Gearbound: Cyberpunk 2077

2-in-1-chapter

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NetWatch was a corporate service provider specializing in cybersecurity defense, selling its protection packages to every major company in Night City. Every serious business purchased its services.

At present, other corporations remained indifferent to Aurora PMC's presence because it was still small. But as Aurora grew stronger, it would inevitably draw the attention—and caution—of other corporations. That was why purchasing NetWatch's protection was necessary, as it could at least prevent rival companies from using the Net to launch covert attacks against their systems.

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Several days later, at the Afterlife.

Rogue sat in her private booth, listening to Leo's account.

"You handled the Voodoo Boys matter well," she said with a faint smile. "Though I admit, I'm a little surprised. Their equipment was filled with data pulled from the Old Net—treasures, really. And you didn't think to keep any of it?"

"Treasure? I'd call it plastic explosives—the kind that sticks to you the moment you touch it," Leo replied.

He knew exactly what Rogue meant, but as he had already explained, those so-called treasures could carry malware or something worse. Bringing them back and connecting them to the company's systems could crash their own servers.

And data scavenged by the Voodoo Boys from the Old Net was something Rogue knew about, and so did Netwatch. If he had taken it, Netwatch would have fixed its attention on him.

Compared to the potential gains, the risks and possible losses were greater. People liked to say "high risk, high reward," but that left out the part that actually decides whether it's worth it—the odds. Most high-risk ventures don't pay off, which means the real formula

Expected Value = Probability of Success × Reward − Probability of Failure × Loss."

"You're cautious to a fault," Rogue remarked, sipping a glass of red wine.

"You don't look that old—don't you have a shred of the recklessness young people are supposed to have?"

"Don't tease me, Rogue," Leo said with a wry smile. "I've got dozens of people working under me. Even if they're not expecting to get rich, they're counting on me to make enough to put food on their tables. Whatever I do, it's not just me—it's all of them. How can I afford to take reckless risks?"

After chatting a while longer at the Afterlife, Leo said his goodbyes and left.

Back at Rocky Ridge, he hadn't even had time to sit down before Panam, Mitch, and Scorpion arrived, all three wearing the same troubled look.

"What's going on?"

From their expressions, Leo could guess something was wrong.

"It's bad, Leo," Panam said quickly. "The Raffen Shiv took Saul. That blockhead went out with the patrol team and never came back."

Leo frowned. "How can you be sure it was the Raffen Shiv?"

It wasn't that he doubted her, but if Saul had gone out with a patrol and simply hadn't returned, how did she know it was the Raffen Shiv that had taken him?

"Some of the people who stayed in camp found the Raffen Shiv's hideout," Panam said. "They saw prisoners there—maybe even someone important. If Saul really was taken…"

Her voice was tight with anger, and it looked like she was ready to grab a rifle and start a fight right then.

"Panam can get worked up, and sometimes she doesn't explain herself clearly," Mitch said slowly, stepping in. "Don't misunderstand, boss. She's not asking you to go rescue Saul—she's asking you to let us leave for a while."

Like Panam, Mitch was Aldecaldo. He knew her well enough to see how her temper might be taken the wrong way, so he hurried to clarify before Leo thought she was trying to guilt him into it.

Leo waved a hand, showing he wasn't offended.

"Just the three of you?" he asked.

Mitch exchanged glances with Scorpion and Panam before answering. "Me, Scorpion, and Panam. If possible, we'd like to bring a few others along." He hesitated, then added, "Of course, boss, for the days we're away, you can dock our pay accordingly. We're fine with that."

Leo thought for a moment. "Your clan has hundreds of people. If even they can't deal with this, sending just a handful of you won't make much difference."

Mitch knew Leo was right. He had the same thought himself, but how could they just stand by while Saul was being held? How could they watch their clanmates mount a rescue while doing nothing?

Nomads weren't bound by blood the way families were, but their ties were built on bonds that could be stronger and more enduring than blood.

"I know. But…" Mitch scratched his head, bald enough that it barely had any hair left.

He was still searching for words when Leo suddenly spoke.

"I'll go with you."

All three froze.

"What did you say, Leo?"

"We have around forty people here. Leave a few to guard the place, and the rest go with you. That's better than sending just the three of you."

Scorpion's voice was rough when he finally spoke. "Leo, are you serious?"

"Of course. I don't make jokes at times like this."

Plus, I would never give up the chance for some easy points without moral implications Leo didn't say it out loud. Letting them think he was taking an unnecessary risk for his people worked in his favor.

