## Chapter 1 – We Have a Problem
Afterlife never truly slept.
Even in the middle of the afternoon the legendary mercenary bar breathed with its own rhythm. Conversations mixed with quiet laughter, glasses clinked against polished wood, fixers negotiated jobs in hushed voices, and somewhere in the corner someone was already celebrating a contract that had barely begun.
Something, however, felt...
...off.
People kept glancing toward the entrance.
Not nervously.
Cautiously.
An older solo noticed it first and quietly moved his chair a little farther away from the center aisle.
A second mercenary did the same.
Then another.
Nobody said why.
Nobody had to.
Rumors traveled through Night City faster than bullets.
Today's rumor was surprisingly simple.
**Ace was in a terrible mood.**
Nobody knew why.
Nobody had asked.
Nobody intended to.
Even Rogue had merely raised one eyebrow when she heard it.
Three unfamiliar mercenaries entered the bar, confidence dripping from every movement.
Young.
Expensive chrome.
Louder than necessary.
Exactly the sort of confidence that had not yet been tested by reality.
"...So this is Afterlife."
"I expected something bigger."
One of them laughed.
"The famous Triad hangs around here?"
"That's what they say."
"They're probably overrated."
Several veterans quietly looked away.
One bartender casually stepped back behind the counter.
Nobody interrupted.
Experience had taught everyone the same lesson.
Sometimes...
the fastest way to end a problem...
...was to let it create itself.
The front door opened.
Ace stepped inside first.
Uneven black hair, violet highlights.
Twin swords resting comfortably across her back.
Her expression wasn't cold.
It wasn't angry.
It was...
dangerously irritated.
Mai followed beside her, calm as always, tablet tucked beneath one arm.
Shammy entered last, smiling gently at the bartender before quietly closing the door behind her.
The room became just a little quieter.
Not silent.
Just...
aware.
The three young mercenaries exchanged amused looks.
"There she is."
One stepped directly into Ace's path.
"...You're Ace?"
Ace looked at him.
"...Yes."
The young mercenary smirked.
"Huh."
"I thought you'd be taller."
Ace said nothing.
She simply looked past him.
"...Move."
Instead, a second mercenary stepped closer.
"We've heard a lot about Triad."
"Not impressed so far."
The third folded his arms.
"You know..."
"...legends usually disappoint."
For one brief second...
nothing happened.
Ace slowly turned her head.
Not toward the mercenaries.
Toward Mai.
Mai met her eyes.
She had already assessed everything.
Weapons.
Distance.
Threat level.
Collateral.
A barely noticeable nod.
Permission.
Ace then looked toward Rogue.
Rogue hadn't even put down her glass.
She calmly watched the three idiots standing exactly where nobody with common sense ever stood.
Her eyes met Ace's.
A tiny sigh.
An almost invisible nod.
Your bar.
Your rules.
Ace nodded once.
"...Okay."
The next ten seconds became educational.
The first mercenary threw the opening punch.
Ace stepped half a pace sideways.
His own momentum carried him face-first into the polished floor.
Before anyone could process what happened, Ace's elbow found the second man's solar plexus.
Air disappeared from his lungs.
He folded silently.
The third actually managed to draw his pistol.
He never managed to aim it.
Ace caught his wrist.
A short rotation.
A controlled Krav Maga disarm.
The weapon clattered harmlessly across the floor.
A precise strike behind the knee.
A second to the shoulder.
The young mercenary collapsed beside his friends, staring at the ceiling while trying to remember how breathing worked.
Ten seconds.
Perhaps less.
Ace calmly adjusted one glove.
"...Now."
"...move."
Nobody answered.
Because nobody could.
Only then did Afterlife Security begin moving.
Without hurry.
Without panic.
This wasn't an emergency.
It was housekeeping.
Two security guards approached almost lazily.
One grabbed a mercenary by the ankles.
The second took another beneath the shoulders.
The third unfortunate soul was dragged after them with practiced efficiency.
As they disappeared toward the exit, one of the young mercenaries groaned weakly.
"...Wh..."
"...what..."
"...what was that...?"
The older security guard didn't even slow down.
"...Experience."
He continued dragging the unconscious mercenary outside.
The door closed.
Afterlife immediately resumed exactly where it had left off.
Someone laughed.
Another ordered another drink.
A card game continued as if nothing unusual had happened.
Because...
for Afterlife...
nothing unusual had happened.
Ace walked toward Rogue's booth.
Her expression had already changed.
The irritation...
gone.
She sat down.
Rogue silently pushed a fresh cup of coffee across the table.
Ace accepted it.
"...Thanks."
She took one sip.
Rogue watched her for a moment.
"...Feel better?"
Ace considered the question.
"...Yeah."
"...Sorry."
Rogue shrugged.
"They earned it."
"Fair."
That was the end of the subject.
No further discussion.
No celebration.
No lecture.
Just another afternoon in Afterlife.
Rogue reached beneath the table and placed a data tablet in front of the three women.
"...Now."
She tapped the screen.
"We have a problem."
The display lit up.
Bright colors.
Energetic music.
An impossibly cheerful young woman practically bounced into frame.
"**HELLO EVERYBODY!!**"
"**WELCOME BACK TO BRENDA BOOM PRESENTS!!**"
Ace slowly lowered her coffee cup.
One eyebrow rose.
"...What."
---
## Chapter 2 – Brenda Boom Presents
The cheerful woman on the screen beamed at the camera as though she were hosting a cooking show instead of standing inside an abandoned warehouse.
"Today's episode is going to be AMAZING!"
She pointed enthusiastically behind herself.
Several carefully placed explosive charges decorated concrete support columns.
"They said this place was unsafe..."
She grinned.
"...so we're going to help!"
Ace watched without saying a word.
Mai had already opened another window on her tablet.
Shammy simply observed.
The countdown began.
"Five!"
"Four!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
Brenda pressed the detonator.
The explosion rolled through the warehouse with a deep, controlled thunder.
Concrete folded exactly where intended.
Steel supports failed in perfect sequence.
The roof collapsed inward.
Dust climbed into the sky.
Nothing spread beyond the structure.
Not one neighboring building moved.
Silence filled Rogue's booth.
Brenda's excited voice continued through the speakers.
"WOOOOOO!!"
"LOOK AT THAT!!"
"THAT WAS PERFECT!"
She practically bounced in front of the camera.
"I LOVE THIS JOB!!"
Ace was still watching the replay.
"...Again."
Mai restarted the final twenty seconds.
Then again.
And again.
Nobody spoke.
Finally Mai paused the image.
She enlarged one corner.
Then another.
Distance markers.
Support angles.
Charge placement.
Her eyebrows rose almost imperceptibly.
"...No chrome."
Rogue nodded.
"No cyberware."
Mai zoomed further.
"No remote assistance."
"No drones."
"No targeting software."
"..."
"...she calculated all of this herself."
Ace leaned back.
"...She didn't miss."
Mai shook her head.
"No."
"She couldn't afford to."
"If any of those charges had been even slightly wrong..."
