Chapter 21

Seeing the look on Jackie and V's faces, it was clear how unreliable Kirk was.

What was more, V had nearly taken a fall—all because of him. Could they really keep dealing with someone like that?

"No, we didn't agree…" V shot a glance at Jackie's grim expression. "At least not at the time."

Leo picked up on her implication. "But if Kirk called you, you'd still go?"

V looked resigned. "Pepe never said how much he owed, and Kirk didn't either. We probably couldn't scrape up that much anyway."

Jackie cut in, "And even if we could, we sure as hell wouldn't give it to Kirk. Once he got a taste, he'd keep scamming people."

He downed his drink in one go, then slammed the empty glass onto the table.

"Pepe, man…what a mess."

One misstep after another.

If Pepe had just come to Jackie for a loan in the first place, none of this would have happened.

Even if he hadn't been able to pay it back, Jackie wasn't the type to make a huge deal of it for a good friend.

But why did he have to turn to Kirk?

It gave Jackie a headache. Kirk was a black hole; doing business with him felt worse than chewing glass.

But if they didn't work with him, there was no way to clear Pepe's debt.

Frustrating, for sure.

"Is there really no other way?" he muttered.

He shook his head, though. Despite how scummy Kirk was, he played by the rules of the street. As long as he hadn't forced Pepe at gunpoint to borrow the money, nobody could really nail him on moral grounds. That was the so-called "honor among thieves."

Some might scoff at the idea of street honor, but in reality, gangs—unofficial powers—had to set certain guidelines to maintain order and legitimacy if they wanted to stay afloat or grow. At least publicly.

Leo wiped down a glass with a small smile. "Maybe there's another angle we can work with."

Jackie blinked in surprise, then his eyes lit up. "Leo, you got a plan?"

"If we can't fix the problem itself, let's fix whoever's causing it."

"Explain."

"Kirk's both a fixer and a loan shark. That means he's dancing on the edge of the law. Guys like that always slip up somewhere, and we just need to find his weak spot."

Jackie's face brightened. "You two keep drinking. I'm making a few calls."

He drained his glass, stood, and walked off, leaving Leo and V alone.

V held her cup in both hands, lightly tracing the rim with her fingers. "So… how long have you and Jackie known each other?"

"Not long," Leo answered.

With time to kill, he told her about how he and Jackie had met. V was surprised.

"The border guard actually fell for your bluff?"

Leo smirked. "Snake Nation's big and notorious. Anyone wanting to tangle with them has to think twice. That guard was just a frontier grunt, not even a corporate employee."

"But you're not really Snake Nation."

"No, I'm not. But he didn't know that, did he?"

V chuckled, shaking her head. "Damn, and here I thought Jackie was the smooth talker."

Leo smirked. "Yeah—about as smooth as his hairline."

V nearly choked on her drink. "Shit, you're right. I swear, it's been running for the border longer than you have."

Leo grinned. "Man's got a fivehead, easy. If he ever goes full chrome, at least the transition'll be smooth."

V laughed, shaking her head. "Wonder if he waxes it."

"Nah, natural shine. Built different."

They smirked at each other, the teasing turning into an unspoken camaraderie.

Just then, Jackie returned, his expression barely concealing his excitement. His expression could hardly conceal his excitement.

"I looked into it. Turns out that bastard's got other gigs going on." He glanced around; the first floor was nearly empty, and no one sat close enough to overhear, so he spoke in a low voice. "Leo, you were on the right track. Kirk's running deals with the Maelstrom psychos."

"Maelstrom?" V blurted. "That gang from Watson?"

Jackie nodded. "Exactly."

"What would those metal-head freaks need from a shady hustler like Kirk?" V asked.

Jackie scratched his head, looking sheepish. "Dunno. My contact didn't have those details."

"That alone isn't enough. We need to find out exactly what they're up to," V said, sounding disappointed.

Leo looked thoughtful. "I might have a way to dig into whatever Kirk's got going with Maelstrom."

…

Watson had once been Night City's beating heart. When the 2023 nuclear blast devastated the city's center, Watson became a kind of Noah's Ark for survivors who refused to give up hope. But by the 2050s, Watson had begun to decline. It still had towering skyscrapers, nightclubs, corporate offices, and even a top-grade medical center—until the financial crash destroyed it all.

Nowadays, Watson has become the city's poorest area, where Maelstrom and the Tyger Claws prowled the slums.

Among Watson's districts, Kabuki was by far the liveliest—an overwhelming maze of neon-lit alleys near the old medical center, steeped in a deeply rooted Japanese heritage. It was cramped, dirty, and rife with scams. You saw Tyger Claws everywhere, wielding katanas, clubs, and guns. Meanwhile, Scavs lurked in every corner, greedily eyeing everyone who walked by. Anyone new to Night City might not know what Scavs did, but in short:

They harvested organs without anesthetic.

Late at night, an SUV was parked beneath a neon sign, its three occupants silently watching a small building tucked away in a narrow alley. After half an hour, Kirk stepped out of the building. He glanced around warily before heading off on foot. Once he disappeared into the crowd, Jackie reminded them again:

"Third floor, room 302."

He glanced between Leo and V. "So, who's going in?"

V cracked her knuckles. "I got it. Done jobs like this before."

Leo said nothing, but as V moved to step out, a thought crossed his mind.

Leo had no experience with sneaking around. Hell, he barely had experience with modern tech. He couldn't even use a cyberdeck—if something went sideways tech-wise, he'd be about as useful as a rock.

"Hmm I really should look into getting tech skills"

Without another word, V got out and slipped into the building Kirk had left.

Leo and Jackie waited another tense ten minutes until V returned, waving a data chip.

Leo nodded, started the SUV, and drove away into the night.

---

"Gooood morning, Night City!"

"This is your man Stanley, and the City of Dreams is waking up to a brand-new day."

"I love this town the way you love your mother. Remember how she ditched you at an orphanage once, then bummed a smoke off you years later out on the street?"

"Every day a hundred or more fresh faces roll in, and only half of 'em survive the year—if we're being generous."

"Why do they all flock here? Simple: they want to become the next Morgan Blackhand or Weyland 'BoA' Boa, legends of the streets."

"There's an old saying: 'The timid starve; the bold choke to death.' Too bad that those who live loud often die young. And that's not counting the folks who get their brains splattered."

"Wonder where Night City's true legends gather? In the graveyard!"

"In these parts, it's not your background that counts but whether you can carve out your own path. That's Night City—the City of Dreams."

As Stanley's booming voice droned from the radio, Leo opened his eyes. Jackie snored away beside him, while V remained curled up on the small couch, sound asleep. The cramped garage barely held the three of them, making it hot and stuffy. Since V was the only woman, Leo and Jackie had given her the lone couch, and they shared the floor.

Leo stretched, thinking he really needed to find an apartment soon—no way they could keep squeezing in here. First, though, they had to deal with the mess they'd stirred up.

Last night, as soon as they got back to the garage, V had pulled out the data chip. Everything she found on Kirk's laptop had been copied onto it.