Cyberpunk: I'm Not Cheating Chapter 54: As Long as You're Alive, You Get Dirty

"Co on. Ga starts. From you, first. What's your na?"

Vito pressed Eddie against the first thug's face.

The thug was writhing on the ground, cursing steadily.

"Oh, sorry. My mistake. I forgot a critical step."

Vito drew a knife and punched it through the thug's pain editor.

"Now then. Ready to answer my questions?"

The thug was rolling in pain but still running his mouth. The words ca through Vito's translator, Japanese into English.

"You piece of garbage, the Tyger Claws are going to grind you into paste! They'll track down your family one by one! They're all dead too!"

Vito hacked the thug's synthetic lungs and cut them off. The face went slowly from red to purple to black.

Just as he was about to flatline, Vito let the synthetic lungs co back online.

"You're eliminated. Wait for your turn. Rest a while. I'll hack you twice more and see if you can still run your mouth."

He walked to the second man and put the knife through his pain editor as well.

"What about you? Want to play?"

The thug was sweating through the pain but shouted through clenched teeth:

"Long live the Tyger Claws!"

Vito scanned him.

"No synthetic lungs. That explains the attitude."

He drew a vial of ethanol-2 and pushed it into the thug's vein, then followed it with a shot from a high-strength pneumatic stimulant. The thug went from sweating to screaming, rolling across the ground.

Vito walked to the third thug and pressed Eddie's muzzle against his eyeball.

"Third round. I've lost two already. I'd rather not lose a third. Want to play?"

The thug swallowed hard. He ran kidnappings himself. Had done the other side of this kind of conversation. He had never seen anyone like the man in front of him.

"I'll... do it."

He wasn't like those two. He tortured people himself. That ant he knew exactly what it felt like.

"Excellent. What's your na?"

"Ueno Ichi."

"Oh? An actual Japanese national. Your rank in the Tyger Claws."

"Just a button man. Outer circle."

Bang.

Eddie put a round through Ueno Ichi's calf.

"Sorry. Went off accidentally. Didn't catch that. Say it again."

Ueno Ichi scread:

"Full mber! My superior is Sasaki Setonishi! That's the truth, I swear it!"

"Good, good. Ueno-kun gets a point. Oh wait, Ueno-kun, you can turn your pain editor back on. Let check in with our first brave volunteer."

Vito hacked the first thug's synthetic lungs again.

"I don't have a pain editor!"

Vito was slightly embarrassed about that. He plugged Ueno Ichi's bleeding wound and continued.

"Know anything about the Tyger Claws grabbing people recently?"

Ueno Ichi nodded hard.

"Yes! I know! We grab people every day. Won especially!"

Vito kept Eddie pressed against him.

"What for?"

"So go to the doll houses. So we use to shake down their families. So get taken for BD shoots!"

"Tell about the BD part."

"Soone in the gang supplies materials for the filming. Sotis it's equipnt. Sotis it's won."

"Do the Mox ring any bells?"

"I don't know. Genuinely don't know. My job is picking up street junkies. Gang mbers carry weapons. I don't touch them."

Vito moved the barrel away from Ueno Ichi's eye.

"Ueno-kun passes. Next."

He rebooted the first thug's synthetic lungs and walked to the last person.

"And you. Na. Want to play?"

"I, I, I'm Mukai Sakura. I'll cooperate."

Mukai Sakura was barely holding the words together.

"Good. Anything to add to Ueno-kun's answers? Quickly. My window isn't unlimited."

"Yes! Yes! I know who gets the materials for the BD filming! His na is Jotaro Shoji! I once delivered a modified heavy pistol to him!"

Vito's brow ca together slightly at the na. This was the second ti he'd heard it from a captive. He'd been focused on the main story when he was studying the ga. The Tyger Claws' supporting cast had been background noise.

"Has he been ordering supplies recently?"

"He's been in contact with my superior. I heard he's been looking for that crazy person. The, the one they call Cube Head."

"Did he find him?"

"No. Nobody in the gang has ever seen Cube Head alive. I heard he got impatient. The higher-ups love watching his BDs. He can't keep waiting on Cube Head forever. He must have gone to shoot sothing else."

Vito asked a few more questions. Mukai Sakura answered honestly each ti.

"Mukai-chan takes the highest score. Let's give her a hand."

Everyone else was tied up. Only Vito's lone applause and the screaming of Tyger Claws Number Two echoed out across the wasteland.

Bang.

Vito put a round through Number Two's skull. The screaming stopped.

"Why are you screaming during a celebration. You're ruining it."

He walked back to the car, got the face-spoofing mask on, and returned to face the three remaining.

"You. Legendary breath-holder. What's your na?"

Tyger Claws Number One had been tortured past the point of temper. He forced the words out.

"Hirata Makoto."

Vito cut all three loose.

"Current standings: Mukai-chan first. Ueno-kun second. Hirata third. Hirata, you'll need to work on that. We're moving to ga two. This one's called No Laughing. Nobody makes it past round one anyway. Enjoy."

He activated the face-spoofing mask. The Night City skyline lit up across the square screen.

The three still alive had their blood go cold. The rc who had run their interrogation was the Cube Head.

"Run. I'll start shooting from third place. The survivor gets the grand prize."

All three bolted. Vito hacked Hirata Makoto's synthetic lungs.

Hirata went down. He was regretting the synthetic lungs right now. He was also regretting the order he'd followed today to go and hassle Stints.

Bang.

Vito fired in front of the sprinting Ueno Ichi. Close enough to make him run faster.

Bang.

This shot wasn't a warning. It took Ueno Ichi's head off.

Vito watched Mukai Sakura run out of pistol range and called out:

"Congratulations, Mukai-chan. Your prize is two thousand four hundred eddies. Transferring it now."

The Type-31 heavy machine gun extended from the car. Vito connected remotely, sighted up, and sent a ten-round burst.

Mukai Sakura ca apart in a mist of red.