-up shit. ‘Specially those gonk-brained fuckers that went overboard with all the drinks.” Then he grinned and finally addressed Fei. “Hey, missed you at the XBD screening today.”

“XBDs?” she asked, looking disappointed. “That’s a real shame that I missed those.”

“Only got yourself to blame,” Jin said. “Anyway, you coming to the festival too, Fei? I can give you a ride.”

“I wouldn’t bother you with something so small,” she said, looking at me.

“Yeah, I—“

Then I received a call from Masaru.

“David will be busy for the time being,” Jin said, giving me a happy nod.

I took the call and walked away, giving Fei an apologetic nod as I did. I got out of the house and stood in front of the pool.

Old Shitbag: Congratulations. You’ve earned my attention once more. Twice in as many days have I had cause to notice you.

What the actual fuck was that supposed to mean?

David: I apologize profusely for the bother, sir. I did not mean to—

Old Shitbag: Hold your apologies, boy. You have not displeased me. On the contrary, you have impressed me. My son tells me that you wish to join the task force investigating the identity and whereabouts of this recent agitator, this D.

[This D. Heh.]

I held myself back from telling her to shut the fuck up in the nick of time—Masaru might have picked up on that.

David: I do, if it pleases you.

Old Shitbag: You believe that you can balance this commitment alongside QianT, do you? Or perhaps, you wish to prove yourself in another way after deeming the Tanaka situation an impossible task? I gave you a clear instruction, and now you wish to dodge responsibility by distracting and dazzling me with some greater task. You come dangerously close to displeasing me.

Psycho. Actual fucking psycho.

There was no other way to describe this guy.

Old Shitbag: But not close enough, thankfully for you. You may proceed. The task force has its first meeting in the NCPD.

I received a text message containing the details of the location, as well as a digital passkey that gave me the credentials to join the meeting.

Old Shitbag: I won’t make a move to save your life if the cost of that move inconveniences me in the slightest. You are on your own, boy.

David: You have my deepest and sincerest gratitude—

He hung up.

Jin put a hand on my shoulder, and my entire body tensed as one. “Whoa! Hahah! You good there, partner?”

I looked at Jin witheringly. “I’m good, partner.”

“What’d he say?”

“Thought I was weaseling my way out of the Tanaka case.”

“Hah! That’s creative. I’ll give him points for that one. He’s an expert in flipping good things into bad things just to keep you on your toes. But don’t worry. He’s nothing if not impressed.”

“Alright, enough good cop,” I put up my hand to forestall him. “I gotta go to pig HQ now to that task force meeting.”

“Good luck, choom,” Jin said as he stepped backwards, “Also, word to the wise—impressing the old man’s a double-edged sword. His reliance on you could prove burdensome.”

That burden would probably mean less me-time, and more running around at his beck and call.

Not that impressing him was the point at all.

We all play our own games.

Fei finally exited the mansion as well, holding a bottle of champagne in her hand. “You heading home?” I asked her.

“She’s coming with me,” Jin bobbed his eyebrows lasciviously.

“Hence the wine,” she dangled the bottle. “I’ll need to take the edge off his insufferable personality somehow. Plus, I really wanna see Us Cracks.”

“That’s hurtful!” Jin complained.

“Is it? Sorry, not sorry.”

“Too bad they won’t be playing until tomorrow,” Jin chuckled.

Fei groaned.

What the fuck was everyone’s obsession with Us Cracks, anyway? Even Lucy liked that shit. “Have fun.”

“You too,” she said.

“I will,” I said.

000

I had seen the building of Precinct One more times than I could count from the NCART line that went from Arroyo to Downtown, where Arasaka Academy was. I had cursed the building many times as well.

I had feared it, too.

Now, I was right in front of it, on the way up the stone stairs to the entrance to the nerve center of Night City’s law enforcement. None of the officers paid me any mind as I stood there, watching. They couldn’t afford to harass me. They knew how much money I was worth just from seeing me pull up on an Aerondight. They’d never even think to check if it was stolen—not that they’d find anything if they did. They just wouldn’t go that far in the first place on account of the suit.

All I needed now was a hardhat and a clipboard and I could probably walk straight into a bank vault without anyone questioning my credentials.

I walked into the NCPD headquarter and approached one officer without looking at them, instead just looking around. “Officer. I need you to take me to room four oh one B.” Not the meeting room for the task force. That was a few rooms over.

My instructions from Ryuzaki had been to go to the staging room for Arasaka, and share my findings with them.

“You here for the task force?” the man asked.

I NFC’d him my digital passkey. He immediately started walking. “Right this way, sir.”

I snorted. Easy. He took me to an elevator, and led me through the winding hallways, until I found it. Thankfully, with ten minutes to spare.

Before coming to this place, and after handing over some D BDs to Ling Ruomei’s huscle, Hou Ken (thus completing my business with her for the day), I had gotten a haircut, shortening the top to a near buzzcut. It had been an… annoying decision to make, but one that I felt had been necessary. There was a time where I, as D, went around with my hair out. Eliminating that minor similarity wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. The room I was about to walk into was filled with assholes all determined to grab me.

I had to make damn sure they couldn’t.

I stood before the door and took a deep breath. Inside, Arasaka’s Counter Intelligence team would be waiting. Some of the city’s best of the best. The company’s hunters of D.

What the fuck am I doing?

I exhaled slowly and reached for the doorknob.

Winning.