"It's been a while, Mr. KK."
It had been some time since Karl had last seen this particular Netwatch agent. Looking at him now, Karl couldn't help but note that, outwardly, the man hadn't changed at all.
"It has been a while," Karl replied, glancing around at the surroundings.
Pacifica was still Pacifica.
That line—popular in morning news segments—wasn't wrong. Even though the Animals had moved into the Grand Imperial Mall and made renovations here and there, the mall still looked just as abandoned and lifeless as ever, framed by the surrounding desolation. A single reconstructed building clearly wasn't enough to breathe new life into a place long since forsaken.
If Karl were a native of Pacifica, maybe he'd have considered a political career, running for council to "save" the district or something. But he was just a merc on a job, so the area's decay stirred little more than a momentary sentiment before fading into the background.
That said, the target location for this mission was one of the few remaining populated areas in Pacifica—though it only welcomed a specific demographic.
"The Voodoo Boys."
The Netwatch agent stood in the projection booth of the old theater inside the Grand Imperial Mall. Though the building was abandoned, he had refurbished the room to screen the data he wanted KK's crew to review.
"Estimated group size between 50 and 250. Based in the coastal zones of Pacifica. Known for their elusive netrunning techniques and mystical Vodou practices. Nearly all members are Haitian and extremely hostile to outsiders. Their operations revolve primarily around cyberspace-based crimes. I assume this is familiar information?"
"More or less," Jack replied, arms crossed. "If you ask around, maybe one out of ten people on the street won't know."
"Heh."
The Netwatch agent ignored the comment and continued playing the footage.
"In short, they're Blackwall-tier operatives—individuals who've tried to probe what lies beyond. Their current territory is a Haitian enclave in Pacifica. If we're going to act in the real world, we first need to deal with the fact that this place is densely populated by Haitians who don't take kindly to strangers."
As he spoke, he gestured. The projection flickered, and an aerial view appeared on screen.
"That location is—"
V examined it. With all the jobs he'd run lately, he'd memorized most of Night City's layout.
"Serenity Bible Church on Sloane Street?"
Oliver also seemed to recognize the place. "I've heard about it. Isn't that a Christian church? Why would a bunch of Vodou-worshipping Voodoo Boys be holed up in there?"
Vodou, also known as Voodoo, is a syncretic religion that originated in West Africa and was spread to Haiti through the 16th-century Atlantic slave trade. It's a blend of ancestor worship, animism, and spiritualism. Its doctrines couldn't be more different from Christianity. The idea that a Christian church served as a base for the Voodoo Boys sounded absurd.
"What, are they drawing crosses and thanking the Catholics for shipping their ancestors into slavery?" Oliver scoffed.
Clearly not a man of faith.
Jack offered clarification:
"That's just the outside. I've seen it myself. From the street, it looks like a legit church. But inside? Totally different story. Think weird lighting, flashes of neon, and a center stage with some dark-skinned preacher surrounded by followers—rambling on about doctrine like they're performing in a strip club."
His tone carried a trace of disdain. Jack, whose own beliefs blended local Mexican traditions with Catholicism, was never going to view the Voodoo Boys sympathetically.
"I don't know much about the religion," Karl added, "but I heard they started disguising their practices because of discrimination. Mainstream society labeled them a cult—kind of like Jack just did—so they adapted. They borrowed the aesthetics of Catholicism to blend in. That church probably does the same thing."
With each squad member chiming in, the team had essentially analyzed the whole situation on their own—without the Netwatch agent having to explain much. He blinked, surprised.
He'd forgotten: KK's squad wasn't the Animals.
To KK's team, payment and intel were both valuable commodities. And when the payment was good enough, they didn't need their hand held. What the Netwatch agent saw now was initiative and competence.
No wonder they have a 100% mission success rate and client satisfaction. That explains it.
How refreshing.
"So," Karl summarized, "the church is a hub for Haitians—or more specifically, Vodou practitioners. The Voodoo Boys gather there. We want to perform a covert op targeting their leadership, but we don't know their true base of operations. So we start by infiltrating the church?"
"Exactly," said the Netwatch agent. "You've analyzed the situation thoroughly, Mr. KK—nothing more for me to add.
"We know roughly where the gang operates, but they've kept the actual location of their upper echelon tightly under wraps. They're hyper-alert in the Net, and so far I've had no luck tracking them digitally. So that leaves only a physical strike.
"But to locate their leadership in meatspace and hit them before they escape, covertly, the Animals are useless. That's why I'm hiring your team."
"Understood," Karl nodded.
In simple terms: find the target, move in, neutralize them before they can run.
Easy enough.
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