When dawn's glow lit up the horizon once more, the massive sweep through Johannesburg was still far from over.
Military police roamed the streets. SAPS cops and armed Arasaka personnel conducted widespread manhunts along the city's main transportation routes.
Without question, the chaos of the early morning and the shock of dawn would become memories Johannesburg's residents would never forget for the rest of their lives.
On radio and television, Arasaka publicly released the orders issued by Supervisor Vera Adelheid Russell, the specially appointed plenipotentiary commissioner for the "June 7 Johannesburg, South Africa Terrorist Attack."
As streetlights swayed and engines howled...
After prioritizing the lockdown of the city borders, Arasaka military vehicles, heavy Armored Hovercars, and even equipment rarely seen in South Africa during peacetime thundered into the city streets: soldiers wearing partial exoskeletons, bipedal Drone Mechs that walked upright like giant crabs, "Octant" heavy drones, armored hover tanks, and other exotic hardware unfamiliar to ordinary people.
Such scenes, invaluable to journalism scholars, naturally became a feast for media outlets around the world.
11 p.m., June 6, Night City time. (South Africa is UTC+2, California is UTC-7, and South Africa is nine hours ahead of Night City.)
Night City was still the same Night City. It had not changed because of anyone's departure.
As far as the eye could see, conflicts between corporate conglomerates and endless gang wars continued as ever. Death Lottery kept updating, while criminals committed their crimes late at night and Cyber Mercenaries indulged themselves in bars as usual.
Watson District, Afterlife club.
Colorful light pollution danced across the ceiling. Images of strippers and sex dolls intertwined. The air was thick with a mixture of scents: the bite of alcohol, the heaviness of tobacco, the stimulation of drugs, and the mingling of perfume and hormones. All those