Where Did You Sleep Last Night?

Despite the excellent air conditioning and the cleanliness of the boardroom, the negotiations with the other nomads still felt more like a stand-off in a remote bar in a dead desert town, pistols drawn. It had been a very long time since the nomad nations had worked together in any real way, and that had been a single moment of open prosperity, not a time of doom.

It showed too.

The old grudges were still there, and seemed to be getting dredged up with every session. Two days of talking and progress was excruciatingly slow.

Panam was ready to flip her shit. Being in the room around the grand table, in comfortable seats, with ready access to real coffee and actual food, all of it was beginning to seem like an insulting waste of time.

She had made the proposal to gather the strength of the nomad nations in the West, for an attack on Arasaka at Night City. She had explained the necessity of it, and what could be gained from it. So far so good.

In response, she had listened to the reps bitch about who could possibly lead such a force for two days. The only ones that would accept Aldecaldo leadership at once were the Jodes, the others seemed to have turned against Panam. Or been turned.

The Meta were the natural next choice and one Panam would've begrudgingly accepted if it got the job done. They had the prestige to keep the others in line. The smaller nations asked twice that they take up the crown. Victoria Meta kept rejecting the honour. She wanted complete deniability when the dust settled on this thing.

The result was stalemate.

All of the Nations around the table agreed in principle that a raid on Arasaka's facilities in Night City was desirable. The corp was greatly weakened in North America, the opportunity was obvious. None agreed who should lead it, because who led it would determine if taking the opportunity was practical or not.

Panam knew who was to blame too, though she couldn't prove it.

Throughout the entire talks, Nemo and Val had been very quiet. The former only spoke out to poke holes in this idea or that idea that arose as a compromise. The latter didn't speak at all. The Snake Nation had been opposed from the beginning, and had suddenly agreed on principle when all the other Nations recognised the idea of the attack as at least possible. Yet Panam was sure it was Nemo that had organised resistance to her leadership.

The whole plan was on the verge of collapsing. It was time to gamble.

It was time to get Alt directly involved.


The morning of the third day, the representatives all sat down once again to continue the process.

Panam was first, punctuality in this being good policy. Carol hated her for it, usually, but this time was different. They sat and Carol set up her laptop, supposedly to take notes. What Carol was actually doing was allowing the attendance of the other, non-human, participant.

Ready to go.

Everyone filed in within minutes, looking tired despite having had a full night's sleep in their own beds, hammocks or cots. Even Meta was looking bored with experience of talking in circles. She had been increasingly friendly to Panam in the breaks between sessions, but had been more and more critical of the failure to make any real decisions.

Beside the CEO was the leader of the Thelas, one Theodore Teach, used an elbow to support himself as he looked across the round glass-topped table towards the Aldecaldos. He was clean shaven and dressed in a decent suit, about forty, all of which gave the impression that he was Meta's aide or something. Or it would have if it hadn't been for an old through-and-through gunshot wound on his neck.

Teach had resisted signing up simply because the Meta hadn't yet, despite the Thelas having a grudge against Arasaka for sinking a mine-clearing contract.

The lesser factions sat opposite each other; Blood Nation and Folk Nation, led by guys called Ringo and LaFleur. If Panam had to guess why they had jumped off her bandwagon, she would say something had thrown them off. Or someone. They had talked to their higher ranked people in LA and Chicago respectively with new information, she knew, and that was never a good sign.

Zachariah sat beside Carol, without a second. He was still inclined towards Panam as were the Jodes, if his glances at her ass were any indicator, but he needed to know that at least some of the others would go along with the plan before he could risk his own people.

And lastly, there was the Snake Nation. Nemo sat directly opposite Panam and Carol, as he had for the entire set of meetings. Even his choice of position was in opposition to Aldecaldo goals. Val on the other hand stood against the wall behind, playing with her phone, apparently under orders to shut the hell up.

The leader of MetaCorp stood up, announcing her intention to start.

"This is the final day in which I can participate in these talks," she declared, "If nothing is agreed, I can't justify hanging around here to my nation and the board. So, at the end of today, I will ask for a formal vote. If all the other nations fail to agree on the proposal, MetaCorp will withdraw at once."

Meta turned to Panam for a response, but she remained silent. For her gambit to work, she needed to give the opposing parties enough rope to hang themselves.

"That is unfortunate," Nemo said in her stead, "There is huge potential here, if we care to use it."

Now that he had opened his mouth, Panam was obliged to. "Which I have already explained, at length," she said, leaning back in her seat, "Hitting Arasaka now means money to live on for everyone at this table in the end."

