Jackie angled his head as he examined his reflection. His left eye was now a dull orange instead of the natural green of his right eye.
"What do you think?" Vik asked as he cleaned up his surgical tools.
"I can barely tell it's there. Face is still a bit numb, though," Jackie said.
"That will wear off in a few hours. So long as you take your meds, there will be no pain and your body should adapt to the implants smoothly."
"Thanks again, Vik," Jackie smiled at his old friend.
"Don't mention it. Let's head up so you can show off and Valerie can pay me."
Jackie and Robbie had spent the last hour at the café, sitting in a window booth to have a good view of the pharmacy across the street. They had ordered sandwiches so as to not look conspicuous, but it was time to pay the bill and get the package.
"The front end is still quiet. Anything around back, Kiwi?" Robbie asked, his eyes lighting up for the holocall.
"Back end is quiet, too. Looks like there are five guys inside, two at the door," Kiwi responded from her remote position. "I found a hole in their security. I can cut power while you two hit them hard and fast."
"Copy that, Señorita Fruity," Jackie smiled, but was quickly cut off by the netrunner.
"Watch it rookie. Don't make me fry that fancy, new eye of yours," Kiwi said, a tinge of annoyance coming through her dry tone.
"Sorry, sorry. Understood." Jackie let out a quiet sigh, drawing a small chuckle from Robbie.
"Good. Get a move on you two."
"Ready to put that eye to the test?" Robbie asked.
"Always, amigo," Jackie grinned.
The two edgerunners paid their bill and walked down the street. They took a roundabout way to get behind the pharmacy, but it only took about five minutes. Just around the corner was the back entrance to the pharmacy. A quick glance down the alley, and Jackie scanned the two men standing guard.
"They are both armed with Yakimura smart pistols. We'll need to move fast," Jackie said. "I'll take the one on the right, you get the left."
"Got it," Robbie nodded. "On your mark, Kiwi."
"Cutting power," Kiwi relayed. "3… 2… 1… Move in." On her command, Robbie and Jackie darted around the corner and immediately took aim at the two guards.
Robbie's Kerenzikov allowed him to easily take down his target with a single, clean headshot. Jackie was firmly against chipping anything so invasive into himself. So, Masami fitted out his eye with a custom trajectory analyzer instead. When activated, Jackie could see where his shots would go, and could even calibrate it for ricochet shots should he ever get his hands on a pistol strong enough to bounce bullets. With the aim assist, Jackie shot four shots from his dual pistols into his target's chest.
With the guards dead, Robbie started working on the door. The lock was heavy duty to prevent breaching, but its internals were fairly rudimentary. With a practiced hand, he had the door unlocked in a couple of seconds.
"Count off," Robbie told Jackie as he took hold of the handle. Jackie reached into his jacket for his flash grenade and pulled the pin.
"3… 2… 1… Go!"
Robbie ripped the door open, using it as cover as Jackie tossed the flash grenade into the building. There were a few gunshots from inside the building before the grenade went off with a blinding light and a disorienting boom. Robbie dashed in first with Jackie right behind him. They each flatlined one of the two gangsters in the back room, and then Jackie took out a third when the man came running down the hall.
"The office is down the hall, on the right just before you reach the storefront," Kiwi directed.
Jackie dashed down the hall, but opted to secure the front of the store first. He found himself behind the front counter with a cowering pharmacist and no customers.
"P-please, man," the young worker shook. "Take all money and pills. Just d-don't hurt me."
"We're not here for you, amigo. Stay down and you won't get hurt," Jackie said as he glanced under the counter for any weapons. He took the shotgun he found then patted down the pharmacist. They were unarmed, so Jackie turned back to the office door.
"Still one man left," Jackie whispered to Robbie. "Think we can take him alive?"
"With all the noise we've made? Unlikely," Robbie debated. "I have one more charge in me. I'll lead."