She didn't finish the sentence.
She didn't have to.
Ace looked back at the frozen image of the smiling young woman.
"...How many videos?"
Rogue answered immediately.
"Fifteen so far."
"No casualties."
"No civilian injuries."
"Millions in property damage."
"Every single target abandoned."
Shammy spoke for the first time.
"...She smiles before every explosion."
Rogue looked at her.
"...Yes."
Shammy kept watching Brenda.
"...Not because she enjoys destruction."
"..."
"...She enjoys getting it right."
Another quiet moment settled over the booth.
Ace folded her arms.
"...She's good. Very good."
Mai nodded once.
"...Yes."
Rogue took another sip of whiskey.
"...Which is exactly why we have a problem."
She tapped the screen again.
A city map appeared.
Fifteen explosions.
Fifteen locations.
A perfect pattern slowly emerged.
Mai's eyes narrowed.
"...Pacifica."
Rogue smiled.
"You noticed."
"The sixteenth stream."
She looked at Ace.
"...starts in forty-five minutes."
Ace stood up.
"...Let's go meet our problem."
Shammy smiled softly.
"...Or maybe..."
"...our solution."
---
**Chapter 3 – On the Move**
The elevator doors closed behind them.
For several seconds...
nobody spoke.
Ace finished the last of her coffee before casually dropping the empty cup into a recycling bin.
"...Interesting."
Mai glanced sideways.
"The demolition expert?"
Ace nodded.
"No chrome."
"No automation."
"No drones."
"...That's rare."
"...Very."
Shammy smiled faintly.
"...She looked happy."
Ace looked at her.
"You noticed that too."
Shammy nodded.
"...People don't fake smiles like that."
The three women stepped into the parking garage beneath Afterlife.
Mai unlocked the Quadra.
The familiar engine came alive with a low growl.
Ace settled into the passenger seat.
Shammy climbed into the back.
For several minutes...
only the city spoke.
Night City rushed past the windows in streaks of neon and concrete.
Mai finally broke the silence.
"...Forty-five minutes."
Ace checked the clock.
"...Less now."
"Assuming she keeps her schedule."
Shammy looked out the window.
"...Do you think she'll run?"
Ace considered it.
"...No."
"Why?"
"...Professionals don't abandon their work."
Mai nodded.
"...Neither do artists."
Ace smiled very slightly.
"...Maybe she's both."
The dashboard chimed.
**LIVE NOTIFICATION**
**BRENDA BOOM PRESENTS**
Mai tapped the display.
The stream immediately filled the center screen.
A young woman burst into view with enough energy to power half of Watson.
"HELLO EVERYBODY!!"
"WELCOME BACK TO BRENDA BOOM PRESENTS!!"
Ace instinctively turned the volume down one notch.
"...She's loud."
"...Very loud."
Brenda continued without taking a single breath.
"I'M SO EXCITED!"
"TODAY'S LOCATION IS..."
She dramatically covered the camera lens.
"...SECRET!"
The chat immediately exploded.
**WHERE ARE YOU**
**SHOW US**
**PACIFICA AGAIN??**
Brenda laughed.
"No hints!"
"You'll see soon enough!"
She spun around once.
The camera briefly pointed away from her face.
Only for a second.
A rusted warehouse.
Broken concrete.
Collapsed fencing.
Then she immediately pointed the camera back at herself.
"There!"
"That's all you're getting!"
Mai paused the video.
"...Back."
She replayed the one-second glimpse.
Again.
Again.
"...Too short."
The holo-phone rang.
Ace looked at the caller ID.
"...Marco."
She answered immediately.
"Go ahead."
Marco didn't waste a second.
> "Ace."
> "I know where she is."
Ace and Mai exchanged a glance.
"...Talk."
Marco sounded almost amused.
> "She just showed the loading bay."
> "Old Kiroshi subcontractor warehouse."
> "Eastern Pacifica."
Lena's voice appeared in the background.
> "North entrance."
> "South side collapsed years ago."
Marco continued.
> "If you're trying to catch her..."
> "...that's where I'd start."
Mai was already overlaying the location onto Rogue's demolition map.
A green confirmation appeared instantly.
"...Confirmed."
Ace smiled.
"...Thanks."
Marco laughed.
> "Coffee."
Ace smirked.
"...You're buying."
Marco snorted.
> "Dream on."
The call ended.
Mai accelerated.
The Quadra surged forward.
Outside...
Night City rushed toward Pacifica.
Inside...
Brenda continued happily chatting with thousands of viewers.
Completely unaware...
...that three of Night City's most deadliest women were already on their way.
---
## Chapter 4 – Stream Sixteen
The Quadra rolled silently to a stop two blocks away.
Mai switched off the engine.
Nobody moved.
Ahead of them, the abandoned warehouse stood exactly where Marco had promised it would.
Its concrete walls were scarred by decades of neglect.
Broken windows stared back like empty eyes.
On the dashboard...
Brenda's livestream continued.
"...okay chat!"
"Final equipment check!"
She enthusiastically walked from charge to charge.
Every explosive was already in place.
She knelt beside one.
Checked the timer.
Measured the distance to the supporting column one last time.
Adjusted it...
...by less than a centimeter.
Mai noticed immediately.
"...She recalculates until the last second."
Ace watched quietly.
"...Confidence."
Mai shook her head.
"...No."
"...Precision."
Shammy smiled softly.
"...She talks the whole time."
"..."
"...but she never stops thinking."
Nobody got out of the car.
Nobody interrupted.
They simply watched.
Brenda finished her final inspection.
She clapped her hands together.
"Perfect!"
She looked into the camera.
"Okay chat!"
"You know the rules!"
"If anything looks unsafe..."
"..."
"...WE DON'T PUSH THE BUTTON!"
Thousands of laughing emotes filled the chat.
Brenda grinned.
"Safety first!"
She walked toward the remote detonator.
Took one more look at the building.
Not excited.
Focused.
Professional.
Ace noticed the change instantly.
"...There."
Mai nodded.
"...Different person."
For the first time since the stream had begun...
Brenda stopped talking.
She studied the structure in complete silence.
Wind moved gently through the broken windows.
Dust drifted across the cracked concrete.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Then...
Brenda smiled.
Satisfied.
She raised the detonator.
"Everybody ready?"
The chat exploded.
**DO IT**
**BOOM TIME**
**SEND IT**
Brenda laughed.
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
The detonation rolled through the district like distant thunder.
The warehouse collapsed exactly as planned.
The outer walls folded inward.
The roof disappeared into its own footprint.
Not a single neighboring structure moved.
Dust climbed into the afternoon sky.
Nothing else.
Brenda stared for a second.
Then she threw both fists into the air.
"YES!!"
"THAT WAS PERFECT!"
"I LOVE THIS!"
Inside the Quadra...
nobody said anything.
Mai quietly closed the structural analysis running on her tablet.
"...Perfect."
Ace opened the passenger door.
"...Now..."
"...let's go meet Brenda."
---
## Chapter 5 – Chat, Be Cool
Dust rolled across the cracked street in a slow gray wave.
