"Want a can, Carl?"
Sitting in a private room at the Afterlife Bar, Blanca slowly sipped her drink. When she saw Carl approach, she pointed at the unopened Bimbo Monkey on the table.
"I'll pass on the Bimbo Monkey. It's a high-fructose corn syrup drink. It's sickeningly sweet."
Carl casually sat down on the couch, glanced over the drinks arranged on the table in front of Blanca, and picked one for himself.
"Sweet tea will do."
This drink tasted rather like iced black tea. It was one of the few things in Night City that gave Carl a familiar taste of home.
Watching Carl open his sweet tea and take a drink, Blanca continued sipping hers. Only after she had finished it all did she seem to relax, leaning back into the couch in a lazy posture.
"You've become pretty famous around the city lately."
"I know. A friend told me as soon as I woke up."
Carl did not really understand why his employer was bringing up this irrelevant nonsense. He had come to take a job, not make small talk. Why could it not be like before? Tell him the pay, where he needed to go, and what he needed to deal with. Then he would do the job, and the employer would pay him. Easy, clear, simple.
"Then do you know who was piloting that ACPA?"
The pilot?
Carl had to admit, Blanca had caught his interest with that subject.
"You know something about it?"
"How could I not? Why do you think I had time to sit here leisurely drinking and waiting for you today? I got promoted. I filled the management position left vacant by this incident."
"So Militech really was behind this?"
"As expected, it looked like you'd guessed."
Blanca was not surprised. After