"Militech's intel network has confirmed it," Meredith Stout said. "It really is Saburo Arasaka."
"Biotechnica reached the same conclusion," Joanne Koch added with a shrug.
"I've been watched closely by Jiang Ping lately, so I can't access much classified stuff," Xu Zhong said. "But Kang Tao's alert level has been raised to Red."
"Red?"
"The highest alert level. Full readiness for war. Including… nuclear war."
"Relax. Saburo Arasaka won't get a chance to fire a nuke."
V turned around. "Release the Blackfish. Let the actors take their positions. The show starts now."
So began the most spectacular day Night City had seen in years.
"The Delamain cab has departed from Pacifica. ETA to Konpeki Plaza: 19 minutes, 24 seconds."
"Too slow. Lucy, transferring control permissions for traffic management to you. Clear the routes—get the travel time under fifteen minutes."
"Understood. Red stop, green go. Easy."
"Stout, double-check the identities Militech prepared."
"Brigitte's alias is Harry Conville, and Placide's is Ramon Victorino. Both identities are properly inserted into Militech's personnel database—nothing fake about them except the fact that they are. I even prepped two Militech tailor-made suits. Guaranteed foolproof."
"Good. Sasha—Arasaka's side?"
"The meeting logs have been overwritten. Arasaka Security Representative Hatsuo Takigawa will meet with Militech Sales Representatives Harry Conville and Ramon Victorino for a routine weapons-trade negotiation. Meeting Room 4, estimated duration three hours, approved by Arasaka Security Division, and charged directly to Konpeki Plaza's business office—600 eddies total, discounted to 599.4."
"Well done. Notify Carter—Counterintel stays on full standby. What about the Kujira?"
"No activity yet. No staff entering or leaving, by air or ground. Considering it's only 9:24 a.m., maybe Saburo Arasaka is eating breakfast."
"Fair. He's the VIP here—we match his pace, not the other way around. Keep watching. I'm going to take control of Konpeki Plaza's network."
"Copy."
V extracted her personal data-cord from her wrist and jacked into the Konpeki access port.
There was no need for Flathead this time. Her identity gave her direct access to the building's internal net.
As her consciousness submerged, V dove deep, gliding through the sea of zeroes and ones. Soon she saw a massive digital fortress—Konpeki Plaza's ICE, its anti-intrusion bastion.
"Thick as expected. Last time T-Bug needed hours to crack this. Here's hoping I'm faster."
With that, V launched her one-woman siege.
Zeroes and ones roared to life. The digital fortress awakened. Bytes sharpened into blades; code solidified into spears—elite soldiers charging the intruder with battle-cries.
V raised her hand. Her computing power surged, condensing into a brilliant white pillar—like an orbital laser descending from the heavens, annihilating everything in its path.
Blades shattered. Spears disintegrated. Satellite-class firepower versus medieval weapons—there was no contest. When the beam faded, a massive hole gaped in the once-majestic wall, fragments of zeroes and ones tumbling like ruins in the physical world.
Time elapsed: 12 minutes, 44 seconds.
V lowered her hand.
She'd surpassed T-Bug—without even noticing.
Looking at her digitized self, V felt a strange vertigo. This—this felt like her real body. Flesh was only a shell. A cage. A—
"V, the Delamain cab has arrived at Konpeki Plaza. Brigitte and Placide are heading to the lobby."
Her thoughts snapped. V exited the Net.
"They're going through security. So far, so goo—"
Before "good" could finish, alarms shrieked violently.
"Fuck. Those two idiots brought guns? Didn't we tell them Konpeki prohibits weapons? They think this is still Pacifica!"
Brigitte, at least, had some worldliness. Placide, however, was a shit-brick from a latrine—hard and smelly. Plaza security already had hands on holsters, and he still puffed his chest, barking, "No one takes my weapons!"
V pinched the bridge of her nose. "Carter."
"On it."
A concierge stepped in, intercepting the security team. After checking a tablet, he bowed deeply.
"Ah, apologies for our mistake. You're guests of Takigawa-san, yes? Please, come in."
Alarms cleared. The pair passed the checkpoint. Placide shoulder-checked a guard on purpose, muttering a Haitian insult and snarling, "Watch yourself next time."
