Chapter 19

『Let me brief you on the mission. This time, the target is eliminating Biotechnica’s lackeys. We’re gonna crush the bastards who’ve stretched their filthy hands all the way from Rome. These scum have ruined countless lives with their highly addictive drugs. The job’s a request from one of their victims—tragic shit, right? "Please avenge my poor son." How you handle it’s up to you. Kill ’em all. Don’t even think about lettin’ a single one walk away.』

『Let me brief you on the mission. This time, the target’s retrieving stolen data. Some dumbass corpo from Maestrom got blackout drunk in their own turf and hired us—pay’s good, so we took it. Don’t forget to copy the contents; that’s the real prize. Recover the chip lifted from a club in Kabuki’s north sector. No kills, no alerts. Don’t start any stupid fires.』

『Let me brief you on the mission. This time, the target’s locating a missing kid. Some girl in Sixteenth Street turf wants us to find her vanished boyfriend. Worst case, just bring back his corpse. Search zone’s already marked on your MAP—handle it. Deal with any Scavs crawling outta the hole however you want. If they’ve got other "merchandise," grab that too. Can’t hurt to do some extra good, right?』

And so on. Lately, thanks to Jugra—the up-and-coming fixer making waves—dumping jobs on the Edgerunners left and right, spending days in the combat zone was becoming the norm.

Today was no exception. After carving through another pack of Scavs in a chaotic brawl, I slumped onto the couch, exhausted. Beside me, Maine sat shirtless, fresh from a shower, looking just as drained, while Dorio sprawled out nearby, equally wrecked from all the running around.

"...Better than no work, but this shit’s gettin’ a bit dense, ain’t it?"

"Tell me about it... Lately, Jugra’s been actin’ frantic, like she’s juggling too much."

"Hmm... Maybe it’s this?" Kiwi, deep-diving in the net while soaking in an ice bath, tossed us a lead. "Hot rumor on the streets—Arasaka’s tracking stolen military tech."

"Military tech? Like the Sandevistan I tried buying from Gloria?"

"That one’s probably with Jugra by now, but..."

"Way bigger deal. Word is, there’s more out there." Rebecca—who’d recently revamped her look, oozing even more charm—plopped down beside me and shoved a tablet in my face.

On it was a forum snippet, some self-proclaimed "reliable source" claiming Arasaka had lost experimental military-grade ware: Gorilla Arms, Mantis Blades, Mono-Wire, Projectile Launcher. Gangs were already scrambling for it, sparking a shadow war.

"...Wait, that Mono-Wire—isn’t that the one on Jugra’s right arm?" Pilar had raved about it before—way higher output than standard models. So, Jugra already had two of the five missing pieces.

"Hah. Makes sense. She wants the rest before anyone else gets ’em. Can’t blame her—this is top-shelf tech."

"Then why’re we stuck with unrelated jobs? Heard she took a request from some Tiger Claws chick named Wakako too."

"True. But if the Claws are hunting the tech, she might be diverting attention."

"Plus, she banned us from checkin’ copied data. Maybe there’s intel hidden in there."

Rebecca had a point. We all glanced at Kiwi, but she crossed her arms in an X.

"Seriously, give me a break. You gonks don’t get it—one wrong move, and we’re staring down a thermal nuke. No way I’m crossing her."

"So we’d need jobs from someone else, but..."

A silent consensus settled over us: Bad idea.

Since Jugra started playing fixer, the Edgerunners had steady cash and primo ripperdoc perks. Even Maine—whose cyberware glitches got caught early—owed her. Picking a fight? Suicide.

And let’s not forget: Jugra’s the Tiger Claws’ golden girl. Retaliation’s guaranteed. That’s why Maine turned down some schmuck named Faraday.

"Why not just ask her directly?"

"...Yeah. If it affects our next moves, we should know."

"Fine, quit starin’. I’ll call."

Three rings in, Jugra’s voice crackled in my skull.

"Yeah? Report incomplete, David?"

"Nah, just... had a question."

"...Busy. Spit it out."

Her tone was sharper than usual—like she had zero patience. Weird.

"You, uh... collecting Arasaka’s military tech?"

"...How’d you—? Tch. Slip-up." A pained grunt slipped through. "Goddamn it."

I pushed on before she could hang up.

"Rumor’s goin’ around. Arasaka’s hunting lost prototypes—"

"Agh— Of course. That’s his play. ...Thirty secs." The call cut abruptly.

When she called back, her breathing was ragged.

"Hah... Hah... Okay. What’s your point?"

"If you’re after that tech, maybe we should help?"

