Japantown.
Loki’s clinic.
Loki sat at his computer staring at several incoming emails, the corners of his mouth tugging upward uncontrollably.
By midday, three ripperdoc clinics where Loki had dropped samples had completed their drug tests and submitted purchase orders.
He believed it wouldn’t be long before he established partnerships with the majority of underground clinics in Night City.
After all, as the booster hit the market, nobody was going to pass up a piece of the pie.
Using his remaining savings, Loki placed another order for raw materials and sped up production of the stimulants.
…
The next day.
An underground clinic in Northside Industrial Area.
Just as the clinic opened for the day, the ripperdoc Sidney received a visitor notification.
“Who is it this early?
I don’t recall any appointments for this hour.”
Puzzled, Sidney opened the clinic door to find a young man wearing a black jacket standing outside.
“Can I help you?”
Sizing up the unfamiliar face, Sidney had a hunch about the man’s purpose, but asked anyway.
The man didn’t answer directly.
Instead, he asked, “You Sidney?”
“That’s me.” Sidney nodded.
“Someone hired me to drop off a delivery.
You owe 4,500 eddies.”
Hearing Sidney confirm his identity, the man produced a package and held it up.
Seeing the bag confirmed Sidney’s suspicion.
He took the package, opened it, and saw dozens of glowing green vials lying neatly inside.
“Who sent you?” Sidney asked out of curiosity.
“I just deliver.
I don’t ask questions.
Money.”
The response was just as Sidney expected.
Judging by the man’s outfit, he was a mercenary working the Night City beat.
Paid to do a job, mercs often didn’t even know who the client was.
If Sidney wanted intel, he’d probably have to reach out to a fixer.
And mercs weren’t about to leak their fixer’s info either.
Clearly, this “Ascension Tech” didn’t want to be found.
Sidney didn’t bother playing games with the payment and promptly transferred the eddies to the man’s account.
Since the seller was using mercs for delivery and collection, Sidney had no desire to experience Night City debt collection firsthand—he knew what those guys were capable of.
Once the transfer cleared, the man turned and left without another word.
He had other drop-offs to make.
The man was none other than Loki.
After a full day of interest building up, Loki had received orders from seven clinics, each ordering around twenty to thirty vials to test the waters.
After cooking up the batches, Loki decided to handle all deliveries himself today.
Initially, he had considered posting a gig for courier work, but realized he didn’t have anyone trustworthy enough to hand it to.
Jackie Welles was an option, but Loki didn’t want to bother him with menial errands.
Hiring through fixers was an option too, but fixers were hardly trustworthy.
If megacorps started digging and tracked down a fixer, Loki’s secrets would be exposed in a heartbeat.
Expecting fixers to keep quiet against corps was pure fantasy.
Out of options, Loki did the deliveries himself.
Fortunately, he already held a freelance merc identity in Night City, so as long as he kept up a decent disguise, corps wouldn’t link a simple runner to the manufacturer behind the scenes.
The clinics with orders were scattered across different districts of Night City, and it took Loki quite a while to finish the route.
Fortunately, he encountered zero payment issues—though it was a slight shame he didn’t get to put his debt collection expertise to use.
It was noon by the time Loki returned to his clinic.
Looking at his balance approaching 30,000 eddies, he grinned from ear to ear.
In just a short time, he had almost broken even on his initial investment.
It wouldn’t be long before he could afford to install more modules.
After placing another raw material order with his supplier, Loki opened the clinic for business.
Foot traffic picked up significantly today.
Thanks to Wakako’s referral and Loki’s solid craftsmanship winning over patients, his clinic was steadily building a reputation in Japantown.
…
Time flew by, and three days had passed since Loki opened his clinic for the first time.
Beside the initial burst of orders, Loki received a few follow-up requests from additional clinics, though quantities remained modest.
It would likely take some time before the next major wave of reorders arrived, as those clinics needed time to move the fresh stock.
Nighttime in Japantown was lively.
This was especially true at the TURBO eatery tucked under the skyscraper.
Numerous street vendors made use of the open space outside to hawk food and drinks.
A few vehicles were parked in a circle, where a crowd was drinking and partying wildly.
Most of them were freelance mercs in Night City—or edgerunners, as cyberpunks were known.
Among them was Maine’s crew of Edgerunners, gathered to celebrate after wrapping up a contract.
The dark-skinned brute Maine had his arm around Dorio on the steps, deep in hushed conversation.
The long-armed Pilar and Falco were mingling with the crowd, cheering on someone performing crazy stunts.
The netrunner Kiwi sat off to the side sipping her drink.
The crew’s other netrunner, Lucy, was nowhere to be seen—perhaps having skipped this gig.
Meanwhile, the crew’s cyber-loli, Rebecca, stood off to the side sipping a beverage, watching the rowdy crowd.
“Huh?
When did that shop change?”
Seemingly uninterested in the stunt performance, Rebecca scanned her surroundings and noticed that the storefront across from the restaurant looked different from her last visit.
Usually, that shop would be long closed by this hour, but now an “OPEN” sign hung brightly in the window.
“Pilar!
What’s that over there?” Rebecca called out to her brother Pilar, pointing a tiny finger toward the shop across the street.
“What?
How should I know?
Doesn’t even have a sign—maybe it’s selling filthy braindances!”
Pilar replied in his usual sleazy tone, making suggestive gestures with his long, flexible cyber-fingers.
“Fuck off!” Seeing her brother act like a creep, Rebecca snapped instantly, flipping him the bird before delivering a kick with her chubby leg that sent Pilar flying.
Drawn by their antics, Kiwi paused her drinking and looked in the direction Rebecca had pointed.
Streams of data flashed across Kiwi’s cyber optics, quickly pulling up info on the shop.
“It’s a ripperdoc clinic.
Opened three days ago.” Kiwi quickly retrieved the listing from the net—child’s play for a veteran netrunner like her.
Hearing Kiwi’s words, Maine, who had been cozying up with Dorio, raised his head and shot her a look.