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I stepped into the Afterlife with Lucy walking beside me. Becca, meanwhile, was once again cloaked by the spell and accompanied Lucy and me invisibly. Only this time, the bar was packed with patrons, and I could say with ninety percent certainty that they weren't plants. At least, Judy and Kiwi had selectively checked the patrons and their routes while I was flying here on Delamain.
"Claire…"
I nodded at the girl, and she smirked, returning the nod.
"Rogue's waiting for you already, and so is her guest."
"Right…"
I nodded, but at the same time, I winced, as if I'd swallowed a lemon. Well, it was understandable—meeting a representative of Arasaka when I had just zeroed Yorinobu and Smasher...
It was insane!
"Go on, already... you know the Queen doesn't like to wait."
"I know…"
I sighed and headed towards the private booth with high-level security, where Rogue and her guest were located.
"Ah, Quiet…"
As soon as I entered the booth, Rogue turned her attention to me, and to my companion, though slightly later.
"…Snowflake, allow me to introduce my guest, who expressed an ENORMOUS…"
There was a sea of sarcasm in Rogue's voice, which made the familiar Japanese man in the white suit frown and try to burn a hole through her with his gaze, but she couldn't care less.
"…desire to meet you, Hanako Arasaka and her silent companion."
"Yeah... I'm familiar with this Japanese guy—Goro, I think—and I've had the honor of communicating with Hanako, albeit through a Proxy. Honestly, though, I don't know why we need to meet?"
"Perhaps this time you will want to listen…"
"Takemura…"
Hanako interrupted the Japanese man's impassioned speech with a single word.
"My apologies, Madam."
He bowed his head, dropping his gaze to the floor.
"However, despite Takemura being overly emotional, he wanted to convey the right message. Perhaps this time, you will still decide to listen to me, especially since you haven't solved your problem, but merely postponed it."
I shrugged.
"If you're talking about the Board of Directors…"
"Those self-indulgent old men have nothing to do with this. I'm talking about Yorinobu and Smasher."
And this is where I frowned.
"My brother, and almost no one knows this, left for Japan, the head office, after becoming the new director of Arasaka. And a Proxy was sent back from there—a Proxy that had several operations to make him look exactly like my brother."
"Blya…"
"Watch your language…"
"Takemura…"
"My apologies…"
And another bow from the Japanese man.
"So, you killed a Proxy. Yes, my brother was affected by it, but he'll recover in a month and a new Proxy will appear, through which he will begin to manage the corporation and try to take revenge on you. And his toady Smasher will be only too happy to help... Although he might try to take revenge sooner, since all he needs to do is upload his personality into a new platform."
I sighed.
"I guessed as much, but what do you want from me?"
"Kill my brother and Smasher…"
"Mda... I didn't expect that."
Rogue shook her head in surprise, looking at Hanako with a completely different expression. I, however, wasn't surprised in the least; she had already wanted this from me, and the answer hadn't changed since then.
"No."
"May I ask why?"
"Because there's no point in me getting involved in all that…"
"But my brother…"
"He still has to find me. Or do you really think I'm going to sit in Night City the whole time?"
"And you'll hide for the rest of your life?"
I sighed and shook my head.
"Why? Little is known about my identity. Although I admit, Arasaka specialists earn their keep, and there is data about me in your databases, a small operation and new documents will solve that problem. So why should I humor you now and kill Yorinobu?"
It's not that I was entirely against such a step, but I really didn't want to be manipulated by Hanako, who most likely intentionally leaked the info about me to her brother. So it was easier for me to pretend to be a coward who decided to run from 'righteous' revenge.
"And you're fine with that?"
Hanako decided to change the direction of her persuasion and looked at Lucy.
"In what sense?"
But upon saying this aloud, Lucy switched to our internal comms, to which all the girls were connected. They were watching the proceedings, though they remained silent so as not to interfere...
She seriously hopes I'll answer something like, 'No, I'm not fine with that, I accept the gig?'
A spoiled corporate daughter. She's just not used to being told no... Ciri was the same way once... until she hung out with the Witchers for a couple of months. At least according to Vesemir, because I met her a little later, and by then, she already knew the world didn't revolve around her.
Triss spoke in a slightly thoughtful voice, making it clear she was a little lost in her memories, but the reality hadn't disappeared...
"In the sense that you're really fine with being next to a person like this?"
Hanako tried to apply subtle pressure to Lucy.
"Like what?"
