Chapter 219
Therefore, Lucy doesn't want any problems to arise in the team.
Maine is a pleasant person.
Under his leadership, the team was filled with laughter and banter, as warm as a home, a true place to belong.
She cherishes it.
"Kiwi, do you still remember the massacre that happened at the European Space Council (ESA) last October?"
Lucy looked seriously at her guide.
"You mean the Frankfurt Incident?"
Sensing the seriousness in Lucy's tone, Kiwi straightened her posture, her prosthetic eye with yellow sclera and red iris narrowing slightly. "It was Arasaka who did it. Is there any connection?"
As she spoke, she suddenly thought of something.
"Intelligence leaks fall under the intelligence security system, and Mr. Jack Wells's backer seems to be someone in the intelligence business..."
"That's right."
Lucy nodded and analyzed, "This was handled very sloppily. It doesn't seem like something an upper management member of Arasaka would do. It's more like a crude action taken by a middle manager to clean up his own mess."
She knew some of the inside stories of Arasaka.
In the past, there were grudges and prejudices, as well as a lack of experience. I was always hiding and on edge, with no chance to settle down.
When one truly settles down and follows Kiwi to hone various hacking skills beyond 'deep diving,' no longer engaging in petty theft in the subway, going to clubs, meeting middlemen, or taking on commissions, one's experience increases. Combined with the things she has learned from her background, one's perspective naturally becomes more comprehensive than that of Maine and others who have been struggling in the mercenary world.
"We're not Corporate Dog, so we don't know the whole story. But we don't need to know the whole story either. The simplest logic is that to suppress this matter, it will inevitably cost a lot of money. If the money is overspent, we need to find the reason. But this is Arasaka, not a family account, where there are borrowing and repaying, and there will be accountability."
"Office politics." ×2.
Lucy and Kiwi exchanged a glance and spoke in unison.
As if confirming the two women's guess, the bell rang.
Maine's specially encrypted phone rang.
Contact: Jackie Brothers.
Maine glanced at his companions, his eyes flashing with orange light.
"..."
When the orange-red light faded, he remained silent for a long time.
He didn't say a word, but his expression said it all.
Until, bang bang.
The strong-willed Dorio walked in carrying several baskets of beer, drinks, and frozen ingredients.
"Maine?"
She tilted her head and glanced at Maine, a burly man who looked like a philosopher deep in thought.
"Cough cough."
Maine chuckled bitterly, "This job is fucking tricky! Damn it, Kiwi."
After muttering a curse, he glanced at Kiwi.
"Learn."
With perfect understanding, data streams flashed through Kiwi's eyes.
Click click.
The skylights were closed, the internal soundproof doors of the abandoned factory were shut, the windows were completely closed, and various anti-eavesdropping devices were activated.
After confirming that the monitoring system and all indoor data terminals were under her control, Kiwi looked at Maine and said, "Speak."
"A new commission from the Jackie brothers, with a very high price."
Rubbing his hands together and glancing at his companions, Maine slowly said, "Let's go and take out the Director of Special Operations of Arasaka Night City."
"Huh?!" ×6.
213
Chapter 213 The Real Politics of the Office.
The sham office politics—from major issues of factions and interests to minor matters like job changes and sex scandals—is all about scheming and manipulation. It involves strategic planning from the top of the office tower and decisive victories from afar in a luxury hotel suite. It's all about painstakingly maneuvering to gain an advantage in the company's Darwinian competitive mechanism of internal power redistribution, where the capable rise and the incompetent fall.
Real office politics—competition? What a load of rubbish! If we can't resolve the problem peacefully, then we'll deal with the people who caused it!
Night falls.
Watson District, Chinatown.
The most famous underground information station in Night City — Afterlife club.
We welcome all, and our private rooms are exclusively for people of all kinds to discuss shady business dealings.
A secret commission investigation between a Corporate Dog and a middleman is underway.
"So, this is all you want me to do? Kill this Ms. Susan Abernathy?"
"The orange-red data stream as the iris flashes to read the Separate Chip," Jackie Welles asked slowly, leaning back on the sofa.
