Cyberpunk: I'm Not a Scavenger - Chapter 24: Another Encounter with El Capitán (Patreon)

[Detected trait: [Ace Attorney] (Blue)]

Pantheon didn't have time to examine the trait's details. He still had an entire pile of mystery boxes waiting to be opened.

Lucy had identified the last corpse lying out in the open, too. The man was Walter White, a retired senior engineer at Militech. His family had sent him to the psychiatric hospital because he had Alzheimer's disease.

[Detected trait: [Senior Engineer] (Purple)]

After collecting more than a hundred bodies, Pantheon could tell at a glance that none of these three people had been dead for more than forty-eight hours.

The marks on their heads and limbs showed that someone had performed numerous experiments on them. More precisely, on their corpses.

Whether the three had died naturally or been helped along to their next lives was another question.

Pantheon pulled open a refrigerated drawer. The body inside showed much the same signs.

There were plenty of nobodies among the dead, but also some surprisingly important people.

Redwood Street Psychiatric Hospital was clearly no ordinary hospital. A considerable number of people who'd offended corporations or learned their secrets had been locked away here.

Experiments on corpses, on the other hand, were hardly surprising. The fact that the hospital wasn't experimenting on living patients practically qualified it as an ethical institution by Night City standards.

"Chico, looks like we found ourselves one hell of a secret."

Only Jackie could still manage to laugh at a time like this.

"Maybe in a couple of days, we'll be lying here ourselves," Pantheon joked grimly.

He considered that pretty unlikely, but who knew?

"Relax. Something this small isn't enough to attract corporate attention."

Coming from Lucy, who had plenty of personal experience being hunted by a corporation, the reassurance carried weight.

If the corporations actually went after everyone who glimpsed one of their dirty secrets, there wouldn't be many people left alive in Night City.

As long as they weren't stupid enough to make those secrets public, the whole thing would be forgotten in a few days.

"All right, we didn't see a thing," Pantheon declared. "We came here to rescue one person, and that's all we know. Let's go."

He waved Jackie toward the exit.

In reality, he'd already discreetly touched every corpse in the room and was desperate to get home and inspect all his new traits.

They cleaned up every trace of their visit and left without looking back.

With Lucy covering them from the network, the hospital's security guards might as well have been blind. Not one of them spotted Pantheon or Jackie.

The two men carried Kid Willow over the outer wall and hurried back to their vehicle. Behind them, Redwood Street Psychiatric Hospital remained perfectly peaceful. Nobody noticed that a patient had vanished from its basement.

"Come on. Let's collect our payment from Ms. Wakako."

Their car disappeared down the road. The psychiatric hospital loomed behind them like a sleeping beast, entirely indifferent to one tiny insect scurrying away.

It was still very early when they left, and waking Wakako at that hour would have been rude.

Instead, the three headed to El Capitán's vehicle customization shop to sell the Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech they'd stolen the previous day.

"Ninety-two thousand eddies. Don't say I never look after you. Nobody else gets an offer this good from me."

El Capitán slapped the credchip on the table with a pained expression, as though they were robbing him blind.

Naturally, Pantheon believed none of it.

A top-end sports car like the Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech would sell for at least a hundred and fifty thousand eddies even secondhand. If they had a way to bypass middlemen like El Capitán, they'd earn considerably more.

"Come on, El Capitán. We're all friends here. You can stop pretending you're broke."

Pantheon smiled and pushed the chip back across the table.

"Besides selling the car, we've got some serious business for you today. Consider it our way of thanking you for helping us before."

At the mention of a big deal, El Capitán sat bolt upright and told his men to bring out the good liquor.

"Whatever you fine ladies and gentlemen want, just say the word! If El Capitán can do it, consider it done!"

Pantheon took a sip, too lazy to complain about the way the man was addressing them, and sent him the list the three of them had put together.

Until now, they'd been driving rented vehicles. With their new earnings, it was time to buy something of their own.

They wanted plenty of power, but what mattered most was protection.

Heavy bullet-resistant armor, a blast-resistant undercarriage, run-flat tires, and ideally a concealed heavy machine gun mounted on the roof.

El Capitán read the list. The smile gradually froze on his face.

Lucy wanted a dedicated onboard netrunner server, a network signal booster, powerful ICE, and a portable radar system.

Jackie rubbed his hands together and added, "Make it better off-road, too. And give us some extra cargo space. Never know when a choom might need something hauled."

El Capitán stared at them, wondering whether he'd somehow fallen asleep and started dreaming.

"Listen, you bastards! I run a customization shop, not a goddamn wishing well! What the hell do you think I'm supposed to build?!"

Pantheon grinned. Of course the demands were outrageous. He'd been having a little fun.

El Capitán realized they were winding him up. He sighed, scratched his head, and set about devising something more practical.

"Forget the off-road performance. It doesn't suit this kind of vehicle at all.

"The armor and protective upgrades are easy enough. It's all that military-grade netrunner gear that's going to be difficult. I can't promise the whole lot, but I should be able to track down one or two of those things.

"And the cost won't be below two hundred thousand eddies, even with every discount I can give you. The money from selling the car won't cover it. You'll have to put in a lot more."

"So we're spending everything we made on the last job, huh?" Jackie said with a laugh, not particularly bothered.

"Money's no problem. Do what you can!"

Pantheon waved a hand, and the matter was settled.

Ever since he'd sold the same drug research twice, money had ceased to be a pressing concern.

Seeing how readily Pantheon agreed, El Capitán generously offered them a whole five percent discount.

With the arrangements settled, Pantheon bid him farewell and left.

El Capitán watched him go, feeling oddly emotional.

Only a month earlier, Pantheon had been a cleaner at the very bottom of society. Now he'd become an efficient mercenary whom major fixers were eager to hire.

There really was no shortage of legends waiting to be born in Night City.

By the time they finished at the shop, it was almost noon.

"Looks like I won't be able to go with you after all."

Jackie checked his messages with an apologetic expression.

"Mom needs some help back home. I'll leave Wakako to you. Give her my regards, will you?"

"Go on. Don't keep Mama Welles waiting," Pantheon said, waving him off.

Jackie drove away in their battered rental, and Pantheon turned toward Lucy in the passenger seat.

"Coming with me, or staying in the car?"

"I don't want to see anyone from the Tyger Claws. Every time I look at them, I think of Arasaka."

Lucy frowned, running her fingers along her seat belt.

Pantheon gently ruffled her hair.

"All right. Stay here and keep an eye on our pretty boy. Don't let him wake up."

Kid Willow, the doll they'd rescued and stowed in the trunk, was still sound asleep. The hospital's sedatives certainly lived up to their reputation.