Just as Yorinobu Arasaka was about to ask something else, the chat window suddenly wiped all its messages.
Yorinobu Arasaka knew the other party had unilaterally ended the conversation. Seeing this, he let out a helpless look. Being stuck with a communication method that was entirely under someone else's control was, frankly, pretty uncomfortable.
But… judging from what the other party had said so far, they really did seem to understand what he actually wanted…
"Let me think… where in Night City can I even go right now…"
Yorinobu Arasaka rested his chin on one hand, lost in thought.
Or, worst case, could he just slip by using a synthetic skin mask? That felt like overkill. If there really was no other option, he could only take things one step at a time. After all, Night City wasn't exactly stable these days.
Spies and agents from the New United States had already infiltrated the city, and no one knew where those people were hiding.
After finishing his conversation with Yorinobu Arasaka, Roland shifted his attention to Jackie and his group, who had just accepted a new Gig.
"There's something off about this one…"
After looking through the intelligence Lissandra had compiled, Roland rubbed his forehead in exasperation. Soon enough, though, a spark of interest appeared in his eyes.
"The thing they're moving… don't tell me it's a mini nuke…"
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. At the same time, he couldn't help wondering how they planned to get a mini nuke into Night City, given how strict the lockdown currently was.
Northern California government troops were patrolling everywhere, acting as both guards and border security. Unless…
"There's an insider… or they found one of the rats inside…"
By "rats," he meant those people who looked perfectly normal on the surface, but would wave anyone through as long as they were paid.
There used to be plenty of them. After all, no one had been trying to pull off anything big back then. Now, though, their numbers had dropped sharply.
Too many areas had been taken over.
"Do we need to send someone to back them up?"
"Hm… just have a mechanical squad shadow them. If something happens, we'll deal with it then. If nothing happens, there's no need."
Roland thought for a moment before waving it off. Truth be told, he'd been a bit bored lately and wanted to go out for a walk, but he quickly abandoned the idea. He still had to deal with people from two different factions.
On top of that, it wasn't a good time to approach Jackie's group. Some of the things he'd done before had left lingering problems, enough to make him want to slap himself…
At the same time, a spacecraft quietly returned to land.
As the hatch slowly opened, a tall, silver-white figure stepped out and took a deep breath.
"Mm… the air here is as bad as ever…"
Jamil shook his head, then took the tablet handed to him by the reception staff and began reviewing the information on his current target. He'd already gone through most of it while still in space, but it was always better to check the latest updates.
"Has their boss undergone any extreme-load cyberware modifications?"
Jamil turned and asked the follower behind him.
"Based on what we know so far, probably not—but we can't be completely sure."
"Mm… if necessary, am I allowed to use force to coerce them?"
Jamil asked. After all, the person he was going to meet was Roland. In his view, that monster was definitely not someone he could handle, but dealing with their boss shouldn't be a problem.
"Headquarters says you can decide for yourself. If you believe such measures would benefit us, they don't object."
"So that means yes. Then it's really not a big deal… By the way, where is that monster right now?"
Jamil chuckled softly, then suddenly remembered the Apocalypse and asked about it.
"Our satellites haven't detected it for now. It hasn't shown up since that last appearance. We suspect it's returned to their base for calibration or repairs."
"Mm… you're not in a hurry, right?"
"Upper management isn't in a rush. They just place a lot of importance on this. We have plenty of time."
"Good. Then let's slow things down a bit on the way over. No need to rush. Let the Highriders make contact first and see how it goes."
Jamil nodded, his expression serious. It wasn't that he was scared—he was just being properly cautious.
...
"One of the Twelve Angels has reached the surface—the swift one. What's the situation on our side? Have we made contact with people from PROJECT Corporation yet?"
"They'll arrive in Night City tomorrow. Contact should be possible then."
"Tch… too slow. These lower-tier existences are getting a bit too unruly."
"That's normal. Our influence on the ground is still weaker than that of the European Space Agency or those major corporations. After all, this isn't our home turf."
"Tell them to speed it up. Ideally, they should get in touch with PROJECT before Jamil does."
"At times like this, material incentives are usually needed. You want to handle it?"
"You really are something… Fine, I'll do it. Tell them to hurry. I can't wait to see that technology. Oh, and if possible, have them contact the corporation's chief scientist and invite him to Crystal Palace. I'll cover all expenses."
"Tch, I doubt that'll work. Honestly, judging from the force that corporation has shown, I'm really not keen on seeing their people come to Crystal Palace."
A man wearing sunglasses shook his head and leaned back against the sofa.
"Mm… that's true. But with inspections in place, it should be fine, right?"
Another man in a white lab coat thought for a moment before speaking.
"Maybe. But who knows whether that corporation also has some related technology? I don't think it's worth the risk. Having the Twelve Angels in Crystal Palace is already enough. Any more, and we wouldn't be able to handle it."
The man in sunglasses spoke slowly.
The Twelve Angels and the orbital launchers formed a mutual deterrence.
The launchers ensured that the Twelve Angels wouldn't make a move, while the Twelve Angels ensured the launchers wouldn't fire on the European Space Agency.
At the same time, the presence of the Twelve Angels meant that the upper echelons of the Highriders could never leave Crystal Palace—though, to be fair, they had no intention of leaving anyway.
"I remember that corporation is planning to launch a satellite, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Maybe we could use that as leverage?"
"That depends on how the European Space Agency plans to obtain that technology. Right now, it's their bargaining chip. If we want to turn it into ours, we'll probably have to pay a heavy price."
"Then forget it. Let's just wait for news from the people down below."