Embers.
Five minutes earlier.
Kai had been sitting across from Gloria, discussing business with her in a low voice. The cooperation was progressing smoothly.
The dinner was already entering its final stretch when Kai's eyes casually drifted toward the restaurant elevator entrance and caught sight of two people walking in.
Both of them carried that unmistakable Arasaka look in the way they dressed and carried themselves, favoring deep black and dark red.
Ever since joining Counterintel, Kai had gotten frighteningly good at reading people by sight alone. At a glance, he recognized the broad-shouldered middle-aged man as Tanaka, the head of Arasaka's R&D division, one of Saburo's direct loyalists within the company. He controlled a huge amount of Arasaka's classified weapons and equipment research, and more importantly, he was also involved in human biological research.
The military-grade Sandevistan runtime data Kai was after had been requested by R&D in the first place, then handed to Arthur after approval from the upper-level meeting.
Gloria, seated with her back to the entrance, had no idea what Kai had noticed and continued speaking with quiet politeness.
Normally, running into other Arasaka people at Embers would not have meant much.
What caught Kai's attention was the boy walking beside Tanaka.
Katsuo.
Kai had already seen his face in David's life simulation, so the impression had stayed with him. He knew exactly how poisonous the relationship between Katsuo and David really was.
And sure enough.
Kai watched as Katsuo casually lifted his eyes and immediately locked onto David's gaze. Both of them froze in obvious shock.
Kai felt a headache coming on for David's sake.
"This brat runs into Katsuo every single time he least needs to."
"His life really is one long black comedy."
Not long after, Kai saw David retreat into the restroom.
A moment later, Katsuo found an excuse to slip in after him.
Kai immediately guessed what was going on.
That little bastard had gone in to make trouble.
But Kai also knew that right now, under no circumstances could the two of them be allowed to cause a scene. If Gloria and David were pulled into the attention of Arasaka's upper ranks, Gloria's future as a fixer would be over before it even began.
More importantly, Tanaka himself was sitting right here.
He was a member of the Arasaka Academy board. If he decided David had to go, then expulsion would be all but guaranteed.
So Kai made up an excuse and told Gloria he needed to use the restroom.
Gloria half rose from her seat and watched him leave, then instinctively glanced around the dining area, trying to spot David.
But he was nowhere in the main hall.
"Where did David go?"
She looked around again, still unable to find him.
Just then, a well-dressed gentleman from the bar took the initiative to approach her and ask whether she needed any help.
Gloria's expression hardened at once, and she rejected him directly.
When strange men tried to flirt or approach her, her reaction was always one of intense discomfort.
Right now, all she wanted was to find out where David had gone.
So she called over a server and asked where the boy who had been dining with her had gone.
The server politely informed her that David had gone into the restroom and was probably still inside.
Only then did Gloria relax a little.
Still, since he had been gone for so long, she guessed he might have eaten too much and upset his stomach, so she casually asked one more question.
"Is the food over in the self-serve section free?"
The server answered with professional politeness.
"Ma'am, Embers does not offer complimentary self-serve dining. All food items are charged according to the listed menu price."
Gloria blinked.
She clearly remembered Kai saying the self-serve food was free. Since this was the first time she had ever come to Embers properly, she did not really understand how the restaurant worked.
"Then... how is the self-serve section billed?"
The server replied with certainty,
"Ma'am, those items are charged at full menu price. The self-serve dishes are cold selections prepared in-house by the kitchen."
A bad feeling settled heavily in Gloria's chest.
If David had eaten too much, then he might have gone over budget.
No, not just over budget.
Way over.
So she hurriedly asked,
"Then how much has the boy who was with me consumed in total? I'd like to see the bill."
The self-serve station used an automated pricing system by table. Once food was removed from the display, it was automatically counted as purchased.
"One moment, please."
The server's cyberoptic flashed as he checked the total.
"5,020 eddies."
The moment Gloria heard that number, the sinking feeling in her heart was confirmed. She pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a helpless sigh.
"I knew this kind of place really wasn't right for us..."
She was just about to settle the self-serve bill first when the server politely stopped her.
"Ma'am, all charges for this table have already been assigned to one of our dedicated member clients. The bill cannot be paid a second time or transferred."
Only then did Gloria realize that Kai had already covered everything in advance.
No wonder he had said the self-serve area was free.
For David, it was free because all of it had been charged to Kai's account.
"So this is what Arasaka senior management's spending power looks like..."
"It's terrifying."
"And now I owe him another huge favor. Is this really okay..."
Gloria sat back down and stared blankly out at the night view beyond the window, her heart full of tangled emotions she could not sort through.
Beneath her feet stretched one of the brightest, richest districts in all Night City. Luxurious private AVs moved through the air at nearly the same height as her line of sight.
Everything about it felt unreal.
Scenery like this, confidence like this, had never belonged to her life.
If not for repaying a debt, she never would have been willing to spend money on this kind of extravagant place.
What she had gone through over the last two days was already strange enough.
Working in public medical services had taught her one truth better than anything else: car crashes in Night City were common. Meeting a genuinely good person was not.
Meeting a good person from a corporation was rarer than seeing God.
"This is even more ridiculous than meeting God..."
"A fixer..."
"Does he want even more from me?"
"But I don't really have anything left worth taking."
"And even if David has a bright future ahead of him, it probably still wouldn't compare to his."
"His starting point is already David's finish line."
Gloria's thoughts spiraled in every direction, leaving her mind in a complete mess.
Agreeing to become a fixer had been a total accident. She had done a few deals with edgerunners before, but nothing too dangerous.
"I still can't figure out what he really wants..."
Then she noticed a broad-shouldered middle-aged man in a suit walking past with a stern expression, heading toward the restroom. The cufflinks on his sleeves bore the Arasaka logo.
Tanaka had just received a call for help from his son, and it left him irritated.
He had not expected his son to find trouble even on a trip to the restroom.
He walked calmly to the men's room and immediately saw Katsuo collapsed on the floor near the innermost stall, clutching his face with fury and pain. The moment he saw his father, he struggled to his feet and hurried over, pointing at Kai.
"Father, he's the one who hit me!"
"It hurts like hell..."
"Father, you absolutely can't let him off!"
Tanaka said nothing. He simply looked at Kai with an unreadable expression, feeling that the man seemed strangely familiar, and activated his cyberoptic to verify his identity.
Katsuo was still whining at his side, but Tanaka cut him off sharply.
He was deeply displeased by the sight of his son getting slapped and then doing nothing but crying for help.
It was completely at odds with his own hard temperament and way of doing things.
"Get out."
Katsuo's pleading face froze.
But he did not dare disobey his father.
After a brief stunned pause, he could only swallow his rage and step out of the restroom, glaring at Kai the entire way with hatred burning in his eyes.
Once his son was gone, Tanaka spoke again.
"This morning's conflict between you and Susan in the elevator bank has already spread through the company."
"Why did you provoke her?"
Kai walked out from the stall area to the sink, passing Tanaka at close range, then looked at his reflection in the electronic mirror and answered calmly,
"She and I have never gotten along."
"I've heard plenty of people in the company call me a mad dog behind my back."
"Sometimes I actually rather like the nickname."
"But I think Director Susan might suit it even better now."
(End of Chapter)
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