Gearbound: Cyberpunk 2077-Chapter 160

Dexter and his lackey left, and only the three of them remained in the private room. No outsiders were present.

"What do you both think?"

Leo didn't voice his own opinion first; he wanted to hear Jackie and V's thoughts.

"You guessed right," V said grimly. "Dex really wants us to hit Arasaka. Good thing Lucy stayed in the car."

They had never once mentioned Lucy to Dexter, nor had Jackie or T-Bug mentioned her when making the initial contact. Dexter and T-Bug were clueless about Lucy's existence. Even if Dex didn't know Lucy's secrets, if he was aiming for Arasaka, it was better they didn't meet.

Leo turned to V. "So, what's your take?"

V shook her head. "Hard to say. Honestly, we could go either way. It's your call—I'll follow your lead."

"Then let's—" Leo started, only for Jackie to cut him off.

"Wait!"

Jackie first glanced at Leo, then turned to V. "Hey...Leo, V. You're not really thinking of letting this golden goose slip away, are you?"

"Jackie," Leo said gently. "We can always earn more money, but if we lose our lives, that's that." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

He knew exactly how much Jackie cared about this "big gig." So he softened his tone, hoping to reassure him. "Think about Señora Wells, think about Misty—if something happened to you, imagine how devastated they'd be."

"You're right, Leo. But it's not that simple," Jackie said.

V looked confused. "What's not simple? When Dex comes back, we just tell him the job's too risky, we're out. He'll have to hire someone else."

Jackie gave a shaky laugh. "Oh yeah? And what about Dex? He's already told us the gist of the job. If we back out, you really think he'll just let us walk?"

Leo spoke up. "Relax, Jackie. Worst case, even if we called Arasaka right this moment and ratted on Dex, Arasaka wouldn't give a damn."

"My downstairs neighbor screams every morning about kidnapping Arasaka Hanako and locking Arasaka Michiko in his basement. Doesn't mean NCPD or Arasaka agents haul him away."

Arasaka was huge sure, but because of that, they got thousands of bogus tips a day. Even if the entire Arasaka counterintelligence unit worked 24/7, they couldn't arrest every random loudmouth. Likewise, if they tried to tip them off about Dex's plan, Arasaka wouldn't bother sending agents to kill them. If anything they would probably just toss them a few eddies and tell them to scram.

Besides, Dex had only said he wanted Relic; he hadn't divulged the full plan. If the three of them truly wanted out, they could walk.

Sighing at Leo's implied refusal, Jackie turned to V with a pleading look. "V, help me out here."

V couldn't brush him off. She gave him an earnest reply: "Jackie, I do agree this gig could be huge—high risk, maybe high reward. If it were someone else, they might jump at it for the chance of an enormous payoff. And not just anyone can land a job from a top fixer. Dex choosing us means we've made a name for ourselves."

Jackie's face brightened at her words. "Knew I could count on you, V. You put it better than I ever could."

But then V said the one word that made his expression freeze: "However..."

Jackie's stomach dropped. He'd been beaming seconds before, and now he looked like he'd swallowed a lemon.

"However," V continued, "like I said, I'm sticking with Leo. If he's not willing, I'm out too. And I figure Lucy would say the same."

Jackie groaned. "Aw, come on, guys..."

He sighed, sounding deeply frustrated. "You know why I don't want to pass up this shot? I'm not getting any younger. Lately, on jobs, I feel my age. I'm not the same as you two."

Leo frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about, Jackie? You're only thirty."

Jackie shook his head with a bitter smile. "I'm not like you.

You're young, go to bed early, don't drink or smoke, and you work out. Me? I stay up late, booze a lot—even though I love to lift, I've basically wrecked myself doing it."

He shrugged. "Plus, you've got that knack for assembling guns from parts and materials, turning them into factory-level pieces. The moment you open your eyes, you earn three hundred fifty thousand eddies a day. But if I don't land a job, I make zero."

Jackie paused, glancing at them. "I've been on the streets since I was thirteen. Joined the Valentinos, left at eighteen, and did merc work from then on. That's twelve years, and I've busted my ass every step of the way. But in Night City, getting rich is tougher than building the Tower of Babel.

"You remember what I said to you when you first got here, Leo?

'Some kid's old man runs a gun shop, the kid takes over. Someone's mom runs a little convenience store, the daughter inherits it. End of the day, they shut the doors and go back to a cramped apartment—or just sleep on the shop floor. You ever see any of them buy a mansion in North Oak doing honest business?'"

Jackie scoffed. "I'm no different from them. Sure, if I quit merc work, I could run El Coyote Cojo. But unlike them, I'm not ready to accept this fate. You think I want Misty worrying about our finances, wasting away day by day? You think I want my kid growing up on the same damn streets, making the same mistakes I did?"

He clenched his fists. "I spent my first half of life in a pile of shit. I'm not dragging Misty down there with me. Even if she said she didn't mind, I do. I wouldn't stand for it."

Leo and V fell silent. Eventually, Leo sighed. Everyone had burdens. Even the friendliest, most cheerful people could be crushed by the weight of everyday life in Night City.

It was the classic gap between rich and poor, taken to its extreme. Some folks here had nothing, forced into horrifying choices for scraps, while the ultra-rich lived like gods, flaunting wealth as if it would never run out. A place where, in 2077, you could die of pneumonia if you couldn't afford a simple Trauma Team plan. Meanwhile, corporate execs reached their eighties looking like thirty-year-olds.

After a quiet moment, Leo said softly, "Jackie, if you want out, if you need money but hate merc work, I can help."

"You know I supply goods to Padre and handle a lot of deals. You could join in, and I doubt Padre would mind. I could hire you as a security consultant or something, pay you a salary of, say, ten thousand eddies a day. Then you could quit killing and still earn a good living."

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