Chapter Summaries

Carl treated Slider’s injured subordinates and offered compensation, leaving Slider wondering whether her unexpected concern was a sign of cyberpsychosis. After eating Baumkuchen, Carl told Kenichi Shiro to help Slider, and Kenichi Shiro silently warned Slider not to reveal that he was hungry.

• Carl explained that she had reconnected the hand nerves of Slider’s six injured subordinates and would have compensated them if the surgeries had failed.
• Slider interpreted Carl’s concern for his subordinates as possible evidence of cyberpsychosis.
• Carl washed her hands using water from Slider’s refrigerator and ate his Baumkuchen.
• Carl told Slider to help Kenichi Shiro, then offered Kenichi Shiro some cake.
• Kenichi Shiro refused the cake, but Slider saw him touch his stomach before Kenichi Shiro gave him a warning look.

Carl and Kenichi Shiro discussed Slider’s plans and the dangerous drug-enhanced state Kenichi had used, then learned Hansen planned to hold a banquet to choose his successor. The chapter left Carl wondering whether Hansen was using the event to lure hidden opponents into a trap and what leverage he might have.

• Carl learned that Slider would move to a prepared base to avoid New America’s Intelligence Bureau agents.
• Kenichi Shiro explained that he had used drugs to maintain his strength and had planned to handle the situation himself before Carl arrived.
• Kenichi Shiro acknowledged Carl after their fight and reflected that a person’s physical and mental peaks rarely coincided.
• Kenichi Shiro told Carl that Hansen intended to hold a banquet and decide on his successor.
• Carl suspected Hansen might be luring his opponents to the banquet but could not determine what leverage would make them come.

Rosalind Myles persuaded V and the KK Squad to negotiate with Hansen for Songbird while she evacuated Dogtown. She revealed Songbird must never fall into another faction’s hands, authorizing the squad to kill her if they could not secure her return.

• Rosalind decided to send someone to Hansen’s banquet while she left Dogtown, despite Oliver and Jack warning that it was a trap.
• Rosalind argued that V’s contract with Songbird required protecting Songbird until the job was complete, and proposed negotiating with Hansen for her release.
• Rosalind offered to double the squad’s payment and promised political influence if they accepted the additional contract.
• Rosalind offered to forgive Hansen’s betrayal and welcome him back into New America if he returned Songbird.
• Rosalind granted V and the KK Squad the right to execute Songbird if they could not ensure her return.

After Akechi introduced Mr. Tenkai as a headquarters consultant, the hacker girl mistook their exchanged glance for a sign that she had become Akechi’s trusted confidant. Kenichi Shiro recognized her as a talented operative who might have been assigned to watch Akechi, and wondered at his apparent popularity with young women.

• Akechi introduced Mr. Tenkai to the squad as a consultant sent by headquarters, prompting the operatives to worry that their failures had led headquarters to doubt Akechi.
• The hacker girl connected the names Akechi and Tenkai to a historical legend and guessed that the consultant had a hidden identity.
• Akechi noticed the hacker girl’s realization and silently signaled her not to reveal the allusion, and she nodded in understanding.
• The hacker girl decided to seek a transfer to Akechi’s command and planned to let him review the mission’s data chip before submitting it to headquarters.
• Kenichi Shiro assessed the hacker girl as the squad’s most capable operative and suspected that she might be secretly monitoring Akechi.

Mingzhi, Slider, Kenichi Shiro, and Carl discussed Hansen’s heir-selection banquet and concluded that it was a cover for negotiations over his secrets and control of Dogtown. Kenichi revealed that Hansen’s two viable heirs were Chester Bennett, who was close to Arasaka, and Gagozab, leaving the question of who would make the better bid.

