Chapter 50: Preparations

“Seems things are progressing nicely. Give it a little more time, then visit the boss of PROJECT again. By then, he should know exactly what to do.”

After reviewing the documents in his hands, Fuda spoke to Owen.

Owen nodded to show he understood, then added, “Mr. Fuda, PROJECT’s intelligence team has started digging for dirt on some of our subsidiary operations.”

“Oh? Interesting. Try turning a few of their people to our side—see what intel they’ve uncovered.”

“Yes, sir.”

Fuda was confident in how he covered his tracks, but caution was still necessary. There were always those who pretended loyalty but acted differently behind the scenes. And lately, several of their R&D projects had been burning through a lot of funding.

Cost-cutting measures had been implemented all over the company. If anyone exposed those decisions, his position as head of intelligence would be over.

“Hmm… I should coordinate with Security as well, just in case something actually happens…”

With that in mind, Fuda contacted Neris to arrange additional personnel in several key areas.

Especially in locations storing pharmaceutical R&D data. The most critical information was kept in the main building, but leaks from the satellite facilities could still catch the attention of the wrong people.

Next was the situation at All Foods. If the truth about that place came out… the impact on their food division would be massive. Sure, time and public opinion could eventually bury the issue, but not without enormous cost. If possible, avoiding an incident was best. As for stopping those operations entirely… that was ridiculous. If they stopped just because of PROJECT, he might as well resign.

And who would pay for the increased costs? Him? Impossible. Even his entire annual salary thrown into that hole wouldn’t cause so much as a ripple before disappearing completely.

“Watson District…”

Fuda frowned. The All Foods factory there was run by the Maelstrom gang. If he sent his own people, they’d probably get chased out immediately.

Besides, he had no desire to get directly involved with that group. He’d only handed control of the All Foods factory to them in the first place to keep them quiet. Maelstrom had been rooted in Night City for years. Taking them down was doable, but unnecessary. It was better to exploit them whenever possible—much like the Tyger Claws under Arasaka.

“Forget it. Leaving that site to the Maelstrom gang should be fine… but some precautions wouldn’t hurt…”

Shaking his head, Fuda decided not to overthink it. Everyone knew how heavily cyber-modified Maelstrom members were. Still, he sent them a shipment of cyberware and heavy weapons as a precaution.

...

“An honor to finally meet you, Queen of the Afterlife—Ms. Rogue.”

“I’ve been hearing your name a lot lately too, Mr. Roland. Since you’ve come to me, I’m guessing you’ve got an idea for a counterattack?”

Rogue gestured for Roland to take a seat.

“That’s right. I have a plan—but I’ll need some help.”

Roland nodded. Rogue waved Claire over.

“Anything to drink?”

Roland looked at the familiar face and couldn’t help remembering that she used to be a man.

“Johnny Silverhand. Thanks.”

“Didn’t expect you to order that bastard’s drink.”

“Just curious, that’s all.”

Roland smiled, then looked directly at Rogue. “I need a capable and trustworthy team. The gig is to raid the Maelstrom-controlled All Foods facility in Watson and retrieve information about the raw materials they’re using in food production.”

“Oh? Sounds like a big job. Maelstrom only has one All Foods facility left over there, and they guard it fiercely. What’s your budget?”

Rogue’s expression grew more interested. She could tell Roland already had some intel—clearly the man knew there was something dirty to uncover about Biotechnica at that site.

Where Roland got the information didn’t concern her. Employers had their own channels.

Roland thought for a moment before replying, “Five hundred thousand eddies. I can go up to one million if necessary.”

“That’s a solid number. Alright. Send me my cut and I’ll arrange a reliable crew for you.”

“If possible, I want the squad that White is in.”

Roland stated his preference immediately. One of the reasons he’d come to hire a mercenary team was specifically to get that one—he’d already dug up some intel on them.

Rogue blinked in mild surprise. She hadn’t expected Roland to already have a team in mind. After thinking it over briefly, she nodded.

“Sure. A reasonable request. I’ll check with them. If they’re willing, I’ll assign that crew to the job.”

“Oh, and for this mission, my company will send two operatives along. One is equipped with Sandevistan. The other is a capable netrunner.”

Roland explained while standing. For Yi’s speed boost, he directly attributed it to Sandevistan—it was easier than explaining the truth.

“No problem.”

Rogue had no objections. These were the employer’s people, and she trusted the quality of Roland’s elite enforcers. After all, she’d dealt with Arasaka operatives before—she knew what true professionals looked like.

Not long after Roland left the Afterlife, a very familiar car pulled up in front of him, catching him off guard.

He knew this vehicle all too well. When operating Jhin’s body, he’d seen it more times than he could count.

“Kuroda’s car… What does he want with me…? I’m not acting as Jhin right now…”

“Mr. Roland, please get in. Our boss has something to discuss with you.”

Roland didn’t hesitate. None of these people posed a threat to him.

“This should be our first meeting, Mr. Roland,” Kuroda said with a polite smile after Roland entered the car.

“To be precise, I’d say we’ve met before, Mr. Kuroda.”

Hearing his own name spoken so directly, Kuroda’s expression froze.