Jackie brought V to a mobile food stall on a nearby street. Even though a cyberpsycho incident had just blown up in Japantown, it didn't stop the locals from going on with their usual work and routines.
Or maybe… they were simply used to it by now.
"Hey, boss, one bowl of jajangmyeon."
"Alright, give me a moment."
"I'll have the same."
V sat down next to Jackie and glanced at him.
"So, you're with the Valentinos, right? What are you doing around here?"
"Oh? Didn't know you were this familiar with gangs."
Jackie arched a brow, genuinely surprised.
"Please. That giant gold bracelet and your tattoos are basically a walking billboard."
V rolled her eyes.
"Fair enough. Yeah, I used to be with the Valentinos—but that was before."
Jackie took the drink the vendor handed him, took a sip, and sighed.
"Before? So why'd you leave? And what are you doing now?"
V leaned in with curiosity. The whole street-life thing fascinated her.
"My mom found out I joined the Valentinos. I can still picture her face the moment she saw the tattoos. But I wanted to live my own life, so now I'm working as a merc."
He said it casually, like it was nothing unusual.
"What about you, chica?"
"Me? My life's nowhere near as exciting. I'm just a normal student. My parents force me into cram school every day, hoping I'll get into some good university and end up working for a big corporation."
V sighed, clearly drained by the thought.
"Sounds like your family's doing pretty well. Otherwise your parents wouldn't have those expectations."
Jackie chuckled. Whether V eventually joined a corporation didn't bother him—he never judged his friends based on where they came from.
"Alright, back to the main question. Tell me what PROJECT Corporation's deal is. And why hasn't the Counter-Terrorism Unit shown up yet?"
"That's a long story, but I can tell you about PROJECT Corporation. They're a pretty new corp, but they rose fast—seems like they seized the perfect opportunity."
"They're famous for their cost-effective weapons, ammunition, and security services. Lately, their biggest spotlight is in robotics."
"In the past month alone, they've launched all kinds of robot models—smart home units, security bots, patrol drones. High-end, low-end… they've taken over a massive chunk of Night City's robotics market."
Jackie took a bowl of jajangmyeon served in a paper box and began eating as he talked.
V tasted hers too—edible, but nothing special. Definitely not comparable to what she ate at home… but it was fine.
"So what does that have to do with the Counter-Terrorism Unit and the cyberpsycho stuff?"
"They partnered with big corps like Night Corp and stepped into some NCPD operations. They provide a ton of security systems and services now. Basically… their corporation has law-enforcement authority at this point."
"No way. Even Militech doesn't have that kind of clearance."
"Hey, since when have they cared about that?"
"Uh… fair point."
"So lately you see those folks all over the city—taking down cyberpsychos nonstop. Rumors are everywhere. But credit where it's due—those guys are insanely strong. I bet they could become Legends."
"Legends of Night City? That's not exactly a compliment. Most Legends end up in graves. But what rumors?"
V smirked, picking up on his wording.
"Well, legends are legends. I just want to hit a big score someday. As for the rumors… stuff like PROJECT Corporation capturing cyberpsychos for experiments. You know how people talk—pure baseless nonsense. But hey, sometimes even nonsense turns out true. Who knows?"
...
"You two really went overboard, didn't you?"
Mudor winced at the sight of Ando's mangled, perforated body on the operating table, then shot a helpless look at Vilet and Kiwi.
"Hey, don't pin this on us. Pyke did it."
Vilet immediately raised her hands, clearing herself of responsibility.
Mudor sighed. He didn't push the issue. He knew Kiwi's combat style couldn't produce these wounds, so it had to be Pyke… or Vilet.
And as the chief researcher and doctor o PROJECT, there was no way he couldn't recognize what kind of injuries were made by whom.
Mudor had been created using a talent chip Roland discovered—through Lissandra and a lucky find in the mall—then reconstructed onto a corpse. Loyalty wasn't a concern.
"I was planning to run a few physical tests, but that's clearly not happening anymore."
Mudor sighed, already shifting into problem-solving mode. Some diagnostics were impossible at this point.
Ando was alive only because the Berserk Module at his spine and the medical agents in his system were forcing his body to keep going. Which meant… the only viable next step was direct consciousness extraction and modification.
And Mudor was extremely interested in that Berserk cyberware at his spine. He wanted to know whether Ando had really cracked the stabilizers he had designed—even if the released version was heavily nerfed.
"Alright, you two can leave. I'm starting the experiment. I doubt you'd want to watch this anyway."
Mudor raised a brow, ushering them out.
"Fine, fine."
Vilet didn't object and simply walked out. Kiwi gave Ando one last glance before following.
"Hey, Vilet, does any of this bother you?"
Vilet paused, then looked at her.
"Nope. This is Night City—we both know what it is. And these are just cyberpsychos. Compared to them, the boss is basically a saint."
"That's good. I was worried you might have issues with this."
Kiwi nodded. Until recently, she still saw Vilet as the type of outcast who valued loyalty above all else.
"Stop overthinking. You should focus on finding yourself a partner instead."
"Uh… well…"
Kiwi's cheeks instantly flushed red.
"Looks like someone already caught your eye. Tsk tsk. Anyway, I'm off—gotta go spend time with my little girlfriend."
Kiwi opened her mouth to retort, but Vilet was already halfway down the hall.
"Someone on my mind, huh…"