Chapter 212 — NetWatch

BZZZ—ZAP!

Wildwoman's body convulsed as her spinal cyberware short-circuited. Her muscles twitched uncontrollably, and she could barely stay upright. As she fought to steady herself and reclaim control over her limbs, Jack and V had already pulled back.

"Red mark."

Jack stared at Wildwoman's glitching figure and spoke through comms.

"You see it, Oliver?"

"Clear as day."

Through four concrete walls, Oliver's cyberoptics had already locked on.

"This time, I won't miss."

His finger tightened on the trigger.

Target: neck. Again.

Fall down once, get up from the same place. Jack really knew him.

"Hold your fire!"

Just as Oliver was about to pull the trigger, a distorted, synth-filtered male voice broke into the comms. T-BUG's cold tone followed right after:

"Pathetic. I've located the Animals' netrunner. Karl—he's yours."

"I'm already on him."

Karl's voice cut in, stopping Oliver.

"Wait a sec. I know you've got Wildwoman on the ropes, but don't finish her. I'm negotiating with this netrunner dude—actually, with Mr. NetWatch."

"NetWatch?"

Everyone on the channel paused. Shocked.

These days, NetWatch was a name that needed no intro.

Founded in 2013, the org had long-standing murky ties to megacorps. Officially, it was about protecting EU and U.S. digital infrastructure. But in the Net? Hackers just called them what they were: Net Cops. A pure data-world power—so what the hell were they doing working with the Animals?

T-BUG was the first to react—by snapping.

"Fucking data jackals. I knew the Animals didn't have the chops to hold me back this long."

"Miss T-BUG," the voice replied smoothly, full of faux innocence,

"Our organization actually respects skilled netrunners like yourself—those who know how to dive deep, but not too deep. I believe we once sent you an offer, didn't we? No need to be hostile."

Karl watched the man—hands up, face hidden behind an ICE-filtered visor. He was the netrunner Karl nearly flatlined earlier—only spared because he'd immediately announced who he was.

"And let's be fair," the NetWatch agent continued.

"You're the ones who came after me and my hired muscle. I'd just arrived, rushed in 'cause the Animals were getting antsy—next thing I know, hostile breach in my system. You expect me to just take it?"

T-BUG went silent.

Hard to argue with that. They'd made the first move. He was defending himself.

The tension dipped—slightly—until Jack's voice punched through:

"Shit! Wildwoman's moving again! That freak's already getting back up! What now, Karl?!"

Karl didn't answer right away. He just locked eyes with the NetWatch agent.

The guy understood.

"Already told Wildwoman you're not the enemy anymore," the agent said calmly.

"That easy to convince her?"

"They're pros. You pay—they play."

As his voice echoed in comms, V and Jack watched Wildwoman slowly rise. She glared at them—but didn't attack.

They exchanged a look. No words needed.

"Now that we've cleared the air—shall we talk, Mr. KK?"

The NetWatch agent smiled politely.

"Whatever you were paid, I'm offering to settle this peacefully. And I'll throw in a fair price."

"A fair price."

Karl immediately caught what he meant.

He thinks Karl was sent to flatline him—and now he's trying to pay him off to walk away.

Karl could've played along. Grabbed extra eddies, completed the job, delivered the fixer's car like nothing happened.

But…

There was something in this guy. Something that hinted at a future.

Mercs work for whoever pays.

And someone this quick to throw eddies around? Might be worth keeping around.

No point burning a bridge for short-term cash.

"I'm not here for you."

The NetWatch agent looked confused.

Karl gave a little nudge of explanation. Understanding dawned on the man's face.

"You're telling me… you were just here for the car?"

"Johnny Handjob under Wildwoman stole it from our client. We came to repo it. Simple as that."

"So this whole mess is my bodyguards' fault."

With the misunderstanding cleared up, the agent relaxed. Karl gave him a nod, and he finally lowered his hands. His professional calm returned.

After a quick tap on the side of his ICE visor, the agent sent out a message:

"Redirect to intercept the Voodoo Boys. KK Squad is not a threat—just a mix-up."

Across the comms, Wildwoman let out a guttural growl—then started barking orders over the Animals' local channel.

"So... we're good?"

V watched her closely. Even with her Sandevistan ripped out, she was still moving. That beast of a body? It wasn't even human anymore—not really.

"Seems like it," Jack muttered, still breathing heavy.

"Judging by Karl's tone, the talk went smooth."

He glanced at Wildwoman, unease still in his eyes.

It had taken him, V, and Oliver working together—and risking their lives—to even get close to stopping her. No wonder she'd clawed her way to the top of the Animals in this region.

Meanwhile, Karl asked a quiet question.

"I killed four Animals during the op. They've gotta know about the biosignals dropping. They're not gonna fight the ceasefire?"

The NetWatch agent gave Karl a surprised look—like he didn't expect someone like KK to even ask that.

Then shrugged.

"Told you. They're professional bodyguards."

Professional, huh.

Meaning: even if their chooms got splattered seconds earlier, if the client says "stand down," they stand the fuck down.

"Now I get why Animals have a rep as street security in Night City..."

Karl muttered. The NetWatch agent didn't react—he just finished issuing a few more orders and looked back up.

"So... interested in picking up a quick gig?"

.

.

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