• Mingzhi and Kenichi Shiro assessed Hansen’s heir-selection banquet as a bid to draw powerful factions into negotiations.
• Slider asked whether they would infiltrate the banquet, and Kenichi confirmed they had to attend and expected New America’s representatives to be there.
• Kenichi explained that Barghest had seen evidence of Arasaka’s presence in Dogtown and would treat the team’s job as an invitation to Arasaka.
• Carl recognized Chester Bennett as a former New American lieutenant colonel, and Kenichi said Bennett was close to Arasaka.
• Kenichi identified Gagozab, a former Petrochem financial officer, as Hansen’s other qualified heir, and Carl inferred that Hansen was setting up a contest of bids.

Slider struggled to find a way for the Akechi Squad to enter Hansen’s heavily guarded banquet and reach him before rival corporations. As Carl and Kenichi Shiro weighed risky options, Slider remembered a possible connection and asked whether they knew Aguilar.

• Slider explained that Hansen’s banquet had layered security, including facial recognition and physical checks designed to catch temporary face changes.
• Carl suggested using Bennett’s secret approach to Arasaka, but Kenichi Shiro warned that Bennett might be loyal to Hansen or trying to eliminate Gagozab.
• Carl proposed fighting their way in and threatening Hansen, and Kenichi Shiro kept the assault as a backup plan.
• Slider remembered that the Cuban Crime Syndicate could meet Hansen without the usual procedures and asked Carl and Kenichi Shiro if they knew Aguilar.

Slider proposed finding and impersonating Aguilar to enter Hansen’s banquet, and Carl and Kenichi Shiro agreed to target the Cuban Crime Syndicate. Slider planned to use a secret communications channel left behind by the Voodoo Boys to locate Aguilar.

• Slider suggested that the team kill Aguilar and disguise themselves as him for Hansen’s banquet.
• Slider said Maman Brigitte had cracked a concealed Cuban communications line and that he could use it to find Aguilar.
• Carl agreed to pursue the plan, dismissing the threat of Cuban retaliation.
• Kenichi Shiro approved the decision to go after Aguilar and the Cuban Crime Syndicate.

Carl analyzed inconsistencies in Aguilar’s kill records and suspected the Cuban Crime Syndicate had built the assassin’s reputation through impostors or multiple official Aguilars. After Slider lured Aguilar to their location and cut off his communications, Carl jumped from a high-rise toward his car.

• Carl told Kenichi Shiro and Slider that Aguilar’s recorded jobs included impossible travel times and repeated appearances after reported deaths.
• Kenichi Shiro reviewed the case files, and Carl suggested the Cuban Crime Syndicate used both impostors and multiple trained Aguilars to make the name seem unkillable.
• Carl admitted the records might instead reflect one exceptionally capable assassin and finished checking her pistol.
• Slider confirmed Aguilar had arrived and said his external communications would be cut off.
• Carl stepped off the twelve-story building and spotted Aguilar in a black sedan, where he recognized her as KK.

Aguilar recognized KK as his legendary counterpart and leapt from a moving car to meet her in combat. Carl used Monomolecular Wire to descend the building and evade Aguilar’s shots, then answered his attack with KK.

• Aguilar recognized KK and weighed the danger to himself and the Cuban Group’s reputation.
• Aguilar opened an escape hatch beneath his seat and dropped from the moving car.
• Carl used Monomolecular Wire to catch an I-beam, descend the building’s exterior, and dive toward Aguilar’s car.
• Aguilar slid from beneath the car and aimed his customized revolver, Death Apple, at Carl.
• Carl swung around a streetlamp to dodge Aguilar’s first shot and landed near him.
• Aguilar fired again, and Carl raised KK to deflect the bullet.

Carl and Aguilar faced off in a tense standoff after Aguilar accused KK of provoking his group. Carl transformed his weapon and aimed it at Aguilar, who asked which target he was; Carl answered that Aguilar was the first, and Aguilar said he was deeply honored.

