"Less talk, more driving."
V hopped into the car, rolling her eyes at Jack Wells, not bothering to entertain him.
Riku's lips twitched. Ever seen a bishounen with a charm stat of 5? Yeah, that's him.
He was confident V saw him as a reliable choom, not some romantic interest. His current charm points backed that up.
From V's perspective, he was probably just a muscle-bound tank—decent with fists, not so much with guns.
A solid teammate, sure, but anything more than that? Way too early to call.
"Let's roll! Time to score big!"
Jack Wells let out a hearty laugh, firing up the secondhand Galena. The Indian engine wasn't doing them any favors, rattling the whole way.
They drove across the bridge, cruising slowly from Watson to the City Center.
Biotechnica's building sat in Corpo Plaza, the heart of the glitzy City Center, surrounded by towers from megacorps like Arasaka and Militech.
At Corpo Plaza, they parked on the outer ring's roadside, linking up with "Cat-Head Lady" Sasha, who was already waiting.
Outside vehicles couldn't get close to the corpo towers. Drones patrolled constantly, and if your scan didn't check out, you'd be flagged as suspicious and dealt with—fast.
"No hiccups. Plan's on track."
Sasha was in her usual getup, pink jacket pristine, a small bag slung over her shoulder. Clearly, she wasn't sweating washing machine fees.
"Got it."
Riku nodded. The three of them were just bodyguards—follow Sasha's lead, and they'd be golden.
Night City at night, even in the early hours, wasn't exactly quiet. Cars still zipped by, but Corpo Plaza was nearly deserted.
Corpo dogs didn't linger after work. Spending three-quarters of their day here? They'd rather bolt the second their shift ended.
The NCPD and corpo security patrolling the plaza looked half-asleep, just going through the motions until their shift swapped.
"Follow me."
Sasha didn't waste words. She led the trio, weaving through the plaza, dodging the guards' sightlines.
Soon, they reached a side door of the Biotechnica building.
This Cat-Head Lady was bold as hell—she planned to waltz right in.
"I'm jacked into Biotechnica's network."
At the door, Sasha's pink pupils flickered green, her brain clearly in overdrive. Who knew what kind of neural interface or cortex implant she was running?
Click.
The side door popped open in under two seconds.
The nearby security cameras? Already hacked by Sasha. The patrol drones' routes? All calculated.
It looked effortless—walk up, open the door, stroll in.
But if anyone else tried this, they'd be drone food, riddled with holes in seconds.
"Leave one person here. The rest, stick with me!"
Sasha darted inside, the building's corridors dimly lit, only the red glow of cameras breaking the dark.
"Jack, hold the door. If things go south, bail immediately."
Riku glanced at Jack Wells. The guy wasn't built for heavy hits, so the easiest escape route went to him.
The odds of running into trouble here were low. If they got spotted upstairs, every mech guard in the building would swarm up, not down.
This side door was a low-priority entry. Even if backup arrived, they'd hit the main entrance first. It was safer than heading deeper in.
"Leave it to me."
Jack posted up by the door, gun in hand, flashing Riku an "OK" sign. This time, Riku caught it.
Riku and V tailed Sasha, moving through the corridors. The thrill was real—sneaking through Biotechnica's headquarters was no joke.
They moved like they owned the place, as if they were just strolling through a park.
And honestly, "no one around" wasn't an exaggeration. Biotechnica's building had zero human guards at this hour.
Instead, drones and mech guards patrolled tirelessly, never sleeping, always watching.
"Damn…"
Sasha stopped dead at a corridor intersection, muttering under her breath.
"What's wrong?"
Riku asked immediately. He knew things couldn't go this smoothly. Trouble was bound to hit.
"Tell Jack to move. Hide in the first-floor corridor corner. A mech guard's heading to the side door."
Sasha's pupils stayed green, her control over the cameras absolute. She'd spotted the issue downstairs.
"…"
Riku froze. So, their extra crew was causing problems already?
If Jack wasn't there, this wouldn't have happened.
"Copy."
Jack didn't complain. He followed orders, moving to dodge the mech guard.
Aside from that hiccup, the rest of the trip was smooth. They moved cautiously, avoiding every drone and mech guard.
Soon, they reached the target office's floor. V stayed back to guard the stairwell.
"This is it."
Sasha eyed the office door, pulling a data cable from her gear and plugging it into a nearby port.
Click.
The door unlocked instantly. Their target data was right there, everything going according to plan.
"I'll keep watch outside."
Riku volunteered. He'd just be dead weight inside, so better to guard the door for any surprises.
Sasha nodded, wasting no time. She darted to the computer, pulling a reader from her bag and jacking in.
Riku counted the seconds outside. Sasha had said they needed to wrap this in ten minutes for a reason.
Sure, she'd hacked the surveillance system, but holding it too long risked a glitch. One dropped frame, and Biotechnica's network defenses would pounce. No room for wishful thinking.
"Three minutes."
Riku glanced back, then noticed Sasha's expression shift—something was off.
"What's the problem?"
A bad feeling crept up. He knew it—the accident that got Sasha killed in the MV was coming.
"Devil, I've got the data. You three get out now. I've got… something else to handle."
Sasha's cat-like face was blank as she yanked the reader free, stuffed it in her bag, and tossed it to Riku.
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