"Woo-hoo!"
Rebecca's shot detonated the last mine. As the failsafe fused and popped, every Maelstrom defender was now accounted for — permanently.
"Ethan, Maine? What are you two doing back there? Maelstrom reinforcements will be on us any second!"
Dorio's voice crackled through the comms, urgent. Ethan and Rebecca advanced through the corridor in search formation, one on each side. A drone suddenly zipped out — Rebecca's shotgun barked several times, click-clack of shells cycling, until it was scrap.
"You're welcome."
Rebecca shouldered her gun and walked past Ethan's exasperated look toward the room at the end of the hallway.
Ethan pried the door open with his bare hands, cyberarms hissing with effort —
Gorilla Arms would be nice right about now.
"Rebecca, help!"
Together they hauled on the door until it finally gave.
The moment they barged in, a trembling voice called out:
"Don't shoot!"
A man cowered behind a desk, shouting. Ethan walked over and picked him up like a baby chick.
"Maine! Got him. All limbs attached."
Rebecca followed Ethan out, reporting to Maine. Their cargo — who'd pissed himself — was dragged all the way to the entrance.
A van fishtailed to a stop at the door. Dorio had one hand on the wheel. "Let's go!"
The van rattled and banged down from Dogtown's hills, Maelstrom curses and gunfire chasing them. Bullets whizzed past their faces.
Dorio floored it. "Maine, is your car fixed yet? That piece of junk's always in the shop. Can't you buy something decent?"
"Make do with what we got. Cars are fucking expensive." Maine's face was pained.
Rebecca fired out the window while asking, "Want to hit Heavy Hearts tonight?"
Ethan grimaced as he dug bullets out of his face. "Pass. I need to see a ripperdoc about my chrome."
He spat out fragments of a molar and blood.
Dorio glanced in the rearview mirror. "Gunshot wounds that bad and you're still bouncing around? What kind of chrome are you packing?"
Ethan's heart tightened.
Maine just turned and looked at him. "Don't forget the dentist!"
Everyone in the car remembered that detail at once. Laughter erupted — except for the rescued guy huddled in the corner, eyes full of terror.
Holy shit, are these people for real?
Everyone was waiting to see what the payout would be once they dropped the package. Everyone except Pilar, who was staring intently at a briefcase they'd looted from the Maelstrom hideout.
"Jackpot!"
Pilar had a cigarette between his fingers. He let out a gleeful yelp.
Rebecca saw they'd shaken off the Maelstrom tail and squeezed past Ethan toward her brother.
Ethan's face got mashed against Rebecca's chest. Combined with his wounds, tears welled up. "Hey, your bones are digging into me!"
Nothing soft about it. Totally not okay.
Rebecca decided this was an attack on her figure. She ground her fist into the top of his head.
Inside Pilar's briefcase lay a piece of cyberware. Ethan craned his neck and found it familiar.
"Second Heart?"
Pilar grinned and wagged his elongated index finger.
"Nonono, dumbass. THIS is the real prize."
Following Pilar's gesture, a chip sat quietly beside the Second Heart.
"Plug it in and see." Pilar handed Ethan the chip.
The kid looked alright today. Time to expand his horizons!
Ethan pushed away Rebecca, who was clamoring to see, and slotted the chip into the port at the back of his neck. A schematic unfolded in his optics.
"Crafting Specs?"
Ethan murmured.
Pilar froze.
Rebecca's expression was priceless. "Bro, looks like someone else can read your treasure."
That's right — Pilar's chip contained crafting specifications for two weapon mods. Something like —
Huh?
Ethan's expression shifted. Pilar immediately sensed something was wrong.
"Fuck! Give me that chip back, you little shit!"
Ethan blocked Pilar's grabbing hand. Weren't these exactly the two mods for tech sniper rifles?
Penetrator — allows weapons to charge to 200% in the same time as 100%, eliminates penetration falloff through walls.
Oni — a tech sniper scope that stabilizes trajectory and has a built-in battery to power the rifle, reducing charge time.
These would make the Nekomata absolutely devastating.
Pilar finally understood what "no take-backs" meant.
This bastard was clearly already copying the data. Planning to craft the stuff himself.
Ethan finished copying and ejected the chip. "Here, here. So stingy."
Rebecca burst out laughing. "It's over! The miser's gonna cry into his pillow tonight!"
Pilar shook his head. "How'd you even know that was a crafting spec? Normies can't read this stuff. How come you can do everything, you freak?"
"Genuine weirdo."
Ethan crossed his arms. The cyberware would obviously go to Pilar — no one else could use it. The crafting specs wouldn't interest anyone but Pilar either. Only because Ethan had been paying attention did he catch what Pilar had snagged.
A timid voice piped up.
"That stuff... is mine."
Pilar grabbed the man by the collar. "Yours?"
"It's... uh, no. Not mine."
"Then we're good." Pilar was a street-hardened edgerunner. What came into his hands stayed in his hands.
"Hey! Kid, I'm about to work on these specs anyway. Want to learn from me? I guarantee you won't regret it. My tech skills are top-tier."
Pilar extended a generous invitation.
Ethan didn't even think. "Sure, thanks!"
Pilar's face froze.
"Uh? You're not gonna... show some appreciation?"
Ethan looked innocent. "Oh! I'll treat you to some premium braindances later. How's that? The spicy kind."
Pilar, unwilling to accept this, shouted: "You fucker! This costs money! I'm the one who got it! Goddammit!"
Maine and Dorio exchanged glances up front, shaking their heads helplessly.
This was their third job.
The squad was gelling, growing tighter through the grind. More than two weeks had passed since that first gig.
These few had made quite a name for themselves in Dogtown.
The van pulled up near the drainage canal by EBM Petrochem Stadium. Rebecca kicked the man out of the car. He landed on his ass, loudly cursing these assholes for showing him zero respect.
Ethan checked the advance payment in his account. Lately, his intel-gathering routes had come from conversations with V. She'd connected him with a dedicated source.
The costs weren't cheap.
Gang information brokers charged premium rates.
After expenses and crew wages, Ethan was left with only thirty thousand eddies.
Ethan gazed out the window. His eyes lit up.
Rebecca squealed with delight. "Holy shit, fifteen grand each for this job!"
Ethan felt a pat on his shoulder. "Your boss is legit — you can't get payouts like this in the city for work like this."
Pilar and Rebecca were over the moon.
But Maine and Dorio seemed troubled.
Maine was quiet for a moment. "Ethan... is your boss going to have us do work for Arasaka?"
This perceptive giant had noticed the unusual connection between Ethan's boss and Arasaka from the very first job.
Street-bred edgerunners were instinctively wary. None of them wanted corporate entanglements.
Ethan stared out at Dogtown's rundown landscape. Rebecca and Pilar's bickering filled his ears.
After a long pause, he answered quietly:
"No."
He'd already made that clear to V:
That was Cole's business. Not theirs.
Notes:
[Crafting Specs]: In Cyberpunk 2077, these are schematics used to craft weapons, mods, consumables, and other items.
[Oni]: A scope mod for tech sniper rifles. Stabilizes trajectory and has a built-in battery that powers the rifle, reducing charge time.
[Penetrator]: A tech sniper rifle mod that increases charge capacity to 200% (same charge time as 100%) and eliminates damage falloff when shooting through walls.