Brenda stood in front of it like a conductor who had just heard an orchestra land the final note exactly right.
"Did you SEE that?!"
She spun toward the camera drone.
"Chat, did you SEE that collapse line?!"
The chat was already moving too fast to read.
**PERFECT**
**NO SPLASH**
**IT FOLDED**
**TAB TAB TAB**
Brenda bounced once on the balls of her feet.
"Exactly!"
"Exactly!"
"It folded inward!"
"That is what I have been saying for weeks!"
She pointed both hands toward the flattened warehouse behind her.
"People always think explosions are just chaos, but they're NOT!"
"They're timing!"
"They're pressure!"
"They're structure!"
"They're—"
She stopped.
Her eyes shifted past the camera.
The smile remained for half a second longer than the thought behind it.
Then vanished.
The chat noticed instantly.
**BRENDA?**
**WHAT**
**WHAT'S WRONG**
**RUN?**
Brenda didn't run.
She stared.
Through the settling dust, three women walked toward her.
Ace came first.
Small.
Black hair uneven around her face, violet highlights catching the Pacifica light.
Twin swords across her back.
Calm now.
Not irritated.
Not threatening.
Just present.
Mai walked beside her, silver hair moving lightly in the breeze, eyes already measuring everything Brenda had built and everything she had not said.
Shammy followed half a step behind them, tall enough that the dust seemed to part around her out of courtesy.
Brenda's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Ace glanced at Mai.
"...Is she breathing?"
Shammy smiled.
"...Barely."
Brenda lifted one hand very slowly and pointed at Mai.
Her voice became a whisper.
"...Chat."
The chat exploded.
**WHAT**
**WHAT DO YOU SEE**
**CAMERA TURN CAMERA TURN**
Brenda swallowed.
"...Chat."
"..."
"..."
"...that's Mai."
For one terrible second, the entire stream became unreadable.
Then the chat broke.
**NO WAY**
**WHAT**
**MAI???**
**TRIAD??**
**TURN THE CAMERA**
**TURN THE CAMERA**
Brenda turned the camera.
The drone rotated just enough to catch all three women standing in the dust.
The chat lost its mind.
Brenda lost hers faster.
"...That's actually Mai."
Mai tilted her head.
"...Yes."
Brenda's hands flew to her mouth.
"Oh my God."
Ace looked at the camera drone.
Then at Brenda.
"...You are still live."
Brenda blinked.
"..."
"..."
"...OH MY GOD I'M STILL LIVE."
She spun toward the drone with both hands raised.
"CHAT!"
"Everyone stay calm!"
The chat did not stay calm.
**ACE**
**ACE IS SHORTER THAN I THOUGHT**
**SHAMMY IS HUGE**
**MAI LOOKS EXPENSIVE**
**BRENDA DON'T DIE**
Brenda jabbed a finger toward the drone.
"Nobody dies on this channel!"
A beat.
"...Usually!"
Mai's eyebrow moved.
Ace closed her eyes for one second.
Shammy laughed softly.
Brenda's face turned bright red.
"I mean—"
"No!"
"That came out wrong!"
"I am very safety-conscious!"
Ace looked at the flattened warehouse.
"...Clearly."
Brenda lit up.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"..."
"...You watched?"
Ace nodded.
Brenda took one step backward as if the compliment had physical force.
"..."
"...Triad watched my stream."
Mai spoke calmly.
"We watched stream fifteen."
Brenda made a small sound.
Not quite a word.
Not quite a squeak.
Then she pointed at Mai again.
"You watched my work?"
"Yes."
"..."
"...Did you like it?"
Mai looked past her at the collapsed building.
The dust was thinning now.
The warehouse had fallen almost entirely into its own footprint.
No secondary collapse.
No street damage.
No civilian structures affected.
Mai turned back to Brenda.
"...It was precise."
Brenda froze.
Ace stared at Mai.
Shammy's smile warmed.
Brenda whispered, very carefully, as if the sentence might break if handled roughly.
"...Mai said my work was precise."
The chat became religious.
**SHE SAID PRECISE**
**BRENDA ASCENDED**
**CLIP IT**
**CLIP IT**
**CLIP IT**
Brenda suddenly remembered herself again.
She lunged toward the drone.
"NO CLIPPING THAT!"
"That was private!"
The chat continued clipping it.
Ace leaned slightly toward Shammy.
"...She knows she's live, right?"
Shammy nodded.
"...In theory."
Brenda slapped one button on her wrist-mounted controller.
The stream image flickered.
"Okay chat!"
"This has been Brenda Boom Presents!"
"I am going to have a completely normal conversation with Triad now!"
"Like a professional!"
"Because I am very normal!"
Ace muttered, "...Unclear."
Brenda pointed at her.
"I heard that!"
Then she looked horrified.
"...I just pointed at Ace."
Ace raised one eyebrow.
"Yes."
"...Sorry."
"Don't be."
Brenda stared at her.
"...Okay."
She turned back to the drone.
"BYE CHAT!"
"REMEMBER—"
"IF ANYTHING LOOKS UNSAFE—"
She stopped, glanced at Mai, and visibly recalculated the rest of the sentence.
"...ask someone with better judgment!"
Mai almost smiled.
The stream cut.
The sudden silence felt enormous.
For the first time since Triad had arrived, Brenda had no audience.
No chat.
No camera voice.
No performance to bounce against.
She stood very still for perhaps two seconds.
Then all the words came back at once.
"Hi."
"I'm Brenda."
"Obviously."
"I mean you know that."
"Unless you don't."
"But you do."
"Because you watched stream fifteen."
"Which was good."
"Not my best."
"Actually today's might have been better."
"Maybe."
"I'd need to review the footage."
She looked at Mai again and immediately lost the thread.
"...You're really Mai."
Mai's expression softened by a fraction.
"...I am."
Brenda pressed both hands against her own cheeks.
"...Wow."
Ace looked around the demolition site.
"Brenda."
"Yes!"
"We need to talk."
Brenda nodded rapidly.
"Absolutely."
"Totally."
"Talking is good."
"I can talk."
Ace glanced at Shammy.
Shammy's eyes brightened with amusement.
Ace looked back at Brenda.
"...We noticed."
Brenda winced.
"...Right."
Mai held up the grease-stained field notebook Brenda had apparently dropped sometime during the fan crisis.
Brenda gasped.
"My notes!"
Mai offered it back.
"I would like to discuss them."
Brenda stared at the notebook.
Then at Mai.
Then at the notebook again.
"..."
"...You want to discuss my notes."
"Yes."
Brenda looked like someone had just handed her the sun and asked whether she had plans for it.
"..."
"...Okay."
Ace pointed toward the street.
"Not here."
Brenda blinked.
"Where?"
Ace looked at Mai.
Mai looked at Shammy.
Shammy smiled gently.
Ace sighed.
"...Afterlife."
Brenda's eyes went impossibly wide.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...AFTERLIFE?"
Ace frowned slightly.
"...You know the place?"