"Nah. Only wanted the Sandevistan. Rest can be reverse-engineered. Been busy crushing the idiots chasing it."

"Wait—so those jobs were just to tie up loose ends?"

"Pretty much. Some gonk’s hellbent on gift-wrapping this for Arasaka. Had to hammer his scouts. Now he’s gettin’ desperate—no tellin’ what’s next."

"Right... Need us on standby?"

"Pfft. Obviously. Tell Maine new jobs’ll drop in a few days."

The call ended. When I relayed it, Maine just sighed—deeply.

Honestly? If things had gone differently, he’d be the one with the military Sandevistan. And we’d be the ones in Jugra’s crosshairs.

Then again, if things had gone differently, we could've ended up in a future where some corpo bastard came knocking while we were still cyberpunking around with glitchy Sandevistans.

Honestly speaking, if we had to tangle with whoever's giving Jugra trouble, it'd be way too much for the Edgerunners to handle.

As I looked around at the crew, only Rebecca wore a bitter expression, like she'd bitten into something sour - clearly chewing on some thought of her own.

"Hey hey, check this out then!" Pilar's cheerful voice shattered the mood as he flicked a chip between his fingers. "Won this beauty in a drinking game wager!"

At first glance it looked like a standard port chip, but when spun around, it bore Militech's logo.

"The hell'd you scrounge up now, dumbass?" Rebecca groaned.

"Keh heh heh! We've been working nonstop, right? So how about some training without moving a muscle?" Pilar's grin widened. "Don't tell me you ain't interested?"

"Wait... Pilar." Maine's eyes narrowed. "That ain't one of Militech's combat sim chips, is it?"

"Oh ho! Someone's seen these before!" Pilar jammed the chip into a battered virtual runner. "Special braindance tech - plug it into any consumer BD rig and boom! Military-grade marksmanship program!" He spun the device and tossed it my way. "Even tracks your score. Gets addictive real quick~"

The moment it connected, my audio implants pinged as holographic grids unfolded across the walls and floor, reconstructing the room into a shooting range. The quality drew an impressed whistle from me - which only made Pilar's smug laughter grow louder.

"No fuckin' way..." I watched as targeting drones materialized along the far wall. "It rebuilt my entire apartment into a range."

"Works even in a one-meter closet! Some chromed-up gonks tried hustling me at poker with this - their faces when I called their bluff? Priceless!" His cackle echoed as the system booted. "Just point your iron - any piece'll work as a controller now."

"Huh... Well, let's try normal difficulty first."

As I rose from the couch and raised Lexington towards the targets, a digitized Militech drill sergeant suddenly barked "GO!" The simulation exploded to life, pop-up targets appearing in staggered patterns. My pistol had been locked to semi-auto - no spray-and-pray here.

Thirty seconds later, my mediocre score flashed. Different point values per hit zone meant my spread looked pathetic. Pulling the rig off, I passed it to Rebecca - who immediately gasped as the simulation overtook her vision. Within moments she was nailing headshots with angled shots that'd make a pro blush.

"Boom! Top score, baby!" Rebecca yanked the headset off with a triumphant grin. "Guess you need more range time, David~"

"Yeah yeah..." I rubbed my neck. "Not exactly my specialty. Katana and smart-link setups, remember?"

"Fair point," she conceded before shoving the rig at Maine. "Your turn, old man!"

"Me? Well... might be nostalgic." His grip shifted subtly as the simulation loaded. "Hah... been a while."

Maine moved with precision that put Rebecca's run to shame. The way he said "nostalgic" made me wonder - former Militech? When I glanced at Dorio for answers, she just shrugged - ask him yourself.

"Still got it!" Maine laughed, reclaiming the top spot. "Try beating that, shortstack!"

"Oh you're on!" Rebecca snatched the rig back.

"...Not bad," Lucy mused from her corner. "We have been wound pretty tight lately."

Dorio nodded. "True enough. Though Kiwi - must you deep dive naked in front of everyone?"

"Kukuku..." Kiwi's avatar rippled in the ice bath. "What? Like they haven't seen it all before. Though~" Her gaze slid to me. "Might be too much for our growing boy here?"

"The fuck?! I've seen plenty of-"

I realized my mistake as the words left my mouth.

"Well well~" Lucy's Cheshire grin spread as Maine and Dorio exchanged knowing looks. Pilar made an obscene finger-circle gesture while Rebecca mimed shooting me with her virtual pistol.

...Goddammit. For the record? I barely remember anything! Left the room immediately like any decent person would! And those underground BDs don't count - we're not counting those!