After breaking through the blockade, Pangolin's squad successfully regrouped with T-Bug. The mission Rogue had assigned them was now officially complete.
As for the carnage still raging inside? That was no longer their concern.
Still, the fact that the RCS support squad had opened fire indiscriminately on their own employees had taken everyone by surprise.
"Lucky, what the hell are you doing? Forget them! You two need to get out of there—now!"
T-Bug's voice crackled through the comms.
"Doesn't the NCPD care about this kind of thing?" Roqi muttered, half to himself.
But even as he said it, he already knew the answer.
Of course not. The NCPD didn't interfere in corporate affairs.
According to Night City municipal law:
"Without explicit evidence, intervening in internal corporate operations is a criminal offense."
Sounds official. But if the NCPD isn't allowed to intervene, how would they ever gather evidence?
No evidence means no action.
No action means no investigation.
No investigation means no evidence.
A self-sustaining legal deadlock.
The reason was simple.
Back when this regulation was passed, then-Mayor Lucius Rhyne had all but handed over full authority to the megacorps—control of not just the metaphorical green light, but the entire damn highway system.
The biggest winner? Arasaka.
Like Jackie used to say:
"Guys like Saburo Arasaka—they're not CEOs, they're gods. Kings of Night City."
And on their turf, no one dared step in.
And the NCPD? Corrupt to the core. They'd rather look the other way.
Even if someone had the guts to make a move, their higher-ups would shut them down—through pressure, intimidation, or assassination.
There'd even been that cop, Anna, back in Kabuki. Her bosses wanted her to stop digging. When she didn't… she vanished.
Thankfully, V talked her into leaving Night City and heading for the Badlands.
For someone willing to die for justice, maybe being a Nomad wasn't the worst end.
But today? Right now?
From the moment the attack began until RCS's reinforcements arrived, the NCPD didn't lift a finger.
Why? Simple.
If a company needed help, they'd ask for it. Most didn't—corporate security forces often outgunned the police anyway.
But if the company was the one doing the killing?
Then the NCPD's motto was clear:
"Not our business. Keep out."
"You ready to go?"
Mower pulled her eyes away from the scope and looked at Roqi.
"…Yeah. Let's go."
He took a deep breath and nodded.
They were still in a safe spot. Roqi wasn't stupid. He was shaken, yes, but not enough to throw his or Mower's life away.
As they moved out, he took one last look.
Only a few battered security drones were still resisting.
The surviving RCS workers had scattered, running in all directions, leaving behind a burning, debris-filled war zone.
They moved fast.
Mower, cradling her heavy sniper rifle, and Roqi, shouldering an anti-armor missile launcher, dashed across the street.
Not far away, more RCS employees were running for their lives.
Just as the whole team gathered and was about to leave—
CRACK—!!
"Aaaagh!"
A sharp crack rang out, followed by a scream.
Roqi looked back through the vehicle's window.
He saw a man in an RCS uniform lying face-down, blood spreading in a growing pool beneath him. His upper body twitched, but his lower half was nearly severed—like a bug sliced clean in half, twitching helplessly in its death throes.
The bullet had come through a wall.
From his experience, Roqi recognized it immediately.
In 2077, the concept of "cover" was a joke. Even a tech-charged handgun could punch through concrete.
And when it came to armor-piercing, nothing beat the Achilles rifle.
He knew they'd been spotted. They had to leave—now.
But then he noticed something strange—the shots weren't aimed at them.
They were targeting the fleeing workers.
"What the fuck are they doing!?"
T-Bug was baffled. She had ordered all their bots and drones to engage in suicide strikes—and they'd been wiped out.
But the explosions and gunfire coming from inside RCS hadn't stopped.
CRACK—!!
Another body dropped.
An employee who'd changed directions after witnessing a colleague die was gunned down before reaching cover. A cloud of blood misted in the air, and his life disappeared just as quickly.
Another innocent killed.
Now everyone realized something was wrong.
The cybernetic hybrids weren't just fighting hostiles—they were targeting everyone.
Even basic AI systems marked employees as friendly or, at worst, neutral. No matter how cruel a corp might be, they didn't just kill their own people randomly.
Their targeting protocols were messed up.
"Shit… so this isn't random. They're targeting all humans," Roqi muttered in disbelief.
"No time for this! If we don't leave now, we'll be next!"
T-Bug shouted. "DRIVE!"
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🤖 My Girlfriend's a Cyberpsycho—Who Knew?
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