She had already talked about the vehicles, weapons, cyberware, consumer goods and gold sitting there for the taking. And the work they'd get for having shown up the most powerful corporation in the world, as the rest of the corps swarmed to take Arasaka's business in North America.

"I have a different idea entirely," Nemo smiled, bringing his hands together in a steeple, "You brought us together Panam, so I gave you time to win the other nations over. Out of respect to the Aldecaldos as fellow nomads, and to you personally for what you've accomplished..."

"Why thank you very much," Panam interrupted with maximum sarcasm, "But I'm not done trying."

"I'm sure you aren't," Nemo agreed, "But we have hit a stalemate and it is time for alternative proposals. We can't drive away from Eureka without something to show for it, it would be wasting a historic opportunity."

Clenching her fists under the table, Panam briefly struggled to remain calm. The bastard had revealed himself, he was planning on hijacking the whole idea for his own purposes. Not in her wildest dreams did she think Nemo would make this move. Her fury drained away as she realised his behaviour fell into line with her plan, particularly if the silent participant in the meeting came through with the right information.

"Oh, we couldn't do that.," Panam agreed, slowly building momentum, "Yet all you have to do to accept our proposal."

"I think at this point we can consider your proposal tabled for consideration," Nemo countered, politely, "But I demand, as representative of the Snake Nation, the right to put another idea forward."

Panam crossed her arms, to prevent herself from palming the Silverhand pistol and turning the man's head into a canoe. He had saved her life once, and she considered that marker called in now.

Nemo looked around the table to the smaller nations for support, but none dared speak, not with the Aldecaldos in direct opposition. Most of them still had to live under Panam's shadow when all of this was over, after all.

Meta cleared her throat to get the attention of the meeting.

"MetaCorp would like to hear an alternative proposal," she stated, "Though it must stand on its own merits, and not simply be a counter to that of the Aldecaldos."

Panam, realising that the Meta were actually doing her a favour here, gestured for the man to get on with it. The Snake Nation's motives would be revealed fully.

Nemo spread his hands out in front of him. "It has many of its own merits," he replied.

Meta narrowed her eyes. "You seem very sure of that," she said. Not a good idea to simply say so, rather than explaining why.

The Snake leaned back in his seat, perfectly at ease. "I have good reason to be sure of myself," he shrugged, "The reason why is simple; it is your idea that I am proposing."

The CEO frowned.

"My idea?" Meta asked, "I do not follow your meaning."

"You went in front of cameras and announced that we would all participate in reconnecting America's cities," Nemo said, finger raised, "I propose that we adopt this cover story as our real plan of action. We should end the disconnected efforts of our individual nations and come together to carve out a real piece of prosperity for ourselves. A full confederation west of the Mississippi."

He turned and looked Panam dead in the eye. "Best part is that it doesn't require us to go to war with the world's most powerful corporation," he added, "However noble a cause that may be."

A direct challenge then. Good.

"We are already at war with them," Panam countered, "Of all the corporations in the NUSA, Arasaka are the only ones who don't need us in some way. We are part of the support mechanism of their enemies, and we certainly don't fit in their vision of the future. They'll eventually try and destroy us."

She glanced at Meta and held her breath, hoping the other person who knew all of this to be absolute truth wouldn't reject it out of hand. It was a bit premature for some support maybe, but Panam wanted to know the mood of the CEO towards her words.

Meta remained impassive, waiting for Nemo's response. Panam breathed again. That was good. Not shooting Panam down was about as approving as was possible. Of course, Nemo took it in stride, or he was taking it as disapproval, ignorant of the previous conversations between the two other leaders.

"The only nation at war with Arasaka is your own, Panam," Nemo said, "I could go so far as to say that you brought that on yourself, but that is irrelevant. Arasaka are not going to destroy us. They may not be our friends, but do you honestly think they care about us?"

This guy was living in a dream world if he actually believed such a thing. Which he probably didn't. Panam decided to point out the obvious.

"You don't keep up with recent history," she said, "A nomad nation humiliated them less than a year ago. And here you are, associating with that nation openly. You think Arasaka are going to forget that?"

Nemo's smile died. "Was that your plan?" he said, his tone of voice dropping a register, "Have Arasaka target the other nations by meeting with us, and force us into helping you? If so, the Snake Nation will leave this conference at once."

Leaving would leave him powerless, his own proposal destroyed. Panam wanted to laugh and call his bluff... but maybe some of the other nations shared that opinion.

"It wasn't the plan," she replied honestly, "But that doesn't stop Arasaka thinking that way. You're marked out as someone who even considered opposing them. They don't take kindly to that, trust me."

