"Hey Lucky, I've already got a lead on Evelyn."
It was V on the line.
Jackie, who'd been waiting in the channel, chimed in, "Yeah, just missing you, chombatta. Japantown, Megatower H8."
"What exactly is going on?"
Roqi wasn't playing dumb—by this point, he really had no idea what the hell was happening in the story.
"I went to Lizzie's and talked to Judy. She can't get ahold of Evelyn either. Her messages went totally dark. We're thinking of checking out Clouds in H8."
Earlier, V had dropped by the Moxes' pleasure den—Lizzie's Bar—and run into Judy, who was clearly pissed. She'd already sensed this gig was going to implode.
"Clouds, huh..." Roqi muttered to himself.
If there was anywhere in Night City that screamed trouble...
Places like Clouds, where human lust was turned into a premium commodity, were at the top of the list.
And what kind of place was it?
A dollhouse.
Don't get it? Just open your PDA. The official website's up and running, 18+ content front and center—no filters, no shame.
[You're taking your girl into a brothel? Bold move, choom.]
Johnny chuckled as he eyed the screen.
[Shut it.]
Roqi stuffed the PDA back into his pocket.
He thought about leaving Mower behind, but looking at how closely she stuck to him now, going in solo would've just looked suspicious—as if he was sneaking off to do something shady.
Japantown in Westbrook sat just across the river from Watson's Kabuki district.
All the megatowers were built on similar designs, and as Roqi stood at the base of this one, it all felt too familiar.
Same filth. Same foot traffic. Same urban rot.
"I spotted a few Tyger Claws downstairs. This their turf?" Roqi greeted V and Jackie.
"Arasaka's got ties with the Tyger Claws. Not surprising they've got influence here," V said, stepping into the elevator.
[All corpos are dirty, but the streets? They're not just dirty—they're diseased.] [That's why corpos leave places like this to the gangs. Can't have suits getting their loafers bloodstained, right? Didn't see that one coming, huh?]
"Didn't see you coming, either," Roqi muttered with a roll of his eyes.
But V and Jackie were both throwing strange glances toward Mower.
"Hey, Lucky…" Jackie pulled him aside and lowered his voice. "You got a new girl again? What happened to Mower?"
"…This is her."
Roqi kept his face neutral and returned to Mower's side without missing a beat.
He watched Jackie's eyeballs go wide, like they were about to roll out of his skull, staring at this "total stranger" like he'd seen God dancing in a viral meme.
This... this was the same girl?!
Hostia puta!
Am I blind, or is Lucky straight-up bullshitting me!?
And of course, Jackie passed it along to V with that same secretive, sketchy whispering.
Roqi caught the same stunned look flash across V's face.
Crack crack crack...
Roqi heard Mower casually flexing her knuckles.
"Relax. Easy now. They're just... shocked. You're really pretty, that's all."
He gently patted her back, trying to calm her down before she started swinging.
Fortunately, it worked—her hackles smoothed right out, and she went back to looking calm and sweet.
"So, uh... where were we?"
Roqi wiped off the nervous sweat and forced a grin.
"Arasaka and Tyger Claws?" Jackie offered with a laugh that was a little too stiff.
[Fuck me, that was awkward.] Johnny covered his face.
"But if Evelyn really wanted to disappear," V went on, "especially from Arasaka... hiding on Tyger Claw turf? That's a dumbass move."
[That's like bending over with a neon sign saying "come get it."] Johnny's crude commentary had Roqi this close to muting him. [Seriously, hiding from Arasaka here? Her brain must be fried.]
The elevator dinged to a stop on the 12th floor—the tower's lowest platform level.
Dim shafts of sunlight fell from the upper atrium, filtered through grime. Neon lights lit up the darkness like desperate beacons. Without them, the whole place would be pitch black even in daytime.
Junk food stalls, questionable dumplings, reeking corners—yeah, Johnny wasn't wrong. This was still Night City.
But in this chaotic space, the real crown jewel was Clouds—a dollhouse way classier than your average no-tell motel. The design, the detailing—it all screamed premium. Worth the eddies, at least visually.
A hologram dancer posed provocatively at the entrance.
Too bad the sidewalks were still littered with trash and rot.
"You sure about taking her in?" Jackie asked.
"We're already here."
They passed a few massive, ad-plastered walls and arrived at the reception desk bathed in purple light.
"Welcome to Clouds, where we understand your deepest desires." The receptionist smiled politely. Twin buns, blue lipstick. "Would you mind linking to our terminal?"
V started chatting with her, trying to get info on Evelyn. But the receptionist just kept spinning her sales pitch, eyes on his wallet. Boiled down: "Don't worry, we're the best. Just pay up."
[Skip the menu. Let's go straight to the kitchen and order the chef's special.]
Johnny clearly wasn't a fan of these slow detours.
[Pretend to be clients, sneak in quiet. They don't wanna deal? We shuffle the deck ourselves.]
Roqi didn't care either way. He sat in the lounge with Mower, flipping through Clouds' PR materials on his PDA.
Clouds was one of Night City's top-end dollhouses—technologically advanced, highly personalized experiences designed to fulfill even subconscious desires.
You link in, the system scans your preferences and kinks. Then it matches you with the most compatible doll, who'll satisfy every craving like it's programmed to.
Dolls were chip-controlled—they had no awareness during sessions, and all memories were wiped afterward. Which made it perfect for fetishists, antisocial freaks, and painfully shy clients.
