Chapter Summaries

Carl and Takemura Maki passed security checks at the Arasaka estate, where Kenichi Shiro explained that a revived identity-disguise mask had prompted stricter inspections. Carl turned his warning about infiltration against him, and Kenichi Shiro hurried on, deciding not to speak with her again.

• Kenichi Shiro inspected Carl and confirmed her identity after Takemura Maki had already passed verification.
• Kenichi Shiro told Carl that companies were using the Behavioral Feature Sync Facemask to infiltrate Arasaka, prompting the corporation to strengthen its security checks.
• Kenichi Shiro criticized Carl for neglecting her duty to consider whether infiltrators might exploit people who received less scrutiny.
• Carl questioned whether Kenichi Shiro himself could be disguised and became ready to defend herself.
• Kenichi Shiro said Chiyome had inspected him that morning, and Carl relaxed and apologized.
• Kenichi Shiro quickened his pace and resolved not to speak with Carl or his disciple again before leaving.

Kenichi Shiro led Carl to the mansion, where Carl spotted a heavily augmented cyborg guard before recognizing Adam Smasher in an unfamiliar flesh-and-blood body. Carl taunted Adam as their tension rose, but Chiyome interrupted and invited everyone inside to meet Mrs. Michiko and Miss Haruko.

• Carl noticed a fully weaponized cyborg watching him outside the mansion and identified the guard’s Mantis Blades and Lynx Claws.
• Kenichi Shiro saw Carl studying the guard but held back from introducing him.
• Adam Smasher approached in the form of a handsome middle-aged man, and Carl recognized him despite his changed appearance.
• Carl mocked Adam’s new body, and Adam challenged him over their previous encounter.
• As the tension between Carl and Adam grew, Chiyome came out and invited everyone inside, where Mrs. Michiko and Miss Haruko were waiting.

Carl and Maki visited Arakawa Michiko at her mansion, where they met Haruko and Adam Smasher. Michiko welcomed Carl warmly and chose to talk with Adam Smasher, leaving Kenichi Shiro wary of their closeness.

• Chiyome arrived and ended the tense standoff between Carl and Adam Smasher, who eased off when Michiko's name came up.
• Carl and Maki entered the mansion and greeted Arakawa Michiko, who welcomed them in the main hall.
• Michiko studied Carl and recalled how closely he had become involved with her daughter, then greeted him warmly as one of Haruko's friends.
• Michiko invited Adam Smasher to sit beside her and chat while Haruko sat with Maki.
• Kenichi Shiro watched Adam Smasher closely, recalled his father's past actions, and sat beside him despite disliking him.

Carl learned that Kenichi Saburo was Kenichi Shiro’s father and had once protected Arakawa Michiko, before a cybernetic ninja entered the hall and Adam Smasher recognized him as Saburo. Adam’s taunts revealed that Saburo had become heavily mechanized, and the chapter left Carl wondering whether he was still Michiko’s guard.

• Haruko told Carl that Adam Smasher had once saved Arakawa Michiko and that Kenichi Saburo, Kenichi Shiro’s father, had stopped Michiko from making Adam her bodyguard.
• Carl reflected on the influence of corporate family connections while Haruko served her and Maki tea that tasted too strong.
• A cybernetic ninja entered the hall without announcement, and Chiyome remained unsurprised by his arrival.
• Adam Smasher stood to confront the ninja, identified him as Kenichi Saburo, and mocked him for becoming a lump of metal.
• Carl realized that Kenichi Saburo was Kenichi Shiro’s father and Michiko’s former bodyguard, and wondered whether he still guarded her.

Kenichi Saburo’s report sent Adam Smasher, Kenichi Shiro, and Arakawa Michiko rushing to Arasaka Tower. Haruko then revealed that the captured blue-eyed man was the Rogue AI behind the tower attack, leaving Carl suspicious that she had been drawn into its scheme.

• Kenichi Saburo whispered a report to Arakawa Michiko, after which Adam Smasher and Kenichi Shiro quickly left.
• Arakawa Michiko told Haruko she had to return to the company, then departed with Kenichi Saburo.
• Haruko told Carl and Maki that the suspect captured at the banquet had started talking.
• Haruko revealed that the blue-eyed man was the Rogue AI that had attacked Arasaka Tower and used that body as its vessel.
• Carl wondered why the AI had allowed itself to be captured and recalled it telling her that she was special.

T-Bug told Carl and the others that an old fixer she knew planned to sneak back into Night City through Pacifica and wanted an escort. The chapter left Carl considering whether to take the job, after the group heard that Mr. Johnson had officially become Deputy Director and V described his recent work.

• News Channel 54 reported that Mr. Johnson had officially been appointed Deputy Director of the Night City Police Department.
• Oliver joked that Mr. Johnson’s appointment meant their crew had someone backing them inside the police department.
• V told Carl that he had taken down a Cyberpsychosis suspect for Regina Jones and nearly killed him before remembering to keep him alive.
• Jack and Oliver wondered how V had become so much stronger while taking small jobs against Scavengers.
• T-Bug asked Carl whether she was interested in escorting an old fixer she knew into Night City through Pacifica.