The Snake Nation leader's face contorted with anger. "All we have to do is publicly reject you and that stops," Nemo snapped back, before regaining control over himself. He suddenly looked like he had eaten something sour. He knew he had miscalculated.

A bang on the table erupted, shaking the glass top along with all the coffee cups and the laptop sitting on it.

"Hold on just a damn minute!" Zachariah interrupted, "Are you suggesting we hang another nation out with their asses bare? Just let the Aldecaldos get killed by Arasaka? 'Cause that would be fucked up, Mr. Nemo. That would be an invitation to every other corp to just wipe out clans that offend them."

"Not how I would put it, but an accurate statement," Victoria Meta agreed, her voice all ice now, "Someone once said that we all hang together or we shall each hang separately. Not even the Meta are strong enough alone. You would be wise to clarify your position, Mr. Nemo."

Nemo's eyes widened, realising his mistake was even greater than he had imagined. "I'm suggesting the Aldecaldos are dooming themselves no matter what we do," he explained quickly but firmly, "They are on the warpath not because they want more opportunity, they want revenge because Arasaka screwed them."

"Revenge and what we want to accomplish are not two different things," Panam said, "The more successful this gig is, the more Arasaka will be hurting. It's win-win for everyone."

Nemo's leering smile made a return, spreading across his face slowly under a penetrating stare. Her lip curling back, Panam wanted to put on sunglasses to defend herself from the look.

"Win-win for everyone, or just you?" he said, "Tell us about the famous V. Tell us about how he's dying thanks to Silverhand's chip in his skull. About how you would do anything for him. And how you think there's a cure and that Arasaka alone has it."

So that was his game. Panam's skin crawled with disgust. He must've heard the rumour from the Bloods or the Folk Nation. Both had camped outside of Alpha Dome and could've caught that detail on the grapevine. And with that information, he must've told all the other nations except the Meta that the Aldecaldos weren't in it for the money or even the glory.

"So what?!" Panam replied, having to force her jaw open to speak but finding volume control difficult once she had, "There's something every single one of us wants in those facilities. A cure for V is just one more prize for the taking!"

Nemo shook his head and brought his hands together in a steeple again, shifting forwards and putting his weight on his forearms.

"You aren't even denying it," he said, "V's life doesn't split seven ways. If, or more likely when something goes wrong with the plan, there is nothing stopping you getting out with what you were after all along. The rest of us would just have to count ourselves lucky to survive with nothing to show for it."

Nemo was trying to paint it as a personal vendetta alone, that the plan was Panam's desperate attempt to save V. Which was true, but not a sign that she would leave the other nations out to dry. There were enough holes in that argument that Panam thought to simply point them out.

"You're making a lot of assumptions," she said, as she held up her hand to begin counting them off, "One, you don't know what form the cure will take, it could take more time to deal with, not less. Two, V being alive but broke still means he is still dead, because just taking the cure won't protect him from the corps."

Panam knew that Arasaka needed to be humiliated for all of them to walk away living and free from any of this. Or else they would simply retaliate. After the attack on Arasaka Tower, the destruction of Mikoshi and the revelation of Relic's true nature did the job. That sort of scandal wouldn't be enough this time. The other corps needed to circle and attack the injured beast.

Carol coughed pointedly. "And three, V can't be shared among all the family members of the Aldecaldos either," she added over her laptop, "As much as we like him and we would do anything to save him, we're all going to need money to survive too."

Nemo shrugged. "Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong," he said, "But can we put our nations in your hands, knowing that your motivations are personal, that it's not about business for you?"

"Yes, you can," Panam replied without hesitation, "Maybe you need your ears checked. I already told you, we need the eddies. More than any of you."

"Sure, the Aldecaldos need the eddies," Nemo said, "But once you have them, once you have that cure, what's to stop you abandoning us? Would you continue to risk V's life simply to make sure we get our part of the treasure?"

Teach, leader of the Thelas, grumbled loudly and incoherently, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That better not be your game, Palmer," he said to Panam, "My people would gladly take to the land to hunt your asses down."

That would've been pretty funny. The Aldecaldos would've handed the Thelas their ass on dry land. Panam wanted to laugh out loud at the thought, and it showed on her face.

"I'm sure everyone else here would do the same," she said, "We'd be worse than the Raffen Shiv, and no nomad would ever even look at us again unless it was down the barrel of some iron."

"Not exactly a formula for staying alive," Carol added.

Teach nodded, acknowledging the reply to his threat was a good one at least.

"So, hypothetically, if you had to choose between V and the rest of us..." Nemo mused aloud, "You would choose us?"

Unable to answer that with her first thoughts without sabotaging her chances, Panam stared at the man, aware that silence was almost as bad an answer. The rest of the room zoned in on her, awaiting the answer.

