“Good morning, Regina.”
“Morning, workaholics.”
She was openly smirking.
It wasn’t meant as an insult, more like a statement of fact.
The truth was, Panam and I really did work more than most solos.
The way Bex had reacted to our schedule made that pretty clear.
But what was I supposed to do?
Most solos in this city spent their free time drinking and only took jobs when their cash ran dry.
I had a different approach.
Panam, too, when we first started working together.
I didn’t want to live from bender to bender, I barely drank at all.
And Panam was used to being more responsible; she passed her extra earnings to Scorpion or Mitch.
Meanwhile, I wanted to impress her, so I started offering to sell my salvage through her clan’s armorer.
“What’s on the schedule today?”
“There’s a job.
An old acquaintance of mine called.
He’s a former director.
Used to be pretty famous, but after his last film, he swore off making even short projects.
He lives off his poker winnings now.
Problem is, he had a bad run and had to pawn his optics.
The Tyger Claws weren’t interested in his regular eyes, but they took a real shine to the one with a built-in professional camera.”
“Our job?”
“I’ll send you the address where he was playing.
Go there and retrieve his eye.”
“Got it.
What if it’s already been moved?”
“Then find out where.”
Her avatar shrugged.
“Understood.
Send me the details.”
A few seconds later, I nodded.
“Got the message.
We’re rolling.”
I opened the message and passed the coordinates to Panam.
The engine roared, and we were off.
My hand naturally settled on her thigh.
She just smirked.
“Don’t distract the driver.”
“Am I distracting you?”
She shot me a sideways glance.
“Not yet.
But if you start…”
“I won’t.”
I grinned.
“I’m horny, sure, but not stupid enough to grope my girl while she’s driving.
But now that you’ve given me permission to flirt…”
I smirked.
“…I’m not going to pass up the little things.”
“Pff.”
Her snort wasn’t annoyance, it was satisfaction.
“So…
about Bex?”
I gave her an amused look.
“You saw her.
You saw how I treat her.”
“Yeah.”
She sighed and shook her head.
“She’s a clingy one.
Still, I don’t want to brush her off completely.
She’s got a good vibe.”
“She does.”
Panam yanked the wheel hard, swerving to avoid a car trying to sideswipe us.
“We’ve got company!”
“Fucking Claws.”
I drew my pistol, activated the Sandevistan, leaned out the window, and fired twice.
First shot hit the front tire.
Second shot took the driver.
The Claws’ car swerved, but they kept control, even started slowing down.
“That’s not all of them.”
I glanced at the central monitor showing the rear view.
A second later, bullets started chewing into our vehicle. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Punch it.
Once we’re in a less populated area, I’ll deal with them.”
“Good point.
If we fight back here, civilians could get hurt.”
Panam floored it.
The Thunder roared, surging forward.
Anyone unfamiliar with the Claws’ bikes might think we could outrun them.
We both knew better.
One of the Claws pulled up alongside us.
“Bad move.”
I activated the Sandevistan, leaned out, and fired at his front wheel, specifically at the spot that would lock it up.
“Going low.
Must be rain.”
“Yeah.
Good thing there was no one on that side.”
With a screech, Panam slammed the brakes.
The Claw behind us crashed into the rear bumper, his body smacking against the tailgate.
She gunned it again.
“Looks clear.”
I checked the screen, scanned the surroundings, then ejected the magazine and reloaded from the stash in the glovebox.
“Yeah.
Fucking Claws.”
“They don’t even know we’re about to rob one of their bases.”
Panam smirked.
I holstered my pistol and put my hand back on her thigh.
“Hand back where it belongs.”
She gave me a stern look.
I grinned and gently ran my fingers along her leg.
“Easy.”
“Fine.”
She sighed, but I kept my hand there.
Neither of us complained.
“Almost there.”
She drove past the building where the Claws’ underground casino was located.
The one where our client had gambled away so much he had to pawn an implant just to stay alive.
