Chapter Summaries

Kenichi Shiro brought Carl and his team to secure the top floor of an Arasaka Tower banquet, explaining the event’s arrangements and guiding them through hidden corridors. He ordered them to disguise themselves in Arasaka uniforms, and Carl’s practiced handling of his outfit made Kenichi Shiro suspicious.

• Carl and Kenichi Shiro discussed the banquet as Carl’s teammates wondered about Kenichi’s identity and his relationship with Carl.
• Kenichi explained that Chiyome had privately hired Carl’s team, then took them aside to prepare for security duty on the banquet’s top floor.
• Kenichi led the team through a concealed elevator and hidden corridor inside Arasaka Tower.
• Kenichi directed Carl and his companions to change into Arasaka personnel uniforms so they would not be recognized.
• Kenichi watched Carl change with unusual ease and wondered whether he had worn an Arasaka Combat Suit before.

Carl and V guarded an Arasaka banquet while waiting for the guests to arrive. Carl spotted a long-unseen friend among them, leaving her surprised by the unexpected reunion.

• Carl and V discussed their security duties and agreed to guard the banquet rather than cause trouble.
• V went to his assigned section as guests began entering the banquet hall.
• Carl watched the high-ranking Arasaka guests and hoped she would not have to kill anyone.
• Carl noticed a girl with long azure hair and violet eyes and recognized her as an old friend.

While guarding the Arasaka banquet, Carl spotted his former academy friend, the Azure-Haired Girl, and struggled to ignore the lavish food as V ate nearby. Kenichi Shiro arrived with Chiyome and Arasaka Haruko, leaving Carl’s attention fixed on the arrival of Arasaka’s highest-ranking figure in Night City.

• Carl recognized the Azure-Haired Girl from the academy but decided not to approach her while he was on duty.
• The banquet attendants laid out a buffet, and Carl studied the menu while craving the genuine meat and vegetables.
• Carl watched V eat fried shrimp and pork cutlet, then grew more hungry as V gave him a thumbs-up instead of sharing.
• Kenichi Shiro entered with Chiyome and Arasaka Haruko, the highest-ranking Arasaka Corporation figure in Night City.

Arasaka Haruko arrived at the banquet and drew the attention of the corporation’s executives, while Carl spotted V eating instead of networking. Carl’s academy friend recognized her beneath her helmet, and they formally introduced themselves as Carl and Takemura Maki.

• Arasaka Haruko arrived, stopped the gathered employees from bowing, and fielded executives’ pledges and requests.
• Carl noticed V eating another steak while other guests networked, then decided to sneak food herself.
• Takemura Maki approached Carl and recognized her despite her helmet and Combat Suit.
• Carl and Maki spoke privately about their lives since leaving the academy and joked about Carl’s reputation.
• Carl formally introduced herself, and Maki gave her full name: Takemura Maki.

Carl talked with Maki at the Arasaka banquet and watched her reunite with Haruko, who stared at him despite his attempt to keep his identity discreet. After Haruko, Maki, and Chiyome moved away, Carl noticed that Kenichi Shiro had disappeared.

• Carl learned that Maki came from a minor family within Arasaka and discussed Arasaka Saburo's preference for eating shrimp with the shells on.
• Haruko approached Maki, and the two greeted each other as old acquaintances meeting again after a long time.
• Carl noticed Arasaka executives keeping watch on Haruko while she spoke with Maki.
• Haruko stared at Carl, then invited Maki to get something to eat, and Maki left with her and Chiyome.
• Carl realized Haruko already knew his identity as her security detail and then noticed that Kenichi Shiro was missing.

After a Counterintelligence section chief exploded at the first-floor banquet, Kenichi Shiro sent V, Oliver, and Jack downstairs to investigate and left Carl to protect Haruko. Carl suspected the blast might involve a Rogue AI and began questioning why it had targeted the officer.

• Carl wondered why Kenichi Shiro had left the banquet hall and waited for an update while keeping watch over Haruko.
• Kenichi Shiro summoned V, Oliver, and Jack to the lower floor, where an explosion had killed a Counterintelligence section chief and nearby colleagues.
• Kenichi Shiro ordered Carl to remain upstairs and guard Haruko while he investigated the breach in security.
• Carl moved closer to Haruko and Maki, deciding he would protect Maki if danger reached the banquet hall.
• Carl recalled T-BUG's warning about Rogue AIs and questioned whether one had caused the explosion or whether another corporation was responsible.

Oliver, V, and Jack investigated the remains of an employee who had exploded and realized the undetected bomb may have used Biotechnica’s bioengineering technology. As Kenichi Shiro considered what that could mean for Arasaka, the banquet hall lost power, signaling that someone had breached the tower’s power control center.