Jack, V, Oliver, and Carl discussed fixer Dexter DeShawn as they considered his generous offer to escort him into Night City. T-BUG revealed that Dexter had fled after botching a job for the Voodoo Boys, and the crew suspected he had hired them to help him return through Pacifica.

• Jack told V, Oliver, and Carl that Dexter DeShawn had been a legendary fixer who vanished from Night City around the first half of '75.
• T-BUG described Dexter as a generous, methodical fixer who had once ranked just below Rogue among Night City's fixers.
• Carl said Dexter had offered eighty thousand upfront and two hundred thousand total for an escort job, an unusually large payment.
• T-BUG shared a rumor that Dexter had fled Night City after botching a job for the Voodoo Boys in Pacifica.
• Jack and Carl concluded that Dexter planned to use the crew to get back into Night City through Voodoo Boys territory and rebuild his reputation.

Carl and the crew traveled through Pacifica toward their meeting with fixer Dexter DeShawn, discussing Dogtown and the risks of working there. They met Dexter, who greeted Carl respectfully, and the chapter ended as they shook hands.

• Carl recalled that Maine and the others had gone to Dogtown to hunt Faraday, and the crew discussed Dogtown’s dangers and Hanz’s work there.
• Oliver spotted Dexter DeShawn and his bodyguard waiting at the meeting place, and Carl concluded Dexter believed the location was secure.
• V joked about killing any problems that arose as the crew reached Dexter.
• Carl examined Dexter’s appearance and expensive golden cybernetic arm before he greeted her as Ms. Carl and they shook hands.

Carl's team escorted Dexter DeShawn from a hideout in Pacifica, and V's speed impressed the fixer. After the team split between two cars to protect their client, the Voodoo Boys learned that the KK Squad had taken the job.

• Jack approached Dexter DeShawn's bodyguard, Oleg, and drew him into conversation while V and Oliver checked the area.
• V used a Sandevistan to leap onto a nearby rooftop, then confirmed that no one was nearby.
• Carl urged Dexter DeShawn to leave quickly, and Oleg uncovered a hidden Thorton Colby beneath the rubble.
• Carl's team split between their vehicle and Dexter DeShawn's car, with V riding alongside Oleg.
• The Voodoo Boys identified the escorting mercenaries as the KK Squad and reacted with surprise.

After completing Dexter DeShawn’s escort without an attack, the KK Squad went to Old Mex Stir Fry Restaurant for lunch. Oliver recognized the lone customer at their table as someone familiar, but the chapter ended before he identified him.

• T-BUG blocked intrusion attempts as Carl and the KK Squad escorted Dexter DeShawn safely to Santo Domingo.
• V complained that the journey had been too quiet, while Oliver and Jack teased her about wanting to fight.
• Dexter DeShawn praised the KK Squad, paid the remaining balance, and drove away.
• Oliver took V, Jack, and Carl to Old Mex Stir Fry Restaurant, and T-BUG asked them to bring her back a burrito.
• Oliver greeted Rachel and approached the lone customer to ask to share a table, then recognized his familiar face.

Carl, Jack, V, and Oliver encountered rock superstar Kerry Eurodyne at a crowded restaurant, where Kerry recognized Carl from her braindances. The chapter left Carl surprised that Kerry thought her real fight with a former New America lieutenant had been rehearsed for a recording.

• Oliver recognized Kerry Eurodyne and excitedly identified him as the former Samurai musician, while Carl learned about his long career and his connection to Johnny Silverhand.
• Carl told Kerry that she and her companions only wanted to share his table, and he invited them to sit after realizing they were ordinary customers.
• Kerry recognized Carl as the mercenary KK from braindances that his manager had bought.
• Kerry praised Carl's braindance fight with a former New America lieutenant and asked how she had rehearsed it, revealing that he knew her only through the recording.

Kerry considered replacing his unreliable security team with experienced mercenaries after Carl offered to connect him with guards. Carl recommended his friends in Brown Squad for a long-term security job, and Kerry asked about their rates.

• Carl explained that the braindances Kerry had watched were firsthand recordings and offered him his contact information.
• Kerry recalled that thieves had breached his villa's security and worried that industry rivals might target him.
• Kerry asked Carl about security teams that mercenaries would find too difficult to breach, and Carl said such elite teams were already hired.
• Carl offered to connect Kerry with experienced mercenaries who had guarded important people.
• Kerry asked about the mercenaries' rates, and Carl recommended his available friends in Brown Squad.

Carl brought Brown Squad to Kerry’s mansion for an interview for a lucrative security job. When they learned intruders had breached the property, Brown Squad set aside the interview and stormed the villa to protect Kerry.

• Carl and Brown Squad discussed their interview with Kerry and the high pay he had offered for security work.
• Carl called Kerry from outside the mansion, and Kerry told her that someone had climbed the wall and destroyed his automated defensive machine guns.
• Brown identified the intruders to Kerry and told him to stay inside while the squad dealt with them.
• Brown ordered Brown Squad to enter the villa, eliminate the threat, and meet their employer.
• Brown Squad stormed the villa with an explosive blast.