A common story in this city.
The details changed, but the core was always the same.
The car slowly turned into a courtyard and parked.
“Wait here?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded, pulled a small face shield over my head, enough to hide me from cameras and optics, and stepped out.
I drew my grappling pistol, aimed at the edge of a nearby rooftop, and fired.
The thin cable, rated for ten times my weight, hissed as it unwound.
The harpoon punched through the wall, sending a shower of stone dust down onto the street.
“I’m heading up.”
Panam didn’t respond.
I walked up the wall, perpendicular to the ground, with small retractable spikes giving me traction.
Minutes later, I was on the roof.
I collapsed the grapple, stowed it, and scanned the area.
Spotting a good jump point to the next building, I took a running start, launched myself off the edge, and landed on the opposite roof.
I scouted again.
No fire escape to climb down from this side.
The coordinates Regina sent were exact, so I pulled out my grapple again, fired at the roof edge, and decided to rappel straight down the wall.
Night City.
City that never sleeps.
City where nobody ever looks up.
I dropped to the seventh floor, switched my optics to wall-penetrating mode, and scanned.
Sixth floor had three Claws, but the room I needed was empty.
I dropped lower and used a quick hack to override the metal shutters.
Then I cut a small section of glass near the latch, reached in, and opened the window.
Before entering, I scanned again.
Two Claws were slumped in chairs, watching a braindance or high on something.
A third was in the bathroom.
He was the wild card.
I slipped inside and looked around.
The safe was right there in plain sight.
Easy to crack with the same open hack, basic electronic lock meant for amateurs.
It popped open.
No eye.
I scanned every bundle.
Two of them had tracking devices hidden inside.
I left those and took the rest, along with all the documents.
Then I closed the safe and re-locked it with a fresh hack.
The Claw was still in the bathroom.
I approached the desk, scanned it, and opened the drawers.
Found a couple of nice Militech pistols and more cash.
A few more hundred, maybe.
I booted up the computer, then froze.
The Claw in the bathroom was finishing up.
I killed the monitor, stepped back, and pressed myself into a shadowy nook behind a cabinet.
But he didn’t come my way.
He went to the other room and collapsed into a chair, zoning out just like his buddies.
I went back to the computer, logged in, and copied the data.
Found an address.
I ran a wipe program on the machine, then slipped back out through the window, closed it, and climbed back up to the roof.
Back on top, I retrieved the grapple, crossed to the other roof, and climbed down the fire escape.
It didn’t go all the way to ground level, stopped at the third floor, but I jumped the rest.
Landed clean.
Got back to the car.
“The eye?”
“No.
But I got a ton of documents from their safe.
When we pass a postbox, stop.
I need to send these to Regina.
Also grabbed a lot of cash.
Looked like ten times what we were promised.”
“Cash?”
“Yeah.”
“Took it all?”
“Not all.
Scanned the bundles, found a couple with trackers inside.
Left those.
Took the rest.”
I emptied the bag into the glovebox.
Panam whistled.
“Not bad.”
“Exactly.
But the job isn’t done yet.
I found data on a place called the ‘Kasue Huntan Bar’ in Little China.
Looks like the optics got sent there.
Let’s move.”
She nodded and pulled out.
The engine never stopped, it was part of our strategy.
I work quiet, but if I ever need to bug out fast, those few extra seconds of starting the engine could be life or death.
I started to sort the cash, but Panam leaned over and closed the glovebox.
“Panam?”
She sighed, took my hand, and placed it back on her thigh.
She blushed just a little.
“Got it.
I’m not stupid.
Stupid wouldn’t get it.”
She nodded.
I gently rubbed her leg with my fingers.
She smirked, satisfied.
I didn’t push further, she was driving, and we still had work to do.
“How long to the bar?”
“Navigation says about twenty minutes.”
“Good.”
I nodded.
“David?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you happy with everything?”
“Hm?
What do you mean?”
“With your life.
What you do.
With Night City?”