Chapter 32: Border Smuggling

"You're practically bullying the innocent! I bet that McCoy guy is fuming, ready to pop like a balloon. Too bad we can't do video calls, or I'd love to see what state he's in." "If it were face-to-face, we couldn't pull that off. Nomads with guns are a lot more volatile when you're standing right in front of them." "Cheers to Pig-Head McCoy!" In a local bar, Leo decided to pass the boring three-hour wait by having a couple of drinks with V. He had just solved two big problems in one go—first, they'd soon swap the armored vehicle for a nomad's car. And they also had a way to get through the border checkpoint—stuffing the prototype smart weapons into the new car would let them slip through without trouble. They'd deal with whatever came after crossing the checkpoint later. As for feeling bad... well, there was no way the Behemoth would get through the checkpoint anyway. Militech wouldn't mention their losses in the news, so no one would know the vehicle was stolen. But crossing the checkpoint would be different. The checkpoint would relay collected data to the Orbital Quick Reaction System, raising the chances of getting caught to 99%. Sometimes, being too greedy is a bad idea, even though Leo really liked that vehicle. "This drink's got quite the kick," V said, downing her glass in one gulp, and then added, "Earlier, you were defending those nomads, and I thought you sympathized with them. But then you turn around and scam them out of fifty thousand euro. You're definitely not a good person." "You must be drunk," Leo said, taking only a small sip, mindful of his weak organs. "The money was mine; he just didn't accept the offer. Besides, the car will be left with them later—it's more than enough for them to profit." Even if the Behemoth couldn't be sold or driven, the parts alone were valuable. For nomads, dismantling and modifying cars was practically a rite of passage. V raised her glass again. "This is the first time I've seen someone make a fixer eat dirt—it's hilarious. Just for that, drinks are on me today!" Leo wasn't particularly moved. "With enough money, you can make anyone eat dirt." It was broad daylight, and the bar was nearly empty. The two soon found themselves bored, watching the wind and sand sweep across the town. Luckily, the nomads delivering the car and information arrived quickly. The young man who came was visibly nervous—it was obvious he was new. Leo didn't say much; the kid was just there to do a job, and talking too much wouldn't be meaningful. In fact, if he had made a point of chatting, it might've made McCoy more suspicious. It was a simple exchange—money chip handed over to the kid, a modified car delivered, along with an info shard. The vehicle was a heavily modified Quadra Galena "Viper," a typical junker, nicknamed "The Walking Tetanus Trap." It had clearly been modified many times. The car's roof looked like it had been weaponized at some point, though whatever was mounted there had been removed—who knows if it had been gone for a while or just recently taken off. The good news was that the cargo hold had been modified to hide smuggled goods from being fully scanned, and the space was larger than usual. Perfect for stashing five Yinglongs and two Ba Xing Chong shotguns—three more that Leo and V had to stuff under the seats. However, the problem was with the Nekomata sniper rifle. They had to disassemble it and put it in the trunk. V looked heartbroken during the process—it meant they'd need to find a brave enough gunsmith to try and reassemble it later. The Nekomata was a technical sniper rifle, capable of piercing the Behemoth's armor with one shot. It wasn't just some dime-a-dozen piece. As for the other stuff, well, carrying weapons wasn't considered smuggling as long as it wasn't an entire carload being scanned. After all, who didn't have a piece on them? Of course, this would significantly increase the cost of crossing the border checkpoint. V pinched her nose, eyeing the little car. "Ugh, this thing reminds me of that junker I drove in Atlanta, only smellier." "That's exactly right. Nomad cars are passed down through generations, and so is the smell. Let's see who our smuggler is." Leo inserted the shard, and the information appeared on his cyber-eye. Client Name: Jackie Welles Location: Night City Mission: Smuggle a batch of unidentified goods Cargo Info: Drop off at the specified location after crossing the border checkpoint. Additional Notes: The cargo is likely from an Arasaka transport convoy that was hijacked months ago. Details are unclear. Due to the incident in Atlanta, no one cares about Arasaka anymore; someone's likely trying to offload the goods. The client is offering very little money, and no one in Snake Nation wants to take this job, especially at this critical juncture. Client Location: An abandoned farm (coordinates provided) After reading it, Leo rubbed his chin— Great, now he was practically playing through two game prologues back-to-back. He glanced over at V; this woman was supposed to return to Night City a year or so later, then bump into Jackie while stealing a car, becoming best buds. But now, it turns out Jackie's been busy with smuggling during these days, huh? Just chalk it up to the butterfly effect. "What's up?" V noticed Leo looking at her, puzzled. "Is there something wrong with the client?" "Not exactly... you're from Heywood, right? So is this client." Leo sent her the info, and after reading it, V shook her head. "Don't know him. Looks a bit familiar, but no idea who he is." Good, Leo thought. If these two had been childhood friends, he would've had to reconsider the possibility of V returning to Arasaka to report. After thinking for a moment, Leo said, "I'll drive, and you handle the talking. Just remember, we're from the Bakkers family. If he asks what the Bakkers family is like, just say—" "Nomads from Heywood—yeah, I remember. But why do I suddenly have to do the talking?" Leo hesitated for a moment—that was a first. V seemed to realize something too: she remembered why Leo had told her not to talk when they met the sheriff. The reason was: the moment she opened her mouth, that street thug vibe just oozed out. So, the reason she had to do the talking now was... V's expression turned knowing. "Heh, you sly devil." Leo spread his hands. "Can't help it, I'm too well-educated to pull off the act." "Idiot—fine, you drive. By the way, just walking around with smart weapons in our hands won't alert Militech?" "No, the ones who lost the gear were Kang Tao. They're not obligated to report to Militech, or else the news about the lost prototype weapons would be all over the place by now. Anyway, we're smuggling, so carrying a few high-end weapons is perfectly normal." "Alright, anything else we need to keep in mind?" Leo scratched his head and said, "Okay, I'll tell you—brace yourself. I'm guessing Militech might try to rob us on the other side." "Why?" V was surprised; everyone knew corporations were scummy. But letting someone go at the checkpoint, only to rob them on the other side? Wasn't that a bit...? "We're freshly independent nomads smuggling high-value goods. The checkpoint officials won't mind tipping off nearby Militech agents, so everyone can make a little something on the side." "Another fight?" V sighed in exasperation. "But the Nekomata is in pieces." "Even if it wasn't, we couldn't use it—unless you want to use these smart guns." V immediately dismissed the option. Without a smart link, smart weapons were less useful than old-school firearms. Smart weapons need to be connected to a smart link in the user's cyberware, which retrieves sympathetic nervous system signals, converts them into data, and calculates according to pre-set programs. Finally, based on the user's intent, the system executes tracking shots. Pros like Zhu Shen could even use smart submachine guns as anti-rocket weapons. Without this system support, smart weapons have low tracking efficiency, are practically useless, and the fuel in the bullets doesn't burn completely, so the final kinetic energy is far inferior to basic kinetic weapons. "I'd rather use my little handgun—I need to get it properly fixed up when we get back. Hope this client's good at what he does." V pulled out her handgun, "Dying Night," and inspected it. It was a fully automatic pistol, modded from a Lexington, with a small knife attached to the underbarrel for emergency use as a dagger. "Well, considering he's a guy out here hustling, I don't think we'll be disappointed." Leo shrugged. Though he said that, Leo still felt uneasy— Arasaka's goods, Jackie, V—all the pieces were in place, and he was still playing the unlucky hacker role. Thinking this, Leo noticed the "Weapons Offline" sign on the car's dashboard. He glanced at the Ba Xing Chongs... Maybe it was time to link these things to the car?