Arasaka Tower.
Karl didn't truly feel the weight of its presence until he stood at its base and looked up.
A skyscraper reaching into the clouds, towering over all of Night City. At its very top, the Arasaka logo loomed—perched above everything else.
Karl stared at the logo, then turned around to look across the avenue, where another towering building stood in direct opposition.
Militech.
The two giants of Night City, staring each other down across a concrete battlefield.
When Karl was still 200 meters from the tower, Arasaka security personnel in uniform stepped in to stop him. Today, most attendees for the Arasaka summit had arrived via AVs, but some high-ranking execs—concerned about air safety—had chosen ground transport. That meant it was the ground team's job to filter out impostors and safeguard those high-value targets.
No one wanted a repeat of 2023—a suicide bomber showing up out of nowhere. If something like that happened again, it would wreck Arasaka's credibility in the Americas.
"Please stop where you are."
The guards already knew his face—it had been circulated to the entire security force. One of them stepped forward, visibly tense, his finger near the trigger of a safety-off weapon. Around him, others subtly aimed their weapons at Karl's position.
KK, the infamous merc. Even alone, he posed a credible threat to corporate security.
They needed to confirm why he was here.
Karl heard the warning and calmly stopped in place.
He was here on a protection contract—not to start a fight. Better to play it by the book.
When he gave the lead guard a polite nod, the man visibly exhaled with relief.
Good. He didn't come to cause trouble. Because if things had escalated, the guy issuing commands here might've been the first to die.
The team gave Karl a quick scan—no oversized weapons or equipment detected under his coat—then the lead officer opened comms.
"Mercenary KK has appeared just outside the perimeter. Guard 4752 is in contact. Requesting instructions."
Bzzzt.
Static crackled before a voice responded.
"KK, huh. Command did mention a mercenary would be arriving. Let me check the clearance list. Has his ID been confirmed?"
The guard re-scanned Karl using enhanced cyberoptics.
"Appearance and biometric markers match. Can't fully rule out disguise. Recommend secondary verification."
"Confirmed. He's on the trusted list. Let him through. I'll handle an additional scan at checkpoint two."
"Copy."
With that, the guard stood aside and motioned Karl forward.
Thank god that was someone else's problem now.
Karl glanced at him—already back to scanning the crowd like nothing happened—then walked through the path cleared for him.
A hundred meters in, three men in black-and-red Arasaka suits approached.
"Please proceed with secondary identity verification."
Their tone was professional, but their movements weren't casual. They formed a precise triangle around Karl—any attempt to strike one of them, and the other two could respond immediately.
"What kind of verification?" Karl asked, unfazed. "Another scan?"
"No, we've prepared a specialized device."
The lead suit pulled out something that looked like a high-tech fingerprint scanner and held it out.
"Please place your finger here."
"Fingerprints can be spoofed."
"True."
The man didn't flinch.
"But this one is tailored to you. Your cyberarm is a unique custom modification—standalone model, no paired systems. Even within the company, there's nothing else like it. All we need is for the fingerprint data to match what's been registered from that specific unit."
So that's why...
Karl remembered when Viktor had examined the arm and confirmed there were no surveillance backdoors inside. That had surprised Karl—usually cyberware had at least some data feedback or tracking. But apparently, his arm had been special all along.
Guess my 'investment' started way back then, huh...
While his thoughts ran, his hand moved. He placed his finger on the scanner.
"Verifying. Please wait."
The surface shimmered like ripples on water. Two seconds later, the device beeped.
"Cyberware designation: KK. Model confirmed."
The suited man bowed.
"Thank you. The client you've been assigned to protect—Mr. Ken'ichirō—is currently waiting for you in the lobby."
...Ken'ichirō?
Karl blinked.
I'm guarding... Ken'ichirō?
Seriously?
But it made sense.
Haruko already had a personal bodyguard—Chiyome. A high-level meeting like this wouldn't allow too many armed escorts per exec. If Haruko's spot was filled, then Karl's role had to shift.
And Ken'ichirō, regardless of how strong he was personally, was still an Arasaka exec. Having a bodyguard was perfectly reasonable.
Still…
Karl took a step forward.
Why does this all feel so damn absurd?
If someone tried to assassinate Ken'ichirō, fought through Karl thinking the job was done, only for Ken'ichirō to activate a Sandevistan...
Now that would be one hell of a scene.
.
.
.
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