Chapter 91 - 87 Witnessing Cyber Psychosis: Turning a Deaf Ear (Part 1) (Sixth Update)

Having decided to do things their own way, there was no need for excessive communication with the middleman.

The trio chose to continue drinking at the bar while sorting out their next moves.

V raised a hand, "First off, we should buy a car."

Lille disapproved, "Veto. Only buy a V340, or you’ll definitely regret it."

Jack asked, "Why? Is this job that hard on vehicles?"

V replied, "Yeah, why? I want to buy a sports car!"

Lille sighed, "This job is complicated. First off, who do you think commissioned Faraday?"

The two exchanged glances, with V speaking up first, "Another corporate schmuck from a rival company."

Not bad, making progress—Lille clapped lightly.

Most mercenaries would think working for a middleman is different, not like working directly for corporate goons.

But in reality, it’s not.

The questioning wasn’t over, as Lille asked again:

"So which is it? Arasaka, Military Technology, Ye Group, or the synthetic food processing company across from the apartment building that I can’t name?"

"How would I know? I’m not the middleman—If we’re talking Biotechnology rivals, Moore Technology? Their businesses seem to overlap quite a bit."

"I think it’s Arasaka."

Jack and V were startled, unsure why Lille would say that, especially since Arasaka was a real behemoth.

How would Lille explain? He didn’t need to, he had his hacks already.

The Nightingale Plan’s client was Military Technology, and the only company always targeting Military Technology could only be Arasaka.

Timing wise, Military Technology had probably already breached commercial monopoly clauses, secretly launching stuff to the Moon, and exposed the matter to the European Space Agency.

Arasaka’s intelligence department was probably tearing their hair out figuring where to find a city, and their counter-intelligence department would have a hefty body count.

Moreover, Arasaka couldn’t directly investigate Biotechnology for a reason—they had certain security contracts between them, and if an investigation of the employer leaked, Arasaka’s reputation in the private security field would be severely damaged.

Faraday might not have even met anyone from Arasaka; such things are sure to leave no trace.

Of course, considering Faraday’s mysterious and rare method of commissioning jobs, he might have taken other gigs too.

Arasaka would somehow get involved in the Nightingale Plan—in a twist of fate, Lille also had an entry point, which was the experienced Tribe Red Ochre.

But Moore Technology, as mentioned offhand by V... If they could be dragged into this, all the better.

Lille pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "We’ll start with the Tribe Red Ochre, as they have ties to Biotechnology. We’ll first figure out the nature of their collaboration, and then see if there’s a chance to hack in through this opportunity.

We might have to make a couple of trips to Evil Land, so we’ll need to keep equipment ready in the car. We need to buy a sturdy, reliable vehicle.

Or we could just use this Mackinaw, if need be we’ll pay a bit extra to Red Ochre and buy it from them."

Lille and his group still had two V340s stashed at the Tribe Red Ochre, which they had snatched from the Six Street Gang; if need be, they’d just pay a little extra to make a swap.

Deflated, V responded after hearing this, "Sigh, so when can I buy a sports car then?"

"After we finish this job."

"So, are we heading to Tribe Red Ochre now?"

Just as Lille was about to respond, he noticed unread messages and missed calls on his phone.

He had set his communications to silent earlier to talk.

The sender: Hector.

Lille immediately realized—something was wrong.

Hector: Lille, how have you been? One of my kin has run off, Cedric Malle.

Hector: You haven’t met him; he’s been cooped up in a tent for a while. After getting the slow-release stimulant, he felt much better. Yesterday, he said he couldn’t take it anymore, and now he’s gone.

Hector: Navi said he might have headed to Night City and even took a gun when he left.

Hector: He might have gone to Biotechnology for revenge.

Hector: If possible, could you lend a hand? Navi has already gone after him, but I’m afraid they might run into trouble.

Lille: Okay, I’ll check it out.

Hector: Thanks... also, someone in our tribe has died, and Cedric moved the body. If you can, could you bring the person back?

Lille: I’ll do my best.