After another count, Robbie hit the button on the sliding door and activated his Kerenzikov. As predicted, the woman standing behind the desk already had a pistol drawn and took a shot at the same moment as Robbie. Robbie's shot hit her right in the neck, causing her to fall to the ground with her hand at her throat. The woman's shot was lower, and it hit Robbie in the shoulder.
"Fuck!" Robbie staggered back as his Kerenzikov shut off and the pain registered in his brain.
Jackie followed through with the breach, making sure there were no other people in the office. He put the woman out of her misery with a clean shot to the forehead, then checked on Robbie.
"We're clear! Where did you get hit?"
"Bitch got me in the shoulder. High caliber. Went right through my skin weave." Robbie groaned has Jackie helped him to his feet. "Find the package so we can get out of here."
Jackie began ripping open desk drawers, but found nothing but scream sheets, misplaced medicine, and outdated data shards. The last draw, however, wouldn't budge and seemed to be locked with a key latch. Not caring about property damage, Jackie pulled out his combat knife and shimmied the lock, forcing it open. Inside was a briefcase containing their prize. A Mk 2 Dynalar Sandevistan.
"Found the package. Time to delta."
"And not a second too soon," Kiwi spoke up over the holo. "NCPD are on their way. You have two minutes to skedaddle."
Jackie handed the briefcase to Robbie, then grabbed a first aid kit off the backroom shelf. They didn't stop moving till they made it to a metro station a mile away.
"Is it a robot?" Andy asked.
"Nope," Valerie said.
"Is it… your new eye?"
"Warmer. But you still need to shut it. I'd like to make to Masami's in one piece."
"Fine," Andy groaned and turned his attention back to the road. It was probably for the best. Mama Welles had made it clear that if he scratched her car, he had to pay for the damages. And with Mandy sitting in the back seat, it's best that no one is hurt so McCoy doesn't rip him a new one.
"How's it going at Arasaka?" Andy hesitantly asked after a moment of silence.
"Oh, for fuck sakes," Valerie rolled her eye.
"Could you not curse in front of kid? If McCoy finds out that I brought Mandy with us, he'll-"
"He's not going to find out unless you tell him. Mandy and I are more than capable of keeping this outing a secret."
"Oh, you're real funny," Andy frowned at the green woman.
"Eyes on the road, gonk," Valerie spat. She started mumbling in her native language after Andy finally put his full focus on driving.
When they arrived in Kabuki, Valerie directed Andy to park on the curb close to Masami's apartment. She carried the briefcase as she hobbled her way through the markets with the two kids.
"So how did you get rid of your corpo friends for this outing?" Andy asked nonchalantly.
"Grob, you're full of questions today," Valerie said.
"It's a fair question. Usually, you'd be flanked by men in suits with guns. Not even Vinny came with."
"Vinny doesn't know," Valerie spoke quickly. "No one at Arasaka knows. I said I wanted to relax at home on my day off, and Vinny granted it. He has stuff to do anyways."
"And no one followed us?" Andy questioned with a suspicious glance around the crowd.
"I know how to lose a tail, even if it's a pain with the cane. I snuck out without any potential Arasaka spies spotting me."
"Nova."
"Now your turn to answer my questions," Valerie said. "If someone were to pull a gun on me, how would you stop them?"
"Uh…" Andy blanked on the unusual inquiry. "Do they have any chrome?"
"Nothing visible or combat related," Valerie said. "Tick tock, gun to my head."
"Well, uh, I would go for the weapon first if I could. The main objective would be to get you out of the path of the bullet, so I would shove their arms aside, or shove you if I had to. Then disarm the person and take them out before they can pull a sidearm."
"Very good," the green woman nodded.
"I'm not your bodyguard, so it's kind of a weird question."
"Well, should you ever get yourself an input, you should know how to protect them."
"You going to try hooking me up with some Arasaka intern chick?"
"Ha!" Valerie grinned at the teenager. "That would be the day. Those corpo girls would eat you alive. And not in a good way!"