A kidnapping team tried to break into Kerry Eurodyne’s residence, but a rival group led by Carl and Brown attacked first. Brown’s RPG wiped out the kidnappers and damaged the villa, leaving the group worried that their weapon was counterfeit.

• The kidnapping team heard an explosion and hurried to seize Kerry before rival crews or the police arrived.
• The team’s hacker said he needed three minutes to disable the residence’s defenses, so the captain ordered the others to hold their position.
• Carl and Brown’s group approached the villa, and Brown fired an RPG at the kidnappers’ barricade.
• The RPG blast sent the kidnappers flying and collapsed a corner of Kerry’s villa.
• Brown suspected the RPG was counterfeit because its blast was far stronger than the seller had promised.

After helping Brown Squad secure a contract with Kerry, Carl joined V in investigating a kidnapping by finding a braindance editor who could extract memories from a surviving Scavenger. Jack directed them to Lizzie's Bar, where a famous editor worked.

• Kerry praised Brown Squad for defending his villa and hired them to protect the residential area.
• Carl left North Oak District eager to get an RPG of her own after seeing its explosive power.
• V asked the squad for help extracting clues from a Scavenger who had suffered a nervous breakdown after a kidnapping.
• T-BUG offered to trace the Scavengers, but V chose to find a braindance editor and learn about the technology instead.
• Carl agreed to join V, and Jack recommended the famous braindance editor at Lizzie's Bar.
• V wiped the blood from his katana, lifted the surviving Scavenger, and prepared to head to Lizzie's Bar.

V returned to Lizzie's Bar with an unconscious Scavenger and was admitted after Susie recognized him. Carl arrived soon afterward to meet V and seek out the bar's braindance editor.

• V alarmed the Moxes guards by carrying a bloodied Scavenger, but Susie identified him and let him enter Lizzie's Bar.
• V took the Scavenger into a private room after Susie arranged a room for him.
• Customers leaving the bar saw Carl, known as KK, arrive and hurried away out of fear.
• Carl checked V's message, learned he was in private room six, and entered Lizzie's Bar politely.
• The Moxes guards marveled that the feared KK acted gently and courteously.

V and Carl asked Judy to extract a Scavenger’s dreams to find where kidnapped people were being held. Judy agreed, taught them the procedure, and left V to inspect the resulting braindance.

• Susie introduced V and Carl to Judy and explained that they needed help finding the Scavengers’ captives through a prisoner’s dreams.
• Judy agreed to extract the Scavenger’s braindance and show V and Carl the process while she worked.
• V placed the unconscious Scavenger in Judy’s braindance chair, and Judy restrained him and prepared the equipment.
• Judy explained how dreams could be recorded and extracted the Scavenger’s recent memories onto a chip.
• V immediately connected the chip to inspect the braindance, despite Judy’s warning that it might make him dizzy.

V examined a Scavenger’s dream braindance and found clues to where the gang was holding kidnapped people. Judy narrowed down the location as V realized the victims had all been selected for being around the same age as his target.

• V watched a Scavenger’s memory and learned the gang planned to leave their current area after completing a job.
• V and Carl observed unconscious victims bound to operating tables in a windowless, dilapidated house.
• V noted that the house’s intact walls, damaged stone floors, and lack of windows suggested it was outside Watson District, possibly in Pacifica or Santo Domingo.
• V discovered that the kidnapped victims were all young adults around the same age as his target.
• Judy found a clue in the dream braindance and said she could determine the Scavengers’ approximate location.

V and Carl followed Judy’s clue to an abandoned hospital on the edge of Santo Domingo, where they found signs that Wraiths and Black Braindance makers were operating. As they approached to rescue the captives, V recognized a familiar woman spying through a collapsed wall.

• V and Carl traced the operating-table logo to a bankrupt hospital that illegal Black Braindance workshops had begun using.
• V and Carl drove to the hospital, suspecting the Scavengers had kept their captives in its former underground morgue.
• Carl explained that the hospital had closed after losing its criminal clientele and facing pressure from competitors.
• V and Carl found numerous vehicles inside the hospital grounds, including several marked with Wraiths insignia.
• V spotted a familiar woman peering into the hospital through a collapsed section of wall.

V and Carl encountered Panam near a Maelstrom hideout and learned that she had come to recover cargo stolen from her vehicle. They agreed to work together, while Carl prepared to block the hideout’s occupants from escaping.

• V recognized Panam and reunited with her, and Carl remembered that she had once shot the Maelstrom partner who tried to rob V.
• V told Panam that he had left his clan and come to Night City, and Panam complained about their clan leaders.
• Carl introduced himself as V’s partner, and Panam recognized him as the mercenary KK from Afterlife rumors.
• Panam explained that Maelstrom members had stolen cargo from her car while she was at the Sunset Motel.
• V and Carl agreed to help Panam recover the cargo while they rescued someone, and Panam offered an infiltration route.
• Carl decided to make sure none of the people inside the hideout could escape in their vehicles.