Sasha and Kiwi watched from the second-floor window as a barefoot Lucy walked through the company's orchard, stepping on the soft, damp soil that sharply contrasted with the dry, barren ground outside. She crouched down to look at a pumpkin or poked a tomato with her finger, caught in a mix of confusion and childlike curiosity that was hard to contain.
Many of the workers who were mothers would often glance away from their tasks to take a quick look at her, subtly keeping an eye on her so she wouldn't get hurt, almost out of unconscious instinct.
Although they didn't know why such a young girl was there or why she was allowed to play in an area with such valuable food, they had already been informed by their bosses.
"So, what are your plans for her?" Kiwi asked Sasha without taking her eyes off Lucy, with the vague feeling she had seen her before but unable to place where. "I doubt you brought her here without a plan, mom."
Sasha shot her a glare, bristling like a cat.
"Drop that joke already!" Sasha puffed her cheeks, frustrated that she hadn't intercepted the video Faelan had recorded and sent to Kiwi. "I just thought we both had a lot of work—we need more people to help us. Dorio and Misty already brought in recruits, how could I fall behind?"
"And your idea of recruiting is a ten-year-old girl?"
Sasha made a face at the response. She should have used a different excuse—just not that one.
Even though Kiwi's tone sounded neutral and indifferent, knowing her past in the factory and having spent enough time together, Sasha could tell there was an undercurrent of anger beneath it.
"I just wanted to give her a hand," Sasha admitted, dropping any pretense. "The kid's good at netrunning, so at first I wanted to see if I could recruit her. Imagine my surprise when I found out that talent belonged to a ten-year-old!"
Honestly, at first she thought it was someone older who had modified their body to look like a child. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd seen something like that…
"And?"
"I thought she was just another street kid when I found her…"
"You didn't overlook the deep-dive port at the back of her neck," Kiwi tilted her head slightly. "Even if her haircut helps hide it, the plate is still visible, and it's not hard to tell from her behavior that she doesn't want people looking at her neck."
"I noticed when I was bringing her in," Sasha had knocked Lucy out with a daemon—the difference in skill made it impossible for Lucy to escape her. "I don't know what she's been through, but it doesn't look like it was her choice to get that chrome."
Kiwi turned to look at Sasha.
"You want Fae to 'restore' her," she said. Though phrased as a question, her tone carried certainty. "Make her organic again."
That kind of implant at the back of Lucy's neck could only be replaced by another—it couldn't simply be removed.
And it would take someone highly skilled to handle that kind of technology; even Vik might struggle just to maintain it.
The implications weren't simple.
Wealthy people.
Corporations.
Sasha nodded. That was indeed her plan—and she explained why.
"I checked her programs while she was unconscious," she revealed, watching Lucy curiously bite into a tangerine without even peeling it. "She has some tracking programs running in the background. Every so often, when she's connected to the Net, they send a ping somewhere. I don't think she's aware of it." She sent Kiwi a diagram with the compromised parts highlighted in red. "Most of the chrome can be replaced, but I suspect it's all interconnected. That would trigger an alert and make things more complicated."
So the best option was to get rid of all the chrome at once, giving whoever was tracking her the impression that Lucy had "died" somewhere in Night City.
Kiwi nodded, but that led to the next question:
"Is she okay with that?"
Everything was just a house of cards if Lucy didn't agree.
Not because they couldn't do it—but because of Faelan.
They both knew what kind of person he was.
"I haven't told her yet," Sasha shook her head. "You've seen it too—she acts like a wounded kitten. I want us to at least be able to talk without her thinking we're plotting something. Let her sleep well, eat something good, you know…"
Then there was the fact that she had technically kidnapped her, even if Lucy had been the one to attack the company's servers first.
It was a delicate situation!
"Speaking of plotting…" Kiwi crossed her arms. "Who's going to pay for Lucy's new implants if she agrees?"
"I'll take care of—, hmm?" Sasha cut herself off as her optics flickered. "It's Cynta."
Kiwi raised an eyebrow. She hadn't received anything.
"A new specialized training program for each of us?" she asked.
But they hadn't even finished last week's. This was unusual.
"No, there's nothing attached—it's just a message," Sasha said, opening it and scanning its contents.
…
"Sasha?" Kiwi called.
"Uh, Kiwi? I think we might have a problem."
"A problem?"
"Arasaka."
Kiwi frowned and flicked Sasha on the forehead.
"Ow!"
Sasha snapped out of it and covered her forehead with her hand.
"Stop being so dramatic. We made a deal with Hanako Arasaka and everything went fine—it doesn't look like she wants to cause us trouble," Kiwi said. "So, who's the problem, and what is it about?"
Not to mention that if Hanako were the source of the issue, Cynta wouldn't be telling either of them.
"Is it Shou Tucker?" Kiwi wondered, recalling the man her boyfriend had mentioned.
"No, it's not Hanako," Sasha shook her head quickly. "Cynta says Saburo Arasaka has sent someone to 'invite' Faelan to Arasaka headquarters. Looks like Misty's 'initiation' was a bit too eye-catching…"
In hindsight, maybe it was.
"Then we deal with him too. Why are you so nervous?" Kiwi felt like she had gotten tense for nothing.
It wasn't like more people hadn't come with similar intentions since that day. The company had even gained some additional business—probably cover operations.
The polite ones left with something tangible for their bosses, even if it wasn't their original goal. The impatient ones left disappointed. And the rude ones… well, they never left.
It had been good practice for Dorio and that newcomer, Maine.
Sasha looked at Kiwi seriously.
"Because Saburo sent Adam Smasher!"
Kiwi stared at Sasha for a long moment.
…
"Adam Smasher?"
"Mhm."
"The guy who's more machine than man?"
"Mhm!"
A long sigh escaped her as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Wow, for a moment I thought it was a problem," Kiwi patted her friend on the shoulder. "Let Fae handle Arasaka's boogeyman—it'll be easy."
"I don't think you get my point," Sasha rolled her eyes.
They both knew Adam Smasher was basically walking to his death. That guy didn't stand a chance against Faelan—he wouldn't even get close before ending up turned into a flowerpot.
Even with a Sandevistan, it would only give him… what? Two extra seconds of life?
"What do you mean? Fae can handle him."
"We're talking about Adam Smasher," Sasha emphasized, placing her hands on her hips. "With what they say about him, aren't you worried he might bombard this place just to force a face-to-face with Night City's Druid because he's too lazy to look for him himself?"
Sasha wasn't worried about the fight—she was worried Adam Smasher would go berserk and destroy their stuff along the way just for convenience!
Kiwi blinked twice.
"Good point." Honestly, her mind had been more focused on what Saburo would do after losing Adam Smasher—she had overlooked that highly likely scenario.
They could have Faelan spend a few days in Night City, but at the same time, if that guy showed up, he might end up destroying several streets—and who knew how many innocent people would die as collateral damage.
That would be… troublesome for her conscience.
In fact, the best-case scenario would be for the two of them to meet somewhere out in the Badlands…
Dorio and Maine, just about to open the door to grab some water bottles after training, froze in place—sweating (even more than they already were) after overhearing the conversation on the other side.
Dorio only needed a moment to compose herself, realizing the girls were right—Adam Smasher was finished if Faelan was his target.
Maine watched as Dorio calmly opened the door, greeted Sasha and Kiwi, and walked over to the fridge to grab a couple of cold water bottles.
Was that nervousness just his imagination?
"Maybe I didn't hear the name right because I'm tired, and it's just someone with a similar name," he thought, desperately trying to rationalize the situation. "Yeah, that must be it."
Why would a legend like Adam Smasher come here in person?
To steal carrots from the orchard?