“Panam, stop saying such weird things.”
“Weird things?”
“Yeah.
Panam getting all philosophical is a strange sight.
I’m used to the slightly reckless but dependable girl.
The one I can count on.
Now I’m seeing my girlfriend too.
But asking heavy questions like that…”
I shook my head.
“What, you don’t think I can be serious?”
I shrugged.
“Should I be offended?”
“Just tell me what you want.
Straight up.
No games.”
“Ugh…”
She shook her head.
“Always see right through me, don’t you?”
“I’m your guy.”
I smirked at her, and she yanked the wheel hard, dodging some maniac in a beat-up car.
“Yeah…”
“Panam?”
She sighed.
“Sooner or later, the Aldecaldos will leave Night City.”
“And?”
I squeezed her thigh, and she shot me an anxious look.
“I know I’m rushing this, but…
would you want to join the clan?
Leave with us when we decide to get out of here?”
“You don’t exactly get along with Saul.”
“I don’t, no.
But it’s still my clan.
My family.
I grew up with them.
Just because Saul’s been getting on my nerves lately doesn’t mean I’ll abandon them.”
She turned her head toward me.
I saw the worry in her eyes.
My answer really mattered to her.
So I decided not to play games.
“Keep your eyes on the road.”
She looked away.
Her shoulders tensed slightly when my hand moved a little higher up her thigh.
This time, she didn’t stop me, just went rigid for a moment.
“Panam, you’re right.
You asked this a little early.
But if you want an answer right now…”
She nodded stiffly.
“Then I’ll be straight with you.
I don’t have any attachments keeping me in this city.
But I’m also not in a rush to leave.
If we really become a couple…”
“We already are!”
“Panam, we just started dating.
You agreed to give me a chance, today.
We’re still getting to know each other.
For example, since you fell asleep first last night, I know you make cute little smacking noises in your sleep.”
She blushed.
“That’s still not much.
But when the Aldecaldos leave Night City, if we’re still together, that’ll mean we’re good for each other.
And I’ll follow you, whether or not the clan invites me.”
“You…
I…”
She sighed, gripping the wheel a little tighter.
“Panam, you’re my girl.
We’ll be together as long as it works for both of us.
You know me.
Even if I stop being a solo, I won’t end up on the streets.
And you won’t either.
We’ll be together.
Tikhon and Cherry.”
“Cherry?”
She looked at me, confused.
“Well, you named your car the Thunder.
So you’re the Cherry on top of the Thunder.”
She smirked.
“Cherry…
I like it.”
She jerked the wheel hard, swung onto a side street, and parked.
The engine stayed running as usual.
I ran my hand a little higher up her thigh.
“Alright.
I’m going.”
She nodded.
I leaned over and kissed her.
Slowly.
Pouring everything I felt into it.
She kissed me back.
There was a hint of fear in it, fear that this might end.
When I pulled back, I looked her in the eyes.
“Go already.”
I got out, shut the door, scanned the area, and headed out of the alley.
I reached the main street, walked past two buildings, and stopped just short of the Tyger Claws bar.
I ducked into a side alley instead.
At the dead end, I pulled out my grapple gun, fired at the rooftop, and climbed up.
Crossing the roof, I reached the other side, crouched down, and looked below.
The back alley ran right alongside the bar where the optics I needed were being stored.
Only one guard outside.
That didn’t worry me.
They were confident.
No one knew about this place.
And they probably had cops on the payroll.
I had to be careful.
I activated my optics and scanned the building.
One more person in the back room.
About ten inside the bar itself.
One bartender.
Two guards at the main entrance.
Sighing, I realized there was no way around it this time.
There would be kills.
I used a purchased script on one of the electrical panels in the alley.
It sparked.
“The fuck?”
The guard stood up and walked toward the panel.
I hit the Sandevistan at full speed, dropped from the roof, bounced off the alley walls, and landed on top of him, driving my knife straight through his temple.
One down.
I checked the bar through my optics.
No alarm.
Good.
I patted the body down, pocketed his pistol and a few bills, then dumped him in a nearby dumpster.
Another script on the back door.
It hissed open.
“Hey, Sam?
You need to take a piss?”
A female voice called from the back room.
I didn’t care.
Over the months I’d been a solo, I’d killed women too.
It wasn’t good, but in this city, you or them.
