A/note: Since Jackie is a Spanish character, he mixes his English with some Spanish. Amiga means friend, but as in female friend. Madre means Mother in Spanish, Pendenjos means in Spanish: assholes, and finally mira means sight. Cabrones means in Spanish: Bastards. Suerte in Spanish means luck.

Japan Town. (A small area within Night City.)
June 11, 2:26 pm.

Patiently, I nearly zoned off to sleep. Watching the kidnappers schedule wasn't my favourite thing to do.

"You falling asleep already, amiga?" Jackie questioned, snapping me back to reality.

"Nope! I'm wide awake." I replied with a awkward chuckle. Jackie didn't buy my bullshit, but he did find it humorous. The underground lot was deserted, and quiet. We silently waited for someone to show up. The lot was deserted, no one was here besides us. That's what we thought.

I took my cigarette out off the Pepsi can, the Pepsi can that I'd use as an ashtray.

I took a deep drag of the cigarette and I'd wait.

The glow from the bud lit my icy eyes up in the vehicle. The smoke twisted into a spiral into the air, grey and blue. Like ribbons, it would cure my crave. I smiled to myself knowing I was glad I had company.

"The chick we're looking for is somewhere in this building." Jackie says, breaking the silence between the two of us.

"Purpleish-pink hair?" I questioned with a questionable look.

"Yep!" Jackie said with an encouraging smile.

"The place is probably crawling with the people who kidnapped those three girls, including your lil' buddy." Jackie added. He was right, no one has stepped outside the building or rolled into the lot.

"This'll be simple, eyes and ears open, Jackie."

"You know I will, Ronin. Speakin' of which, you aren't exactly trained for this, but you do have some experience, just follow my lead and you'll be alright. So, I got you a lil' somethin'." He finished then passed me a microchip. I took it out of his open palm and examined it.

"It's a Militech training card, case, uh, you need to brush off your dance moves." Jackie jokes reminding me what happen last time at a club. The last time, there was a man who spit on Jackie's girlfriend for no reason and he thought he could get away by moving through the crowds.

Oh boy the dance floor was cleared when I lost that one tooth! That was the last time I'd ever see that man spit on women.

"Thanks." I replied to Jackie. I placed it into my arm, allowing my system to scan it.

"Down for some target practice?" Jackie questioned, seeing a man walk into the parking lot and towards the piece of shit that was an elevator.

I didn't take my eyes off where the man was heading.

"You know I'll never say no to a lil' target practice, Jackie." I replied with a casual voice.

"Add'a girl, lets go see where he's wandering. If we get caught then we'll fight through it." I widened my eyes at Jackie's plan. That was strategic! Not to mention risky, we are unsure what the numbers and the odds are.

"How 'bout we follow him, listen in, take them out silently? And if we have to use force then we will." I suggested. I was making an attempt to convince Jackie. He wasn't easy to convince, but he was always open for options and opinions.

"Sounds reasonable, I love how we're breaking every law in the book, especially with trespassing." Jackie chuckled. A bubbly feeling rises up through my gut to my chest, his response made me even laugh.

"Oh well, they just gotta keep on adding more to the book." I replied, checking the clip of my gun. 

Twenty rounds...

Should of brought more...

"Ready to go?" Jackie questioned. I took a deep drag of my cigarette and then nodded. I exhaled a cloud of smoke and exited the car. I dropped the cigarette and crushed it under the sole of my boot.

"Lets do this." I commented.

Jackie took the lead and hurried over to the brighter side of the underground parking lot. It was sketchy to be at a place like this. Goosebumps scattered across my skin when I smelled a deep stench of gasoline, and copper.

"Elevator's this way." Jackie mumbled, loud enough for me to hear. I trailed onto Jackie's heels and followed him into the elevator.

I looked down at the blue pad for floors, I clicked the digital icon that said apartments.

"Breanne Sullivan's biomon went mute. Suspect's abduction must of been a couple of hours ago." I estimated. The elevator went slowly ascended up. The light over our head was consciously flickering each time it went past a floor. The elevation wasn't too fast either.

An anonymous call came in. I swiped the blue screen that came up.

"Hey Ronin, Miss Sullivan has probably flat-lined." I furrowed my brows when she said that.

"Who is this?" I questioned. I kept a confused expression on my face, while I waited for a crystal clear answer.

