"What are you thinking about?"
Lucy asked softly, pushing him to make him sit further inside the van.
A few children and a bunch of boxes filled the van to the brim, forcing everyone to squeeze together, people pressed against each other.
"I'm thinking... about what to do next," Mercer replied truthfully. "Planning out a detailed action plan."
"Haven't you been thinking about it the whole way?" Lucy leaned against him naturally, giving Kyoko some space to get comfortable on the side.
"I only thought of the general plan previously... But now that we're at the action phase, I have to think about the details."
Mercer said as he heard the engine of the van start up.
Sitting in the driver's seat, Norman, who was in charge of driving, reminded them:
"Since we don't want to be discovered, just stay quiet when I slow down later. I'll raise the partition too, so no one can see you from my side.
Once it's safe, I'll open the partition first, then stop to let you out.
Don't be afraid, no one will open your door voluntarily. If someone does, it means there's a problem."
"Understood."
Mercer responded, noticing the van had a liftable partition. Once the partition was raised, it completely blocked off the space between the cab and the back of the van.
The entire van was suddenly plunged into darkness, without a shred of light, leaving only the sound of the moving vehicle.
This nearly airtight space and the darkness made Lucy instinctively lean closer to Mercer, almost curling half her body over to confirm his direction and position before whispering:
"After we clear the check, will we be in Night City?"
"Yeah, if I remember correctly, there are Biotechnology farms next to the checkpoint. Just follow the road and you'll enter the city."
Mercer spoke softly. "But we're not going to wander around the city this time; once I sort out fake identities, I'll bring you guys to explore."
"Night City... I really want to see what it's like there."
Kyoko was somewhat impatient.
Mercer had been talking about Night City the whole way, and they had long held great expectations for the city.
The free Dream Chasing City... that's what Mercer called Night City.
But Tetsuya Daichi wasn't so optimistic, sighing as he said:
"I looked it up online before, and while people do talk it up quite a bit...
However, let me put it this way, Night City airs a program called 'Death Lottery' every day.
As the name suggests, they open bets on the number of people who die in the city each day...
This city is dangerous, Kyoko, don't be careless."
"I know..."
Kyoko's enthusiasm was dampened, but she still said trustingly:
"Other places aren't any better, right? And didn't Mercer say that only here can we truly say goodbye to Arasaka?"
"...Actually, being a Wanderer isn't so bad."
Leon suddenly spoke up.
The van fell silent, and Lucy's voice was a bit cold as she said, "You're planning to stay outside? Even after Mercer gets you a new identity?"
"...No, I was just saying," Leon, picking up the chill in Lucy's voice, shrank his neck and spoke much softer.
"Don't be like that, Lucy."
Mercer spoke gently, breaking the suddenly heavy atmosphere. He chuckled lightly and said:
"Being a Wanderer isn't bad at all; you've all seen it on the way, Cassidy is pretty reliable.
Staying with him in Adcardo is quite safe, really.
In this world, staying in the wilderness and enjoying freedom could indeed be a good way out."
"...What about you? You've worked so hard to get us this far, and we just enjoy the freedom in safety?
And then you face those gangs and corporations in Night City by yourself, being a solitary wolf while still a minor?"
Lucy seemed somewhat upset, as even in the pitch-dark van, Mercer could vaguely see her eyes staring straight at him.
"Or is it that you think you can do it alone? That whether we help or not doesn't matter?"
As soon as Lucy finished, Kyoko felt her way in the dark and quickly grabbed her hand: "Lucy! Mercer, she didn't mean it!"
The van fell into silence.
Suddenly the vehicle began to slow, and Norman in the driver's seat coughed, his voice coming through the partition: "Sorry to interrupt, we're almost there, you can continue after we pass the checkpoint."
"Copy, maintaining silence."
Mercer responded and then said softly, "Let's talk about this after we're safe, once we get to the camp."
"Okay..." Leon replied a little uneasily.
Mercer closed his eyes, quietly awaiting the passage through the check, but after just waiting for a while, he suddenly felt Lucy beside him slightly trembling.
He didn't say anything, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and wiped her face with the back of his hand, indeed feeling a few tears.
Lucy turned her head to avoid his hand, didn't say anything, but after a while, leaned over again and buried her face in his shoulder, crying silently.
Mercer could only do nothing, silently waiting for quite a while, until Norman opened the door to step out and then got back into the driver's seat, starting the car again.
About five or six minutes later, a creaking sound came from inside the van, and the partition was lowered, restoring light to the interior of the van.
"Safe crossing, once we go a bit further and take a turn onto a side road, you can move your belongings back to your own car, and head to the family's camp."