Chapter Summaries

Su Xiao prepared for the operation to capture Herman and arranged covert transport to Jackson Plains. When Rogue’s Trauma Team hovercar arrived, Panam learned that it was the ride Su Xiao had called, with Rogue’s trusted mercenaries Emmerich and Crispin aboard.

• Su Xiao explained that the team needed to strike Militech’s convoy quickly, identify Herman’s vehicle, and capture him alive for Rogue.
• The next morning, Su Xiao told motel owner Noah that fixers would deliver the equipment he needed, and Panam joined Su Xiao, V, and Lucy for breakfast.
• Su Xiao directed Panam to a remote Badlands meeting point and explained that they would avoid driving to Jackson Plains to leave no tracks for Militech to find.
• A Trauma Team Heavy Armored Hovercar descended, and Panam urged the others to flee until Su Xiao revealed he had called it.
• Emmerich and Crispin stepped out of the hovercar, and Su Xiao’s group prepared to travel with Rogue’s trusted mercenaries.

Su Xiao’s team ambushed a Militech convoy carrying Herman, and Lucy destroyed two of its trucks with the AV’s cannon. The convoy deployed its remaining drones and security robots as Panam watched the battle begin.

• Su Xiao ordered the team to wait for his signal and warned them not to kill Herman, who was riding in the middle truck.
• V spotted the five-vehicle Militech convoy, and Su Xiao scanned its soldiers, drones, and security robots.
• Su Xiao ordered Lucy to fire the AV’s cannon at the rear truck, destroying its robots and drones in a huge explosion.
• Panam was stunned by the weapon’s power and imagined how it might help her Aldecaldos family against the Random Blade Society.
• Su Xiao ordered a second shot at the lead truck, which exploded before it could deploy its forces.
• The middle truck’s driver dodged the wreckage and released its security robots and drones, which began searching for the attackers.

Su Xiao and his companions ambushed a Militech convoy, destroyed its drones and security robots, and captured Herman. They escaped the arriving Militech forces and left Herman trapped in a remote Badlands canyon, where Su Xiao told him no one would come to help.

• Emmerich fired missiles that split into warheads and destroyed the attacking drones, while Su Xiao ordered the group to engage the convoy.
• Emmerich, Crispin, Panam, and V eliminated the convoy’s security robots and killed its drivers and passengers as Su Xiao checked for survivors.
• Su Xiao found Herman hiding in a truck, knocked him unconscious, and carried him back to the AV.
• Crispin flew the group away before Militech’s armed AV arrived at the ambush site.
• Su Xiao brought Herman to a canyon in the Badlands, where Herman woke and asked where he was.
• Su Xiao told Herman he was deep in the wilderness and that nobody would come to save him.

Su Xiao revealed to Herman that Johnny Silverhand’s consciousness was inside a robot after they took a Relic from Raijin Arasaka, and Herman recognized their connection to the Azure Tower attack. Herman said Raijin had planned to bring Johnny back to life, but warned that freeing Johnny from the robot would not be simple because the Relic was an experimental version he did not fully understand.

• Herman calmed down after Su Xiao said they were neither Arasaka nor the Random Blade Society, then agreed to answer questions when Su Xiao threatened him.
• Su Xiao told Herman that their Relic came from Raijin Arasaka, prompting Herman to recognize them as the people behind the Azure Tower attack.
• Su Xiao summoned a small robot and revealed that Johnny Silverhand’s consciousness was inside it through the Relic.
• Herman believed Johnny was really present after the robot spoke like him, then explained that Raijin Arasaka idolized Johnny and had intended to bring him back to life.
• Su Xiao asked Herman to get Johnny out of the robot, but Herman said it was not simple because the Relic was an experimental version and its development teams kept information separate.

Su Xiao pressed Herman to find a way to free Johnny Silverhand from the Little Flathead, but Herman said the relic had fused Johnny with the robot. After Herman revealed that the Soul Killer could extract consciousness, Su Xiao suspected Arasaka had a safer, more reliable method for Saburo Arasaka to achieve immortality.

