"...According to Article 105 of the Cyberpsychosis Protocol Guidelines, all your statements regarding this incident will be recorded and used as evidence in court."
V, Berry, and even the unlucky clerk Zaan, were sitting obediently on the customer sofa, submitting to the interrogation by the cold-faced MAX-TAC female captain.
After all, what choice did they have? Under the watchful eye of a MAX-TAC squad, all they could do was cooperate honestly.
Fortunately, the situation wasn't as bad as V had feared.
It seemed the female captain only wanted to clarify the details of the attack and had no other intentions.
"I am Melissa Lori, a senior official of MAX-TAC. Please state your names and occupations."
The female captain held a transparent tablet and conducted the questioning in a businesslike manner.
"Zaan Jagger, working at Jinguji. Welcome to the elegant little oasis..." Zaan habitually began his sales pitch, only realizing his mistake halfway through.
"Sorry, old habit." Zaan awkwardly adjusted his glasses.
"I'm Berry, Zaan's customer, a Mercenary, and an idiot who walked into the store at the wrong time."
Berry said this while leaning back on the sofa with her arms crossed.
"V, Mercenary, and the other idiot."
V raised a hand, considering it an introduction.
"Verification complete. Please describe the situation, starting from when the attack began here."
Inspector Lori operated her PDA for a moment, confirming that the identities of the three were clear.
Of course, Berry was skeptical about how much information that device could actually find on them, considering their past actions surely meant they had bounties with the NCPD.
However, the inspector in front of them didn't seem to react to this possibility.
Looks like she's a good person.
Berry immediately issued her a "Good Person Card."
"I was recommending the city's most fashionable outfits to these two customers, and then I..." Zaan was still shaken when he mentioned this part. This incident had badly frightened this rule-abiding man, and his voice trembled slightly.
"I suddenly heard shouting outside..."
"Zaan was sweet-talking us, trying to trick us into buying some old stock suits, and then this Cyberpsychosis patient rushed in and took down two guards."
"Zaan sounded the alarm, and we had to take the guy down in self-defense. That's pretty much the whole process."
Berry shrugged, her tone casual, as if she had only performed a trivial task.
"Armed citizens and the right to bear arms—these are the sacred rights bestowed upon the people of Night City. Officer, surely we won't be arrested for this."
After speaking, Berry added an emphasis, suggesting their actions were perfectly justified and adhered entirely to the constitution of the free city of Night City, without overstepping any boundaries.
"Yes, armed citizens have the responsibility and right to defend themselves and maintain the safety of Night City facilities and institutions during a crisis. You two are fine."
The female inspector confirmed this, indicating she would not pursue the matter further.
"Anything else? Any unusual behavior?"
After making a note on her PDA, Inspector Lori continued to press for details.
"Besides tearing my reputation and this store's reputation to shreds, no, nothing at all!"
Zaan's tone was frustrated and agitated. Because of this incident, his year-end bonus and performance metrics were completely gone, and even his position as the regional gold-medal salesman was at risk.
Now that he was safe, the thought of all this left him feeling helpless.
"Thank you for your cooperation. This interrogation is now concluded."
Unfortunately, MAX-TAC did not include commercial insurance compensation services. After concluding the investigation and temporarily ruling out a premeditated attack, the female inspector put away her PDA, signaling the end of the questioning for the three individuals.
"Medical personnel have been notified; they will arrive shortly." Having said that, Inspector Lori looked at Zaan.
"Jagger, this store must close down temporarily."
Zaan rubbed his forehead and managed a nod.
Well, it was over.
Watching the inspector turn and leave, Berry shrugged.
Looks like the clothes purchase is off. Might as well go straight to the Wolf Bar.
This delay meant they were almost past dinner time. It would be a huge loss if they went out and didn't even manage to snag a free meal.
"Let's go, V. Looks like it's all wrapped up."
"Mhm."
Calling V, Berry prepared to stand up and leave.
Since the inspector hadn't found anything incriminating, she was definitely an upstanding citizen—and a poor young girl who had been innocently caught up in a terrifying Cyberpsychosis attack.
Just thinking about it made her feel sorry for herself.
Berry nodded, agreeing that she was indeed making a valid point.
"Wait a moment, both customers!"
Just as the two stood up, Zaan called out to them from behind.
Turning around, they saw Zaan quickly approaching, carrying a wrapped shopping bag and handing the bag, stamped with the Jinguji logo, to V.
"I am truly sorry for the trouble you two experienced. I have packed the clothes you both liked."
Only after handing the bag to V did Zaan let out a breath of relief.
"Consider this compensation. We are giving you these clothes for free. Also, thank you for saving my life and the lives of the two guards."
"At least no one died here," Zaan muttered to himself.
"Are you... sure about this?"
V looked at the bag in her hand, frowning at the clerk whose forehead was now covered in cold sweat.
