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Thirty minutes later, I pulled up to what was a completely normal apartment building for Night City. A high-rise that hadn't seen a major renovation in decades, or even any cosmetic work from the city services.
I smirked, walked a little further, and entered an alley. I put a mask on my face, then carefully made my way through the courtyards and stopped right beside a window that should lead to the apartment next to my target.
It was easy to pry open the old window frame with a knife, and two minutes later, I was inside the first-floor apartment. I moved through it quietly, noticing that a TV was on in one of the rooms. Peeking inside, I saw a girl masturbating with a vibrator and a pornographic braindance.
I shrugged, quietly closed the door behind me, and went to the door that led to the corridor. I carefully and quietly opened it, slipped out, and closed it behind me.
A couple of steps down the hall, and I was at the right apartment.
I knocked a few times, my knife ready…
"What the fuck do you want?!"
The door swung open abruptly, but I was standing on the other side of it, so it didn't get in my way. I immediately stabbed the knife upward, piercing the Scav's chin and reaching his brain.
I carefully caught him and lowered him to the floor inside the apartment. Taking a step forward, I quietly closed the door behind me.
I quickly searched him, took his weapon, then wiped my knife on his jacket and went down the apartment hallway to the nearest room. It was a bathroom with the lights on, and another Scav was inside. I didn't care what he was doing in there; I just plunged my knife into his temple and twisted it slightly. Then, I caught him and carefully lowered him to the floor.
This one didn't have anything on him.
With a sigh, I dragged the first stiff to the bathroom. After checking the toilet, I peeked into what was now the first proper room.
"Fuck… what's taking him so long…"
"You want to, then stand up and go check… maybe he's jerking off to a corpse at the door!"
"Ugh, fuck that!"
"That's what I'm saying!"
"Shit… but we have to check… remember how that new solo flatlined one of our bases recently?"
"Tch… they were just all hopped up on—"
While the two Scavs were talking, I crept up behind them. With a knife in each hand, I neatly plunged them both into the temples of the two losers. Their heads knocked against each other.
I pulled out the knives, wiped them on the Scavs' jackets, and quickly searched them. A couple hundred in cash, a pistol, and an assault rifle. I immediately put the weapons in my backpack, which I then put on the floor to prevent the sound of the weapons clanging against each other from giving me away. Then I headed to the next room.
It was set up as a ripper clinic, where he extracted implants from bodies. But he wasn't working. He was just sitting in a chair, hopped up and watching a braindance.
I crept up quietly and plunged the knife right into his temple.
I took off his glove, went back to the bag I'd left in the previous room, put the glove inside, and then kept going. But in the third room, I was in for a surprise. A broken floor and a not-so-neat ladder going down.
Weighing the pros and cons, I returned to the ripper's room and, after searching it, found a couple of implants prepped for sale.
"Bastards…"
Returning to the hole, I slowly looked around and descended, but fortunately, it was quiet down there. The tunnel went for about two hundred meters before ending in a basement, where there was a ridiculous amount of chrome piled up.
"Regina, I have a question…"
"I'm listening, Ghost."
The fixer answered my call immediately.
"Switching to camera…"
When she saw what I was seeing, she let out a surprised whistle.
"…there was a hole in the floor of the apartment and an underground passage to a basement. You know, it's not a good thing, of course, but on the other hand, we weren't the ones who took all this stuff out… so maybe we should call a driver, one of the quiet ones? To move all this gear to a decent ripper?"
"One second, I'll check which drivers are available…"
Regina liked my idea and quickly checked her data. Then her image froze for a couple of minutes.
"You know, I thought about it. I don't want to share with you, of course, but not a single ripper in the city will take parts from the Scavs. They need the paperwork. The black market isn't an option either, but they can be sold to nomads. So, I contacted Dakota; her person will contact you. You tell them where to go…"
"Got it."
I didn't ask any questions. It wasn't my place to ask about payment. Regina had a reputation, and I knew she wouldn't screw me over.
A couple of minutes later, I got a call.
"Ghost listening."
"Pff… kid, you should've picked a better nickname for yourself…"
"With whom do I have the honor?"
"Panam Palmer. I'm from Dakota. She said you know where to get a lot of chrome…"
"I do. I cleared out a Scav point, and it turned out there's a passage here to their warehouse. In short, there's plenty of chrome here. I'm sending you the location to pull up to."
"Got it… Ghost…"
She smirked as she said my call sign.
"…I'll be there in twenty minutes."
The connection was cut.
I checked the basement again, confirming that the underground tunnel was the only working entrance. The other passages had been welded shut from the inside. Realizing this, I went back to the apartment and took a position near the front door to wait.
About ten minutes passed, and I heard a crowd of people running down the hall with a wild clatter.
I went completely still…
BANG!
The door to the apartment was kicked down, but that didn't help them, as I wasn't in their direct line of sight. A couple of people went further into the apartment, and another looked into the bathroom, where I was. He didn't have time to do anything, though; the Sandevistan plus a knife cut his life short, and he didn't even have time to warn the others about my location.
