The plan was solid, but execution needed to be swift.
Electromagnetic pulse weapons, though advanced, were hardly a secret.
They were tightly controlled by the corporations, and defenses against them were prohibitively expensive. That meant many older facilities lacked proper protection.
The CHOOH₂ Farm was exactly that kind of target.
The plan was clear: steal the vehicle tomorrow, then, the night after deploying the Electromagnetic Core, launch a direct strike on the farm.
Today was for Arthur and Jackie to recruit teammates.
Arthur had already decided on David. With his Sandevistan, the kid could handle himself. More importantly, this mission might lead to a way to save his mother—so naturally, he had to be included.
As for the rest of Maine's crew? Forget it. This was corporate warfare. Arthur trusted David, but he wasn't ready to extend that trust to the others.
He had the courage to trust, but he wasn't naïve—his past life had taught him better. From what he'd seen a few days ago, Maine's crew had cracks. The two female netrunners, for example, didn't fit in at all.
Then again… what about Rebecca, that little firecracker?
No. Not this time. It wasn't about distrust—just the fact that she was reckless. And recklessness got people killed.
...
Arthur and Jackie made their way to Vik's clinic, which they'd been using as a base of operations.
After Arthur told David there might be a way to help his mother, the kid rushed over immediately.
The clinic door slammed open with a bang, and a yellow blur shot inside.
"David! I really need to reconsider bringing you along. You don't look stable at all."
Arthur frowned deeply. Someone so quick to lose control had no place on the battlefield. Rushing in blindly, screaming, would get him killed—and worse, drag others down with him.
Truth be told, most of Maine's crew shared that flaw: Rebecca, David, Pilar, even Dorio.
Did a crew always end up mirroring its leader?
Arthur thought of his own boss—a cold, calculating madman—and quickly dismissed the idea.
David saw Arthur's disapproval and froze. Just then, another figure stepped slowly through the doorway.
Arthur's frown deepened. He'd told David not to share this with anyone else.
"No, Lucy was in my head at the time—I didn't mean to..."
David scrambled to explain, but Lucy's icy stare shut him down instantly. He shuddered, then quickly corrected himself.
"I didn't mean to keep it from her. She's the most important person in my life. She'd never betray me."
"David."
Arthur's gaze lingered on Lucy, and a thought surfaced unbidden:
"She's only important to you."
He sighed. No point pressing the matter, and he wasn't about to humiliate the slender young woman. Some mission details could wait.
"The op kicks off the night after tomorrow. Be here at Vik's early. Use the next couple of days to get yourselves ready.
Especially you, David. A battlefield isn't about who can shout the loudest or freeze the longest."
...
With that settled, Arthur pulled out the Achilles rifle Regina had given him.
He needed to get comfortable with it before things got serious.
The weapon was heavy, finished in dark gold. Two electromagnetic rails folded flush against the frame during charging. The magazine sat above the buttstock, shaped like a long battery that slid neatly into a recessed slot.
Inside, a rotating mechanism aligned the rounds. Each pull of the trigger fired six shots.
Uncharged, the rounds spread loosely and lacked punch. But fully charged, the six bullets tightened into a focused barrage with devastating penetration and power.
Arthur was still turning the rifle over in his hands when Rebecca burst in, bouncing on her feet, her twin braids swinging.
She froze when she saw him inspecting Achilles.
"Hey! Got a Gig?"
Arthur sighed, looking at the brat.
"How'd you know I was at Vik's?"
That punk David better not have run his mouth.
Vik chuckled from his workstation without looking up.
"This girl camps out here waiting for you whenever she gets the chance."
Arthur gave Rebecca a puzzled look.
"You wanted something from me? You have my number—why not just call?"
Rebecca didn't answer, just stared at him with wide, unblinking eyes.
"Is there a job? I'm in!"
"Fine, fine."
Arthur waved her off.
"If you want in, show up here the night after tomorrow.
But you'll do what I say—or I'll ditch you somewhere along the way."
Rebecca had behaved during the last Gig. Bringing her again shouldn't be a problem.
...
The next day at noon, Arthur and Jackie received an invitation from V. She said she had something special for them.
Arasaka had set her up with a house in North Oak, Westbrook—the most luxurious district in Night City, maybe in the entire States.
The two-story place had a ground-level terrace the size of half a football field, complete with a wide, crystal-blue pool. Below stretched layer upon layer of oak treetops, swaying like waves in the wind.
V welcomed them in loose loungewear, smiling at their wide-eyed, country-bumpkin looks.
Still, the two men weren't completely distracted by the luxury. They quickly turned to her.
"Hey, this place is nice and all, but if you're letting the company jerk you around just for this, I won't stand for it."
Jackie wiped his mouth, dead serious.
V ignored him. She crouched, pulled two silver cases from a cabinet, and set them on the table.
She patted the cases and smiled at Arthur.
"If that 'Lenny' guy really means that much to you, maybe we can make room for one more."
Arthur blinked, confused. Where the hell had she heard that name?
V pointed at him and burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"When you left Lizzie's, you had your arms wrapped around a barmaid, trying to drag her home—shouting 'Lenny!' the whole time."
She laughed so hard she had to clutch her stomach with one hand and pound the table with the other.
"That... really happened?"
Arthur scratched his head. Damn it.
He glared at her doubled-over figure and growled,
"If you're gonna puke, do it in the bathroom."
He hated drunks who could still remember everything.
"Alright, alright."
V took several deep breaths and finally straightened up.
"Come on, check out the treat I brought."
She flipped open the case with a grin.
A blast of cold mist drifted away, revealing what was inside—
two massive cuts of marbled meat.
The story of synthetic food went back to the energy crisis.
CHOOH₂ had saved humanity, a clean energy that pulled the world back from collapse. But producing it devoured farmland—nearly ninety percent of all arable land.
That left almost no room for crops, ushering in the age of synthetic food.
Ironically, the largest producer of artificial food was All Foods, a Biotechnica subsidiary.
Natural food had all but disappeared for the middle and lower classes. People choked down tasteless meals while enduring endless propaganda from "experts" insisting synthetic food was healthier.
But what lay before them wasn't something you could just buy—
it was two slabs of premium natural beef.
"Damn, chica."
Jackie grinned, giving V a thumbs-up.
"Even if this is my last meal, it's worth it."
Arthur kicked him under the table, speechless.
This guy—saying anything for a bite to eat.
But then.
Arthur picked up a knife and fork, cut a small piece, and popped it into his mouth.
The cumin-spiced aroma burst across his tongue, the natural fibers giving a firm, perfect bite.
He closed his eyes in bliss.
"Damn it… if it's a last meal, so be it. Say it all you want—it's fake anyway.
But this beef? This is the real deal."
...
(70 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser