Chapter Summaries

Haruko asked Carl to help choose her outfit and makeup for her first public appearance as Arasaka Corporation's Night City Board External Director. Carl agreed to visit the next morning, while Haruko hoped he could stand openly beside her at the event.

• Arakawa Sesen appointed Haruko Night City Board External Director as part of his political settlement with Arakawa Michiko's faction.
• Haruko messaged Carl for advice about what to wear to the upcoming meeting between Arakawa Sesen and New America's president.
• Haruko explained that she wanted a formal look and did not trust the fashion advice of Chiyome, Michiko, Maki, or Kenichi Shiro.
• Carl agreed to visit Haruko at eight the next morning to help her get ready.
• Haruko privately hoped Carl would be at her side at the public event.

Carl and Kenichi Shiro arrived at Haruko’s residence to discuss staffing for the New America reception, where Chiyome’s different treatment of them deepened Kenichi Shiro’s resentment. Chiyome let Carl inside after one inspection while continuing to scrutinize Kenichi Shiro.

• Carl and Kenichi Shiro exchanged barbed remarks outside Haruko’s residence before explaining that they had both come to meet her on business.
• Haruko messaged Carl that she was waiting, and Carl invited Kenichi Shiro to enter with him.
• Chiyome greeted Carl warmly, then blocked Kenichi Shiro and subjected him to four inspections.
• Chiyome inspected Carl once and let him pass, prompting Kenichi Shiro to challenge her different treatment.
• Chiyome called Kenichi Shiro dangerous and derelict in his duties, then led Carl inside.

Haruko met with Kenichi Shiro to review plans for future negotiations between Arasaka and New America while Carl spoke with Chiyome about her history and Oda Sandayu. Carl realized he had grown so strong that neither Chiyome nor Oda Sandayu felt like a threat anymore, and Chiyome quietly reacted to his admission that he had replayed her fight with Kenichi Shiro countless times.

• Haruko welcomed Carl and Kenichi Shiro, who brought a Data Chip containing plans for her review.
• Carl asked Chiyome about her training at Arasaka's Hokkaido camp, and she explained that Oda Sandayu had also graduated with the best results and was now in Night City guarding someone.
• Chiyome said she could not guarantee victory against Oda Sandayu but would not let him harm Haruko before she fell.
• Carl told Chiyome that he had grown much stronger and no longer considered her or Oda Sandayu threats.
• Carl said he had replayed Chiyome's fight with Kenichi Shiro countless times, and Chiyome quietly repeated the word "Countless times."

Carl waited at Haruko’s residence while she tried on several dresses and asked for his opinion. He chose the simple white dress that felt most like her, and she served him macarons she had made for him, which he later shared with Oliver, V, and the others.

• Kenichi Shiro ended his meeting with Haruko and left after sharing a tense look with Carl.
• While waiting, Carl sampled bread and juice in Haruko’s sitting room as Haruko prepared nearby.
• Haruko modeled a pink ball gown, then a revealing blue gown, and Carl gave his honest reactions to both.
• Haruko appeared in a simple white dress, and Carl told her he liked it because it showed the Haruko he knew rather than the Arasaka Heiress.
• Haruko thanked Carl and offered him macarons she had made especially for him.
• Carl took the unfinished macarons home, where Oliver, V, and the others complained that they were too sweet.

V discussed the difficulty of designing Carl a gun that combined three different weapon types and suggested commissioning Tsunami Design Bureau. The chapter ended with Carl asking how they could contact the company.

• V explained that combining the destructive power of a kinetic weapon, the targeting capability of a Smart Weapon, and the penetration of a tech weapon would be difficult and expensive to design.
• Johnny Silverhand bragged about his Malorian 3516, then praised Morgan Blackhand and his custom weapon after Carl brought him up.
• Carl recalled how Morgan Blackhand’s The Solo Handbook had shaped his mercenary habits and wondered whether he might ever meet the legendary solo.
• V suggested Tsunami Design Bureau as a potential maker for Carl’s custom weapon, and Carl asked whether they could contact the company.

Tsunami Design Bureau’s San Francisco team raced to design a custom weapon for KK, seeing the assignment as a chance to surpass its Osaka headquarters and gain worldwide fame. When the team met Carl, its leader eagerly promised a low price and free lifetime maintenance, leaving Johnny Silverhand stunned.

• Tsunami Design Bureau’s San Francisco designers competed fiercely for the chance to create KK’s weapon and agreed to keep the project secret from Osaka headquarters.
• The San Francisco design team flew to Night City to meet KK and present its weapon-design services.
• Carl assessed the team leader for possible threats before shaking his hand.
• The team leader enthusiastically offered to charge only production costs and provide free lifetime maintenance.
• Johnny Silverhand remarked to V that Malorian’s reaction to Morgan’s weapon request might not have been so unusual.

Carl discussed her custom weapon with Tsunami Design Bureau, whose designer Neptunus proposed a transforming weapon powered by a Tidal Energy Core. After V accepted the design’s ability to adapt to different modes and electromagnetic interference, Carl entrusted her weapons to Neptunus and named the new weapon KK.

• Tsunami designers assured Carl they could meet all her requirements and proposed a weapon that could transform between multiple combat modes.
• V questioned whether the weapon’s energy system and smart features would work reliably, especially under electromagnetic interference.
• Neptunus explained that the Tidal Energy Core used predictive energy distribution and liquid-metal microorganisms to turn interference into charge, convincing V.
• Carl learned that the designer called himself Neptunus and handed over The Final Night, Qianxin, and Yinglong for the custom weapon.
• Neptunus asked Carl what the weapon should be called, and she named it KK.

Carl discussed the Tsunami Design Bureau’s weapon commission with V and Johnny Silverhand, then challenged Johnny to keep fighting for change. The conversation ended with Carl affirming that she preferred changing Night City to destroying it, but would not rule out drastic action if every path was blocked.

• Carl realized Tsunami would finish her weapon in a month, around the time of the Arasaka-Militech meeting, and told V she might temporarily use another gun.
• V and Carl discussed the Tsunami designers’ enthusiasm, and Johnny Silverhand recalled rumors about their obsessive weapons specialists.
• Johnny Silverhand angrily described how corporations exploited people and turned his rebellion into entertainment, while Carl reminded him that he was still fighting.
• Johnny agreed with Carl that his second chance gave him reason to keep resisting, and V joked about them carrying a nuke into a corporation.
• Carl clarified that she preferred change to destruction but would not condemn Johnny’s past choice if every path toward change was blocked.
• Carl looked out over Night City and said she believed things should change.

Carl and Oliver went to Clouds to negotiate with the Tiger Claws on behalf of Oliver’s sister, who wanted to maintain dolls the gang had abandoned. The negotiations began after Carl discovered that the Tiger Claws officer greeting them, Nakamura Kenta, had terminated Julie’s maintenance shortly before her death.

• Oliver told Carl that V and Jack were competing for a place in the boxing finals, while the others were occupied elsewhere.
• Oliver took Carl to Clouds and explained that his sister wanted to offer medical care to dolls the Tiger Claws refused to maintain.
• Carl and Oliver planned to present the arrangement as a profit-sharing deal so the Tiger Claws would accept it as a business opportunity.
• Tiger Claws members recognized Carl and Oliver and scattered as they entered Clouds, while Carl silently warned the gang’s surveillance that they had come to discuss business.
• Nakamura Kenta welcomed Carl and Oliver and begged Carl not to go too far, while Carl found records showing Kenta had ended Julie’s maintenance before her death.

Nakamura Kenta negotiated with Oliver and Carl over the Tiger Claws’ discarded sex dolls, hoping the deal would help him rise within the gang or join Arasaka. He accepted Oliver’s costly terms without adding restrictions, prioritizing his imagined future over the Tiger Claws’ interests.

• Nakamura Kenta saw the deal with KK and Oliver as a chance to gain influence in the Tiger Claws and establish a connection to Arasaka.
• Nakamura argued that the sex dolls’ Tiger Claws marks meant the Ripperdoc could not dismantle them, then proposed adding a restriction clause.
• Oliver accepted the clause only if maintenance fees were deducted from 200% of the cybernetic bodies’ future earnings.
• Nakamura calculated that the fees would leave him little profit, but he decided the deal could help him raise the money he needed to join Arasaka.
• Nakamura kept the terms unchanged, choosing the promise of a future with Arasaka over protecting the Tiger Claws’ interests.