• Oliver asked V to compare the bloody remains with those from an earlier explosion, and V concluded the blast had centered on the victim’s chest and abdomen.
• Kenichi Shiro confirmed that surveillance footage showed the bomb had been inside the victim between the stomach and small intestine.
• Oliver explained that hiding a bomb there and defeating Arasaka’s scans would require specialized preparation, then identified Biotechnica as a possible source of the technology.
• V said Biotechnica’s bioengineering could make a bomb blend with human tissue, and Kenichi Shiro considered whether its technology pointed to a spy, provocation, or corporate attack.
• The lights in the banquet hall went out, and Kenichi Shiro concluded that someone had breached the power control center.

A sudden blackout left V, Jack, Oliver, and Kenichi Shiro on guard while blue lights appeared on the chests of Arasaka employees around the banquet hall. One employee exploded, and the source of the attack remained unknown.

• V drew his Thermal Katana as Jack covered him, while Oliver guarded Kenichi Shiro during the blackout.
• Kenichi Shiro learned the outage affected only their floor and ordered his subordinates to secure the power management room and find the attacker.
• V warned the others that he sensed danger as blue lights appeared on several Arasaka employees.
• A Division One employee’s blue chest light flashed faster as he recalled a figure associated with true liberation and beauty.
• The employee erupted in blue light and exploded as a Division Two colleague tried to flee.

Blue-eyed Arasaka employees attacked their colleagues by exploding, throwing the first floor back into chaos just after the security squad had begun to contain it. Kenichi Shiro, Jack, V, and Oliver fought back, but Kenichi realized an unknown data breach was spreading through people nearby and suspected an AI.

• A blue-glowing Arasaka employee exploded, and the First Special Squad captain ordered everyone on the floor to stay still while the squad aimed its guns at the glowing employees.
• One employee stopped flashing, then charged the captain at terrifying speed; the captain shot him, triggering an explosion that began a wave of attacks.
• The other blue-eyed employees charged Arasaka combat personnel, and their explosions plunged the floor back into chaos.
• Kenichi Shiro regretted not eliminating suspicious employees sooner as the attackers singled him out, while Jack, V, and Oliver joined the fight.
• The First Squad captain showed signs of a data breach, and Kenichi warned that the infection was spreading through nearby people and might come from an AI.

During the banquet, Carl kept watch upstairs while V and the others fought below, then confronted a mysterious suited employee who seemed connected to Mr. Blue Eyes. The man revealed he knew Carl was unusual and surrendered when she threatened him.

• Carl checked in with V over comms while he fought infected Arasaka personnel downstairs, and Kenichi Shiro told her to focus on her duties.
• Carl noticed a suited employee with glowing blue eyes at the fruit table and recognized the same unsettling, inhuman quality she associated with Mr. Blue Eyes.
• The suited employee called Carl special and said she could contain everything, while Carl questioned him about his identity and possible involvement.
• Carl drew a neurotoxin knife and ordered the suited employee to raise his hands and face the wall.
• The suited employee identified the knife, surrendered, and asked Carl not to damage his body.

After the attack on Arasaka Tower, Kenichi Shiro praised Carl’s team and offered to train V, impressed by his combat skills. The chapter left the choice of whether to accept the offer to V.

• Arasaka operatives escorted the restrained Blue Eyes Suit to an isolation cell while Kenichi Shiro reported that the First Squad was nearly wiped out and an Arasaka employee had sabotaged the power supply.
• Kenichi Shiro admitted that he had been wrong to consider Carl’s team unnecessary and praised their performance.
• Kenichi Shiro offered to personally train V and urged him to give up mercenary work.
• Carl objected to Kenichi Shiro recruiting V, while Oliver and Jack realized that V’s fighting style had caught Kenichi Shiro’s attention.
• Carl, Kenichi Shiro, Oliver, and Jack looked to V, who alone could decide whether to accept the offer.

V rejected Kenichi Shiro’s offer to join Arasaka, while Kenichi invited Jack and Oliver and refused to recruit Carl. After Chiyome summoned Carl to Haruko, Carl declined the bonus and left to meet her.

• V thanked Kenichi Shiro for the offer but chose to keep working with his friends as a mercenary.
• Kenichi Shiro offered Jack and Oliver places under him, then told Carl he could not train her because she had responsibilities of her own.
• Carl learned that the others had each received an extra fifty thousand eurodollars, but no bonus had been transferred to her.
• Chiyome told Carl that Haruko wanted to see her and ordered unrelated personnel, including Kenichi Shiro, to leave.
• Carl straightened Kenichi Shiro’s collar, said she would not take the bonus, and went to meet Haruko.

Carl met Maki face-to-face and learned Haruko wanted him to choose an official identity to fill the gaps in his records. Haruko revealed that he and Maki would soon accompany her to meet her mother, Arakawa Michiko.

• Carl removed his helmet and reunited with Maki and Haruko at the banquet.
• Haruko had Chiyome give Carl a tablet, which displayed his personal information and several blank fields.
• Carl opened the identity options, and Haruko and Maki explained that Arasaka could supply convincing official records for any of them.
• Carl asked why he needed an official identity, and Haruko said he would accompany her and Maki to meet her mother.
• Carl realized Haruko's mother was Arakawa Michiko.