I hit the Sandevistan again, stepped inside, and threw my knife.
It sank into the woman’s eye socket.
She never knew what hit her.
I caught her body and dumped her next to the guard.
I scanned the room.
Computers everywhere.
No time to hack them.
I moved to the storage room door, ran another script, and smirked when it clicked open.
“Fuck!
I hit the jackpot today!”
Couldn’t help saying it out loud.
Besides the optics, sitting right there in plain sight, I spotted several other implants and thick stacks of cash.
Way more than at the last place.
And no tracking devices in these packs.
Of course not.
It was a secure location.
Tyger Claws all over the place, pretending to be customers.
What could go wrong?
I smirked and started loading up.
First, the optics.
Then a few other chrome pieces.
Then the cash bundles.
Five minutes.
That’s all it took to fill my bag.
For the first time, I regretted not having a bigger one.
I left at least half the money on the shelves.
But greed kills.
And I’m no sucker.
I turned around, left the storage room, locked it with another script, and stepped back into the back room.
I pulled out my grapple gun and called Panam.
“Cherry, I’ll be there soon.”
“Got it.
Engine’s warm.”
I fired at the roof, climbed up, crossed the building, and descended.
I stowed the grapple gun, walked to the car, and got in.
“Been waiting long?”
“Forever.”
Panam smirked.
I settled into my seat.
“Today’s just a day for scores.
First, we hit a postomat.
Need to send the optics and a few other implants to Regina.”
“Your call.”
The car pulled away.
Panam glanced at me with obvious curiosity.
“You find something else there?”
“Just more cash.
More than my bag could hold.
First time I’ve ever wished I had a military-grade backpack.”
“I know.
And I’m not changing my bag.
Staying longer would’ve been stupid.
We got paid, the job’s done, and we don’t need to work more today.”
“True.”
“We just need to get the cash laundered through Regina.
Can’t keep that much on us.”
I shook my head.
“Yeah, we’re not a bank.
Someone could break in.”
She shot me a sly look.
“Speaking of which.
Since I’m not alone anymore, and it’s not just me, maybe we should look for a bigger place.”
“Why?”
She looked at me, surprised.
“We’ve got enough space.
It’s not luxury, but it’s comfortable.
If we move, we’ll pay more.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yeah.
In the clan, I live in a tent.”
I thought about it.
“We should buy a used motorhome.”
“What for?”
“If I ever leave Night City with you…”
“That’s a bad idea.”
She pulled over smoothly and nodded toward the street.
“There’s the postomat.
We can talk after you report to Regina.”
I nodded, got out, and dropped the packages off at the postomat.
Then I called her.
“Talk to me, Tikhon.”
“Sent the optics.
A couple other implants too.
And some Tyger Claws documents.”
“Not too flashy?”
I shrugged.
“Made it look like a random heist.
Less chance they trace it back to your guy, then to you and me.
Grabbed some cash too.
Stuff that was lying around.
Can you clean it?”
“Send it.
You know my cut.”
I’d already packed the cash into opaque bags and sent them through the postomat.
I walked back to the car and got in.
“So why is it a bad idea?”
“What do you actually know about nomad life?”
“You travel from city to city.
Spend anywhere from a few months to a few years in each place.
That’s basically it.”
“Roughly right…”
She nodded.
“…but that’s pretty surface-level.
Let me start from a different angle.
You’ve been to the clan camp a few times.
Not one of us, but you know people.
Did you see any motorhomes there?”
“Uh…
no?”
“Why so unsure?”
I shrugged.
“You gave the right answer.
You haven’t seen any.
You couldn’t have.
No self-respecting nomad would buy one.”
“Got it.”
“Want to take a guess why?”
“Too slow and unwieldy?”
“Exactly.
Too slow.
Too clumsy.
Not practical when you can’t stay at prepared campsites every night.
Plenty of downsides.
It’s much easier to throw a large tent and a sleeping bag in the trunk.”
She shrugged.
“Besides, why do you even need a vehicle?
If you join the clan, you’ll ride with me.”
“So what would I need?”
She tugged at her earlobe thoughtfully.
“A tent.
A big one.
Maybe a cot…”
I nodded.
“Got it.
I’ll take care of that soon.
You guys could pull up stakes at any moment, and I might not have time to shop later.”
“You’re actually serious about all this?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Right…”