Brenda made another small sound.
"Do I know the place?"
She spun once in place, as if her body needed to physically survive the concept.
"Chat is going to—"
She stopped.
Remembered the stream was off.
Then she looked at the three women again.
"..."
"...I'm going to Afterlife with Triad."
Ace nodded.
"Yes."
Brenda took one deep breath.
Then another.
Then a third.
"...Okay."
"..."
"...I can be normal."
Mai's mouth twitched.
Shammy's smile became openly fond.
Ace turned toward the Quadra.
"...Let's test that."
---
## Chapter 6 – Off Camera
Brenda managed three whole steps toward the Quadra before stopping.
"...Wait."
Ace looked back.
Brenda pointed at the flattened warehouse.
"I should clean up."
Mai glanced toward the collapsed structure.
"The site is stable."
"Yes, but..."
Brenda hesitated.
"...I usually do a final walkaround."
Ace studied her.
Not the excitement.
Not the noise.
The habit beneath it.
"...Safety check?"
Brenda nodded quickly.
"Yes."
"Always."
Ace looked at Mai.
Mai looked at the site once more, then nodded.
"Two minutes."
Brenda's entire face lit up.
"Thank you!"
She sprinted toward the edge of the demolition zone.
Then immediately stopped herself.
Turned around.
Walked instead.
Very deliberately.
Very professionally.
Ace watched her go.
"...She remembered we were watching."
Shammy smiled.
"...No."
"...She remembered the building was."
Brenda moved around the perimeter with surprising quiet.
The same woman who had been shouting into a camera moments ago now checked the fallen concrete like a surgeon checking stitches.
No theatrics.
No bouncing.
No audience.
Just eyes.
Judgment.
Responsibility.
Mai watched carefully.
"...She really does do this every time."
Ace nodded.
"...Good."
Brenda returned carrying a small field bag and the grease-stained notebook pressed against her chest.
"Okay."
"All safe."
"Nothing unstable."
"No secondary movement."
She caught herself.
"...Sorry."
"Talking."
Mai opened the rear door.
"Useful talking."
Brenda froze.
"..."
"...Okay."
She climbed into the back seat beside Shammy like someone entering sacred ground.
Ace took the passenger seat.
Mai slid behind the wheel.
The doors closed.
For one brief moment, Brenda looked around the interior of the Quadra.
Then she whispered, almost reverently,
"...I'm in Triad's car."
Ace fastened her seatbelt.
"...It's Mai's car."
Brenda gasped softly.
"...I'm in Mai's car."
Mai started the engine.
"Seatbelt."
Brenda fumbled with it so quickly she almost clipped it into the wrong buckle.
"Yes."
"Absolutely."
"Seatbelt."
"Very important."
"Safety first."
Ace glanced back.
"Are you always like this?"
Brenda opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Thought about lying.
Failed.
"...Mostly."
Shammy laughed gently.
"That's honest."
Brenda looked at her.
"...You're Shammy."
"Yes."
"...You're taller in person."
Ace muttered, "Everyone is taller than me in person."
Brenda's eyes widened in instant horror.
"I didn't mean—"
Ace raised one hand.
"I know."
"...Okay."
Brenda sat very still for almost five seconds.
Then she leaned forward between the seats.
"...Am I in trouble?"
The question landed differently than everything before it.
Less performance.
Less speed.
More truth.
Ace looked at Mai.
Mai kept her eyes on the road.
"...A little."
Brenda sank backward.
"Oh."
Ace turned slightly in her seat.
"Not because you wanted to hurt anyone."
Brenda looked up.
"I didn't."
"We know."
"I really didn't."
"We know."
Mai took the turn out of Pacifica, the Quadra sliding smoothly onto a wider road.
"Every target was abandoned."
"Yes."
"No casualties."
"None."
"No civilian structures damaged."
"Never."
"You checked routes, distance, weather, structural decay, foot traffic, line of sight and collapse radius."
Brenda blinked.
"...Yes."
Mai's voice remained calm.
"That is why we are talking."
Brenda frowned.
"...Because I was careful?"
Ace nodded.
"Because you're the only reason this hasn't become worse."
Silence.
That sentence reached her.
Slowly.
Brenda looked down at her notebook.
"...Oh."
Shammy spoke softly.
"You see the building very clearly."
Brenda looked at her.
"But?"
Shammy's smile was kind.
"...Not always the people watching you."
Brenda's fingers tightened around the notebook.
The Quadra moved through Night City traffic.
Neon slid across the windows.
Somewhere far behind them, dust continued settling over an old warehouse that would never hurt anyone again.
Brenda swallowed.
"...Copycats."
Mai nodded once.
"Eventually."
"...People who think the explosion is the point."
Ace added, "People who won't do the math."
Brenda looked genuinely offended.
"...That's horrible."
Ace's mouth twitched.
"Yes."
"No, I mean..."
Brenda leaned forward again, suddenly intense.
"You can't just push a button because something going boom looks cool."
"That's stupid."
"That's how people die."
"That's not art."
"That's not engineering."
"That's not even good television."
Mai glanced at her through the mirror.
"...Exactly."
Brenda stopped.
Her own words caught up with her.
She sat back.
"...Oh."
Ace turned forward again.
"There it is."
Brenda stared at the notebook in her lap.
For the first time since they had met her, she did not fill the silence.
Shammy let the quiet remain.
Mai drove.
Ace watched the road.
After nearly a minute, Brenda spoke again.
Much quieter.
"...I only wanted people to see it."
Mai asked, "See what?"
Brenda looked out the window.
"The moment it works."
"..."
"When everything that looked impossible suddenly makes sense."
"..."
"When the whole structure listens."
Ace didn't answer immediately.
Neither did Mai.
Shammy smiled faintly.
"...That's beautiful."
Brenda looked at her quickly.
"...You think so?"
"Yes."
Brenda's shoulders lowered.
Just slightly.
Then Ace said,
"Beautiful things still need boundaries."
Brenda nodded.
This time, not quickly.
"...Yeah."
The Quadra turned toward Watson.
Afterlife's entrance appeared ahead.
Brenda noticed.
Her entire body went rigid again.
"..."
"...That's Afterlife."
Ace opened her door as the car stopped.
"Yes."
Brenda stared at the building.
"...Rogue is inside."
Mai stepped out.
"Usually."
Brenda's voice became very small.
"...Is she mad?"
Ace considered it.
Then she smiled.
"Curious."
Brenda looked at her.
"...Is that better?"
Shammy opened the rear door and offered her a hand.
"...With Rogue?"
She smiled.
"...Sometimes."
Brenda took the hand and stepped out of the car.
For once, she did not bounce.
She stood on the sidewalk with her notebook pressed to her chest, staring at the entrance to the most famous mercenary bar in Night City.
No camera.
No chat.
No music.
Just the door.
Ace walked ahead.
Mai followed.
Shammy stayed beside Brenda.
After a second, Brenda whispered,
"...I can be normal."
Ace didn't look back.
"...Still testing that."
Brenda took a deep breath.
