[Little Octopus: Boss, three universities in New York went on strike today. They're marching and reaching out to students and faculty at other schools.]
[Little Octopus: Roxxon might try to convince some state governments to deploy the National Guard for riot control.]
[Leo: We can offer free aid to all peaceful protestors. Let them protest without fear.]
[Little Octopus: Got it. Oh right, Boss, the power plant blueprints have been finalized. Want to take another look?]
[Leo: No need. Keep an eye on Brick's human trials—we need to get the second-gen cyberware online as soon as possible.]
[Leo: Personnel expansion status.]
[Little Octopus: U.S. totals—367 retired soldiers converted into cybernetic warriors; 1,347 more scheduled for implantation within seven days; projected one-month growth: 120%–160%.
Qualified workers: 14,523; 35,535 in training; 135,264 scheduled for implantation within seven days; projected one-month growth: 300%–340%.]
[Little Octopus: Night City totals—OCT Net users: 441; cross-dimensional workers: 1,333.]
"Mano, hearing you say all that… makes me think those Japs had it rough."
The three of them chatted as they left the building and entered the elevator.
Jackie sighed. "The first fight I ever got into was with a Jap."
"How'd that happen?" V asked, clearly interested.
"This punk said he'd bought an official Arasaka tablet and came showing off, looking down on us for using second-hand junk from street stalls.
He just kept showing off, wouldn't shut up. Real pain in the ass."
"Sounds like he had it coming."
Jackie shrugged. "Well, turns out he'd taken out a loan shark deal to buy it. When they came collecting, they took one of his kidneys. Then he disappeared. Might've been snatched by Scavs—probably lost the other kidney too.
If he'd run with us, maybe the Scavs wouldn't have even looked at him."
"Hah, what about that loan shark then?" V snorted. "Funny thing—my first fight was with the Tyger Claws. Sort of.
Back when I was running the streets, some idiot who'd talked to me twice kept trying to buy me drinks. Lucky I caught on—turns out he'd taken out an online loan from the Claws and planned to sell me off as a sex doll.
If I'd had a gun back then, I'd have shot him on the spot. But I guess those Claws he called over probably never even saw me—they'd have ripped him a new one first."
As V spoke, she glanced at the silent Leo. "You know, the Mox once tried to recruit me too. Said I was wasting this face by not working their line."
But Leo was still deep in thought.
The mood turned awkward.
Smack!
V slapped Leo on the head. "Hey! Zoning out again!"
Leo rubbed his head helplessly. "Sorry. My childhood wasn't as exciting as yours."
V looked out casually at the city. "So, what do you think of my face?"
"Pretty good. You'd be wasting it if you weren't in the trade—by which I mean the merc trade."
V blinked. "Hold on—looks matter in merc work?!"
"They do, actually." Leo replied absently while processing data, not really thinking about what he was saying.
He was remembering Atlanta—if not for V's face, he probably wouldn't have been able to pull her in so quickly.
His brain was running hot, but he didn't even notice what he'd implied.
Aside from sorting through reports, Leo was thinking about another issue.
He could keep chasing the Mind Eater gang, but with Muramasa stringing him along, catching them might take forever.
Beep-beep—
An NCPD pickup rolled down the street, its centaur mecha in standby mode. Through the seams in the armor, the operator inside looked exhausted.
Night City was far more chaotic now than it used to be.
The three of them stood at the skyscraper entrance, watching police cars rush by, residents muttering curses under their breath.
Then Jackie suddenly asked, "Mano, do you think… maybe we're the bad guys?"
Leo glanced at him. "What, doubting yourself now?"
Jackie thought for a moment. "We've smashed almost every gang. I know they were all scum, but… how come the streets are even worse now?"
Every time a gang fell, the districts broke down.
When the 6th Street Gang fell, traitors surfaced—civil war broke out, and locals couldn't even do business.
When the Tyger Claws fell, Westbrook turned into a madhouse. Shootouts every night, no one dared leave home after dark, shops dying out, the economy rotting.
When Maelstrom fell, the city's entire tech trade collapsed.
Leo chuckled. "We didn't hit Valentinos, and even they're tearing themselves apart with traitors trying to take over."
"When you put it like that… yeah."
"If we hadn't intervened, sure, maybe they'd have stayed stable. The streets wouldn't look this bad.
6th Street would still be distributing Biotechnica's vaccines—making money while people keep dying without even knowing why.
Tyger Claws would still be in bed with the Deputy Mayor, and Jotaro Shobo would still be kidnapping random civilians.
Royce would still rule Maelstrom, snatching people off the street for illegal cybermods and braindance recordings.
And Valentinos? Eventually, they'd turn into something unrecognizable—a pack of sellouts in the Deputy Mayor's pocket, another Tyger Claws waiting to happen.
Even if we didn't crush them, something else would. You know what that 'something' is?"
Jackie shook his head. V waited curiously for the answer.
"It's profit. Money. The root of it all is that they abandoned their founding ideals—chasing profit above everything else.
As they grew, they realized how vital profit was for maintaining a social structure.
But profit breaks bonds—family, friendship, dreams, honor, heritage, community.
In the end, the only thing linking them is money. And once that happens, they're just feeding off whoever makes the most of it.
Those new guys popping up now? They're just the latest sponsored startups—high short-term profits from people backing them.
But with us in play, things are different."
"They lost their soul," V summed up.
Leo looked at her with mild surprise. "That's about right. Nice summary."
Jackie scratched his head. "So basically, we're the roadblock keeping them from making money."
"Pretty much." Leo shrugged. "Our ties aren't built on profit, so sooner or later, we'll get pushed aside by the same kind of people chasing bigger payoffs.
And when that happens, we'll either get crushed—or absorbed."
"Sounds scary. Like being enemies with the whole world."
"It is scary. But the gangs got it backwards. People who chase profit become its puppets.
Remember, when they started out, they weren't making money. Nobody's born with everything.
They fought, struggled—and then chose to become puppets."
"Pfft." V rolled her eyes. "I've gotta disagree. Some people really are born rich."
Leo smiled. "True. But think about it—some rich folks have it all, do it all, play it all.
So what then? You just lie down and give up because they already did it?
Do you want to do those things—or just want to be rich?
If it were me, I'd do those things regardless. Whether the rich already did them doesn't matter.
If anything, they'd better pray their assets don't get in my way—because if they do, things won't end well for them."
"Heh." V grinned. "Sounds like a bandit talking. But I like it."
The NCPD convoy rolled past. The light turned green. The two crossed the street.
Jackie stood there chewing over Leo's words, staring at the green light for a long moment.
When Leo and V turned back, he finally snapped out of it, jogging after them. He threw an arm around Leo's shoulders.
"Heh, mano, I always said you were built for big things. That line you just dropped? I'm putting it in the handbook—right here: 'When I'm getting things done, everyone else better pray they're not in the way.' What do you think?"
[Little Octopus: Boss, that line really makes sense. So what's our real goal then? What are we doing all this for?]
[Little Octopus: (._.) Humbly asking for guidance.]
[Leo: The real big players—the top of the food chain—they're not driven purely by profit. They're driven by the grander goal of surpassing every other group and individual, and the will to execute it flawlessly.]
[Leo: Fools chase profit. The strong decide it.]
[Leo: Mobilize. Prepare for battle.]