Sunday evening.
In Westbrook, squares of light climbed across the towering buildings, dense and endless.
On both sides of Japantown, the neon signs lit up, and all kinds of vendors began shouting to draw customers in.
The small plaza in front of the TURGO Convenience Store was packed with modified cars.
Most noticeable of all was a battered company sedan parked off in a corner not far away.
Crowds were gathered around three food stalls, enjoying the blaring music, beer, and snacks.
As usual, Maine sat in front of a car hood with his thick arms folded across his chest.
But today he had no mood to joke around and have fun with Pilar and the others.
The plaza had become lively again, but Maine's expression was heavy, and his eyes remained fixed on that damaged black sedan.
After a short period of rest, Maine had decided to carry out the job Faraday gave him: stealing the navigation data from a high-ranking Arasaka corporate car.
So he called Dorio, then brought Kiwi, Pilar, Rebecca, Lucy, and the others back together.
At first, the job had gone very smoothly.
They targeted the car's bodyguard-driver, Maksim.
Using his love of boxing, they built a detailed plan and lured him step by step into the trap.
But as always, plans never survived reality.
At the most critical moment of the operation, something unexpected happened on Maksim's side.
Not wanting everyone's efforts to go to waste and determined to get paid, Maine had no choice but to seize the car by force.
After an intense chase, they finally got the navigation data.
They also brought back the Arasaka corporate car and dumped it in the corner of the plaza.
Even though they had completed Faraday's commission and successfully stolen the navigation data, Maine was still uneasy.
Faraday was not the kind of man who let things slide easily.
Maine had already sent him the data, but the payment still had not come through.
Clearly, Faraday still had something to say about this.
Just as Maine sat there thinking alone, a dark red luxury sedan slowly drove into the plaza and stopped in front of him.
Faraday pushed open the door and stepped out, dressed once again in that expensive dark red suit.
One hand in his pocket, his triple optics swept coldly across the area before settling on Maine.
The moment Faraday appeared, Dorio, Kiwi, and the others all noticed him.
Pilar and the rest stopped laughing and chatting, their expressions turning serious as they looked toward him.
Maine adjusted his long-lens sunglasses. Seeing Faraday show up here in person again, he immediately felt a bad premonition.
"Damn it..."
He stood up and walked over to Faraday.
"I said I wanted the navigation data, not the car."
Faraday's face was unpleasant, and his tone was cold with dissatisfaction.
Hearing that accusation, Maine knew his suspicions had been correct.
They had clearly done everything they could to complete the commission, and yet Faraday still came with this attitude.
"We got the navigation data. That fulfills your requirement."
Faraday answered in a low voice, "What I paid for was a cautious, covert operation. You were not supposed to alert Arasaka."
Maine knew the job had not been completed cleanly, but who could guarantee every mission would go perfectly without accidents?
If they had moved faster and acted more decisively, maybe they could have finished it without leaving a trace.
He could not help thinking about that implant again.
If only I already had that military-grade Sandevistan.
Maine replied, "We got the navigation data. We did our best to handle an unexpected situation. Nobody can guarantee that this kind of screwed-up thing won't happen!"
Faraday paid no attention to Maine's feelings and kept pressing him.
"My reason for collecting the navigation data from that Arasaka executive car was to find the places its owner regularly visits."
"You've startled the target now. He'll definitely be on guard. That makes this data useless. He's probably already changed his routine."
Maine shot back, "The owner of the car is Tanaka. Why do you need to know where he's going?"
Faraday rejected the question coldly. "You don't need to know that. Worry about doing what you're supposed to do."
Maine's irritation flared. "Bastard. You don't give us any of the information we actually need, and then you expect us to work?"
Faraday's expression did not change. "The less you know, the lower the risk for us."
"That is something you should understand."
"I pay you for results, not for you to make your own calls. I give the orders. You follow them and complete the job the way I tell you."
"Don't start thinking you're some mastermind just because you provided trade intel last time and helped set up a trap."
The moment Faraday mentioned that deal from the other night, Maine's brows drew together, and he stared at him without blinking.
Maine had never forgotten that incident.
He really wanted to know how Faraday had passed the intel to Militech, and how much money he had taken from them.
He truly wanted to know how this four-eyed fixer had nearly gotten him killed step by step.
"So what do you want, then?"
Faraday stayed expressionless and continued scolding him.
"This operation was a failure. Arasaka has probably already noticed what happened."
"We have to wait until the target lowers his guard before finding another chance to move."
"Take this as a lesson. Don't act recklessly again!"
"There are plenty of edgerunners in Night City who can work."
"You need to understand your own strength and your own place."
"I don't want this kind of thing happening again."
"Understood?!"
Maine's eyes burned with anger, but he did not dare truly break with Faraday in public.
Faraday was a powerful fixer in Night City.
With Militech backing him, his pay, intel, and commissions were all first-rate.
The fact that he could regularly offer jobs worth tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of eddies, proved how wide his connections were and how capable he was.
In Night City, finding a fixer who was wealthy, reliable, and constantly had work available was rare.
Maine also knew of far stronger fixers, like Rogue, the queen of the Afterlife whose name echoed through all of Night City.
But Rogue's jobs usually went to people she trusted. They were not the kind of commissions that just fell into the laps of street mercs.
As the leader of a crew that needed feeding, Maine could only hold back his temper and accept the lecture from a powerful patron-fixer like Faraday.
Seeing the defiance still in Maine's eyes, Faraday looked down on him and said,
"I give the orders. You obey them. That's the rule."
The words had only just left his mouth when a black convoy entered the plaza, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
The insignia on the vehicles was one nobody there could mistake.
Arasaka Corporation?
The convoy rolled to a stop, and the door of the executive Arasaka company car in the center opened.
"Rules?"
Then a woman stepped out in red high heels, her wine-red ponytail tied behind her head, her lashes and brows like flame, her eyes sharp with intensity.
"I'd love to hear what other rules there are in the fixer business!"
(End of Chapter)
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