• Aguilar blamed Carl's appearance for creating a conflict and kept his gun trained on him.
• Carl read Aguilar's movements and stayed relaxed, while Aguilar sensed danger in striking first.
• Aguilar tried to contact support but discovered that the communication channel had been severed.
• Carl assured Aguilar that they were alone and said he preferred to show respect to a living legend.
• Carl transformed his pistol into a submachine gun and aimed it at Aguilar's forehead.
• Aguilar asked which target he was, and Carl answered that he was the first; Aguilar nodded and said he was deeply honored.

Aguilar activated his Sandevistan and attacked Carl, but she matched his speed, evaded his flashbangs, and countered with a morphing Smart Weapon. The chapter ended with Carl aiming a nearly charged weapon at the battered assassin.

• Aguilar activated his Sandevistan and fired at Carl, but she saw him and accelerated out of the way.
• Aguilar threw twelve flashbangs and lunged at Carl with a knife, but Carl dodged before they exploded.
• Aguilar recovered from the flashbangs and evaded Carl’s curving Smart Weapon bullets, which only grazed him.
• Carl transformed her KK again and aimed a nearly charged weapon at Aguilar.

Carl tested KK’s combat capabilities against Aguilar, pushing him to the limits of his Sandevistan and piercing him with the weapon’s transforming blade. Aguilar trapped the blade in his Subdermal Armor and fired Death Apple at Carl from point-blank range.

• Carl fired KK in tech mode, and Aguilar activated his Sandevistan to dodge the shot.
• Carl used Monomolecular Wire to transform KK into a thrusting blade and struck Aguilar’s Death Apple, damaging its cylinder.
• Carl extended the blade and pierced Aguilar beneath the ribs, but he shifted aside to avoid a fatal wound.
• Aguilar’s Subdermal Armor clamped around the blade, trapping it, and he raised Death Apple toward Carl’s chin.
• Aguilar fired Death Apple at point-blank range.

Carl fought Aguilar at close range, narrowly dodging his gunfire and sleeve blade before using KK to disable his cybernetic eyes and kill him. She left Aguilar’s decapitated body behind and returned KK to gun form.

• Carl narrowly evaded Aguilar’s bullet and sleeve-blade attacks, taking cuts to her throat and beneath her eye.
• Aguilar launched another attack, but Carl detached KK’s pinned front section and transformed its core into a knife.
• Carl’s data intrusion shut down Aguilar’s cybernetic eyes, leaving him unable to react.
• Carl cut off Aguilar’s head, then transformed KK back into a gun and holstered it.

Kenichi Shiro, disguised as Aguilar, infiltrated Gemini Sapphire Tower while Carl coordinated the Akechi Squad and Slider’s support. Carl agreed to give Slider and his people a good price after the operation, and the plan was poised to proceed.

• Kenichi Shiro entered Gemini Sapphire Tower disguised as Aguilar and headed for the conference room where Colonel Hansen was waiting.
• Carl ordered the Akechi Squad to remain hidden and wait for Kenichi Shiro’s signal before acting.
• Carl warned Kenichi Shiro that Hansen would test him and that Militech personnel might also be disguised.
• Slider shared a blueprint showing a guarded entrance he had secured access to and promised to delay detection by handling messages from above.
• Slider said he might join Carl’s NCPD after the job, and Carl agreed to give him and his people a good price.

Akechi Squad infiltrated Gemini Sapphire Tower, subdued the Barghests at the entrance, and gained control of the tower’s perimeter systems. After overhearing orders revealing Bennett’s suspicion of Gagozab, Akechi considered whether the succession struggle could help him bypass Hansen, while V completed an infiltration through the sewers.

• Akechi Squad cleared the banquet-floor routes with nonlethal weapons and confirmed the Barghests’ implanted sensors would not reveal their condition.
• The hacker girl and Slider seized control of the entrance and perimeter systems, while Akechi secured an invitation to meet Hansen.
• Akechi ordered his squad to prepare evacuation buffer zones and rode the elevator toward the upper floors.
• Akechi overheard Bennett’s faction ordering Barghests to watch Gagozab and detain him if he acted suspiciously.
• Akechi considered whether he could exploit the succession contest by dealing with Hansen’s successors instead of Hansen.
• V finished infiltrating Gemini Blue through its underground sewers.

