The flick of a lighter creates a dim, orange glow from a small flame in the cab. The low rumbling of the engine creates a mellow white noise... the pair share a silence with Night City effortlessly reeling them back in via their car. For these two, there's a certain level of comfort in that feeling... that familiarity. Nothing quite like the feeling of making your way back home.
Night City often has the ability to do depraved things to the soul... imparting scars... traumatic memories on those not lucky enough to make it out. However... this is only one aspect of this town. Just as easily as it can take what's most precious from you... it can hand you something that you'd never want to let go of... something you never even knew you needed. The mentalities of those born into this ethos are hardened... desensitized to events that'd easily break someone like you or I. Keep you from ever wanting to leave the house again... questioning every step you take... every move you make.
For most... regardless of what this city does to them... or how far they may travel to try and get away... it calls to them... pulls them back in... an enigmatic feeling indescribable to those on the outside. Some hear the calls through whispers on a quiet night... in the depths of back alleys with rain-soaked pavements... even through the very words of the people you love and trust. The strength of its allure tends to lay within the very actions you choose to take within it... with every move you make... it's grip tightens... the crazier the move... the tighter the grip... cause and effect choomba... cause and effect.
"Where is this rat." Brian says breaking the silence in the warm, cozy interior of the Galena. The cold, heavy wind outside picks up as it lightly rocks the light frame of the small vehicle side to side. The darkness of the baron badlands reminds them of the lifeless void ever looming around the vibrant, glowing energy they can't get back to fast enough.
"He used to be sitting pretty in a suite in the city center. He got chased out to Heywood... last we know."
"Last we know huh.."
"What? Expecting exact coords..?"
"You really are just a loose cannon aren't you?" Brian says glancing over at her
Zaunya smiles with one hand on the wheel and the other holding her cig as she exhales the smoke. "You love it."
Brian scoffs with a smirk as he turns his attention back out of the window... gazing out into the Night City glow off in the distance. He shifts subject.
"I think you underestimate the value of a plan."
"oh, do i?" she says mockingly, raising her eyebrows.
"You've got a justified vendetta, a cut-throat megacorp breathin' down your neck and now you've got a rat to hunt n' track... This isn't the time to just be winging it."
"uhhmm.. you mean WE? You can try and distance yourself from this shit as much as you'd like Brian but we're in it now... I don't-"
"-Which means we'll be doing this my way."
Zaunya looks over at him with a serious look. Feeling the energy shift between them... it's subtle. He continues.
"We're gonna need a central point of control. A base of operations of sorts... somewhere out of the way and preferably elevated. Breakdown in communication in the city is a no go... too easy to get lost. Location dictation and control becomes paramount... even if we can't communicate, we gotta know where each other are.. and more importantly, where we're gonna go. First move is once again ours... thankfully; Unlike 6th street i'm expectin' this to be.... much cleaner. We'll be sure to make it the right way this time." Brian takes a drag of his smoke before continuing.
"There's multiple factors at play here. With every move we make.. we leave trails. Trails that if picked up by the wrong people spells disaster for us. We don't leave messes... we leave misunderstandings. Think of it like quicksand that we're already in.. the more aggressive the action, the quicker we're consumed. Controlling perception through our actions has benefits but... remaining unseen is gonna definitely be priority."
Zaunya looks over at Brian staying silent.. listening to him analyzing their situation and dissecting various elements of past events they've been through...how they coincide, and what needs to be kept in mind as they move. Highlighting factors at play that she's oblivious to. This is the first time shes seeing him do what he does best. The thoroughness of his thinking catches her off guard... it intimidates her slightly. She concludes with a silent thought: "I'm glad he's on my side."
"I know a place... Its out of sight... Should be ok to lay low there and... think next steps." She says chiming in.
Brian smirks. "Funny... we could've just stayed put a while longer." He says gesturing back toward the direction of the motel. "Yet here we are... driving head first into a neon web of chaos... like flies to a light.."
Zaunya smiles looking over at him. Responding calmly. "Right... but this our home..." she says gesturing toward the city within the darkness of the badlands. "Isn't it Brian."
He glances at her and says nothing... his gaze remaining fixed on the towering presence of Night City... glowing brighter the closer they get. The reflection of the neon cityscape enter his eyes as they speed directly towards it.