In Night City's fixer circles, there was an unspoken rule: Never trust a merc who isn't greedy.
Dexter DeShawn knew it by heart. Greed wasn't a sin here—it was a measure of ambition. The more someone wanted, the more likely they were to actually get things done.
And Dex didn't deal with anyone who didn't want.
He was a legend among fixers, not because he was ruthless, though he was, but because he never walked blind into a deal. Every client. Every merc. He dug deep before shaking hands. He liked to know what kind of beast he was letting off the leash.
Militech's offer this time was too good to pass up. The payout was fat—so fat even he felt the pull. Which meant he needed pros, not street junkies.
He'd done his homework. V and Jackie Welles—new blood, rising fast. Dangerous. Efficient. He'd read every file, every whisper. He even knew the people around them—Evelyn, Judy, Lucy. The whole orbit.
And still… when V had stared him down and tripled the tension in the room with a single sentence—
"Ten times the pay. One-point-five million. Take it or leave it."
Even Dex had been stunned.
That was confidence.
But fine. If they wanted to play big, they'd pay big too.
On the holo-feed, Dex stubbed out his cigar, his face unreadable behind a haze of blue smoke.
"Mr. V," he said slowly, "I've just transferred five hundred thousand eddies to your account. Consider it a down payment. Check it."
His tone turned smooth again. "Pleasure doing business. I've got other matters to attend to, so I'll leave you to it. I look forward to your good news."
Then—click. The line went dead.
Neo glanced at his holo-screen. The number blinked in, bright and real:
500,000 eddies credited.
Jackie's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. "It's real... It's actually real. Half a mil just like that!"
Neo gave him a sidelong look. "Jackie. We're still in public. Try to look like you've seen this kind of money before."
Jackie straightened up instantly, grinning like a kid who'd just been caught with candy. "Right, right. Got it, got it. Classy merc vibes. Under control."
Evelyn Parker unplugged the datachip from the port in her neck, then turned toward Judy. "Judy, is the Braindance compiled?"
Judy rolled her chair back, chewing a piece of gum. "Yeah, compiled and cleaned up. Bit rough around the edges, but it'll run."
"That's fine," Evelyn said. "As long as we can dive in and get a clear look."
Neo clapped Jackie on the shoulder. Jackie knew the signal immediately and stepped forward. "Alright, let's do this."
"Lie down in the chair," Judy said. "I'll calibrate you."
Jackie stretched out on the reclined BD rig and slid the sensory wreath over his head. The neural lights began to pulse as Judy adjusted the feed from her console. Evelyn hovered nearby, arms folded, watching with that careful, calculating gaze.
"Relax, Jackie," Judy said. "You'll feel a slight pull. That's normal."
Jackie smirked. "You kidding? I've seen stuff way weirder than this, chica. I'll be fine. Hell, I've watched BDs before."
Judy shot him a side-eye. "Watched, yeah. But those are edited cuts. The market versions. They've been cleaned, encoded, safety-locked. You can't even sneeze out of rhythm in those."
She leaned closer, fingers flying across the keyboard. "A raw cut, though—that's a whole other beast. It's like stepping into someone's real memories. Full emotion, full sensory feedback. Nothing filtered."
Jackie blinked. "So... this is the director's cut?"
Judy chuckled. "More like the screaming inside someone's head cut. Try not to puke."
Evelyn tilted her head, watching V quietly. "You know, Mr. V, for someone as capable as you... I'm surprised you've never gone through a neural port mod. Not even the basic spinal interface. Don't you ever get curious? Braindance can be... quite a beautiful experience."
Neo smiled faintly. "Or maybe, Miss Parker, I just don't care to experience your definition of beautiful."
Evelyn's eyes widened slightly. "..."
That one hit hard enough to shut her up.
She sighed softly, turning her gaze back to the console. Judy was already syncing Jackie's emotional profile, tweaking neural pathways, balancing the pain/pleasure thresholds.
"Alright," Judy said finally. "We're in edit mode now. Jackie, you can move freely. Time's frozen, so explore as much as you want."
Jackie blinked. The moment the calibration locked in, the world shifted around him.