"That's right."
A red-haired woman dressed as a corporate dog from Arasaka Corporation raised a bullet glass with her free hand, downed it in one gulp, and narrowed her amber eyes slightly. "Kill her, and everyone will be happy. My department head's promotion path, which was blocked by that bitch, will be reopened."
"Ever since that bitch was promoted to Director of Special Operations and gained a foothold, she's been making things difficult for me and my department. When it comes to task allocation, she dumps all sorts of hot potatoes on my department."
"Fuck Abernathy."
At this point, V couldn't help but mutter a curse.
"If the problem is solved, she gets all the credit; if it's messed up, we're the ones who bear all the blame! Was the Frankfurt incident our responsibility? It was other departments that were inefficient, and we were just cleaning up their messes!"
"OK, OK, I understand, I understand, calm down, girl."
With a pop, Jackie, a burly man resembling a gorilla but acting like a close male friend, refilled V's bottle of chilled tequila.
Although he was reluctant to do this kind of work, and knew that his best friend V was also unwilling, the company was still a den of snakes in Arasaka, where profits and risks coexisted. When this kind of order came in, V simply couldn't refuse.
He knew the rules of Arasaka.
Not everyone is Vera Adelheid Russell.
Having enjoyed the company's black-glove benefits for a year or two, and having entered the Afterlife early, Jackie also became a small-time middleman who might not have done very well but had a good reputation. He gained a deeper understanding of the deeper operating rules between Night City, the underground mercenary world, and the Major Corporations.
With increased experience, one always progresses.
If he were still that punk hothead from the Valentino Gang, that poor kid from Heywood, he might have advised V to refuse, saying things like, "Today they make you kill others, tomorrow they can make others kill you." But now, Jackie would only choose to help his best friend.
Do everything in your power!
After all, this damn world is like this no matter what profession you're in.
This isn't a question of whether or not you're willing to be blackmailed. If you want to completely sever ties with the company on Earth, you might as well go to the moon and join the 'High Knights Alliance,' those self-proclaimed noble cosmic beings, and see if they're willing to take you in.
Besides, he couldn't just watch V die, could he?
He's beholden to those who feed him. After all, it was because of V's previous help that he was able to get ahead.
Otherwise, by acting as an intermediary, one can gain a reputation for integrity and indeed not violate some of one's own behavioral principles that others might consider foolish, but the cost is extremely slow initial accumulation of wealth, which can easily displease peers and lead to being ostracized.
Perhaps big players like Rogue, Mr. Hans, and the priest don't care, but you should know that troublemakers are a real pain.
Without V's support, such as regular, profitable company jobs, or distribution channels for selling Arasaka's new drugs in fixed quantities... he absolutely couldn't continue working as a middleman.
Jackie was aware of this.
"Here. Tequila. Hi, Hermana (sister)... Don't look so gloomy, bad things always get better, relax, I'll do the job."
"Thank you, Jackie. You're the person I trust most. I really don't know who else I could trust with something like this."
Ding-dong.
They exchanged a smile, then Jackie and V clinked glasses and drank it all down together.
After the initial greetings and the consensus that the job had been accepted, let's get down to business.
V pointed to the Separate Chip on the table and said, "This is information that my department head and I have gathered over the past month or so. It should be useful."
"Hmm, I saw it. It's very complete: schedule, biometrics, Trauma Team cards, wow, a safe house? One, two, three, four... Are all you Arasaka people this afraid of death?"
Jackie pulled the Separate Chip from behind his earlobe and put it away. "Hmm, security level, names of close confidants—driver, security supervisor, mistress, mistress's husband. All of them are included."
It's clear they have a deep grudge; the girl and her department head are eager to get rid of this woman named Susan Abernathy.
Jackie silently noted down the features of the target on his retina: a typical Corporate Dog's outfit, faint traces of facial prosthetics, medium-length black hair in a ponytail, a large face, and full lips... As he made a mental note of the features of the target he was about to eliminate.
Jackie: "This job costs a lot of money, and it has to be done secretly. We don't accept bank transfers, only cash."