Security nearly snapped, but the concierge held him back with a stiff smile.
"Welcome to Konpeki Plaza."
Only then did Placide strut off.
The lobby manager whispered into her collar: "Threat resolved. Sparrow returning to standby."
Carter replied, "Swan to the front desk."
"Swan is in position."
"We want to check in," Brigitte said, lowering her voice as if that would make her less suspicious—when it only made her look more suspicious.
But the receptionist maintained flawless professionalism.
"Of course. May I have the name on the reservation?"
"Conri Javier."
Her smile cracked for a split second. With unholy effort, she forced it back into place.
"You mean Harry Conville, correct?"
"Ah, yes. That. My mistake."
Everyone listening over comms collectively face-palmed.
You can't even say your own fake name right? Holy shit.
"Found you. One king-bed suite, two adults, one night. Correct?"
Should've just said "yes" and moved on.
But Placide—
"Our customs forbid unmarried men and women sharing a bed. Change it to a twin-bed room."
"Fuck!"
The comm channel erupted.
"That dumbass thinks he's here on vacation!" Meredith Stout crushed her metal cigarette case in rage.
"Booking a room is just a distraction. They're not actually staying overnight. Why complicate it?" Xu Zhong muttered helplessly.
Joanne Koch delivered the nuclear take:
"I view all ethnicities equally—just moving slabs of meat. But honestly, after today, I must conclude the average intelligence of Haitians is significantly lower. I'll factor this into future sampling to avoid contaminating results."
The receptionist nearly broke—but bypassed regulations entirely and force-assigned them a room.
"Your suite is ready—Blackfish Suite, 42nd floor."
SID-chip verification should've followed, but she skipped that too—anything to get these two out of her sight.
When the elevator doors closed, everyone exhaled.
The receptionist slumped in place. She'd handled Counterintel ops before, but nothing had ever drained her like these two clowns.
"Threat resolved. Swan returning to standby."
Swan sounded like she'd aged ten years.
Even V said over comms, "Good work."
"Handling these two idiots is harder than baiting Saburo Arasaka!" Meredith Stout cursed endlessly.
True enough. If V hadn't prepped everything, Brigitte and Placide would've been shot to pieces at the Konpeki entrance—long before stealing any Relic.
And yet these two were proud.
Inside the elevator, Placide smirked.
"Arasaka's nothing. Konpeki Plaza—so terrifying, right? We walked right in."
Brigitte showed a hint of restraint. "Don't get cocky. Even if we're excellent, never underestimate the enemy."
"Relax, boss. I know my limits. So—after this, that four-eyed fixer…"
"He knows too much. A foot-rag to be discarded. We'll give him a quick death as thanks."
"I'll do it. I hate his voice."
"Fine."
Every word was captured by the elevator's mic—Voodoo Boys' cruelty laid bare.
Xu Zhong, still new to Night City, asked, "How can a gang this awful even survive?"
Sasha, a veteran netrunner, explained:
"One, they stay in Pacifica. Small population, isolated. Two, their netrunning is superb. They extort the rich—don't pay, they brick your implants. If they piss off the wrong person, they hide in Pacifica. NCPD can't reach them there. Case closed."
Xu Zhong blinked. "That's not a gang. That's… thugs."
"They're also trying to punch holes in the Blackwall and abandon their humanity to join rogue AIs," V added.
"Holy shit. If the Blackwall breaks, humanity is fucked!"
"So yes—thugs, and traitors."
Everyone suddenly felt much better about using the Voodoo Boys as scapegoats.
Stout lit a cigarette.
"The Old City Renewal Project is almost done—no more big profits. The Corporate Alliance needs new work. How about… clearing out the Voodoo Boys?"
Joanne Koch grinned.
"Love it. The rich hate them; we'll easily secure a fat budget. As usual—30% for actual work, 70% stays internal. Clean up Night City's tumor and 'protect humanity.' A triple win."
V agreed.
"Sure. Draft a proposal. I'll push it at the meeting. It'll pass."
Xu Zhong hesitated. "Am I… allowed to hear all this?"
