Night.
Japantown.
A vehicle pulled up behind Turbo Restaurant.
The door swung open, and a fair, pale leg stepped out first.
“This is far enough.
Thanks, Falco.
You head back first; I still have some business to take care of.”
After transferring Falco his cut of the payment, Rebecca stepped out of the car.
“Huh?
We’re already here.
Aren’t you coming in for a drink?” Falco asked, looking at her hurried state in confusion.
“No time.”
“Isn’t the gig already wrapped up?”
“Why do you ask so many questions?
Just go back when I tell you to.”
“Alright, alright.”
Falco felt a bit helpless.
Rebecca seemed a bit different today.
It wasn’t often they landed such an easy gig—it felt like a waste not to celebrate with a few drinks.
Still, seeing the way Rebecca looked like she might explode at any second, Falco decided to leave first.
He’d just head over to Lizzie’s Bar to enjoy himself instead.
After saying goodbye to Falco, Rebecca arrived at Loki’s clinic.
layout door automatically granted Rebecca’s visitor request.
There happened to be no patients in the clinic at the moment.
Seeing Rebecca enter, Loki set down the cyberware he was tinkering with.
“Hey, Rebecca.
How did the gig go?”
“Smoothly, of course.
It wasn’t a difficult job to begin with, and plus Falco’s driving was great, so it didn’t take much time at all.”
As she spoke, Rebecca transferred the payment she had received to Loki.
After deducting her fee, 190,000 eddies remained.
Seeing the money finally hit his account, Loki’s mood brightened considerably.
“Haha, thanks.”
Having a car and driver for deliveries really was fast.
It seemed the money had been well spent.
Loki was already considering that it might be time to buy a four-wheeled ride of his own.
Previously, he had been on his own, so a motorcycle was plenty.
But now he needed to deliver goods from time to time, and once he built up a crew in the future, a proper vehicle would be indispensable.
“Well then, this gig counts as a complete success.
Want to grab a couple of drinks outside to celebrate?”
Noticing Loki was in a good mood, Rebecca pointed her thumb over her shoulder and extended an invitation.
“Celebrate?
Sounds like a good reason to.
Looks like I’ll have to punch out early today.”
Loki glanced at his account.
The 190,000 eddies from the gig, combined with this past week’s clinic earnings, brought his balance to a neat 270,000 eddies.
With this money, Loki could install his next module.
It truly was something worth celebrating.
After tidying up the shop and flipping the sign on the door to “On Break,” Loki and Rebecca walked out to the open plaza parked in front of the clinic.
Buying two drinks, the pair sat on the stone steps surrounding a tree planter, watching the lively crowds in the plaza and chatting casually back and forth.
…
“So your crew is actually pretty solid.”
“Of course.
Maine and Dorio are like family to me, and Falco is super reliable.
As for Kiwi and Lucy, those two are usually a bit cold, but deep down they’re really good people.
Except Pilar—that guy, I just want to blow his head off with a gun.”
“Haha, I can tell.”
“What about you?
Got any reliable friends?” Rebecca stared at Loki, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Loki took a sip of his drink and nodded.
“Yeah.
Jackie, you’ve met him—at El Coyote Cojo.
He’s an old friend of mine.
He used to take me on gigs all the time and drag me out to the bar to drink.
He’s one of the brothers I trust the most.
Then there’s my mentor, Vik.
You probably haven’t met him.
He’s a ripperdoc in Watson.
Taught me all my tech skills.
I’ll introduce you when there’s time.
And of course, you, Rebecca.
You’re my friend too.”
Hearing Loki’s answer, Rebecca seemed delighted, bursting into a chuckle.
“What’s with that?
How come I only make three?
I thought someone like you would be great at making friends.”
“I never said I was.”
“Though speaking of which, I didn’t expect you to be an edgerunner too.
It’s my first time seeing a ripperdoc who actually goes out taking gigs.”
Loki spread his hands helplessly.
“My clinic has only been open for a week.
Before that, I was just an apprentice in my mentor’s shop.
If I hadn’t taken a bunch of gigs to make some cash, I might still be stuck there right now.
But now that business is booming, I don’t really have time for gigs anymore.”
“Huh?
Is that so?
I was going to invite you to join our crew.
I’m sure Maine wouldn’t say no to another reliable teammate,” Rebecca said with a hint of regret.
“Forget the crew.
If I joined yours, Jackie would probably lose his mind.
But I’m sure we’ll have plenty of chances to fight side by side in the future.”
Loki was a bit surprised that Rebecca wanted to recruit him into Maine’s crew, but thinking it over, he declined.
There was no need.
Maine’s crew falling apart was only a matter of time.
Maine wouldn’t last long, and after his death, no one could keep the team together.
David was already on Loki’s reservation list, which meant David would soon have nothing to do with Maine’s crew anyway.
From that perspective, Maine’s crew had a grim future ahead.
It was up to Loki himself to rescue Rebecca and Lucy from the fire when the time came.
“Really?”
“Of course.”
The two chatted for a long time before Loki rode his motorcycle to escort Rebecca home once more.
Fortunately, they didn’t run into any annoying Maelstrom goons along the way this time.
Back at Longshore North, Rebecca let go of Loki’s waist and hopped off the bike.
After parting ways with Rebecca, Loki didn’t head straight home.
Instead, he went to pay Wakako a visit.
“Ah, L.
What brings you to my place?”
Wakako looked at Loki as he walked in, slightly curious.
“Nothing much.
Just wanted to come by and thank you for recommending so many customers to me these past few days.
If it weren’t for you, no one would even know my clinic existed.”
As Loki spoke, he transferred 10,000 eddies to Wakako as an advertising referral fee.
Wakako had genuinely helped him a lot.
Night City wasn’t just about killing and bloodshed; social diplomacy was equally vital.
If he wanted Wakako to keep steering business his way, showing this level of sincerity was essential.
“Heh, since you put it that way, I’ll take it,” Wakako said with a slight smile.
Nobody disliked money, and taking a cut for referral work was entirely reasonable.
Rules were rules; if he hadn’t offered it, it would have shown a lack of etiquette on Loki’s part.
With the visit to Wakako out of the way, Loki could finally go home and get a proper rest.
…
The next day.
Loki sat inside the clinic.
Instead of opening for business right away, he browsed through the list of modules inside his system.
Regarding the choice for the next module, Loki already had a few ideas in mind.
He had established cooperative relationships with quite a few clinics by now.
Relying on the reputation forged by his Kinetic Stimulant, many ripperdocs had come to view Ascension Tech as a pharmaceutical workshop.
If his next module also focused on producing and selling pharmaceuticals, expanding his market share would be much smoother.
After scrolling through the list for a short while, Loki quickly found his target.
[Marvel Super Soldier Serum]