"Panam!" Keeping his voice low to avoid it carrying too far in the wind and dust, V couldn't help the hint of excitement in his tone as he c
"Panam!"
Keeping his voice low to avoid it carrying too far in the wind and dust, V couldn't help the hint of excitement in his tone as he called out to the woman peering over the wall.
The person—who had been leaning against the wall and trying to look inside—heard her name through the howling wind and turned toward the voice. Upon seeing V, she froze for a moment, then quickly walked over.
"V? What are you doing here?"
As the woman—Panam—approached, Karl thought she looked strangely familiar.
V clearly knew her, but had Karl seen her somewhere before?
After a moment's thought, Karl remembered.
He'd seen this woman once at Afterlife. At the time, she seemed to be in a heated argument with Rogue, cursing as she stormed out, brushing past him on her way out the door.
Out of curiosity, Karl had even asked Claire, the bartender, what that argument was about.
From what he'd heard, Panam used to be a nomad, taking jobs in the city. Rogue had set her up with a job, partnering her with a Maelstromer. But during a mission, the Maelstrom guy tried to rob a drifter passing by. When Panam found out, she shot him in the head on the spot. Furious at Rogue for pairing her with a psycho, Panam had stormed into Afterlife demanding an explanation—and left even more pissed after a few sharp words from Rogue.
That was the story.
Wait a second...
A passing drifter?
Looking at how familiar V and Panam were, Karl squinted through the gritty air, his eyes stinging slightly from the sand.
"That drifter who almost got robbed... could that have been V?"
The next words exchanged between V and Panam confirmed Karl's hunch.
"I thought you went back to your clan. What brings you back to Night City? Is it that the clan needs more outside funding to keep going again?"
Panam clearly had no idea that V had transitioned into becoming a merc. As someone who primarily worked in transport, her connections to the merc scene were limited. After falling out with Rogue, she'd also stopped hanging around Afterlife, so she hadn't heard the rumors and word-of-mouth floating among the city's fixers and braindance junkies.
"The clan... let's just say some things happened."
V's cheerful mood faded a little at the mention of his clan. Still, he gave her a brief rundown of his current situation.
After listening, Panam's expression darkened in sympathy.
"So you left your clan too, just like me... now you're stuck trying to make ends meet in this godforsaken city. Typical. All clan leaders are the damn same!"
Clearly bitter about her own experiences, she cursed under her breath. Then she suddenly realized the presence of the quiet stranger beside V—Karl.
"Wait, and who are you?"
She'd been so focused on reuniting with a fellow ex-nomad that she hadn't even noticed Karl standing there the whole time.
"I'm Karl, V's teammate. His partner."
Karl introduced himself. Hearing his name, Panam frowned in thought, then suddenly her eyes lit up as she remembered.
"Oh, I've heard that name before—you're KK, right? I didn't recognize you when you said Karl. You're the merc everyone at Afterlife talks about. Didn't expect V to be working with someone like you now."
"I usually don't go by KK when I'm with friends."
Karl chuckled. Unlike V, who preferred not to be called by his real name unless by close friends, Karl was more open about it with people he trusted. These days, only gang members or corpo types unfamiliar with him used the nickname KK, often out of fear or respect.
"You don't seem nearly as scary as the rumors make you out to be."
Panam squinted at Karl's easy smile, slightly dazzled. The terrifying image of KK she'd heard about didn't match up with the friendly, good-looking guy in front of her.
"When I was running deliveries, everyone talked about you like you were some six-armed, three-headed demon—said you could tear open exosuits with a flick of your finger and swallow a whole car in one bite. But now that I see you... yeah, rumors really do get out of hand."
"Six arms and three heads, huh? Bit much. Though if someone bakes me a car-shaped cake, maybe I could eat that in one bite."
Karl grinned, brushing off the exaggerations. After the introductions, he turned the conversation around.
"So how do you two know each other?"
And just as he suspected, the story lined up.
Panam's former partner—the one from Maelstrom—had indeed tried to rob a passing drifter. That drifter turned out to be V.
Now that took guts.
Back then, V hadn't yet joined their team. He didn't have a Sandevistan, no cyber-eyes, not even a decent blade—but he was still a lone nomad who dared to wander the Badlands. What made that Maelstromer think V was easy prey?
Brave, maybe—but stupid. He died fast, too.
"So, Panam, what are you doing here today?"
V asked, steering the conversation forward.
"My cargo got stolen."
She looked slightly embarrassed as she explained.
Since her fallout with Rogue, Panam had been taking transport jobs for the 6th Street gang. Just yesterday, while grabbing a bite at the Sunset Motel, someone from Maelstrom had broken into her vehicle and stolen her shipment.
"Broke into the door..."
Hearing that, Karl couldn't help recalling the time their own car had been jacked, which had sent Oliver into a rage.
Why were there so many damn car thieves in Night City? And now even Badlands Maelstromers were specializing in lockpicking? What, were they all locksmith prodigies now?
"So you were planning to sneak into this place solo and take your stuff back?"
Karl was starting to get a good read on her.
Argued with Rogue. Planning to solo a gang hideout. This Panam had guts—maybe too much.
"Screw it. Let's hit them together. We were heading in anyway."
Since she was a friend of V's, and now someone Karl considered an acquaintance too, it made sense to team up for this.
"You lost some cargo too?"
"Nope," V said. "We're here to rescue people."
"Alright then. Let's sneak in together. I actually spotted a decent route for getting inside."
"Cool. But I'll need a minute to set something up first."
Karl didn't mind sneaking in—covert was good, especially if it meant securing hostages and supplies before anyone panicked. But before they entered...
His eyes scanned the rows of parked cars that could serve as getaway rides for anyone inside the hospital.
"I need to make sure... not a single one of them escapes."
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