Arasaka Tower.
Thirty-third floor, Counterintel Division.
Director's office.
Jenkins kept calling Susan a bitch over and over, his words dripping with hatred even though she was technically one of his superiors.
"Hmph. That bitch still doesn't dare come at me openly."
"A year ago, when she was still in Special Ops, she loved playing dirty with me."
"Before I came to Night City, she and I were handling a case together in Osaka, and that bitch dug one hell of a pit for me."
"Now that she's become Director of Special Ops, she's always trying to find a way to stick her claws into Counterintel."
"As for the Animals hitting you, I'll have people deal with it. I'm not letting this slide."
"If she wants to show her claws, we'll cut them off."
Kai knew perfectly well that even if they found evidence tying the Animals attack to Susan, it still would not be enough to bring her down.
Destroying evidence ahead of time or finding a disposable scapegoat were both standard tricks for Arasaka executives.
Jenkins got to the point.
"Since you're back, I've got a job for you."
"You saw that footage just now, right? The cyberpsycho attacking NCPD officers."
"That happened the night before you returned, right downstairs in the corporate plaza under Arasaka Tower."
From the video, Kai had already guessed the general outline of the assignment.
"This cyberpsycho mess has everybody on edge."
Jenkins tapped the desk, causing a microchip to pop out. He picked it up and handed it to Kai.
"That cyberpsycho's name is James Norris."
"R&D has their eyes on him."
"The file's classified."
Kai took the chip from Jenkins and slotted it into his comm unit to read the contents.
[Name: James Norris]
[Occupation: Mercenary]
[Background: Formerly served in NUSA forces, ex-Navy SEAL lieutenant]
[Research: Target under observation for Militech experimental cyberware implantation. Current theory suggests the symptoms were caused by failure to withstand the strain of high-intensity neural cyberware.]
[Data: Military-grade Sandevistan]
After reading the file, Kai quickly spotted the issue.
"Even if we wanted to secretly get hold of a military-grade experimental Sandevistan from Militech, there'd be no need to send Counterintel."
"The higher-ups should know exactly what Counterintel is responsible for. We deal with internal Arasaka intelligence leaks and prevent or counter enemy corporate infiltration."
"This doesn't fall under our department's normal scope."
Jenkins took a sip of whiskey and continued.
"You're right. If this were only about getting the Sandevistan, I wouldn't be assigning it to you."
"Our company has plenty of channels to get hold of one. The military, the black market, maybe even people inside Militech."
"But the key issue is that this request came from Director Tanaka in R&D."
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"So R&D's involved in this too?"
Jenkins nodded.
"Exactly. Every year, Arasaka and Militech both pour huge amounts of money and resources into cyberware implant experiments. But you know how it is, not all those experiments are done in labs. James Norris is an excellent observation subject. He's carrying Militech experimental cyberware, and R&D has had him marked for a while."
Kai had long since heard about Arasaka and Militech quietly letting experimental chrome flow into Night City, then observing how it performed in real-world conditions from the shadows.
A lot of newly developed cyberware, especially military-grade gear, required full human trial reports.
And most of those detailed, authentic human testing reports were obtained through dark methods.
Because the corps did not want data pulled from random drunks or junkies dying in alleyways.
They wanted real numbers from healthy people with genuine military-grade physical conditioning.
Only that kind of data was convincing enough for the military to approve large-scale procurement or for the corps to deploy the hardware through their own armed forces.
Kai asked, "So what Tanaka and R&D want is the neural operating data from the Sandevistan, not the experimental implant itself?"
Jenkins nodded again.
"That's it exactly. And according to a reliable source inside the department, James also had some kind of shady connection with R&D. Otherwise, why would a cyberpsycho suddenly show up under Arasaka Tower?"
"Ever since the nuke fifty years ago, Arasaka Tower has been the company's most secure restricted zone. After something like this, R&D's worried Militech might catch a scent of what they've been doing."
Once Kai understood the assignment, he pocketed the chip.
"If that's all, I'll head back to my office."
Jenkins drained the rest of his whiskey in one gulp, stood up, and added one more thing.
"Fine. But keep this in mind."
"Militech doesn't seem interested in recovering that Sandevistan right now. They probably want it to keep circulating on the black market for more field testing."
"NCPD already confirmed the implant was stolen. It's not in their hands."
"Once you get the Sandevistan chip, extract the runtime data from it. As for where the implant ends up, whichever unlucky bastard installs it can keep it."
Kai said nothing.
Every advanced implant a corp developed was probably soaked in innocent blood.
And among the cyberpsychos cut down by MaxTac, how many of them really had nothing to do with the corps?
Cyberware. Experiments. Cyberpsychos.
They formed a dark chain wrapped tightly around everyone's throat.
Some people never even realized what form the final extraction of their value would take.
Kai had just turned to leave when Jenkins stopped him again.
"Your car's totaled. Until the company assigns you a new one, you can use my AV."
Kai refused immediately.
"No need. I'll take the metro."
With that, he left the director's office.
Right now, all Kai wanted was to wash his face, clear his head, and straighten out his thoughts.
Standing before the sink mirror, he turned on the faucet, scooped up cold water, and splashed his face several times. Then he pulled out a paper towel and dried the water from his face and hands.
"Too much happened today."
"My head's still foggy."
"And I feel like throwing up."
[Biomonitoring: Your current physical condition is suboptimal. A full examination is available at any Trauma Team medical center // You have reached the recommended age for full cyberware compatibility implantation. If you have a hospital...]
Kai raised a hand and dismissed the notification.
"Nothing but useless crap."
He looked at himself in the mirror.
His face was still young and sharply defined, but there was now a trace of weariness in his eyes, though it could not hide the light buried deepest within them.
"Heh. Johnny that wild bastard is still locked up in Mikoshi."
"I really do miss those old chooms."
Kai muttered helplessly.
Just then, his comm unit lit up with an incoming call.
[Incoming Call Request: Jackie]
(End of Chapter)
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