"Oh, that's T-bug. She works for Dexter and is accompanying us on our mission."

"Shit, I hope she ain't gonna be squawking the entire time." I grumbled under my breath.

"You know I can hear you?" T-bug said sarcastically.

I cringed when she responded, I knew that her and I weren't even close to friends now...

"Sorry..." I mumbled.

"Sorry ain't going to fix that bitch mood of yours. I am sure you two are already out of time for rescuing Miss Sullivan." She said in a sarcastic tone. Heat rose from my gut to my chest, my stomach started to twist, and my palms started to sweat. My eye twitched in aggravation. I inhaled deeply, and exhaled. I tried to get rid of the anger, I needed the demon for later. I wasn't going to waste it on her.

"We're in time, Bug- we. Sure, you're on' phones, but that doesn't make you less apart of this squad." Jackie joined the chat.

"'Squad' charming." She commented in a sarcastic tone.

"Bug, could at least try to be nice..." I commented in a calmer tone.

"You want: nice and supportive? Hah! Call a damn Helpline, Ronin! You're the exact person who's gonna need it." T-bug replied back to me. My stomach twisted even more, my muscles and biceps shook. Not even seven minutes into this mission and she's insulting me.

My teeth clenched, and I growled in aggravation "You should at least be glad you're on the other line, than in front of me, T-bug. Otherwise you wouldn't of chosen those words."

"Is that a threat?" T-bug questioned in disgust.

"Ronin, please." Jackie begged for me to quiet down.

"Fuck'n rights it was." I replied to T-bug. It was silent for a moment. Instead of T-bug logging off she stayed. I heard a slow laugh on her line.

"You got me there, Ronin. Remember I'm your Fuck'n parasite on this mission. Anything you do to me after this mission, will be given back to you ten times as bad by Dex." She taunted me, I just shut my mouth and remembered I had a mission.

The doors rattled slowly open, the light over our heads finally died out. The hallway had one dim light on. The halls of the apartment was long and narrow. The wallpaper was ripped up, graffiti all over the walls...

Chills crawled up my spine. The two of us exited the elevator.

"Twelve thirty-seven. Target should be inside, but I have no eyes on her biomon. Fingers crossed that it isn't too late. Ugh, hate this life or death shit, now hurry." T-bug said in a worried and annoyed voice. Jackie and I made it down to the end of the hallway where three doors were. Two on the opposite sides from each other, left and right. And of coarse one at the end of the hall. Jackie guided his fingers across the right wall, his eyes searched for Twelve thirty-seven.

He finally found the apartment that she's located in and the other two women that were kidnapped earlier. Some people started to exit their apartments to see what was happening. I shooed one women back into her apartment. Hoping I wasn't disrespectful to the ol' women.

"Try Hackin' into the door. Can you do that, Ronin?" T-bug questioned with a disgusted tone.

"Sure..." I replied. Jackie stood behind me as a red flash appeared onto my vision.

Hacking...

35%...

69%...

74%...

88%...

95%...

99%...

100%!

Bi-passed! The AI reflected off in my mind. The door automatically opened. Jackie kept his gun on my shoulder, giving himself easy balance to not miss if someone pops out.

"Low profile..." Jackie whispered and then went in front of me. The place had a bunch of metal shelves that was cluttered with tools, boxes, and other things. A small corner counter and kitchen area was built in on the far right corner. Small kitchen table sat in the middle of the kitchen. I crouched down and kept my finger close to the trigger. I slowly crept into the apartment.

"Mama attack coming in hot." I joked to myself.

We crept around the corner seeing workbenches with missing tools... The saws on the walls were scattered with a rust colour of iron.

There was a second door. The frame of the door glowed blue as we both slowly walked towards it. We stood around the corner and listened carefully for any movement or for any sounds.

Nothing...

"I'll go first, amiga. I don't want my best girl's face to be blown off by a shotgun."

"Jackie you know that wouldn't happen-"

"Well it might." Jackie joked and went first into the room. The room was small and decently clean, until I saw the small area of blood... My stomach twisted, it reminded me of the blood splatter on my face that one day...

I shook my head.

"Fuck'n idiote, get that out of your head." I mumbled to myself, harshly. The small room looked like a dentist office or a medical room. A leather chair sat there with a massive medical light that was off. Then my eyes travelled over to the dimly lit area. Small rays of light peeked through the open shades on the window. Small buzzes got louder as I approached a table. My blood ran cold when my eyes spotted a tarp over something that was shaped as a bodies.