"It's fine, it's fine." Zaan wiped the sweat from his brow with a silk handkerchief, insisting it was absolutely no problem.
"My year-end bonus is gone anyway. Consider this an attempt to salvage the corporate image."
"Once this is cleaned up, you are welcome to come back anytime. I will personally tailor a fine set of clothes for both of you then."
"Thanks, Zaan."
Berry nodded, thinking the clerk was quite decent.
Looking at the high-end suit, it was a bargain—at least worth more than the four bullets she had fired.
As long as she profited, Berry was happy.
She was just such a simple, unpretentious person.
"Oh, Zaan, if you ever need someone to teach an enemy a lesson, or take care of a couple of thugs trying to kill you, find us. We can give you a discount."
"We are professionals!"
Berry closed one eye, held two fingers together to mimic a gun, and made fake "bang bang" sounds.
"Uh... thank you." Zaan was still unable to adapt to Berry's reciprocal gesture, and only managed a hesitant nod of thanks after staring blankly for a moment.
But he decided against it internally. He was a civilized man; if not for today's incident, he would never have anything to do with such violent, barbaric behavior.
"Also, Zaan, I have one more question."
After Berry finished speaking, V seized the chance to voice her own confusion.
"Why did MAX-TAC arrive so quickly? Do you have a direct line to the MAX-TAC Commander?"
V had been wondering about this since the beginning.
From the Cyberpsychosis outbreak until MAX-TAC rushed in, the entire process took less than five minutes. That was faster than calling a taxi, which naturally made V curious.
She recalled that when she had a massive shootout and explosion in Chinatown previously, not even a beat cop showed up.
If the NCPD officers in Night City were as efficient as MAX-TAC, Night City wouldn't have such a terrible reputation; it would be a public security paradise.
"Hmm..." Hearing V's confusion, Zaan was startled at first, but then remembered their identities and quickly explained.
"Ah, well, corporations like ours in the City Center generally have direct insurance contracts with MAX-TAC. It's like a Trauma Team membership package. Our Jinguji corporation holds the most expensive Platinum Package, which protects us from all gang members and terrorist threats..."
"I used to say paying such a huge annual premium was a waste, but looking at it now, it's absolutely worth the money."
Having experienced this attack, it seemed Zaan had changed his mind somewhat.
V and Berry finally understood upon hearing this.
So that was the reason.
Well, well. So it wasn't that Night City had bad public security; it just had *good* areas, too. Look at the shops in the City Center—the response time was phenomenal. MAX-TAC's av arrived in less than five minutes.
This was a tradition of Night City, and indeed, a tradition of all America.
The difference between rich and poor districts was immense. Separated perhaps by just one street, the crime rates could be worlds apart.
Night City simply magnified this tradition between the corporate zones and the general districts.
As long as you paid enough for insurance, Night City was actually a safe place.
Bad public security? What bad public security? I'm one of Night City's millions of residents, and I don't feel like the public security is bad at all.
Berry could guess exactly what the people in the corporate zones were thinking.
No wonder everyone in Night City cursed the corporations so harshly, yet they defected incredibly quickly if they had a chance to work for one. This must be one of the reasons.
However, it was fortunate that the powers in Night City barely cared about the lives of residents in other districts. If Watson had this kind of police response time, what would Mercenaries like Berry even do?
At that point, Berry wouldn't need to consider forming a gang; she'd probably be running a night market stall, raking in nine thousand eurodollars daily, and enjoying the sweet life until her head spun.
In that case, Berry should actually present the Night City Council with a commendation banner, thanking them for the city's terrible state, which allowed illegal groups like theirs to exist.
After finishing her cynical mockery, Berry and V turned to leave.
They had the clothes, and the matter was settled, so there was no need for them to stay any longer.
"Report, what's the situation?"
"Two injured, the attacker is unconscious, everything else is normal."
Thanks to the timely intervention of Berry and V, the damage from the Cyberpsychosis rampage was minimized. Of course, Berry didn't expect the MAX-TAC team to thank her.
The MAX-TAC members were bandaging the two guards sitting on the ground. This part was free, but seeing that one guard had a broken arm and the other a deep gash on his shoulder, they were likely facing unemployment, which wasn't good news.
"Hey, thank you! Seriously, thank you! We would have lost our lives otherwise!"
As they passed the two guards, the guards forced themselves to thank them. Berry and V simply nodded neutrally.
Just a casual action, nothing to worry about.
However, Berry and V didn't notice that Inspector Lori, who was overseeing the aftermath, raised her eyebrows at them. Of course, even if they had noticed, they wouldn't have been able to tell, as the MAX-TAC officers all wore half-faced helmets.
"You two, wait a moment."
Next to the unconscious Homeless man, Inspector Lori stopped the two.
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