Then followed Triad into Afterlife.
---
## Chapter 7 – Rogue's Table
Afterlife noticed them immediately.
Not because of Triad.
Afterlife always noticed Triad.
That was survival instinct.
This time, the room noticed the person walking behind them.
Young.
Bright-eyed.
Grease-stained field bag over one shoulder.
Notebook clutched against her chest like protective armor.
Trying very hard not to stare at everything.
Failing completely.
Brenda stepped through the entrance and looked around the legendary mercenary bar as if she had just walked into a cathedral that served alcohol.
"..."
"...wow."
Ace glanced back.
"Still normal?"
Brenda nodded too quickly.
"Very."
Her eyes immediately locked onto the Afterlife logo.
"...that's the actual sign."
Mai passed the bartender without slowing.
"Yes."
"And that's the actual bar."
"Yes."
"And those are actual mercs."
Ace looked at one table of veterans.
"Usually."
One of the mercs raised his glass without looking up.
Brenda whispered,
"...One of them has a grenade launcher."
Shammy smiled.
"...Probably."
Brenda inhaled slowly.
"...Okay."
"...I can be cool."
The bartender looked at Ace.
Then at Brenda.
Then back at Ace.
"...New one?"
Ace sighed.
"...Not ours."
Brenda made a small noise.
Shammy's smile became dangerously amused.
Ace realized what she had said.
"...Yet."
Brenda made a smaller noise.
Mai gave Ace a look.
Ace looked away.
"...What?"
Mai did not answer.
She didn't need to.
Across the room, Rogue waited in her booth.
She had not stood.
She had not waved.
She simply watched Brenda approach with the expression of someone evaluating an unexploded device that had somehow learned stage presence.
Brenda noticed her.
All remaining blood appeared to leave her face.
"..."
"...that's Rogue."
Ace stopped beside the booth.
"Rogue."
Rogue's eyes stayed on Brenda.
"...So."
Brenda swallowed.
Rogue leaned back.
"...You're Brenda Boom."
Brenda opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"...Yes."
A pause.
"...Ma'am."
Rogue's eyebrow rose.
Ace looked down.
Mai became very interested in nothing.
Shammy smiled into her hand.
Rogue stared for one full second.
"...Don't do that."
Brenda froze.
"...Sorry."
"Calling me ma'am makes people nervous."
"...Doesn't everything you do make people nervous?"
Ace coughed once.
Mai's mouth twitched.
Rogue's expression did not change.
Then...
very slowly...
she smiled.
"...Sit down."
Brenda sat.
Immediately.
Too fast.
Her knees hit the underside of the table.
The notebook jumped from her hands.
Mai caught it before it fell.
Brenda stared at her.
"..."
"...thank you."
Mai placed the notebook carefully on the table.
"You're welcome."
Rogue looked at the notebook.
"That yours?"
Brenda nodded.
"Yes."
"Everything in there?"
"Not everything."
Rogue waited.
Brenda added quickly,
"Nothing dangerous!"
"I mean..."
"It is dangerous if someone doesn't know what they're reading."
"But not instructions."
"Mostly structural notes."
"Angles."
"Failure behavior."
"Weather."
"Material fatigue."
"Ethics list."
Ace blinked.
"...Ethics list?"
Brenda nodded seriously.
"Yes."
"You don't demolish a place just because it's ugly."
Rogue looked at Ace.
Ace looked back.
Neither of them spoke.
Brenda seemed to realize how that sounded.
"...Okay sometimes ugly helps."
Shammy laughed softly.
The tension softened.
Rogue reached for the notebook.
"May I?"
Brenda hesitated.
Not because she wanted to hide it.
Because it mattered.
Then she nodded.
Rogue opened the notebook.
The first page contained no equations.
It contained a handwritten rule in block letters.
**IF ANYONE CAN GET HURT, YOU DON'T PUSH THE BUTTON.**
Rogue stared at it.
Then turned the page.
More rules.
**IF YOU CAN'T EXPLAIN THE COLLAPSE, YOU DON'T PUSH THE BUTTON.**
**IF YOU'RE GUESSING, YOU DON'T PUSH THE BUTTON.**
**IF IT FEELS WRONG, YOU DON'T PUSH THE BUTTON.**
Rogue turned another page.
Then another.
The math began after that.
Dense.
Messy.
Analog.
Obsessive.
Mai watched Rogue read.
Ace watched Brenda.
Brenda watched the table.
Without the camera, without the chat, without an explosion waiting for her cue...
she looked younger.
Not helpless.
Not fragile.
Just...
unfinished.
Rogue closed the notebook.
"...You know what you're doing."
Brenda looked up quickly.
"Yes."
"I mean—"
"Mostly."
"No."
"Yes."
She pressed both hands flat on the table.
"I know what I'm doing with buildings."
Rogue nodded.
"That's not the part I'm worried about."
Brenda's face changed.
The excitement drained away.
"...Copycats."
Ace leaned back.
"She caught up in the car."
Rogue looked at Brenda with new interest.
"Good."
Brenda didn't look proud.
She looked sick.
"...I didn't think about them enough."
"No."
Rogue's answer was immediate.
Not cruel.
Not comforting.
Just true.
Brenda took it.
"...No."
Rogue tapped one finger against the notebook.
"Fifteen streams."
"Sixteen now."
"Sixteen."
"No casualties."
"No injuries."
"Targets abandoned."
"Damage contained."
"Congratulations."
Brenda blinked.
"...Thank you?"
Rogue continued.
"Now here's the problem."
She leaned forward.
"You're popular."
Brenda winced.
"...I know."
"No."
Rogue's voice sharpened slightly.
"You don't."
"Popular in Night City means idiots with fewer brains than bullets start thinking they can do what you do."
"They won't see your rules."
"They won't see your walkaround."
"They won't see the math."
"They'll see the boom."
Brenda stared at the table.
Rogue let the words sit there.
Then she added,
"And then people die."
Silence.
Afterlife moved around them.
Music.
Glasses.
Low voices.
Brenda's fingers curled around the edge of the table.
"...I don't want that."
Mai said softly,
"We know."
Brenda looked at her.
Mai held her gaze.
"We are still sitting here because we know."
That reached her.
More than Rogue's warning.
More than Ace's calm.
More than Shammy's kindness.
Brenda believed Mai.
Immediately.
Dangerously.
Completely.
She nodded once.
"...Okay."
Rogue noticed.
Of course Rogue noticed.
Her eyes flicked briefly to Mai.
Then back to Brenda.
"...So."
Brenda straightened.
Rogue pushed the notebook back across the table.
"I have two options."
Brenda swallowed.
"...Okay."
"Option one."
Rogue's voice remained even.
"You stop."
Brenda's face fell before she could hide it.
Not anger.
Not rebellion.
Grief.
Tiny.
Instant.
Obvious.
Shammy saw it.
Ace saw it.
Mai saw it.
Rogue definitely saw it.
Brenda whispered,
"...Oh."
Rogue waited one beat.
Then said,
"Option two."
Brenda looked up.
