A dark and windy night.
The kind of night Night City was built for.
Inside the silent factory perimeter, only the faint hum of old wiring could be heard.
Then—
[Beep… beep… Hello everyone. I'm the hacker Dr. Vale hired. I'm connected to your neural interfaces now. I'll provide intel and network support during the operation.]
Bain instinctively turned toward Arthur Vale.
Arthur gave a small nod.
Bain exhaled slowly. With a netrunner supporting them, the odds shifted heavily in their favor.
The girl's voice continued in their minds.
[I've breached the Scavengers' internal network and set up remote access protocols. Some rooms don't have cameras, so I can't see everything, but I've linked into their local subnet and can track active connections.]
A structural map of the factory instantly appeared in Arthur's vision.
Enemy markers lit up in red.
[Total network signatures: twenty. Basement leftmost room—operating theater. Four Scavengers active.]
[Surface level, rightmost hall—twelve individuals using Black Dream braindance.]
[Small room far left—monitoring station. One operator. Neutralize him first.]
[Remaining three moving separately in other sections. Sending images and location pings now. Be ready for sudden contact.]
Arthur scanned the layout.
Clean.
Precise.
Professional.
He sent a quick message back.
[Excellent work. Your skills are impressive. This just became much easier.]
On a rooftop across the street, the hacker girl smiled shyly, brushing windblown hair from her face.
Her name was Sasha Yakovlevova.
Her deep-blue cybernetic eye glowed faintly in the night.
[Hehe… My name's Sasha. You can call me Sasha, Dr. Vale. I'm new in Night City. If you've got more work in the future… remember me.]
Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly.
New in Night City.
That meant she hadn't joined Maine's crew yet.
Interesting.
[No problem.]
Below, Bain and the eight team members crouched near the factory gate.
Thanks to Sasha, all exterior surveillance cameras were offline.
Arthur lifted his hand slightly.
Bain saw the signal immediately.
He inhaled deeply.
"Move."
Within seconds, Sasha injected deeper access into the factory's internal system.
Mechanical doors unlocked silently.
Motion sensors went dark.
Monitoring systems shut down one by one.
Bain burst forward.
In just three seconds, he crossed the open yard and reached the small monitoring room on the left.
The door creaked slightly as it opened.
Before the Scavenger operator could react, a sharp electric surge hit his nervous system.
His vision flashed white.
He collapsed.
Bain leapt through the window, grabbed the man by the collar—
And snapped his neck in one clean motion.
No gunshot.
No alarm.
The rest of the Scavengers inside continued their "party," unaware.
Arthur leaned against the outer wall, cigarette glowing faintly in the dark.
He exhaled smoke slowly.
The outcome of this operation had already been decided the moment Sasha connected.
What occupied his mind now was something else—
The reward.
Cyber Pioneer.
---
Inside the factory, Bain signaled the others forward.
Next target: the twelve Scavengers indulging in Black Dream braindance.
Outside the door, Bain paused.
Normally, a grenade would solve this instantly.
But they had none.
Instead, Bain extended his left wrist.
A concealed mechanical compartment slid open.
A compact internal launcher rotated into position.
He grinned.
"Time to test one of Arthur's custom toys."
Inside, the Scavengers were sprawled across sofas, tables, and the floor.
Some were laughing.
Some were completely immersed in braindance simulation.
Some had their guns tossed carelessly aside.
Then—
BOOM—!
A violent explosion tore through the room.
Heat blasted outward.
Metal fragments shredded furniture.
The shockwave threw bodies against walls.
Before most of them even understood reality had returned—
Automatic gunfire swept the hall.
Within seconds, the twelve were dead.
Some never even removed their neural ports.
Sasha's voice returned.
[The basement operating room has soundproofing. The explosion didn't alert them.]
Bain nodded and reorganized.
Three members split off to eliminate the roaming sentries.
Bain led the remaining five toward the basement.
They moved up a rusty metal staircase.
It rattled faintly under their boots.
But the Scavengers below assumed it was their own men returning.
They never prepared.
Outside the operating room door, Bain peeked inside.
Three Scavengers were dissecting a body on a metal table.
A fourth—wearing a blood-stained coat—typed notes into a terminal.
Bain counted silently.
Three.
Two.
One.
The door slammed open.
Gunfire erupted instantly.
The three dissectors lasted no more than two seconds.
Bullets shattered bone.
Skulls burst under impact.
Blood sprayed across the surgical lights.
The so-called doctor screamed and ducked.
He tried to crawl behind the table—
But when he looked up again—
Bain stood in front of him.
Cold.
Expressionless.
The muzzle of a gun pressed directly to his forehead.
The man's lips trembled.
"Wait—"
BANG—!
His skull exploded backward.
Silence followed.
What remained in that room was far worse than the gunfire.
Half-dismantled bodies.
Cyberware ripped out crudely.
Blood pooled across the tiles.
Several team members gagged.
One vomited.
Another leaned against the wall, shaking.
Compared to what the Scavengers had done here—
The execution was merciful.
Bain activated comms.
"Arthur. All internal markers cleared. These bastards… they're worse than animals."
Arthur flicked ash from his cigarette.
"Understood."
Then—
Headlights cut through the darkness.
A Vito van pulled up at the factory entrance.
Doors slid open.
A massive man stepped out first, followed by three armed Scavengers.
The burly leader froze immediately.
He sensed it.
Something was wrong.
Without hesitation, he reached back into the van and grabbed a Type 31 heavy machine gun.
On the rooftop, Sasha gasped.
[Arthur! Reinforcements just arrived. The team leader spotted something—]
Arthur had already seen them.
He turned slightly in the streetlight.
Cigarette still between his fingers.
He calmly drew a pistol from his waist.
The burly man raised the Type 31, scanning the shadows.
Their eyes met.
Arthur smiled faintly.
And pulled the trigger.
BANG—!
The shot echoed across the street.
The heavy gunner staggered as the bullet pierced his shoulder, spinning him sideways.
Before he could stabilize—
Arthur fired again.
BANG—!
The second shot struck his throat.
The heavy machine gun slipped from his grip.
He collapsed backward against the van.
The remaining three Scavengers panicked and tried to scramble for cover—
But Bain and the others had already reached the entrance.
A storm of bullets tore through the vehicle.
Glass shattered.
Metal sparked.
Two died instantly.
The third attempted to flee around the side—
Arthur adjusted his aim.
Steady.
Controlled.
BANG—!
He dropped face-first onto the pavement.
Silence returned once more.
Smoke drifted from gun barrels.
Sasha's breathing steadied through comms.
[Clear… All signals neutralized.]
Arthur holstered his pistol slowly.
The cigarette had burned down to the filter.
He crushed it beneath his boot.
Above them, clouds parted slightly.
A thin beam of moonlight fell across the factory gate.
This wasn't just a successful raid.
It was a statement.
Arthur turned toward Bain.
"Burn the place."
Bain nodded.
Moments later—
Flames began to rise from the factory windows.
The Scavengers' stronghold became a burning beacon in the night.
Arthur looked at the fire calmly.
The system notification pulsed faintly in the back of his mind.
Cyber Pioneer.
He could feel it working quietly within him.
Adapting.
Optimizing.
Improving compatibility between flesh and machine.
This was only Operation One.
And Night City had just begun to notice a new name.
Arthur Vale.