End of the day—everyone paid.
500 eddies per person. Not cheap. About a month's food money for a blue-collar worker.
After stashing their weapons at the front desk, they were finally allowed inside.
A massive "18+" sign greeted them.
Booths walled in smart glass, glowing purple floors, nearly nonexistent ambient lighting—this place screamed vice.
Roqi's mind wandered.
He was honestly curious how the "home delivery" part worked. Was there an app? QR code menu?
As they moved toward the performance area, they passed a sign reading "TOYS." Next to it: shelves full of silicone dildos and sleazy mags.
"Oh-ho, Johnny, want a souvenir?" Roqi joked.
[Shove it up your own ass, fucker.] Johnny snapped back.
Roqi couldn't see him, but he knew he was getting flipped off.
"Tyger Claws," Jackie nodded toward the hallway.
A guy in a Hannya mask stood at the corridor, arms crossed. More guards further in.
"Maybe you go ask about Evelyn's booth?" Roqi suggested to V.
"Why me?" V glanced at Mower with a grin.
"Come on." Roqi waved him off. "What, the cameras don't work anymore?"
"All blind."
V had been playing tourist earlier, but in reality, he'd blacked out every cam on the first floor.
A few minutes later, V returned from booth nine. Still fully clothed—clearly didn't do more than talk.
"Booth eleven. That was Evelyn's. It's locked and marked for maintenance," he whispered. "Also, I heard she was close with a doll named Tom. He's in booth two, VIP section."
"Which one first?"
"We gotta look at the scene first, detective," Jackie stood and headed to booth eleven.
The glass door slid open. Inside were two high-end holo projectors—like the ones NCPD used for scene replays.
Roqi had seen cops with these near Misty's shop once, replaying a shooting.
"There's blood on the wall… cleaning fluid too," V scanned the area. "Even the doll's connector got torn out. Why?"
"Open the log," Mower said, nodding at the corner holo terminal.
Nearby, a crate was tagged with NCPD markers—obviously a crime scene, interrupted.
The holo buzzed to life. Blue light washed over everything.
A man knelt on the floor, gripping a woman's legs...
...and licking them.
Roqi immediately thought of a meme. He almost laughed—but this wasn't the time.
The woman suddenly grabbed her head, first with one hand, then both, and started screaming. Her body spasmed like a fish on land—thrashing, bouncing off walls, rolling on the bed and the floor like a glitching puppet.
The client froze, thinking it was some kind of kink performance. Took him way too long to realize something was very wrong.
[What's your read? Cyberpsycho?]
At Johnny's request, Roqi aimed the cam at the scene.
"Sounds crazy, but… maybe she got hacked. Remote override?" V guessed.
"Cover-up hit," Jackie said darkly.
"Someone behind her?" Roqi narrowed his eyes.
No one goes to that much effort—remote hacking—to kill a random doll. Especially not one who wasn't even VIP.
Whoever did this wasn't targeting Clouds—they were silencing Evelyn Parker.
"We need to find that Tom."
V stood and left.
The VIP section was on the second floor, guarded.
With four people and no passes, slipping in wasn't gonna be easy.
They went back to the lounge, drinks in hand, pretending to be casual.
"I can't go in?! What the hell?! I come here every week!"
A screechy voice caught Roqi's attention—a man yelling at a Tyger Claw guard.
"Sorry, sir, you don't have access to the VIP area."
"Yes I do! I do!"
His pitch kept rising, one octave at a time.
"No sir, you don't." The bouncer stayed cool. "You're welcome to speak with the manager."
"No↘ we're talking↗ right here↗ right now↘ do you know↗ who I am↗↗↗!?"
Roqi winced. This guy sounded like a mallard doing a rooster impression.
The upstairs door opened. A lean man walked out.
"Is there a problem?"
"This idiot↗ says I'm not VIP anymore!"
The man checked his PDA. "Looks like your VIP status was revoked."
"You↗ say↘ what↗ to↗ me↘↗!?"
[Here we go. Another clown who thinks the world owes him something.]
Johnny didn't even need a visual.
Eventually, the guy stormed off—this was Tyger Claw turf, after all. Even morons know when to back down.
"Hard or soft?" Roqi asked.
"Define 'hard.' Define 'soft,'" V said.
Roqi shifted in his seat. "Hard—we storm in, slice anyone in the way. Soft—we sneak in, take out targets one by one."
"Damn, guess the Tyger Claws are all dying today," Jackie laughed.
"Four of us. No way we all sneak in clean," Roqi said. "One of them just went to the bathroom. One more's at the VIP entrance. If we're moving—now's the time."
Shrrip—all four stood up, drawing attention.
"Hey, choom, quick question..."
Roqi leaned on the wall casually, drawing the tall bouncer into conversation.
The guard glanced toward Mower walking into the bathroom, then toward V and Jackie heading off. His alertness dropped.
"Yeah, what—ghhkk!"
He never finished turning his head—his spine twisted the rest of the way for him.
Roqi dragged the corpse into the bathroom, dumping it next to a skinny guy Mower had already flattened.
"Find anything?"
"A token." Mower held up a Clouds access chip.
"Hold on." Roqi patted the body down. "Got another."
Two golden VIP tokens gleamed under the fluorescent light.
A moment later, V and Jackie dragged in another corpse.
"Three in total," V checked the chips. "One short."
"No one's at the door now. No one's gonna stop us," Roqi said. "Let's go."
"Damn right."
.
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