Chapter 19: Chapter 19 – The Local Bar Scene

It was the next night, and I was sitting next to a window in a bar called 'S-Urge'. This was the place that Grant Moreno said his daughter last remembered being at before her abduction. The bar was close to Night City University, which would explain the clutters of college students trying to fry their brains with alcohol and music.

While I personally didn't like the noise and chaos in bars, it did provide for great people-watching. Through the loud techno music, lasers, and disco lights, I could see young guys trying their luck and approaching ladies with drinks in their hands. Some were lucky, and the gal of his choice would take the glass; she might even drag him to sit next to her or onto the dance floor. Most, however, struck out and had to awkwardly walk away and back into the sea of people in the dizzying neon lights.

I've scanned everyone here and haven't found anyone with Shiv affiliations or wanted for kidnapping yet, but I kept an eye out for any shady movements just in case. While scanning the patrons, a tan arm stretched from behind me, over my shoulder, and placed a glass of whiskey on my table.

Looking behind me, I saw Panam with a slight smile on her face. She walked around me and sat on the chair across from mine.

"You know, when you called, I thought you would cancel our date at first. Instead, you tell me you've got a job for me and take me to a college bar filled with shitty music. Starting to hope you just canceled on me."

Panam was apparently like me, and she hated going to loud city bars. Panam's here because I figured having her with me makes it look like we're just a couple partying instead of a creep sitting alone and looking at everyone. I also figured doing another job together before our date tomorrow would help make us more comfortable with each other.

"First, I'd never cancel on a girl like you. Second, notice anyone shady at the bar?"

"Nothin' drew my attention. Maybe nothin' is going down tonight. We just busted their hideout, after all. They're probably laying low for a while."

I'm starting to think Panam was right. We've been here for about two hours and haven't noticed any drunk girls leaving with men they didn't come in with yet.

"Hello, my name is Arif Iqbal, and this is WNS News."

While I was lamenting the bad luck with this stakeout, a screen playing some gameshow was interrupted by a breaking news segment.

"Police have recently assaulted a compound owned by a farmer, Anthony Harris. NCPD managed to free seven unconscious teenagers Anthony was torturing. The victims were rushed to a local hospital. Doctors say their conditions aren't ideal, but they have stabilized and will almost certainly see a full recovery. We got to our reporter at the Harris farm. Over to you, Shelly Pomton."

The scene then transitioned to the reporter who was at the farm. Behind her were cop cars with red and blue lights and several of Night Cities finest walking around securing the crime scene.

"Thank you, Arif. Police on site tell us that an anonymous tip triggered an investigation into Anthony Harris and his family's farm. Once the police arrived, they found the ground covered in landmines and automated turrets."

The reporter then details the raid and interviews an officer, but I lost interest before that. In my playthrough, I couldn't save all the lives of the boys there, so I'm happy it seems that ending everything early saved more lives.

"Is that about the call you made?"

Panam was also watching the news and remembered my conversation with River a few days back.

"Yup. I'm happy to see things work out. Hopefully, we'll do something similar today as well."

"Look who's Night City's knight in shining armor. Do you have a savior complex or somethin'?"

"Hmmm... Who knows?"

Do I? In my previous life, I would have never taken the kind of risks I have in this one. I've only been in this world for a little under two weeks, and I'm ambushing raiders, tracking down human traffickers, and planning a coup within Arasaka. Am I getting swept up in the current and not realizing how far it's taken me?

While pondering my behavioral changes, A group of three men stepped into the bar. At first glance, they looked like any of the other college men here, but I could tell something was off about them. They were clean-shaven and wearing clothes you would find on any douche in a frat, but their eyes had a sharpness that no naive college kid should have. The group looked over the mob of people like predators on the prowl.

Scanning them confirmed my suspicion. All three men were affiliated with the Wraiths, while the one had a background of suspected human trafficking. Looks like I found my guys.

"You're five o'clock. Group of three men just entered. Two brunettes and a blonde. Scan shows two of 'em are Shivs, and the other is suspected of trafficking."

Panam casually turns around and lifts one of her legs over the other. Leaning back, she raises her Margarita to her lips and uses it as a mask to hide her searching eyes. While she looks for the suspects, I enjoy inspecting her long legs.

I told Panam to wear something not uncommon at bars but still easy to move in. We might be doing some fighting after all. She came in a pair of skin-tight lace-up jeans with an opening on the side, showing a strip of delicious mocha skin that led to her waist. Her midriff was uncovered since her simple white top left it open, which is fine by me since I get to admire her toned stomach. Above the soft abs were her breasts, pushed together slightly by the top to form just a hint of cleavage.

