Misty sat on the couch. The amber light fell across the cards in her hands. She reached out, and her fingertips moved slowly across the three Major Arcana — three completely different cards, laid beside each other.
"This is quite an arrangent." Her voice ca out soft, careful, as if the wrong sound might disturb sothing sleeping in the cards.
"Misty. Co on, don't leave us hanging. What does it all an? Walk us through it."
Jackie was trying to look casual and not quite managing it.
Misty pointed first at the Chariot, the card sitting in front of Jackie.
"Jackie." She raised her head and looked at this large, solid man. "This card is yours. The Chariot represents absolute willpower, conquest, and victory. The warrior you see on the card is controlling two sphinxes — one black, one white — with pure force of mind, driving opposing forces forward together toward a single goal at full speed."
Jackie broke into a grin and thumped his chest.
"Ha! I knew it! So I'm going to be a legend, just run everything down as I go, right?"
"There are signs of victory, yes." Misty smiled, but her eyes didn't leave the card. "But the Chariot also ans you need to hold the reins tight, constantly. If you let them go — if you lose your direction — all that montum becos the thing that sends you off the road. Your strength isn't in question, Jackie. But sotis slowing down takes more courage than charging ahead at full speed."
Jackie scratched the back of his head.
"All right. I'll watch the road."
Misty's hand moved to the card in front of Vito. Strength.
"Vito. This one is yours."
Vito raised an eyebrow and looked at the woman on the card, her hand resting gently at the lion's open mouth.
"Strength? I was expecting the Emperor. Or the Hierophant."
"This card is numbered eight — or eleven, depending on the system — but what it represents isn't physical force. It's inner endurance." Misty explained. "It stands for the wisdom of yielding to overco. The woman on the card doesn't conquer the lion with a weapon. She tas it with patience and acceptance. That fits you, Vito. In a city built on violence and chaos, you gather people around you and hold a delicate balance together. You're the anchor for the people around you. You absorb what cos from outside and keep things from breaking apart."
Vito rubbed his jaw, thinking, then lifted his glass.
"Yield to overco? That doesn't really sound like . I've always preferred the direct approach."
Finally Misty's gaze settled on the card in front of David.
The Wheel of Fortune.
David waited.
"David." Misty's voice went sowhere else for a mont. "You drew the tenth card. The Wheel of Fortune."
David looked at the image — a vast wheel, turning endlessly, covered in mysterious symbols. A sphinx sat at the apex. Anubis and Typhon rose and fell on either side.
"What does it an? Is my luck going to be bad?"
"The Wheel of Fortune represents change. And forces that can't be controlled." Misty looked up at him directly. "The wheel is always turning. It marks the rise and fall of things, the cycles of life. It ans you're standing at a major turning point right now. The gears of fate have begun to turn and sh together. So things, once they happen, can't be undone."
She paused. Her voice beca careful.
"This card is telling you, David — your life no longer belongs entirely to you. External forces, whether they bring opportunity or disaster, are pushing you forward. As the inscription on the wheel says: the wheel turns and I rise; the wheel turns and I fall. You have to learn to move with that force instead of against it. Because when the Wheel of Fortune turns, no one gets to stay still."
The color in David's face shifted.
Vito put his arm around David's shoulders.
"Don't tense up. None of us know where our fate is going — so how do we fight against it? Go with it. At least right now we're here together and there's still sothing in the bottles."
He knew these young people took fate and signs and constellations seriously. But the world was whatever idea you brought to it. Bring the idea that it's ending and you see destruction everywhere you look. Bring the idea that it's beautiful and you find sothing worth protecting around every corner. Whatever lens you put on, the world fills it.
David smiled. A lot had happened these past weeks. But a lot of it had also made him genuinely happy.
Jackie opened another few bottles.
"Exactly. Make the most of right now. David, what's your legendary cocktail recipe?"
David scratched his head.
"I don't know. I haven't figured it out yet."
Jackie laughed.
"You'd better think of sothing good. You don't want the first taste to be the last."
"Hey! Jackie! Mine wouldn't be that bad!"
The laughter went around the room. David was the first to call it — Gloria had just co ho from the clinic and needed looking after.
Jackie clearly wanted to stay but looked at Misty. Vito caught the look.
"Mr. Jackie Welles. Everything all right? Did soone's significant other call?"
Jackie's face did sothing complicated.
"Vito. You are definitely getting back for saying your cocktail tasted terrible."
Misty covered her mouth.
A few more drinks between the three of them and the night wrapped up. Tomorrow Kiwi was coming. Vito had jobs to take and a business to build.
Solo rcing wasn't the answer. Building a properly equipped crew was. Night City rule: newcors only ever see thirty percent of the payout through a fixer. The rest disappears.
Too slow for what Vito had in mind. The plan was: build capital, sell modified weapons — guns first, then heavier hardware. Cyberware installation and modification too. He wasn't going to waste Intelligence 20.
He saw them both out, dropped back onto the couch, and looked up at the ceiling.
"Ah. There's a real joy in going up against everything this city throws at you."
The ceiling didn't disagree.
The next day, at Vito's request, Kiwi and the two-person dical Dispute Resolution team t for the first ti at a restaurant.
"Good to et you, Kiwi. I'm Vito. This is Jackie."
"Hello."
Kiwi nodded.
Vito handed a cigarette to Jackie, offered one to Kiwi, and lit his own.
"I know netrunners don't usually go in for face-to-face etings. I just need to see who I'm working with before I'm comfortable with a job."
Kiwi nodded again and set the cigarette on the table.
"I have a job lined up. The netrunner's role is to break into cara feeds, flag positions, and locate the target. Jackie and I breach simultaneously from two directions. Both of us will be running face-spoofing equipnt. Speed is the priority — ideally wrapped up in four minutes. Any issues with that?"
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