• Herman explained that the experimental relic could install and activate an engram in a new body and had been made for Saburo Arasaka.
• Johnny tackled Herman and struck him after Herman studied him with an inquisitive gaze.
• Su Xiao demanded that Herman remove Johnny from the robot, and Herman agreed after Su Xiao offered him a Pneumatic Syringe and reset his nose.
• Johnny allowed Herman to examine the relic, but Herman concluded that Johnny and the robot had become one and could not be separated.
• Herman admitted the Soul Killer could extract consciousness, though it was unreliable and caused extreme pain.
• Su Xiao argued that Saburo Arasaka would need a safer way to transfer consciousness to achieve immortality, and Johnny realized Herman was hiding something.

Su Xiao captured Herman and sent him to Rogue for interrogation, then returned to the city with Panam, who accepted V’s offer to stay with her. After working late, Su Xiao spent the night with Lucy, and the next morning she found him cooking downstairs.

• Su Xiao used a Blocker to incapacitate Herman and had Crispin take him to Rogue, who paid Su Xiao ten million and expressed interest in working with him again.
• Panam returned to the city with Su Xiao, Lucy, and V, and V offered to let Panam stay at her apartment for a low rent.
• Su Xiao spent the night assembling smart guns in his workshop until Lucy brought him warm milk and gave him a massage.
• Su Xiao massaged Lucy in return, invited her to stay the night, and let her sleep in his bed.
• The next morning, Lucy woke and saw Su Xiao preparing breakfast downstairs.

Su Xiao, Lucy, and V went to Judy’s apartment to review braindances extracted from Evelyn’s dreams, hoping to learn who had harmed her. In the first recording, Evelyn discussed gathering information inside a Voodoo Boys church, and an obscured woman reacted sharply when Evelyn mentioned the biochip.

• Lucy ate luosifen that Su Xiao prepared, and Judy called to say Evelyn had begun dreaming and that she had extracted two braindances from her mind.
• Su Xiao and Lucy took a Delamain Taxi to meet V, and the three traveled to Judy’s apartment.
• Judy explained that Evelyn’s braindance data was badly corrupted and helped Su Xiao view the first recording.
• Su Xiao saw Evelyn speaking with a heavily pixelated woman in what appeared to be a Voodoo Boys church.
• The woman instructed Evelyn to record the room’s layout and warned her to avoid arousing suspicion, then reacted with alarm when Evelyn asked about the biochip.

Su Xiao learned that the Voodoo Boys had hired Evelyn to record a braindance, while she had stolen the Relic on her own. A second recording revealed their plan to use Evelyn to get close to Raijin Arasaka and seek Alt with Johnny Silverhand’s help, so Su Xiao called Johnny to ask about Alt.

• Su Xiao explained to V, Lucy, and Judy that Evelyn had defied the Voodoo Boys and stolen the Relic without their instructions.
• Su Xiao and the others watched another recording in which Evelyn secretly overheard the Voodoo Boys discussing her role in reaching Raijin Arasaka.
• Judy invited Su Xiao, V, and Lucy to stay for lunch, and Su Xiao agreed while Judy went to buy groceries.
• Su Xiao called Rogue and asked to speak with Johnny Silverhand.
• Su Xiao asked Johnny whether the name Alt meant anything to him.

Su Xiao learned from Rogue that Alt Cunningham might have used Soul Killer to separate her consciousness from her body and enter the Old Net, leaving open the possibility that she was still alive. Rogue then asked Su Xiao to investigate the Voodoo Boys’ plans, and he agreed.

• Johnny Silverhand confirmed that Alt Cunningham had been his girlfriend and said Arasaka had killed her.
• Rogue recounted how she and Johnny found Alt in an Arasaka facility, connected to equipment and apparently lifeless.
• Su Xiao theorized that Alt had used Soul Killer to send her consciousness into Mikoshi and might still be alive in cyberspace.
• Rogue asked Su Xiao not to tell Johnny about the theory and explained that Johnny had gone out with Crispin and others.
• Rogue asked Su Xiao to find out what the Voodoo Boys were planning, and Su Xiao agreed.

After Mayor Lucius Raine’s death, Elizabeth and Jefferson Peralez hired Su Xiao to investigate whether he had been murdered. Su Xiao agreed to look into the death, which they suspected was connected to a cyberpsycho attack at City Hall.

