Berry's car was hidden in a nearby dilapidated alley. Listening to the faint sound of waves crashing, she could see the towering Konpeki Plaza through the car window. If she floored the accelerator, she could crash into it in less than twenty seconds—the car's front end had been specially reinforced, typically used by gangs to ram through bulletproof shop windows.
"Berry, are you there?" Berry tapped her fingers nervously on the steering wheel, waiting anxiously, when V's voice suddenly came through the headset.
"Yes, is there a problem?" Berry immediately replied. But why was V suddenly contacting her? Had something unexpected gone wrong with the plan? Worrying, Berry's nerves instantly tightened.
"No, it's just... Jackie seems a little off. How should I put it, he's acting strangely today." V's expression in the video feed was very worried, both about the current job and about her good friend Jackie.
"It's fine, I'm here." Hearing it was about Jackie, Berry breathed a slight sigh of relief, feeling less tense, as this was a situation that appeared in the original storyline and was within her planning.
"Relax, with me here, you can bail out anytime. No problem!" Berry guaranteed confidently again. She had prepared for this mission for too long. Unless ten Hammersmiths suddenly appeared, she could save the lives of these two reckless guys.
"Alright, then..." V hung up the call, but her brow remained furrowed. Berry's words gave her a strange sense of familiarity. The tone was indeed Berry's, but why did it feel like she had heard it elsewhere?
Ignoring V's confusion, Berry relaxed her mind in the car.
Now, at this critical juncture, she had actually started to calm down slowly.
Perhaps it was because the plan had been rehearsed many times. After calming down, Berry reaffirmed her belief: she absolutely had to get her hands on the relic chip.
"Kon'nichiwa, welcome to Konpeki Plaza."
The three who passed security came to the front desk to check in. As they approached, the receptionist, a hostess whose entire metal skin was covered in gold lacquer, immediately bowed and greeted them in heavily accented Japanese.
"We'd like to check in." V stepped forward to deal with her.
"Certainly, no problem. Please wait a moment." The hostess bowed slightly again; the cold commercial courtesy was impeccable.
"May I ask the name under which the reservation was made...?"
"Victorino." Jackie read out the fake name.
"One king-size bed, three adults... one night. Is that correct?" When she mentioned one king-size bed and three adults, the hostess glanced at the two large figures flanking the comparatively petite V in the middle, and her tone was hesitant.
"Yes, that's right!" In response to the other party's hesitation, V crossed her arms and glared back.
"Very well... I will notify Takigawa-san that the three of you have arrived now. Please wait a moment."
"Shit, no, that will mess up the plan. Stop her, V, stall her!" BUG's urgent voice suddenly came through the encrypted channel.
"Don't bother notifying him." V immediately stopped the hostess who was raising her hand to make a call. "We'll go back to the room to freshen up first, and then we'll find him ourselves later."
"But, isn't Takigawa-san waiting for you? Isn't he...?" The hostess was hesitant about this breach of protocol.
"Ma'am, do you know how long we've been traveling? We came from New Barossa—eighteen hours!" Jackie stepped in to help. His words drew the hostess's attention to him.
"Plus, at the Meta Port terminal, some Cyberpsycho blew himself into pieces, which caused a long delay..." Jackie said, glancing at V, signaling her to quickly jump in.
"Yes, it was terrifying..." V quickly chimed in.
As for Arnold, Arnold remained silent.
"Of course, I understand." It seemed the hostess was convinced. "Your room has been prepared. It is the Lapis Lazuli Suite on the forty-second floor."
"Oh, there's one small formality... Please verify your SID Chip."
"You handle that, Harry." Jackie turned and signaled.
Seeing the issue resolved, a weight lifted from V's heart, and she confidently stepped forward.
After all, Dexter DeShawn was resourceful. All the necessary forged credentials and material information for the two of them had been completely authorized. Even if they genuinely met with Takigawa-san and finalized the deal, there would be no problem.
"New Barcelona? Really?" BUG's voice came over the channel.
"That's called improvising—you should try it sometime."
After verifying the information, the trio stepped up the stairs and walked into the magnificent hall.
"What do you think, 'Harry'?" Jackie suddenly used V's fake name.
"Hmm?" V almost didn't realize Jackie was calling them.
"Classy, comfortable. Definitely more comfortable than the hotel we stayed at when we had that meeting in Zurich." Jackie was clearly getting carried away with the role-playing.
"Stop joking, Jackie. That's enough." Hearing Jackie start to get carried away again, BUG stepped in to pour cold water on him.
"What? I'm being serious!" Jackie pouted carelessly.
On the way to the elevator, the trio passed the lobby bar area. The hostesses who were constantly smiling warmly and the wine bottles wrapped in gold lacquer immediately caught Jackie's attention.
"I can bring Misty here someday. After we, hmm... finish this job." Jackie peered over while walking, shaking his head regretfully.
It seemed this guy Jackie really loved money.
Berry, controlling Arnold, clearly saw the envy on Jackie's face.