They had almost arrived at Masami's apartment when Valerie felt a tug on her hoodie sleeve. She looked down to see Mandy tugging on her arm and pointing to a nearby noodle stand.
"No," Valerie deadpanned, causing Mandy to scrunch her face in anger and frustration. "I'm not your babysitter. He is," she gestured towards Andy. "If you're hungry, bother him."
"Me? I'm broke! You haven't paid me yet," Andy protested. "Besides, it was your idea to come all the way out here."
"Gah, fine," Valerie frowned. "We'll eat when we're done here."
Valerie marched up the stairs of the apartment complex, only stopping long enough to tell the man at the front desk she was a client of Masami's. The man tried to tell her that she needed to contact Masami over the building caller first, but she waved him off. The man didn't pursue her further.
"Mandy, you stand over here," Valerie directed the girl, moving her against the wall of the third-floor landing. "And you will stand right… here." She had Andy stand just to the side of the door labeled 34.
"Alright, crazy lady. What are you up to?" Andy asked.
"I'm testing you, dumb dumb," Valerie smirked, then knocked on the door with her cane. A few seconds later, the door flew open and a man wearing a blue jumpsuit pointed a revolver right at Valerie's head. She watched as Andy's instincts took over, as he shoved the gun away and elbowed the man in the face to disarm him.
"Ow!" Masami cried out, holding on to his nose. "Don't shoot! I'll tell you whatever you want."
"How about you stop answering the door like a nutcase, and we'll call it even," Valerie said. "Good work, Andy. You can give him his gun back."
"What? Are you crazy?! He was going to shoot you!" Andy yelled in confusion, but Valerie took it in stride.
"No, he wasn't. He would have lost a vital client if he had."
"Is there any reason for this abrupt and quite rude visit?" Masami asked.
"I have the thing. Now let us in." Valerie raised the briefcase to eyelevel to emphasize her point.
"Very well," Masami sighed and stepped aside. Valerie led the two kids into the apartment, and Masami directed them to sit at the kitchenette after closing the door.
"I want you to be aware of how expensive it was to retrieve this after your supplier went rouge," Valerie said as she handed Masami the briefcase.
"My sincerest apologies," Masami nodded to her. He opened the briefcase to check its contents before closing it again. "The Hurburs had always been reliable, but it seems that they thought I was underpaying for the Sandevistan."
"You've been carrying around a Sandevistan?!" Andy's jaw dropped as he leaped to his feet. "You're not going to get it chipped, are you?"
"Sit down, Andy," Valerie said, giving him a pointed look. "I need a spine implant to get my mobility back. Not that it's any of your business."
"I'll get right to work on modifying this for your use," Masami smiled.
"Here's hoping your programmer is more reliable than your supplier."
"I assure you, there will be no further complications. I will have all your implants finished by the year's end."
"Good. Let's go you two." Valerie led the two kids back down the stairs, only to feel another tug on her sleeve once they were back in the main lobby. "Why are you so dead set on these noodles?" she asked Mandy. The little girl grinned back.
"It is around dinner time," Andy pointed out. "Some street noodles would hit the spot right about now."
"Fine, we'll get some stupid noodles," Valerie sighed. She was soon being pulled through the market to a noodle stand by the little girl.
Valerie picked up a pebble off the asphalt and tossed it at the bedroom window. After several seconds, she tossed another one. The green woman was about to throw a third, but Sylvia opened the window.
"Bout time," Sylvia said. "You were supposed to be back 30 minutes ago."
"Yea, yea, I know," Valerie waved her off. "Just give me the rope." A knotted series of old sheets dropped down from the window with Sylvia holding one end. Valerie reached up and tied the other end around her wrist and signaled for the Zbornak to pull her up. With surprising speed, Valerie was yanked up by her arm and pulled through the window, landing on Jackie's and hers bedroom floor.