His vision filled with red light and static—then resolved into a grimy warehouse filled with steel crates and weapon racks.
"Whoa," he muttered. "So this is... Maelstrom territory?"
The scene was paused. He was standing in front of a heavily chromed Maelstrom ganger, face half-mechanical, tattoos flickering like glitching code.
"That's our guy," Judy said through the comm feed. "The one Evelyn recorded. Don't worry—you're safe. You're just the observer. You can move, zoom, and analyze."
Jackie started to explore the environment, learning the controls. The warehouse was crawling with Maelstrom freaks, their implants twitching with nervous energy. Guns, ammo, drugs, chrome—piles of it everywhere.
Even paused, the place radiated madness.
Judy explained, "Evelyn recorded this BD herself. She went undercover... as a doll."
Jackie's face twisted. "A what?"
"Sexbot," Judy said bluntly. "She used the session to get close to Maelstrom's main base. You're inside her recorded perspective right now."
Jackie's voice cracked. "Wait—so I'm seeing this through her eyes?" He paused, eyes widening behind the wreath. "...And feeling what she—oh. Oh no."
"Yep."
"Oh, hell no…" Jackie's breath hitched sharply. His hands death-gripped the chair arms. "This is so—ngh—that's not—oh god, why is he—"
But he kept going. Between gasps, involuntary hip shifts, and what could only be described as whimpers, he zoomed in, analyzed every angle, memorized the layout—the corridors, the weapon lockers, the guards' rotation. His jaw clenched so hard his teeth might crack. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple.
Focus. Corridors. Exit routes. Not the—Jesus Christ, is that all him?!
For one-point-five million eddies, he'd endure anything.
Outside the BD, Neo watched Jackie's face cycle through shock, horror, confusion, and something he'd never let Jackie live down. His friend's body jerked. His breathing turned ragged. His hips rolled once—involuntarily—and Neo had to physically turn away, hand clamped over his mouth, shoulders convulsing with silent, evil laughter.
Sorry, hermano. That's the price of intel.
Evelyn leaned against the wall, arms crossed, head tilted, watching Jackie with the satisfied smirk of someone who knew exactly what she'd inflicted on him. She didn't even try to hide it. Her eyes gleamed with pure, wicked amusement.
Judy spun lazily in her chair, one hand covering her grin, the other drumming the armrest. "Breathe, Jackie. You're doing great."
"I'm not—" Jackie's voice broke into a strangled gasp. His back arched slightly. "Dios mío—"
The room filled with the kind of silence that was loud.
When the feed finally, mercifully ended, Jackie ripped the wreath off like it had burned him, gasping, face the color of a stoplight, hair completely wrecked, pupils blown wide.
"MOTHERF…." He doubled over, hands on his knees, gulping air like a drowning man. "I swear, I was this close—this CLOSE—to completely losing my shit!"
He sat up, pointing a shaky finger at Evelyn. "You couldn't have picked a different BD?! Maybe one that didn't involve me nearly getting railed by a cyberpsycho?"
Neo was gone. Collapsed against the wall, tears streaming, barely able to breathe through his laughter. "Oh my god… your face…"
Judy covered her mouth with both hands, eyes sparkling. "Hey, you only moaned twice. That's actually impressive."
Jackie's head whipped toward her. "I DID NOT—" He stopped. Reconsidered. His shoulders sagged. "...Okay, maybe. But that doesn't count! That was all her—not me!"
"Sure, choom." Neo wheezed, wiping his eyes. "Whatever you need to tell yourself."
Jackie adjusted his pants—very subtly, but not subtly enough—and ran both hands through his hair, still breathing hard. "Jesus. I need a shower. A cold one. And possibly a priest."
He slumped back in the chair, face still flushed, avoiding everyone's eyes. "For one and a half million eddies..." He exhaled shakily. "...screw it. Worth it."
Evelyn's smirk turned absolutely sinful. She pushed off the wall, walking past him slowly. "Glad you enjoyed the ride, Jackie."
Jackie pointed at her without looking, voice hoarse. "Don't. Don't you dare."
She paused at the door, glancing back over her shoulder. "You lasted longer than most, if that helps."
"OUT."