"No way. We leave together. No one's getting left behind," Riku said, shaking his head with a resolute look. He wasn't about to grab the goods and bolt, like some mercenary in a Cowboy Bebop heist gone wrong.
Sasha froze, clearly caught off guard. By all logic, with the target data in hand, Riku and the others had no reason to stick around. The client only cared about the data, not the process or who delivered it. Hand over the goods, get the eddies—simple as that. She and Riku's crew were just temporary allies, ships passing in the night. Sasha was staying behind for her own personal business, and she didn't want to drag anyone else into it.
"Sorry, I messed up. The biotech company's system will probably notice something's off soon. You guys need to go—now—or it'll be too late," Sasha admitted without hesitation. Her focus had slipped for a moment, causing a glitch in her control over the security system. It was brief, but enough to expose their presence.
"…" Riku went quiet for a second, then turned without a word, bag in hand, and started walking away.
"Phew~" Sasha let out a relieved breath. She didn't want her personal mess dragging down someone she'd only teamed up with for a hot minute. That was her line in the sand.
Unplugging the data cable from her palm, Sasha jacked into the biotech company's computer and started the file transfer. Her pink pupils shifted to green as she locked the office door remotely, buying them a bit of time.
But before the door fully closed, a figure slipped through.
"? Devil? Why the hell are you back?!" Sasha's voice spiked with urgency. Time was running out.
"Don't worry, I sent the other two ahead with the stuff," Riku said with a grin, holding up empty hands to show he'd passed the bag to V.
"And what about you? What's your plan?!" Sasha snapped, her cat-like face visibly annoyed, like an exasperated Nausicaä facing a reckless ally.
"Obviously, I'm leaving with you," Riku said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Funnily enough, he'd just had a nearly identical argument with V moments ago.
"You're screwing with me, right?!" V had exploded when Riku handed her the bag and told her to go. Her reaction was way more intense than Sasha's.
"No way we're leaving you behind! We go together!" V shouted, reaching to grab Riku, refusing to accept him staying back.
"There's no time, V!" Riku dodged her hand, starting to lose his cool. Great, everyone's a damn hero today, huh?
V's loyalty touched him, but this was not the time. If it was just Sasha, he could maybe keep her alive. But with V staying too? No way he could protect both.
"Hurry up and go! Where's Sasha? Tell her to come too!" V insisted, finally remembering their temporary teammate. Compared to Sasha, who she barely knew, V clearly cared more about Riku. If she were in Riku's shoes, facing a teammate staying behind for personal reasons post-mission, she'd have left without a second thought. The job was done—why stick around to die for someone else's baggage?
That logic applied to Riku too, but V saw him as a friend, a real choom. She wasn't about to ditch him.
"My leg's busted. I'll only slow you down, and then none of us—me, you, or Jack—will make it!" Riku pulled out the classic excuse, ready for this moment. In every shonen anime and novel, someone's leg conveniently "gives out" during an escape. Today, he was playing that role, the wounded sand emperor.
"I'll carry your ass out if I have to!" V shot back, true to her stubborn street-kid nature. She was ready to hoist him over her shoulder like a Demon Slayer rescue mission.
"Don't make me do this, V," Riku said, out of options. He raised his gun to his head—the final play.
"You leave with the stuff now, and I might live long enough to take a few of them with me. If you stay, I'll have to pull the trigger," Riku said, delivering the cheesiest line he'd ever spoken, cringing internally.
"You—Riku, you bastard!" V's face turned beet red, practically steaming with rage. She'd never met anyone this insane.
"Go! 32!" Riku growled, starting a countdown, his finger tightening on the trigger.
"Fuck! You fucking—!" V cursed, her trembling finger pointing at him. But seeing the look in his eyes, she didn't dare push further. Riku was a madman—she'd seen it in combat. Jack had told her about the guy getting cyberware installed without anesthesia. If she said one more word, she was sure he'd pull the trigger.
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" V vented her frustration, finally turning to run downstairs.
"Don't you dare die, or I'll piss on your gravestone!" she yelled back, her heartfelt street-style blessing ringing out as she left.
"Ugh…" Riku shivered at the mental image of V squatting over his grave. Way too hardcore, even for Night City.
"We've been made. Get ready," Sasha said, her expression softening. She wasn't thrilled Riku stayed, but he was here to help. She couldn't keep giving him the cold shoulder.
"Let 'em come," Riku replied, blasting the security cameras with two shots—mostly to protect his secrets. Getting on a corp's radar wasn't on his to-do list, and he wasn't invincible. Why two shots? Because he missed the first one. Gotta work on that aim.
"Jack and V have linked up. The mech guards are heading up, so they should be able to slip out," Sasha said, her green pupils flickering as she struggled to maintain control over the security system.
"Now we just need to figure out how we're getting out," Riku said, glancing at the computer. The data transfer was moving fast—they might still have a shot.
"Jump," Sasha said bluntly. It was the simplest plan, though the survival odds were about as good as a Gantz mission.
Riku peeked out the floor-to-ceiling window. He hadn't noticed how high up they were on the way in. Looking down, the height hit him like a Mobile Suit Gundam drop from orbit.
"Jumping from this height is basically suicide," Riku said, nixing the idea. Even if he sacrificed himself to cushion Sasha's fall, she'd still be toast at this height. He wasn't exactly a crash pad.