"We're screwed? What do you mean we're screwed?" Jackie was totally lost.
"All that rushing—rushing and rushing—and we're still too fucking late. Shit!"
Lucky dropped onto the couch, furious. V disconnected from the Flathead and looked over, puzzled. Jackie paced, visibly stressed.
"What the hell's going on, mano? Spill already, you're killing me here!"
Lucky raised a hand, took a couple of deep breaths, swayed slightly, then dropped it again.
"Arasaka… Arasaka… No. I can't afford to lose it now."
He mumbled to himself, stood up, and began pacing by the window.
"Lucky. Trust us. What did you find?"
V stepped up, laid a hand on his shoulder, meeting his eyes with genuine concern.
Jackie joined, his face tight with worry.
"The Watson lockdown… It's because of Arasaka."
Lucky's voice was strained. "Saburo Arasaka is coming. They need the zone completely secure."
Watson, up north in Night City, was split into several districts:
Little China, where V and Lucky lived; Kabuki, where T-Bug gave V the quickhack chip; the industrial Northside; and the luxurious Arasaka Waterfront.
Gangs ran wild here—but none dared challenge Arasaka. And with Emperor Saburo himself coming? Security would be airtight. Quiet on the surface. Explosive underneath.
The kind of man who could order the mayor of Night City around. That was Saburo Arasaka.
"Saburo Arasaka? You mean that crypt keeper who's over a hundred?" Jackie's eyes widened. "Come on, no way. That's gotta be a joke, right?"
But Lucky didn't laugh. He just looked at him.
"Ha… ha…" Jackie's laughter died. "This can't be real…"
"Sure, the lockdown could be for any number of things," V said, his face going rigid. "A riot, political pressure…"
"Yeah. Could be. But why would Arasaka agents and the mayor be meeting in secret? That doesn't sound like something small."
Lucky rubbed his temples and stared blankly at the carpet. "It's about Saburo."
"Shit..."
T-Bug swore over comms. Even she sounded convinced.
"So… do we still steal the thing or not?" Jackie asked hesitantly.
Two paths stood before them: one, sheer danger—an abyss. The other, success, wealth, fame… legend.
The four went silent.
"Maybe it's not Saburo…" Jackie clung to hope.
"No. This time, I'm sure," Lucky said, staring out the window like a statue. "This… is fate."
"Let's decide together," V said, breaking the silence. "I'm in."
There was still a flame in his chest. Maybe the city had robbed him of emotion, of memory, of who he used to be. But V hadn't gone out yet.
"I'm in too," T-Bug added, firm. "This is our one shot to push back at the city that breaks everyone."
In Night City, you either break the system or get broken. Poetry and dreams are strangled in their cradles. Someone had to keep the last light alive.
"I… I…" Jackie folded his hands like he was praying. "We finish this one last job… and then we're out, right Lucky?"
He looked at Lucky's back, smiling awkwardly, then at V with a little desperation.
"Arasaka…" Lucky murmured, then slowly turned.
"When I was young, I swore I'd soar above the clouds—to be the best of the best."
"Who said that? Aurelius? Aristotle?" Jackie asked.
"Wu Qingti. From a distant Eastern land," Lucky said with a small smile.
"What's that mean?"
"It's a poem," T-Bug muttered. "I'm curious too."
"'In youth, I vowed to rise with the clouds—to be a man of unmatched talent,'" Lucky translated. "He wrote it at 30. An unknown poet, down on his luck."
He looked at Jackie.
"Whoa… what happened to him?"
"Passed the imperial exams nine years later. Name carved into the golden roll. Lived through the fall of an empire. Died of old age."
"Chingón, that's badass." Jackie clapped and laughed wide and loud.
Lucky smiled too, warmed by the optimism.
"Let's go, hermanos."
Flathead crept through vent after vent, finally reaching the netrunner's room.
This wasn't some net café jockey—it was Arasaka's personal black ICE ops. He lay atop servers capable of a hundred trillion calculations per second.
T-Bug once said a real netrunner was worth a dozen fakers. In cyberspace, it was true.
Unfortunately for the guy in the chair, Flathead was already plugged in—and his brain was about to get fried.
Flathead stayed behind to monitor the net.
"What do you think?" Jackie asked as V sat back.
"A little dizzy, nothing major." V blinked the vertigo away.
"Maelstrom might be nuts, but this 'Raven Microcyber' work is pretty damn good," Lucky muttered. "They say genius and madness are one step apart…"
"Or maybe they're the same person," V said.
"Bug, we still good on time?" Jackie asked.
No response.
"Bug?"
"…Yeah, I'm here." T-Bug sounded rattled. "Listen, ICE is thicker than I thought. Gonna take a couple hours to burn through."
"A couple hours? Can't you speed it up?" Jackie looked panicked.
