Apsis.
After finishing his conversation with Blanca, Karl repeated the name to himself.
During their exchange, they had finalized the two cyberware pieces to be delivered.
One was Militech's latest Berserk OS. The other—the newly developed Sandevistan prototype Blanca had named "Apsis."
The Berserk OS was for Jack. Militech's version was currently the best on the market—top-tier, and extremely expensive. Once Jack got through his current adaptation period, he could give it a try.
As for Apsis, Karl still hadn't decided whether anyone on the team should install it.
The implant had just come out of Militech's R&D lab. Could Oliver really handle something like that?
In Karl's crew, Oliver was a sniper. Most of his implants were support gear meant for long-range combat. While they didn't directly conflict with a Sandevistan, they still placed considerable stress on the body. And Apsis was no ordinary model—its prototype had already driven a hardened Militech lieutenant into a cyberpsychotic episode.
Besides, Oliver had mentioned before that he was planning to shift toward battlefield support—installing implants that could help with on-the-spot medical treatment for the team. In that context, installing a high-strain combat implant didn't seem like a smart move.
Karl shook his head slightly. He couldn't make the decision for his teammates just because he was worried.
Once the implant arrived, Vik would check it out first. Then it would be up to Oliver whether to use it. And if he did, Karl would make sure the proper precautions were in place—just in case Oliver's body or mind couldn't handle it. They'd need to be ready to sedate him and extract the implant on the spot.
That thought reminded Karl of V.
Come to think of it, V hadn't undergone much cyberware modification—probably due to his constant movement through the Badlands. Aside from basic support systems, he was practically unmodified. When he finally arrived in Night City, Karl figured he'd have to prepare a proper welcome gift—same as he had for Jack and the others.
V had sounded pretty set on becoming a merc. And for mercs, the best gifts were weapons and cyberware.
Guns weren't a problem—Karl had plenty. And as for implants, they had a stockpile too. But if they wanted something that could seriously boost someone's combat ability right away…
Apsis. That one stood out.
Karl decided he'd ask both Oliver and V who wanted it—and let them choose.
He found himself having an inexplicable trust in V. It made him instinctively believe that, even if Oliver couldn't handle Apsis, someone like V—who hadn't undergone any extensive cybernetic work—might be able to.
That odd sense of trust made Karl pause.
Wait a second. That didn't make any logical sense.
V hadn't even had his cyberware compatibility evaluated yet. Why would Karl assume he could handle one of the most demanding implants Militech had ever built?
Beep-beep.
Right on cue—just as he was thinking about V—a new message came in.
Messages all day, all night. Right before bed? Of course. Just never stops.
Being a merc really did come with popularity these days.
He thought it was another fixer offering a job, but when he checked—turns out it was from Maine. He hadn't heard from him in a while.
Maine and the rest of Brown Squad had gone off-grid after the Arasaka ninja job that Karl had contracted them for. They'd gone into hiding for a month to avoid blowback. So this message… were they finally resurfacing?
Thinking of them, Karl opened the message. Along with a quick "we're safe" update, there was a eurodollar transfer attached.
A transfer?
Karl: What's this? Why are you sending me money?
Maine: From the braindance sales at David's academy. Your cut—like we agreed. He didn't want to mix up his two identities, so he created a new number under his merc alias. Tried to add you, but your filters blocked him. So I'm forwarding it.
Karl: Ah, yeah. I set the firewall to auto-block anyone who can't pass basic defense checks. Didn't think it'd block David's alt. So he's ditching his main number for comms and business?
Maine: Pretty much. Lucy warned him someone might trace the connection back, so he switched to a separate number under his merc identity. Anyway, just take the money.
Karl: Got it. I'll accept it. Send me David's new number so I can whitelist it. What's his alias now? I'll save it under that.
Karl glanced at the €12,000 credit he just received. David's side hustle was doing better than expected. And those academy kids? Filthy rich.
David had once tried to give Karl a bigger share, but Karl insisted on an even 50/50 split. Which meant David was pulling in €24,000 a month from selling BDs alone. That kind of income? Even high-ranking corpo employees might not touch that.
No wonder illegal braindance never really disappeared in Night City.
Ding.
Another message from Maine.
Maine: Sent the number. Add it when you can. He's still going by David—just the first name. It's common enough. Even "David Martinez" is everywhere. After changing his appearance, he told us to keep calling him the same anyway.
Yeah, no kidding.
Karl had seen "Martinez" pop up in at least ten other gigs. As for Davids? There were probably twenty of them in Karl's own megabuilding. Hell, even Jack's ex had the same surname.
He checked his blocked list, found David's new number, unblocked it, and sent him a message.
Karl: David, you seriously need to learn the basics of hacking. My filters were just entry-level stuff. Doesn't your team have a bunch of netrunners? Learn from them, man.
David: Uh…
Karl could almost hear the sheepish tone.
David: I've been focusing more on firearms and building strength…
Karl: Trying to follow Maine's path, huh? Nothing wrong with that—but come on, you've got a whole crew of netrunners around. You should be more well-rounded.
Karl thought about David's growth. With his learning ability, it'd be a waste if he only modeled himself after Maine. The kid had way more potential than that.
David: Yeah… I'll work on it.
There was something about talking to Karl that always made David feel like a rookie being schooled by a veteran—even though they were technically in the same class.
Thinking about school made David remember something. He fired off another message.
David: Hey Karl, you got a moment?
Karl: Just freed up. What's up?
David: Some teachers at the academy seem to be looking into your old alias—Gaius. They think you're the one behind my BD setup. Been poking around, asking questions. I think they want to find you and hijack the business. So I was thinking… maybe we should bait them out?
Faculty snooping around the BD pipeline?
Karl wasn't surprised.
With David's current earnings, it made sense those teachers were getting greedy.
Targeting him, though? They were clearly asking for trouble.
Still, rather than jumping the gun, Karl was curious to see how David would handle it.
Karl: If we draw them out, then what?
David: Take them out.
Karl stared at the message for a moment.
Short answer. Clear message. Good answer.
"So, you haven't picked up hacking yet… but it seems like you're picking up the merc game just fine."
In Night City, when it came to solving problems, David had already learned the golden rule.
.
.
.
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