"What did Jeremiah Grayson store with you?"
Karl's sudden question made Ironblock reflexively tense up and turn to him.
"Stored items?"
"Isn't he listed as a restricted client? What exactly did he leave here?"
While Andy was flipping through the registry of dangerous cyberware clients, Karl stepped directly in front of Ironblock and asked the question that had piqued his curiosity even more.
"What Jeremiah Grayson left with us…"
Ironblock instinctively avoided his gaze, then forced himself to meet Karl's eyes again, scanning the data in his memory chip. "I'm not too clear on the specifics—supposedly it was a car. It's parked in a container on that old freighter at the docks. There were also some personal belongings of his."
"A car, and personal items?"
That sounded odd to Karl. Jeremiah Grayson worked for Adam Smasher. If those were personal items, fine—but that car? That had to be related to Adam Smasher. But what kind of vehicle could even handle that body of his? Unless it was some ride he used when cruising around in one of his smaller shells?
Karl briefly imagined Adam Smasher joyriding down the street in a sports car, and his eyelid twitched.
That felt off. Maybe he was overthinking it. Maybe the stuff really just belonged to Jeremiah Grayson.
"How long has it been stored here?"
"How long?"
"Almost half a year. If it weren't for who he had behind him…" Ironblock's cyber-eyes flickered, "we would've disposed of it already. He's been out of contact for a while."
Out of contact?
Karl remembered who Adam Smasher was now—Arasaka's Head of Security.
If Jeremiah really was working for him...
Karl pulled out his phone and sent a message to Kenichi Kazuya.
Kenichi Shirou had previously assigned Kazuya as Karl's Arasaka liaison, so when Karl had questions about personnel, he'd go to him.
Karl knew quite a few people inside Arasaka, but considering the hierarchy, some of them wouldn't even care to know the names of low-level operators. So, he reached out to someone appropriate.
"Mr. Kenichi Kazuya, I have a question. Is there someone named Jeremiah Grayson in Arasaka's Special Ops Division?"
Kazuya replied quickly.
"Mr. Karl, with the clearance granted to your identity card, you now have access to Arasaka's internal personnel database. You may search it directly."
"Clearance to access internal records?"
Karl blinked at the message.
Kenichi Shirou had once given identity cards to Karl's team as part of their compensation, granting them access to a component warehouse. Karl remembered it clearly—Kenichi had said those cards had clearance equivalent to Special Operations, enough to make some things easier.
But to his knowledge, Special Ops clearance shouldn't allow full access to internal personnel data. When did that get upgraded?
"I didn't know it was upgraded."
"Miss Hanako upgraded it herself the night Director Kenichi Shirou gave you those identity cards. You were granted department-level clearance. After Arasaka Senzō took over as CEO, he upgraded your team's access again. You now have clearance for the majority of Arasaka's internal affairs."
Access to the majority of Arasaka's internal records?
Karl processed that.
So his ID card had been auto-upgrading itself this whole time without him even realizing it?
'The Bizarre Adventure of an Auto-Upgrading ID Card in 2077?'
The absurdity of it amused Karl briefly, as if it were the title of some over-the-top Japanese light novel. But he understood now.
"So I can just access the system directly?"
"Yes, Mr. Karl."
"Appreciate it. Thank you."
"No thanks necessary, Mr. Karl. It's my honor to be of assistance. I've never forgotten your valor during the Dogtown mission. I hope someday I can once again accompany you on an assignment as a member of Arasaka."
Kazuya's reply carried a strange tone of reverence.
"Bit too polite, aren't you."
Karl always felt that Kenichi Kazuya, being a bit older, was excessively formal—like some loyal vassal out of a period drama. It felt a little... off.
But thinking about it, maybe manners weren't a bad thing. Maybe he'd just gotten too used to the foul-mouthed street culture. After all, Karl himself usually called people "sir."
He shook off the drifting thoughts and refocused. Now that he had clearance, Karl began fiddling with his phone—much to Ironblock's unease as he stood silently, unsure of what Karl was doing.
As his phone began to heat up, Karl made a mental note to ask V later if it could be modded for better performance. Meanwhile, Arasaka's internal database began feeding him information.
Search: Jeremiah Grayson
Just as Karl suspected, a familiar record came up.
Personnel Record: Deceased Employee
Record ID: KK-2076-4434-TQ
Clearance Level: Departmental (Internal Review Only)
Subject: Jeremiah Grayson
Affiliation: Arasaka Security Division | Combat Team 1 (Unit 6)
Service Duration: 4 months, 16 days
Last Recorded Activity: Attended Internal Company Banquet (Event ID: 2076-4434)
Incident Summary:
Subject experienced unauthorized neural intrusion during the banquet, resulting in immediate cessation of vital signs. On-site scans detected abnormal data streams, suspected rogue AI (Designated: "TQ", Threat Level: HIGH).
Death Confirmation:
Executor: V (Commander, Combat Team 2)
Authorization: Arasaka Emergency Protocol Clause 12 (AI Contamination Elimination)
Execution Method: Thermal katana (energy activated, no signs of pain response, physiological awareness terminated before death)
Note:
Body transferred to Bio-Recovery Division. Incident record backed up to Arasaka Central Database.
Log Author: Automated System (ID: alv)
// END RECORD //
// FILE LOCKED //
So it's true…
Jeremiah Grayson was dead.
Karl had suspected as much.
Adam Smasher had already taken over as Head of Security, and for someone in that position—even someone like Smasher—he'd need a few trusted operatives. Jeremiah had clearly been recruited into the Combat Division. And evidently, he'd been killed during the very banquet that Karl and his team had attended—taken out by V, due to having been compromised.
What a coincidence.
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