Dogtown was no longer the Dogtown it had once been.
With the Night City Police Department moving in and New America's personnel withdrawing, Dogtown had a new king.
A very different, very unusual king from Kurt Hansen.
"I can't keep doing this."
Carl silently pressed both hands to her temples. "Why is there so much work? It feels like everything needs doing. Can I just do nothing?"
"Don't start talking about giving up just because there's too much to handle."
Jack, who had already arrived at the center of the stadium, said, "The remaining former Barghest troops will be here soon. Every one of them wants to meet you. And there's also that group of former Pheasant Faction people under your command. We can only handle this ourselves. You don't want other corporations reaching in at the most critical moment, do you?"
Jack's words made Carl sigh.
"I know. I need to get things arranged immediately. At the very least, I need to be like Kurt Hansen and keep the corporations from getting too involved in Dogtown. But there's just too much to deal with."
Carl glanced to the side. She was no longer beside the reactor; she had sealed that place off again. She was now in the command room Hansen had previously occupied. It was fairly spacious, and it looked like it had once been a special viewing box in the stadium.
After thinking for a moment, Carl looked at the arriving T-BUG.
"Have you notified Hanz? I'm allowing him to scoop up some benefits at a time like this. That was part of the deal from the start. But he needs to take on enough work to prove that he's actually doing something. I want to see him immediately—tell him that. No problem, T-BUG?"
"Mm."
T-BUG nodded.