Rogue smiled faintly.
"You get better management."
Ace's eyebrow rose.
Mai turned slightly toward Rogue.
Shammy's expression warmed.
Brenda looked between all of them.
"..."
"...What does that mean?"
Rogue leaned back again.
"It means no more pirate targets."
"No more surprise demolitions."
"No more making me hear about explosions from five different fixers before lunch."
Brenda winced.
"...Sorry."
"I wasn't finished."
Brenda shut her mouth.
Rogue continued.
"It means sanctioned sites."
"Paperwork."
"Perimeters."
"Cleanup crews."
"People who make sure every idiot in the city understands they are not you."
Brenda stared at her.
Rogue's smile sharpened.
"You build the show."
"You keep your name."
"You keep your style."
"You keep the part that makes people watch."
Then she tapped the notebook once.
"But the buildings are supposed to come down."
Brenda did not move.
For perhaps the first time in her life...
there were too many feelings for words.
Ace watched her quietly.
Mai watched with calm attention.
Shammy simply smiled.
Rogue let the silence stretch just long enough.
Then she added,
"Think celebrity cooking show."
Brenda blinked.
"...Cooking show?"
Rogue nodded toward the notebook.
"Except the oven is a condemned warehouse..."
"...and everyone signed the paperwork."
Ace closed her eyes.
Mai actually smiled.
Shammy laughed.
Brenda stared at Rogue.
Then at Mai.
Then at Ace.
Then back at Rogue.
"..."
"...You want to sponsor Brenda Boom Presents?"
Rogue's expression became very Afterlife.
"Don't make it sound cute."
Brenda whispered,
"...It is a little cute."
Ace muttered,
"She said it, not me."
Rogue ignored them both.
"Answer the question."
Brenda looked down at her notebook.
At the rules.
At the math.
At the work.
Then she looked at Mai.
Not asking for permission.
Not exactly.
Asking if the shape of this was real.
Mai nodded once.
Small.
Certain.
Brenda inhaled.
"...Yes."
Rogue smiled.
"Good."
She reached for her drink.
"Then congratulations, Brenda Boom."
Brenda sat perfectly still.
Rogue raised the glass slightly.
"You're no longer my problem."
A pause.
"You're my project."
Brenda made a sound.
Ace looked at Shammy.
Shammy smiled.
Mai folded her hands on the table.
Brenda pressed both palms against her face.
"...I can be normal about this."
Ace sighed.
"...No."
Brenda peeked between her fingers.
Mai said, very gently,
"...Probably not."
Brenda lowered her hands.
She was smiling again.
Smaller now.
Less performative.
More real.
"...Okay."
"..."
"...I can be useful about this."
Rogue nodded.
"That'll do."
---
## Chapter 8 – The Terms
Rogue let the word sit between them.
Project.
Not prisoner.
Not problem.
Not asset.
Project.
Brenda looked at the notebook in front of her as if the pages had suddenly become written in another language.
"...You'd let me keep doing it?"
Rogue's expression did not soften.
"That depends."
Brenda straightened immediately.
"On what?"
"On whether you can follow rules when the rules aren't yours."
That landed.
Brenda's hands stilled on the table.
Ace watched her closely.
Mai watched Rogue.
Shammy watched Brenda.
Afterlife continued breathing around them, but the booth felt separate from the rest of the room.
Brenda swallowed.
"...What rules?"
Rogue raised one finger.
"No more unauthorized targets."
Brenda nodded once.
Fast.
"Okay."
A second finger.
"No more surprise demolition sites."
"Okay."
A third.
"No more streams from locations nobody cleared."
"Okay."
A fourth.
"No teaching the city how you do what you do."
Brenda blinked.
Then frowned.
"I don't."
Rogue's eyes sharpened.
"Good."
"Keep not doing it."
Brenda shut her mouth.
Then nodded again.
"...Okay."
Mai spoke next.
"Your audience sees spectacle."
"Yes."
"They cannot see process."
Brenda looked at her.
For Mai, she listened differently.
More carefully.
Almost painfully carefully.
"...Because they'll copy the wrong part."
"Yes."
Brenda looked down.
"...The button."
Ace nodded.
"They'll copy the button."
Brenda's expression twisted with genuine disgust.
"...That's not the work."
"No."
"It's the least interesting part."
Rogue's mouth twitched.
"Then stop making it look like the main event."
Brenda opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Thought.
Really thought.
"...Okay."
Rogue leaned back.
"Next rule."
Brenda braced.
"If someone on my side says stop..."
"You stop."
Brenda's eyes flicked to Ace.
Then Mai.
Then Shammy.
"...Your side?"
"Me."
"Triad."
"Site crews."
"Anyone I appoint for safety."
Brenda's mouth tightened.
Not rebellion.
Fear.
"...What if they're wrong?"
Ace answered this time.
"Then you argue after stopping."
Brenda looked at her.
Ace's voice stayed calm.
"No explosion is worth winning an argument."
Brenda held her gaze.
Then, slowly...
she nodded.
"...Okay."
Rogue studied her for a few seconds.
"You understand why I'm saying this."
Brenda nodded again.
"...Because I'm not the only one in the room anymore."
Shammy smiled softly.
"...Good."
Brenda looked surprised by the praise.
Then immediately tried not to look too happy about it.
Failed.
Rogue tapped the notebook.
"You get sanctioned sites."
"Condemned buildings."
"Insurance cleared."
"Perimeters established."
"Cleanup paid."
"Paperwork handled."
Brenda stared at her.
"...Paperwork."
Rogue smiled faintly.
"That word hurt, didn't it?"
Brenda whispered,
"...A little."
Ace glanced at Mai.
Mai's face remained perfectly composed.
Which meant she was amused.
Rogue continued.
"You keep the name."
Brenda looked up sharply.
"...I do?"
"Brenda Boom Presents is recognizable."
"You built that."
"I'm not throwing away brand value because you lack survival instincts."
Brenda looked like she had been complimented and insulted so efficiently that she could not decide which emotion should arrive first.
"...Thank you?"
"You're welcome."
Rogue pushed a small contract shard across the table.
Brenda did not touch it yet.
"What is that?"
"An outline."
"Not final."
"Not binding until reviewed."
Brenda blinked.
"...Reviewed by who?"
Rogue looked at Mai.
Mai looked at Brenda.
Brenda's face changed again.
"Oh."
Mai said, "You need someone who reads the parts people hope you skip."
Brenda whispered,
"...You'd read it?"
Ace leaned back.
"Mai reads everything."
Mai gave Ace a sideways glance.
Ace smiled innocently.
Brenda looked at Mai as though someone had just offered to translate gravity.
"...Okay."
Rogue's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Don't agree because Mai is pretty."
Brenda froze.
Ace looked down at the table.
Shammy made a very dangerous sound that was almost laughter.
Mai closed her eyes for one second.
Brenda turned bright red.
"I wasn't—"
"I mean she is—"
"I mean obviously—"
"I mean professionally—"
"I mean—"
Ace murmured, "Still testing normal."
