The elevator gradually slowed.
First floor, main lobby.
Ding...
The doors opened.
Instead of Arasaka soldiers, they were greeted by Mower—her entire body streaked with blood.
"Ugh—fuck, you scared the shit out of me…"
Jack nearly threw the relic case out of reflex.
Even Roqi flinched with a jolt before rolling his eyes. "What happened to Arasaka's spec ops?"
"Handled."
Mower didn't elaborate. She turned and started walking.
The lobby was littered with the twisted corpses of Arasaka soldiers. Blood had splashed onto the walls, soaking the cloverleaf logo in a way that looked downright mocking. Not even the cameras had been spared—some were fried, others crushed, one even had a sidearm jammed into it.
"¡Dios mío..."
Jack and V exchanged a nervous look as they followed behind Roqi and Mower.
"All according to plan?" Roqi asked, pressing the button to head down to the basement parking garage.
Mower nodded. "One of the Octants chased after the AV."
"Good."
"Alert! They've discovered Saburo Arasaka isn't in the AV!" T-Bug's voice finally returned, tinged with tension.
"Bug? What happened on your end?" V asked quickly.
"I... I flew toward HQ... Arasaka Tower…" she said breathlessly. "They—"
SLAM.
"Shit. Okay. I may have totaled the fancy toy you gave me."
During her radio silence, T-Bug had been remotely piloting Saburo Arasaka's Rayfield Excalibur AV, trying to lead two suspicious Octants on a wild goose chase above Night City. She'd attempted an aerial drift through Corpo Plaza—but hadn't counted on the rooftop SAM turrets on Arasaka Tower. She dodged too hard and nose-dived right into the front gate.
"It's fine," Roqi said flatly. "Buying us that window was enough."
"More Arasaka reinforcements are inbound," T-Bug warned. "You need to move now. NCPD's also in play—MaxTac is active. Be careful."
"Copy that. We're moving out." Roqi stepped over a corpse as they exited the elevator. "V, you still got that vehicle chip? I've got a plan."
V's eyes flickered blue as he scanned the lot. "Emperor 620 Ragnar. AWD, armored Arasaka SUV. Can tank rifle rounds, maybe a few explosives. Damn... what are we doing?"
"Delamain—rendezvous at the fallback location," Roqi ordered.
"I must strongly recommend immediate boarding," Delamain responded calmly.
"Just do what I said—and tell your company to fix that goddamn no-manual-reroute policy."
If it hadn't been for that policy, maybe they could've saved Jackie during the original timeline...
Just like that bus crash from the news—a sealed climate-control system malfunctioned, and by the time the bus stopped, everyone inside had cooked to death.
AI works—until it doesn't.
"Client feedback received. Initiating ignition. 'Choose Delamain—leave your worries behind.'"
"Go! In the Ragnar!"
The team piled into the SUV.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The moment the doors shut, Arasaka reinforcements lit up Delamain's AV. Bullets pinged off its armor and shatterproof glass harmlessly.
"V, follow Delamain!" Roqi said, eyes scanning for threats.
V slammed the accelerator, right behind the AV as they burst out of the parking deck.
"Jesus, how many did you kill?" Jack asked, still staring out the window.
The road outside was soaked in blood. Arasaka bodies were everywhere.
Mower said nothing.
CRASH!
A metallic blur exploded from the roadside hedges and punched Delamain's hood, nearly flipping the vehicle.
"Shit—it's Smasher!"
V hit the brakes. Everyone inside got rattled.
"Roadblock detected," Delamain said, reversing hard—then plowing through two Arasaka sedans.
The Ragnar followed, roaring through the debris.
It felt—for a brief moment—like they had momentum again.
Roqi lowered the window, drew the sidearm he'd looted from an Arasaka guard, and fired a quick burst into the road behind Delamain.
"I do not understand the purpose of this action," Delamain commented.
"It's called misdirection!" Roqi shouted into the wind.
To anyone watching from above, it looked like Arasaka was chasing the AV.
They weren't. It was all theater.
"Smart move," V nodded, gripping the wheel.
Konpeki Plaza was behind them now. The night reclaimed them.
Of course, peace never lasted long.
RAT-TAT-TAT!
"One hostile AV has acquired targeting lock," Delamain announced.
A hail of rounds sparked across its rear—an Octant, flanked by two Griffins, had found them.
"They're after you, not us," Roqi muttered, slapping a new mag into the pistol but not firing. "If I shoot now, the cover's blown. And let's be honest—small arms won't scratch that thing."
"Can't they just leave us the fuck alone!?" Jack growled.
"Not after what we pulled," V said.
Roqi made another call.
"This is Lucky. Yeah, now. We're on California and Cartwright, headed toward Clarendon. We're in an Arasaka Emperor 620 Ragnar. Delamain's in front, Octant AV behind us."
He hung up.
"Who was that?" Jack asked.
"Regina's crew. They'll intercept us. V, keep heading south."
V nodded.
Ahead, Delamain flipped open a rear panel—an 8-cell swarm launcher extended and started hammering the sky.
Now that was a proper combat cab—not just a glorified tin can waiting to die.
BOOM!
One Griffin took a direct hit, sparked violently, and crashed onto the asphalt.
Delamain's exterior was scorched and dented, but the cabin was pristine. Either the Octant's weapons were underpowered, or Delamain's armor was god-tier.
A voice buzzed in Roqi's headset.
He pulled back into the vehicle, no longer pretending to return fire.
At the next intersection, a beat-up gray van pulled into their path.
"V, get me close—I'm jumping over!"
"You what?" V blinked. "You're serious!?"
