[Judy: Hey Evelyn, are you okay?]
[Judy: The Mox girl at the door told me you left in a sedan. Where are you now?]
[Judy: Shit! I told you not to play games! Hold on, I'm getting help!]
[Judy: Hang in there, Evelyn, you'll be fine! I promise!]
[Evelyn: Don't bother. I'll be back soon.]
[Judy: Evelyn!? Where are you?]
[Evelyn: Don't worry, Judy. I'll be back soon.]
[Judy: Evelyn, pick up... pick up the damn phone! Evelyn!]
Inside the BD Studio at Lizzie's Bar, Judy slammed her fist furiously against the table.
Worry, panic, and unease flickered in her eyes, with occasional thoughts of fleeing crossing her mind.
But ultimately, she made an impulsive decision, no, she had to confirm Evelyn's safety first.
This was Evelyn's first response in two days. Judy had almost believed she was dead!
Pacing the room, Judy finally caved and sent a message to her ex-girlfriend.
[Judy: Maiko, do you have contact info for the Kindling Squad?]
[Maiko Maeda: You overestimate me. They're the most famous mercenary squad in Night City right now. Even fixers have to queue up to hire them.]
[Judy: Please, Maiko, help me. A friend's gone missing, and it might involve the Kindling Squad.]
[Maiko Maeda: I'd advise against stirring up trouble. Even if they're involved, why would they tell you? You're asking for it! You're a BD Editor, why are you tangled up with those types?]
[Judy: Fine, forget it!]
Judy ended the call, sinking into her chair as she stared blankly at the screen, regret washing over her.
She never should've helped Evelyn. She should've talked her out of it. NetWatch, mercenaries, none were to be trifled with. She never should've gotten involved!
Judy spent the day anxiously reaching out to contacts, but no one could help.
She didn't dare make too much noise; she knew Evelyn's situation involved powerful figures. One wrong move, and she'd get burned.
It wasn't until evening that a sudden knock jolted Judy from her day-long anxiety.
Gripping her pistol, she called out cautiously, "Who is it?!"
"It's me! Evelyn!" The voice at the door sent Judy rushing over in relief. Swinging it open, she found a weary, disoriented, and panicked Evelyn.
Evelyn kept glancing back over her shoulder, as if chased by some terrifying monster.
"Evelyn!!" Judy hugged her tightly, but Evelyn pushed her away, quickly shutting the door before finally relaxing into a weary expression.
"What's going on? Evelyn! Where have you been these past few days?" Judy quickly handed her a bottle of water, but Evelyn just found a can of ice-cold beer and took several large gulps.
Only then did Evelyn speak in a weak voice: "Don't ask, Judy. It's NetWatch... NetWatch is behind all this."
"NetWatch!? Didn't the Kindling Squad hire you to meet that important person? Who exactly did you go to see?" Judy asked.
Evelyn shook her head, speaking painfully: "It wasn't the Kindling Squad. This was NetWatch's trap... I, I was captured by NetWatch. They cut open my head and took my braindance..."
Footsteps echoed from somewhere far beyond Judy's door, and Evelyn showed a terrified expression, looking around frantically before grabbing Judy's hand: "We have to go, Judy. Take me away, we need to hide!"
"Calm down! Evelyn!" Judy's heart ached seeing her in this state. She reached out and hugged Evelyn, saying firmly: "I'm here, Evelyn. Don't be afraid, I'll protect you!"
Judy desperately wanted to know what had happened: "You need to calm down first and tell me what happened!"
"Huff..." Evelyn held her head, took several more large gulps of beer, then spoke in a dazed voice: "I was taken to see Yorinobu Arasaka..."
"Yorinobu Aras... Oh my god!" Judy was nearly scared out of her wits.
She had thought this matter would at most involve some corporate manager, director, or maybe a city council member.
But now Evelyn was saying she had met Yorinobu Arasaka!?
