[Regina: Burger King, I know you did your best, maybe even really tried, but we all know this one didn't go well.]
[Regina: Nadia was a good person. She volunteered for the cyberpsycho research project and continued fieldwork to collect their data as soon as possible.]
[Regina: In the end, she died. Her boyfriend also died.]
[Regina: We could have prevented this tragedy.]
No one leaves Night City alive—unless wrapped in a body bag.
Leo wasn't the type to repeatedly lecture others that survival is everything, even if it might actually be true.
This is really a philosophical question: past you, present you, and future you—if all are considered different people, should one limit present free will for the sake of others?
Even if Kaneck survived, he could never again be a fully active mercenary or Trauma Team employee.
His nerves suffered irreversible damage, like other cyberpsychos Leo had seen—possibly worse.
His future held a lifetime without access to high-power cyberware or neural components.
Sure, Kang-Tao or other corporations might value his experience enough to try to save him, but the chances were slim.
Right now, Kaneck simply didn't want to live. Using death as a small act of revenge was all he had left.
A bullet completely fried the Sandevistan chip, ending Kaneck's life.
[V: I thought you'd try to keep him alive and hand him over to Regina.]
[Jackie: I support you, mano. If you'd sent him back, I really don't know how he'd react—seeing Trauma Team again, using what he got, feeling helpless… he'd probably collapse completely.]
[V: I support you too, okay!]
At another time, Leo might have acted the same way as V suggested—he couldn't say for sure.
After all, knowing Regina's special requests were tied to Kang-Tao, killing Kaneck meant giving Kang-Tao a loss.
Sending Kaneck back could've justified itself as "saving him," with no psychological pressure—and even earned another favor from Kang-Tao.
But right now, Leo didn't choose that path.
When the door opened, V and Jackie stayed calm, standing near the window post.
David, however, was lost in thought.
Technically, Kaneck was dead by Leo's choice. His life or death was entirely at Leo's discretion.
Why didn't Leo choose to save this cyberpsycho?
Kaneck, wrapped in a body bag, was taken by two Kang-Tao employees. The man in a suit escorting him got in the car and, before leaving, gave a hostile glance:
"You're supposed to be the most professional. Looks like you're just trash—you can't even save a vegetable. Your money's gone. Eat shit!"
The car window rolled up, and the car drove off.
V was so angry she nearly went to scold Leo!
"This idiot is so arrogant! Who does he think he is? You'd think he's the CEO of Kang-Tao!"
"You've seen corporate dogs before, haven't you?"
Kang-Tao is a company, and Kang-Tao employees are naturally corporate dogs.
Essentially, no different from Arasaka employees, Militech contractors, etc.—just a different breed.
Only when you have something to gain can you interact on equal footing.
Without profit, everyone's just a money-driven dog. Mercenaries are at most stray dogs; how would a house dog respect a stray?
Leo patted David, standing in the doorway: "Nice job. I've got a batch of spare engines and parts—don't you want to try modifying your car? I'll give you an address. Go pick them up and fix your little van."
David snapped back to reality, asking, "Boss, why… did you choose to kill him? Shouldn't you try to save him, like any other cyberpsycho?"
Leo thought for a moment: "Some say people are unfair from birth, but in fact, everyone comes into this world with no choice. No exceptions. Birth is a trivial coincidence; we have no say. The worst part isn't that we can't choose to be born—it's that we can't choose how we die."
If given a choice, most would want to die content, with no regrets.
Some fantasize about dying surrounded by attention and sorrow—but most will fail.
Sudden death at the workstation, killed by jealous colleagues, assassinated by competitors, punished for failure—corporate dogs die many ways, usually like this. But none truly want it.
Leo watched the black armored car carry Kaneck's corpse, now without research value, and continued:
"Life's beginning is accidental, written by others—you can't choose. But death is life's final period. If even the end is dictated by someone else, life becomes a bad joke—awkward and humble. Kaneck wanted to end it here, in this way. I helped him. You know why I never get angry at corporate dogs? Because 99.9% of them end as just that—a joke."
"But mercenaries just work for money."
Leo shook his head: "If you think that, I'll have to call you stupid. Think again."
David smiled awkwardly, said goodbye, and got into his car.
Gripping the wheel, he gave himself a pep talk:
Right. He's a mercenary—but not just for money. Money lets him send Lucy to the Moon, get a better house for his mom.
This time, he had no cash, but he could get a batch of mod parts from his boss.
Worth it!
"Hey! David! Come have a drink!" Maine shouted from the car window.
"Sure!"
As the car started, David looked at Lucy in the passenger seat, grinning: "Shall we?"
Lucy looked troubled, staring at Leo walking into the church.
"Okay. I've got something to tell you."
"Later—how much's left?"
"This is important."
"More important than going to the Moon? Should only be around forty thousand, right?"
"What about your ticket?!"
"Can save yours for later."
"The Mercenary Code, Second Rule: Nobody wants to die unexpectedly, like a joke—think about the car, guns, cyberware, family, everything you love. Be cautious, careful in every step, especially when taking contracts."
Jackie quietly wrote this in his notebook.
Leo, seeing this, said with slight surprise: "You've got a good knack for summarizing."
"I've had the idea for a while. You just reminded me, now I have content." Jackie proudly closed his notebook. "If it were me, I'd never work for corporate dogs! Now I can finally explain this to mom, with reason—she'll be convinced."
The summary was accurate enough.
V smirked: she suddenly found writing such a book quite fun—very satisfying for the ego.
Too bad Jackie already wrote it—she couldn't steal her friend's work.
Maybe later she could add some content and sign it herself.
"Leo!" V tugged Leo over. "Next time you try to run off yourself—"
"Never again, ok. Really, never again."
Leo shook his head firmly.
The AI situation wasn't trivial—Wooly's firepower alone showed David and the others could only support. If left to them entirely, the casualties would've been severe.
First, finish the priest's contract.