Chapter 57: A Petal for a Petal

"I feel like I just came back from the dead."

"You sure did. You were hanging by a thread for two days, almost kicked the bucket."

Lying on the hospital bed, Karl's first words after waking up were immediately commented on by Jack.

"So... what the hell happened?"

Karl glanced at Oliver, who was sitting on the other side of the bed. He had no idea why he had woken up in a hospital bed—

And why the first thing he saw were two dumbass faces staring at him.

"Karl, I think you can just insult us directly. No need to disguise it as casual conversation."

Oliver, wrapped in bandages, clearly wasn't in great shape either. After rolling his eyes at Karl, he explained what had happened.

Karl's final sprint to deliver the target had actually been further than he had originally thought.

While the ACPA was busy hunting him down, the medical staff stationed at Konpeki Plaza had found the target and taken her into protective custody.

And since the target had safely arrived, the attackers had received orders to withdraw.

And then...

Then, by the time Jack and the surviving mercs arrived at Karl's last known location—

They saw his body being carried away under a white sheet.

"We all thought you were dead. Jack even started screaming and tried to steal your body back."

"Bullshit. You were the one screaming. I just ran in."

Jack corrected Oliver with an annoyed huff, then continued the story.

That was when Arasaka's medical team informed them that Karl wasn't actually dead.

Before receiving her own treatment, the target had given specific orders to make sure Karl was treated as well.

The white sheet was simply to cover him up—

Because he looked too gruesome, and the medics didn't want to scare the young lady.

"Oh, speaking of that young lady—our target—Karl, do you even know who she is?"

Jack slammed a hand on the bed, visibly excited.

Aside from making the bed shake and making Karl's sore body tremble, the action didn't do much.

"We actually protected someone important as hell. I never thought we'd be guarding someone like her."

Jack took a deep breath.

"She's an Arasaka."

"I know Arasaka."

[Arasaka]: A family-run Japanese megacorporation. They provide security, banking, and legal services to the world's biggest corporations. By 2075, they are one of the most powerful entities on the planet.

A corporate princess from a dynastic empire.

Of course Karl knew.

"So what's the problem?"

"The problem is massive."

Oliver cut in from the side.

"Arasaka Hanako."

"Her mother is Arasaka Michiko, one of the corporation's key leaders."

"And her great-grandfather? Arasaka Saburo."

"That Arasaka Saburo, Karl."

"The emperor of Arasaka. One of the most powerful men on the planet. We somehow got tangled up with his family."

"Sounds fine to me."

Karl remained calm.

"We took a job. We finished the job. That's just how things go between a client and a contractor."

"You sure about that?"

Oliver raised an eyebrow, watching Karl closely.

There was nothing suspicious in Karl's expression.

"I mean, Jack and I can say for sure—we don't have any ties to her."

"But what about you?"

Oliver lifted the blanket covering Karl's arms and pointed at his hands.

"If you had no connection to her—"

"Then why did she personally demand you get treated?"

"Why did she pay for a full team to replace your hands?"

"My hands?"

Only now did Karl realize—his hands felt different.

The last thing he remembered before blacking out—

His hands were gone.

His arms were torn apart.

But now—

Karl lifted his arms.

His hands looked the same.

But they didn't feel the same.

There was a new kind of strength beneath his skin.

"This is..."

"The best titanium-reinforced bone structure."

"The best densified bone marrow."

"The best cybernetic joints."

"The best synthetic skin."

Oliver's voice was unreadable.

"Karl, you could punch a hole through a concrete wall now."

Karl tried moving his hand to scratch his head, only to realize—

It felt exactly like his old hand.

In fact, it almost felt smoother.

Everything was "the best."

That was... pretty terrifying.

"This doesn't prove anything."

Karl shrugged.

"She's an Arasaka princess. She's rich.

She saw how hard we worked, so she threw us a bone. Isn't that pretty normal?"

"Normal?"

Jack and Oliver exchanged glances.

Karl looked like he was actually serious.

Like he genuinely believed there was nothing strange about this.

But was there really such a thing as an Arasaka heir with a conscience?

No way.

This was suspicious as hell.

"Alright. Let's say we don't care about any of that."

Oliver pulled out a datachip and slapped it onto Karl's blanket.

"Then explain this."

"Explain what?"

Karl grabbed the chip and, seeing Oliver and Jack's expectant stares, plugged it into his neural interface.

A second later, a number popped up in his account.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six...?

"One million eddies?!"

Karl froze.

"Wait—wasn't it supposed to be 100,000?"

"Yeah. That's what we thought, too."

Jack narrowed his eyes, suspiciously scanning Karl's expression.

He was starting to worry—

Did his friend... sell something?

"The Arasaka princess gave this as a personal bonus."

"Said it was just for you."

"And the fixer still paid us the original 100k after."

Jack's eyes pierced through Karl.

"So, Karl. You sure you don't have a problem?"

"I guess...?"

Karl thought for a moment—

And found a reason.

"It's gotta be because I soloed an ACPA, right?"

"Shit, I almost died. What's wrong with getting some extra cash?"

"Oh, we know."

Jack snorted.

"The footage of that fight is still out there. Someone leaked it."

"The whole damn city is talking about it."

"ACPA's are banned in Night City."

"And then suddenly—

An ACPA shows up."

"And some merc almost takes it down."

"Karl—you're famous."

"Big name?"

Karl blinked.

"Pretty much."

Oliver kept watching him—still a bit skeptical.

But after a moment—

He just laughed.

"Eh, whatever."

"As long as you're alive, it's fine."

"If you say it's nothing, then it's nothing."

Jack patted Karl's shoulder.

"And if Arasaka ever pulls something on you—"

"You've got us."

"...Why does this sound like you guys think I'm some helpless girl being forced into a corporate marriage?"

Karl sighed.

"You both know I hate corps."

"She gave you the best cyberarms."

"And a million eddies."

"Well, I mean—"

"I don't hate all corporate people. Just the assholes."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Jack and Oliver rolled their eyes, then started helping Karl get ready.

Arasaka's hospital gave them the creeps.

If not for Karl, they wouldn't have stepped foot in here in the first place.

Now that Karl was awake—

It was time to get the hell out.

"So, you saw Adam Smasher?"

"Just for a few seconds. Then I blacked out."

"That guy's a legend."

Elsewhere in the hospital, high above them—

A pair of violet eyes watched Karl's silhouette fade into the distance.

Inside her flowing kimono, a small knife flicked into her fingers—

So fast, it was almost invisible to the naked eye.

"A cherry blossom has fallen a thousand times."

"But this time—"

"It landed in someone's hands."

The knife flew forward—

And stabbed into an unused blood-stained MaxDoc.

Two days ago—

This same med-inhaler had been clutched tightly in her hands.

Pressed against her own wound.

Her grip back then—

Had been just as tight as Karl's when he held that grenade.

"A petal for a petal."