"Those two were soldiers, right?"
An expert could easily tell at a glance from their stance and the combat cyberware implanted in their bodies.
"Skar and Mitch? Yeah, armored vehicle crew. They worked as mercenaries in the last war."
The last war meant the Unification War, which lasted from 2069 to 2070.
The war between New America and the Free State.
Besides their own armies, both sides had recruited large numbers of mercenaries.
"Armored vehicles? Like Militech's Basilisk?"
"Skar drove, Mitch handled security. Yeah, they got some seriously powerful implants, but they also got stuck dealing with some seriously fucked-up bullshit."
Panam didn't elaborate.
But Su Xiao could more or less guess what she meant.
"Let's talk about something else. Do you know Stone Ridge Mountain well? I heard it's just some shitty town out in the suburbs. Everyone there either moved to Night City or fled."
"Then you've pretty much got the picture. They wanted to build a new satellite city there, start a new life. At least they wouldn't have to eat dust every day. Of course, that fell through."
"How many ghost towns are there around here? Hundreds?"
"Nationwide? Thousands. I drove out there a few days ago, took I-80. Once the sun goes down and everything gets quiet, pull over. You'll know you've arrived just by listening."
"Listening to what?"
"The clatter of boarded-up windows in the wind, the rustle of tumbleweeds rolling over dry sand. That's how towns die. Not with a crash, just a quiet moan and a whimper."
They chatted like that until they reached Stone Ridge Mountain.
Stone Ridge Mountain.
A place a corporation had once intended to turn into a miniature Night City.
Now it had become a ghost town.
Even people at the bottom who couldn't afford a home