Carl and Oliver learned that Nakamura Kenta was paying Arasaka personnel for an interview pass, likely as part of a trap, and agreed to deal with anyone who threatened their rules. As Militech’s Psycho Squad landed nearby and rushed toward Twisty Street, Oliver realized they were headed straight for his parked car.

• Oliver complained about Nakamura Kenta, and Carl revealed that he was trying to buy an Arasaka interview pass for 1.5 million eddies.
• Carl said three Tiger Claw investors had disappeared after paying for similar passes, leading her and Oliver to suspect a trap.
• Oliver worried someone might change the terms if Nakamura died, and Carl said they would kill anyone who tried.
• Carl and Oliver agreed the Tiger Claws needed a reminder of the rules after troublemakers began taking advantage of Carl’s absence.
• A Militech Manticore AV arrived with Psycho Squad members, who landed nearby and hurried toward Twisty Street.
• Oliver realized the Psycho Squad was charging directly toward his parked car.

Oliver and Carl watched the Psycho Squad rush toward a Cyberpsychosis report, and the squad avoided damaging Oliver’s car after hearing their conversation. When they reached Twisty Street, they found a masked Black young man had already defeated the six-eyed Cyberpsycho before the Psycho Squad arrived.

• Oliver chose not to stop the Psycho Squad from crossing his Quartz, prioritizing the civilians at risk in Twisty Street over his car.
• The Psycho Squad leaped over Oliver’s car, and Carl realized they had heard the two men talking and deliberately spared it.
• Oliver and Carl headed into Twisty Street to check the situation and offer help if needed.
• Oliver and Carl found the six-eyed Cyberpsycho already lying defeated while the Psycho Squad stood nearby.
• They saw a masked Black young man whose unusual gear and stance suggested he had taken down the Cyberpsycho before the Psycho Squad arrived.

Crispin Veland defeated a cyberpsycho on Twisty Street before the Psycho Squad arrived, impressing Carl and Oliver with his close-combat skill. After they recognized him as Rogue’s former ace mercenary, Oliver invited him to the Afterlife Bar, where Crispin planned to report to Rogue.

• Crispin Veland killed a cyberpsycho who had attacked a passerby over a delusion that the victim had stolen his idol wife.
• Oliver assessed Crispin’s precise, unaugmented strike and realized he might be outmatched in close combat.
• Carl recognized Crispin as the son of the legendary mercenary Veland the Old Serpent and a former Afterlife ace who had worked for Rogue.
• Crispin confirmed his identity, greeted Carl and Oliver, and explained that he had come to Twisty Street on Rogue’s business.
• Oliver invited Crispin to the Afterlife Bar, and Crispin accepted so he could report to Rogue.

Carl reunited with Melissa Rory, who had survived her injuries and joined the Psycho Squad, and discussed the unit’s violent role and the Night City Police Department’s plans to control it. After Melissa left with her squad, Carl wondered whether Andy’s special operations squad could become strong enough to manage the Psycho Squad.

• A Psycho Squad officer approached Carl and Oliver, then removed her helmet and revealed herself as Melissa Rory.
• Carl was surprised Melissa had survived the injuries she suffered when the Psycho Squad captured her, and she explained that she had joined them rather than go to an asylum.
• Melissa said the Psycho Squad recruited her by offering bonuses for killing cyberpsychos, and Carl remarked that their arrival could make people feel safer.
• Carl asked whether the Night City Police Department wanted to control the Psycho Squad again, and Melissa warned that a previous attempt had ended with the elite team being destroyed.
• Melissa and her squad departed in their AV, while Carl wondered whether Andy’s special operations squad could become strong enough to manage the Psycho Squad.

Weyland drank with Carl and Oliver at the Afterlife Bar and learned about his father’s connection to Johnny Silverhand. Their familiarity with Johnny and Rogue’s trust in the KK Squad led Weyland to suspect that Johnny was still alive and that Carl and Oliver were his heirs.