"Parallel the van. I'm jumping now!"
V trusted him. Always had.
"Alright. Hold steady—GO!"
Roqi climbed onto the roof, crouched, measured the angle—then lunged.
THUMP!
He slammed into the van's side and rolled inside through the open door.
Jackie Chan behavior.
"I'm in!" Roqi yelled.
"Holy shit—practical stunts! Should've filmed that!" Jack laughed.
"What now?" V swerved as they all turned onto the southern Watson causeway.
Ahead, bridges and metro lines were blocked off. NCPD everywhere.
"I've got a surprise," Roqi said, swinging open the back of the van—and climbing into a hulking Militech exosuit.
"Isn't that a combat exo from Militech?" V blinked in shock.
"Yup. Crouches just enough to fit inside."
Roqi wedged himself into position, gritting his teeth.
"Now it's a turret!"
He couldn't separate the thermal cannon from the core. No tools, no techs—so this was the only option.
The cannon aimed up, scraping the roof of the van.
A red glow built up at the muzzle.
WHIRRRRRRR—ZAP!
"Eat shit!"
The Octant's nose melted under the blast. Circuits fried. It fell from the sky and exploded on impact.
The second Griffin got vaporized by another energy beam.
"Woooo!" T-Bug whistled.
"Hell yeah!" Jack whooped.
"Finally lost those assholes," V exhaled.
Three vehicles—a combat taxi, a corp SUV, and a raggedy van—sped through the soaked streets of Little China.
The tires hissed across the rain-slicked roads.
"Warning—NCPD has deployed MaxTac," T-Bug said. "Guess Arasaka called the cops."
"Arasaka calling NCPD... that's rich," Roqi muttered, climbing out of the exosuit. He banged on the driver's seat. "Follow that cab. Take us to the No-Tell Motel."
After winding through backstreets for less than ten minutes, they pulled into a grimy lot.
Trash everywhere. Vagrants under the awnings. Cars rusted to husks. Pink neon from the motel lights colored the wet air in sickly hues.
"Wait," V said, stopping everyone. He answered a call and patched it into the channel.
"What the hell's going on? The news is full of Konpeki!" Evelyn Parker's voice.
"Saburo got offed by his son. What do you think?" Jack snapped. He never liked her.
"Where are you? Are you safe? Is the relic okay?"
Roqi gestured to V—hold up.
"We have the relic," Roqi said. "We're heading to meet Dexter."
"No. Don't go to him," Evelyn interrupted. "I can't talk long... Just ditch him. I'll give you half!"
Half. Fifty percent. An absurd fortune, considering the relic's value.
"We'll think about it," Roqi said, motioning to end the call.
"What's going on, Lucky?" V asked.
"Cutting out a fixer's a bad idea in Night City," Jack said.
"That's not the issue," Roqi said. "This was supposed to be a clean job. Grab the relic before anyone at Arasaka even noticed."
"But Saburo Arasaka is dead. Murdered. And Yorinobu's not gonna admit it."
"So they'll blame us?" Jack asked, stunned.
Roqi slumped against the seat, eyes tired.
"This is my last prediction… Dex is going to sell us out."
"No way," V muttered.
"You serious?" Jack asked.
"Bug—you hear that?" Roqi asked quietly.
Silence.
"…You've known Dex for years, right? Even before he ghosted the city?" Roqi continued. "Jackie. V. Now you get why we were the ones sent into Konpeki?"
"Fuck—he set us up from the start!" Jack roared.
Dex never intended to pay them.
"Can you be sure?" V asked.
Roqi gave him a look. V sighed, loading his gun.
"Bug... you knew, didn't you?" Roqi said. "Fixers always lowball mercs, throw them at impossible gigs, then toss the bodies in the dump."
"Don't," T-Bug said. "Dex did talk about that... and yeah, maybe he meant to dump me too. You think I worked this hard just for fun? With the relic, we don't need him. Buyers will find us."
"So?" V asked.
"If Dex sells us out—I'm burning that bridge myself," T-Bug said. "If not, fine. We take the cash and move on."
"Guess your dream condo's on hold," Roqi muttered. "But one thing's certain—we've got another problem."
"Which is?" V asked.
"Yorinobu."
Everyone turned to him—including Mower.
"No matter how advanced the relic is—Arasaka can remake it. They built it. They have the tech. They have money. Billions. What makes the relic valuable is exclusivity. But that's not gonna last."
"Yorinobu's real fight isn't with us. It's with the Arasaka board. Internal politics. Power plays. We're ants in comparison. But even a stray spark could torch the whole city."
"Then we kill them," V said coldly.
"Used to think fighting Arasaka was a death sentence," Jack admitted. "Lately... feels like I'm in a dream."
"I don't care," Mower said flatly. "Militech, Arasaka—same garbage."
"You guys are nuts," T-Bug muttered. "Anyway—Dex is still waiting."
Roqi hopped out of the van, sliced the ropes holding the exosuit, and climbed in.
He waved the bored driver off, then turned to the team.
"One more thing left to do. And this time—I'm damn sure about it."
"What?" V asked.
Roqi raised the thermal cannon in his right hand, and the riot shield in his left.
"We're gonna turn that fat fuck Dexter into ground meat."
.
.
.
📢 Cyberpunk Alert! 📢
Loving My Girlfriend's a Cyberpsycho—Who Knew? 💘🤖You can read more chapters in advance exclusively on Patreon! 💥🧠
Join the ride through Night City and stay ahead with early access! 🌆🔫
🔗 Join here: www.patreon.com/c/MrMagnus👤 Patreon name:SrMagnus
Thank you for your support, chooms! 🙌