These drunks were a strange bunch—their faces almost never changed.
If a new one showed up, it meant he was a true alcoholic. Better remember that first meeting, because the Scavengers would make sure you never had a second...
Three days passed quickly, and word that David had been taken by Arasaka spread through the crew.
"Those bastard Arasaka scum!"
Maine's massive fist slammed onto the metal table, making it rattle.
He looked smaller than before, less grotesque than the last time they'd seen him. But his temper hadn't changed at all. His short white hair still stuck up stiffly, and the undersized black sunglasses on his face never seemed to come off.
"Get me a gun. Those damn corpo dogs need to bleed."
"Aye, aye..."
Rebecca, perched on the table, swayed her head, her twin braids bouncing with the motion. Her red cybereyes locked onto Maine.
"You're retired now, so stay home.
Leave this kind of thing to us."
"Ah... you damn kid, don't forget who trained you."
Maine glared back at her.
Rebecca casually picked at her ear, legs swinging idly in the air.
"Hmph.
Seriously—what's a retired old man doing meddling in this?"
Maine roared, even more enraged by her sarcasm.
"You runt... I may have ripped out my cyberware, but that doesn't mean I can't hold a gun!"
As the two hotheads bickered louder and louder, the rest of the crew rolled their eyes and turned back to the terminal screen.
"This factory, on the surface, is where Arasaka processes facility components.
But it seems there's also a lab inside, the kind of place where they do business they can't show in daylight."
Vik pointed at the screen, his voice low and serious.
"Best case, we get a rough layout of the place before we move in.
It covers a lot of ground. If we just charge in blind, we'll waste too much time."
Everyone went quiet, staring where Vik pointed. They'd already spent days trying to track down the factory schematics, but all their efforts had failed.
The intel they had now was the file V had sent Arthur two days earlier. The details were rough, but it was the best V could dig up under the circumstances.
"I can hack in and find what we need."
Lucy's voice was calm as she spoke from the side.
The weary look she'd worn for days was gone—or maybe just hidden. Otherwise, she wouldn't be suggesting something this reckless.
Taking on the firewall of an entire Arasaka factory head-on?
That was pure madness.
"Don't worry... we move tomorrow. There's still time."
Vik tried to reassure them.
But that was all it was—comfort. They'd already contacted nearly ten fixers, and still, no one would risk scouting that godforsaken, heavily guarded place.
"If nothing comes through, we leave tonight."
Arthur, seated across, spoke firmly.
"Lucy, you're coming with us. First we'll find an internal network access point."
Arthur had picked up some basics about netrunning. At least he knew that entering through an internal port avoided most of the firewall's pressure.
Hearing this, Vik could only nod helplessly. They really had no other options.
V's intel made one thing clear: both the test subject and the Cyberware Titan were scheduled to arrive tomorrow. If they wanted to save David, they had to strike then.
Who knew how far Arasaka had already prepared for the experiment? If they arrived after, they might only find a broken madman.
Cyberpsychosis had never been cured. Once it set in, there was no miracle left to hope for.
The group spent a long time discussing the rescue. Without the factory's layout, all they could do was piece together a rough plan.
Only four would take part directly: Arthur, Jackie, Rebecca, and Lucy.
With no reliable intel, they had to bring a netrunner to slip past the outer firewall and find what they needed.
"Ugh..."
Noticing the grim faces around her, Rebecca burst out again.
"We already tore through Biotechnica's black lab. How's this any different? It's just Arasaka this time."
Last time, they'd had an EMP that knocked out almost every electronic weapon, letting Arthur and the others storm in without resistance. On top of that, an elite Arasaka counterintelligence unit had covered them, buying enough time for a clean retreat.
Rebecca knew perfectly well this was different—but she didn't care. Fear simply wasn't in her vocabulary.
She waved dismissively, puffed out her cheeks, and looked utterly unconcerned.
"Besides..."
Her wide eyes darted around before she pointed at Arthur with both hands and shouted.
"We've got Arthur, don't we? Relax, nothing bad will happen."
Arthur shook his head with a faint smile, watching the girl who never understood danger. Then the smile vanished.
"The plan's simple. At dawn, we move. We find David and bring him back—alive."
His face hardened with rare ferocity as he clenched his fist tight against his chest.
"We will find that kid. And if anyone tries to stop us... we kill them."
He wasn't making a threat. He was stating a fact—an outcome that would happen no matter what.
Anyone standing in the way had better be ready to die.
Arthur's hoarse voice carried a killing intent so heavy it felt like coarse sand grinding against flesh, or a blade cutting skin in a blood oath. Everyone around him straightened at the sound.
On the other side, Gloria, who had been sitting quietly on a stool, finally turned her head. Her eyes were vacant, as if staring far into the distance.
She sat silently, watching them. Waiting quietly for the one person who mattered most to her.