• Rogue and Su Xiao watched the news report Raine’s death and heard that Wilton Hort would finish his term and run for mayor against Jefferson Peralez.
• Rogue and Su Xiao discussed the Voodoo Boys before Su Xiao left the Afterlife to wait for her news.
• Elizabeth Peralez called Su Xiao and asked him to meet her and Jefferson about a delicate problem.
• Elizabeth and Jefferson told Su Xiao they distrusted the public explanation of Raine’s death and asked him to investigate how and why he died.
• Elizabeth revealed that a cyberpsycho had attacked City Hall shortly before Raine’s death, and the Peralezes suspected the incidents were connected.

Su Xiao examined the braindance recording from the security guard who died during the attack on Mayor Ryan and saw River Ward force his way into City Hall before killing the assassin. He found the recording inconclusive and told Jefferson Peralez he needed to ask more questions.

• Elizabeth said the Peralez couple suspected NCPD involvement in Ryan's death and offered a security guard's braindance recording as evidence.
• Su Xiao entered the recording and watched the guard leave a City Hall conference room after being reprimanded by the security captain.
• River Ward arrived at the security gate, identified himself as an NCPD officer, and pushed past the guard despite being told to wait.
• The guard tried to stop River, but an assassin stabbed him with Mantis Blades before River shot the attacker dead.
• Su Xiao watched the recording twice, then told Jefferson and Elizabeth that he could not reach a conclusion from the footage alone and needed to ask questions.

Su Xiao questioned Jefferson about Ryan’s press conference, security, and Detective River Ward, then saved the Peralez couple from an ambush on their drive. He pursued a wounded attacker after pulling Jefferson out of the path of a katana, while the attacker realized Su Xiao had killed his companions with military-grade Sandevistan.

• Jefferson explained that Ryan had used the press conference to promote himself and that the reported drop in crime excluded Pacifica; he also described Ryan’s privately hired security and Holt’s role as acting mayor.
• Su Xiao asked about River Ward, and Jefferson offered to connect them, saying River was trustworthy and likely had an informant who had alerted him to the assassination.
• Jefferson began to reveal how overwhelmed he felt, but Elizabeth interrupted him before he could continue.
• When a van blocked their car at an intersection, four gunmen opened fire, and Su Xiao used his Tech Revolver to shoot them during slowed time.
• A katana-wielding attacker jumped onto the car roof and stabbed Jefferson’s thigh, but Su Xiao pulled him aside before the blade could reach his head.
• Su Xiao jumped from the moving car to pursue the attacker, who fled through an alley and realized Su Xiao had killed his companions using military-grade Sandevistan.

Su Xiao killed the assassin who had targeted Jefferson Peralez and confirmed that Elizabeth and the Peralezes were safe. He met Detective River Ward to investigate Lucius Raine’s death, and the chapter ended as they left a crowded restaurant to talk privately by River’s car.

• The man in white attacked Su Xiao, but Su Xiao evaded his strike and killed him with a cut to the neck.
• Su Xiao called Elizabeth and learned that she and the Peralezes were headed to a Trauma Team hospital.
• While calling River Ward, Su Xiao caught a child trying to pick his pocket and sent the child away.
• Su Xiao told River that Jefferson Peralez had hired him to investigate Lucius Raine’s death, and River agreed to meet him at Fat Chicken Wings.
• River’s partner, Detective Han, warned River to drop the case and left to pick up his daughter.
• Su Xiao suggested they move somewhere private, and he and River headed toward River’s Thunderway Mackino MTL1.

Su Xiao and River investigated Mayor Ryan’s death, and River sent Su Xiao to question his informant about The Red Queen’s Race. The shop owner refused to help and aimed a shotgun at Su Xiao, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• River told Su Xiao that Horvath had disappeared from the station after being arrested and that the surveillance cameras had been shut off.
• River explained that he wanted to find The Red Queen’s Race because he had heard people mention it on the day Mayor Ryan died.
• River took Su Xiao to his informant’s shop and asked him to speak to the owner alone because their last meeting had gone badly.
• Su Xiao entered the sex-toy shop and asked the owner about The Red Queen’s Race, but the owner warned that it was invitation-only.
• The owner threatened to call the police, then grabbed a shotgun and aimed it at Su Xiao after Su Xiao refused to leave.

Su Xiao forced the adult toy shop owner to reveal the location of The Red Queen’s Race and learned that the club had closed shortly after Mayor Ryan died. He left to investigate the club, suspecting its closure was connected to Ryan’s death.