"Then the Kindling Squad said he wasn't their target, so I just completed the service as usual... After getting out of the car, NetWatch contacted me. They told me to get in their car.
Then they captured me.
They took the BD recording chip from my brain, and then... my head... Oh god, I can't remember!"
Evelyn broke down crying. The stabbing pain in her brain and the vague sense of fear tormented her, making her body tremble almost constantly.
"You mean it wasn't the Kindling Squad who did this?" Judy was stunned.
Evelyn sobbed: "Yes! Now they're asking me why I suddenly disappeared, what exactly happened. I don't dare reply to them, and they already know I was working with NetWatch behind their back...
I'm finished, Judy! I'm finished! Not only do they want me to pay back the money, they say they'll definitely make me pay the price. And NetWatch are complete liars! They didn't pay me, nor do they plan to send me to Europe. They want to kill me!
If I hadn't been lucky, I would have died there already, Judy. What should I do!"
Judy felt chills running down her spine.
So this foolish girl not only failed to complete the Kindling Squad's mission, but was also abandoned by NetWatch. And now,
both NetWatch and the Kindling Squad wanted her dead!?
"How could this happen? How could the Kindling Squad get the wrong target? Could you have been set up?" Judy asked incredulously: "Didn't you say before that this was the Kindling Squad's target, and NetWatch just wanted to steal the information..."
"What?" Evelyn froze for a moment, then shook her head in agony. "Don't joke about this! Judy! We're in serious trouble right now!"
Did I remember wrong? That can't be!
Judy's mind was also in disarray, but she knew staying at Lizzie's was definitely dangerous. If someone was targeting Evelyn, then Lizzie's would certainly be under surveillance.
Without another word, Judy picked up her handgun and looked at Evelyn, disheveled, clothes torn, covered in blood. She first draped her own jacket over Evelyn's shoulders. "Let's go, Evelyn. We'll go home first, then I'll figure out a way to get you out of the city!"
"Yes, yes! We need to run!" Evelyn seemed to snap out of a dream, grabbing Judy's hand.
Judy's expression hardened with determination. She couldn't just stand by and watch her friend die like this.
So she decisively gathered her things, cautiously opened the door, and led Evelyn out through Lizzie's back exit.
Only after getting into the car did Judy finally let out a sigh of relief.
Evelyn, sitting in the passenger seat, kept anxiously looking around, while Judy comforted her, "It's alright, Evelyn, don't be afraid..."
"You don't understand, Judy, you don't understand..." The fear on Evelyn's face and her trembling body broke Judy's heart.
She was a soft-hearted girl who couldn't bear to see anyone in such a pitiful state, especially not her good friend, or even someone she had ambiguous feelings for.
Judy had an on-again, off-again relationship with her girlfriend Maiko Maeda. They always argued because of Maiko's coldness in business matters, and during those times, Evelyn was the only person Judy could confide in.
But now, Evelyn was no longer her usual optimistic and composed self, reduced to this fragile, vulnerable state; this made Judy determined to protect her at all costs, whether it was NetWatch, the Kindling Squad, or even Arasaka...
"Watch out!!!" Evelyn suddenly screamed.
Judy, still immersed in grief for Evelyn, barely had time to turn her head when she saw a black sedan reinforced with bulletproof steel plates slam directly into the side of their car.
Judy's beat-up old car couldn't withstand a full-speed impact from such a modified armored vehicle. Everything spun wildly, and all Judy could see was a haze of red.
When she came to her senses, the car had completely flipped over. A cold-faced Japanese man appeared by the car door. With just one hand, he pushed the car back upright from its side onto all four wheels.
Then, using only one hand again, he forcibly pried open the already twisted passenger door.
Evelyn lay unconscious in her seat, face covered in blood; she hadn't even been wearing a seatbelt. After such a violent impact, it was worrying whether she might already be dead.