"We are not talking hypotheticals," Panam replied at last, "The choice you're talking about isn't one I'd ever have to make. It's a bullshit question."

The leader of the Snakes licked his lips. "Indulge me," Nemo said, "I for one won't be taking orders from someone who'll sell me out."

Now he was just plain bullshitting. "My relationship with V is not proof that I will sell you out," Panam replied.

"It's a risk," Nemo shot back, "It makes you unsuitable as a leader, and since there are no other candidates, your plan is kaput."

"Nothing in this thing is without risk!" Panam objected, "We're not going down to the CHOOH station for a six pack and some chips! It's a fucking raid! And you have no real reason to believe that we'll sell you out, except that it conveniently leaves your proposal as the only one left."

Silence fell over the room as Panam glared at Nemo, waiting for his response. But it didn't come. He just let her last words hang there. She knew he had dealt the damage he had wanted to deal.

Yet she could not yield. She needed to buy time.

Nemo must have realised it too. "I call for an immediate vo..." he began, but was interrupted by a loud beep from the laptop.

The whole meeting turned to Carol, who was wearing the biggest shit-eating grin on her face. "Sorry about that," she said to the table, "We just got a message. It won't take a minute to deal with, but it needs looked at right now." She pointed at the mute button behind the screen for the benefit of Panam. It wasn't glowing active. She had made sure that any incoming message would interrupt the meeting.

Panam could've kissed her.

"Then I call for a brief recess," Victoria Meta replied, "Stay in the room. Get some coffee and a croissant, we'll resume in five."


The other representatives all stood up and made their way to the coffee table tucked in the corner, save for Meta herself, who watched Panam and Carol with interest, as if trying to discern what was going on.

They ignored her and whispered to each other behind the laptop screen, as the room filled with the sound of the machine and the smell of the coffee it brewed. Panam ached to have a cup herself, but squashed the urge.

Carol brought up what had been sent to them. It was a folder with a summary, the big picture that the files inside painted. Personnel files to be exact. Panam felt her blood race faster and faster as she scrolled through the most pertinent ones. There was only enough time to read those ones, but she was sure the others were just as explosive.

"Alt, you fucking genius," Panam whispered to no one in particular.

"Ball's on our side of the court again," Carol agreed, "How you want to use this?"

Panam chewed her lip, seeing that everyone else was returning to their seats. There wasn't a whole lot of time for strategy, she needed to improvise. "Send these files to there, with the following text," she said, typing in the location and message, "And leave the rest to me."

Shocked, Carol looked at Panam like she was the Grim Reaper, blood draining from her face. Good, that was the point.

"Just do it," Panam said quietly, "We're beyond talking now."

Carol nodded, resuming her natural colour as she copied and moved the file accordingly. By now, Nemo was back, cradling a steaming mug in both hands and sipping it, while Val had returned to her spot against the wall behind, playing with her phone again.

"Sorry for the interruption," Panam declared, "I know Mr. Nemo had something to say, but it'll have to wait. Something more important has come up."

"Oh? How intriguing," Meta drawled, a little bit of Texas coming out in her accent now, "Considering this is probably your last shot at the target, I think we can allow a bit of latitude."

"Oh? I didn't notice," said Panam, failing to stop the sarcasm, "I guess I'll have to be careful."

Meta frowned, but didn't speak, instead taking a deep drink from her own coffee and tapping a watch on her wrist afterwards. The clock was ticking.

Panam took a breath, before beginning. What she was about to do sent chills of fear down her back. The consequences of failure didn't bear thinking about.

Something had been on her mind throughout the days of meetings. It seemed an appropriate thing to talk about while the cogs of her plan moved into place. "V told me a story once, about something he saw the day Arasaka threw him out," she said, "About how his boss killed off a whole bunch of ESA board members over the Net. Fried their synapses."

"That was all over the news, is it meant to scare us?" Nemo cut in, "What's the point of this story? You going to get your loverboy to fry our brains?"

"You are out of order, Mr. Nemo," Meta said, her eyes flashing to him, "If V was going to attack us through the Net, she would not warn us about it. Let her speak."

The Snake Nation leader held up both hands in surrender.

Panam inclined her head in thanks to the CEO. "The same boss told V to kill his own superior in Arasaka," she continued, "So Arasaka seized his accounts, disabled his cyberware, and would've dragged him out into an alley to be killed, if he hadn't been with a friend at the time."

Ladies and gentlemen, Jackie Welles. Panam wasn't surprised that V talked about him often. He stood up to Arasaka with nothing but a pair of pistols. He was also probably the reason V wasn't a complete brat.