• Su Xiao disarmed and threatened the shop owner until he agreed to reveal where The Red Queen’s Race was located.
• The owner said the club was near Benita Street and admitted he had delivered goods and workers there.
• Su Xiao questioned the owner about trafficking, then learned the club had shut down after notifying him to stop making deliveries.
• Su Xiao connected the club’s closure to Mayor Ryan’s death and decided to visit it to uncover what had happened.
• Su Xiao returned Sadala to the shop and left, then saw that the pickup truck’s driver’s seat was empty.

Su Xiao and River investigated the suspicious closure of The Red Queen's Race and suspected Mayor Lucius Raine had died there. At Sakura Market, they found Kristin Markov, who revealed that Peter Horvath had spread claims that Raine and the corporations were targeting him.

• Su Xiao told River that his informant had explained the club's closure, and they considered whether Raine had died at The Red Queen's Race instead of at home.
• River suggested visiting Horvath's former boss before checking the club, and Su Xiao agreed to meet her in Japantown.
• On the way, River invited Su Xiao to join the NCPD, but Su Xiao declined.
• At Sakura Market, Su Xiao used his Tactical Goggles to locate Kristin Markov, Horvath's former boss.
• Kristin said Horvath had quit and often claimed that Raine and the corporations wanted to harm him.
• River suggested someone else had fed Horvath the idea that Raine was targeting him, and Kristin shook her head.

Su Xiao and River questioned Christine about Horvath’s benefactor, then ate ramen before finding two Tiger Claws members waiting by River’s truck. River asked Su Xiao to let him handle the gang members.

• Christine said Horvath had claimed he met a benefactor who promised him wealth, but she knew neither the benefactor’s identity nor Horvath’s other connections.
• Su Xiao and River concluded that Horvath’s cyberware and attack on City Hall may have been part of a plan to muddy the waters rather than assassinate Ryan.
• Su Xiao and River left Christine’s stall and stopped at a ramen shop before continuing toward Benita Street.
• River paid for their ramen, and he and Su Xiao returned to his truck to find two Tiger Claws members waiting beside it.
• River sighed and told Su Xiao to let him handle the two gang members.

Su Xiao and River confronted Tiger Claws Gang thugs before sneaking into an Animal Gang warehouse to find The Red Queen's Race. They discovered the club's entrance beneath a container, deep inside the guarded warehouse.

• Su Xiao subdued two Tiger Claws Gang members who harassed River, then let them go after learning they belonged to the Okada Clan.
• Su Xiao told River the gang would likely avoid him now, and the two set off for The Red Queen's Race.
• Su Xiao and River reached a warehouse on Benita Street, where Animal Gang members guarded the grounds.
• Su Xiao used his Tactical Goggles to locate the club and guided River past the warehouse's guards and cameras.
• Su Xiao showed River that The Red Queen's Race lay beneath a container serving as its entrance.

Su Xiao and River infiltrated the Animal Gang’s warehouse and the underground Red Queen’s Race, killing the gang members and questioning their leader about the club’s destruction. The leader revealed that Wilton Hort had hired the gang, but she could not confirm whether Lucius Raine had visited before his death.

• Su Xiao disabled the warehouse cameras and silently killed the Animal Gang members above ground while River waited.
• Su Xiao and River entered the Red Queen’s Race through a locked container, then killed the gang members inside while leaving their leader alive.
• Su Xiao held the Animal Gang leader at gunpoint and learned Wilton Hort had hired the gang to destroy the club.
• The leader said she did not know whether Lucius Raine had visited the club, and Su Xiao shot her after she had no further information.

Su Xiao and River uncovered evidence that Detective Han and Wilton Hort had covered up Lucius Raine’s death, then discovered that a virus in the Braindance Headset had killed him. They suspected the assassination attempt was a diversion for a deeper conspiracy, but could not identify the mastermind.

• River found emails showing that Wilton Hort had protected Francis Delgado and that Lucius Raine had died at the club.
• Su Xiao and River watched footage of Detective Han removing Raine’s corpse and arranging a false report.
• Su Xiao examined the Braindance Headset and triggered sparks, revealing that a virus had been planted in it.
• Su Xiao concluded that the attack on City Hall was likely a diversion and that someone had used the headset to kill Raine.
• River suspected Wilton Hort, but Su Xiao said the evidence was insufficient and that Hort might be only a pawn.
• River felt helpless as he realized their discoveries were only the beginning of a much larger conspiracy.