"Who are you! Let her go! Bastard... let go..." Judy trembled as she reached out, trying to draw her handgun to deal with this scumbag, but the man just gave her a cold glance before raising a pistol and aiming it at Judy's head.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Almost simultaneous gunshots, one from the man's pistol, the other from somewhere not far behind Judy's car.
Almost the instant the gunshot rang out, the man's head was knocked sideways by the bullet, yet he then vanished from the spot like a ghost.
Judy's chest also erupted in a spray of blood. Fortunately, because the man had taken a bullet to the head first, causing his aim to waver, the shot didn't hit her directly in the skull.
But Judy could only cough up blood, slumped over the steering wheel. The gunshot to her chest had nearly killed her.
Trembling, she reached out, trying to rouse the unconscious Evelyn beside her.
But her shaking hand couldn't reach Evelyn, who was collapsed against the car door.
Within seconds, Judy grew dizzy and passed out, losing consciousness.
—--
Outside Judy's car, NetWatch agents were already locked in combat with the mysterious Japanese man.
"Damn it! Sandevistan!"
"Hacking in progress! Buy me some time..."
In the NetWatch sedan, four elite agents stood almost no chance against the mysterious Japanese operative.
With his Sandevistan activated, the Japanese agent extended crimson Mantis Blades from his arms, the intense heat even surpassing that of the blades themselves.
Among the four agents, the NetWatch agent who had stepped out first to open fire, even with his own Sandevistan active, was pierced through the heart by the Japanese agent mere seconds later.
Another agent, wielding Gorilla Arms, had his arm torn off in less than a second, before the Japanese agent decapitated him with a backhand slash.
Of the remaining two, one netrunner was still trying to hack him from inside the car, while the other activated NetWatch's custom Berserk OS, firing desperately with the aid of Kerenzikov.
But the bullets striking the Japanese agent only produced metallic clinks, either deflected by the bulletproof vest and subdermal armor beneath his suit, or sliced apart by his blades.
Expressionless, the Japanese agent moved like a shadow through the hail of gunfire. With a scream from his target, he severed the man's legs with his Mantis Blades. Before the agent could hit the ground from the loss of his limbs, the Japanese operative flashed behind him, driving both blades through his chest and cleaving him in two.
Only the netrunner in the car remained, sweating profusely as he hacked and reported to headquarters.
But the Japanese agent simply stood coldly by the car, raised his arm, his cybernetic eye gleaming.
In the next moment, the superheated Mantis Blades pierced straight through the bulletproof steel plating, impaling the agent in the back seat. The intense heat instantly carbonized his brain, snuffing out his life in an instant.
The Japanese agent scanned the surroundings warily, then returned to Judy's car. Without a word, he tore the door off, pulled the still-unconscious Evelyn out, and tossed her into the passenger seat of his own vehicle.
Then he slammed on the gas and sped away.
A full minute later, the first to arrive weren't the NCPD or NetWatch, but girls from The Mox. They'd received reports from nearby residents and rushed to the scene to see who the bastard was causing trouble on their turf.
But as soon as they arrived, someone exclaimed, "This is Judy's car!"
"Shit! Check if she's still alive!"
"She's breathing! But she doesn't look good!"
"Who's got stimulants?!"
"Uh, I only have adrenaline!"
"Damn it, never mind that, just use it now!"
A group of edgerunners hurriedly pulled Judy out of the car while cursing, administered the drug, then immediately loaded her into another vehicle and sped toward a black clinic; they couldn't afford to take Judy to a proper hospital, so the nearest black clinic was their only option.
Judy had been rescued, but the sight of NetWatch agents' corpses made a bunch of The Mox gangers break out in a cold sweat: "Holy shit, it's NetWatch!"
"Screw them, let's see if there's anything good to grab first. Their own people can deal with the bodies... Jesus, who did Judy piss off? Who'd dare kill a whole carload of NetWatch agents right in the street?"