Zachariah smacked his lips, putting his drink down on the glass top, making a clink. "Sounds like 'Saka," he admitted, "Also sounds like V got off easy."

"If you call being forced to start from scratch easy," Panam replied, "But that's Arasaka's way. When he told me that story, we got talking about how nomads deal with our own. About the Raffen Shiv."

Panam sat forward. "See, V thought that exiling people for the worst crimes was a recipe for disaster," she explained, "Every time we fought the Wraiths, he would say 'this is what happens when you let them run free, they come back and fuck with you'."

"Bit ironic," Teach said, between bites into a chocolatine, "I'm sure Arasaka are thinking the same about him."

Panam smirked. "Yeah, he said that too," she agreed, "I argued back, saying that it wasn't for the family or the clan who lived or died, and that we didn't have prisons. The chance that someone was falsely accused was always there. It got quite heated."

The thought that she'd never have arguments like that with V again, driving to this place or that place and filling the time with chatter, it shot a spike of fear through her. The previous worry about gambling it all on this play disappeared; she saw no other way to get the nations on board.

Steeling herself with the determination that she was going to come out of that fucking room with exactly what she needed, Panam glared straight at Nemo.

"It wasn't until today that I realised V was right," she declared, "Exile isn't enough punishment for traitors."

"What are you..." Nemo began.

The monowire curled around his neck, before being pulled tight against the skin. He gagged, just barely able to breath. His hands went up, trying to pull it away... but it was too late.

Behind Nemo, Val wrenched the wire with the full might of her arms, causing it to slice through his neck. Blood bubbled and sprayed out of the expanding wound. His white shirt and the table in front of him soaked deep red with blood. His eyes rolled up, and a last breath escaped him, not from his mouth but from the inside of his throat, now exposed.

Panam felt revulsion boil up from her stomach, as Val completed the garroting and turned Nemo into a horrific human candy dispenser, the wire cutting all the way to the bone of his spine. This was by far the most brutal thing Panam had ever asked to be done to a human being. Not even V's execution of Adam Smasher could compare.

But there wasn't time for being repelled by her own moral choices.

Standing up from her seat, Panam pulled Silverhand's pistol smoothly out of its holster and aimed it at the next target; the Blood Nation's second.

The man began putting his hands up, but it was too late. She squeezed the trigger, and the Malorian barked a bullet into his chest. He slumped down onto the table, revealing a gaping exit wound on his back where the round had tumbled out. Ringo, his boss, jumped out of his seat away from the body and ducked, afraid he was next.

The pinch of guilt was lesser with this one, despite Panam killing him herself. It was cleaner.

No more time to lose. Panam swung the pistol around to the Folk Nation's leader, LaFleur, and shot him in the chest too. The corpse fell off the chair sideways, the floor behind splattered with blood. His second, a skinny guy, grabbed at his side for his weapon.

Nothing tried to stop her this time. The droning of her conscience accepted it.

A quick glance told her that the fellow nomads of those she had just shot were bringing up their iron to shoot... and that the double doors behind Meta were swinging open violently. She knew what was coming through, she had seen what protections the building had against shooters.

She dropped her pistol onto the table, cracking the glass, and raised her hands. The people about to shoot her hesitated, and that probably saved their lives as much as it did hers.

Six combat robots slid into the room at a sprint. They came to an unnaturally easy halt behind the CEO they were programmed to protect, and raised their rifles, pointing them.

"Drop your weapons!" the robots declared in loud but commanding monotone, aiming at the surviving Blood and Folk Nation representatives.

The two men weren't stupid. They knew the robots wouldn't tolerate any hesitation and would interpret any other movement except dropping the iron as an attempted attack. So they complied, all the while shooting deadly glares at Panam. She didn't look back for long. They were mad now, but their tune would change when they found out why she had done it.

Or so she hoped.

The robots stood down, but could be ready to fight in a time no human could possibly match. For a moment, no one said anything. The room was filled only with the sound of the robot CPUs humming, punctuated by the noise of Val pulling her wire out from Nemo's neck and zipping it back into its slot in her wrist.

Panam looked on as the Snake Nation's survivor wiped down her hands and the monowire port, before spitting in Nemo's dead face. Yikes.

"What the fuck?" Teach said, his mouth staying open afterwards, "Why the fucking... how the fuck... what the fucking fuck!"

A strange fatigue dragged Panam down into her seat. "Yeah," she sighed, slowly sitting down in her seat again, "That's more or less my thought about it too." The robots didn't seem to mind her movement, thankfully.

"You gonna explain why the hell you did that?!" Teach shouted at Panam and Val, causing the nearest robot to twitch slightly as it assessed him as a threat, "Either of you?!"

