"Hey, mano. I just saw Stints outside. That guy barely cos to Heywood anymore. You two squared away?"
Jackie arrived at the clinic.
"Done. Co on. Let Gloria get the data installed."
Vito waved him inside.
Ten minutes later, Jackie stepped off the surgery chair.
"Hell. NCPD is selling this now?"
"Here's sothing that'll sting. Stints didn't even charge us. Our good Night City police officer doesn't particularly care if civilian data leaks."
Jackie let out a string of Spanish profanity.
Vito passed him the shotgun ammunition.
"Co on. Let's drop the chip data off at Vik's, then go find that black BD seller on Jig-Jig Street. Tell about him."
"Guy's in the underground passage on Jig-Jig. Sunglasses, big coat, like a flasher. But the BDs he's selling are supposedly the Kabuki freaks' actual product. Skull Hawk Moth series and that kind of thing."
Vito called up the Magician and pointed Jackie toward the driver's seat.
"Good. My end: there's a Tyger Claws guy called Jotaro Shoji. That bastard loves filming the worst kind of BDs. I've got Stints looking for him. Whether or not he's directly connected to this commission, taking him out does the city a favor. You drive. Let check if Bug has a candidate."
Boop boop boop.
Line connected.
"Hey, Vito. I know why you're calling. Found soone. Talented, but she doesn't want to work for any of the BD companies. Her na is Judy Alvarez. She's Mox, but right now she's working at Clouds. Sending you her contact."
Vito hadn't expected Night City's BD editing world to be small enough to lead straight to Judy.
"OK, Bug. Send the contact. Have you reached out to her?"
"No. Reaching out is the squad leader's job. Breaking ICE already takes up most of a hacker's brain. That's enough from ."
"Fair enough, Bug. It's just a busy stretch. By 2077 I promise you can walk out of Night City and buy a beachside villa to retire in."
"I hope so. Though working with you does pay well."
"Of course. Our crew is the hottest operation in the city right now."
"Don't get too comfortable. The risk is also the highest. Alright. I'll put together a few temporary viruses. If things go sideways during the ice-breaking, they can cover us. Hanging up."
T-Bug had always treated caution as a personal creed. She'd always said every ice-breaking job was no different from walking into a gunfight.
They dropped the chip data off at Vik's. Vik asked about the Thunder Dragon news — the heavyweight wanting to co to Night City for a fight. Vito said if the prize money was real, he had no objection to knocking the bile out of Thunder Dragon.
Then the two of them pushed on to Jig-Jig Street. The place was lined with pink-signed shops from one end to the other. Dolls stood along the curb.
Vito's face attracted more attention than he needed. He got propositioned several tis before they made it through the strip.
Through the jungle of flesh, they found the BD seller.
"What are you moving?"
The seller eyed the two of them with imdiate suspicion. He saw they weren't here to browse and started looking for a way out.
"I'm not moving anything."
Jackie stepped into his exit route.
"Easy. We heard soone down here sells hard-to-find underground goods. Open up and let us have a look."
Cornered, the seller had no choice. He opened his coat and let them see the goods laid out inside.
Vito looked at the selling thod and couldn't help thinking of early twenty-first century bootleg phone dealers at train stations.
"Well, well. You've got quite the selection here. 'Cube Head's Execution Suite Bonus Episode.' What's this one about?"
The seller was already annoyed.
"If I explain it, are you buying? Pick sothing. Pay and go."
Vito browsed a bit more.
"Anything that ca out recently?"
The seller produced two.
"These two dropped this week. Both premium. Fixed price: twelve hundred eddies each."
Vito transferred the paynt without haggling.
"You're not taking for a ride? If these aren't new releases, I'll make sure you can't keep a stall running on Jig-Jig Street."
The seller sneered internally. Clearly two rookies who had no idea they were dealing with Tyger Claws-connected product. If not for the topknot guy being built like sothing they didn't make anymore, he'd have already made a point.
"Why would I con you? I run a business. I'm not so bootleg-selling thug."
Vito took the BDs and walked with Jackie. They left the black BD seller exactly where he was. No point tipping their hand.
Back in the car, Vito called Judy.
"Hey. Who's this? How'd you get my number?"
Judy's tone was not warm.
"My na is Vito. I need soone to unpack a few black BDs and pull information out of them. Word is you're the one to call."
Vito didn't take the tone personally. He'd already gotten a read on this girl's personality back when he played the ga.
"I know my way around that. Co find at the H8 gabuilding. But my price isn't cheap and I don't do discounts."
Judy nad her terms.
"Price we can work out. But not at H8. et at Lizzie's. I'll have space and equipnt sorted for you there."
"Lizzie's? Fine. I'll co tonight. Don't try anything cute. I'm Mox too."
"Tonight then."
Call ended.
Lizzie's didn't open until evening. Vito and Jackie picked up a few bottles and went back to the Gunfire Children's Clinic.
When they arrived, the ice machine had co through perfectly. Both of them grabbed ice buckets, set up chairs under the awning at the clinic entrance, and stretched out.
Vito reached out to Carlo, whose crew had been run down by Night Wraiths a while back. He asked for a supply run. Carlo said he'd get it moving as soon as he could.
The Serpents clan had been dealing with a wave of kidnapped mbers lately. Their leader was overwheld. A lot of their shipping had gone quiet.
The Night Wraiths had been growing fast — numbers and firepower both. Their biggest branch, the Chaos Blades, had been hitting Nomad tribal camps regularly. Camp after camp had been pushed back into the deeper Badlands. The land they left behind was being sold to Biotechnica.
Gloria's skills were improving fast. She'd taken on regular cyberware installation and maintenance work for the Valentinos, and what had started as a gun-sales shop was now making most of its money from the clinic side. There was a reason for it. In Night City, without a ripperdoc you could actually trust, one surgery could turn you into a parts pile. Not everyone had friends reliable enough to stand outside the operating room holding a gun.
Co evening, Vito took Gloria out for a proper al, then told her to close up the shop and go ho. No working late.
Then he and Jackie headed to Lizzie's. Susanna had the equipnt ready.
Tonight, whatever clues were buried in those black BDs would co out.
The people who'd fild these things using human lives were going to face what they had coming.
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