Hansen welcomed Aguilar, the Cuban Crime Syndicate’s representative, and tried to turn their uneasy alliance into a deal involving Song Zhaomei and Dogtown. Aguilar recognized Song Zhaomei as Lark and went to consult his superiors, leaving Hansen to remark that his intelligence network had uncovered more than expected.

• Hansen greeted Aguilar, who rebuked him for testing the Syndicate by pretending they had met in Havana six months earlier.
• Hansen introduced Song Zhaomei as someone he now controlled, and Aguilar realized she was the person many groups were searching for.
• Hansen proposed closer trade ties between Dogtown, Havana, and the corporation, but Aguilar warned that the plan could draw in forces powerful enough to destroy them.
• Hansen urged Aguilar to consult his superiors over a secure channel, and Aguilar agreed to do so.
• Before leaving, Aguilar addressed Song Zhaomei as Lark, and Hansen noted that Aguilar’s intelligence was better than his colleague’s had been.

Akechi and Xizi attended Hansen's banquet undercover, where Akechi spotted Jade among the guests and overheard him discussing Carl and the famous KK. The chapter ended as a suited man invited Akechi and Xizi to join their conversation.

• Akechi entered the banquet with the nervous hacker Xizi, reassuring her as they passed for ordinary guests.
• Akechi scanned the crowd and recognized Jade, wondering how his friend had qualified to attend Hansen's banquet.
• Akechi realized Jade's food-smuggling business might have connected him to Dogtown's food trade.
• Akechi approached Jade and overheard a suited man praise KK and discuss Carl with him.
• The suited man noticed Akechi and Xizi and invited them to chat.

Mingzhi met Joe and Jade at Hansen's banquet, where Joe mistook him for a Japanese corporate representative and shared his fan club's theories about KK. The conversation ended when Joe revealed that his supposed evidence was a braindance collection about cyberpsychosis.

• Mingzhi introduced himself to Joe and Jade at the banquet.
• Jade felt an inexplicable familiarity and trust toward Mingzhi, though he wondered whether it was corporate training.
• Mingzhi asked Joe why KK was absent, and Joe claimed KK had obtained a powerful weapon from the Tsunami Design Bureau.
• Joe boasted that KK would surpass Morgan Blackhand and Adam Smasher, citing his fan club's data analysis.
• Joe showed Mingzhi, Jade, and Xizi a braindance labeled "Cyberpsychosis Series Collection."

Akechi discovered that the rare Cyberpsychosis braindances had spread through a fan network and recognized V entering Gemini Sapphire Tower. Inside the banquet hall, V and Reid found Songbird beside Hansen and spotted Aguilar, complicating their mission.

• Akechi learned from Joe that fans had remastered and distributed the Cyberpsychosis series, while bootlegs were circulating under KK's name.
• Akechi recognized V's reused disguise as V passed through the banquet hall and continued gathering intelligence for the NCPD.
• V entered Gemini Sapphire Tower through the waterways, helped Reid clear Barghest troops, and searched the hall for Songbird.
• V found Songbird seated beside Hansen and warned Reid that Hansen appeared to be keeping her close during negotiations.
• V and Reid identified Aguilar, the Cuban Crime Syndicate legend, in the hall and judged his presence dangerous to their mission.

V learned that Songbird had been contacting him through the Blackwall, a dangerous act that could threaten humanity and expose New America's secret involvement. After V shared Songbird's coded message with Reid, Reid said he still wanted to save her if possible.

• V and Reid assessed the armed Barghest guards and discussed Hansen's influence and resources.
• Johnny told V that Songbird had used the Blackwall to contact the Relic and send a coded message.
• V realized Songbird's actions could endanger the Blackwall and bring disastrous consequences for New America.
• V sent Songbird's code to Reid and said they needed to reconsider what to do about her.
• Reid admitted he understood the danger but said he still wanted to save Little Song.