The Mox crew hastily scavenged the scene before leaving.
Four minutes later, a Trauma Team AV touched down, examined the bodies, then shook their heads and declared them flatlined on the spot. NetWatch backup arrived even slower.
When NetWatch agents finally reached the scene and found nothing but corpses, their faces darkened.
Goddammit...
This was going to be trouble!
—--
Meanwhile, the Japanese agent who'd abducted Evelyn was reporting to his superior.
[Sandayu Oda: Miss Hanako, I've captured the doll and am currently transporting her to our safehouse, but we've encountered unexpected complications.]
[Hanako: What complications?]
[Sandayu Oda: NetWatch agents tried to intercept us; it seems the rumors might be true. NetWatch is pulling the strings behind this.]
[Hanako: Interrogate her thoroughly. I need to know their objectives, motivations, and exactly what they discussed with Yorinobu.]
[Sandayu Oda: Understood. I'll make this woman talk soon.]
[Hanako: Use Soulkiller for consciousness data breach if necessary.]
[Sandayu Oda: Understood, Miss Hanako.]
[Hanako: Good work. Your identity remains concealed?]
[Sandayu Oda: I'm wearing a faceplate disguise and preemptively disabled surveillance cameras.]
[Hanako: Excellent. Awaiting your update.]
[Sandayu Oda: Yes!]
He drove through winding streets into Santo Domingo, switched vehicles at a secret garage disguised as an abandoned auto shop, then took Evelyn to a Kabuki safehouse.
Back inside, Oda first checked Evelyn's condition. Seeing she'd been badly injured in the struggle, he even administered emergency treatment to stabilize her vital signs before waking her for interrogation.
"Who are you?!" Evelyn panicked, struggling against her restraints, but she was tied securely to a chair, completely immobilized. Oda's expression remained cold as he demanded: "Who sent you to contact Lord Yorinobu? What did you do with him? Where did you go afterward? And why would NetWatch be after you?"
"You... you're with Arasaka?" Despair washed over Evelyn; in her memory, she'd just escaped NetWatch's clutches, only to fall into Arasaka's hands.
"Answer me!" Oda coldly produced a chip. "Unless you'd like to try this. I guarantee it'll torture you to the point of incontinence, while leaving your body completely unharmed."
"I'll ensure your neural health, then repeat this process over and over until you confess."
"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" Evelyn let out a bitter laugh and collapsed into the chair in despair. This time, even she had given up struggling.
Seeing this, Oda's expression remained cold. "Answer the previous question!"
"It was NetWatch... NetWatch installed a braindance sentinel program in my neural link. I don't know their purpose. I only know that after I left Yorinobu, they captured me."
"Then they exported the braindance I'd recorded, and tampered with my brain... I escaped when they weren't paying attention, and then you caught me."
"That's all. I don't know anything else. I'm just a small pawn to be discarded after use."
Evelyn's words only drew a cold laugh from Oda. "Don't think I don't know; you recently met with those Kindling Squad members. Truth is, we've been watching them for a while."
He made as if to insert the chip into Evelyn's head, and she screamed, "I'm telling the truth! The Kindling Squad contacted me because they wanted to negotiate with a big shot through me."
"I don't know what they were discussing or who the target was, but I swear it wasn't Yorinobu!"
Oda mercilessly inserted the chip and activated the torture program. Evelyn soon began screaming and crying in pain, but no matter how they interrogated her, the answers remained the same.
Oda could tell Evelyn wasn't lying, which disappointed him; it seemed he'd indeed caught nothing but a small pawn.
"How did you escape?" This was the only thing Oda was curious about now. How incompetent must NetWatch be to let a doll escape on her own?
"They locked me in a safe house. After extracting my braindance data, only one man was assigned to guard me."
"I... I seduced him..."
Evelyn wept as she revealed every detail, even including the man's name and physical characteristics.