Lucy was still pretending not to understand what was being talked about.
"A coward."
Well, Goro is Goro. He spoke his mind bluntly, but this time, although Hanako shot him a displeased look, she didn't verbally rebuke him.
"Mda? And you want me to work for you? For a corporation that performs inhumane experiments on children?"
"Arasaka does not do that!"
Hanako even half-stood up from her seat.
"Seriously? You're telling me that?"
Hanako blinked in surprise.
"Should I remind you—though you're a pampered princess, you probably haven't even heard about this—how your corporation kidnapped children with signs of genius? They were between ten and twelve years old, and after a brief training and the installation of experimental chrome, they were sent for deep immersion into the pre-Net."
"What?"
Hanako slowly sank back into her seat.
"And do you know how terrifying it is when, from a huge group of kids, fewer and fewer of your comrades return from the pre-Net every day, and the 'adults'…"
Lucy emphasized the word with an extremely sarcastic tone, making it instantly clear how she felt about these adults.
"…aunts and uncles don't even say a word to you, only taking readings? When your only friend becomes a robot vacuum cleaner that you hack and reprogram, trying to give it the mannerisms of a dog?"
"That cannot be…"
"It cannot?"
Lucy sneered sarcastically.
"So my childhood in the dungeons of your corporation is a fabrication?"
Hanako couldn't stand Lucy's hateful gaze and looked away.
"You! How dare you blame Madam Hanako for all this!"
"Shut it."
One word from me, plus a hand gesture I performed under the table, and Goro hit an invisible wall. Ugh, I really love Axii; it's so convenient. Right now, Goro simply didn't understand why he fell silent, but he wouldn't be able to say anything for a few more seconds.
"You are nobody here. Furniture that should stand in the corner and keep quiet. I'm already not thrilled that Rogue used our good relations to convince me of the necessity of this meeting. And then someone like you butts in and tries to throw his weight around…"
I shook my head.
"Hanako is part of the Arasaka clan; she inherently had power in the corporation."
I looked at the girl.
"I didn't have power and was more of a mascot position in the corporation…"
"Then it's your own fault. Your brother had power, and after your father's death, he managed to seize it. Not completely, but he managed it. And what can you do? You yourself said that you had nothing until very recently, and now everything has changed? You suddenly gained power in the corporation? Or are you hoping that by coming to the shareholders' meeting, you'll give a charming blink and a shy smile, and they'll hand over all the power they have, which they'll take from your brother's corpse?"
"I have support…"
"Ah, so you decided to become a puppet?"
"How dare you!"
"Takemura…"
"I've tolerated this for too long! He shows you not an ounce of respect!"
"Goro, respect must be earned, and sitting in front of me is a girl who spent her entire life in a golden cage and never even tried to climb out. She would still be happily sitting in it now, pretending her father was an angel in the flesh and her brother was just slightly led astray. It's just the knowledge that Yorinobu killed Saburo that forces her to stick her nose out of that cage."
Hanako lowered her head and stared at the floor.
"Furthermore, even with such a strong reason as avenging her father, this girl isn't even thinking about seizing power for herself. She's already handed her life over to others and is ready to climb back into the cage."
I gave a sarcastic smirk.
"I wouldn't even be surprised if now she'll have to spread her legs, too…"
"You!"
Goro lunged towards me, but activating the Sandy, I easily twisted him up and pinned him to the floor.
"Quiet, you're going too far…"
Rogue was displeased. She was clearly hoping for a different outcome to this conversation. But what was she hoping for—that I'd agree with a foolish smile to work for this puppet?
"Not at all, Rogue. I'm just showing that she could have done something, but she didn't want to. She was completely satisfied with her life, but that life was built on the privileges her father extracted from the corporation. Which means she is also guilty of Arasaka experimenting on children. And even when given the slightest chance to change something, she immediately gave it up. So why should I work with a puppet who can't decide anything anyway?"
"Tch…"
Goro twitched harder in my grip, but he still couldn't move.
"I understand your point of view. Are you declining the job?"
"Yup…"
I nodded nonchalantly.
"Then you are free to go."
I smirked and looked at Lucy, whose eyes glowed, and a second later, the Japanese man in my hands twitched a couple of times and went still.
"How long?"
"Five minutes…"
After that, I turned my gaze back to Hanako.
"Your dog will wake up in five minutes, and yeah, if this is indeed your dog, you need to train him better. If he hadn't let his emotions get the better of him like that, maybe I would have at least tried to smooth things over, saying everything I said more…"
I snapped my fingers a couple of times.