Suddenly Panam wanted anyone else to have to deal with this. This sort of intrigue and assassination crap was definitely V's thing. Not hers. The things we do for love.

"Carol, send them the files," she sighed at last, "Before this one loses his mind."

"Sure thing," Carol said, her voice slightly hoarse.

While that was being arranged, Panam looked to Victoria Meta. The CEO was sitting as if nothing had happened, drinking the last of the coffee, waiting patiently. But why?

Panam's mind swirled, looking for an answer. It found one and her mood improved immediately, the fatigue she felt evaporating. MetaCorp was not just any nomad nation, they were a corp too.

"I hope your explanation is good," Meta said, finally. In other words, her reaction and that of her combat drones would depend on it.

No problem, Panam thought, she had the right intel.

"They've got it," Carol informed her quietly, "All yours."

Sitting up again, Panam pointed at Nemo's body. "His real name is Thomas Saracino," she said, "He's a Biotechnica field agent and handler, part of their Human Intelligence division."

All eyes turned to the body.

The leader of the Jodes craned his neck to look at it. "No fuckin' kidding?" Zachariah said, incredulous, "How'd you know?"

"Arasaka Counterintel had a fat file on him under his real name, it's all in the data we just sent you," Carol explained, pointing at her laptop screen, "All we had to do is match his face and biometrics. It took a while to get a good read on him, that's what I was doing the whole time." Human bodies could be altered, after all, but corporate cyberware left a paper trail and no self-respecting person was going second-hand on body mods.

Zachariah and Teach both began looking at their phones, to see for themselves. The two men from the Blood and Folk nations looking like they wanted to jump across the table and strangle Panam to death did not. Fuck.

"He was born into the Snake Nation, nomad mama, nomad papa," Val added, "Went off on his own at eighteen, never got out of touch, came back at thirty, his family accepted him and didn't ask any questions." People doing their own thing at some point was common as hell. Panam herself had done it. She doubted it would be looked on as casually from now on.

"And after coming back, he rose through the ranks through his ability to get nice contracts with, drum roll please, Bio-fucking-Technica," Panam said, "Folks must've thought the sun shined out of his ass every time he was able to wrangle an extra few thou out of the corp."

Panam couldn't help but see the parallels with V. He might not have been born a nomad, but he had gotten close to the Aldecaldos real damn fast, though he had paid for that with the blood of Wraiths, not eddies in a contract.

V and Nemo, two ex-corpos with abilities that made them valuable as hell to a family of nomads... except Nemo never actually stopped being a corporat. He only pretended.

"Is that reason enough to kill him?" Teach asked, "Seems like something we could've dealt with, you know, without turning this place into a damn AllFoods factory."

"Check the more recent file," Panam replied, "He had orders; isolate the Aldecaldos troublemakers so Biotechnica could sell us out to Arasaka for a price, then rope the rest of you into an alliance that his corp would eventually eat. Then I guess they'd cut the Meta out and leave any objectors without any sort of work, but that's just a guess."

Meta made a doubtful noise from her throat. "More likely Biotechnica would try and buy us out," she said, "It wouldn't be possible for Biotechnica to abandon us."

"It would be if Arasaka decided to compete with you in the transport game," Panam pointed out, earning an approving look from the CEO.

"And what about our people?!" Ringo asked, eyeing the weapon he had dropped on the table, "You going to claim they were traitors too?" The Blood Nation leader was out for blood.

"Not just claim," Panam said back, as calmly as she could, "Your guy was a Petrochem asset. Information and subversion for money. Anyone you came across was planning something, Petrochem knew about it. And you didn't come west all that long ago, this guy has been screwing you for like ten years."

She nodded at the dead Folk Nation leader. "LaFleur's another Biotechnica guy. Not an actual employee like Nemo, but he's the hub for a bunch of other assets. Gives the corp an edge on harvest and transport contracts along the CANNUS border. Names of who he's recruited are in the files."

"Son of a bitch," the Folk Nation second said, looking between his phone and the dead guy beside him, "I don't believe it. It's gotta be a lie."

Panam finally had enough. "Open your fucking eyes," she said, "I just... I mean, the Aldecaldos just saved all your asses. You think Biotechnica's little plan would've been accomplished without bloodshed? Maybe some of you just up and disappear into the desert, and Nemo here blames the Shiv. Maybe they just shoot you down like a dog."

She gestured to the corpses. "These men were going to tie you up in knots," she said, "And then sell you like a hunk of synthmeat to the statics' corps. We saved you from that. You're welcome."