"Ow," Valerie groaned. "You didn't have to pull me over the desk. I still need my arms."
"You'll live," Sylvia scoffed. "What in the blazes took you so long, anyways?"
"Blame traffic. It's not like I could take the metro."
"Some Arasaka goons showed up asking for you. I got them to go away, but they were suspicious."
"What did they want?" Valerie asked.
"Vinny sent them to check on you. I told them you were napping."
"Figures," Valerie rolled her eye. "The man's paranoid. They will probably be back. We should head over to El Coyote for an alibi."
"Uh, you go ahead," Sylvia hesitated. "I'll stay here."
"Oh, come on," Valerie egged on. "It'll be fun. A girl's night, like back on Dakothea Prime."
"I'd really rather not," Sylvia grimaced. "With just you and me and people will see us…"
"Do you hate me?" Valerie blurted out.
"What? No!" Sylvia panicked. "No! Of course not! I'm cool with you! I mean, you're a great roommate… And I think we could be friends, once things call down…"
"Oh," Valerie frowned, looking away. "So, this is about the other Zbornaks. That's why you're willing to go out with Jackie, but don't want to be seen with me."
"Valerie, please," Sylvia pleaded.
"No, I get it," Valerie said. "I'm sure they hate me. No point in dragging you down, too."
"Just give me time to talk to them. Once I get them to understand-"
"You're wasting your time," Valerie interrupted. "The only Extras on this planet that will ever be cool with me are you and Wander. The rest would shoot me if they had the chance."
Valerie changed into a fresh hoodie and left for El Coyote Cojo, leaving Sylvia behind.
"Ok, what about Batman?" Jackie asked.
"Christ, you're going old school with that one," Robbie said as he scrunched his eyebrows. "I read some DC stuff in college for Pre-Collapse Literature. The Killing Joke was good, but the Golden Age comics were too goofy for my taste."
"What's a bat?" asked the girl sitting next to Kiwi.
"Uh… bats were a nocturnal mammal that had wings," Robbie explained. "I think they went extinct in the late 2030s."
"Lucy," Kiwi said, drawing the girl's attention. "Didn't you learn about animals in school?"
"No," Lucy mumbled. She looked away, trying to use her long, white hair to hide her embarrassment.
Jackie and Robbie shared a confused look. Kiwi, however, was more concerned. Her expression was hard to read with the metal plate she had over her mouth and jaw, but her eyes gave away her need to care for Lucy.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Kiwi said. "You're smarter than most gonks in Night City. And there are not any animals here anyways."
"Next Stop: Megabuilding H7," a voice said over the metro intercom.
"That's us," Jackie said. He led the group through the Rancho Coronado streets till they were close to their target location.
Isabel had given all the information she could find on the storage complex. It was a lot filled with 42 garage-style storage units that anyone could rent out. It was also under the control of the 6th Street gang. They made a point to keep a couple of the units reserved for their own use. One of the units had a server bank that ran websites for 6th Street. No one was sure how many websites there were, but one of them was running smear articles against Mayor Rhyne.
While the Mayor was viewed favorably by most of Night City for preventing the NUSA invasion, most of 6th Street reviled him. Many of the gang members were NUSA veterans or Militech loyalists. Some of the younger members had even served in the NUSA military during the Unification War two years prior. This led the gang to start a smear campaign against Mayor Rhyne. While it was unlikely to have a large effect on public opinion, the next election cycle was due to start soon.
"Why are we hitting a random server bank again?" Lucy asked.
"Because 6th Street has been spreading some mamadas about the Mayor, and we're being paid to stop them," Jackie explained.
"That's politics for ya," Kiwi exasperated.
"Sí, so let's get this over with." Jackie glanced around the corner and down the road to the complex entrance. "Isable wasn't able to identify the exact unit, but the servers should be towards the far corner. We stick to the plan. Robbie, you hit them hard, and I'll come up behind you to finish them off. Kiwi and Lucy, you two take up the rear and assist with quickhacks until we locate the servers. A lot of these guys will be sporting military chrome, so stay alert and keep your head down."