Stout snorted. "Didn't you already join us? Once Jiang Ping is out, you're Kang Tao's representative. Speaking of—didn't you already collect evidence? Why haven't you moved yet?"
"I sent everything back to the Shenyang HQ. I'm waiting for orders."
"Ugh. Kang Tao's fine except for the bureaucracy."
"What, you prefer Militech's chaos? Brain-fart orders, constant reversals?" Koch rolled her eyes. Biotechnica's bureaucracy was legendary—seven forms just to request toilet paper.
"Doesn't matter. We're high-level, sure, but still not part of that inner circle. High-class wage slaves. They trust us because we benefit them."
"Exactly. I want to rise too, but the game is impossible—harder than staying alive."
After some chatter, Xu Zhong turned to V.
"V-jie… is the Old City Renewal Project the same?"
"How?"
"Only spending 30% on actual work."
"You got a problem with that?"
"People have it tough. Why not spend half? Fifty-fifty?"
"And then all interest groups get hurt. Which means there will never be a second Renewal Project. Xu Zhong—did you think the Corporate Alliance is doing charity? It's still profit-seeking, just in softer methods. You think 70% cut is too much—but without that 70%, the 30% for the people wouldn't exist."
"I…"
He half understood, half didn't. He wanted to ask more, but V cut him off.
"Brigitte just breached Konpeki's subnet and is trying to take network security control. I'm deploying a temporary ICE to stall her. Keep watching the Kujira. Report the moment anything changes."
"Yes."
The team returned to work.
The Voodoo Boys survived on elite netrunning skills. As their leader, Brigitte was one of the top of the top. Last time, even T-Bug needed Flathead to crack Konpeki's ICE. Brigitte didn't need anything—she simply jacked in from the Blackfish Suite and launched her assault naked.
To be fair, she was impressive—one hour to break through the main ICE. Twice as fast as T-Bug.
If she had helped V back then, the heist would've gone smoother than sandpaper.
But life had no "what if."
V trusted preparation, not luck.
If last time was tragedy by coincidence, this time she'd manufacture a miracle through calculation.
V deep-dived again.
Brigitte, in her digital form, basked in triumph. Konpeki Plaza, ha—its data-fortress had fallen easily. Only the rogue AIs beyond the Blackwall were her equals!
She stepped forward to seize control—
—and froze.
A second layer of ICE was hidden beneath the first.
"Nested ICE? Hmph. Arasaka's netrunners aren't completely useless."
Brigitte sneered. "This won't stop me. W'ap rèv klè—keep dreaming."
She attacked again.
Fifty-eight minutes later, she cracked Layer Two.
"Hah! I kn—"
She stopped dead.
Beneath it—Layer Three.
She cursed violently and attacked again.
Forty-six minutes later—victory.
She checked immediately.
Layer Four.
"A fucking civilian hotel with quadruple ICE? Arasaka netrunners have too much free time!" She snarled, suddenly sensing eyes watching her. She spun—nothing.
"Who's there?! Show yourself!"
Silence.
Damn it. I've wasted too much time. Focus.
She reassessed.
Arasaka was strong, yes—but four nested ICE layers was absurdly costly. And the time she spent breaking each layer decreased. That meant the defenses were intentionally weakening.
This wasn't real nested ICE.
It was a decoy. A cage.
"I see your cracks now, Arasaka scum!" Brigitte felt certain—just one more push would break through. She immediately called, "Placide—help me!"
The massive second-in-command jacked in without hesitation. If Brigitte needed help, that meant trouble. But together? They were unstoppable—even against rogue AIs.
Above them, in the Cyber-space sky, V floated calmly, watching the two trapped in her temporary ICE.
Her bait had worked. Placide was inside.
She stitched the "pocket" tighter with extra code, satisfied, and exited the Net. Back in the real world, she drank some water, ate a snack, then leaned back with the patience of a master hunter awaiting prey.
4:22 p.m.
A voice came over comms:
"An AV has launched from the Kujira! Repeat—the AV has taken off!"
Meredith Stout barked, "Predict destination!"
"Running trajectory… it's—it's—Konpeki Plaza! The AV is heading for Konpeki!"
V opened her eyes.
"Everyone to positions.
Second Half begins."