Brenda covered her face.
"...I would like to start over."
Rogue did not smile.
"Denied."
Shammy laughed.
Mai's voice remained gentle.
"Brenda."
Brenda peeked through her fingers.
"...Yes?"
"Rogue is offering you a way to keep the part that matters."
Brenda lowered her hands.
Mai continued.
"The precision."
"The art."
"The audience."
"The joy."
A pause.
"And remove the part that gets people hurt."
Brenda was very still.
Then she looked at Rogue.
"...You can really do that?"
Rogue's answer was immediate.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Rogue took another sip from her glass.
"Because Night City is full of buildings that should have come down years ago."
Ace muttered, "And people."
Rogue ignored that.
"Because a controlled spectacle makes money."
Brenda listened.
"Because if I don't put a leash on this, someone else will put a bullet in it."
Brenda went quiet.
Rogue set the glass down.
"And because..."
She tapped the notebook once.
"...you are too good at this to waste."
That was the one that broke through.
Not visibly.
Not dramatically.
Brenda did not cry.
She did not gasp.
She simply looked down at her notebook, and for a second the hyperactive brightness went somewhere private.
"..."
"...oh."
Shammy's expression softened.
Ace said nothing.
Mai gave her the dignity of silence.
Rogue waited.
Eventually Brenda touched the contract shard with one fingertip.
"...What happens to stream seventeen?"
Rogue smiled.
"Stream seventeen does not happen until I say it happens."
Brenda winced.
"...That sounds fair and horrible."
"Good."
"That means you understood it."
Brenda nodded.
"Can I tell chat?"
"No."
Brenda looked wounded.
Rogue continued,
"Not yet."
"Oh."
"You announce when there's something to announce."
Brenda thought about that.
Then nodded again.
"...Okay."
Ace raised an eyebrow.
"You're agreeing very quickly."
Brenda looked at her.
Then at Mai.
Then at Rogue.
Then at Shammy.
"...Because this is the first time someone told me to stop without telling me to disappear."
The booth went quiet.
That one had weight.
More than Brenda intended.
She seemed to realize it a second too late and immediately tried to cover it.
"I mean—"
"Not in a sad way."
"Just, you know."
"People usually say explosions are bad and I should stop."
"But explosions aren't bad."
"Bad explosions are bad."
"Bad planning is bad."
"Bad judgment is bad."
"Bad—"
Ace raised one hand.
Brenda stopped.
Ace looked at her for a moment.
Then said,
"...You're not wrong."
Brenda stared.
"..."
"...I'm not?"
Mai shook her head.
"No."
Rogue leaned back.
"That's why we're having this conversation instead of ending it."
Brenda looked at the contract shard again.
Then she picked it up.
Carefully.
As if it were more fragile than any explosive she had ever handled.
"...Okay."
She looked at Rogue.
"I'll stop the pirate streams."
Rogue nodded.
"Good."
Brenda drew one breath.
"I'll follow site rules."
"Good."
"I'll let someone review contracts."
"Mai."
Mai corrected calmly,
"Triad."
Brenda turned red again.
"...Triad."
Ace smiled.
"Progress."
Brenda ignored that with heroic effort.
"And..."
She looked down at her notebook.
"...I'll stop making the button look like the point."
Rogue's expression changed by almost nothing.
But in Rogue's booth, almost nothing meant a lot.
"Good."
Brenda hugged the notebook against her chest.
"...So what am I now?"
Ace tilted her head.
"A demolition artist with management."
Brenda considered that.
"...That sounds terrible."
Mai said, "Professional."
Brenda looked at her.
"...That sounds better."
Shammy smiled.
"It is better."
Rogue stood.
Conversation over.
"Go home, Brenda."
Brenda blinked.
"...What?"
"Go home."
"Sleep."
"Do not stream."
"Do not explode anything."
"Do not announce anything."
Brenda opened her mouth.
Rogue pointed one finger at her.
"Nothing."
Brenda closed her mouth.
Then nodded.
"...Nothing."
Rogue looked at Ace.
"Make sure she gets out of here before someone asks for an autograph."
Brenda's eyes widened.
"...Someone would ask me for an autograph?"
Ace stood.
"Not the lesson."
Brenda rose too quickly and almost hit the table again.
Mai quietly caught the notebook before it slipped.
Again.
Brenda took it back with both hands.
"...Thank you."
Mai nodded.
"You're welcome."
For a moment, Brenda looked like she wanted to say something else.
Something much larger than thank you.
Something she did not yet know how to make safe.
So she did what she understood.
She hugged the notebook tighter.
Then she gave Rogue a small, awkward nod.
"...Thank you for not making me disappear."
Rogue's face did not soften.
Her voice did.
Barely.
"Don't make me regret it."
Brenda smiled.
Small.
Real.
"I won't."
Ace turned toward the exit.
"Come on."
Brenda followed.
Not bouncing.
Not performing.
Not normal either.
But quieter.
Behind them, Rogue sat back down and looked at Mai.
"...She's going to be a lot of work."
Mai watched Brenda walking beside Shammy toward the bar.
"...Yes."
Ace's voice came from ahead.
"She can hear you."
Brenda turned bright red again.
Rogue took her glass.
"...Good."
The three women led Brenda out of Afterlife.
For once, the camera stayed off.
---
## Chapter 9 – No Broadcast
Outside Afterlife, Night City felt louder.
Traffic moved past in broken waves.
Neon signs flickered against wet concrete.
Somewhere nearby, a drunk mercenary laughed too hard at a joke nobody else understood.
Brenda stood on the sidewalk with her notebook held tight against her chest.
For several seconds, she did not speak.
Ace noticed.
Mai noticed.
Shammy noticed first.
"...Quiet weather."
Brenda blinked.
"What?"
Shammy smiled.
"Nothing."
Ace looked toward the street.
"Where do you live?"
Brenda's shoulders lifted slightly.
"Pacifica."
"Near the warehouse?"
"Not near-near."
"...Kind of near."
Ace stared.
Brenda winced.
"...Okay, pretty near."
Mai unlocked the Quadra.
"We'll drive you."
Brenda immediately shook her head.
"No, no, you don't have to—"
Ace opened the passenger door.
"Get in."
Brenda stopped.
"...Okay."
She got in.
This time, she found the seatbelt correctly on the first try.
Ace noticed.
"...Progress."
Brenda looked proud for approximately half a second before remembering she was trying to be composed.
Shammy slid into the back beside her.
Mai started the car.
The Quadra pulled away from Afterlife and merged into the evening flow.
For a while, nobody spoke.
That was new.
Brenda watched the city through the window, notebook still pressed against her chest.
Then her hand moved.
Not to the notebook.
To the small controller on her wrist.
Ace saw it immediately.
"...No."
Brenda froze.
"I wasn't going live."
Ace looked back.
Brenda lowered her hand.
"...I was checking if people were asking where I went."
Mai's eyes stayed on the road.
"They are."
Brenda looked at her.
Mai tapped the dashboard once.
A muted feed appeared.
Thousands of messages scrolled across the screen.