Oda took out his laptop, logged into Arasaka's intelligence network, and found that there was indeed a NetWatch agent matching her description in Arasaka's archives.
He looked at Evelyn, who appeared haggard and completely broken by now, and shook his head inwardly.
The woman was quite beautiful indeed. If it were those Europeans with no sense of honor, someone might actually fail to control their urges...
While feeling contempt for his European colleagues, Oda had to admit he probably couldn't extract any more intelligence from Evelyn.
But that didn't mean Evelyn had no more value.
After some thought, Oda made his decision; first secretly transport her to Japan, then have Lady Hanako use Soulkiller to scan her engram data, and finally see if she still had any use.
If not... she'd most likely be discarded into Mikoshi, becoming just another engram among the masses.
Arasaka currently stored massive quantities of engrams, not out of kindness, but because company regulations required transforming and utilizing these engrams after overcoming the Relic biochip's limitations.
She might be used as fuel for some chromed warriors, or modified for practicality... In any case, it certainly wouldn't be a good outcome.
Watching Evelyn's pitiful expression as she broke down in tears before him, Oda shook his head and decided not to torment her any further.
After getting up, he went straight to Evelyn and injected her with a powerful sedative. Once she was sound asleep, he immediately contacted his handler to arrange her transport back to Japan.
At the same time, Oda sent a message to Hanako, informing her that this was all NetWatch's scheme.
—--
Just as Oda had captured Evelyn and thought he had caught NetWatch red-handed, chaos erupted within NetWatch itself.
While everyone was busy shifting blame and avoiding responsibility, they all felt immense pressure over Evelyn being taken by Arasaka.
They were well aware of what Mercer had done; those Kindling Squad bastards had definitely seen through their "hitch-a-ride" scheme.
But why would Mercer let Evelyn go alive?
NetWatch certainly didn't believe it was out of kindness.
Without much discussion, everyone guessed Mercer's intention; that bastard was trying to shift the blame, pinning the responsibility for Yorinobu's meeting on NetWatch.
The problem was, they already knew through Alt why Mercer had contacted Yorinobu; they were in cahoots!
As long as they still wanted to cooperate with Alt, they couldn't disrupt Mercer's plan and had to grit their teeth and bear the blame.
But clearly, Mercer's interests were completely different from NetWatch's. If Mercer alone cooperated with Yorinobu and extracted Silverhand's engram, how could NetWatch continue negotiating with Alt?
At this moment, NetWatch's Agent Bryce was the most resentful.
During the meeting, Bryce showed no courtesy to his colleagues, openly accusing them: "I told you, we could have achieved a mutually beneficial situation with Kindling Squad through peaceful, friendly cooperation.
But now? Because some colleagues insisted on 'keeping control of the situation,' Kindling Squad has started refusing to communicate with us.
And Arasaka definitely knows about our plan to secretly contact Yorinobu.
Not only that, we've lost four excellent colleagues, who's going to take responsibility for this!?"
"Agent Bryce! You need to understand one thing; we're NetWatch, not some gang thugs! We don't need to negotiate cooperation with a bunch of mercenaries, let alone when they're demanding we share our technology!
NetWatch never shares our advanced technology with anyone! Especially not with those guys; they're expert counterfeiters! A bunch of street mercenaries without any moral bottom line!
Look what happened to Arasaka's exoskeleton project; their project lead got suspended because of it!
Do you want our technology leaked and sold to Militech or Arasaka?"
Another senior agent argued back vehemently.
Bryce slammed the table angrily and insisted: "Then what do you propose we do now? They're refusing to cooperate. Do you want us to go zero them all or capture them?
If you think you can do it, then go ahead! I'd like to see if you arrogant bastards can pull it off! This is Night City! Not Europe! Not even the NUSA! How many agents do we have here? We can't even legally drive an armored vehicle on the streets! How are you going to deal with those guys who even Militech agents couldn't take down?"
