"Hope we make it to our destination...
Maybe we should've thought about adding someone back at the clinic."
Arthur spoke helplessly.
"Hey, this is my gun—it won't misfire.
And if you dare send me back to that clinic, I'll..."
Rebecca snapped, her neck stiff as she shouted.
Yet her hand still pressed the shell down as she racked the shotgun.
"What the hell's gotten into you, huh?"
Rebecca's craziness had always been just words—never reckless stunts like this.
"That gig you took a few days ago—why didn't you bring me?
We had a deal..."
The moment Arthur mentioned it, she bristled and yelled toward the front.
Arthur only sighed, shook his head, and turned his gaze back ahead.
"Damn it, if you think every job needs the whole crew, you'll burn yourself out.
Only kids need someone holding their hand—or patients like your brother."
At that, even Rebecca went quiet.
When her brother was bedridden, no one had ever looked after him.
The car sped across the wilderness, until soon not even a blade of grass was in sight.
Every few kilometers, they passed solitary cell towers standing in the yellow sand, or collapsed power pylons rotting into the ground.
Corporate wars, nuclear threats, and endless turf struggles had turned the world into scattered islands.
Night City was one of them. To reach it from the North American mainland, you had to cross nearly half a continent of wasteland.
Night City had long been trying to fix this isolation. Recently, Night Corp and a coalition of corporations had pushed for a rail line to Chicago.
The project had become a hot topic in the city, slated for completion in 2078, with full operations starting the same year.
But setting that aside, as the four drew closer to their target, the landscape shifted into something unusual.
Ahead, the earth looked split in two. Trenches jutted up from the ground as if the land itself had been pried apart.
What seemed like "a little" to the earth translated into sheer cliffs for humans.
Jagged rock faces of dry, yellow stone formed the horizon outside the car windows.
"Holy shit... this doesn't look like it came from a war."
Jackie's jaw hung open as he stared in astonishment.
"The Nomads call this the border. Once you descend this cliff face, you're officially in Night City's territory."
Lucy, more talkative than usual, explained in a flat tone.
"This is a kind of plateau. If you climb up and keep walking straight, you'll eventually run into a nearly identical landscape."
"Still, why would Arasaka build a factory way out here? Doesn't make sense."
Maybe it was the wide, open terrain, but Jackie's driving grew looser, more casual.
One hand on his chin, he spoke with curiosity.
"Probably because of the war. Big Militech forces never crossed this far.
The special units they sent—their squads, their envoys—ended up swallowed by Night City."
Maybe it was the distance from Night City, or maybe the landscape had stirred memories, but Lucy wasn't as silent as usual.
The vehicle pushed on.
What first looked like a distant line on the horizon soon became an endless vertical wall of rock.
The highway didn't stop, and the rock wall wasn't nearly as smooth as it looked from afar.
The surface rose and dipped, and the road wound its way up the rough slope.
"This road was built by Night Corp.
Back in their prime, they planned to put a massive military base here to strengthen the Independent Government of Night City."
As the incline steepened, Lucy offered the explanation unprompted.
"Night Corp..."
Jackie muttered thoughtfully.
He didn't know much about the company, but he'd heard the name plenty from the older generation.
Still, he had no reverence for the corporation that had built Night City.
Street wisdom told him otherwise—during his own upbringing, Night Corp had always been a shadow of its past self.
After a few more idle words, the factory finally came into view.
The complex lacked towering buildings, which meant the moment they saw it, they were already close.
"This is it."
Arthur broke the silence at last.
He narrowed his eyes, scanning the terrain to the right, and pointed.
"The intel says what we're looking for is over there."
Like the cliffs themselves, the surface of the plateau rising from the ground wasn't nearly as flat as it looked at a distance.
On both sides of the road, the rugged terrain was covered in sand and rock, jagged and uneven.
There was no road in the direction Arthur pointed, but Jackie didn't hesitate.
He wrenched the wheel, and the vehicle bounced straight into the barren stretch.
Inside, it felt like they had driven into another world.
The jolts were so violent that the two lighter girls in the back seat were thrown into the air.
"Ah... told you we'd never make it to our destination...
If this thing's got a brake, at least don't knock us out before we get there."
Arthur's voice strained to reach Jackie's ears through the rattling noise.
At last, the car began to slow.
"Hey... this scenery's a fresh one. Guess I got carried away."
After another round of jolts, the car stopped at an inconspicuous spot.
Almost at once, all four shoved their doors open and jumped out.
Back on solid ground, they all breathed a long sigh of relief. The firm earth beneath them felt good.
After a moment to steady themselves, they moved toward the destination marked on the map.
Up ahead, a small pit opened in the ground.
It was just wide enough for a single person to pass through, and not very deep—sunlight reached the bottom easily.
Barely the height of one person.
"We didn't just get scammed, did we?"
Jackie peered down, uncertainty in his voice.
"Or maybe that underground fissure the Fixer mentioned... if we've got to dig it ourselves, I'd still call that a scam."
...
(70 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser