15. Resolution

"Splattered with blood again."

Wiping the blood from his face with the back of his hand, Karl sighed. "When will humanity finally evolve to the point where getting headshot doesn't result in a blood spray?"

"This..."

As Karl walked toward Patrick, the middle-aged police officer who had stepped out from behind cover, intending to stop this young man from throwing his life away, stood frozen about seven or eight meters away. He found it hard to believe what he had just witnessed.

Everything had happened so fast that his mind couldn't quite keep up. A cyberpsycho that the NCPD had been completely unable to handle had been neutralized by this young man? And it took only a single encounter?!

Under the massive shock of this reality, as Karl looked over after wiping his face, the officer instinctively asked, "Are... are you alright?"

"I'm perfectly fine, of course."

Retracting his monowire and holstering his Kenshin pistol, Karl glanced at the officer before crouching down to search the cyberpsycho's pockets.

"What are you doing?"

Noticing Karl's actions, the officer stepped closer, asking with a hint of curiosity.

"Scavenging for cash, obviously. What else?"

Had this NCPD officer never looted a corpse before? After a practiced search, Karl found the cyberpsycho to be shockingly poor—he didn't even have a single Eurodollar on him.

"This is..."

Feeling a flat object at his fingertips, Karl pulled it from the cyberpsycho's chest pocket and discovered it was a data shard.

A shard?

Sleight-of-handing the shard into his sleeve, Karl stood up and looked at the officer who had approached during his search. He pointed at the corpse on the ground and asked, "What's the bounty on him? I recall the NCPD issued one yesterday, right? I've taken him out, so can we settle this?"

"Uh..."

The middle-aged officer had actually noticed a slight movement of Karl's hand, but he didn't pay it much mind. He signaled the other wary NCPD officers that the area was safe, confirming that Karl wasn't a threat, and began checking the NCPD bounty list.

"Patrick Bell. Bounty: ten thousand eddies. Dead or alive."

"Only ten thousand?"

Hearing Karl's dissatisfied tone, the officer realized that this young man was almost certainly a mercenary. Only mercs cared more about the payout than their lives. Perhaps because it was rare to see such a decent-looking young mercenary, and because he had, in a way, saved his life, the officer actually offered an explanation.

"He was only recently put on the wanted list, and this is the initial bounty issued after he went on the run. If you had waited a few more days, the bounty would likely have increased."

"Increased to how much?"

"Based on my experience..." The officer thought for a moment. A cyberpsycho equipped with a Dynalar Sandevistan Mk.1, Mantis Blades, and a significant amount of subcutaneous cyberware—if he had managed to kill more people and escape before MaxTac arrived... "It could have easily reached over a hundred thousand eddies."

"That much?" Karl looked down at the corpse with a hint of regret. "Sounds like it has better appreciation potential than the Eurodollar itself."

"The 'Dynalar Sandevistan Mk.1' alone costs seventy-five thousand eddies brand new, not to mention the salvage value of the Mantis Blades and other cyberware."

Hearing this, Karl’s gaze refocused on the body. "Then, could I..."

"The body has to be taken back by the NCPD. This suspect was a security operative for Arasaka. According to the contracts signed during his lifetime, everything he owned, including his personal savings, belongs to Arasaka." Knowing what Karl was thinking, the officer explained why it was impossible.

"Signing away your rights even after death? That’s classic corporate behavior."

Karl wasn't surprised that an Arasaka security guard was using another company's Sandevistan. The reason was simple: Arasaka didn't have their own Sandevistan model available to the public yet. They might have been developing one in secret, but it wasn't on the market. It was clear that the Sandevistan was not something an ordinary person could afford, and most who used them were likely just like this cyberpsycho—having signed away their ownership rights in exchange for the hardware.

"Looks like my business here is done then."

Karl watched as the NCPD officers gathered around, using equipment to set up light-based caution tape around the perimeter. He turned to the officer and asked, "What's your name? Let's exchange contact info."

"For the bounty transfer, right? Don't worry, it'll arrive by this afternoon at the latest."

The officer promptly sent his account details and reference info to Karl. As Karl received the message, he learned the man's name.

*Johnson. A standard American name.*

"I'll be going then, Mr. Johnson. If anything like this comes up again, feel free to reach out. I'm always happy to help the NCPD handle things... provided the pay is right."

Karl had caught glimpses of Johnson during the fight, noticing his attempt to rush over and provide support. For that act—whether driven by duty or conscience—Karl kept a measure of respect, hence the formal "Mr."

"It's been a long time since I've been addressed so respectfully."

That wasn't a word you heard often on these streets. Watching Karl wave goodbye and walk away, Johnson smiled. "Looks like this city still has a few things worth hoping for."

"Officer Johnson, the incident report needs your signature."

"Oh, right. I'm coming."

...

"So, Patrick was taken out, huh?"

Ten minutes later, within an Arasaka special strike team, someone received the report regarding Patrick. However, the news only held his attention for a few seconds before he tossed it aside.

"I thought that since you were from the Tyger Claws like me, you might make a decent subordinate. It seems your limits were reached."

The person who received the news immediately began reviewing another file in his mind.

*Regarding the volunteers for the proprietary Sandevistan experiment, then.*