Arasaka Tower.
Kai rode the elevator up toward the thirty-third floor and Counterintel.
He raised his hand and looked at the faint redness on the back of it, thinking about how he had just stepped on the old bitch's pride.
"Susan... your Counterintel homework really wasn't good enough."
The only reason he had been able to stomp on her face in broad daylight was because he held more intel on her than she held on him.
At this point, she probably still had no idea what cards he was actually hiding.
"Still, I need to put more work into my own hard power. Back in the day, one slap like that wouldn't have left my hand red."
Meanwhile, the elevator screen was, as always, looping the "great life story" of the God of Arasaka.
Every time Kai saw those ancient black-and-white photographs, the disgust only got worse.
And every time that happened, he thought of Johnny.
A ghost.
A real ghost haunting above Arasaka's head.
A true digital phantom.
A real, pure, anti-imperial, anti-hegemonic, anti-corporate fighter.
"Plenty of attitude. Just kinda lacking in actual strength."
That had always been Kai's standard opinion of Johnny.
With that thought in mind, Kai put his headphones back on, started the music again, and quietly hummed along.
The broadcast on the screen continued droning on.
"The injuries Saburo suffered in 1942 were simply too severe. As a result, he could no longer continue serving his nation as a combat pilot."
"And so, he could only watch as the empire he had once defended fell into defeat after defeat, until in 1945 it finally announced its unconditional surrender."
"According to Saburo's family, he was overwhelmed by despair and humiliation and resolved to take his own life in ritual honor. But at the final moment, he changed his mind."
"As for why... no one knows."
Ding.
The elevator doors slid open from the middle and arrived smoothly at the thirty-third floor, Counterintel work area.
Kai followed his usual route through the department lobby, passed the reception desk and shared office area on the left, then walked into the corridor. On both sides were data-processing rooms glowing red, still full of Counterintel staff at work. At the end, he reached his office, verified his identity, and went in.
He immediately used the office comms to call Carter in for a progress report.
Then he took off the black trench coat, hung it on the silver metal hook by the wall, boiled himself a cup of hot water at high speed, unbuttoned his suit jacket, and sat down at his desk with the glass cup in hand.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Kai gently blew the steam away from the rim of the cup, then took a sip.
A little too hot, but good.
He guessed there was not a second person in the entire Arasaka Tower who drank plain hot water.
It was one of the very few habits from home he still kept.
He did not really trust Night City's water supply, and boiling it first always made him feel cleaner and more at ease.
Before long, Carter hurried in to report, still wearing that same obedient, harmless expression. He stood across the desk with his back slightly hunched, eyes lowered.
Kai looked at him and thought that men like this were, in some ways, even more disgusting than Susan.
One face to your front, another behind your back. A classic petty snake.
Let someone like that climb over your head, and you would not even know what got you killed.
"So. About the thing I told you to watch. What's the latest?"
Carter started stammering as usual, dragging it out forever before finally managing to make himself understood.
"Uh... I-I monitored a post in the underground black market network 'Pleasure Night City' early this morning. There was a public sale listing connected to a Sandevistan implant. The standard model was unknown, and the asking price wasn't low, but the sale was withdrawn very quickly."
"After that, I followed the relevant IP trail and found private chat traces with a Maelstrom contact. But the actual message contents had already been destroyed, so I couldn't get anything more specific."
Kai gave no sign of approval.
Internally, he judged that Maine had already begun moving.
This was a signal being sent to him and to Arasaka, a spark being thrown out to light the fire.
Which meant it was time for him to add fuel and give the whole thing another push.
So Kai kept a straight face and cursed him out.
"Are you pig-brained? Is this really how you handle work?"
"You saw the lead and still didn't think to keep tracking it? If the deal gets completed under the table, what then? You gonna storm some Maelstrom chop shop in Watson and rip the implant off a cyberpsycho yourself?"
"Get out. Get out, get out."
Carter was scolded into nonstop bows and nods, sweat already breaking across his forehead.
The moment he heard "get out," he spun and headed straight for the door, only to be stopped again.
Kai said, "If Mr. Jenkins asks about this, act like you know nothing. With useless scraps like that, don't come reporting to me again."
"When you report, I want results. Results. Got it?"
Carter hurriedly turned at the doorway and nodded yes again and again.
The office security door started to close, detected movement, and stopped halfway.
Carter, who had just stepped out, suddenly slowed down and quietly stood against the wall, listening in on the office.
Inside, it sounded like Kai was already reporting the implant search situation to Arthur.
Kai: "I've already traced the trade lead. Looks like Maelstrom bought it. If we keep following the line, getting the data won't be a problem."
Arthur: "..."
Kai: "Understood. I'll finish the job."
When Carter heard Kai immediately take the lead he had just brought in and hand it over to Arthur as his own progress, the obedient look on his face gradually darkened.
Once the office door fully shut, Carter stared straight ahead with cold eyes, rolled his neck once, and walked back to his desk.
The moment Carter Smith returned to his workstation, he reopened his office machine and resumed decryption.
His hands moved quickly. Lines of code streamed by. Pop-up information windows flashed one after another.
At last, the screen settled on a decrypted chat log.
Carter stared at it with bright, intent eyes.
It showed the actual details of the contact between the hidden seller and the Maelstrom intermediary.
The two sides had agreed to meet tomorrow night at nine in the abandoned steel factory in Watson's old industrial district.
Carter looked at the screen and sneered.
"Trying to do cyberware deals with Maelstrom's pack of cyberpsychos... these implant runners really have no idea how to spell death."
"With this intel, my odds of moving up to H-rank department lead just got a lot better."
"Kai... Kai... you're young, and all you know how to do is bully people with borrowed power."
"Too bad. Even if I get promoted, I still won't be above you. Heh."
"But your good days are almost over."
"After this, you're dead."
He downloaded the decrypted data, copied it onto a disposable secure chip, and was just about to move when a message from his mother, Mary, suddenly came in.
Mary: "How's work today? It's your birthday tomorrow. Will you be able to come back?"
The moment Carter saw the message, the gloom on his face eased.
Arasaka work never truly stopped.
It required 24-hour readiness year-round.
And he was handling more than one deputy director's task. The team had projects of all sizes that all needed pushing forward.
He envied M-rank management deeply.
They had real freedom over their schedules.
Unlike him, who had to pick his timing just to go home and see his mother.
Still, if tomorrow night went smoothly, he would be able to make it back and spend his birthday with her.
So he replied:
"I'll try. If everything goes smoothly, I should get off around eight. I ought to make it back before midnight."
Mary: "That's fine. Even if you can't, it's okay. Work comes first."
Seeing his mother's understanding, Carter said nothing more.
He slotted the secure chip into the neural port at the back of his head, got up, and went to discuss the deal that was about to change his fate.
(End of Chapter)
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