The burly merc stepped aside and the door opened.
A lively atmosphere rushed in.
The interior décor had a strong retro vibe from the seventies and eighties.
"This is it…The Afterlife—Night City's beating heart. The Afterlife! We finally made it! Haha!"
Jackie was practically leaping with excitement.
Inside, mercs stood, sat, or squatted around. When they saw Jackie so hyped, none of them showed contempt. At most, they cast a few curious glances and then looked away.
Newcomers.
Everyone acted that way on their first visit.
Nobody bothered mocking a walking corpse. Plenty of wide-eyed first-timers strolled in here and never lived long enough to make a real name for themselves. Until Leo's group proved they could stand firm in the Afterlife, nobody would pay them much mind.
While Jackie took in the sights, Leo found Claire, the bartender behind the counter.
"You're Claire, right? Can you tell me how to get to Booth Four?"
Claire pointed the way without missing a beat. "Straight ahead, on the right. Numbers above the booths—you can't miss it."
She blinked, then added wistfully, "Regina's a decent person. As fixers go, she's one of the good ones. Too bad she doesn't drop by often."
Leo grew curious. "You know Regina?"
"In Night City, there aren't many who don't. She used to be a reporter. Wrote articles backing regular people crushed by the corps. Most of them sank without a trace, though."
"She ended up on the corp's blacklist because of it. Rumor says she lost one of her eyes around that time. Now she's become a fixer and doesn't fight them openly anymore. Hard to say whether that's good for her, or just sad."
Leo saw things differently. "When you don't have enough power, you should hide and bide your time rather than stick your neck out. Once you've gathered enough strength in the shadows, that's when you strike and bare your fangs."
While Leo and Claire were talking, a commotion sounded at the entrance.
The mercs inside the club hardly cared.
No matter what happened, Emeric—the big merc guarding the door—always handled it.
Ever since the Afterlife replaced Atlantis and became the mercenary sanctuary, nobody had ever pulled off any real trouble here.
Leo had no plans to get involved…until he heard a familiar voice.
"Why am I the only one who can't go in?"
Rebecca watched her teammates pass through the door behind Emeric without a hitch. She got especially steamed at her good-for-nothing older brother, Pilar—whom she had personally introduced into the crew—slipping in with no problem and even winking at her.
It almost made her blow her top.
"No minors allowed," Emeric said. "Come back when you're of age, kid."
Looking at the little girl who didn't even reach his chest, he extended an arm to block her path. He had no idea why someone this young was already risking her life on merc work, nor did he care. But what he could do was keep her from getting in.
Rebecca might have looked cute and small, but her temper was anything but. She was like a tiny firecracker.
She flew into a rage at Emeric's words, actually drawing her gun at the entrance to the Afterlife and aiming it straight at him.
But Emeric had seen it all before. He wasn't about to fold to a kid with a gun. More importantly, he wasn't alone. Three other Afterlife mercs appeared out of nowhere behind Rebecca, training kinetic handguns on her head from three different angles.
Rebecca's face tensed. "Tch!"
A fight seemed inevitable.
Then, all at once, the lights snapped off. Darkness swallowed the entrance.
People inside started murmuring.
"What's going on?"
Emeric, as the leader, stayed calm. "Don't panic. Someone go fire up the backup generator."
Just as he said that, the lights flickered back on.
Emeric stared in shock when he saw what had changed. So did the other three mercs.
The loud, angry little girl had vanished.
…
Inside the Afterlife…
"You all right?"
"Th-thanks…" Rebecca, who looked like a helpless kitten carried by the scruff of its neck, turned and recognized her rescuer—then brightened. "Leo?!"
"Long time no see, Rebecca."
When Emeric first blocked her, Leo had sensed the gunpowder in the air. In merc work, you usually learned to be…shall we say…nuclear in your solutions. He knew better than to underestimate Rebecca just because she looked small and seemed like she should still be in school.
So, before a real fight could break out, he asked Claire to kill the lights at the entrance.
At first, Claire refused. She was a bartender here—part of the Afterlife, no way would she sabotage it from the inside.
So…she demanded more money.
And that settled it.
With the lights suddenly cut and Emeric's team robbed of their view, Leo switched on night vision in his tactical goggles and whisked Rebecca inside.
"Leo, what're you doing here?"
"We're meeting Regina for another gig."
"No kidding? Same here!" Rebecca instantly morphed from an angry gremlin into a cheerful sprite, giggling. "Even though that big guy outside's a jerk, I don't mind the Afterlife. We've made it inside now—looks like they'll name a drink after us soon!"
"I'll pass. That honor's only for the dead. Don't you like living?"
Leo glanced at the Lexington in her hand. "That's your weapon?"
A Lexington was basically a glorified squirt gun. It packed almost no punch, the kind of sidearm a dog wouldn't even bother picking up.
"You've done so many gigs. Don't you have enough scratch to buy yourself something better?"
Mercs earned their living through combat. Weapons were a second life to them.
Rebecca looked down. "Bigger firepower means bigger recoil. Among kinetic pistols, the Lexington's recoil is the lowest."
Leo thought for a moment. "How about a Kenshin?"
"Kenshin? You mean that Arasaka tech pistol?" Her eyes sparkled with excitement, but the light died almost immediately. "Tech weapons cost a fortune. I can't afford it."
"No worries. You can pay me back in installments. No interest."
"Really?"
"Really. I'll get in touch with you soon."
"When's that gonna be?"
She was obviously anxious about her firepower problems, pressing him for details.
Before Leo could answer, a huge figure named Maine appeared and greeted them. He chatted for a moment, then couldn't wait to show off a new cyberlimb he'd taken from the Animal's former boss.
Unfortunately, it malfunctioned mid-demo.
His arm shifted, and a cannon barrel popped out, pointing straight at the bar.
Claire, who was standing behind it, froze.
There had been fights in the Afterlife before, but mostly just quick brawls that were over in seconds. No one had ever drawn a weapon here.
After all, the owner, Rogue, had been a legendary merc once. Who would dare disrespect her turf?
So Claire, who'd let her guard down in the relative safety of the Afterlife, simply froze when the barrel aimed at her.
"Maine?!"
Rebecca cried out.
Leo reacted instantly, yanking Maine's cybernetic arm upward.
Bang!