Maybe it wasn't money he loved, but this exquisite, comfortable, and peaceful life, rather than spending every day in a hail of bullets. Between the two, who would willingly choose the latter?
But 99.99% of Night City's population didn't have a choice; they were born into the second option—a hellish start. Now, the chance to make a name for himself was right in front of Jackie, so his excitement was understandable.
But Jackie, how many times have you raised this flag? If the game's mission progression was set up like this and you still didn't die, it wouldn't be fair to all those flags you raised earlier.
Arnold shook his head and looked toward the bar area inside.
He remembered there was an Easter egg character inside: Hideo Kojima was still there, being interviewed.
Hideo Kojima, you're not even at the studio; you're Death Stranding.
"Don't worry, it'll happen eventually. For now, let's focus on the job," V advised Jackie. Jackie nodded, looking slightly regretful, and the trio walked toward the elevator together.
"How about this? We're suit guys now, haha. Am I handsome?" Once inside the elevator, Jackie adjusted his tie, admiring himself in the reflective elevator wall.
"Mm, not bad. You look quite presentable." Seeing Jackie like this, V crossed her arms and smiled helplessly.
"Oh yeah? And you don't look presentable when you wear one?" But Jackie clearly lacked self-awareness and felt V wasn't acknowledging reality.
But if Berry were to judge, both of them were six of one, half a dozen of the other. Jackie in a suit looked like a bar bouncer, and V in a suit looked like a corporate operative or thug. Neither resembled the type of business elite who casually dealt in millions.
"I'm telling you, Jackie, the suit looks good, but you need to change that hairstyle."
Berry looked at Jackie's Samurai Topknot-like hairstyle and felt speechless. He should at least get golden, curly hair like Superman to shed his street vibe.
"Hmm, yeah, I'll definitely check out a barbershop when I get the chance." Listening to Arnold, Jackie touched his hair, seemingly agreeing that it didn't match the suit, and nodded sheepishly.
As they talked, the elevator arrived. The three stepped out, walked through the corridor where the floor and walls reflected light, opened the door to their reserved room, and went inside.
"Alright, we're here. Lapis Lazuli Suite," Jackie said admiringly, placing the flathead's box on the table. "This is really stylish. Too bad we can't stay the night. Good eye, BUG."
"I didn't choose it for style. This is the quickest way to the network administrator and the servers."
"Yes, yes, I remember," Jackie said, shrugging helplessly.
"Now, open the flathead and find the entrance to the ventilation shaft."
"Sounds easy enough." V nodded.
"Sometimes... the simpler it is, the trickier it gets," BUG stated calmly.
"Who said that this time? Aurelius? Or Aristotle?" Jackie joked, opening the flathead's box.
"Thank you for the compliment; I said that."
"Where is the vent?" While the two were talking, V was already scanning the room, trying to find the ventilation shaft BUG had mentioned.
"Activate your scan and look around." Seeing that they were back to business, BUG immediately became serious.
"Found it." V activated the Kiroshi Optical Scanner System, and with the aid of the Kiroshi Model 3 cutting-edge technology, quickly located the ventilation shaft.
"Good. Jackie, how's the flathead doing?"
"All set."
Jackie had also finished calibrating the spider-like flathead.
A clattering sound rang out. After the switch was flipped, the flathead seemed to come alive, moving its eight flexible mechanical legs to climb down the desk, opening the ventilation shaft cover, and drilling into the pipe.
"Mieda (Damn it), this piece of junk is stuck." But shortly after, Jackie suddenly cursed.
"V, don't just watch, switch to manual control." BUG reminded V through the channel. "Take the control chip, connect your Militech System to the probe, and you'll be able to guide the robot."
Watching the two busy themselves as if following a script, Arno turned and lay down on the sofa.
Arno had no Hacker components installed in his system, so he couldn't help at all right now. He was here for only one purpose: to carve a bloody path through Konpeki Plaza later.
V controlled the flathead through several rooms, witnessing a daydreaming maid and Mayor Holt conducting political negotiations with the Arasaka Corporation, finally reaching Konpeki Plaza's server room.
Lying on the Hacker chair was the core of Konpeki Plaza's defense system—a Hacker whose head was filled with wires, his consciousness residing in the network world.
The flathead drilled out of the pipe, moving its limbs flexibly like a Facehugger, and finally jumped onto the Hacker's face, inserting a wire into the terminal. The Hacker, completely unaware of the outside world, was instantly taken out.
"Wow! He's solved! This robot is incredible!" The plan succeeded, and even the usually indifferent BUG couldn't help but exclaim.
With the Hacker's defenses gone, BUG began infiltrating Konpeki Plaza's main network through the flathead. V exited the control.
"Listen up, the ICE is thicker than I thought. It will take a few hours to get through. You guys rest up and enjoy your handsome suits."
BUG dropped this line and got busy infiltrating the hotel's main network. The two exchanged glances and could only shrug helplessly.
Good, everything was proceeding according to plan. Berry, who was in the car, sighed in relief.
No problem, as long as they held firm, they would find a way.
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