• Claire welcomed Weyland, Carl, and Oliver to the Afterlife Bar, where Oliver bought the drinks.
• Weyland ordered a Johnny Silverhand and explained that he drank it to remember his father, Veland the Old Serpent.
• Weyland told Carl and Oliver that his father had called Johnny Silverhand a reckless lunatic but had once nearly cried after hearing of his death.
• Oliver recalled Johnny’s ties to Morgan Blackhand and Veland the Old Serpent, and joked about Johnny dying at Adam Smasher’s hands.
• Weyland recognized Carl and Oliver’s unusual familiarity with Johnny and remembered Rogue saying the KK Squad could be trusted with the Afterlife.
• Weyland suspected that Johnny Silverhand was alive and that the KK Squad were his heirs, the “KK Little Serpents.”

Rogue hired Carl, Oliver, and Weyland to travel to the Badlands and retrieve a package from Dakota Smith, hinting that it was connected to Night City’s future. Carl accepted the job, suspecting the pickup would involve more than an ordinary errand.

• Weyland pointed Rogue to the item he had retrieved for her, and Rogue confirmed that Claire had already told her about it.
• Rogue praised Carl’s caution and asked whether he and Oliver were available for work.
• Rogue explained that Dakota Smith had left a package for her in the Badlands and asked Carl, Oliver, and Weyland to bring it back intact.
• Oliver questioned why Rogue needed the entire KK Squad for a simple pickup and warned that they would charge accordingly.
• Rogue hinted that the package was connected to future affairs in Night City, and Carl agreed to take the job.

Oliver, Carl, and Weyland drove through a violent Badlands storm to retrieve goods hidden in an abandoned safehouse, but lightning and mudslides made the trip dangerous. After lightning struck near their destination, Oliver turned the car around, and another bolt landed nearby as they fled.

• Oliver complained that Rogue had given them only a rough five-kilometer search area for the hidden goods.
• Carl and Weyland discussed the acid rain and sandstorm as Oliver drove toward the safehouse.
• Lightning split the sky, and a mudslide swept debris down a distant slope.
• A lightning strike cracked the car’s windshield and destroyed a nearby sheet-metal shack, which Weyland identified as a possible destination.
• Carl and Weyland recounted the story of Roy Sullivan, who had been struck by lightning seven times.
• Oliver turned the Rayfield Hera away from the shack, and another lightning bolt struck nearby.

Carl, Oliver, and Weyland realized Rogue’s pickup job involved living cargo and hurried through an acid storm to reach the handoff site. They found a bound, gagged person in the basement of the abandoned house.

• Carl noticed the cargo’s tracker updated within a limited area and suspected it could move on its own.
• Carl told Oliver and Weyland that Rogue might have disguised a living-cargo job as an ordinary pickup to save money.
• The three agreed to complete the fairly paid job despite Oliver’s complaints about Rogue’s scheme.
• Carl, Oliver, and Weyland climbed to the abandoned house and searched its basement.
• They found the cargo: a person who was tied up, gagged, and wearing glasses.

Carl, Oliver, and Weyland found a corpo executive bound in a heavily secured basement and prepared to take him away. Carl spotted the restraints’ safeguards and swung her Monomolecular Wire at his head to deal with the risk of tampering.

• Carl, Oliver, and Weyland arrived and recognized the bound man as a corporate elite.
• The captive recognized KK Oliver and “Pangolin” Chrispin-Weyland and panicked.
• Carl examined the restraints Dakota had set up, including sensors linked to rapid-fire cutters and safeguards against suicide.
• Carl realized the mouth restraint was connected to the others and might let the captive kill himself if they tampered with it.
• Carl drew her Monomolecular Wire and swung it at the captive’s head.

Carl identified the captured cargo as Anders Hellman, a former Arasaka chief bioengineer and Relic developer, and prepared to deliver him to Rogue. The chapter ended with Hellman pleading that he did not know what caused Lord Saburo’s death.

• Carl used his Monomolecular Wire to take control of the captive and discovered he was Anders Hellman, a former Arasaka chief bioengineer.
• Carl realized Hellman had worked on Relic and concluded Rogue’s people wanted him for their own investigation.
• Oliver asked whether Hellman should ride in the trunk or the back seat, and Carl chose the back seat to protect the weapons stored in the trunk.
• Carl loosened his control over Hellman’s head, and Hellman swore that he did not know the cause of Lord Saburo’s death.