Jackie let out  a small gasp. A sprinkles of blood was scattered on the tarp. Flies buzzed near the tarp. Something was telling me I shouldn't lift the tarp, even for how much blood was on the floor. A tray of instruments were coated in a rust colour. I gagged when the smell got stronger and stronger. 

A low growl escaped Jackie's throat, "No! Argh! Are we fuck'n late? Is that her? Is that our target, Ronin?!" Jackie panicked with a furious tone that shook throughout his vocals.

My icy eyes shifted over to the tarp, my stomach sank. My heart twisted, I hoped that this wasn't Breanne...

I scanned her for any sign of life. My hand hovered over her body, with an existing and translucent, blue light that scanned her. 

"Breanne Sullivan is protected by corpo immunity. Whatever reason they're here must be classified as something." I replied to Jackie. Now was for the moment of truth.

I slowly lifted the top of the tarp. It revealed a women in her later thirties, military cut hair. I checked for a pulse, nothing...

Not a single heart beat...

"Her lips are a sign that she's been gone for days. You can see the blue around her lips? Then that indicates that there hasn't be any oxygen given to her for days." Jackie sighed deeply. I gently closed her eyelids and placed the tarp back over her.

My heart sank into my stomach. I hated seeing a life disappear, she didn't deserve this... Hypothetically imagine yourself sitting on the couch in your place, then ending up here. This wasn't business to these women, it was personal. We have to find out why. 

I sighed deeply before replying to Jackie, "I hope we can give her a proper burial."

"And we will." Jackie said in a comforting voice.

"But first we have some karma to deliver. I remember I once told my Mandre when she asked me what I'd want to be when I grew up. I answered: 'karma deliveryman'." Jackie joked, brightening the sad mood. I chuckled at the joke.

"I gotta ask her 'bout that later, we should get moving." I replied to Jackie.

"Alright." he replied.

"One more thing. This girl's packin' zetatech parts, typical back-alley fix ups. Not our lucky gal, lets keep movin'." I commented to Jackie. He corner covered around the nearest door, pistol ready, with a twitchy finger.

"Ronin, mira. Eyes up, pendejos ahead." Jackie whispered when I slowly opened the door.

"Drop him quiet, Ronin." Jackie added with a low whisper.

I opened the door revealing a decently empty room with concrete walls and a concrete floor. Small amounts of dusted light shone through the blinds of a singular window. The room had a couple of counters with a built in sink, ones that people would use in labs.

Plastic rap hung from the ceiling making a translucent door way to another area. My heart pounded against my chest. With stealth I rushed behind a counter, the one closest to the man I have to take out. The man was shirtless, decently built, African American. He had a large tattoo on his back that read 'Avenge.'

A simple bullet would do the trick...

No, that would be too loud...I have to take him out silently. I hopped the counter and wrapped my elbow around his neck and slowly dragged him down when he started to struggle. He thrashed around, slowly the thrashing slowed down and came to a halt when he was gasping for air. Soon enough he was out cold.

I had to hide the body somewhere. My head darted around the room, I spotted a freezer that was next to the science lab counter. I shoved the body into the freezer. Cold exhausted dusted into the air. Goosebumps crawled onto my skin, when I closed the container. 

"Nice, I couldn't of done that any better without making a sound." Jackie complimented me. I smiled and gave him a proud nod.

We quickly walked through the next door that was near the freezer. It was a small concrete area, usual vandalism and translucent plastic wrap on the doors. On the walls, pushed up against the wall was a bunch of lockers and a couple of vending machines. The lights were dim, so we had to stay on alert.

"V, more bodies incoming, stay on your toes, they're onto you." T-bug whispered in her communicator, warning me ahead of time. Jackie gracefully and as stealthy as he could corner covered.

"Hurry up! Fist fuck those reapers." Jackie whisper/yelled. 

"One chic is getting scavenged at the clinic downtown." One man commented, striking small conversation to the other. Their backs were to us, we had to do this quietly.

"Wait for your chance, Ronin." Jackie whispered across from me.

I gave him a simple nod and exhaled deeply. 

"Oye, Ronin! They're coming! Hurry up!" Jackie pressured me even more. My heart relentlessly never stopped beating that fast.

This was now or never! Hunt or get shot. Predator and prey.