January 28, 2069 – 09:20 AM
Beijing – Kan-Tao Corporation Headquarters
Shimin Xu
"Your tea, Mr. Shimin Xu," Dai Er said softly, setting the freshly brewed cup down without making a sound. She gave a slight bow and slipped out as quietly as she'd come, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Xu's eyes lingered on the door long after it had closed, unreadable as ever. In his hand, two steel meditation balls clicked gently against one another, rolling in slow, practiced circles. Only when the subtle scent of jasmine and rose reached him did he blink — dragged from his thoughts and back into the now.
His gaze drifted to the steaming tea. A single rose petal floated lazily across the surface. It was the kind of moment a poet might lose themselves in — serene, delicate. Xu let it hold him for a breath longer… then blinked it away. Today wasn't a day for poetry.
He slapped his cheeks lightly, clearing the fog, and reached for the encrypted briefing chip he'd set aside earlier. When it first arrived, other matters had taken precedence. Now, there was nothing left in the way.
Sliding the chip into the terminal, he watched as lines of glowing code unfurled in front of him. His eyes narrowed, scanning every symbol with surgical focus.
Minutes passed. Then more. Finally, with a soft exhale — half sigh, half steel drawn from a scabbard — he placed the empty cup down with a clean, deliberate clack.
"Jade, get me a secure line to Dan Fei."
"Establishing secure channel," the AI replied, voice smooth as polished chrome. A second later, a visual popped into the edge of Xu's display — grainy, low-light, and unmistakably real: one of the most feared mercs in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Encrypted link active…
Connection secured.
"How you holding up, old friend?" Xu asked, offering a faint smile — the kind that never reached his eyes.
"Rougher than I thought," Dan Fei admitted, leaning against a weather-stained wall, fatigue etched into every line of his face. "The usual tricks aren't working. His security's tight — real pros. Had to call in favors from the Legion just to line up another shot."
"You carry more than my expectations, Dan Fei," Xu said, quiet but firm. "Taking this man out clears the path for Kan-Tao to fully expand into North America. But time isn't on our side."
He paused, fingers drumming thoughtfully against the chair's armrest.
"With this war… your window just got smaller. Jade's already run the projections. Best case? We've got eighteen months. But the first six — those are make-or-break. The enemy's focus will be on digging in deep, building a forward presence. That's when they're most vulnerable."
Xu leaned closer.
"Six months, Dan. That's what we've got. If we miss that, those arrogant guizi — those foreign bastards — walk away with everything."
Dan Fei's brow creased. "You really think the Japanese will let that happen?"
"Much as I loathe Saburo, the man sees further than most," Xu said, with the grudging tone of a strategist respecting another. "I'd bet anything he's already in motion. Which means we need to be faster."
Dan Fei bowed slightly, hands pressed together in a gesture of respect. "Then I'll give it everything I've got, Mr. Xu — for our shared goal."
"Let's hope luck still remembers our names."
Connection terminated.
***
January 28, 2069
Night City – Megatower 4
Alex Mitchell (Volkov)
Incoming Message – From: "Not the Best Hacker in the Universe Anymore"
Alex, here's the deal: Alt wants to talk. You can say no, of course — but you know how touchy women can get. If you're down for this little meet-up, ping me on the private channel. I'll be waiting for the next two hours.
P.S. She was insistent. Like, really insistent. Honestly? Might be a trap. Bring Vega — just in case.
"I can't even finish my goddamn breakfast without someone dropping a fresh pile of stress on my plate," I muttered, scowling at the notification blinking in the corner of my HUD. Mentally, I was already telling one very pushy digital ghost exactly where she could shove her invitation.
I didn't say it out loud, though. I'm reckless, not stupid. And this wasn't just any meet-up — it was with Alt Cunningham. Walking into her territory unprepared would be like stepping into a minefield wearing clown shoes.
Reich had filled my head with stories about her. None of them made her sound sane. Becoming an AI — or whatever state she was stuck in now — had clearly done a number on her. She wasn't a person anymore, not really. More like a rogue protocol with trust issues and god-complex vibes. I had no idea what ran through her head these days. Frankly, I preferred it that way.
"You've been staring into the void for like two minutes," Sasha said, jabbing me in the ribs. "Something wrong?"
"Sort of." I turned to look at the raven-haired hacker next to me. "My old mentor just reached out. Says I've got a meeting lined up… in the Net."
"Think it's a trap?" she asked, sharp as always.
