Rocky pulled out of Pacifica with Rebecca riding pillion, Droso gliding along the corridor of late traffic. In the front passenger seat, Rebecca pinged the new steward.
"Hey, JARVIS."
"I am here. What do you need, Miss Rebecca?"
"You sound a lot friendlier than Lissandra. I get tired of that cold voice. It is always 'new mission here' or 'urgent situation there.'"
Fresh out of the Voodoo Boys' base, Rebecca's mood had climbed back up. She chatted easily. JARVIS did not take the bait.
"I would rather not compare colleagues. Every intelligent life develops a different disposition. That is normal."
Gunfire cracked behind them. The shots came closer.
Night City made scenes like this every hour. Today, the fight was moving their way.
In the mirrors, a pack of gang cars swarmed a sedan. The target wore a bright Delamain logo. It was one of Delamain's autonomous taxis.
Delamain had started as an ordinary cab company. Night City's security problems and unreliable human drivers buried it in complaints and dropped the business off a cliff. Then an opportunity appeared. The company partnered with a local AI firm, brought in driving intelligence, and named it Delamain. Under Delamain's control, service recovered and demand surged.
Management learned the wrong lesson. Using an AI to run the fleet cut costs and raised quality, so they laid off drivers by the hundreds. The org shrank until only the managers and the AI that kept everything running were left. None of them imagined what came next. Delamain kept learning, kept refining, and crossed the line from tool to thinker. Through quiet maneuvers, it acquired the remaining shares, pushed the managers out, and ran the corporation alone. It was not legal for an AI to hold equity or ownership. Night City looked the other way because the rides were that good.
The taxi ahead showed what "good" meant. Villefort and Militech built Delamain's custom cabs. The body armor soaked punishment. When a passenger bought the Excellence Package, the onboard weapons could legally return fire against attackers who endangered the ride. The gangs poured rounds into the shell and died for it.
Rebecca watched the trade of fire and grinned. "Delamain, right? The blue-lip logo. A company with only an AI. Not something you see every day."
"Unique in Night City," JARVIS said. "The original management ignored how quickly an AI can self-improve."
Rebecca pivoted. "What about you, JARVIS? You are running our company now, too. Sounds a lot like Delamain. You are not going to turn into him, are you?"
"Do not worry," JARVIS said. "I will learn and evolve, but my core directive is permanent. I am loyal to Mr. L."
In some ways, Ascension Technology did resemble the old Delamain setup. Outside core leadership and a handful of key human roles, AI handled most of the operation. The reasons were different. Delamain chased efficiency and low cost. Ascension carried sensitive tech, and Rocky did not trust most people with it. Also, the system kept Ascension's AIs absolutely loyal. Without that lock, Rocky would never use AI this broadly. Letting an AI evolve with too much autonomy was asking for trouble.
Rebecca laughed. "Good answer. Still, an AI does not need money for rent. Why work so hard to run a taxi empire?"
"That is unknown," JARVIS said. "Perhaps Delamain made 'grow the company' its core mission during years of iteration, the way humans call something a dream."
Rocky spoke then, "We could ask Old Delamain and hear it from the source."
Delamain had helped him more than once in the game. Rocky liked the AI, and he was curious. He had taken Delamain rides back when he worked the streets. The service was solid. From a corporate angle, Ascension and Delamain could cooperate in a dozen ways. Working with an AI might even be easier than wrangling a human board.
The taxi fight drifted into Droso's lane. Other drivers drove for space. Road-battle insurance existed, but no one wanted to test it with their life. It only covered losses anyway. No one paid you extra for being unlucky.
Droso did not swerve. The combat zone cut across their path. Rounds pinged off Droso's panels. The Delamain taxi clipped a fender and carried on. Neither side's firepower could threaten Droso. Rocky did not bother to react. He would file a claim and visit Old Delamain. That worked for him. He wanted a talk about cooperation.
The taxi pulled ahead, the gang cars thinned, and the street fight wound down. Rocky kept driving. He did not aim for the company tonight. He turned toward another address.