Leo glanced at the disabled missile pod and the smoke billowing from the Surveyor-class heavy AV, then keyed the comm channel.
"I'll leave this Zetatech Surveyor to you two. I'm heading inside to find the person we came for."
With its automated missile defense gone, the heavy AV was basically a declawed tiger. Experienced mercs like Emmerich and Crispin had no trouble taking it on. Over the comms, Leo could hear Crispin whooping and both men firing relentlessly at the Surveyor's thrusters.
"Boss, these powered gauntlets of yours—what do you even call them? They're insane!"
Leo moved toward the office Sasha was located, conversing over comms as he ran. "They're called powered arm bracers. You like them?"
"Sure do," Crispin replied without hesitation.
Hearing such a straightforward answer, Leo just named the same "friends-and-family price" he'd given Maine and Dorio back when he sold them gear. That rate was already below market, at least twenty percent cheaper than usual.
Still, Crispin groaned. "Boss…any chance you can go a bit lower?"
"Too expensive?" Leo paused, then shifted gears with a seemingly random question. "Hey, mind me asking—your folks still around?"
Crispin went blank, not seeing the connection. "They passed on, actually."
"Got a spouse?"
Crispin's brow twitched. "No…still single."
"So who're you saving all that money for!?"
Crispin clutched his chest, as if shot through by multiple arrows. "Fine, fine, I'll buy them. Happy now?!"
…
Meanwhile, outside Sasha's office, a squad of security drones detected Leo's presence. Their targeting sensors locked on, but before any of them could pull the trigger, Leo vanished from their lines of sight. A moment later, the power core of one drone burst into electric sparks. That was the signal. One after another, the drones shorted out or exploded, never even glimpsing their attacker.
When the last drone dropped in a shower of sparks, Leo's figure finally reappeared. After gaining the Time Zero talent, he could practically switch on "cleanup mode" whenever he faced enemies without a Sandevistan. Without it, these robots had no shot at even brushing his coat.
"Sasha? Sasha!" Leo called.
A startled cat-like face peeked over the desk. Seeing Leo, Sasha's eyes went round, caught between shock and puzzlement. "Leo? How did you get here?"
"Rebecca called—said you were in trouble." Leo's gaze dropped to her thigh, where her pants were stained dark red. "You're hurt?"
He dug out a pneumatic injector and handed it over.
"Here."
"Thanks, but I already used one."
"Use another. Mine's better."
Leo knew that, at best, Sasha's own injector would have been some Tier 2 formula. His Tier 3 was far more potent. Sasha didn't argue further and pressed it to her leg. A sudden coolness wrapped around the wound, quickly staunching the bleeding.
"You good to walk? Let's get out of here."
"N-no, I can't leave yet."
"Why not?"
Instead of answering, Sasha's gaze darted to three separate computers on the desk:
UPLOADING TO N54 NEWS TIPLINE
File: SECURICINE.dtb
Upload in process…
SECURICINE. Leo couldn't parse the specifics from the name alone, but he guessed it was some new Biotechnica compound or drug.
"What's that? You're sending data to News54?"
"It's the reason I have to stay. You should go—I don't want you getting killed over me."
A distant chime echoed from outside, the sound of two elevator cars arriving at this floor. Clattering metal footsteps soon followed—reinforcements of security drones fanning into the hallway.
They'd overrun the corridor in under half a minute.
"You know something?" Leo said, drawing Murasame and heading for the door. "I hate tragedies more than anything."
"Hey, wait—where are you going?"
Sasha tried to follow, but she was still tethered to the terminal via her pink personal link cable. Leo simply shut the office door behind him.
"Stay put. Don't move. I'll be back soon."
The next moments brought a cacophony of blasts. Gunshots, metal clashing, bullets thudding against ballistic armor, the crunch of powered gauntlets ripping a mechanical head clear off. A chaotic barrage of sounds clanged and echoed like a symphony in the hallway. Gradually, the onslaught thinned, then died away, punctuated by a final heavy crash.
Silence.
Sasha's heart pounded painfully. With her computer still uploading, she couldn't hack into the hallway cameras, so she had no idea how the fight had ended. She could only hope Leo had survived.
When he finally reentered—completely unscathed—her eyes flooded with relief.
"Leo!" she gasped.
"I'm fine. These drones are about as tough as those from some old holo-flick." He glanced at the screens. "How's the upload?"
"Just…a bit more to go," Sasha admitted.
Leo saw the progress bar was still a quarter short of completion. They definitely didn't have that kind of time. Without thinking, he yanked the pink data cable from the terminal. Sasha froze, stunned speechless.
By the time Leo scooped her up in his arms and headed out, she snapped back to reality.
"H-hey! Do you realize what you've done?! Put me down! Do you know what I'm trying to upload?"
"Nope. I just know you'll die if you stay. Life matters more."
"There are some things more precious than life!"
"Maybe so, but if it's that important, you can upload it later. The city's not exactly short on net access, silly cat."
Sasha stiffened at the nickname and stopped flailing. Right…Night City wasn't some archaic backwater with no electricity or networks. She really could just upload the file after getting out. Then she remembered with a jolt—she hadn't copied or backed up the SECURICINE data. Out in the city, there'd be nothing to send.
Leo ignored her crestfallen look. Outside on the tower's platform, Emmerich and Crispin had already finished off the Surveyor AV. The Rayfield Excalibur hovered near the ledge, AI pilot guiding it in. As soon as Leo and Sasha climbed aboard, the Excalibur's engines roared to full power, propelling it like a comet away into the night.
Down below, Maine and the others watched in stunned silence.
"Did he…actually just rescue Sasha?"
However, Biotechnica's reinforcements were far from limited to a single heavy AV.