Chapter 117: Chapter 109 Fucking Awesome (Additional Chapter for Boss TT1x)

Biotechnology Building.

The Director of Technology and Development, Joanne Koch, was reporting with trepidation.

"... The Nightingale Project encountered a major incident. Project Manager Emilia Morton instructed Special Operations Team Leader Diana Kuno to illegally release γ-Rabies samples in the experimental area to clear a batch of expiring drugs and vaccines."

"After the Nightingale Project subjects were infected with γ-Rabies, the DNA degradation model underwent unknown mutations, leading to numerous deaths."

"After the incident occurred, I immediately instructed undercover Agent #1919 to carry out a cleanup, erase critical parts of the leaked information, and dismissed Emilia Morton according to company procedures."

"During this operation, Agent #1919 died in the line of duty, but the evidence was completely cleared."

"Emilia Morton contacted journalist Manuel Mendoza for a meeting at the City Hall Square station. Coincidentally, another journalist dedicated to investigating Brad Nowood, Zora Barnes, was present on the subway."

"Brad Nowood is a congressman supported by our partner, Military Technology. Zora Barnes might have come into contact with the Nightingale Project."

"Congressman Nowood took over the subway station lockdown contract from the NCPD and handed it to Mark Carroll of Military Technology."

"Mark Carroll reached an agreement with us to carry out simultaneous cleanups of the aforementioned targets."

"However, during the cleanup, Mark Carroll encountered a terrorist attack."

"Cleanup targets: Manuel Mendoza, Zora Barnes, Emilia Morton, and Brandon Murphy’s fates remain unknown."

"Given the above situation, I believe the risk of corporate secrets being leaked is extremely high and request an increase in security levels."

After Joanne Koch finished speaking, she lowered her head, not daring to breathe heavily.

The person on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then sneered,

"So, after all this fuss, you only managed to take out Diana Kuno."

"Dr. Koch, the company is very doubtful of your capabilities."

"The company cannot stop operations because of this. The current security level is already at its highest."

"The clients are very dissatisfied with us. After investing so much money, no results are seen, and they got dragged into such a big mess."

"Lastly, the disturbances caused by the Wanderers in Haywood have displeased other companies and the NCPD, making it very difficult for us."

"Go home and reflect for a few days—stay out of the company."

Koch felt her limbs go cold.

Go home and reflect?

Leaving the company, where would be safe?!

What if those Wanderers barged into her home?!

"But I..."

No, why would the company tell her to go home when there’s a problem?

Unless... the other person was convinced that these Wanderers were targeting her specifically.

If that was the case, the company indeed didn’t need heightened security—just get rid of the troublemaker.

"Dr. Koch." The voice on the other end of the phone remained calm, yet it was deafening to Koch.

She held her breath, waiting for the other person to finish speaking.

"That’s all."

Click.

The call ended.

Koch collapsed onto the sofa, looking dazed.

She frantically and wildly dialed a number.

Contact: Mark Carroll.

Beep—

Joanne Koch: "Carroll, what the hell have you been doing?"

Mark Carroll: "What’s the use of blaming now? Because of your mess, I’ve been demoted three levels!"

Mark Carroll: "Should have stayed out of it, damn it."

Joanne Koch: "So what now? Do you have any people left? I can hide at your place for a few days..."

Mark Carroll: "Get lost, find your own place."

Mark Carroll: "Damn it, because of your mess, I now have to keep an eye on Mackinaw Pika—do you know how many of those vehicles are in the city?!"

Joanne Koch: "I beg you! I really have nowhere else to go!"

Mark Carroll: "... For the sake of our years of cooperation—it’s not to let you come over, but to tell you what I just reported at the City Hall."

Mark Carroll: "This matter, in the end, the higher-ups reached a consensus."

In the matter, it was a semi-official operation.

The real problem initially involved only Koch, then Congressman Nowood wanted to eliminate an annoying journalist.

The end result was sending troops and fulfilling the NCPD’s municipal safety contract—this was the legitimate reason for the operation.

Deploying two platoons was more than enough for a lockdown mission.

The downside was that over thirty people died—that’s what escalated the matter, Military Technology lost a whole platoon in the city center.

Mark Carroll: "... My superior at the meeting said a city-wide manhunt would be issued—guess what, no one disagreed."

Joanne Koch: "Arasaka had no objections either?"

Mark Carroll: "Not a single objection—you see, this either means nobody supports the troublemakers, or they’ve already fled."

