Get comfortable, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🔥 ✦ “Arasaka merchandise was stolen and sold into Dogtown.
Militech wants leverage on us.
Hansen is dumping the blame on both corporations and claiming the corps broke the rules of business.” “We have someone playing both sides.
Sold out Arasaka, sold out Hansen.
That’s the short version.” “Now talk about that braindance.
When you’re done, you can fuck off wherever you want.” V had considered using harsher methods, but Cade’s request was not unreasonable.
She gave him the shape of the situation, roughly.
She did not explain how Arasaka was tearing itself apart inside.
V knew exactly what to say and what to keep locked down.
Cade nodded.
It matched what he had guessed.
The corps were deep in this, and Hansen wanted everyone who knew about it dead so he could bargain with them from a stronger position.
He and that edgerunner crew were the expendable lower lines between Dogtown and the corporations.
Hansen had used them as bait and as a warning at the same time.
Cade could no longer hide much.
He told V everything he had seen in the braindance.
After all, the corporation had already found him.
Speaking or staying silent would not change much.
If this woman could appear in Dogtown, she clearly had ways to get at him.
Corporate power was terrifying.
He remembered V from the original storyline after Arasaka threw her away.
At that point, just getting into Dogtown had taken serious effort.
“Turbo-R…
a golden tiger ornament…
Japanese speech.
Hm.” When Cade finished, V slotted the recording shard into her pocket.
She stood without offering anything else, and Cade opened his mouth on instinct.
He regretted it immediately.
What if the braindance Mr.
Hands had provided was fake?
He needed to consider the consequences.
“What if the Pacifica fixer gave me bad intel?” V’s face under black hair was cold.
“Then lie still and wait to die.
We can find you.
The fixer too.” ‘Corpo dogs really do have confidence.’ Cade clicked his tongue inwardly.
V’s reputation was earned.
Maybe right now she was still moving among corporate higher-ups, a true corpo dog in Arasaka’s Counterintelligence department.
It would not take long before she became the cybernetic machine who could install endless chrome and never tip into psychosis.
The Soulkiller Relic chip would put a madman’s consciousness in her head.
That legend would become Night City’s true short-lived queen.
Cade shook his head.
Only mercs and low-level corpo employees treated fixers like pillars of the world.
Judging by the date, V’s career was probably rising fast.
A strong hand in Arasaka Counterintelligence, maybe already one of Jenkins’s useful people.
Future Platinum Trauma Team member.
Preem life.
“That said, doesn’t Pacifica also have Dexter DeShawn?
Heard he is supposed to be a big deal.” V folded her arms and probed for information out of habit.
Arasaka Counterintelligence training did not vanish just because the hour was late.
For some reason, Cade remembered Royce from Maelstrom and his classic take: punch the Animals, kick Pacifica’s fat pig.
Was he even still alive?
Cade really did not mean to smile, but the faint lift of his mouth was clear enough for V to see.
“You got kicked around by Barghest, got played as a merc, and you can still laugh?” “Barghest washed your brains clean, didn’t they?” Cade shook his head.
“Dogtown has Dogtown ways.
All I really know is Hands.
He sold me out, and I’m going back to make him pay.” V decided she was abnormal enough, but the man in front of her might be worse.
“Dogtown.
You still want to go back?” Cade shrugged.
“You want me back there.
Arasaka still needs Dogtown intel, right?
Otherwise why are you still standing here?” V liked smart people.
Same as Jenkins.
“Fine.
Talk.
What are you planning?” She sat down again.
Her chances of promotion seemed to be getting brighter.
“I have my own way.
But the Arasaka dog who sold you out-” “No.
I mean the corpo dog who sold you out.
If he really played both sides like you said, he will have to meet Hansen eventually.
Track the movement and build the data yourselves.” V shook her head.
“Rookie.
They are high enough that they probably will not step onto the field personally.” Cade said nothing.
V’s beautiful eyes gradually cleared.
She finally realized he had been waiting for her to say it, waiting for her to make the obvious mistake.
‘You little-‘ “Then you need me inside Dogtown gathering intel.
Easy enough, but the price is separate.” Cade found teasing a beautiful woman enjoyable, but there was no need to overdo it.
He had only wanted an extra income stream.
Making nice with a corpo dog had advantages and risks.
For now, Arasaka was willing to spend money to hit back at Hansen.
Cade knew Viktor’s work had not been free.
Still, he was happy to bargain for a little benefit.
No one ever hated having too much money.
As for squeezing Mr.
Hands again, he did not plan to do it in the near future.
Even a cornered animal bit.
For now, Cade only wanted Hands unable to sleep while he built something inside Dogtown.
What would he build?
Someone who took a slice of Mr.
Hands’s business.
“Tell me your fee.” V studied the man named Cade Mercer with fresh interest.
Arasaka people could go almost anywhere and rarely met anyone willing to deal with them openly.
Yet this man dared.
He had just been thrown out of Dogtown, sold by a fixer, and left with nothing.
“Have Viktor discount my cyberware repairs and upgrades.
For anything you want me to do, pay one-time fixer rates.
Reasonable, right?” V tapped her fingers against her arm.
Cade gave her time to think.
The future was uncertain, and right now he would take every eddie he could pry loose.
“What if I tell you to join Arasaka?” “For what?” Cade blinked, genuinely confused.
“Arasaka Counterintelligence.
Field team.
Pay lands on time.
Major jobs pay extra.
No clocking in.
Silver Trauma Team coverage.
Private benefits too.
That’s the package.” Silver Trauma Team coverage.
Useful anywhere in Night City, though AVs were not getting into Dogtown.
Cade knew what V was calculating.
She wanted credit with Jenkins and a promotion.
He was a ready-made Dogtown infiltration asset.
Arasaka agents who entered Dogtown could be cleaned up at any time, while he knew the district and the mess firsthand.
“Corporations don’t do background checks?” He had concerns.
He was former Barghest, tangled with the Pacifica fixer, and Arasaka already knew where to find him.
That did not inspire a sense of safety.
“We do background checks.
I can have your file cleaned up.
Arasaka uses plenty of off-book field assets.
As for the rest, you solve it yourself.” “For example, find an identity that is harder to scan and harder to recognize.” “Choose a new name.
A codename works.” “One condition.
I get your location.
Personal terminal tracking.” Cade was no fool.
Corporate money was never free.
But it was stable, and having a corporation behind him was something he could use for now.
V was using him too.
As for future risks, Cade would cut the line when the time was right.
“Fine.” “Then call me Rook.” V raised a brow.
“Short.
Easy to remember.
Looks better on a file than the name Barghest has on record.” V shrugged.
“Works for me.” ✦ ✦ ✦ Ready for more?
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS EmberHollow Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter pulled you deeper into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.