chapter 57

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·.One Petal for Another..

"I feel like I've been resurrected."

"How could you not feel that way? You've been teetering on the edge of death for two days," Jack said, sitting beside Karl's bed.

Karl blinked, still disoriented. "What's going on?"

He glanced at Oliver, who was perched on the other side of the bed. Their faces weren't exactly comforting—more confused than reassuring.

"Karl, I think it's time you stop pretending to blurt out what's in your heart 'accidentally' and just start saying it outright," Oliver quipped, rolling his eyes.

Oliver, wrapped in bandages, looked worse for wear. He explained what had happened while Karl was unconscious.

Apparently, the distance Karl had traveled with the target was farther than expected. When the ACPA was chasing him, a medical team stationed in the Blue Bi Building had found and secured the target. With her safe, the attackers began to retreat.

"When we got to you, we thought you were dead," Oliver said. "You were covered with a white cloth. Jack even started howling and tried to fight off the medics to take your body back."

"That's a lie!" Jack snapped. "You were the one howling. I just rushed in!"

Jack ignored Oliver's smirk and continued the story. The medics from Arasaka had declared that Karl wasn't dead. The target had specifically instructed them to treat Karl as well, despite his horrific condition. The white cloth? It was just to cover him so as not to scare the lady.

"Speaking of that lady—our target—Karl, do you know who she is? We protected someone big this time. Huge." Jack leaned closer, lowering his voice like he was about to reveal a grand secret. "She's from the Arasaka family."

"Arasaka?" Karl frowned.

Jack nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, the Arasaka family. You know, one of the most powerful corporate empires in the world."

Oliver interjected, clearly enjoying Karl's reaction. "The target was Arasaka Haruko. Her mother is Arasaka Michiko, one of Arasaka's leaders. And her great-grandfather? Arasaka Saburo—the emperor of Arasaka himself. Do you get it now? This isn't just anyone. This is the Arasaka family."

Karl shrugged. "So? A job's a job. We completed it. What's the big deal?"

Oliver stared at him. "Are you serious? Do you really think it's that simple?"

Jack shook his head and gestured at Karl's arm. "If it's so simple, then explain why she insisted on personally ensuring you got the best treatment—and paid for it out of pocket. Look at your hand."

"My hand?"

Karl lifted his arm, finally noticing it felt… different. He remembered the explosion vividly. His palm had been blown off, and most of his forearm had been shredded.

Now, his arm looked as good as new. Better, even.

"This…"

"The best titanium bones. The finest dense bone marrow. Top-tier bionic joints and artificial skin. That prosthetic arm you're waving around? You could punch through a wall with it," Oliver explained.

Karl flexed his fingers experimentally. The movements felt natural, even smoother than before.

"Well," he said, "maybe she just felt bad for us. She's rich. Helping a disabled mercenary isn't exactly a big deal for her."

"Rich, sure. But Arasaka doesn't do charity," Oliver muttered, exchanging a skeptical glance with Jack. "This feels… off."

"Whatever," Karl replied. "I'm alive. That's what matters."

Oliver sighed and slapped a storage chip onto Karl's bed. "Fine. Then explain this."

Karl picked up the chip and inserted it into his brain-computer interface. A stream of numbers flooded his display.

"One… two… three… four… five… six…" Karl blinked in disbelief. "One million euros?!"

"No, genius. A hundred thousand euros," Jack corrected. "She sent it to you directly. The fixer confirmed it. Now tell us again—are you sure there's nothing going on?"

Karl thought about it for a moment. "Maybe it's because I went up against an ACPA alone. Almost dying has to be worth something, right?"

Jack snorted. "There's video of that fight circulating everywhere. You're famous now, Karl. A mercenary who took on an ACPA in Night City? That's headline material."

Karl groaned. "Great. Fame. Just what I need."

"Hey, it's better than being dead."

Jack and Oliver helped Karl gather his things. None of them wanted to stay in an Arasaka-run hospital longer than necessary.

As they walked out, Jack asked, "Did you see Adam Smasher?"

"Barely," Karl replied. "I passed out after a glance."

"That guy's a legend."

...

Inside the hospital, Haruko—Arasaka's target—watched Karl leave. Her hand hovered over the hilt of a hidden blade tucked into her kimono.

"Sakura has seen countless blossoms," she murmured to herself, "but this time, it floated into someone's arms."

She twirled the blood-stained flower petal in her fingers—a keepsake from the chaos two days prior.

"One petal for another.

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