"His servers are connected to Night City's network. We can pool our resources, bring dedicated data lines from Europe, and teach him a lesson! While he's deep diving, we can lock him in the network and force them to surrender!" someone suggested.
Yet others wore worried expressions. "Given the opponent's server technology level, it won't be easy to trap him online like an ordinary netrunner. And let's not forget our agreement with Alt. If Alt finds out those guys have already struck a deal with Yorinobu while we're secretly obstructing..."
The mention of Alt silenced everyone. After exchanging uneasy glances, the European representative finally knocked on the table and said gravely, "Bryce, what terms have they proposed for allowing us back into the operation? We can't afford to lose Alt's assistance; this concerns NetWatch's future! Even humanity's future!"
"They didn't specify. He just vented his anger, told us to go to hell, and said he'd deal with us when he's in a better mood..." Bryce shrugged helplessly. "I suspect if we want back in, we'll need to prepare for significant concessions."
The European representative sighed, pondered for a moment, then made a decision: "We need to talk with Alt. Wait for news. No matter how capable the Kindling Squad is, they're just mercenaries. What Alt needs isn't just Silverhand's engram data; it's Mikoshi. We still have a chance to get ahead of them. Besides, I truly can't understand what they offered Yorinobu to make him willingly take such enormous risks to obtain Silverhand's chip for them. What bargaining chips could they possibly have?"
Everyone fell into deep thought. Indeed, this was what truly puzzled NetWatch; they were NetWatch! Had they been negotiating with Yorinobu, they'd have been confident in persuading him. But the Kindling Squad? Just a handful of street mercs, what gave them the leverage to deal with Yorinobu? NetWatch had been certain Mercer would eventually come begging for their help to strengthen their position with Yorinobu. Yet, judging by current developments... Mercer seemed to need them not at all! This greatly surprised NetWatch.
Ultimately, the meeting ended on a sour note with the European representative's decision to approach Alt for talks.
—--
While NetWatch and Arasaka were running in circles, baffled by the situation, Mercer was occupied with another matter, unrelated, yet equally important to him.
"The drug analysis results are in. Well... let's put it this way: Biotechnica is being quite 'generous.' A box of medicine that costs 500 eurodollars to produce, they're selling to you for 6,800 per box, just over thirteen times the cost."
Mercer glanced at the analyzer's results, then shrugged at Panam, who stood beside him clad in thick protective gear, complete with mask and goggles.
Panam's face flushed with anger. "Those bastards! They poison us, then make thirteen times the profit per box from us? How dare they!"
Mercer stated bluntly, "Most of the pharmaceutical industry operates this way. In fact, Biotechnica's drugs are typically priced over ten times their cost, with premium specialty medications often marked up a hundredfold. In drug development, raw material costs are just the smallest component."
"However, I've already breached their drug formulations through their systems. If you plan to produce them yourselves..." Mercer paused thoughtfully, then continued, "I have a drug synthesizer seized from Biotechnica last time. Its daily output isn't low; should be sufficient to meet your needs."
"The required raw materials aren't particularly rare either. Even if we can't procure them directly, we can extract them from commercially available medications. Through Dogtown's smuggling channels, we could import enough to last you a year in one go, and it wouldn't be expensive."
Upon hearing this, Panam excitedly reached out and shook his arm. "Really? Mercer! Just tell us how much it'll cost. As long as it's not too expensive and everyone can afford it!"
Mercer curled his lips into a faint smile and shook his head. "But this only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause. Over time, those who are meant to die still will... Biotechnica never developed a proper antidote specifically for you. This is just a palliative, meant to prolong survival."
"What should we do then?!" Panam was genuinely panicked now. "The Red Ocher family already has about sixty thousand infected people, and several Aldecaldos have been quarantined too!"
"I need to carefully analyze the virus samples before I can attempt to develop an antidote for you. But to be honest, as you can see..." Mercer sighed, "It's already a struggle for me to maintain even one sterile room here."
