The newly acquired loaded phones had been purchased, and everyone's old cell phones were officially retired. The crew met up at the power room where the Arasaka hacker had been captured and imprisoned earlier; it had been converted into a secret base by Maine's crew.
Kiwi was tightly bound, and the chip behind her ear had been removed, denying her another chance to betray them. She had been prepared to face their wrath but aside from Rebecca scolding her, no one else spoke to her. The ignored attitude, ironically, made her feel even more uneasy. Once the door to her small dark room closed, the whole world became quiet.
"What? We're going to break into Arasaka Tower?" Jackie said, his voice full of disbelief. "Hey, no! A, how do you know Lucy is at Arasaka Tower?"
Heather's tone was resolute. "Of course I know. How else do you think I tracked Faraday's loaded phone by signal?"
The digital Doggo appeared, floating in the air beside her. "You have to thank me for this. It was my chip that gave you computing power and anti-reconnaissance capabilities far beyond anyone else. Otherwise, you would have been discovered by network surveillance a long time ago."
Heather mentally replied, "Of course. You're the precious treasure my mother left me."
David spoke timidly. "If I'm discovered, will I be expelled from Arasaka Academy?"
Jackie patted David's shoulder. "You're still worried about your studies? Isn't your life more important?"
Rebecca squinted at David disapprovingly. "Little puppy, we didn't force you to participate in this. You two are just temporarily working with our group. We'll save our own teammates; we don't need a coward's help."
Dorio interjected, "Alright, Rebecca, stop ranting. We didn't get a single eddy for that last mission, so there's no reason for them to help."
"Hey! You can't say that!" Jackie protested. "If A is in, then I'm definitely in too. If something happens to A, V won't let me off."
"Who's V?" Rebecca asked. "Is it a trend now to have single-letter names?"
Falco sighed. "Damn Faraday, he dragged us into a bottomless pit."
"How about I go out and ask Maine for his opinion?" Dorio suggested.
Maine's chrome had not been removed. Due to his large size, he could only hide in the warehouse and couldn't come to the underground power room.
"Does Maine even need to be asked?" Rebecca scoffed. "He hasn't even removed his cyberware."
"True," Heather agreed. "Maine will definitely be for fighting."
Heather left the power room. Her car's trunk was filled with weapons, and so was the back seat. Everyone had already split up to prepare, and they had to gather in 2 hours.
Doggo expressed his concern. "Heather, why have I never known you to be so hot-blooded? Or, were you always this idiotic? Do you think winning against Militech is a sure thing? So the next step is to attack Arasaka Tower?"
Heather drove, humming softly. "I'm also very curious. Maybe your reckless spirit, Doggo, has infected me. Alright, I won't tease you anymore. Originally, our crew had three hackers. Lucy is now the person we need to rescue, Kiwi betrayed us, so she can't participate. Now, the only hacker left is me."
Doggo sighed. "Yes, without you, they would only be able to directly confront Arasaka's entire force in Night City until they were all dead. With you, we can accurately locate Lucy and reduce the overall combat."
Heather brushed back her short bangs. "No choice, who told this girl to be so important? Stop nagging. Didn't I already buy a large number of weapons as you wished? This car is now a proper armory. All kinds of firearms, ammunition, bombs, and traps."
"What else?" Doggo said. "Aren't I trying to increase our survival rate?"
"Indeed," Heather agreed. "This way everyone's firepower can be improved."
Doggo curled his lips. "Sorry, I didn't make it clear. These weapons are for me alone."
Heather was astonished. "What? You think I'm going to install chrome and control so many weapons with magnetism?"
"No, leave the cyberware to Maine," Doggo replied. "I have my own tactics. I will save our lives and try my best to save everyone else."
All NCPD officers in Corpo Plaza received a message from headquarters stating that the Maelstrom in Watson North District was causing large-scale trouble and asking them to quickly go support, as there was a severe shortage of police officers.
These NCPD officers were quite unwilling. They all had wives and children, and their salaries were decent, so who would really want to risk their lives to maintain order in Night City? And it was the Maelstrom, a bunch of cybernetic freaks who cut off their noses and eyes and replaced them with cyberware. How different was that from Cyberpsychosis?
Old Jin, an NCPD officer in Night City for over 10 years, was an old hand among old hands. After a stream of fluent curses, he still got into his police car and drove north.
Curse as they might, they still had to go, just at a slower speed and staying a bit further back. These were all survival tricks for Night City NCPD officers. Hotheads wouldn't last that long, after all. The NCPD is a high-risk profession.
Heather, from a distance, watched Old Jin's car drive away from Corpo Plaza. She checked the locations of nearby NCPD officers, and a joyful expression appeared on her face. "Jackie, David, Rebecca, Dorio, you can come over now. Maine, wait a bit; your chrome is too noticeable."
The four met up with Heather. Only David looked nervous.
"You four will charge straight in from the front," Heather said. "I've set up quite a few weapons on the perimeter. I'll try to ensure you can retreat smoothly after rescuing Lucy. All NCPD officers in Corpo Plaza have been lured to Watson North District by my fake message. Everyone, be careful, and come back alive."
Rebecca even looked excited. "What's there to be afraid of? We have cyberware. It's perfect to use their own secret weapon against them!"
"I'll keep an eye on Maine," Dorio said. After that, she unzipped her jacket, revealing rows of glowing glass vials inside—those were the inhibitors, the only things that could prevent Maine from going berserk.
Jackie looked back, gazing at something. "Maine, you better attack early. Don't just come out after we've taken a beating here."
The digital Doggo leaned against the wall, looking at ease. "This kid David doesn't want to do stupid things with you desperadoes at all. He's purely anxious to save Lucy."
"You, a non-functional consciousness, wouldn't understand," Heather said. "This is love; it makes people throw caution to the wind."
"Heh heh, love?" Doggo scoffed. "It's just a mixture of various hormones."
Everyone's loaded phones had already set up a chat group. Maine was a bit anxious. "Falco and Little A are still on standby in the plaza. How is it? Can we start soon? I'm waiting for you all."
"Okay, the four of us will go first!" Dorio said.
Heather sighed internally. My apartment is right next to Arasaka Tower. I never thought I'd be courting death right at my doorstep.