Chapter 23: Chapter 23: New Year’s Day

Walking down the streets of Night City, John looks around at the scene around him, the clubs are packed as people drunkenly walk around without a worry on their minds. Now dressed up in his combat gear, a few people look over as their sober friends drag them along. His face now chalked up with artificial blood stains, John looks around erratically.

Passing by a club a few bouncers look over at him.

“Yeesh, you look like shit.” One says.

John ignores him as he seems to look entranced while walking along.

“Where do you think he’s going?”

“The fuck if I know, but I do not want to mess with him.”

Making his way down the street, he makes his way towards Club Amor, the stairs are packed with party goers who seem to be enjoying themselves as they look over at John. Making his way up the stairs a bouncer looks down at him.

“We’re full for the night.” The Bouncer says.

“Fuck off, take me to your boss.” John replies. 

The bouncer looks at him as he hesitates.

“He’s here.” The Bouncer says into a microphone in his ear. Feedback can be heard coming out from it as the Bouncer nods. Slowly moving aside.

“Yeah, I thought so.” John says.

John walks into the club, stumbling along as he does.

 

---

 

Inside the club it’s packed, loud music blasts out from the dance floor as dozens of almost completely naked women can be seen standing around, as they talk to men a few of them make advances towards their clients as one grabs the arm of a client and brings it down below towards her exposed opening. She whispers something into his ear as she looks over at John giving him a wink, some of the hosts look over at him as he stands waiting.

Women wearing micro-thongs and pasties walk by carrying drinks. 

“Hey there, want to spend the night with me?” A woman asks.

John ignores them as he stares down at the other hosts in the distance who look back at him, one of them is talking on their earpiece as he suddenly begins to walk towards them.

A thong goes flying into the air as cheering can be heard coming from the dance floor.

John looks over to see a naked girl dancing on a poll as she begins to pee on the crowd. As cash flies into the air in front of her. More and more women can be seen walking around with men as they make their way towards the back.

The Host finally makes his way towards John.

“You’re here.” He says.

“Of course I am. Jobs done.” John replies.

The Host looks down at him as he sees his chest which is covered in blood.

“Are you injured? Maybe you should go to a-”

“It’s not mine.” John replies.

“Had a tough time on the way out, they were expecting us. I’ve been meaning to ask, do you know anything about it?” John asks.

The Host stands in silence as he stares at him. John reaches for his belt almost instinctively as the Host looks up at him raising his eyebrows. He scoffs.

“The boss is busy entertaining the guests, but I’m sure he’ll make an exception for you.” 

The Host starts to walk off as he waves to John.

Making their way into the back, it’s stacked as several people can be seen gambling in suits, crooked politicians and other influential figures by the looks of it. At the front, is The Manager who is giving a speech to them while going over what looks to be a report of some form. Seeing this John raises his eyebrows as several men and women can be seen going to the more private area. With the inclusion of a group that wasn’t here before, Asian Women.

In the room, John can clearly see the faces of the men inside, for the most part consisting solely of Asian men, Japanese to be specific.

“Come on, it’s not illegal as long as it’s not a blowjob.” A female hostess can be heard saying.

The Host makes his way to the front as the Manager looks over at him.

He whispers something into his ears as the Host waits by the side. John watches it all from the entrance as the Manager continues with his talk.

“To all of our patrons, I would like to thank you for your continued support. Unlike other Heishehui in the New California Republic we pride ourselves in the quality of our women. And in our great customer experience.” The Manager says.

The room erupts in laughter as they all focus on him.

“It’s not to say we were without our hiccups. But our group has boasted a 99.3% Success Rate for requests made by our gracious patrons. Though it is not to say with our recent failures, I hope that you will choose to stay by our side in the year to come.”

The Manager bows deeply towards the audience.

“Now, please, enjoy yourselves. It will be hard to find women like these even in the homeland.” The Manager continues.

The crowd briefly claps as they begin to be swarmed by women, dressed in geisha as they make their way towards the men. Each one greeted by various suitresses. As John watches the Manager waves at him as John begins to walk over.

“You like what you see?” A voice calls out as they giggle.

John glances over to see them expose themselves as underneath, there’s nothing. The men touch the white skin as some of them begin to laugh. John looks away as he continues towards the Manager who’s still talking to some of the patrons.

The Manager bows as he looks over at John. He smiles as he makes his way over.

“Back so soon?” The Manager says.

“Not with your help.” John replies coldly

The Manager laughs as he looks over at the patrons who are just leaving.

“You should watch what you say more carefully, for they could be your last.” The Manager replies as he walks up close enough that only he can hear it.

“Is that a threat?”

The Manager doesn’t respond as he begins to walk away, beckoning him.

John follows him as they enter a more private area. Almost soundproof the loud voices and chatter coming from the gambler room disappears. Inside several naked women are talking with each other inside. The Manager waves at them as he shouts.

“Get out! Get out!”

The women look over as they quickly head towards the exit.

John waits for the last to leave as the Manager takes out another cigar as he begins to light it as he sits in front of a table, John scoffs.

“Looks like your plan didn’t go according to plan.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” The Manager says letting out a puff of air.

“You set me up.”

“And yet, you are still here.” The Manager looks around the empty room as he looks at John.

“I could kill you here and now.”

“What’s the matter? Did one of your comrades die?” The Manager jokes.

John looks around the room as he picks up an expensive looking piece as he throws it on the ground, he shouts as he looks over at the Manager who doesn’t even flinch. He bulges his eyes as he takes out his pistol, walking towards him.

“Mmm… A shame. But you should already know how this game works.” 

