They drank until the early hours of the morning.
Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was Jack's infectious enthusiasm, but the three of them quickly became familiar with each other.
"Haha, David, let me tell you something!"
After a few glasses of wine, Jack couldn't hold back his chatter. "Our team—codename 'David'—is gonna be the most badass crew in Night City! Mark my words!"
"You, me, Lucy, and V... All we need is one big job, and we'll be legends!"
Jack leaned closer, his face flushed with excitement. "Hey, David, about that punch you threw at the Crawling Beast gang yesterday... Was that some kinda mysterious Eastern martial art or something?"
Seeing Jack's flushed cheeks and drunken grin, David chuckled and shook his head. "Something like that."
"Man, that was insane! You should've seen it, Lucy!" Jack waved his hands animatedly as if reenacting the scene. "This Beast guy had to weigh at least two hundred pounds, but David here—BAM!—knocked the bastard flying with one punch! Sent him flying several meters like he weighed nothing!"
Jack clapped his hands in excitement. "I swear, everyone was stunned! Right then and there, I knew—teaming up with David? Best decision ever. It was like fate, man. Fate!"
He downed another gulp of his drink and smacked the glass down with a satisfied sigh.
David couldn't help but chuckle. Jack's drunk rambling was like an impromptu stand-up comedy show. He and Lucy exchanged amused glances, both only needing to smile and nod while Jack kept talking.
"Hey, Lucy, don't just laugh! I'm serious here!" Jack wiped his lips and pointed a finger at her. "If you don't believe me, ask David yourself!"
"It's true," David confirmed with a grin.
Jack thumped his chest proudly. "See?! I'm tellin' ya—teaming up with David is the start of something big! We'll make a name for ourselves in Night City. Just you wait!"
"Jack, maybe you've had a little too much to drink," David teased, glancing at Jack's empty glasses. "How about calling it a night, huh?"
Jack waved him off. "Pfft, this little bit of booze? Nothing! I could still drink two more bottles and walk home straight as an arrow! Our team—codename 'David'—ain't going down tonight!"
Suddenly, Jack's cyberware implant beeped with an incoming call. His drunken bravado vanished as he answered the call with surprising seriousness.
"Hey, Mama... Yeah, I'm out right now... I know, I know, I'll be careful... Okay, okay, I'm coming home now... Don't worry, I'm heading back right away. Please don't get mad."
As soon as the call ended, Jack scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "Heh... Well, guess that's it for tonight. My mom's got a temper, and if I stay out any longer, I'm in trouble."
David chuckled and nodded. "Jack, you're probably the only guy in Night City who's both a street merc and a mama's boy."
"Hey, nothin' wrong with that!" Jack laughed. "Mom's the reason I turned out this awesome!"
Lucy chuckled softly, her eyes glimmering with amusement. "Maybe we should meet your mom sometime—see if she's the real brains behind your 'awesomeness.'"
Jack snorted. "Hah! You might be right! Anyway, I gotta bounce before she locks me out of the house." He stood up, brushing off his jacket. "Oh, and David—sometime soon, I'll introduce you to an old friend of mine, Viktor. He's a ripperdoc over in Little China. Best guy in the business—does all my cyberware upgrades. With his help, we'll gear up and land some serious jobs!"
Jack waved over his shoulder as he headed for the exit. "Catch you guys later! Don't get too cozy without me!"
As Jack vanished into the night, David shook his head with a grin. "Jack's really one of a kind. Loyal to his friends, devoted to his mom... Kind of a rare breed in a city like this."
"Maybe his mom deserves the credit," Lucy said with a teasing smile.
"Yeah, probably," David replied, leaning back in his seat. "From what I remember, his mom runs a bar over in Heywood. Pretty well-known, too—tough enough that even the Valentinos show her respect."
Lucy swirled her drink, tracing the rim of her glass with her finger. "So, now that we've officially teamed up... what's the plan for our future?"
"Simple," David replied without hesitation.
"Oh?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Let's hear it."
"First, I need to find a bigger apartment."
"...What?" Lucy blinked, momentarily caught off guard. "That's your 'big plan'?"
"Yeah, of course," David said with a smirk. "You've seen the place I'm living in—it's tiny. Now that I've got some money, it's time to move somewhere nicer. A bigger place would make a good base for our crew, too. Somewhere we can hang out, plan jobs, and crash if needed."
Lucy tilted her head thoughtfully. "Hmm... I guess that makes sense."
"Speaking of money, I need to transfer your share from today's job," she added, her eyes flickering slightly as her cyberware processed the transaction.
David's phone buzzed with a notification. Pulling it out, he read the message:
[Arasaka Bank Notice: 200,000 eurodollars have been deposited into your account at 01:05. Current balance: 203,496.2 eurodollars. Thank you for using Arasaka eBank.]
"200,000?!" David's eyes widened. "Why so much?"
In total, they'd earned 300,000 eurodollars from the Jotaro job. But Lucy had given him a full 200,000, leaving herself only 100,000—and she still had to submit the job officially to collect her share.
"This is what you deserve," Lucy said casually, brushing a strand of white hair behind her ear. "I only took a small cut since you were the one who handled Jotaro."
"Still... isn't this a bit much?" David asked, feeling a pang of guilt.
"Hey, don't sweat it." Lucy smiled faintly. "You're the leader of our team now, right? It's only fair that you take the bigger share."
"You're something else..." David shook his head with a smile. "Alright, I'll accept it this time. But I'll make sure to repay you double in the future."
Lucy simply shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. But then her expression shifted slightly as she glanced toward the neon-lit cityscape outside the window.
"David... Since you're looking for a new place, I've got an idea," she said, her voice softer now.
"Hm?"
"See that building over there?" She pointed toward a distant skyscraper whose windows gleamed with neon reflections.
"Yeah, I see it."
"I live there."
David blinked. "Really?"
"Mm-hm. The apartments are pretty nice... If you're interested, we could go check it out now," Lucy suggested, her emerald eyes glinting under the dim lights of Afterlife.
For a moment, David hesitated, unsure if he'd heard her right.
Was she... inviting him to her apartment?
End of Chapter 57
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