V placed his briefcase full of euros on the table. "I have the cash ready."
Jackie: "Hmm. Roughly speaking, a full team of professional cyber mercenaries would be necessary... no, at least two hackers equipped with super brains... and a driver who dares to race through hell. By the way, V, is it possible that the lady has recently been equipped with the [Cybernetic Tyrant]?"
"Personal guards equipped with [Cybernetic Tyrant]? Hmph, that bitch isn't high enough for that level. Unless she pays for it herself."
V sneered.
Then, as if she had thought of something, she pointed to the second Separate Chip placed in the data box on the desktop and said, "This is an introduction to the [Quinque] equipment. Remember, do not divulge it. The portability and surprise of this new equipment are particularly suitable for the field of police protection and bodyguards. Beware of those 'suitcase carriers'."
"Also, once you make your move, you'd better take out the target within 5 minutes. Otherwise, the Security Department mobile teams stationed at various outposts in Night City will arrive."
"Even with the restrictions of the 'Excessive Firepower Restriction Treaty' in the city, it cannot be ruled out that the target's bodyguards were equipped with exoskeletons."
V continued to warn, "Jackie, although I won't interfere with your specifics, you need to be careful when casting. They can't be associated with the company, and they need to be people you know and can trust. If they turn around and sell us off... you know what I mean."
"And they have to be good at it."
Jackie added with a smile.
"Tsk, looking at it this way, there are so many prerequisites."
He shook his head and clicked his tongue. After a moment's pause, he changed the subject and said in a serious tone, "As for candidates... I have a suitable team on hand, the Maine's crew, you've met them."
"You mean, the big, brown-skinned guy who was on the verge of Cyberpsychosis during the last Misdirection Operation against Faraday?"
V recalled for a moment, "It's been a year, and she hasn't gone crazy yet? Not bad."
"Keep it hanging by a thread with your new drugs."
Jackie replied, "To reduce the burden, he is also gradually replacing those outdated, low-end implants that are not well-suited to his own body."
"OK."
V nodded. "A user of military-grade [Sandevistan], hmm, no problem, his team also has two highly skilled hacker teammates. But, just one team... isn't enough to be safe."
"Understand."
V's caution was not unexpected by Jackie; it's always better to be prepared.
After a moment's thought, he uttered a name: "Panam Palmer".
Under V's eager gaze, Jackie explained, "She's Nomads from the Aldecaldo Tribe who recently came to Night City hoping to try her luck as a mercenary."
"We've worked together a few times. That girl has a lot of personality, and she's quite to my liking. Trust me, my judgment is that she's trustworthy."
He emphasized, "She can't be a traitor among the Nomads. I've seen her talking to Nomads Badlands. They seemed to get along quite well; I guess they just have different ways of making a living. Her family works in civil engineering in your Arasaka Research Institute. As for her, she drives a modified Nissan Thunder Macintosh 'Warhorse,' which has heavy firepower and is used for smuggling and transporting goods, you know what I mean."
Smuggling goods means traversing the Badlands and frequently dealing with the Maelstrom the Chaotic Blade Society who plunder the Badlands. If you can make a name for yourself in this business, your skills must be quite good.
Former Nomads meant they had extensive connections outside the city.
Thinking of this, V looked at Jackie: "It seems we're thinking the same thing."
"Outside the city."
Jackie replied, "Or perhaps it's when this lady is having a threesome with her lover and her lover's husband."
If you can assassinate someone, don't turn it into a robbery and murder.
Furthermore, any type of assassination is best avoided in the City Center and Westbrook.
The former needs no introduction, with the Corporate Plaza standing there; the latter, Westbrook, Charter Hill and North Oak, is a district teeming with wealthy neighborhoods and corporate communities, where Vera's mansion and the Arasaka Family's Night City residence are located.
The target is still Arasaka's middle and upper management. Any move will stir up a hornet's nest. The NCPD, the MaxTac, the Trauma Team, the Ghost Hound mercenaries, the Arasaka Security Department... they will all be mobilized.