Mark Carroll: "The NCPD symbolically dispatched the Terrorist Mobile Team to patrol—for just a couple of days, and the previous company troops will continue patrolling, nobody objected."

Mark Carroll: "So find your own place, quickly arrange a flight to get out."

Between Carroll’s lines, he was saying—that mad bunch had probably already fled.

They got what they wanted and escaped; naturally, no one would spill the beans during the manhunt briefing.

Nobody would believe that the perpetrators lacked any backing—they managed to hack a Bimong Armored Vehicle and used regulated raccoon dog sniper rifles, clearly indicating someone was up to something.

However, this wasn’t good news for Koch; it merely made her more acutely aware of her precarious situation.

As the Director of Technology and Development for Biotechnology, at this moment, no one cared about her survival—she had to fend for herself.

But no matter what, since the Municipal Center still had the Military Science and Terrorist Mobile Team patrolling, she was relatively safe for the time being.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

Koch clutched her hair, muttering frantically to herself.

...

"Are you sure this thing can support both our weights?"

"Of course, just give it a try."

Due to physical reasons, Lille could only hang onto Jack—both relying on a magnetic harness, sticking back-to-back.

It looked a bit odd, but it was out of necessity—this way, Lille could free his hands to control the interferer.

At this moment, Jack and V were already equipped with magnetic suction gloves, which interfaced with their prosthetic systems via neural links.

V had already climbed up using the gloves—

Her visual system displayed an info pane:

[Current Surface Friction Coefficient: 1.42]

[Bio-Electrostatic System Operational. Current Module Normal Force: 9100N]

[Total Anticipated Normal Force....]

[Total Anticipated Friction Force....]

[Alcohol2 Fuel Consumption Rate....]

[Alcohol2 Fuel Combustion Efficiency...]

[Remaining Alcohol2...]

V was stuck to the wall, lifting one arm while remaining firmly attached.

Fascinated, she observed the glove’s surface, which was continuously adjusting its operation mode.

"Wow... this thing is freaking awesome, but what’s with all this displayed information?"

Lille responded through the comm channel, "Oh, I forgot, it’s in developer mode."

Immediately after Lille’s remark, V’s visual display simplified to just a few lines:

[Adhesion Status: Stable and Extra Capacity]

[Remaining Alcohol2 Fuel: 99%]

The text was green, turning more yellow as V lifted one hand and one leg.

Very straightforward.

"Not bad... you guys, catch up!"

Excited, V quickly moved up the wall, heading toward the rooftop of the Delamain Corporation building—

Jack also began moving, albeit much slower due to carrying Lille, but steadily.

The Delamain Headquarters wasn’t too tall but still a high-rise building—

Step by step, they watched the streets below becoming narrower, with once obstructing skyscrapers falling below their line of sight.

Eventually, they reached the rooftop of the Delamain building.

From there, they had an unobstructed view of the massive buildings in Company Square.

It was an unprecedented experience.

Climbing a high-rise was vastly different from riding an apartment elevator and peering through glass at the city.

The wind swept across their faces.

Lille’s voice came through the comm channel, "Alright, now for the final test—"

Spider silk swing.

V looked at the spider silk emitter on her wrist and then at Jack and Lille.

"Let’s give it a try..."

Ssshh—

Thin, white spider silk shot out, sticking to a nearby skyscraper. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

V grabbed the thread, took a deep breath,

and then leaped into the air!

The weightlessness exhilarated V’s nerves, slowing down the entire world—

"Woohoo~~~"

The high tensile strength spider silk bore V’s weight, swinging her towards another building like a pendulum!

As the wall rapidly approached, V’s eyes widened!

"Don’t just stand there like a dummy!"

Lille’s voice echoed as the Krensky activated, forcing V into a prone position, crashing against the wall.

The gloves and boots had retrofitted recoil control shock absorbers, but even so, the unprepared V still got a serious jolt.

After regaining her composure, V realized she had crossed several meters in midair, tens of meters up. She suddenly felt exhilarated:

"Damn! This is fucking awesome!!!"

Seeing V on the other building, Lille sighed in relief, then patted Jack’s shoulder.

Jack, both envious and terrified, scratched his head.

"Are you sure this thread can hold both our weights?"

"I’m sure—it could pull a train. Just be careful not to hit the wall and get brain damage.

You don’t have neural acceleration prosthetics, so we can take it slower."

Jack nodded, shot out the spider silk, and took a deep breath.

Then he too took the leap!

Jumping off the building’s edge, the vibrant streets of Night City appeared below them—

Both Jack and Lille’s hearts skipped a beat—

"This is fucking awesome!!!"