"Funny… this place feels even creepier on the inside than it did outside."
Under the watchful stares of the Voodoo Boys defectors, Karl and Lied made their way step by step into the abandoned spa. Karl commented:
"Honestly, I don't really get this architectural style. Afterlife used to be a morgue, so being a bit spooky makes sense. But this was supposed to be a spa—and yet it's just as eerie. Doesn't staying in a place like this mess with your mental health?"
"Spa aesthetics are meant to promote calm. If this building had been completed and fully lit, it wouldn't look like this," Lied answered.
"Sure, unless it turned into Flower-Fruit Mountain from the Water Curtain Cave."
Karl referenced something obscure. Even for a seasoned agent like Lied, the name of that mystical mountain from a long chapter-based Chinese epic was too esoteric. He chose silence.
After spending time with Karl, Lied had picked up something that took others—like Kenichiro Kenichi—a long time to learn: when Karl says or does something incomprehensible, just let it go.
Karl, for his part, wasn't expecting a reply. He was just bored and venting. His gaze swept across the surveillance cameras now turning to follow him. He could feel someone watching from behind them.
Slidewire?
As they advanced deeper, Karl and Lied came upon a closed shutter door. Next to it, a glowing red camera lens stared at them.
"Seems like my men didn't even dare try to stop you."
A voice buzzed through an old transmission device from behind the door, distorted and rough:
"But hey, when KK himself shows up—even I might not have the guts to get in the way."
The voice crackled with that familiar magnetic distortion. Lied looked into the camera.
"Slidewire. Open the door. Since you know I'm here, you know we didn't come for nothing."
"Lied… shit. If you think I've missed you, you'd be wrong. The Intelligence Agency knocking on my door? That's never good news. And you brought KK? Guess I really don't have a choice."
The sigh—half resignation, half bitterness—was followed by the shutter slowly rising, revealing a space full of equipment. A clearer voice followed:
"Come in. I'm inside."
They had the invite. Time to move.
Karl stepped forward. A dozen paces later, he caught sight of Slidewire.
The man Lied had called the most skilled netrunner in Dogtown lay reclined in a custom-built hacking chair. His body was wired into the surrounding devices. His eyes, unfocused and pale, confirmed his blindness.
Sensing Karl and Lied's approach, the Black middle-aged man—Wilkie Laguerre—turned his head slightly.
"Well, well. The legendary KK in the flesh. Forgive me for not standing—I appreciate you not doing to my men what you did to Maman Brigitte. I'll need them around to look after this blind fool."
"I'm not a demon, after all."
Karl looked up at one of the surveillance cameras, knowing Slidewire could see him through the feed.
"Unless it's a mission or a Scav hunt, I don't go around starting trouble. Your guy should be thankful he only got hurt for trying something dumb."
"Heh. Learning the hard way's not a bad thing. At least he survived. That alone'll be brag-worthy for years. Not many can say they survived KK."
Slidewire was clearly being friendly—or at least pretending to be.
Everyone in the city knew that KK's crew had two certified psychopaths: one who killed when he was upset, and one who got upset unless he was killing. Getting the "mild" one today, the one who didn't kick down the door and hold a blade to his throat, was a blessing.
After chatting briefly with Karl, Slidewire—though blind—turned toward Lied. His tone became noticeably colder.
The Intelligence Agency could probably kill him easily, but he knew how they worked: if you still had value, they'd bleed it out of you before pulling the trigger. Lied showing up meant Slidewire still had value, so his attitude stayed loose.
"Alright, Lied. What's the gig this time? Let me guess—another fake promise, some vague favor, and once I'm no longer useful you blow my brains out, right? If that's the plan, just skip ahead to the cleanup."
"Say what you want. Less talk, more listening."
"Oh, I've helped plenty of your agents before. Know how most of them ended up? Let's not pretend."
He 'looked' in Karl's direction.
"But this time you've got KK on your side. That's promising. I doubt even you psychos would try anything with him around. Everyone in Night City knows KK's got connections—military tech, Arasaka, Kang Tao—you name it. Whole damn New USA passed, but the rest are still lining up. So yeah, maybe we can talk."
Without waiting for a reply, Slidewire's chair rotated slightly.
"So what is it? If the Agency's calling, it ain't easy. You want me to hack the Riot Control Division's mainframe? Take down a megacorp? Last I heard, your precious President wasn't getting along with Militech. You trying to drag me into that mess?"
"This time, it's not dogs fighting dogs."
Karl shot Lied a look, signaling him to present the goods.
"We've got a chip. Something we pulled off the Hellhounds. We need you to extract the data and send it out of Dogtown. Get it into the right hands in the city. Quietly. No trace. No heat."
"A little trinket from the Hellhounds, huh?" Slidewire muttered. "That explains it. Those mutts've been tearing the place apart like maniacs. Guess KK just helped the Agency pull off something big."
He thought for a second. "Alright, doable. But I'll need a proper access port and—"
BWAAAAAA—
A siren suddenly shrieked through the air.
"What the hell?!" Lied had his pistol out instantly.
Then he saw Slidewire's face.
The man's brown features were twisted in a grimace.
"Hellhounds followed you."
He scowled.
"You didn't clean up after yourselves."
Outside the spa, Slidewire's people were already clashing with the sudden arrival of Hellhounds forces who'd come knocking.
They didn't have the guts to fight KK—but local Dogtown goons? That was a different story.
They were ready for that.
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🔥🦾 CYBERPUNK: THE RELENTLESS 🦾🔥
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