**WHERE DID SHE GO**
**TRIAD TOOK HER**
**IS BRENDA DEAD**
**SHE'S WITH ROGUE NOW I KNOW IT**
**CLIP MAI SAYING PRECISE AGAIN**
Brenda made a faint distressed sound.
"...They're clipping it."
Ace's mouth twitched.
"Yes."
"...All of it?"
"Probably."
Brenda sank lower in the seat.
"...I told them not to."
Shammy laughed softly.
"That was your mistake."
Brenda covered her face.
"...I'm never recovering from this."
Mai said calmly,
"You will."
Brenda peeked through her fingers.
"...How do you know?"
Mai glanced at her through the mirror.
"Because tomorrow they will ask about stream seventeen."
The words hit differently now.
Brenda lowered her hands.
"...There won't be a stream seventeen."
Ace turned slightly.
"There will."
Brenda looked at her.
Ace continued,
"Not tomorrow."
"Not pirate."
"Not until Rogue says."
"But there will be one."
Brenda looked down at the notebook.
"...Different."
"Yes."
"Less... free."
Mai shook her head.
"Less alone."
Brenda went very still.
The car passed beneath a row of flickering streetlights.
White.
Red.
Blue.
Shadow.
For a moment, Brenda's reflection appeared in the window instead of the city.
No camera smile.
No stream voice.
Just a young woman holding too tightly onto the only thing she had built that people could not take from her.
"...Oh."
That was all she said.
Shammy did not reach for her.
She did not crowd her.
She simply sat beside her, warm and present, letting the realization arrive without turning it into a scene.
Ace looked forward again.
"Rogue doesn't sponsor things she expects to fail."
Brenda swallowed.
"...She doesn't?"
"No."
Mai added,
"And Triad doesn't sit through contract meetings for hobbies."
Brenda stared at her.
"...Triad is sitting through my contract meeting?"
Ace sighed.
"There it is."
Brenda tried very hard not to smile.
Failed completely.
"...Sorry."
Mai's voice remained dry.
"You should be."
Brenda's smile widened.
Then softened.
"...Thank you."
Nobody made a joke out of that.
Not that one.
The Quadra entered Pacifica.
The streets changed.
Cleaner corporate lines vanished behind weathered concrete, patched walls, old signs, improvised repairs and stubborn life.
Brenda straightened slowly.
"There."
She pointed toward a narrow side street.
Mai turned.
A modest apartment block waited between a shuttered laundromat and a noodle shop that still had steam curling from its vents.
Not glamorous.
Not desperate.
Lived in.
Mai parked near the entrance.
Brenda did not immediately get out.
She looked at the building.
Then at the notebook.
Then at the silent controller on her wrist.
"...What do I tell them?"
Ace asked, "Chat?"
Brenda nodded.
"Nothing."
Rogue's instruction came back through Ace's voice without needing Rogue present.
"Not yet."
Brenda nodded slowly.
"...Right."
Mai reached into her coat and took out a small data shard.
She held it out.
Brenda stared at it.
"What is that?"
"My contact."
Brenda's eyes widened.
Ace closed her eyes.
Shammy smiled immediately.
Mai continued before Brenda could implode.
"For contract review."
Brenda very carefully took the shard.
"...For contract review."
"Yes."
"...Professional reasons."
"Yes."
"...Only professional reasons."
Ace muttered,
"She's learning."
Brenda looked at the shard like it was more dangerous than anything she had handled all day.
Then she tucked it safely into the back pocket of the notebook.
Not her jacket.
Not her bag.
The notebook.
Mai noticed.
So did Shammy.
Ace opened her door.
Brenda blinked.
"You don't have to—"
Ace stepped out.
Shammy followed.
Mai turned the engine off and stepped out as well.
Brenda stared at them from inside the car.
Then awkwardly climbed out.
"...You're walking me to the door?"
Ace looked at the apartment entrance.
"Yes."
"...Why?"
Ace shrugged.
"Because Rogue said make sure you got out of Afterlife."
Brenda tilted her head.
"...This isn't Afterlife."
"No."
Ace looked up at the building.
"But this is where the day ends."
Brenda had no immediate answer.
They walked her to the entrance.
No cameras.
No chat.
No applause.
No explosion.
Just four pairs of footsteps on cracked Pacifica concrete.
At the door, Brenda stopped and turned around.
She looked at Ace first.
Then Shammy.
Then Mai.
Mai, last.
Always Mai.
"...I'm not going to mess this up."
Ace nodded.
"Good."
"I mean..."
Brenda took a breath.
"I might be loud."
"Yes."
"And weird."
"Yes."
"And I might ask too many questions."
"Almost certainly."
Brenda looked at Mai.
"But I won't mess this up."
Mai held her gaze.
"...Then don't."
Brenda nodded once.
Serious.
Almost solemn.
"...Okay."
Shammy smiled.
"Sleep, Brenda."
Brenda gave a faint laugh.
"...I don't know if I can."
Ace turned away.
"Try."
Mai and Shammy followed her back toward the car.
Brenda remained at the doorway.
For several seconds, she just watched them go.
Then her wrist controller buzzed again.
A notification.
Another message.
Another demand.
Another clip.
Another chance to turn herself back into content.
Brenda looked at it.
Her thumb hovered over the control.
Then stopped.
Slowly...
she switched the controller off.
The screen went dark.
Brenda looked down at her notebook.
At the rules.
At the math.
At the new data shard tucked carefully into the back.
Then she smiled.
Small.
Private.
Hers.
"No broadcast," she whispered.
And went inside.
The Quadra pulled away from the curb.
Ace watched the apartment block disappear in the side mirror.
"...She's going to be a lot."
Mai started driving back toward Watson.
"Yes."
Shammy leaned back in the rear seat, smiling softly.
"...Good weather, though."
Ace looked back.
"That was good weather?"
Shammy's smile widened.
"...Complicated weather."
Mai's mouth twitched.
Ace sighed.
"Of course."
Her holo-phone buzzed.
Marco.
Ace answered.
"Yes?"
> "Did you find her?"
Ace looked out at Pacifica sliding past the window.
"...Yes."
Marco sounded amused.
> "And?"
Ace considered Brenda's frozen shock.
The fan panic.
The notebook.
The rules.
The quiet way she had turned off the controller.
"...Rogue has a project."
Marco laughed.
> "That bad?"
Ace smiled.
"...That good."
Lena's voice came faintly through the call.
> "Is everyone alive?"
Ace looked at Mai.
Mai looked at Shammy.
Shammy smiled.
Ace answered,
"...Everyone's alive."
A pause.
Then Marco said,
> "Good."
> "Coffee still stands."
Ace smirked.
"You're still buying."
Marco groaned.
The call ended.
Night City kept moving.
Somewhere in Pacifica, Brenda Boom did not go live.
Somewhere in Afterlife, Rogue began making calls.
And somewhere in the space between problem and family...
a new kind of explosion waited for permission.
**End of Ace 93.5 – Brenda Boom Presents: The Analog Bomber**