While admiring Panam, she found the group I was talking about and turned back to me, catching me admiring her red-handed. She grinned at my clear attraction to her.

"Whatcha lookin' at? You're not losing focus while on the clock, are you?"

"Just appreciating some artwork. Let's keep an eye on those guys. We know something is wrong if they mess with someone's drink or leave with extra people."

I tore my eyes off Panam and scanned the group again, this time remembering to ping them, so I'll know where they were at all times. The group settled into the bar and ordered a few drinks for themselves. Panam and I acted relaxed and sipped at our drinks, always ensuring one of us was keeping an eye on the group.

It wasn't long before they started making moves and trying to wedge their group with others. They would hit on girls, try to become pals with guys, or hit the dance floor and attempt to dance with people. Most of their attempts failed, but eventually, they managed to strike up a conversation with some girls.

As the night went on, the group downed more and more drinks. The girls seemed bright since they always had one of their own bring them their drinks. But eventually, they agreed to the men buying them a round. Quietly, I took out my phone and started taking pictures and recording the men. While recording the guy buying the drinks, I managed to get a video of the man taking something out of his pocket and putting it in the glasses.

Jackpot.

After the girls downed their drinks, I ended the recording and immediately pulled up the part where the guy spiked it to show Panam. While she was watching what I caught on video, I was thinking about our game plan. It's probably not wise to confront them in the bar. Too many bystanders mean things can get out of hand and really nasty real quick.

"Too many witnesses around can't risk taking action and having the crowd get in the way. Let's wait and mirror their actions. When they leave with the girls, we go to follow. Take them when they're loading the girls into the car."

Panam nodded to my plan, and we waited for the girls to get knocked out. It only took another dozen minutes before the girls were out cold, and the guys started pretending to help them out to their cars. Panam and I popped into action and started following the pack. Once we exited the bar, Panam unexpectedly hugged my right arm, wedging it into her bust. I looked at her and raised one of my eyebrows, wordlessly questioning her.

"You were looking like a merc about to ice some gonk," Panam quietly whispered, "but now they'll think we're a couple out for a walk at night. You need to chill, or they might get spooked."

Fair enough. I relaxed my stance a bit and let the tension in my shoulders release. Once I could get out of my tunnel vision of the criminals, I could pick up the Panam's calming Coconut shampoo scent. I also enjoyed the softness and body heat that was enwrapping my right arm.

We kept our distance from the group and followed them. After tracking them for five minutes, they finally rewarded us by turning into a parking garage. Panam and I quickly followed behind and separated from each other. Panam pulled out a DR-5 Nova while I pulled out my Overture. Carefully, I also pulled out a suppressor I bought from Wilson and threaded it onto my revolver.

We did our best to stay quiet and always one corner behind the group as they went up the ramps to higher floors so they didn't notice us. The parking lot was almost empty of cars at this point, and we didn't see any people on our way up. Once we passed the third floor, their footsteps stopped, and I heard the distinct noise of a car's lock disengaging.

Hiding behind the corner, I lowered my voice as much as possible and muttered my plan to Panam.

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"I'm going to activate my Sandi to kill the two Shivs and leave one alive. I need you to ensure no one jumps in on us. Think you can handle?"

"Piece of cake"

Panam confirmed she understood the plan, and I took a deep breath and activated my Sandevistan. As the familiar blue tint set in, I turned the corner and lifted my revolver. I saw one man setting down two girls against a car while the other two were trying to raise an unconscious body into the rear seats.

My sights entered my view, and I steadied my revolver with both hands and pointed them at the man watching the two girls on the ground. The single-action trigger was crisp, and soon a flash exited my barrel alongside a .42 caliber bullet. The silencer did its job as I heard a quiet hiss instead of the usual loud bang. I then quickly transitioned to my next target, the man holding the feet of the girl they were trying to cram into the vehicle, and did the same.

Both shots landed true, and I watched slowly as blood flowers blossomed behind my targets' heads. Taking advantage of the slowing time, I rushed at the remaining Shiv, whose eyes widened, shocked at what had just transpired. I tackled him at what would be double my average speed for him and slammed him into their getaway vehicle.

Time soon sped up again, and I wrestled the man onto the ground. Using my legs as weights, I sat on his arms and tightened my hand, not holding a gun around his neck. He was still in a daze but soon came to when I jammed the wrong end of my silencer into his mouth.