Staying in Konpeki was dangerous. Every second raised the risk.
"You want my brain to catch fire?" T-Bug shot back. "Just enjoy your fancy suits."
"Easy," Lucky calmed Jackie, guiding him to the couch. "T-Bug—once you crack the ICE, set up a backdoor for the sliding doors. If things go south and the alert goes up, we need options. Don't fight Netwatch head-on."
"Got it." T-Bug sounded pleased. She appreciated good contingency planning.
…
"What do you think? Why'd he give it all up?" Jackie stood by the window, staring out.
"Who?" V was zoning out.
"Yorinobu Arasaka. Gave up all the luxury, the power." Jackie turned. "I know, ancient history, but still. Doesn't make sense."
"Imagine this: You've got it all—money, education, power. Your old man could snap his fingers and nuke half the planet. And you say, 'Nah, fuck it,' and start a gang. You cut your family off, mod up with fake skin, and live as a street boss for years. For what?"
Lucky got it. Some were born at the finish line. Others owned the whole race. And still they threw it away to "find themselves."
"Some people don't know what they have. Others… every family's got its problems." Lucky said. "Yorinobu wanted to defy his father. Either he didn't see the truth—or he saw it too clearly."
"Maybe he just wanted to escape his family's system," V said quietly.
"Then why'd he come back?" Jackie asked.
"If the system is your family… escaping's not so easy," V murmured.
"Even a bad apple's still part of the tree," Jackie said.
"Yeah," Lucky nodded.
Jackie looked distant. "Comes crawling back with his tail between his legs. Pathetic. That's not rebellion…"
T-Bug finally cut in. "Let's move. Top-floor security's down. I've left a backdoor too."
"Perfecto. Our turn." Jackie perked up, cracking his knuckles. "Hey Bug… your channel's been open this whole time?"
"Three and a half hours."
Jackie froze. "Uhhh… that thing I said about your sour face…"
"You meant my face?" T-Bug shot back.
"Just a slip of the tongue!" Jackie stammered. "You know I didn't mean it like that…"
"I know. Now make it up to me."
In the elevator, Jackie stood stiff as a board.
T-Bug's access lit up the 100th floor—Yorinobu's penthouse.
"Relax, hermano." Lucky clapped his shoulder. "I've got your back."
Jackie tried a weak smile. "Uh… how about a joke?"
He looked down, shifted in his shoes.
"Now? You serious?" T-Bug asked.
Jackie ignored her. "Why did the rockerboy's girlfriend kick him out?"
A beat. Then—
"Because he didn't plug in the jack! Hahaha!"
"You laugh like a damn kettlebell," Lucky groaned, laughing despite himself.
"Fucking classic, Jackie…" (-ω-;)
"Oh my god…" T-Bug muttered, probably facepalming.
The elevator doors opened.
Gulp. Jackie swallowed. V cracked his knuckles.
Yorinobu Arasaka's suite. Just like in Evelyn's braindance.
Wood floors glowing softly, wide layout, familiar design. Absolute luxury.
"Damn. Not bad. Lighting's solid," Lucky strolled out confidently.
"Empire's heir sure lives well," Jackie muttered. "Better than Raul Wells' brat."
"It's nighttime, dumbass. What lighting?" T-Bug snapped. "Safe's the priority!"
V and Jackie rushed over. Lucky stood admiring a massive driftwood sculpture.
"Hey, is that a frilled lizard?" he asked.
"Shit. Not another one." Jackie recognized it instantly.
They remembered—when they first arrived in Night City, their first cargo for Arasaka? A crate with a frilled lizard inside.
"Caribbean species, right?" Lucky asked.
"Fuck! Not the same one. Ours had a bigger frill!"
"Nice interior. Bamboo, indirect light—bamboo forest at night. Very zen," Lucky muttered, snapping photos from the wall terminal and casually lifting Yorinobu's pistol. He popped open the safe, too.
"Dude, how are you this familiar with the place?" V asked.
Lucky rolled his eyes.
Because he'd reloaded this scene a thousand times—trying to find a way to save Jackie.
"Shit, Yorinobu's entering the building! Hurry!" T-Bug warned. "V, plug in now!"
"Hahaha, no rush… no rush…" Lucky grinned like an idiot.
(Everyone else: ???)
"Finally, after all the rushing… I still beat him here," Lucky said, pouring himself a drink. "Since the dawn of time, only the drinker leaves their name behind. Jackie, I'm afraid your booze isn't making it onto the Afterlife menu."
"Ugh… what the fuck is this?" Lucky coughed. "Smells expensive. Tastes like shit. Spicy, burns like hell… Yorinobu's got a nasty palate."
"I thought you didn't drink," Jackie said from the safe.
"Just wanted to know what the emperor's pup drinks." Lucky put the glass down. "Not impressed."
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