Hector’s replies came quickly, showing he was constantly watching the communication interface.

But seeing the name, Lille frowned and pondered for a while, finding it very familiar.

So he sent another message.

Lille: Which implants does Cedric Malle have installed?

Hector: He’s skilled.

Hector: Recoil-dampening limb system, enhanced limbs, reinforced tendons, built-in stimulants, tactical prosthetic eye, bionic joints.

Lille: What brand?

Hector: The tendons are from Moore Technology, everything else is street vendor quality. He modified the Tactical Prosthetic Eye himself.

Lille: Do you know what version of ICE he’s using?

Hector: No idea, but we can’t afford the good stuff.

Lille: What about weapons?

Hector: A budget-model shotgun from Firepower Productions, he modified the balance himself, it fits like a glove.

Lille: Got it, that’ll do for now.

Lille immediately got up from his chair and said to the two, "We’ve got work, someone named Cedric at the Red Ocher mess dragged a corpse to Biotechnology for a showdown. Navi is chasing him, let’s see what’s happening."

Jack and V promptly downed their drinks on the counter in one gulp.

"Then let’s go."

...

Navi from Red Ocher was speeding through Night City’s traffic in the Tribe’s Viper.

He was in a hurry—

Cedric was a big brother in the Tribe, with many Prosthetics installed on himself. He usually helped the Tribe with car modifications and fights.

Though the big brother wasn’t pleasant to talk to, he was genuinely devoted to the Tribe, which was evident since he was among the first to volunteer as the guinea pig for Biotechnology.

The Wanderer Tribe was like a big family. It might be hard to completely like someone, but when trouble arose, everyone pitched in to help.

Ding-dong—

Caller: Jack.

Jack: "Navi? Are you chasing Cedric? Do you have his location?"

Navi: "Jack! I do, all the Tribe’s cars have trackers, he didn’t turn his off, but he’s driving too fast, I can’t catch up!"

Navi: "I’m sending it to you now."

After sending the information, Navi also called Cedric.

Cedric: "Hello? Kid, cut the crap, I know what you want to say. They killed Andri!

Many haven’t even recovered yet! If you’re coming, bring weapons and help me wipe out those biotech bastards, or else stop fucking bothering me!"

The call cut off before Navi could even speak.

"Don’t do anything stupid..."

...

Cedric was driving a modified Galena Gecko—this was no ordinary car.

The standard Galena wouldn’t last a minute in the desert, but this one was different.

Its windows were replaced with military-grade bulletproof one-way vision armor. The entire front of the car was reinforced. A 360-degree high-definition camera was mounted on the roof, along with a small Javelin missile launcher.

Fueled by recklessness, the exhaust ports breathed flame. The exaggerated speed and noise showcased the driver’s frenzy, other vehicles on the road gave way.

Ding-dong.

Cedric was calling someone—Brandon Murphy.

Finally, the call connected.

Cedric: "Murphy, our people are dead, what the fuck are you going to do about it?"

Brandon Murphy: "Per the agreement, you knew the experiments could be risky..."

Cedric: "But it didn’t include death! Look at Andri now, and my nerves are killing me!"

Cedric: "It’s like some motherfucker put an oscillator in my brain!"

Brandon Murphy: "I don’t care about that, I thought you were coming to deliver the body for our research, if there’s an issue, Biotechnology is the only one that can find a solution."

Research?

Cedric’s mouth twitched, but he suddenly calmed down.

Cedric: "Right right right—fuck you, get the research done, then find us a solution!"

Brandon Murphy: "Then come to the location I’m sending you, we’ll take care of it."

Cedric: "Not the Biotechnology Building?"

Brandon Murphy: "No—could involve biohazard, company needs to confirm contamination status first."

Cedric: "Damn you... alright, I’m on my way there."

Brandon Murphy: "That’s more like it, the company won’t leave you guys hanging, we’ll find another solution."

Another solution?

Fuck your mother’s X, sandiw@@#%...()

Cedric’s eyes suddenly flickered in the camera feed.

It was the image distortion caused by data stream corruption.