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"Wait, explain yourself. What do you mean I stole from the wrong person?"
Looking at Jax, the girl suddenly stretched out her arm and slammed it against the wall behind him—a classic kabedon move that cornered him in the narrow space between the subway cars. She slightly raised her head, narrowing her emerald eyes as she leaned forward, a faint, dangerous smile playing on her lips.
A pleasant, clean scent wafted toward him. Lucy lowered her head slightly and lightly sniffed, her face inches from Jax's.
Then, she looked up and said, "You're interrupting my work, you know?"
Jax chuckled, unfazed by the display of aggression. He shifted a little to the side to give himself breathing room. "I said, if you weren't stealing from me, I definitely would have looked the other way. Professional courtesy. But since you were trying to jack my data, you can't expect me not to resist. You were interrupted in your work, sure, but I almost had my livelihood lifted."
"Shut up, don't lecture me." Lucy pulled her hand free from Jax's grip. In the next instant, she moved to restrain him—one hand reaching for his face, the other attempting to bend his arm behind his back.
Jax simply raised his arm, blocking her movements with a casual efficiency that spoke of a high Reflex attribute. He wasn't about to let a stranger scan him up close. That feeling of being digitally "naked" under a hacker's gaze was something he'd never gotten used to.
As their eyes met, colorful lights flickered in Lucy's pupils—the sign of a high-speed data stream.
She was already connected to the NCPD database, running his face. The function of high-end cybernetic eyes wasn't just for night vision or long-distance shooting; it was about threat assessment.
"Speeding... selling pirated goods... I'd say the crimes you've committed are all minor league," Lucy noted, the data flashing behind her eyes. Then she paused, her brow furrowing in genuine surprise. She withdrew her hand and looked at Jax intently. "You don't have a single neural-link or reaction-based cyberware installed. So how did you detect my cord?"
"Hmm, maybe I'm just exceptionally talented?" Jax offered with a shrug.
"Fine. I'll buy that for now. So, why are you still bothering me?" Lucy took a step back, evaluating him with a noncommittal gaze.
She was genuinely impressed. Lucy had spent years perfecting her chip-stealing technique. She could usually lift data from exhausted corporate drones or even street mercenaries without them ever feeling the prick of the cable. The fact that this "natural" had caught her was a statistical anomaly.
Jax laughed in exasperation. "I literally just told you. I'm not giving you trouble—it's the other way around. You picked the wrong target. It's already generous of me not to report you."
He paused, then added with a smirk, "In fact, if you really think I'm the problem, do you want to call the police? If your hands are busy, I can help you dial."
Lucy fell silent, her emerald eyes cold. But after a few seconds, she changed her stance, a playful smile returning. "In that case... I have a suggestion. Want to hear it?"
"Steal chips together?" Jax preempted her. He was about to shake his head and refuse. In the anime, this was the start of the star-crossed romance between David and Lucy, but Jax wasn't a teenager looking for a thrill. Stealing chips was petty, low-paying, and high-risk.
But before the "No" could leave his lips, the familiar ping sounded in his head.
[Quest Triggered: Partner in Crime] Objective: Complete one "shift" of chip-lifting with Lucy. Reward: 0.1 Random Attribute Point.
Jax sighed internally. Well, damn. What he actually said was, "Tell me how it works?"
"Your reactions are top-tier," Lucy explained, her eyes brightening. "We work as a team. I'll trigger the ejection from the target's neck port, and you grab the chip the instant it pops out. We split the eddies later. Simple, clean, and you won't lose out."
"What's the split?"
Lucy hesitated. "Sixty-forty. I take sixty because I'm the one doing the heavy lifting in the net."
"And the targets?" Jax asked, looking down at her. "Let's be clear: I'm not lifting from ordinary people just trying to get home."
"I don't waste my time on 'ordinary' people," Lucy countered. "Stealing from a dozen laborers doesn't pay as much as one corporate drone carrying encrypted research. It's about quality, not quantity."
"Then why did you go for me? I look pretty ordinary."
"Uh... it was just convenient."
"..."
"What about the kid with you?" Lucy glanced sideways at David, who was watching them with a look of utter confusion from the next car.
"I'll send him home," Jax said.
He didn't have a moral problem with the job. In Night City, everyone was a scumbag in their own way. The corporate drones exploited the bottom tier, and the mercenaries cleaned up the mess. If he was going to be an edgerunner, he might as well get used to the grind. Besides, he had nothing else to do tonight.
Sasha was with her sister, Maine and Dorio were car hunting, and Kiwi was hunting for a driver.
"Alright, go tell the kid. I'll pick our first mark," Lucy said, extending her hand. "I'm Lucy."
"Jax," he replied, shaking her hand gently. Her skin was cool, likely from her internal cooling systems.
He walked back to David. "Where did you go?" David asked, his eyes darting between Jax and the mysterious woman.
"Ran into some business. Head back to the building by yourself, David. I'll be back later."
David looked at Lucy again, then at Jax, a flicker of adolescent realization crossing his face. "Got it. See you at the skyscraper, Big Brother Jax."
Once the train reached the next stop and David exited, Jax returned to Lucy. She laid out the routine: pick a target between stops, snatch the chip, get off, switch lines, and repeat. It was a well-oiled machine.
Jax looked at her as they stood in the shadows. He knew she was a world-class hacker—a survivor of the Arasaka Deep Dive project. Seeing her spend her time as a common pickpocket felt surreal.
But then again, this was Night City. Even the stars had to crawl through the mud to pay the rent.
"Ready?" Lucy asked.
"Let's get to work," Jax replied.
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