Inside the Embers Bar restaurant.
"The food here is incredible. I've got to get so packed up for my mom before we leave."
Jackie said it quietly while working through his plate.
Vito was giving his glazed salmon the attention it deserved. He nodded.
"Good call. I'd vote for adding a salmon for Mrs. Welles. This is worth it."
They were midway through dinner when the waiter appeared at their table.
"Gentlen, would you like sothing to drink with your al?"
Jackie loosened an invisible tie to cover his discomfort.
"Uh — do you carry tequila?"
The waiter's nu cast a slim holographic display into the air.
"Excellent taste, sir. The Embers has just received the world's finest tequila — New Sinsimito, available tonight at the special price of 2899 eddies per glass."
Vito blinked.
"We heard about this a few days ago and it's already here? Two glasses. And double whatever's on our table for the takeout order when we leave."
"Of course, sir. Enjoy your evening."
Jackie pulled a face.
"The Embers is not cheap. I was thinking about bringing Misty here soti, but she'd probably be as uncomfortable as I am."
Vito smiled.
"Misty's a real one. Take what you'd spend here and buy street tacos with her instead. I guarantee she'd smile more."
Jackie grinned.
"You know what, you're not wrong. I'm completely gone over that girl. Half the ti I go to Vik's I'm not even there for a reason. I just want to see Misty."
The two glasses of Sinsimito arrived. Both n took a careful first sip, considered it in silence for a mont, then clinked glasses and drank.
Jackie exhaled.
"I didn't think I was going to make this kind of money. Definitely not in a few days. Vito. You're a remarkable person."
Vito finished the last of the salmon.
"We've been pushing hard specifically to get the car money together. Once we pick it up from the old captain tonight, you can take a few days off and take Misty for a drive."
Jackie had a mouthful of spicy soup.
"Give it a few months and we might actually be walking into the Afterlife as regulars."
Vito tilted his head.
"Jackie. Why are you so fixed on the Afterlife?"
Jackie looked surprised.
"Fixed on it? Mano, that's the Afterlife. Legends have been through those doors. You're nobody until you've been in that room."
Vito flagged the waiter down and ordered a more reasonably priced rye whiskey, then looked back at Jackie.
"I'm skeptical. When Rogue went with Johnny to hit Arasaka Tower, everyone else connected to that run nearly got wiped off the map. How does Rogue co out of it clean and just go right back to running the Afterlife? The place turned itself into a legendary pilgrimage site. Wave after wave of people making the trip to pay their respects to a famous room. Strip the story back and what you've got is a group of people with angles, running a bar that attracts rcs with angles."
Jackie sat with that for a mont. Then he raised his whiskey.
"Fair points across the board, mano. But there's no harm in going to look, is there? To the Afterlife."
Vito raised his glass.
"To the Afterlife. And our real goal — everyone coming to the Wild Wolf specifically to find Jackie Welles, the living legend."
"Ha! Now that's a toast worth drinking to!"
Full and satisfied, the two of them stopped by the Wild Wolf to drop off Mrs. Welles's food, then settled into a booth on the second floor to et the Santo Domingo fixer known as the Old Captain — Muammar Reyes. He was the best fixer in the district and happened to also run a used car dealership on the side.
"Word travels fast on what you two have been up to. Tired of Night City's public transport situation? Looking to get yourselves a little mobile ho of your own?"
Jackie played along.
"We've got a bit of money saved up. We need you to advise us properly. Find Vito sothing comfortable enough to sleep in after a fight with his wife."
Muammar was just as easy about it.
"Whatever the client wants. Any vehicles already caught your eye?"
Vito got straight to it.
"A Thorton rrimack Magician. Original stock if you can find it."
The Old Captain recognized a serious purchase and smiled.
"Now we're talking. Original spec, whatever color you want, I can have it here by next week. Might draw so looks in the city proper, but she runs like a dream in the Badlands. Opening a new line of business?"
Vito pointed at him.
"Slipperier than a loach. Stop fishing. I'll put down a deposit now and pay the rest in full when the car arrives."
Muammar's eyes went narrow with satisfaction.
"Music to my ears, Vito. Godfather. I'll push the Magician through early — count on it arriving ahead of schedule. Now. Mr. Jackie Golden Welles. Have you picked your ride?"
Jackie thought about it.
"Honestly I'm more of a motorcycle person. Now that we've got money, I want a Yaiba Kusanagi CT-3X. You have one?"
Muammar's eyebrows went up slightly.
"Your taste is impeccable, Jackie. Japanese inventory isn't sothing I usually handle, but I can check with Wakako Okada for you."
He put the call through.
"Wakako. I've got a client looking for a CT-3X, original spec. Money's not the problem."
"Can't give out my clients' information."
"Fair, I'll check. If it goes ahead I'll put you in touch directly."
"Fine. Sa terms as always."
He ended the call.
"She wants to talk directly. Any reason that would be a problem for either of you?"
Vito shook his head.
"Wakako Okada is a fixer. eting her is worth the eting. No issue from my side."
"Good. I'll pass her your contact. That's you sorted. I need to go chase down the Magician. Get in touch if anything cos up."
Jackie reached Wakako and sorted the motorcycle in one call. The CT-3X would arrive in three days. Wakako also invited them both to et at her pachinko parlor in Kabuki.
"All right. Cars are handled. Did you follow up on the netrunner, Jackie?"
Jackie forwarded a file.
"There's a netrunner. Used to run with Dexter DeShawn. DeShawn bolted last year and she's been taking freelance work since. She can start running with us next month."
Vito looked it over. He placed her imdiately — T-Bug, the netrunner from the opening of CP2077. Got burned during the Konpeki Plaza job in the original tiline, but that wasn't going to happen for a while yet. Solid netrunner in the anti.
"Works for . I'll call Maine's crew and get David back to help move."
Maine sent Kiwi across. One day of Kiwi's work was worth roughly half a job for Maine's full team, and he knew it. It added another asure to his read of Vito.
"Looks like Night City is getting another one."
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