Cyberpunk: The Relentless

"One, ten, hundred, thousand—hell yeah! I've almost saved up a full million eurodollars!"

Walking out of Arasaka Tower, Oliver was tapping excitedly through the digits in his account, practically buzzing. "I can finally get myself a motorcycle. Maybe even buy some new surgical equipment for my sister's clinic."

"That's great. I've got about eight hundred thousand, so I might swing by Viktor's and upgrade my subdermal armor."

Jack glanced at his balance as well before turning to V.

"What about you, V? Got your eye on anything? I've still got some eddies to spare if you need it."

"I think this is more than enough already. No need for your help, Jack."

V stared at the glaring 270,000 eurodollars glowing in his account, still riding the high of disbelief.

He hadn't even been on the team for a full week, and he'd already made more money than he ever imagined in his entire life. Mercenary life? Best decision he ever made.

With that kind of cash, he could upgrade every tribe vehicle and retrofit all their machinery.

The tribe…

Just thinking about it drained the color from his mood. The excitement vanished in an instant.

No matter how far he went, being exiled from the tribe would always hurt.

I wonder how they're doing. After joining Snake Nation, did they finally get the life they were looking for?

Thinking about his old "family," and then glancing at his new one, V looked toward Karl—who stood at the open hatch of the AV, peering out over the glittering lights of Night City, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You still thinking about the identity thing, Karl?" V asked.

"Yeah. I need a bit more time."

Karl had told the crew about the identity situation after they left Arasaka Tower. Since Hanako hadn't pressed him for a quick decision, he wanted to think it over properly. He'd been mulling it over ever since.

Seeing Karl so pensive, Oliver and Jack both turned to look. Even the drone Qiuqiu blinked to life. T-BUG came online.

Everyone on the team had taken guesses about Karl's past at some point—like whether he was the child of a disgraced corpo exec or a rich orphan from some elite family. But no one had ever asked directly. Karl never brought it up.

Still, now that he had to choose an identity, their curiosity was back in full force. Maybe his choice would give them a glimpse into who Karl used to be.

T-BUG sent a message to the team channel:

Wanna bet? Two options—corpo heir or disgraced exec's kid. Loser buys drinks. Others can join. My money's on 'rich kid.'

"I think you could actually merge the two," Oliver offered. "Like, son of a disgraced exec who still got raised like royalty."

"I'm going with option three—both," Oliver added confidently.

"You're gonna lose, then. Get ready to buy," Jack grinned. "Karl's picky with food, obviously raised in a comfy home. And the way he handles firearms? He's got training. I say option four: child of a high-ranking military officer."

"This isn't about guessing Karl's actual past. We're just betting on which identity he'll choose," Oliver argued. "The combo still makes the most sense."

"No one's taken 'corpo heir'? Alright, I'll go with that," V said.

He glanced at his balance and shrugged. He didn't mind losing. He was the kind of guy who spent his eddies freely—on mods, cars, or rounds for his friends. Same difference.

T-BUG: Can't believe you stretched two options into four. Watch us all lose and end up splitting the tab.

Oliver: Not a chance. I've known Karl the longest. I know him. I'm not wrong.

Jack: You mean that time you almost pissed yourself in front of the Maelstrom and Karl had to save your ass?

Oliver: I shot a few! No way you were Rambo in your first firefight either.

The whole exchange happened on the team channel, with no attempt to hide it from Karl. He saw all of it.

"All right, all right," Karl said aloud. "So I'm either a spoiled rich kid or a high-ranking officer's son, huh? That's what everyone thinks?"

"Don't you kinda look it?" V replied. "First time I saw you, I thought—way too young, too clean. Total trust-fund kid vibe."

"Do I really?"

"Absolutely, Mr. Fancy Pants," the team chimed in, perfectly in sync.

Karl chuckled. Their reaction actually helped him decide.

If they all thought he looked the part, maybe it made sense to roll with it.

"How about this one?" Karl held up his datapad. "Relative of a former admin officer from Kang Tao's America Division. I studied at Arasaka Academy, lived in Night City. Toss this in, and I've basically maxed out my identity layers."

"What do you mean 'identity layers'? Let us see," V asked.

He didn't quite get it, but judging by Karl's choice, it sounded like he'd won the bet—Karl had gone with the corpo heir background. He just wanted confirmation.

"Sure, take a look."

Karl casually showed them the datapad.

"An administrative officer who died seven years ago in the early days of the New USA Unification War, along with his wife. Arasaka agents recovered their data files by chance. He'd been fired from Kang Tao for poor performance, and his children went missing in the same incident that killed him. The age matches too."

"And the officer's last name…?"

V stared at the profile, his eyes lingering on the surname. He froze.

Even without a translator, he recognized it instantly.

It was Karl's last name.

"This guy... he had the same last name as you!"

"Quite the coincidence, huh?" Karl said nonchalantly.

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