"Damn! You're wasting it!" V was not happy about it.
Mercer just took a sip—the taste of extra-strong cola.
"Alright, having a drink with you is already giving you enough face." Mercer said, not too kindly, looking past her at Mann, and asked, "Your squad is just three people now?"
Mann nodded, smiling readily: "That's why I'm just hanging around in Rebirth, seeing if I can meet any reliable friends to team up with for jobs."
"Interested in giving my squad a try? Do a few gigs to get familiar first?"
Mercer seized the opportunity—you've got Mann and Dolio, two walking fortresses, just made for being meat shields.
Currently, the only ones in Mercer's team who can fight upfront are the speed-killer V, the rambunctious loli Rebecca, and the little-headed guy Pira; the rest are all hackers.
It was clearly not a healthy team structure, so Mercer sincerely hoped Mann and Dolio, characters from the anime, would join; not only are they relatively reliable in personality, but just look at their build—how many bullets can they block!
He really loved these guys who could stand in front of hackers like a wall.
"So sudden?" Hearing Mercer's words, even V was stunned, not to mention Mann and the others.
Mann smiled apologetically and said, "We currently have no plans to join another squad, but, thanks, A."
"Alright then, let's leave it to fate." Mercer didn't press further.
V glanced at him sideways but didn't say anything to undermine him in front of outsiders.
But Mercer, using his rear end to think, knew she was probably itching to say something about him seeking beauty or something.
Otherwise, why was he so persistent in inviting her, genuinely emotional when inviting Rebecca, but to Mann it was just a simple 'leave it to fate'?
Mercer took a sip of cola mixed with whiskey, pouting, "Definitely doesn't taste as good as just drinking cola..."
"Then give it to me!" Rebecca naturally grabbed his glass and chugged it down, then let out a satisfied cough.
"Give him a glass of cola," Rebecca said to Claire, then smiled, propping her cheek as she looked at him.
"You're not waiting for me to praise you, are you? Alright, thanks."
Mercer laughed helplessly twice, then looked at Lucy, who was also drinking cola: "How about you? You don't seem too interested in Rebirth, Lucy."
"Indeed, doesn't seem that interesting, I'd rather go back and study some programs." Lucy said truthfully, "I'm not fond of noisy places."
"Rebirth is already a pretty quiet bar." Mercer said, then added, "Next time we'll have the celebration at a restaurant, get a good meal together."
"I think you're just hungry." V revealed his true intentions.
"Exactly, I'm almost out of the beef jerky Rebecca gave me." Mercer didn't deny it.
"I'll get you some more," Rebecca said with a bright smile, her body unconsciously leaning closer to him.
Mann's group observed them, and finally Sasha sighed, "You guys have a pretty good relationship, much better than the usual mercs."
"Of course, it's the charm of this guy." Mercer gave her a thumbs up, his confident look making V roll her eyes in disdain.
But there wasn't much she could argue against.
Thinking carefully, it seemed like everyone was connected around Mercer. Without him, V felt the squad's vibe would definitely be worse off.
"You haven't been in Night City long, have you? A, never heard of you before."
Mann asked instinctively.
And Mercer turned to look at him, "Yeah."
"No offense, just that I've been here quite a while and hadn't heard of you guys before, it's a bit unusual."
Mann paused, then said, "I mean, all of you seem unfamiliar—it's strange because most people who make it to Rebirth already have some reputation.
Even if a newcomer shows up occasionally, there's always someone familiar with them.
Your squad is quite unique, I don't recognize any of you... not probing, just a bit curious, feel free to skip if it's not something to talk about."
"No worries, you just need to know we didn't have much fame before, but we're definitely going to be famous later."
Mercer chuckled, "Mann, you were in the military before?"
"Hmm... how did you tell?" Mann smiled on the surface, but felt a bit wary inside.
"Military-grade prosthetic eye, heavy subdermal armor, muscle enhancements... either you're a big fan of military tech, or you probably had ties with New America or military science before."
Mercer finished, and Mann simply nodded, "I did it for a few years, but didn't want to get involved in the unification wars, so I came to Night City to be a mercenary."
"Dolio, were you in sports?" Mercer continued.
Dolio slightly widened her eyes, "You could see that?"
"Apart from the Animal Gang, not many people go for your type of modifications, barely any implants, just heavy subdermal armor, and muscles built through injections and hard training...
Nowadays, those willing to sweat it out in building muscles, aside from the Animal Gang, are usually people with an athletic background."
Mercer stated.
Dolio gave him a thumbs up, "Good eye."
And Sasha couldn't help but raise her hand, "What about me? Can you tell anything about me?"
"I can tell you're... pretty cute." Mercer turned it into a joke, smiling as he did. He really knew a lot about Sasha, but revealing it would be hard to explain.