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Gloria and Maine had been business associates for a long time. In the brutal economy of Night City, it could be said that David was only able to attend the prestigious Arasaka Academy because of Maine's steady payouts. Finding a reliable buyer on the street is a miracle; finding one like Maine, who was willing to pay a deposit in advance, was practically unheard of.
"Maine, I'm sorry... I'm late," Gloria said, forcing a weary smile. Her injuries from the Scavenger raid were far from healed, and every movement was a battle against a sharp, stinging pain.
She should have been resting, but David had just "glitched" the school's neural-teaching network, and the repair fees were astronomical. If she didn't clear his debt, her son would be expelled. She had to finish this deal today.
"Gloria, you look like a ghost," Maine said, his voice unusually soft as he helped her sit. "Are you sick? You should've pinged me; I would've picked up the goods myself."
"It's nothing serious..." Gloria waved him off.
"Nothing serious? She was nearly disassembled into scrap by Scavengers after a hit-and-run," Kael interjected, leaning into the light.
Gloria's head snapped toward him, her eyes wide. "It's you?"
"You two are acquainted?" Maine scratched his head. "Night City's getting smaller by the minute."
Gloria gave a brief summary of the rescue. Maine's expression darkened as he realized how close he'd come to losing his primary supplier. He reached out a massive, chrome-plated hand to clap Kael on the shoulder in gratitude, but Kael sidestepped him with a look of clinical disgust.
"You're slipping, Gloria," Kael noted, his eyes scanning the perimeter. "Didn't even notice you were being tailed." He gestured toward a figure crouched behind a rusted Villefort a few dozen yards away.
Maine's hand flew to his holster. "Get out here! Now!"
"...Don't shoot! It's me!" David emerged from the shadows, his hands raised and his shoulders slumped. He couldn't even meet his mother's eyes.
"David?!" Gloria gasped.
"This kid is your son?" Maine asked, his gaze drifting between them. "He doesn't look like he has your genes."
"My point exactly," Kael added, and the two big men shared a brief, synchronized high-five.
"David! What did I tell you? To stay home!" Gloria coughed, her anger flaring.
"You're hurt! I couldn't let you come out alone!" David shouted back, looking to Kael for some kind of support.
"Enough," Kael interrupted, his voice carrying the authority of a veteran. "Gloria, deal with his education later. We're here for business."
He pointed toward a nearby streetlamp. "David, stand over there. Don't move until your mother calls you."
David slunk away without a word.
Gloria took a breath, composed herself, and retrieved the cargo from her jacket. It was a complete spinal-interface unit, housing a high-end Sandevistan.
"This is the unit from the news," Kael noted, his Kiroshis performing a passive scan. "The one from the psycho lieutenant colonel."
"That's the one," Gloria admitted. She didn't feel the need to lie; Kael had saved her life.
"Military-grade..." Maine whispered, his eyes glazed with the raw hunger for power.
Cybernetic addiction was a real and dangerous force. Once you tasted the "Cybernetic Ascension," the urge to replace more of your "ganic" self became a siren song that often led straight to the Psycho Squad.
"Faraday pointed you toward this, didn't he?" Kael's question snapped Maine back to reality.
"How did you know?"
"There are no coincidences in this city, Maine. A retired soldier redlines on this specific prototype, and suddenly Faraday has a lead for you? He's not doing you a favor. He's finding a new guinea pig for Militech. This unit doesn't even have a retail model number; it's an experimental prototype. If you install this, you'd better buy a coffin first."
Kael's words were cold, but they hit home.
"That four-eyed bastard," Dorio hissed, her glass cracking in her grip.
Gloria looked frantic. If Maine didn't buy the unit, David's future was gone. "I... I need to finish the sale."
"Give it to me, Maine," Kael said, extending a hand. "You can't handle the neural load."
Maine hesitated, his inner conflict visible in the twitching of his Gorilla Arms. Finally, he let out a long sigh of relief and handed the case to Kael. "Only for you, kid. If anyone else asked, I'd think they were trying to screw me."
"How much is the balance?" Kael asked Gloria.
"But... Kael, this thing is dangerous," Gloria whispered.
"I'm not installing it, Gloria. I'm studying it. Consider the debt paid."
Kael transferred the Eddies. Gloria's posture relaxed instantly—David was safe. Kael signaled to Jackie. "Stop drinking, brother. Give Gloria and the kid a lift home."
"On it!" Jackie grinned. He liked David; he saw a bit of his own youthful fire in the boy.
Once the medical van pulled away, Kael turned to Maine. "And you... tomorrow, we're going to see Viktor. We're stripping that illegal rocket-launcher out of your arm."
"No way!"
"I'll have Vik install a corporate-grade unit. Stable. High-yield."
"Lead the way, Boss," Maine smirked.
Maine's obsession with strength came from a childhood of being the "scrawny kid." Kael knew he couldn't cure the psychological trauma, but he could minimize the neural burden. With Sasha alive and the crew stable, Maine's mental state was far better than it was in the original timeline.
"So, we just let Faraday slide?" Dorio asked.
Maine shrugged. In Night City, being "screwed" was just another Tuesday. But Kael had a different idea.
"Don't worry. Faraday just gave you a new lead, didn't he? To track Director Tanaka, the Arasaka executive?"
Maine's eyes widened. He looked at Sasha, who looked away guiltily. "You two are plotting behind my back now?"
"Maine, the water here is deep," Kael said, kicking him playfully. "If I didn't have Sasha keeping an eye on your contracts, you'd be a flatline before you even reached the Afterlife."
"Alright, alright. I'm just a merc," Maine laughed, waving him off. "Let's drink! edgerunners live for today!"
Sasha didn't wait for permission; she grabbed Kael's hand and pulled him toward the dance floor. The loud, pulsing bass and the girl's lithe movements were intoxicating.
"Your man is a popular one," Kiwi noted, blowing a cloud of menthol smoke toward Lucy.
"You don't have to tell me," Lucy snapped, watching Sasha swirl around Kael.
Kael looked back at her and waved, a mischievous glint in his eye. Lucy finished her drink in one gulp, marched onto the floor, and wedged herself into Kael's arms, marking her territory. Sasha just laughed, unfazed.
Kiwi watched the trio, a faint smirk playing on her lips. She knew Lucy had forgotten every "loner" rule she'd ever taught her.
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