He continues to point the gun at him as he slowly backs away, he puts his hands through his air as if performing a self calming action.

“Do you have it?” He asks.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Which one?” The Manager continues.

“Both.”

“Both.” The Manager looks over intrigued as he taps on his cigar as the ash falls onto a tray. He leans forwards as he looks down. Sighing, he looks back at John.

“I’ll tell you what. How about we both pretend this never happened? Go back to the original agreement. Hell, I’ll even add a little more for the risk involved. 7 million, how’s that sound?” The Manager says.

“Make it 10 million.”

“Eight.”

John doesn’t respond immediately.

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“There’s always ways for someone like you to make a little extra. I heard about your condition. Why don’t you have a seat?” The Manager asks.

John glares at him for a bit more as he looks over at a seat.

Making his way over, he sits down.

“Cancer, huh? That can be a real bitch. Makes sense why an ex-delta force operative would come to a place like this after so many years. At first I thought I would have been doing you a favor, letting you die on the battlefield one last time.”

The Manager thinks to himself.

“But we both know that for someone like you, it’d be a waste.”

“What are you trying to say?” John asks.

“Always getting to the point, you know, I like that about you. Cold and calculating, yet still best of all loyal to those around you.” The Manager replies.

“Take the 8 million. You’re a real street samurai now. People everywhere are going to be asking about you. Going head to head with a security group isn’t something just anyone can do and living to finish the job. Someone like you always has a place here.”

John nods along as he thinks to himself.

“Just one thing though.”

John looks up at him.

“Know your place. I know you Americans don’t understand some of our… Cultural differences. But if you want to keep your head on your shoulder, you’re going to need to start showing some more respect. It’s a new year. Why don’t we start off on the right foot?”

John looks around unsure what to do.

He gets up as he walks in front of the table. Then he gets on his knees and bows.

“Good.”

“You can come out now.” The Manager says in Chinese.

Walking inside the room from behind them, several armed men come out carrying assault rifles. They look over at John who remains in the position as the Manager turns to him.

“You can get up now.”

John gets on his knees as he looks over at the Manager. He takes out a usb drive as he holds it up to him with his hands out.

“Smart too. I think we’ll get along well together.” The Manager laughs.

Taking the usb drive, the Manager begins to walk away.

“Come, your reward awaits.”

John stands up as he looks around at the various armed hosts who stare blankly around the room almost like machines. They wait as John begins to walk along with the Manager.

 

---

 

They walk down a hallway as the Manager and John walk beside each other in silence. A few hosts can be seen standing guard while others move around rushing large carts full of extravagant goods and food along.

“So, how was it?”

“Like an old feeling you can never really forget.” John responds.

“Mmm… Good. Dogs like you don’t deserve anything worse than a death on the battlefield.” The Manager replies.

Back in the money room, several women wearing scrubs can be seen marking and handling the money as they carefully package it all up. The Manager makes his way towards a large duffle bag as he brings it over to John.

“Ten million. More than you’d expected I bet.” The Manager jokes.

He hands the bag to him.

“Double? What we originally agreed upon.”

The Manager continues along.

“Come, let’s see what’s inside this little chip of yours.” The Manager says.

They walk out of the room into another hallway, this one is empty as the Manager looks back at John as the door closes.

“Have you looked inside the contents?”

“No.” John shakes his head.

“Then how do you know what’s inside is what we seek?” The Manager asks.

“You’ll know when you see the pictures.”

“Mmm…” The Manager replies.

They make their way into a server room where a few techies can be seen inside sitting around their workstations as a few can be seen playing cards. As they look over, they make their way back towards their stations.

One of the techies comes over as he looks at the Manager, bowing.

“Check the contents before you send it.” He says in Chinese.

The Techie begins work on his computer as he plugs in the usb drive into the computer. Quickly typing away, on the screen he clicks through the directory, looking through the various files, he opens up the pictures. As the Manager looks over at it from his side.

“Academic papers.” The Manager says out loud.

“A password notebook.”

“Send it.” The Manager says in Chinese.

The techie opens up a chat room as he begins to type into it. Then he attaches the files onto the message as he sends it. A response comes from the other end as a friendly tune plays. Then a thumbs up appears in the chat log along with a wire transfer.

The Manager turns around as he looks at John.

“Well done. At least one of you was able to accomplish their job today.”

He pats John’s shoulder as he walks along.

“Originally, we intended on framing you for the job that happened today, you were meant to die as a pawn in a much larger game. Usually this is not how it is meant to happen but the guarantee of death in this case was almost certain. I would like to apologize for what I have done. And beg that you will continue to work with us.”

John stares at the Manager.

“As long as the money is good, I’ll do anything.”

“Great.”

The Manager puts his hand out as John looks at it.

“To a prosperous future.”

John puts his hand out as he shakes it.

Making his way out of the club, the Manager guides him to the back entrance. Holding the door for him, the Manager bows to him as he begins to leave.

“Have a good new year.”

“Yeah, you too.” John replies.

Walking out into the alleyway, the door closes. The loud music from the club can be heard as John begins to look around, leaning on the wall, he stops. Taking in a deep breath, he let’s out a sigh of relief as he looks down at the large duffle bag in his hands.

A scream comes from just outside as John opens his eyes.

He peeks across a corner as he sees an almost naked hostess crying as a host begins to repeatedly slap her. He shouts something in Chinese as John watches.

“The Customer is always right!”

“Okay. Okay.”

“Never reject an advancement from a customer, ever. Do not look away, do not offend the Customer!” The Host continues to shout loudly.

John looks away as he lays against the wall. 

The screaming and crying continues as John just does nothing.

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