"Understood," Robbie said as he nodded in unison with Kiwi and Lucy. Robbie pulled out his new revolver and moved forward. Right away, there was a gang member guarding the front gate, but Kiwi blinded him with a quickhack while Lucy unlocked the gate. Robbie placed a bullet into the guard's brain allowing Jackie to pull the gate open.
The first half of the mission went just as planned. The group was able to sweep through the complex, easily dispatching any resistance with Jackie's direction. He made sure to cover Robbie and commanded his friend to wait when he felt they should lead with quickhacks. They were able to locate the servers within just a couple of minutes. That's when things started to go wrong.
"Shit. Looks like their backup just arrived," Kiwi said as she noticed several more people appear on the micronet ping.
"We'll worry about them. You focus on frying the servers," Jackie told her. "Robbie, take cover by the corner and stop anyone from hitting our flank. I'll cover the main path while Lucy provides support."
The coming onslaught of 6th Street members was brief but intense. Both Jackie and Robbie had to face down a team of four gangsters that were relentless. They both were struggling to keep the gang at bay while Lucy struggled to hack them. She decided to focus on Robbie's side and was able to blind two enemies. That delayed them for Robbie to kill one, but it left Lucy vulnerable to 6th Street's own netrunner just long enough for them to counter.
"Fuck!" Lucy yelled as she collapsed from the sudden pain, stumbling into the line of fire. The gangsters took aim at her, but Robbie hopped out of cover firing wildly. He threw his single flashbang at 6th Street, buying him time to help Lucy.
"Carmen!" Robbie cried, grabbing Lucy, and dragging her from the line of fire. "Come on, Carmen! Stay with me!"
"Kiwi, we need you to hurry it up!" Jackie said.
"One more second… Done!" Kiwi called out.
"Nova! Now how 'bout you help me clear our way out?" Jackie said. Kiwi slid next to him and got to supporting his fight. She was able to wrestle control of the micronet back from the 6th Street netrunner. "Counter this, assholes." Kiwi uploaded a mass overload, temporarily crippling all of the 6th Street gangsters. Jackie took the opportunity to rush forward and kill the enemies between his team and the exit.
"This way! Pronto!" Jackie commanded. Kiwi ran with him followed by Robbie carrying Lucy on his back. The team continued to run for a half mile until they were far out of sight from any 6th Street members and close to a metro station.
"Looks like we're safe," Jackie breathed. He looked over his panting friends. "Anyone injured? Lucy?"
"I'll live. Just need some rest," she answered. "Um… You can put me down now."
"Oh, sorry," Robbie smiled and gently let the teen down.
"So, who's Carmen?"
"Oh, uh, no one. Just a slip of the tongue," Robbie waved off. "The hell was that all about back there, anyways? Seemed like a lot of guys for a basic web server."
"6th Street was using those servers for more than running websites and chat apps," Kiwi said, pulling her hair back out of her eyes. "I'm not sure what exactly, but it looked like there was a connection to something big. There was some heavy encryption on the whole server slowing me down. 6th Street must have thought we were after that."
"De mierda estupendo. We'll need to keep our heads down for a few days to be safe," Jackie sighed. "I'll notify Cormac of the issue and get our pay. Kiwi, you go ahead and do some research, but keep a low profile. I don't want to risk undue attention until I know we're in the clear."
"I can do that," Kiwi nodded. "But it will probably take a few days, even with Lucy's help."
"Just keep me updated. I'll come around with your payment tomorrow."
"Great. We'll have lot's to talk about," Kiwi said before walking off with Lucy in tow.
"Who's this?" Lucy's voice came over the intercom.
"It's Jackie. I have your payment from yesterday's job."
Lucy didn't respond. There was a loud buzz, letting Jackie open the door to the building. He climbed up to the third and top floor to find Lucy already waiting at the door.
