Once their identities were set, disguising themselves wasn't too difficult. Except for V, who agonized over the choice and ultimately settled on a loose, unisex outfit, the rest of the team easily slipped into the roles of Maine's crew. Even Oliver, who was posing as Pilar with his cybernetic arm, simply attached a prosthetic device over his own hand.
Karl's squad and Maine's were already familiar with each other's appearances and gear, which helped tremendously. Without that familiarity, their impersonations might have had flaws. But with the disguises complete, unless someone knew Maine's crew personally, it would be almost impossible to notice any discrepancies.
Since the Voodoo Boys were known to use hacking to vet mercenaries ahead of time, Karl had Andy and the others alter their movement records in the NCPD database. Unless the Voodoo Boys managed to break into NCPD's systems and inspect the change logs, the only thing they'd see was that Maine's crew had recently completed a job and were currently idle—perfectly aligning with the ruse.
Of course, if the Voodoo Boys did go digging through the NCPD database in detail, Karl's crew might not even need to intervene.
The reason was simple:
Thanks to inside connections at the NCPD, Mr. Johnson had used his clearance to hide Karl's team's records by embedding them within the MaxTac candidate pool. In other words, if the Voodoo Boys dug too deep, they'd end up snooping around MaxTac's database.
And in Night City, there might be lunatics brave enough to take on MaxTac—but the Voodoo Boys weren't among them.
Those cyberpsycho-hunters don't give a damn about collateral damage. Piss them off, and they'll purge entire neighborhoods without hesitation. Cyberpsychos don't care about who's "innocent."
The MaxTac stage is always open—if you've got the guts, step up.
With their background scrubbed clean, Karl's squad only had one hurdle left:
How to get the Voodoo Boys to actually hire them.
Even to become one of their so-called "doormats," you needed a way in.
"If we're gonna do this," Karl said, "we need someone with connections who can keep things quiet. Someone who can introduce us to the Voodoo Boys. What about Hands? Or Dexter DeShawn?"
"DeShawn's the guy who botched a job with the Voodoo Boys and had to flee Night City," V replied. "We even ran a gig helping him get out. He's not gonna want to risk that again. He used to be the go-to fixer for Pacifica, but Hands is more relevant now. Let's go with Hands."
"Yeah, fair point."
Trying to use a fixer who had already screwed the Voodoo Boys was asking for trouble.
But if they were going to approach Mr. Hands...
Karl thought about his sharp mind—he was a former corpo, after all. Not the kind of guy you could fool easily.
With a brain like that, figuring out KK squad's real goal wouldn't be hard.
But that was fine.
"Mr. Hands," Karl said over the phone, "I imagine you'd be interested in the turf the Voodoo Boys will be leaving behind in Pacifica."
"That Haitian enclave with nothing worth milking? Hmm... but since it's you saying it, Karl, I'm listening."
Mr. Hands' voice was as calm and composed as ever, like nothing could phase him. But Karl could tell he was intrigued.
These street fixers weren't idiots. Even when they were interested, they always started by pretending otherwise—standard negotiation tactic.
Karl didn't care. He explained his request plainly.
"So, you want to pose as Maine's crew, and you want me to connect you to the Voodoo Boys so you can take a job from them?"
"Exactly."
"Heh."
A low chuckle came from the other end of the line.
"Maman Brigitte isn't exactly easy to deal with. If this op leaks, I'm the one they'll come for. KK, you're putting me in a tight spot."
"There won't be any Voodoo Boys left."
Karl said it so flatly that Hands' next sentence—undoubtedly intended to drive up the price—died in his throat.
"If any of them survive after this job, I'll finish the cleanup myself."
NetWatch had hired them to take out the leadership. What happened to the rest was up to KK squad.
The Voodoo Boys had, at most, 50 to 250 full members.
Not a large number.
Wiping them out entirely wouldn't be hard.
Mayor Lucius Rhyne might've abandoned Pacifica, but plenty of ambitious people had their eyes on it. Even the NCPD saw it as a good place to base covert units and stash sensitive gear.
In that context, the Voodoo Boys were like maggots festering in an open wound. You clear the infection before patching the flesh.
Karl didn't mind being the scalpel.
Hands went quiet for a long while.
He clearly hadn't expected Karl to say something like that. But…
Maybe that was exactly the kind of thing KK should be saying.
"Then I suppose I don't have a reason to say no," Hands finally replied, regaining his usual composure. "I'll arrange the meeting. Clearing out the Voodoo Boys would be good for business. But..."
There was a condition.
"I want every Voodoo Boy who knows I was the middleman dead."
Clearly, Mr. Hands cared about his reputation.
Karl's reply was simple:
"You have my word."
Mr. Hands worked quickly. That same evening, Karl got the message.
"You're in luck. I was thinking of stirring up some trouble for the Voodoo Boys to push them into hiring outsiders. Turns out they already have a job that needs a doormat. I recommended you. Tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m., Serenity Bible Church on Sloane Street. Their contact will be waiting."
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🔥 Cyberpunk: The Relentless
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