With Sam now dead, I felt somewhat happy that he was dead. As I was driving along the empty street, suddenly the peaceful silence was shattered by a loud and thunderous explosion that reverberated through the air. I immediately hit the brakes and looked around, trying to identify the source of the explosion. I turned to Henry and asked if he had heard it too. He nodded and speculated that it could be the start of the sixth corpo war.
Feeling anxious, we resumed our journey to Henry's house, hoping that the explosion was just a result of gang warfare and not the beginning of a full-blown war. After dropping Henry off, I made my way back home, my thoughts still preoccupied with the explosion.
However, my journey was interrupted when I was stopped by the NCPD, who were locking down each district while they were investigating the cause of the explosion. The officer knocked on my car window and asked, “What business do you have in Westbrook, sir?”
I explained that I lived there and was in a hurry to get back home.
Noticing the condition of my car, the officer inquired about what happened. I hesitated for a moment, trying to come up with a plausible excuse. Eventually, I told the officer, "Oh, it was a street race that caused the damage. The other racers seemed to have formed a pact and went after me.”
There was a long pause before a different cop intervened: “Al! Hurry up; we don't have all night!”
"Sorry, sir, you can go now.”
I passed the badges and continued my journey back home for some much-needed rest. Outside my apartment complex, I parked my car, got out, and proceeded to make my way to the elevator. Inside the elevator were a man lighting a cigarette and a lady with her daughter. As the elevator began moving, the television screens switched to N54 news.
“We now turned our attention to the comments that Mayor Peralez has shared with the people of Night City.”
“Citizens of Night City, as you might have heard, there was an explosion in Watson that has caused people to believe that a sixth corpo war has started. But I can confirm that the explosion was nothing more than gang violence. Thanks to our brave officers in the NCPD, they can confirm that the explosions were in the hands of the gang calling themselves the Crimson Blades. Because of their actions, I have decided to place not just Watson but all of Night City into lockdown. The duration of the lockdown will be three weeks at a minimum. I have also taken the liberty of allowing NCPD officers to use higher-caliber weapons in order to combat these gangs. I will now accept any questions at a later date. Thank you.”
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The man with the cigarette in his finger comments on the mayor's comments, saying, “Ever since he became mayor, this city’s gone to sh*t."
The elevator stopped, letting the woman and her daughter exit to the left, leaving me with the man with the cigarette. The elevator stopped on my floor. I exited the elevator, got back in my apartment, and called Alejandro, asking him if he was responsible for the explosion.
Max: “Alejandro? What the fuck happened?”
Alejandro: “Max!? Did you know your friend Vincent has ordered bombs!?”
Max: "Firstly, he’s not my friend, and second, what do you mean he ordered bombs?”
Alejandro: “He ordered bombs that were taken by the Crimson Blades, and I was tasked to retrieve them, only for the bombs to have a timer, causing me to run away before they exploded.”
Max: “Where are you right now?”
Alejandro: “Currently in a motel, I can’t go home as the badges have locked down Watson.”
Max: "Well, just stay there for the time being. I'll call you in the morning.”
Alejandro: "Okay, stay safe, hermano.”
Call Ended
Knowing who was responsible for the massive explosion, I headed for some much-needed sleep. As I was getting undressed, I pulled out the business card that Karim had given me. On the card was his number and where I would find him. I decided to deal with that in the morning.
The next morning
The bright light from the sun slashed across my eyes, causing me to wake up. Getting out of bed, I immediately texted Alejandro and told him to stay in the motel and keep a low profile until the lockdown was lifted, as he wasn’t in the same district as me.
After texting Alejandro, I headed for the shower to freshen myself up. The warm water hitting my body was nice and relaxing; it almost made me fall asleep again. Finished with the shower, I dried myself off before getting dressed, putting on a red t-shirt, black pants, white shoes, and my favorite jacket.
As I put my jacket on, a business card fell out of the jacket pocket. Taking another look at the business card, it was the one that Karim gave me, so I decided to call the number.
Karim: “Hello! This is the number for Karim Hakim. I’m afraid Mr. Hakim is a very busy man and can't take your call at this moment. Please leave a message after the tone.”
I hung up the call, not wanting to leave a voice message. With all of Night City placed in lockdown, I couldn’t go anywhere, meaning I was stuck in Westbrook. Whether I liked it or not, I turned my attention to getting my car fixed, as I couldn’t drive around Night City with a broken windscreen as well as major bodywork damage. Thankfully, I knew a really good mechanic who could fix my car. I got in the car and headed for the mechanic.
Parking the car inside, I greeted the mechanic, “Hey Ryuji, I need you to fix my car.”
Ryuji began looking at the sheer amount of damage the car had taken. “You really did a number on the car, huh? It's not going to be cheap, and it will take a while to fix... I can fix it for $15,000.”
That was the news I wasn’t hoping for.
“Can you do 10,000?” I asked.
“Tell you what. I’ll do it for $12,000, and in return, you do me a favor. Sounds fair, right?”
"Sure, it gives me something to do while I wait. What do you need me to do?”