The Thelas' leader clicked his tongue. "Or, you made all this shit up," Teach stated, waving a hand in the air, "So you now can say we owe you."

"Look at the files," Panam replied, "Send them to any fixer or information broker you like. They're on the up."

"Oh yeah?" Teach said, "Where'd you get them then?"

Panam crossed her arms and ignored him. It was a stupid question to ask. Giving up sources like that? He must've lost his damn mind thinking she or anyone else would just on his say-so.

Victoria Meta rose to her feet, her robots making some room for her, reminding everyone who was really in control of the situation as host of the summit. Panam held her breath. The moment of clarity had arrived.

"We did not provide them, but the documents are genuine," Meta said, "I can vouch for the accuracy of Miss Palmer's information."

Of all the things that could've come out of the CEO's mouth, that was the magic combination Panam had been hoping for. She slumped back into her seat, totally relieved. "Holy shit," she thought aloud.

"You knew?" Carol asked, "Since when?"

Meta raised her brow, like the answer was obvious.

"Since they stepped foot in the building," Meta replied, "Do you think I would allow someone unknown to be in the same room with me? Everyone passes through a full ident screen before they're even allowed to know I'm in the vicinity."

Which was basic corporate security for someone of her rank. V had talked about it, about standing in front of scanners any time he reported to anyone higher on the foodchain than his own boss. Panam had been counting on it being the same for the Meta, except they just used the cameras in every room to get a look at anyone inside.

"And you just let these traitors in?" Val snarled, before gripping Nemo's hair and pulling his head upright again, "This fucking suit was ordering me around, talking big about nomad unity. You could've told me!" Val let go of the man's head again, causing a sickening wet slurp from the neck wound.

"She couldn't tell you," Panam told her, "She was testing me. She was waiting to see if I knew or could find out."

Meta smiled her surgically-perfect smile. "Exactly right, Miss Palmer," she said, "When we first met, you showed you had a source. I needed to know that you could call on that source for more than just corporate rumours, and that you had the will to act on that information with an appropriate response."

"So you waited to see if I would know they were spies," Panam concluded, "And if I would flatline them."

The CEO pursed her lips, glancing at the corpses.

"Well, I expected you to wait to do it at lunch," Meta admitted, "But Mr. Nemo forced your hand by calling an early vote. You would've been stupid to wait, the vote was lost and the accusations would've looked like retaliation. So while you've made a god damn mess of my conference room, you did pass that test with flying colours."

"What's that mean?" Zachariah asked, "You're just going to forgive this? Rightfully speaking, it was for their nations to decide their fate, not you Panam."

Panam stood up and looked the man right in the eye. "Rightfully speaking, they would've gotten everyone I care about killed," she said, "You would have done the same damn thing."

"And she didn't kill Nemo, I did," Val added, "The other two would've fucked us the second they realised he was compromised, sent messages to their superiors about what was going on."

Zachariah rubbed the back of his neck, sheepish at the response he had gotten. "Jesus, no need to get all fussed about it," he half-mumbled, "Just look at this mess. Figure there has to be some way better to handle it."

"Operational security demanded an immediate response," Meta stated unequivocally, "She passed that test too. For now, let's take a break so some of you can contact your nations, and then we'll move to another conference room. The dead don't need to hear what happens next."


The remaining representatives were escorted by the robots across the hall to a nearly identical room, the main difference being that it actually had a window, one overlooking the sea and the dock piers where the three large boats of the Thelas Nation were tied up. It was high afternoon, so the sun just peeked into the room and lit up the ocean a dark blue.

Panam couldn't help but wander over for a look. Boats was not generous enough a description, she decided, yachts with guns strapped to them was better as a description. You could probably sail to Japan in them if you wanted to.

Everyone got settled again as she enjoyed the vista, and she went to her own seat by Carol.

All reps had taken the time to read what Alt had sent along with the MetaCorp contribution. Meta herself insisted on it, so there would be no hard feelings. Panam wasn't sure the files would help that much, but there was a lot more downcast faces by the time they were finished reading. The files were sobering reads even for Panam. She had only looked at the summary and a select few paragraphs after all.

The nitty-gritty details were even more damning.

Nemo had interacted with Biotechnica executives fairly openly, assuming his nation wouldn't have netrunners watching him. It was clear where his real loyalties lay. The Snake Nation had taken several contracts in the plains states since he had returned, of the sort that Panam herself would've fought tooth and nail.

The others, the ones she had shot herself, they had corrupted a number of contract negotiations too, and informed on some jobs, resulting in both Folk Nation and Blood Nation families losing people.

