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Good news: Cade bought All Things Cyber and Renaissance Punk in the Technical Ability tree, then finally saw his Cyberware Capacity.

Bad news: the capacity was already scraping the warning line. Very dangerous.

Cade had spent a full day and night at Pilar and Rebecca's place before returning to his old room in Longshore Stacks to rest.

And to think about what to do with the Cyberware Capacity problem.

Fortunately, his old-life shut-in self had known how to take care of daily living.

He cleaned the room, tossed garbage out the window, and washed his clothes. Dogtown might be somewhat cut off from the outside, but the washing machines still charged money. That part was absolute bullshit.

Generators were a necessity in Dogtown. This building only got power because there were eddies in the machines.

Cade pulled coins from his pocket and fed them in. By chance, he saw the bloodstained gloves.

The washer turned. He picked up the gloves, their old blood now brown, and fell briefly into a trance.

Zilf Ceno.

Cade had never understood why his panel recognized Ceno. By all rights, Ceno should have been a nameless Barghest grunt. Fine, maybe a small squad leader, but Cade did not remember him having any real story in the broader world.

He had always treated the information as the panel's way of reminding him that he had a cheat.

But now, looking at the gloves, the panel still displayed information in his vision.

[System Notification]

Zilf Ceno

Affiliation: Dogtown - Deceased

Affinity: 50

You spared him, and he spared you.

Cade understood. Whether it was Hansen saying Ceno had confessed to selling intel, or Cade not drawing his gun in the car and letting Ceno flee, the two moments formed a loop. They had both left each other a way out.

Ceno could have dragged more people down with him, but he had not.

Yes, his selling information to Hansen for money had nearly gotten Cade killed under Hansen's gun. But this was Night City. This was Dogtown. Everyone protected themselves first. No one gave concessions out of kindness.

People here understood that down to the bone. There was nothing to complain about. If you died, you cursed up at the sky and hoped there was a line outside heaven.

Cade rubbed the gloves, then tossed them into the washer.

Good material. Durable, anti-slip. He might as well use them.

After making instant coffee and heating a burrito, Cade ate while checking his Cyberware Capacity.

His current chrome included:

[Cyberware]

Face: Kiroshi Optics MK.1 - Common

Arms: Gorilla Arms - Epic

Hands: Ballistic Coprocessor - Uncommon

Skeleton: Synaptic Signal Optimizer - Rare; Titanium Bones - Uncommon

Integumentary System: Subdermal Armor - Rare; Pain Editor - Common

Circulatory System: Biomonitor - Uncommon

Empty Slots: Frontal Cortex, Operating System, Nervous System, Legs

Cade tapped the table in thought. His biggest worry was no longer which slots were empty or how to find better chrome. His current capacity was already nearly at the red warning line. He could not even consider those upgrades yet.

What happened if the red line was exceeded?

Cade did not know.

It was probably not as simple as the game screen turning red. He did not dare test something unpredictable.

Pilar's 30 affinity had unlocked the Technical Ability perks and let Cade pick All Things Cyber.

All Things Cyber level one increased all cyberware stat modifiers by ten percent. Level two reduced Cyberware Capacity cost for Integumentary System and Skeleton cyberware by a full twenty percent.

"How is it full? I did not install anything that strong."

Cade's math was average, but he could calculate cyberware capacity.

Even after combining current capacity costs and perk reductions, he still could not make the numbers fit.

Wait.

'Do I just have that little capacity to begin with?'

Once that frightening thought appeared, it would not leave.

Cade exhaled slowly. Everyone thought they were special. Most people were ordinary.

But there was still hope. First, once he gained more perk points, he could buy other nodes that raised Cyberware Capacity and improve brain development.

Second, much of his current cyberware was mediocre. If he could satisfy Renaissance Punk's requirements, capacity should rise again.

He needed to earn more and replace chrome in batches. The condition was removing or upgrading low-quality implants to improve their attributes.

Finally, Cade had to think about cyberware in his skull, especially the frontal cortex. He had to install something there.

Others might hesitate, but Cade remembered the Biotechnica netrunner, and he remembered V deleting the other side in an instant.

Without Self-ICE in his head, any netrunner could handle him in minutes.

"Self-ICE channels should not be hard to ask about at the Dogtown stadium."

Cade pulled bedding from the sofa. Even in an age of common chrome, you could not simply stop sleeping. He had spent forty-eight hours at Pilar's place building parts without rest.

The brain knew how to force obedience.

As his eyelids grew heavy, the dream he had seen at Vik's clinic returned.

The same tower.

The same people.

...

[Incoming Call: Unknown]

Cade woke groggy and saw the call was to Rook's number. He sat up, rubbed his face, and cleared his head before answering.

His voice on the call was a low middle-aged tone made by V.

"The fixer operating in Dogtown?"

"Mm-hm." Cade fumbled for a cigarette. "New arrival. Hands is on vacation."

"Big mouth. I heard Dogtown has a new face strutting around, blowing up Scavs."

"Get to the point."

"I'm with the Animals. Name's Angie."

Cade was still dizzy. The name sounded familiar. Before transmigration, he had done plenty of guides for the game, but a huge mass of information meant small details could slip away.

"Animals? I thought you all talked with fists. Since when do you need someone else to smooth trouble?"

Angie snorted. "I'm not the kind who pumps hormones into her body without thinking. Put it this way. I want to manage accounts and business for these big bodies, and I need your help."

"We Animals have ninety percent of Night City's boxing clubs and prizefighting business in our grip. But pumping hormones works for Animals. Normal fighters cannot handle it."

"Someone is blocking me from eating this bowl in Dogtown. I need you to solve one Animal for me. Also help me escort a batch of cyberware into Dogtown. With hands as long as yours, that should not be a problem."

Cade nodded. "If the price is fair, I can find mercs to handle it."

"The price is thirty percent of the loan kickback attached to that cyberware batch. Total, one hundred forty thousand. That includes the commission for using your connections. How does that sound, Mr. Rook?"

Cade had always thought the Animals' brains were muscle like their bodies, but this woman understood business.

"Fine. I arrange the import channel. I provide the people. Send me the target information."

"I'll handle the rest."

Angie wasted no words. "Good. Get this done, and Dogtown's underground boxing business will come to you again."

One hundred forty thousand eurodollars entered Rook's account immediately.

Cade was stunned, but his tone remained level.

"For business this large, I am sure you already went to Hands. But I handle work cleanly. You trust me; I trust you."

Angie replied, "Then... happy cooperation?"

...

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