I watched as the emotions in his eyes changed from confusion to fear in a split second. The survivor started thrashing around, trying to get out from under me. Not happy with his defiance, I started choking him and pushing my silencer deeper into his mouth.

"You keep fuckin' strugglin', and I'm goin' to make you deep throat some bullets. You got that?"

Hearing my colorful threat, the man calmed down and gently nodded.

"That's a good boy. Now I'm gonna ask you some questions, and you'll answer 'em honestly if you want to live. Understand?"

The man nodded again. Happy with the frightened look on the man's face, I slowly pulled my gun out of his mouth and aimed at his forehead.

"You know a girl by the name of Rosa Moreno? You took her with two of her friends. Hispanic girl, pretty sure someone ordered you to take her."

"Yeah, yeah. That name rings a bell. Got a call from a suit one day. I don't remember the name clearly. Fuji- somethin'. Told me to meet him at some club. I think it's called Embers."

He took a moment to gulp down some saliva, then shakily continued.

"Guy gave me the information on the girl you talkin' about and paid me 20 thousand Eddies to drug her and keep her alive. She came in with friends, so we thought we might as well get some extra goods while we were at it. We jammed her GPS signals and took her to a hideout."

His story matches what Rosa's dad suspected. Now I just needed to get more concrete evidence of who it was.

"But that hideout was hit days ago, and we lost track of the girls! I don't know where the bird is. You have to trust me!"

I let go of the man's throat and gave him a quick jab right in his nose.

"Shut the fuck up. Your phone still got the messages the corpo sent you?"

"Yeah! It's all still there! Phone's in my left pocket. Check for yourself!"

I searched his phone and looked for the messages that he was talking about. Lo and behold, this rat was telling the truth, and there was a message from one Kaoru Fujioka asking to meet at a club called Embers. Happy with this information, I pocketed his phone and brought out mine.

"You're going to say everything you told me again, got it?"

I then recorded all the information this man gave me. Once he was done talking, I played the recording back and confirmed everything was good. I stored my phone and got off the man, happy with the results. The man sat up and released a deep sigh after seeing me satisfied. Just before he could thank me, I pointed my revolver at his head again.

"Didn't mean to give you false hope. I just didn't want blood all over me. We can't have loose ends now, can we?"

"Wha- Wait!"

Before he could say anything more, I pulled the trigger and watched as the man's head jerked back. Then his whole body flopped to the ground as if it was a puppet after its strings were cut. I then removed the suppressor that was now slightly warm from the bullets passing through and holstered my revolver.

I turned towards where I came from and saw Panam posted at the corner watching for any unwanted movement.

"Jobs done, Panam! Come over here and help me move the girls somewhere safer."

We then used the girls' phones to call anyone willing to pick them up. We didn't tell them what had happened since it was the middle of the city and I didn't want any attention. I just told their families that they were dead drunk and needed a lift. Afterward, we dragged them onto the first floor and waited for the party to come.

The next 20 minutes were followed as disappointed parents and pissed-off friends showed up to pick up the girls. I felt strange as these people dealt with this as if nothing was wrong when behind me in the parking lot were the corpses of three men. It was very different from when we rescued the girls in the mine hideout. Then again, those girls were missing, while these girls were just drunk and made terrible choices.

After the last girl left, Panam and I made our way toward our cars. The neon lights of the city showered us and the surrounding sidewalk. The sounds of chatter and honking vehicles filled the air, creating a symphony of city noise. Panam was done for the day, while I still had to meet Grant to close out this job.

"I can't lie. This went considerably better than I thought it would. Is this going to be a usual thing? Us saving damsels in distress?"

"Maybe, maybe not. But if I got similar jobs again, would you be willing to do them with me?"

Panam smiled and playfully punched my shoulder.

"Do you even need to ask? I'll always have your back."

We soon found ourselves at the parking lot where we parked. I walked Panam to her beloved Thorton steed, and we said our goodbyes. Right before she got into her truck, Panam pulled my shirt towards her. I instinctively leaned forward while Panam tiptoed up. Her mouth met mine, and I felt her wet lips give me a chaste kiss. She then let go of my shirt and backed away, laughing at me, standing there trying to process what had happened.

"It was nice hanging out with you, despite the violence. I'll see you tomorrow for our date."

Twirling around, she got into her car and started it up. While pulling out of her parking spot, her windows rolled down.

"Let me know how the meeting with Rosa's dad goes. Oh! And don't forget my cut!"

She then pressed the gas, and I watched as her suped-up truck sped down the road and out of sight. I finally broke myself out of my stupor and smiled at what had happened. Panam sure knows how to leave a guy wanting more.

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