"Kiwi is mid-dive. She should be out in a few minutes."
Lucy stepped aside to let Jackie into the condo. The main room was cluttered despite the sparse furnishings. The only normal items were a metal table and a few chairs around it. There were also a few clothes scattered around, but the rest of the space was occupied by a set of server cabinets and the chords that led to the back room.
Not wanting to stand around, Jackie took a seat at the table. A minute later, Lucy sat down across from him and handed him a bottle of water.
"Gracias." He took a sip but nearly choked when Lucy placed a cigarette in her mouth. "Aren't you a bit young for that, chica?"
"I dunno," Lucy shrugged, grabbing a lighter off the table and igniting the end of the cig. "Why do you care?"
"Blame my Heywood instincts," Jackie chuckled. "We like to look out for the kids in our lives."
"You gonna make me put it out?" Lucy snapped.
"I can't," Jackie quirked his eyebrow, offering a small smile. "I can disapprove, but I'm not your guardian. Now, Kiwi on the other hand…"
"She'll be more pissed that I stole her stuff."
"Heh. Netrunners through and through."
The two sat in silence, as neither had much to say. Jackie tried to reach out across his bond with Valerie with little luck. He didn't expect it to work given how far he was from the Arasaka Corporate Building, but he was still a little disappointed. Valerie had been extra busy for the last few weeks, and any chance Jackie had to talk with her was only about business. His sister had requested a few pick-ups from his crew, most of which he didn't know the purpose of.
"Good. You're here," Kiwi spoke, pulling Jackie from his thoughts.
"I make a point to show up on- qué carajo!" Jackie quickly turned away from Kiwi once he realized the netrunner was naked, not bothering to cover herself with her towel.
"What? I just got out of the tub. You act like you've never seen a pair of tits before," Kiwi snarked as she continued to dry herself off.
"Would you just cover yourself, por favor?" Jackie blushed, still reluctant to turn to her. Lucy laughed at his embarrassment, causing his eyes to snap to the teen. "Quiet, niña."
"I didn't realize all the rumors about you were true," Lucy grinned at him. "You really are a nerd in thug's clothing."
"Keep it up, and I'll make you eat those words," he snapped back.
"Enough," Kiwi shouted. She pulled a pink bath robe that was hanging from one of the server cabinets and pulled it on. "There. Now you two can stop fighting and we can get down to business."
"Gracias," Jackie said as Kiwi took a seat at the table. "Before I forget." His cybernetic eye lit up as he transferred Kiwi her and Lucy's share of the eddies. "You really oughta get Lucy set up with her own cred chip."
"I'm working on it. Should have one from my guy in a week. I'll let Lucy install it when she stops stealing my cigarettes." The netrunner gave her protégé a stern look.
"What? It's not like you're using them right now," Lucy defended. She put out her cigarette in the ashtray when Kiwi's glare didn't let up. "Fine. I'll stop stealing from your stash."
"Good."
"So, what was it that you want to talk about?" Jackie asked.
"Let me start off by saying that you impressed me yesterday," Kiwi said. "You have the makings of a real leader. You have a lot to learn before you can head up larger jobs, but for Street Ronin you have what it takes."
"Gracias. That means a lot," Jackie smiled. "You can go ahead and move onto the 'but' part of your compliment."
"Robbie needs to go," Kiwi stated flatly.
"Not happening," Jacie retorted.
"The dude is a cyberpsycho, and you fucking know it."
"He saved Lucy's life."
"And then immediately started to hallucinate."
"It was the stress of the moment. He was fine within five seconds."
"Damn it, Jackie," Kiwi sighed, rubbing her eyes. "I get that he's your friend and all, but the man is slipping. One job pushes him too far, and next thing we know MaxTac is shooting all of us."
"Robbie is getting better. It's a slow process, but he is," Jackie insisted. "Trust me."