"Could be. Might just be someone trying to puff up their ego in front of the 'cocky rookie.' Reich probably ran his mouth again, and now I've gotta clean up the mess."
"So, like when your parents brag about you, and then you get dragged in to prove you're not some inflated bedtime story?" Sasha smirked. "Bring Vega. Play it safe."
"You sure you're not related to Bartmoss?" I narrowed my eyes at her. "You two think way too much alike."
She gave me a shrug that said Who, me? — butter-wouldn't-melt levels of innocent.
"Alex, got a sec?" Gloria's voice cut in as she pushed through the doorway, eyes sharp like she'd just gotten wind of a small-scale crisis. "Wanted to ask about training chips — wait, are we interrupting something?"
"We're flirting while no one's watching," I deadpanned, flashing a crooked grin. "What do you need?"
"Trying to upskill," she said, brushing past the banter like it didn't register. "Chips would speed that up. Got a lot of ground to cover."
"You want a legit build or a cracked one?"
"Cracked," she replied without missing a beat.
"Alright. I'll ping Wakako, see what she's got. I'll send you the price later, but ballpark? Around 15K."
"Fifteen thousand for a med chip?" Alexandra chimed in, eyebrows rising.
"For the cheap ones, yeah. Real ones? You're looking at triple or quadruple that. Full field medic databases? Don't even ask — those go for eighty, ninety thousand easy. A nomad I used to know said back in the day, they were trading them for full shipments of arms."
"So... basically the price of a mid-tier sports car," she said, comparing it to the first thing that popped into her head. "Tech databases go for way less. I know that for a fact." The brunette nodded, brushing her fingers across the side of her neck where her personal ports used to be.
"Healing's always been high-value. Doesn't matter the era — doctors have always held top billing. Not that most of Night City's ripperdocs are anything close to real medics, but still." I shrugged. "I can probably source the shard by the end of the week. Need anything else while I'm at it?"
"I'll handle the rest myself." Gloria waved it off and headed back toward Kiwi's office.
"You could stand to hit the books yourself, slacker," I said, elbowing Sasha in the side. She flinched and shot me a glare. "At this rate, you'll never catch up to Lucy or Roxy — and they're a few years younger than you."
"Behold, the tyranny of domestic life," Sasha declared with mock tragedy, rolling her eyes.
"Cut the drama." I pulled her in a little closer with one arm. "Can you cover for Vega while I'm under?"
"Yeah, yeah. Just go already," she muttered, making zero effort to actually pull away.
"Appreciate it." I gave her a quick squeeze, kissed her on the forehead, then turned toward my workstation to prep the gear.
I'd recently moved all the delicate hardware into a separate room, leaving just the fabrication rigs and heavy-duty tools out in the main workshop. Back when space was tight, I had to cram everything into one room, constantly paranoid someone would stumble across something they weren't supposed to see. Now, though? I could finally breathe.
"Alex, Sasha said you needed me."
Vega didn't keep me waiting. She walked in less than a minute later, sandwich in hand, mid-bite, as casual as ever. Someone had clearly made sure our favorite blonde wouldn't starve today. Amusing, considering breakfast hadn't been that long ago — though, to be fair, whoever handled it probably figured it wouldn't hurt to double up.
"Yeah. Set up a secure line — tight as you can make it. I'll handle the rest of the gear."
Vega nodded without saying a word. She finished her sandwich in one last bite, wiped her hands down with a couple of alcohol wipes she'd brought along, and with a smooth flick, tossed the used napkins into the bin — dead center. Then she made her way to the access point installed at the back of the room — the one I'd be using to dive into the Net.
I watched her silhouette fade into the shadows, then turned back to work — final diagnostics, interface checks, and a few digital countermeasures... just in case Alt decided to get clever. I never had any illusions about Cunningham. Maybe she'd found a better offer — something more tempting. Assuming she still had any trace of human instinct left? That'd be naive. Better to prep for the worst. In this business, hope is just another way to get blindsided.
From an AI's perspective — and that's what she was now — the digital field was a battleground stacked in her favor. Way more leverage than a flesh-and-blood netrunner like me could ever pull. But that also meant she was just as likely to be played by other constructs and dumped like old malware once she outlived her usefulness.
Reich, on the other hand, had always been a man of action — back in the day, when he and Alt were still tearing up the old Net before he went and torched it all. So yeah, I had no clue what kind of offer the guy who built the Blackwall's killer might see as a better deal.
"Alex, system's good to go," Vega said over comms, her voice crisp and clear.
"Copy that. Five more minutes, then we jack in."
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