With a roll, I came out of the bathroom. My next action was to fire my drawn pistol, a shot straight into the Scav's eye. Then I spun around and fired two more shots straight into the backs of the heads of the other freaks who still hadn't figured out what was happening.
Each of them had a rifle and a few extra mags. All of it went into my bag.
"Ghost?"
I accepted the call from Panam as soon as it came in.
"Yeah, one second. Are you in the courtyard?"
"Yeah…"
"Good. I hope you're not alone?"
"No, I've got a couple of chooms from the clan with me…"
"Good. I'll open the window now and show you where to carry the stuff out. I just fended off a Scav raid; they must've somehow figured out that their warehouse wasn't safe. So I'll cover you from inside the building, you'll stay at the wheel, and your chooms will carry the chrome."
"Got it…"
I opened the window, and a few dozen seconds later, a small van backed up to it.
"Hey, my name's Mitch…"
"And I'm Scorpion…"
"Ghost."
They smirked and nodded, and I stepped away from the window and let them into the apartment.
"Okay… this is the underground passage. It leads to the basement. The other passages are blocked, so there's no danger there. But still, work fast. I'll cover you here, just in case any other Scavs decide to show up."
"Got it."
Overall, the transfer of chrome went quietly and smoothly, and half an hour later, I climbed out the window after the guys and sat in the seat next to the driver. The guys got into the back of their van.
"Hit it!"
"Don't hurry…"
I shook my head, putting my hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Huh?!"
"I said, don't attract attention. If you hit the gas now, they might remember us, but if you leave calmly, there's a chance no one will even notice that this van was here."
"The kid's right, Panam, don't hurry."
"Alright…"
I could hear the disappointment in the girl's voice. She glanced at me and shook her head.
"Why us?"
"Hmm?"
"The chrome… why the Aldecaldos?"
I shrugged.
"You guys just got lucky."
"Lucky?"
"I haven't been working as a solo for long. The only fixer I know is Regina, and she's obviously on good terms with Dakota, who recommended you guys."
"So, just luck?"
"Yeah."
"Got it…"
When we left the city, I got in touch with Regina.
"Boss. We left the city. I think everything will be calm from here on out."
"Understood. My people have already checked; the job, as always, was done quietly, and the fact that there was a warehouse there, too… that's even better. Those scumbags will get less profit."
I nodded.
"Once you're done with the Aldecaldos, you're free for the day."
"Got it… just one question…"
"Yeah?"
"I heard about a ripper… they say he's a stand-up guy. Viktor Vector. You know his address?"
"Of course. Viktor's Clinic, Urmland Street. And he really is a good ripper, one of the best, if you consider the ones that regular people and rookie solos can afford. What can I say? He's even good compared to other rippers. Maybe the corpo ones are better…"
"Uh-huh, thanks…"
"Don't mention it."
The connection was cut, and I rode in silence until we reached the Aldecaldo camp. There, I helped the guys unload the chrome and carry it to their ripper, who quickly scanned it and got happier and happier with each package pulled from the van.
"Fifty?"
He looked at me intently, raising an eyebrow.
"I would love to…"
I shrugged.
"…but I don't know much about all this. So send the list and the proposed price to Regina, and let her decide."
"You don't trust us?!"
It was clear my words had touched a nerve with Panam.
"And you haven't been in Night City long, have you?"
"What?!"
"You're just too naive…"
I shrugged.
"...you're a cool girl, and I would have gone to a cafe with you a couple of times; maybe something would have happened, but right now, you've met me for the first time, and I've met you…"
I shrugged.
"Scorpion and Mitch seem like decent guys, too…"
I shook my head.
"…maybe I would have sat in a bar with them a couple of times, although considering I don't drink, I doubt they would have liked that.
I smirked.
"However, this is all my subjective opinion. The job, as a result of which I got all this stuff, came from a fixer. She knows I found the chrome, which means she should get her cut. Guns from corpses belong to the solo who picked them up, but goodies like this are best sold through a fixer. The reputation will be better, and there's less chance of you getting screwed over."
"Got it…"
Panam seemed to have calmed down a little.
A couple of minutes later, I received a payment transferred through Regina. I nodded to the nomads and, with a sigh, trudged toward the highway, where I could call a taxi.
"Hey, need a ride?"
Panam quickly caught up to me and lightly slapped my shoulder.
"Well, I wouldn't say no…"
I shrugged.
"…but are you sure? You'll have to go back to the city to get back to your family after this…"
"Well…"
She smiled sadly.
"…I don't get along with Saul very well. He'll be happy with the chrome, sure, but he and I will definitely get into a fight if I stay here for too long…"
"Saul?"
"Yeah, he's the clan leader."
She nodded.
"He's a good guy, but he's boring… He keeps dreaming of getting a contract with Biotech."
I snorted.
"We feel the same way, but ever since we got here, that's all he's been thinking about…"
Panam shook her head and led me to her car, pointing at it with pride.
"Meet my 'Tortik'!"
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