"I need time, Panam, and probably quite a lot of it."
"Damn it..." Panam paced restlessly before finally turning to him with a pleading look. "Mercer, what should we do?"
Mercer fell silent, then suddenly turned to face her. "If we want to accelerate drug development, I need specialized equipment, a proper chemical laboratory. But right now I'm practically imprisoned by Hansen. So we'll have to resort to extreme measures."
"How?!" Panam stared at him.
Mercer proposed a solution that shocked Panam: "We poison all of Dogtown."
"Are you joking?!" Panam recoiled in horror.
Mercer responded coldly, "No one cares whether Aldecaldos live or die. No one cares about the Red Ocher family's fate either."
"But there are definitely people who care very much about Barghest's survival, and they'll be extremely, desperately eager for an antidote."
Mercer turned to look at Panam. "Do you understand what I mean?"
"But... then how are we any different from Biotechnica?!" Panam objected firmly. "No! Mercer, we can't do this! Only scumbags would resort to such methods!"
Mercer remained impassive. "What's wrong with it? When Hansen discovers Barghest is facing a viral epidemic, he'll definitely seek solutions."
"As his only reliable technical expert, I can not only use his funds to develop the antidote for free but also build reputation within Barghest."
"The innocent will be cured by the antidote."
"And Hansen's die-hard loyalists would be more severely infected, passing away before the antidote could arrive; later I can collaborate with you to..."
"Enough, Mercer!" Panam's expression was pained, unable to conceal her anger. "How did you become like this? You'd never have conceived such cruel methods before! I... I can't accept this!"
Mercer sighed, then turned to look at her. "Then you can only pray that I develop the antidote before the Aldecaldos become severely infected with nowhere to turn for treatment."
"Right now, all I can provide you with are relatively cheap medications to buy time, at least to keep everyone alive until the antidote is developed."
"What about Biotechnica? This is all their doing! We can't let them..." Panam's words trailed off as Mercer's mocking smile left her speechless.
Indeed, if Biotechnica were willing to take responsibility, Panam wouldn't have needed to seek out Mercer in the first place.
Mercer spoke bluntly, "I suspect they've already prepared for a citywide epidemic after discovering the virus infecting you is contagious."
"Specialized treatments and antidotes are definitely on their development timeline; they're just waiting for another epidemic to break out in Night City so they can profit from it."
"The water poisoning incident was long ago, and detected toxin levels in water sources aren't particularly high now."
"My guess is they deliberately cut off your free medication because they're ready, waiting for you carriers to spread the virus."
Mercer had identified the virus's patterns from monitoring and experimental data: "This virus isn't highly contagious in mild stages, but becomes airborne during severe outbreaks."
"Simply put, if you continue medication to suppress symptoms, transmission risk remains low. But if you stop treatment..."
"Transmissibility increases exponentially."
"I'm not trying to create bioweapons; it's Biotechnica corporation that likely sees this accident as another money-making opportunity."
"Mark my words, even if I immediately develop a cure solving your problem, Night City would suddenly experience a mysterious epidemic, and Biotechnica would promptly release their drugs to cash in."
Mercer mocked, "Years ago when avian flu hit Night City, we ended up without chicken meat to this day. This time? Probably synthetic meat or beef... Same old tactics, Panam."
Panam lowered her head in despair, but then looked back at Mercer seriously. "But we absolutely cannot be the ones to start the epidemic... Mercer, I know you're not that kind of villain, so... please stop talking like this, okay?"
Mercer watched Panam for a long moment before nodding. "Understood, Panam. Go disinfect yourself, change clothes and leave first. I need to continue my research..."
With complicated emotions, Panam exited Mercer's hastily chromed virus lab. Following Morning Star's prompts, she underwent strict decontamination procedures before changing into her own clothes and leaving the improvised decontamination chamber.