It left Panam with another question; how long had the creeping around happened really? Who knew how many informants were still around. Thankfully, it wasn't likely Arasaka had any at all. Just as they didn't rely on nomads for anything, they didn't do business that would have involved nomads either.

Something had to be done.

Panam stood up. "You've all read what I have now, there can be no doubts," she said, "Most of us are living on borrowed time. We need to change the equation."

She gestured to Meta. "The idea that Nemo had about expanding your project was a good one," she said, "But we need some driving around money to make it work, independent of the same bastards we just caught spying on and sabotaging us. The Arasaka raid can provide those eddies."

She sat down again. "I've spoken about the rewards," she said, "I've talked until my throat hurt about how vulnerable Arasaka is to what we're planning. I've proven my commitment to this thing. Enough talk. I call a vote. I propose myself to lead the Seven against Arasaka, and to meet again afterwards to discuss our future."

The CEO's mouth thinned. As host, she was also chairing the meeting, and hadn't expected a vote so quickly. But with a shrug, she looked to Val first. "What does the Snake Nation say?" Meta asked.

Val frowned, scratching her chin before answering. "The boys and girls back home were pissed as hell about me killing Nemo," she replied, "But only because they wanted to punish him themselves. His faction doesn't call the shots any more. I talked to the others. They're with you Panam, provided this whole thing brings in a chunk of change."

Not calling the shots was probably the least of it. Nemo's family were likely being exiled, at best. Those he favoured would be questioned, their stuff searched, any extra eddies laying about seized. Panam's intel would've unleashed a lot of acrimony in the Snake Nation clans, to say nothing of the Folk and Blood clans.

"Jodes?" Meta asked.

"Hell, we were in favour of it already," Zachariah replied, "Not sure I want to cross Panam now, either. We vote yes."

"Well, at least someone got the message," Panam remarked.

"Bravado notwithstanding," Meta said, moving things along, "Folk Nation?"

"Our people can't make up their minds," came the reply from the Folk Nation second, Collins, "Unless there's an overwhelming majority in favour, we can't say yes."

"Same from us, anyone not signing up at this meeting is a liability to the whole thing," the Blood Nation leader sighed, "But our people want unanimity between the nations, not just a majority."

Annoyed at their indecision, Panam scowled at the pair. "So what, we've got three Yes votes and two maybes?" she said coolly, "Maybe seems like ingratitude right about now." The two withered under her glare. They were ashamed that they had spies in their midst.

Teach had no such problem however. "Well, you didn't really save my nation and you've got another maybe here," he said, "Except I don't care much about unanimity. If MetaCorp back you, we will. As impressive as the Aldecaldos attack on Arasaka was the first time, lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place. Without our own corporate backing, this fish isn't going to swim."

Great, Panam thought, nautical references. What next, a sea shanty? Luckily, there was an answer to the man's complaint.

"Militech have an interest in this succeeding too," Panam replied, "They let us through the border on V's say-so. If we unite now and V keeps up his end in Night City, we'll be able to go back to them. They'll back us all the way against Arasaka. We give them a bucketload of deniability."

The Thelas' leader shook his head. "That's a maybe from Militech too, not a yes," Teach replied, "So if you want to get V to talk to them, we can postpone the vote until you have a real answer."

"That won't be necessary," Meta said, "I vote Yes. I presume that is sufficient, Teach?"

The Thela looked like he had just eaten a sour candy. "That'll do," the man admitted, clearly never having expected to be in the position to say that.

Panam blinked. She had thought that Meta would be the last to sign up too, waiting for everyone else's opinion. But it seemed the CEO had a plan of her own.

"So we have five yes votes and two maybes," Meta continued, "An overwhelming majority by any stretch of the definition, unless the Folk Nation use some other definition?"

"No, that'll be good enough for us I think," the Folk Nation second said quickly, clearly intimidated by the CEO. He was pretty young.

Meta's gaze turned to the last man standing. "Which leaves only the Blood Nation," she said, "We have assembled the other nations. If you vote yes, then it is unanimous."

Ringo shook his head in disbelief, but did not seem disappointed at all. "It's all good, it's a yes from us too," he replied, "Hell, if it was up to just me, I'd've said yes right away. Panam here did us a real service flatlining that..."

"We get the picture," Meta interrupted, "So we have a decision. The Seven Nomad Nations will attack Arasaka at Night City, under the leadership of Panam Palmer of the Aldecaldos."

There were acknowledging nods from the entire table. Panam felt like she could walk on water or fly through the air. She had done it. The cure was within reach, the money to make it matter was too.

"You wanna start givin' orders or...?" Zachariah asked, "What's next?"

There was only one answer, Panam knew.

"Gather your nations' strength," she said, "We're going to fuckin' war."