The Biotechnica meeting ended without any solid answers. The colleagues from the Northwest Pacific branch didn't claim this "Daivo Collins" as one of theirs.
Of course, the lab geeks growing fungi back at HQ were practically drooling over this Daivo Collins, begging for samples if Night City managed to nab him. Even the European branch was buzzing with interest. The guy wasn't even caught yet, his origins were a total mystery, but samples were already being pre-ordered left and right.
"Whatever. First, we gotta figure out how to catch this Daivo Collins," said Valentini, the guy in charge.
That was the meeting's big conclusion, but deep down, Valentini and the others weren't holding their breath. Biotechnica, a European company headquartered in Rome, didn't have the manpower in Night City—or anywhere in New America, for that matter—to compete with the big dogs.
Now that word about Daivo Collins was out, other kaisha (corporations) were bound to get curious and stick their noses in. Biotechnica had no edge here. Worse, Valentini had a sinking feeling that not only would they fail to catch this guy, but Daivo Collins might paint a target on their backs for other companies to exploit.
"Who the hell is behind this?!" Valentini fumed, racking his brain. Funnily enough, his first guess was his own company—talk about paranoia.
"Done."
In an old hideout in Watson District, Old Vic finished the surgery, packing away his tools with practiced ease.
"Thanks, Vic. You're a lifesaver," Riku said, rolling his shoulders to test the new setup. His gigan (cybernetic eyes) were the same old Kiritsu model, but Vic had scrubbed any backdoors clean.
"I'd suggest you get outta Night City for a bit. Find a quiet spot to lay low. This mess is gonna stir up trouble for a while," Vic said, his voice calm but carrying the weight of someone who'd seen it all.
"Give it some time, and the kaisha will shift their focus from you to Biotechnica. By then, Biotechnica will be too busy to care about you."
Vic nailed the crux of it. For other companies, snagging a runaway test subject like Riku was a nice bonus. But if they couldn't catch him, Biotechnica was still right there—a sitting duck. If anyone wanted this tech bad enough, they'd just raid Biotechnica's labs instead.
Of course, Biotechnica wasn't some pushover. Their labs were locked down tighter than a Night Corp data fortress. Breaching them would be a show worth watching.
"Got it," Riku said, nodding. Vic's explanation made it crystal clear.
Biotechnica's kaisha-inu (corporate dogs) were in for a rough time, especially since they didn't even have the tech they were being blamed for.
"Once the heat dies down, you can come back. If you wanna play it safe, swap out your face, tweak your build," Vic suggested, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
For an underground gitai doc like Vic, changing faces or body types was just another Tuesday. Night City had a short memory—hot topics came and went, and kaisha-inu didn't waste resources on low-profit hunts. If they couldn't find Riku after a while, they'd write him off as dead or snatched by a rival kaisha.
"Here, Vic. Pass these chips to V and Jack," Riku said, handing over two kokyū-hō (Breathing Technique) chips. He'd already messaged V and Jack, letting them know he was safe and had left them something.
"No problem," Vic replied, pocketing the chips without asking questions.
"Catch ya later, Vic. I'll be back," Riku said with a grin, giving a casual wave as he prepared to make his exit like some shonen hero.
"Yeah, you better. That's 12,000 eddies you owe me," Vic said matter-of-factly, nodding.
The subdermal armor for the upper body got a discount, but the Kiritsu gigan work wasn't free. Vic's words stopped Riku in his tracks, his cool-guy vibe crumbling into awkwardness. He'd totally forgotten about the bill.
"Uh, can I pay you back when I'm back?" Riku asked, scratching his head. He wasn't trying to mooch off Vic, but he wasn't sure if transferring eddies via chip would get him tracked. Cash was still king for staying off the grid.
"No rush. You'll need cash outside the city anyway," Vic said, unfazed. He wasn't worried about Riku skipping out on the tab. With Riku's gitai-enhanced body, short of getting obliterated by a high-caliber round, nothing was taking him down.
"You can use the chip's eddies no problem. I checked the ID Priest set up for you—it's clean. Your identity and bank account don't link up," Vic added, reading Riku's concern.
The chip was from Vic, and the fake ID came from Priest—two old-school saibō rongu (cyber-ronin) who knew better than to slip up on something so basic.
"No way… so this Daivo Collins thing has nothing to do with me?" Riku said, half-laughing. Besides borrowing the name, there wasn't a single trace leading back to him.
The saibō rongu weren't amateurs. They had ways to cover their tracks in a city where kaisha could sniff out anything.
"You think eddies disappear that easily? Nobody'd run this game if they did," Vic said with a chuckle, shaking his head. Big transactions were safer with cash, sure, but chūkanin (fixers) also acted as a buffer, protecting both saibō rongu and clients.
Unlike kaisha-inu, whose lives were owned by the corporations, saibō rongu didn't sign contracts or leave paper trails. It was all about reputation and skill—cred was as vital as strength on the streets.
"Thanks, Vic," Riku said again, genuinely grateful. Having a legend like Vic in your corner was like having a senpai straight out of a shonen anime—pure gold.
Vic just waved him off, slinging his bag and leaving with a cool, effortless swagger. Riku didn't stick around either, slipping out of Vic's secret base.
But Riku wasn't planning to skip town. He had a better way to disappear—one that no kaisha-inu could track, even if they turned Night City or this whole world upside down.
In a deserted alley, Riku pulled up the Kyokugen System interface, staring at the glowing words: [Start Traverse].
He wasn't keen on heading back to the Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) world. Hunting oni (demons) was a slog, and playing nice with the Demon Slayer Corps felt like a tiresome shonen arc. Plus, he'd already snagged the best abilities from both sides—there wasn't much left to gain there. A new world sounded like a better bet.
"Maybe it's time for a new adventure," Riku decided. His survival skills were solid now. As long as the world wasn't too yabai (insane), he'd be fine.
With a flash, Riku's body vanished from the alley. The world around him shifted, but not as much as he'd expected. He was still in an alley, but the cityscape beyond was different—no longer Night City's neon sprawl. The high-rises had a distinct vibe, more like Tokyo than Night City.
[Traverse Complete]
[Current World: Tokyo Ghoul]
The system's prompt popped up, and Riku's mouth twitched. "Well, damn. The gourmet anime, huh?"
(End of Chapter)