The three looked at each other. Panam, usually so fiery, seemed hesitant now.

"But the Aldecaldos might not have the money to pay you," she said.

They all knew Leo's help came with a price. He ran a private military company, not a charity. A single operation cost at least a few million, sometimes ten or twenty million. Even if he gave them a friendly rate because they knew each other—say, one million—they still couldn't afford it.

Yes.

Nomads were indeed that poor—they could not even scrape together a mere one million eurodollars.

Otherwise, they would not have been losing fights to the Raffen Shiv.

"This time there's no payment. It's free."

Leo's willingness to rescue Saul without charge was not entirely about doing him a personal favor—although if Saul and the Aldecaldos remembered the favor later, that would certainly be welcome. The more important reason was that Leo had not known Saul for long, yet he already recognized the big man as a good one.

Perhaps in Panam's eyes Saul seemed too soft, but as another leader and decision-maker, Leo could fully understand Saul's so-called "softness."

The truth was simple—Saul had no choice.

The entire weight of the clan rested on his shoulders. Every decision he made had to be cautious, and then cautious again. At worst, a careless choice could cause casualties and equipment losses; at worst of all, it could shatter the clan entirely and erase the Aldecaldos from history.

For example, take Dutch van der Linde: as America's railroads and its brand of civilization spread into the West, the days of outlaw gangs like the Van der Linde gang roaming free and living without law were inevitably numbered. Yet that did not mean the gang had to be destroyed. They could have gone straight, turned from criminals who threatened the so-called free world into enforcers protecting it; or they could have left entirely, moving to Tahiti and escaping the tangled troubles of the American West.

But Dutch made one foolish decision after another, dismantling the gang with his own hands until it was gone.

If the Van der Linde gang had been led by Saul instead of Dutch, it would never have met such an end.

"Thank you, Leo."

It was not only Panam who said it—Mitch, Scorpion, and the other Aldecaldos who had come over after hearing the news also showed gratitude.

Like Panam, they might now be working for Leo, but they still cared deeply about Saul's safety. Hearing that Leo was willing to help him without demanding payment, they not only felt thankful, but reassured themselves that they had chosen a good boss to follow.

Without delay, Leo arranged for a few people to stay behind, then took the rest and headed straight for the Aldecaldo camp outside the city.

A few hours later, the camp's tents and trailers came into view. Panam had called ahead during the drive, so several people were already standing at the entrance, waiting for them.

"Mitch, Scorpion, Panam—you're finally back."

"And Mr. Leo is here too."

The camp residents were clearly happy to see them. Though Panam's group had not left the clan outright, they had taken employment with Aurora PMC, and no one in the camp could be sure whether they would ever return. Now that they had, everyone seemed genuinely pleased.

Mitch quickly stopped the crowd's chatter—this was not a social visit, but a serious mission.

"Who's running things here right now?"

"Carole, Teddy, Cassidy, and Bob are working on a rescue plan."

"Where are they? Take us to them."

The people currently giving orders in Saul's place were in the center of camp, beside a trailer. As Leo, Panam, Mitch, and Scorpion approached, they found them in the middle of a heated argument, faces flushed with frustration.

"Carole."

Panam's voice caught their attention.

Carole was a woman with a hairstyle like Judy's, wearing sunglasses, but far more solidly built.

Teddy was a man in a dark baseball cap, arms covered in tattoos, sharing smokes with a cowboy-hatted Cassidy—secondhand smoke that made Carole scowl.

The last, Bob, wore an old-style headset over one ear and sat in a chair with his arms crossed, silent. He had not joined the argument at all; he seemed like an executor rather than a decision-maker—whatever was decided, he would simply carry it out.

Panam and the others greeted each of them in turn.

When Carole's group saw Leo, their surprise was clear.

"I could imagine Panam and the rest coming over—but you, Mr. Leo? I didn't expect that."

Leo spread his hands and spoke in a light tone. "Why does everyone assume I'm just in it for the money? Do I look like that kind of person?"

"Honestly, in my eyes all corp dogs are the same. But it seems I was wrong—you're not one of them."

"You're Carole, right? We can save the small talk for after we bring Saul back. Tell us the specifics now."

Carole nodded. "Bob."

The silent man finally spoke.

"I scouted the area with drones. Saul's definitely been taken by the Raffen Shiv. Not just him—several members of the patrol he was leading were captured as well."

"Do you have a plan yet?"

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