Chapter 18:

A Small Favor, Madam

Cyberpunk: Dogtown Legend

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Cade tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, patient as stone.

It was 1:05 a.m. Apparently, Mr. Hands's wife truly loved this club.

As for how he had dropped that bodyguard so fast earlier, Cade had found a likely answer.

[Status]

Body: 10

Reflexes: 8

Technical Ability: 4

Intelligence: 10

Cool: 7

The 10 Intelligence had probably come from meeting V. The rest should have come from the fight with Maine's crew.

At the time, Cade had been focused entirely on getting revenge on Mr. Hands. He had not paid attention to the updates.

From what he could tell, these attributes existed separately from cyberware. Strength was the easiest one to feel.

Viktor had already rebuilt much of his cyberware. Add the increases to Body and Cool, and the most immediate change was power.

Thinking back, the reason he had been able to face Maine with a pistol was probably not just the arm chrome. He had enough raw strength. Otherwise Maine would have thrown him into the wall and splattered him there.

The same applied to injury tolerance. Cyberware could absorb some damage, but his own endurance had risen too.

Without those attributes, he might have bled out in Dogtown's wasteland.

What else could they do?

Cade tried to think in terms of the game's world logic. Attribute points were an external expression of ability, but the lack of a skill tree was the big problem.

Some abilities adapted to cyberware were absurdly strong. Cade had no idea how to unlock them yet.

Smoking was a bad habit.

Cade did not smoke, but the body's previous owner apparently had. He had taken one drag for the disguise.

Somehow, this was already the second cigarette.

Bang, bang, bang.

Knuckles rapped hard against the window. Cade startled, crushed the cigarette in his palm, and let the small pain tug at his mouth.

"Uh. Madam."

After getting out, he supported the woman as she staggered. He kept his head lowered. Once he helped Emma into the back seat, she leaned sideways with her eyes closed and one hand pressed to her head.

Cade started the car. The moment he left the rear courtyard, he saw three vehicles following behind. One even accelerated to take the lead.

'Did they spot me?'

"Ignore them. New guy, you... you just drive. Drive me out of this city."

Emma was drunk enough that her words slurred.

Cade had no choice but to keep his nerves tight and drive slowly toward Dogtown. The cars appeared to belong to Mr. Hands. They boxed him in and left him no room to move.

Emma noticed him constantly checking the rearview mirror and the vehicle's all-around cameras.

"Damn perfume. Why do you suddenly look thinner?"

Cade clenched his teeth. Could this woman please pass out? She kept muttering, and he could only stay silent.

Emma did not seem to care that he was not answering. She braced both hands on the front passenger seat and leaned her head between the seats. Alcohol and perfume brushed the side of him, and Cade's heart rose into his throat.

"Hm? Braindance aftereffects hitting that hard? Cherie, tu es belle."

As soon as she finished, Emma rubbed her temples and sat back.

Cade let out a long breath.

His original plan had been to drive her somewhere remote, make her say the autopilot key, and hide in the car all the way into Dogtown.

The problem was the escort.

"Roll the window down. Turn right."

Cade did not understand Emma's idea. Turning right seemed to point them toward City Center. Dogtown was not that way.

"Take me to the ocean," she said.

Cade decided to ignore the drunk woman and keep following the lead car's route. If he deviated now and the convoy reacted, his Dogtown entry plan would collapse.

"You are the stupidest driver I have ever seen."

Emma's eyes lit, as if she had opened a call.

"Tell your people to get the fuck away from me, Wade Bleecker."

Mr. Hands's voice came through the car speakers. "Please continue toward Dogtown. Do not listen to her."

"Then I will drive."

Emma's hand came down on the steering wheel, and the car swerved hard.

"Madam, you-"

"Tell your people to back off right now!"

The other end of the call went silent. Cade gritted his teeth, slammed the accelerator, cut in front of the lead car, and threw the wheel hard toward a side road.

At the same time, the malware he had bought from a nearby fixer took control of the vehicle.

Driving authority was now his. As long as no netrunner noticed, Cade could hijack Emma in silence and take the car into Dogtown.

The three escort vehicles braked in unison. They watched Emma's car turn toward the route leading to Corpo Plaza while traffic behind them leaned on horns. Finally, Hands's people seemed to compromise, starting up again and following at a slower distance.

Hands had probably told them to keep following, just not too close.

"Wait. Who are you?"

Emma's drunk eyes finally realized Cade was not her bodyguard.

"Hi."

Cade gave a small wave. Emma lunged forward like a madwoman.

He freed one hand and clamped both of hers down without letting up on the accelerator, driving fast toward the Corpo Plaza road.

When her hands failed, she began kicking the back of his seat with her heels.

"Are you his man?"

Half sober now, Emma understood the situation well enough.

Cade kept his eyes on the city's streets. Familiar and alien at the same time. Familiar because he recognized landmarks. Alien because the roads were too long and the city too vast.

His driving was good, at least.

The car followed the Arasaka waterfront toward the harbor. Time passed minute by minute. After a long stretch, Cade confirmed no one had caught up, slammed the brakes, and stopped on a dark side road.

He opened the door and tugged loose his tie. The thing was uncomfortable, and Emma had already clawed the suit collar into wrinkles.

He opened the rear door and dragged the woman out roughly. Her high heels fell away, leaving her pale bare feet on the wet, cold pavement by the Night City shoreline.

Emma gave a low cry when his grip hurt her. Her cyberware whirred as she tried to resist.

She hit Cade hard across the face. His head turned to the side, then slowly came back. His eyes were cold.

In Emma's mind, his expressionless stare made him look even more ruthless.

She regretted not installing stronger offensive hardware. Powerful corpo dogs usually had good cyberware, but they feared cyberpsychosis and chose expensive, compatible pieces. In front of professional mercs, that kind of chrome often looked better than it fought.

Cade found a tiny pistol, smaller than his palm, tucked along the side of her dress. Emma's wrist felt like it might break under his grip. Her voice turned pleading.

"Money. I have money."

"No, madam. I don't want money."

Once Cade confirmed she carried no other firearm, he lifted her by the front of her dress and smiled.

"Do you know who I am?"

Emma shook her head.

"Your good husband sold me clean in Dogtown. So tell me, how should we handle that?"

Despair entered her eyes.

This had gone too far.

"It's you? Hands mentioned... you. What do you want?"

Cade shrugged. "Is it hard to understand?"

Emma's throat moved. Damn it. Why had she kept imagining dangerous things? Now one had come true.

"Let me go."

She thought she could still resist a little. If resistance failed, she would see what came after. She only needed to stall until Hands's people arrived.

"I can do that, madam."

When Cade actually agreed, Emma felt relief and something stranger underneath it.

She still reached for the small knife strapped to her thigh. If she could hold it, at least it would be a comfort.

Cade saw the move clearly.

He pinned her against the car door at once.

The knife was searched out roughly and thrown aside, making Emma gasp.

Cade lowered his voice beside her ear.

"I do not make war on family. I still have that much of a line left."

"But I need you to help me with one very small favor."

"After all, you really do not want Mr. Hands's business to become impossible, do you?"

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