"…diplomatically."
Lucy and I left, and Becca followed right behind us; we never needed her services. But the fact that they immediately began streaming what was happening in the booth after our departure pleased me, and I kept one eye on the external world.
"That didn't go quite according to plan…"
Rogue thoughtfully pulled out a pack of cigarettes, took one, lit it, and then leaned back on the couch she was sitting on. She took a long, slow drag and exhaled the smoke toward the ceiling.
"Yes... I didn't expect that even after the aggression from my brother and Smasher, Quiet would refuse a job from me."
Hanako sighed softly.
"Well... even though he was too sharp, I have to admit that if you look at the situation from his point of view, it really doesn't look very... appealing…"
Rogue struggled to find the right words.
"Mda... and your bodyguard made things worse by provoking him when there was still a chance to change his mind."
"Were those chances ever there? I got the impression that he came here not to take a job, and only showed up at all because of you."
Rogue shrugged at Hanako's words.
"Still, we need him…"
"Yes, you're right. If you want to return to your quiet life, and I want to stop worrying about mine, we need Quiet. But how do we convince him to take this job? Now he'll refuse to take a job from me, too, because he'll understand that it's coming from you."
"Maybe we should start with something simpler?"
"Hmm?"
"Have him get rid of the obvious threat, Smasher... His base is currently located in Night City, specifically in the docks, aboard the ship Ebony. That's where his base is, where that Borg will be recovering. A new body will be delivered there in about a week, plus a couple more days for the personality upload, and then that bastard will start looking for how he died. Fortunately, as far as I know, he doesn't maintain constant contact with the servers where the saved personality copy is stored…"
"How often does he make copies?"
"As far as I know, he should do it every day, but according to the same reports, he has long neglected such measures and only makes copies before major jobs, or once a month. But if you're hoping he'll forget something… you can forget about it."
"He made a copy, didn't he?"
Rogue gave a sad, wry smile.
"No, but he keeps an electronic diary from which he will definitely learn about Yorinobu's plans to get to you and Quiet, and by correlating the dates…"
"Where did you get that information?"
"His assistant... he's leaking info to us. Or rather, he's leaking it to the person who offered me their patronage."
"I see... so the immediate plan is to deal with Smasher…"
Rogue frowned.
"Are you prepared to overpay?"
"Hmm?"
"Well, I wouldn't take a commission, and I would even invest my own eddies in paying for the job if I hadn't failed to convince Quiet to work for the idea of security... However, working for free didn't work out, and he won't work with me in this capacity now. But with another fixer…"
"Do you have someone in mind?"
Hanako looked interested.
"Yes…"
"And how much might she charge for such a task?"
"A lot…"
Rogue sighed, and then her eyes lit up, and five minutes later, she sighed heavily again.
"Blya…"
"What?"
"She refused to simply take a job for a specific solo. So she got the details from me and said…"
At that moment, I got a call.
"Lucy…"
We were already outside, waiting for Delamain, so I was talking to her on the internal comms.
"…keep watching, and I'll talk to Reggie for a bit."
"Okay…"
After that, I answered the call.
"Regina…"
"Hey, Quiet."
"Hmm... so you're calling about business…"
I let out a dramatic sigh.
"Yeah, I'm calling about business."
"Want me to guess what it is?"
"Surprise me!"
"Well, you've been given a contract on Smasher and Yorinobu, and they asked you to pass the job specifically to me. Most likely either Hanako Arasaka or Rogue…"
"Hmm... the latter. It was Rogue, but the contract was only for Smasher... Wait, are you saying she already offered this to you?"
"She set up a meeting with the Arasaka girl, where they tried to pitch me on taking the job, and judging by how they tried to do it, they wanted me to do it for free."
"I see... So you're turning it down?"
"Listen... what do you think yourself, is it worth it?"
"Hmm?"
"Well, I actually need some advice…"
I explained the situation to Regina, after which she was silent in thought for about ten minutes. Just when I thought she wasn't going to give me any advice, she finally replied.
"You know, Smasher should definitely be dealt with, but Yorinobu should be left alone... so I would take the job on that Borg, if I were you."
"Well, if you say so…"
I nodded a couple of times and, watching the AV descend to the ground, climbed inside right after the girls.
"Just fleece those schemers for a lot of scratch."
"Good... you don't have to worry about that…"
Regina smirked, and the connection broke off...
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