Chapter 22: End of Transaction
"V, long time no see. Still alive, huh?" Claire smiled from behind the bar at Afterlife as she slid V a cold beer. "You look beat. Drink up, it'll help."
"Thanks, Claire! Damn sun's brutal today." V downed the beer and wiped sweat from his brow. "Any new gigs?"
Heading to Pacifica without a solid reason was asking for trouble. The best entry point was a job connected to that area.
"Plenty of gigs. Depends on what you're after," Claire said. She wasn't just a bartender; she was also one of the best info brokers in Night City.
Afterlife was buzzing as always. Mercs came and went. One day you're the hunter, the next, the hunted.
"Something in Pacifica."
Claire paused her glass-polishing. "That's a rough place. What, got someone chasing you?"
"Nah, just want to set up a fallback. Night City's getting messy."
"Well, you'll need to wait. The Voodoo Boys run Pacifica tight. Even fixers don't post many jobs for that place."
A voice from behind froze V in place.
"Got a job for Pacifica, if you're still interested."
Dexter sat down beside him, grinning. "Been a while, friend. Let's catch up in my car."
V felt the cold press of metal against his side.
"Sure thing, Mr. Dexter."
...
Badlands
Dakota stared coldly at Valf Reyes, who lay broken—one hand and one foot shattered.
"I've contacted Sovoil's people. The meet's this afternoon."
"Perfect." Nova Li nodded, satisfied. It was about time. Whenever things slowed, she chatted with Sandayu Oda, who'd been feeding her increasingly useful intel from Beirson. But most of the high-value tasks still went to Ash, who was making a couple grand extra every day.
Nova Li wanted to scream, "Give me a shot!"
But this mission wasn't finished, and the distances between gigs made multitasking impossible. All she could do was watch Oda flaunt gourmet food every day.
"Here's the location. Can I take him now?" Dakota asked icily.
"This isn't fake, right?" Nova Li shook the paper she'd been handed.
"No."
"Alright~ I'll believe it. Tanaka!" Nova called out.
Tanaka dragged Valf Reyes like a rag doll and dropped him in front of Dakota before silently returning to the vehicle.
"Pleasure doing business. Let's do it again sometime." Nova handed over 50,000 euros.
Dakota clenched her jaw and took it. Business was business. Grudges were separate.
Ash had drilled that into them.
She watched their vehicle spin around and vanish down the road.
Dakota motioned for her team to recover the battered Valf Reyes.
---
Next Morning
"Hi, I'm Nova Li."
Nova smiled and extended a hand to the tall man with sharp European features.
"Joe Gerulf. Dakota said you've got business with us?" His eyes narrowed.
As Sovoil's local lead in Night City, Joe's job was organizing guerrilla operations, evading pursuit, and placing moles in megacorps.
Sovoil had little influence in Night City. Biotech, Arasaka, Kang Tao—none of them wanted a new player in the mix. But ambition never needed permission.
Assassination, infiltration, espionage—just another day for the corps.
Joe had no plans to accept any deals, but Dakota had begged repeatedly. Since they still needed her contacts in the Badlands, he reluctantly agreed.
"Yes, but are you authorized to make decisions?"
"I am," Joe said.
"Then contact Sovoil HQ. You won't be able to handle this alone."
"What's this about?" Joe's tone sharpened.
"Come see." Nova gestured toward the vehicle. "Look for yourself."
Joe followed, half-annoyed, wanting to wrap things up. But when he saw the contents of the trunk—
His breath caught.
Biotech's Black-Gold Safe.
His expression twisted. "You people..."
Nova raised an eyebrow to calm him.
He steadied his pulse. "How much?"
"Fifty million," Nova said calmly.
"No way." Joe rejected it immediately. Ten million for a black-red safe, maybe. Black-gold? Too risky.
"Your offer?"
"Ten million."
"Goodbye." Nova slammed the trunk shut and turned.
"Wait, wait—price is negotiable!" Joe called out.
"Joe, this is Biotech's black-gold. Whatever's inside, it's top secret. Sovoil would kill to get this."
"I know." Joe raised his hands. "But you're missing one thing."
"What?"
"It might be empty."
Nova frowned.
"Safes as bait. It's part of the game. We've done it ourselves. So Sovoil set a fixed rate—ten million. That way, if it's empty, no big loss. Worst case, our engineers get some practice."
"Another option—you hand it over for decryption first. Based on contents, we pay you. Could be more than ten million."
But that required blind trust. Nova's team had no way to enforce fairness if Sovoil lowballed them afterward.
"I'll discuss it with my team," she replied.
"Sure. I'll prep the funds. Be warned—whether it's real or fake, someone will be after you."
"Thanks for the heads-up."
Nova entered the car and nodded to Tanaka, who drove off.
Joe watched them go, eyes calculating.
He'd considered force, but their trunk also held enough explosives to vaporize the area.
Better to play it safe.
---
They stopped at a small hill.
"Takumi Kai, status?"
The air shimmered, and Takumi Kai stepped from the shadows, stretching.
"They're pros. Didn't say a word."
As sniper overwatch, he'd had Joe's head in his sights the whole time.
"Big corp instincts. Can't blame them." Nova said.
"Still… same last name, but how can two Gerulfs be so different?" Takumi joked.
"Rank has its privileges," Nova muttered.
"What about his 'empty box' theory?"
"Could be true, could be a lie. Who knows?" She popped a lollipop in her mouth.
Biotech using decoy safes wasn't unheard of. But black-gold safes were too complex to replicate cheaply.
Nova's team had tried opening it—no luck.
Forced cracking was too dangerous. Selling it was safer.
"Ask the Captain?" Takumi offered.
"He said it's our call," Nova said.
"Classic Ash!"
"He's not here—save the flattery!"
"It's genuine admiration!"
"Uh-huh. Sure."