"Trust? Really?" Kiwi scoffed. "We're edgerunners. First rule of this job is that you can't trust anyone."
"With that kind of attitude, maybe you're the one that should be cut from the crew," Jackie countered.
"Alright, asshole," Kiwi stood from the table. "Wanna know what happened the last time I trusted someone?" She grabbed her steel mask, gripping the side buttons and ripped it off. Underneath she revealed she had no mouth or nose, and whatever was left of her jaw was replaced with a base plate for her mask. There was a set of connectors and a breathing tube where the back of her throat should be. Jackie looked on stunned as Kiwi stared back with angry eyes, unable to speak with the mask off.
"I… I didn't realize it was that bad," Jackie eventually spoke, looking away with a hint of shame.
Kiwi put the mask back on, clipping it into place. "Yea, well… now you know."
"I understand your concern, but I can't abandon him," Jackie said. "I want to help Robbie heal. And he makes a good edgerunner. I can't just tell him to beat it."
"Christ, a solo with a bleeding heart," Kiwi groaned. "Fine. You want to keep Robbie on, keep him on. But the second he starts to go off the deep end, I'm out and I'm taking Lucy with me."
"Deal."
Vinny leaned back in his office chair, taking a large sip from his coffee mug. He had just finished reading the report from Valerie's bodyguards. It was troubling to say the least. The woman's rebellious streak seemed to have no end, even with increased hours as Arasaka. He wanted to give his friend the benefit of the doubt. Valerie didn't really consider herself part of Arasaka, and desperately wanted her privacy. But history told a different tale. Vinny knew what Valerie, what Dominator, was capable of.
Luckily, he had a guy on the inside. Vinny's optics lit up as he scrolled through his holo contacts and called Robbie.
"Vinny," Robbie calmly answered.
"Evening Robbie," Vinny spoke over the holo. "Any updates?"
"Not really," Robbie said. "Things are going smooth with Jackie. We have a netrunner now. Well, two technically. He's starting to become the defacto leader, and he's good at it. No one has died yet, so crew is off to a good start. Might have royally pissed off the 6th Street gang, but it's probably nothing."
"Glad to hear you and Jackie are doing well. What about Valerie?" Vinny pressed.
"What about her?" Robbie spat, his instant frustration coming over the holo.
"Hate her that much, eh?" Vinny chuckled.
"No, we don't hate each other. There's just a lot of bad blood, you know. We're civil for Jackie's sake, but that's about it."
"I see," Vinny nodded. He took a sip of his coffee as he debated filling in Robbie about his issue. "You have any idea where she's been disappearing to?"
"No," Robbie scoffed. "Isn't it your job to keep track of her?"
"It is, but Valerie is a slippery girl. Even with her handicap. She tries to slip away from Arasaka's gaze about twice a week. And a few times, she's succeeded."
"Oh… huh," Robbie said, and Vinny could just picture his thoughtful expression.
"Do you know anything that might be relevant to my predicament?" Vinny asked with a massive smirk.
"Valerie has had our crew steal a few things for her. Mostly computer parts and program shards," Robbie answered slowly.
"Anything else?"
"Just a piece of cyberware that Masami was struggling to get a hold of through more legit means."
"At least that one makes sense," Vinny said before taking another sip of coffee. "Do me a favor and try to find out what our green gal is up to."
"That's going to be harder than it sounds. I doubt even Jackie knows what she's doing. And those two act freaky sometimes. Like, reading each other's minds freaky."
"I wouldn't worry about that," Vinny told him with confidence, but he couldn't prevent his eyes from rolling. "Just find out what the hell Valerie is up to, and I'll make sure you eat well."
"I'll see what I can do. No promises," Robbie said.
"Oh, and no matter what, DO NOT let Valerie go on any jobs with the crew."
"Um, ok?"
"I'm serious, Robert. Once Valerie is mobile again, she's going to try to get back into mercenary work. Keep her off the crew."