While Gloria stood at the center of everyone's attention, beneath the plaza's spotlight, Kai was sitting inside an Arasaka black executive sedan, leaning lightly against the armrest with his chin resting on one hand, quietly watching the situation outside through the electronic window.
This was the new company car Arasaka had assigned to him. The cabin interior was wrapped in brown leather, with soft couches and a double-layer temperature-controlled wine cabinet stocked with expensive red wine. Everything was in place.
After the last Animals attack, Security had specially upgraded the car's protection systems. The plated outer shell was supposedly sturdy enough to withstand even a small missile strike.
As for the other vehicles in the convoy, they were simply shared cars from Counterintel. Pulling them out only took a phone call.
Since all the cars had autonomous navigation, the entire convoy actually carried only two people: Kai and Gloria.
This was also Kai's first time traveling in his new company car.
There was only one reason he had assembled this convoy.
To give Gloria presence.
To make sure that as a newly emerging fixer, she had enough weight and confidence to negotiate.
The reason he was going this far for Gloria was not just to help her onto the stage.
More importantly, Kai knew that he needed to start building a network of people loyal to him as soon as possible.
He intended to use this "bonus period" while he still held a high-level corporate identity to place his pieces in advance for the future.
Kai believed that in his current position, wearing the face of an Arasaka executive, there were many things he simply could not do directly.
After all, in Night City, most people hated corpos.
Take Maine's crew, for example. Even after working with them successfully, Kai could still feel their caution and resistance.
Rebecca, who hated corporations on principle.
Lucy, who avoided Arasaka at every turn.
Kiwi, who had always been conservative and distrustful toward any corp.
Even Maine, who had at least dealt with him before, still kept his guard up deep down.
And that said nothing of Rogue, queen of the Afterlife, or even V, whom he had not yet met again. He doubted either of them would greet him warmly.
There was not a single edgerunner in Night City who did not hate corporations.
In his previous life, Kai had gotten along effortlessly with V, Panam, and the others only because he had already quit Arasaka.
He had gone from a corporate executive to a street punk, and little by little, he had earned the trust of Jack, V, Johnny, and the rest.
His current role as Arasaka's dual deputy director was both his shield and the wall that kept him from opening his heart to others.
Because deep down, the things he still regretted most could not survive being repeated.
So Kai chose Gloria as the intermediary, the first move in the game he was laying out.
He had thought carefully about whether Gloria was truly the right choice.
But after a period of contact and observation, he had decided she deserved a chance.
It was not only because David Martinez could trigger Life Simulation and might one day become one of Night City's legends.
It was also because Gloria's background, behavior, and personality all fit what he needed.
And most importantly, Gloria had no real way of escaping his grasp.
David Martinez was studying at Arasaka Academy, practically living under Kai's nose.
If Gloria wanted to realize her dream of getting David into Arasaka one day, that could never happen without Kai's approval.
As deputy director of two departments with real authority, accepting or rejecting one new recruit into Arasaka was something he could settle with the movement of a finger.
Even firing current Arasaka employees would be easy.
If he wanted to be even harsher, pushing them into resigning on their own was not out of the question.
Position determined methods.
Since he had promised Gloria an opportunity, he would naturally provide the best stage possible.
As for how well she performed on it, that would depend on Gloria herself.
Success or failure.
Life or death.
That power remained in Kai's hands.
After arriving at the plaza, Kai noticed something interesting.
Maine was in the middle of talking to a man in a dark red suit, and the exchange did not look pleasant.
After scanning him through his glasses, Kai found the man's file in Counterintel's fixer archives.
Faraday.
Faraday was an independent fixer whose main backing came from Militech. He had successfully handled quite a few jobs.
There were many fixers in Night City, but very few dared to take corporate work.
He was an ambitious man.
Kai had not expected Gloria's first appearance as a fixer to start off against someone this dangerous.
"Interesting."
Then his gaze shifted toward the damaged Arasaka company car parked in the corner of the plaza.
"Tanaka's car?"
Kai quickly realized what had gone wrong between Maine and Faraday.
Tanaka's car had been smashed up and dragged here, and by pure coincidence, he had run into it himself.
The car theft clearly had something to do with Faraday and Maine's people.
"So Militech's targeting Tanaka. Looks like they realized something about Arasaka R&D and wanted to trace Tanaka's movements to get at Arasaka's research."
"Meredith moved fast. Looks like she just came up empty."
Kai had no intention of helping Tanaka recover his car.
What he cared about was whether something useful could be dug out of this incident, or even whether he could add a little fuel to it.
The situation was still unclear, so for now he would keep watching.
But Gloria, on the other hand, could use this moment well.
It was a good opportunity to put some pressure on Faraday and those triple optics of his.
Kai sent Gloria a message, telling her the origin of the wrecked Arasaka sedan and Faraday's identity.
At that moment, three sides faced each other.
Maine's mercenary crew.
Faraday representing Militech.
And Gloria representing Arasaka's side.
The moment Gloria received the message, she immediately understood what kind of situation she had walked into.
Faraday had long been Maine's patron as a fixer, and the two sides had worked together for a long time.
If she wanted Maine to take one of her jobs, she would have to clash with Faraday.
Because the jobs Faraday handled were all Militech work, and often aimed directly at Arasaka.
And now, with Kai standing behind her, Gloria's role as a newly emerging fixer put her in direct natural opposition to Faraday.
As a mercenary crew, Maine's people could never work for both Militech and Arasaka at the same time.
"So this is the debut Mr. Kai prepared for me..."
If she failed to win this round, then she would lose Kai's trust and support.
This was a test designed specifically for her.
For David.
For herself.
For Kai.
She could only succeed. Failure was not an option.
Seeing Faraday's aggressive presence, Gloria knew very well that he was an established fixer with money, connections, and influence.
She, on the other hand, was a complete newcomer who had not even formally entered the field yet.
No matter how you looked at it, she was at a disadvantage.
Would Maine really accept her commission?
Countless thoughts flashed through Gloria's mind, making her breathing grow slightly uneven.
Then suddenly, she felt the gaze behind her.
Kai.
Sitting calmly inside the car.
Even in the middle of the vicious pressure and politics of the corporate world, he still remained relaxed, as if victory was already in his hands.
And just like that, Gloria suddenly felt strength fill her.
It was like being a child again, stumbling and swaying while trying to walk, only to feel steady hands catch and support her from behind.
She and David had spent years struggling through Night City alone, enduring hardship with no one to protect them.
This was the first time she truly felt what it meant to have someone backing her up.
No more lowering herself and pleading.
No more careful words and apologetic smiles.
No more working herself to exhaustion for almost nothing.
The light returned to Gloria's eyes.
She no longer feared meeting Faraday head-on.
Right here, right now, she had decided that one side would come out on top.
(End of Chapter)
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