Molly and Manny make their way down the tattered street deeper into Rancho Coranado... their heads on a swivel. The various distractions... activity going on throughout the blocks blur together as they follow this kid up the sidewalk being lead somewhere.
Molly watches as the kid navigates the vagrant filled, trash ridden streets with broken glass and sharp edges as if they were his own living room. This image sticks with her... recognizing the kids comfort within the harsh environment... feeling very 3rd world but... different in a way she can't put a digit on. The local's heads turn discreetly... whispers ring out as unknowns walk off in various directions. Their simple presence this deep in the streets has its own kinetic effect... eyes watch them for different reasons, different priorities... faceless chooms with blank intentions. They arrive just outside of a tattered building somewhere in the middle of the dense neighborhood... looking up at structure barely holding itself together.
The kid glances back at the pair of them and holds his hand up briefly.. signaling them to stop which catches them both off guard as they instinctually stop on the kids order.
He then approaches a teenager leaned up alongside the building and the two begin to whisper to each other... occasionally glancing back over at Molly and Manny.
The pair share a confused look with each other before looking back at the kids discussing something.
The teenager finally confirms with the kid before bending down and grabbing a small key from under a brick in the dirt and placing it in the kid's little hand. The kid then looks back at Molly and Manny and waves them over.. they each step past the teenager who doesn't even bother to make eye contact... Molly bites her tongue and resists the urge to crack some jokes and stays focused.
The 3 are next seen entering a small 3 story apartment. The sketchy front entrance had no doors and was shrouded in darkness even with the bright beaming sun outside. They make their way up a flight of stairs and stop at a concrete slabbed wall with a single iron door in the center of it. The kid knocks on the heavy iron door four times... a brief pause happens before the little metal window on the door slides open. No words are exchanged as the kid hands the key to someone through the slot. The slot scrapes closed as the kid leans up against the wall waiting patiently. Molly and Manny glance around the dirt ridden complex remaining on high alert and curious. After a short amount of time the little window scrapes back open and the kid is handed a different key which he uses to unlock the heavy iron door... it creeks open loudly.
They turn a corner.. slowly making their way to the end of a long, dark, trash ridden hallway with daylight bleeding through. Various street vagrants and drug users litter the long hallway... they see lighters flicking... people coughing up their lungs while bums nod off, completely passed out. The hallway carried a damp, humid, sickly air to it as Molly and Manny bare witness to some of the grittiest dregs Night City has to offer. The darkest corners of society are often home to the things people'd rather not see. It's so quiet... like the very energy of their souls has been drained from their bodies... husks of their former selves... just... slowly withering away in the forgotten.
They both gradually feel more and more disarmed as their fight or flight instincts give way to pity and indifference. Although indifferent... they both can't help but be taken aback by the sheer level of dark... grey hopelessness they're wading through.
Something about how human it is... grabs them.
The door slowly clunks and slides open as the boy leads Molly and Manny into the dank, dim apartment. The boy walks across the open floor to a man sat at a desk casually taking apart and cleaning several copperhead assault rifles. Glass containers and packaged drugs crowd the desk alongside scattered bullets. The kid whispers into the man's ear for a while as he continues to fiddle with gun parts. The kid then promptly exits the apartment and closes the door behind him.
"Can I help you?" The man asks calmly... still focused on his iron and tools. Molly speaks after a pause.
"Got dirt kids as your eyes n ears on the streets huh? That come with a 401k plan?" She asks with a grin as her and Manny step forward into the apartment. The guy replies after a brief pause while still working.
"Everybodys' hungry around here gorgeous... kids gotta eat too."
"Interesting way to roll out the welcome wagon is all. After a while I was almost expecting to step through a 2 way mirror and crawl down a fucking rabbit hole."
"You've been pegged since before putting your emperor in park... usually you guys don't come down here without escorts..."
"Do you not see this 10 foot hunk of a man behind me?" She says pointing back at Manny causing the pair of them to smirk.
She continues.. slowly stepping toward the desk.
"Jokes aside. Here on a routine track and find. Was hoping you or... someone around here could maybe point me to the lost and found."
"Oh yeah..? Out here..?" He giggles.. responding lightly. "What'd you lose that you're actually expecting to find?"
Molly slowly steps even closer to the desk with her arms crossed as Manny stands off to the side.
"Something that was used to blow up one of my warehouses... ring a bell?"
He finally stops tinkering with his guns and produces a grin. He gently places his gear down and looks up to see Molly across the desk as he silently admires her figure. "That warehouse that went up over in the industrial area a while back? No shit." He says in surprise. "What'd you lose over here...? The detonator?"
"Something like that." She replies, returning the grin and feeling progress. They hear stray coughing and lighters flicking on the other side of the door.
"Hm.." He pauses, thinking briefly. "Gonna cost ya."
Molly quickly chucks a credchip onto his desk. It knocks down onto the wood with a hard thump. He grabs the thick, pristine slab of metal and holds it up in the dim light.
"Credchip. 5k." She says. The man looks over at her with a look of insufficiency. Molly pauses briefly before rolling her eyes and throwing a second credchip over to the guy who quickly pockets both of them.
"6th street had their hands all over that back when it went down. After the pop, control of the block gives you first dibs on scrape throughs like that. I wasn't here... nor do i know, or give a shit what they've been up to as of late so i couldn't tell you... I know who can though."
"Well, point the way kingpin." She says mocking. The man grabs his jacket, gets up from behind the desk and makes for the exit. Molly and Manny follow behind him.