Chapter 21: Braindance

"Braindance? What's that?"

After finishing their meal and heading off to check out some apartments, Karl couldn't hold back his curiosity anymore. Oliver and Jackie had mentioned the term a few times already.

"Wait… is it like Poké—"

"Dude, what the hell are you even saying?" Oliver cut him off, looking half amused and half horrified. "No. Just… Braindance. Plain and simple."

Knowing Karl wasn't up to speed on a lot of modern tech, Oliver gave him a quick crash course.

In short, Braindance—or BD—was like virtual reality on overdrive. But instead of just visuals and sound, BDs let you relive a person's full sensory experience—pain, fear, arousal, adrenaline, everything—recorded straight from their brain and dumped into yours.

By 2075, BD was the top form of entertainment in Night City. Every household had a BD headset, the same way people used to have TVs or smartphones.

Karl raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"That actually sounds kinda awesome. I wanna try it."

Used to Karl acting like a guy frozen in time, Jackie and Oliver didn't even question it. They immediately rerouted toward a nearby Braindance store.

First-Time Buyer

A personal BD headset didn't cost much. Just 1,000 eddies for a brand-new unit, including a few free samples.

While Karl paid at the counter, Oliver flipped through the bundled titles.

"'Heartstrings,' 'Soul of Light,' 'Gate of Swords'… why are they all just games?"

Jackie snorted.

"'Cause nobody buys those. They're popular, sure, but in Night City? You get more thrills just walking two blocks after dark."

Then Jackie pointed at a shelf.

"'The Old Man and the Sea' looks decent."

Karl blinked. "Wait… you mean Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea?"

Jackie's eyes lit up.

"You've read Hemingway?!"

"...It's a classic?"

Oliver leaned in. "What's it about?"

"An old man fishing."

Oliver squinted. "Fishing? Dude, the ocean's a toxic soup. I can't even imagine that shit."

Interest gone.

Karl shrugged and grabbed the BD out of curiosity. He wanted to see how someone had turned a literary classic into a full sensory experience.

As he browsed deeper into the store, something else caught his eye.

"What're those?"

He pointed to a shelf in the corner—dark packaging, edgy designs, and a title font that looked like it was bleeding.

"Oh, that?" Oliver didn't even blink. "That's the hardcore stuff. Gore, porn, you name it."

Karl raised an eyebrow. "How gory we talkin'?"

"If it's being sold in a legit shop, it's not black-market levels. Maybe some gunshots, a bit of blood. Definitely no cyberpsychos or real-death BDs."

Karl scanned the titles. One stood out:

"My Years in Trauma Team."

A first-person record of a Trauma Team medic's career—chaotic rescues, gang crossfires, corporate firefights. The works.

It cost 70 eddies per volume.

That wasn't exactly cheap—for a lot of folks in Watson, that was two weeks of food.

But Karl had over 40,000 eddies in his account.

He bought all three volumes.

Bundle discount: 200 eddies.

Then, because he was already there...

He added:

A Mercenary's Combat Log

The Champion's Journey

The Samurai's Last Stand

These weren't bundled, but all together came out to just 180 eddies.

Big-Spender Karl

Watching Karl drop 1,430 eddies in one go, Oliver nearly choked.

"Damn, choom. You really just buy whatever the hell you want, huh?"

He rubbed his forehead.

"Back when I wanted to pick up a spicy BD, I'd stare at my wallet for an hour before deciding. You? You just waltz in and grab six in one sweep."

Karl shrugged.

"You said Braindance lets you fully relive the original person's experience, right? I just wanna test something."

Sure, part of him was curious.

But more than that?

He had a theory.

If he could process those experiences completely—if his brain could learn from them—then these BDs weren't just for entertainment.

They were training tools.

Trauma Team = medical training.

Mercenary's Log = combat tactics.

Champion's Journey = hand-to-hand experience.

Samurai's Stand = swordsmanship.

If it worked the way he hoped?

Then Braindance was more than recreation. It was skill acquisition.

"Verification?"

Jackie didn't really get what Karl meant by that, but he didn't press. They all had eddies now, so he grabbed a few BDs too.

With Karl's full stack, Jackie's selection, and even Oliver's modest picks, the BD shop owner looked like he was about to declare record sales for the month.

Then—

BAM!

The door slammed open.

Three men in black hoodies stormed inside, each holding a Lexington.

"Everybody on the fucking ground! This is a robbery!"

Just Another Day in Night City

Karl raised his hands slowly.

He wasn't scared—he could probably drop all three with clean headshots.

But it wasn't worth the risk.

If they were just here to steal, better to stay chill and not escalate.

Oliver and Jackie did the same. Hands up. Eyes sharp.

This was just Tuesday in Night City.

Quick & Dirty

The masked punks didn't seem eager to kill. They took the cash from the register—around 700 eddies—and a handful of BD game chips.

They ignored the headsets—too risky. The serial numbers made them traceable.

The whole thing took less than two minutes.

Then they ran, slamming the door behind them.

The shop owner cursed and reached for the phone to call NCPD—

When—

GUNSHOTS.

Karl immediately recognized the sound.

Lexington.

Then—

BANG!

The door burst open again.

A corpse flew inside, thudding hard against the floor.

Face half-gone.

But enough remained to tell: it was one of the robbers.

Karl exhaled sharply.

"Looks like shit just got real."

No hesitation.

All three reached for their guns.

This... was Night City.