New chapter!
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“Good morning, Night City!
This is your man Stanley, and last night was a hot one.
An unidentified flying vehicle…”
Morning sunlight spilled into the apartment as Stanley’s voice came through the news feed.
Rook opened his eyes.
Lucy was no longer in the small round bed.
From the bathroom came the soft sounds of someone washing up.
“Get up, Rook,” she called, poking her head out with toothpaste on her lip.
“You’re meeting Maine’s crew today, remember?”
He loosened the tie at his neck, got up, and walked into the bathroom.
Lucy had already set out a toothbrush and towel for him.
The small gesture warmed something in his chest.
He stood beside her, and they brushed their teeth shoulder to shoulder.
They had only shared a lunar braindance, but something between them had shifted.
Neither of them had said it aloud, but the space between them no longer felt empty.
After a simple breakfast, they left together.
Rook did not go straight to Maine.
Instead, he took Lucy into a cab and headed back to The Glen, Heywood.
The Glen was one of Night City’s largest residential zones, with Valentinos and 6th Street influence running through it like exposed wiring.
He was not there to start trouble with either gang.
He had come for two things: a place, and a person.
The home was the fifty-square-meter apartment the system had given him at the start.
It was enough space to split into two rooms and rent out if he wanted to be petty about it.
The person was a man Rook considered important, a future legend of Night City who could stand beside Maine.
Jackie Welles, son of the woman who owned El Coyote Cojo.
“Didn’t expect you to have a place this big in Heywood,” Lucy said when they entered the apartment.
It was more than twice the size of her place.
In Night City, owning real space was something the middle class and above enjoyed.
Everyone below them survived month to month under rent that never stopped bleeding them.
“What would you say if I told you I also have a rooftop duplex?” Rook asked.
He walked the apartment, found nothing important beyond a few changes of clothes, and swapped the Arasaka suit for a cleaner fitted one.
Lucy gave him a sour look.
“What am I supposed to say?
Eat the rich?”
“Silly girl.
What’s mine is yours.
From now on, we’re living together, so why get jealous over my things?”
He stored the extra clothes in his inventory, pinched her cheek, and led her out.
“Who said…
I’m living with you?”
She let him hold her hand anyway.
By the time they reached El Coyote Cojo, it was almost noon and the bar had opened.
Valentinos, minor fixers, and locals with nothing better to do had already started filling the place.
Rook and Lucy drew attention the moment they walked in.
Strange faces always did on someone else’s turf.
They circled the first and second floors and found no sign of Jackie.
Only when they reached the back alley near his private garage did Rook finally spot him.
A broad, powerful man stood by a motorcycle, humming to himself as he worked.
“Jackie Welles,” Rook said, offering a hand. The source of this chapter is g.com.
“I’m Rook Mercer.
This is Lucy.”
“Hermano, nice to meet you.” Jackie put down his wrench and wiped the grease from his hand before shaking.
His eyes moved from Rook to Lucy, bright with good humor.
“You know my name?
Damn, I’m jealous already.
That’s one fine chica you’ve got with you.”
Jackie did not know why this stranger had come looking for him, but his natural warmth let him make friends almost anywhere.
What Rook valued most, though, was not that charm.
It was Jackie’s loyalty, his heart, and his hunger to climb out of the dirt and into the big leagues.
“I’m jealous of myself too,” Rook said.
“Meeting Lucy was the best thing to happen to me since waking up in this city.”
Lucy, who had spent most of their time together being teased by him, looked embarrassingly pleased.
Rook let the moment breathe, then moved to business.
“Now that we’re acquainted, interested in taking a ride with me?”
“Where to?
You got a job?”
No one in Night City lived without wanting to rise, make money, and get a taste of the life people above them took for granted.
Jackie was no exception.
Instead of suspicion, the invitation brought interest to his face.
Rook smiled.
“Not exactly a job.
Call it a chance to make your name.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.