Underground factory office.
"Voodoo Boys have already learned that Arasaka Raisen is holding a Relic chip, and they know the construct inside is Johnny Silverhand. For some reason, they're determined to get their hands on it. They've started contacting fixers and mercs across Night City, looking for someone to take the job." V summarized the current situation.
Xu Zhong asked curiously, "The Voodoo Boys dare steal from Arasaka?"
"Arasaka's stuff? Never. But this time they're stealing from Arasaka's prince, not from Arasaka itself. I've also leaked the rumor that Raisen and Saburo Arasaka are on bad terms. Raisen barely has any security—only Adam Smasher."
"One Adam Smasher is already insane, okay!"
"Exactly, which is why the Voodoo Boys must steal, not attack openly." V continued, "I've warned every fixer in Night City not to touch Raisen. As an Arasaka employee, that is a very reasonable move."
"Then doesn't that mean no fixer can take the Voodoo Boys' gig?"
"That," Mercedes Stokes said, biting her cigarette, "is when I make my move. No one dares ignore Arasaka's warning—except Militech. I have a fixer working for us, someone named Faraday. I've ordered him to approach the Voodoo Boys."
"Faraday? Never heard of him. Can he actually pull it off?"
"Relax," Stokes said confidently. "I gave him the complete holo-map of the penthouse suite in Konpeki Plaza. Everything is labeled—where the Relic chip is, even where Raisen keeps his recreational pills. This is exclusive intel. Voodoo Boys have no alternative."
Xu Zhong blinked. "How do you even have that data?"
"Of course I provided it," V smiled. "Konpeki Plaza is Arasaka property. To me, it's like a backyard garden. On the day of the operation, I'll reduce the net security to a single operator, giving the Voodoo Boys maximum infiltration support. And to make sure the 'main characters' arrive at the right place at the right time, I'll lay down a temporary ICE layer myself."
Xu Zhong still found it hard to believe. "Arasaka Raisen will really kill Saburo Arasaka? That's his father."
"I built a behavioral model based on Raisen's personality. There's an 88.3% chance he'll do it. That's after running 670 million simulations. The electricity bill alone cost me over twenty thousand."
"What if it's wrong? It's not 100%."
"Then I'll handle it." Joanne Koch finally spoke. "I've prepared a compound—colorless, odorless, spreads through air ducts. Anyone who inhales it becomes violently irritable with extreme aggression—won't feel right unless they kill someone."
Xu Zhong nearly jumped. "You have something like THAT?!"
"It wasn't easy choosing," Koch sighed. "I have over two hundred similar compounds. I'm terrible at making decisions, it took forever to pick one."
Xu Zhong: …That's not what I thought you meant by "not easy."
"Don't be shocked. That's just how Night City doctors are," V shrugged. "The Konpeki Plaza penthouse has an independent air circulation system. My staff there will release the compound into it. No risk of collateral damage. If Raisen doesn't have enough courage, we'll give him some. Of course, this is only a backup plan—we'd rather not leave traces."
Xu Zhong swallowed hard. He couldn't imagine how, in this shabby office, a few people could casually determine the fate of one of the world's most powerful figures.
His fear quickly turned into excitement.
He had lived nineteen years following rules, but rebellion was etched into his bones.
Challenging authority, defeating authority, dragging authority down into the abyss—this is the highest form of romance.
"Fine! I'm in!" The young section chief practically glowed. "What do you need me to do?"
"The most important step," V said. "We planned so much, but if Saburo Arasaka never comes to Night City, everything collapses. To lure a whale, first we need bait."
"Bait?"
"Who does Saburo fear—or watch—most closely?"
Xu Zhong looked at Stokes. "Militech?"
"That was before. Now it's definitely Kang Tao," the blonde woman said bitterly. "After learning about that stupid Three-One Strategy, even I'm scared of Kang Tao!"
"Eh?" Xu Zhong scratched his head. "But we didn't do anything. We just worked hard, did overtime, followed instructions. The bosses told us: Kang Tao still lags far behind advanced corporations like Arasaka and Militech. Your products are better, profits higher, so you get better benefits. If we want that life too, we must work harder, never slack."
"Jesus, what kind of corporate propaganda is THAT?" Stokes cursed. "We're jealous of you! Fifty-year labor contract and you get Trauma Team Gold membership for free! My people dream of jumping ship to Kang Tao!"
The 19-year-old section chief and the blonde exec stared at each other, then sighed at the same time.
They weren't stupid—just trapped in their own corporate echo chambers.
They understood everything, but couldn't say it.
"Fuck the corp," Joanne Koch muttered suddenly.
The others didn't dare say it, but she did. Her loyalty to corporations was consistently zero.
The four of them exchanged looks and laughed.
Maybe they weren't friends yet, but they were less distant.
"Back to business." V tapped the table. The other three immediately straightened.
"As I said, Saburo is wary of Kang Tao. He will never allow Relic tech to fall into their hands. To lure him here, we must create the illusion that Kang Tao is about to obtain Relic."
Xu Zhong nodded slowly. "Anders Hellman?"
"Exactly." V projected Hellman's holo-profile. "This guy is the chief engineer of Relic. He possesses everything—from design to production. He secretly assisted Raisen in stealing the prototype chip."
Stokes nodded. "So you got dirt on him."
"Of course. My Counter-Intel division isn't ornamental. I sent Hellman the record of his theft. He instantly panicked and tried contacting me, asking how much I wanted. I ignored him. The unknown is scarier."
"So Hellman decided to defect?"
"No. First he confessed everything to Saburo Arasaka, sold Raisen out completely, then decided to defect."
The other three: …
"But if Saburo didn't kill him, why flee?" the inexperienced Xu Zhong asked.