After earning a large payout, V and his teammates wondered what identity Carl would choose. Carl selected a cover based on a dead Kang Tao commissioner whose surname matched her own, leaving V surprised by the coincidence.

• Oliver celebrated saving nearly a million eddies, while Jack and V checked their own balances and discussed what to buy.
• V's excitement faded as he thought about the clan he had left behind and wondered how its members were doing.
• V asked whether Carl had chosen an identity, and the team's guesses sparked a wager over her past and her eventual choice.
• After hearing that her companions thought she looked like a wealthy young master, Carl chose an identity as the missing child of a former Kang Tao administrative commissioner.
• V noticed that the dead commissioner's surname was Carl's surname, and Carl called it a coincidence.

Carl, Oliver, V, and Jack discussed buying short-term Trauma Team coverage for dangerous jobs, but discovered the service charged more for people with high-risk backgrounds. Carl’s phone then rang with a call from Maine.

• Carl looked up Trauma Team memberships and proposed using short-term coverage as insurance for dangerous jobs.
• Oliver agreed to test the service, and he and Carl discussed Trauma Team’s rescue policies and past conflicts involving Arasaka and Militech.
• Oliver found that short-term packages became more expensive after he logged in, and Jack explained that Trauma Team charged more for gangs and other high-threat customers.
• Carl concluded that the coverage was affordable but should be reserved for emergency jobs.
• Carl received a call from Maine.

Maine and David fled through the Badlands in a Thorton Mackinaw while Arasaka’s convoy pursued them, and they discovered their job had been a trap. After the vehicle caught fire and exploded, they faced the approaching convoy on foot.

• Maine and David escaped Arasaka’s rockets as Lucy reported that Falco, Rebecca, and the others had shaken off their pursuers.
• Maine and David blamed Faraday for giving them false intelligence and questioned why Arasaka was chasing them so relentlessly.
• Maine discovered the Thorton Mackinaw’s fuel tank was leaking and on fire, so he and David jumped from the speeding vehicle.
• The Thorton Mackinaw exploded, leaving Maine and David in the wilderness as the Arasaka convoy closed in.

Maine and David fled the Arasaka Convoy on foot after their vehicle was destroyed, aiming for a cave where they could hold off their pursuers. David activated his Sandevistan and reached the cliff, but a rocket flew toward him as a concealed Militech convoy revealed itself.

• The Arasaka Counterintelligence Section Chief ordered his forces to capture Maine and David alive for intelligence and promised rewards.
• Maine recognized that Arasaka wanted prisoners and led David toward a nearby cave, carrying the Type 31 Heavy Machine Gun.
• David activated his Dynalar Sandevistan Mk.3 and raced ahead toward the cliff.
• David reached the cliff and turned back toward Maine, only to see a rocket flying at him.
• David spotted a second convoy emerging from camouflage and recognized its markings as Militech.

David realized Faraday had knowingly sent his crew into an Arasaka ambush as bait for Militech, and he and Maine escaped the attack by jumping from a cliff. They survived, but with Militech still pursuing them, Maine sent an emergency message to someone who could help.

• David recognized Militech's arrival as proof that Faraday had betrayed the crew and deliberately used them as bait.
• David fired Carl's gun at Maine's incoming rocket, detonating it early, and Maine stayed on his feet.
• David and Maine ran toward the cliff as Militech continued firing rockets at them.
• David and Maine jumped beneath the cliff and took shelter from the explosions and falling rocks.
• Maine used a costly satellite transmitter to contact someone for help.

Arasaka and Militech forces fought in the Badlands while Maine and David took shelter in a cave beneath a cliff. As armed men approached the cave, the two prepared for a confrontation.

• Militech ambushed the Arasaka convoy, and the Arasaka section chief called his superior for reinforcements by claiming Militech outnumbered them four to one.
• The Arasaka section chief ordered his men to pursue Maine and David into the cave, while Militech commanders also sent troops to eliminate the two mercenaries.
• Maine led David deeper into the cave, explaining that he had once recovered data there for Dakota Smith and found a Militech engineer imprisoned by the Wraiths.
• Maine cleared rubble to open a path inside, and he and David heard armed footsteps approaching from outside.

Maine and David were caught between Arasaka Security and Militech forces inside the cave, then fought an Arasaka attacker at close range. David’s Sandevistan gave him a chance to intervene, but the attacker’s Reflex Tuner and nanoweave armor let him endure David’s strike and counterattack.

• Maine and David prepared to ambush the approaching group, but the footsteps stopped at the cave bend.
• Gunfire and shouted warnings revealed that the Arasaka Security had encountered Militech outside, and one Arasaka attacker charged around the bend.
• The attacker’s thermal Mantis Blades nearly cut through Maine’s heavy machine gun as Maine blocked his strike and David recovered from freezing in fear.
• David activated his Sandevistan and struck the attacker with an elbow, but the man barely moved and revealed his nanoweave armor and Reflex Tuner.
• The Arasaka attacker swung his Mantis Blades and severed a thick mechanical arm.