Taking the elevator up to the living room, only Maine and his girlfriend were watching TV at this moment, while V was busy in the kitchen.
"What's wrong? Didn't get it sorted?" V glanced at her with some concern; this bold and straightforward woman really clicked with her. Even though Panam hadn't known her for long, she felt an instant connection.
Panam sighed. "No, at least the medication issue for now... Mercer said he can handle it."
"Then why the long face?" V asked with concern. "Is there something else troubling you?"
"Mercer predicted... this virus will eventually become a new epidemic in Night City, just like the bird flu Night City faced before."
Panam spoke gloomily, "And for now, Mercer doesn't have a cure. He can only replicate their special medicine to alleviate the symptoms."
"Uh, is this virus serious?" V asked curiously.
"I saw a video sent by someone from the Red Ocher family; when the illness reaches its severe stage, body temperature fluctuates wildly, there's coughing up blood, coma, even body parts rotting, blindness, hearing problems, and difficulty breathing..."
Panam shuddered. "The whole person is like a piece of decaying rotten meat. I'm not exaggerating; it's really like that, bleeding and rotting all over..."
At this, even the bold ones couldn't help but shudder.
"Damn... where did this thing come from?" V said in disbelief. "Didn't Biotechnica just announce on TV that they'd resolved the poisoning issue? I saw they even tested the water sources near the Red Ocher family, and the values were starting to return to normal..."
"Screw Biotechnica! Yeah, the toxins in the water decreased, but the chaotic viruses they released mutated in humans! Mercer said this mutation altered the original viral structure, so they have to develop a new vaccine from scratch."
Panam sighed despondently.
V thought for a moment, then smiled optimistically. "Don't worry, Mercer's brain is seriously clever! If he says he's going to make something, he always pulls it off. At first, when he said he'd get me some cool Arasaka exoskeleton armor, I thought he was full of it. But just a few months later, I had a beautiful 'Gyrfalcon' suit. It'll be the same with your antidote; if he says he can develop it, it's just a matter of time."
But V still felt a faint worry; with the imminent threat from Arasaka and Hansen's growing wariness of Mercer, would he really have the time and energy to develop an antidote while dealing with all that?
Panam hummed in acknowledgment. Finally, she got up and walked over to the kitchen, lending V a hand to help prepare the ingredients.
V coughed lightly. "Um, did you sanitize properly?"
"Don't worry, I reek of disinfectant right now. Morning Star's been watching me... You guys are really something. That AI is just like the rumored rogue AIs from the old net; scarily smart."
Panam chuckled, then fell silent. After a long pause, she couldn't hold back and quietly asked, "Hey... has Mercer seemed a bit different lately?"
V froze, turning to look at her in confusion. "Why do you say that?"
Panam hesitated, but still voiced the question in her heart: "Do you know what Mercer just said? He said that to develop the antidote faster and save costs, he wants to directly poison Dogtown with the virus."
"He mentioned it could also help eliminate some of Hansen's loyalists while boosting his own reputation... I can't believe these words came from him..."
V fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then simply smiled: "Enemies are enemies. Killing them with bullets or killing them with the virus makes no difference..."
"Mercer has just been under a lot of pressure lately, but please believe me, he hasn't changed at all. He's just been dealing with too many things recently and has gotten a bit impatient."
She first defended Mercer, then tried to smooth things over before finally saying with a laugh: "Ah, I think he was just speaking without thinking."
Panam could only nod and sigh: "Night City... Now I finally understand why the elders of the Aldecaldos hate coming into the city so much. This place is like a dye vat; even the best people end up stained when they come here..."
"I still remember when he first arrived, he was practically a child back then..."
As they chatted casually, V's mind had long drifted away from the conversation.
Mercer wants to poison Dogtown with the virus?
This wasn't just shocking to Panam; even V was somewhat startled.
Because this really didn't sound like something Mercer would say.
What's... happened to him?
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