"Because he understands Saburo," Koch sneered. "You think Saburo didn't kill him because he forgave him? No. Maybe Saburo was just in a good mood—drinking good tea, enjoying a view. Another day, in a bad mood, he could kill him for no reason at all. Section Chief, don't compare these people to us. They share our appearance but not our values. They are a separate caste, with their own culture and social structure, and they never interbreed with us—biologically they're practically a different species. They see us the way we see livestock. The corporation is the barn."
Xu Zhong shivered, fists tightening. "At least… Kang Tao isn't like that."
Koch glanced at him. "You sure?"
He didn't answer. Probably because he couldn't.
"Off-topic," V reminded them. "Social structures aren't our concern. Our job is the mission."
Koch nodded politely. "My mistake."
V continued, "Hellman wants to defect, but he can't decide between Militech or Kang Tao. So I let Stokes 'help.'"
Stokes sighed. "We started an internal purge. Caught plenty of Arasaka spies. They're all sleeping with the fishes now. If Hellman still has a functioning brain, he won't choose Militech right now."
"That leaves only one option," V said, looking at Xu Zhong.
"Kang Tao," he answered.
V smiled. "I leaked a little intel to Jiang Ping. She already contacted Hellman."
Xu Zhong's eyes widened. "So THAT'S what she's been sneaking around doing…"
"Right. They agreed on a price. But Arasaka influence in Night City is too strong—smuggling Hellman out requires only one method."
"Qian-Te Subsidiary," Xu Zhong said immediately. "Not under the Kang Tao name—hide him under Qian-Te and smuggle him out."
Stokes snorted. "Old trick."
"Old but effective. Effective enough that Jiang Ping blocked my people." V looked at Xu Zhong. "So intel from Qian-Te is up to you. Get me Hellman's extraction time and route. Understood?"
"Yes! I guarantee completion!"
Xu Zhong jumped up and saluted.
The other three stared until he awkwardly lowered his hand. "Sorry. Habit."
"Section chief?" Stokes mocked. "Chief my ass."
Everyone had secrets.
V included.
Xu Zhong was a good kid—but too green for these three dangerous women.
His face reddened like a baboon's ass until V stepped in. "Alright. Enough nonsense. Get to work."
—
A week passed in a flash, like a Tankbuster losing power—over before you feel anything.
Rumors swirled across Night City:
"Arasaka Raisen brought treasure of unimaginable value—if you want it, go to Konpeki Plaza!"
The story warped into wild shapes, drawing in every merc from newbies to the slightly-less-young-noobs.
You ask why no old mercs?
Because mercs don't live long enough to be old.
Like fireworks, they explode brightest right before shattering into pieces.
The lucky ones leave a drink behind; the unlucky leave a few second-hand cyberware parts.
Most leave nothing at all.
Faraday sat in the best booth in Afterlife, sipping red wine. Lately he was riding high— the only fixer with insider intel, suddenly showered with attention. Mercs fawned over him, companies and city officials probed him for information. Limousines, fancy dinners—daily routine now.
His left eye was organic, his right held three vertically stacked cyberoptics—earning him the nickname Four-Eyed Fixer. He hated it, but what choice did he have? No background, no status.
High-value contracts were monopolized by famous fixers. To survive, Faraday had thrown himself into Militech's arms. Still, no one cared about him.
But that was about to change.
This job would make his name shine across Night City!
The elderly woman in a yellow jacket hurried by—Rogue Amendiares, Night City's top fixer and owner of Afterlife. Faraday once looked at her with awe; now he only felt disdain.
Only those backed by corps have a future.
He was recognized by Militech.
He would rise.
Those old fools who refused corporate deals could rot in the trash.
He drained his wine. Time to meet his Voodoo Boy friends.
—
Underground factory.
V clicked her tongue. "This Faraday is trash. Doing a job this big and he shows up in a Valefor Alvarado V4F-570 Ambassador. That's a gang car! What is he doing, treating Raisen like a street punk? Even renting a normal exec van would've been better!"
Stokes was furious too. She yelled at her subordinate, who then yelled at his subordinate, who yelled at HIS subordinate—the actual Militech handler in contact with Faraday, the so-called "big shot."
Faraday got chewed out hard and forced to switch to a Delamain Executive car with a full-day Precision Package.
V didn't choose Delamain to help the old AI—she simply needed the scapegoats to survive long enough to be framed. Dying inside Konpeki Plaza was useless; escaping was necessary to muddy the waters.
The Voodoo Boys were amusing. Initially cautious—scouting Konpeki layouts, trying to find a merc to act as a front. But as the Relic rumor spread, they panicked, terrified someone else would take the prize. They rushed negotiations with Faraday, sent both their leader and second-in-command. Every part screamed sloppy and unprofessional.
Even young Section Chief Xu Zhong said:
"Cautiousness leads to hesitation and indecision, while action leads to rashness and recklessness——these idiots can't accomplish anything."
V never expected them to.
They were the scapegoat—showing up already meant success.
At least this meant Evelyn Parker never got involved. No braindance recording in the penthouse.
V approved.
Stay in your lane.
Why provoke corporations and ruin your life?
If you're good at one thing, stick to it. Even a chicken can be legendary if it climbs high enough.
But those were side stories.
Xu Zhong soon returned with the extracted schedule from Qian-Te.
V looked over the data and nodded. "Just as expected. Their route passes over the power plant outside the city. So tell me: if their AV suffers a sudden malfunction and falls into the plant… and if I just happen to be passing by… wouldn't I—out of humanitarian concern—lend a helping hand?"
Xu Zhong's eyes lit up. "You mean…?"
V smiled. "Grab your gun, Section Chief.
It's our turn."