16. The First Car

"Your breakfast."

"Carl, did you go out?"

Oliver, still groggy from being woken up by Carl, pushed aside Jack, whose feet were stretched out onto his stomach, and immediately spotted the large bag in Carl’s hand.

"What are we eating?"

"Sushi combo, both large portions."

"Sushi, huh..."

Jack rubbed his eyes and sat up, yawning, but then his nose twitched at a strange scent. Following the smell, he looked at Carl.

"Carl, why do you smell like blood?"

"It’s on the news."

Carl pointed to the television, which was broadcasting an NCPD report. The content was... an NCPD officer had heroically taken down a cyberpsycho. And the location was... downstairs?

"You ran into a cyberpsycho!?"

Oliver was fully awake now. He scrutinized Carl’s body, and only after seeing there were no injuries did he relax. "You got dragged into it? That’s rotten luck."

"I wouldn't call it bad luck."

Carl took the plastic box containing the ‘plastic’ sushi out of the bag and set it on the table in front of them.

"I’m the one who took that cyberpsycho down."

"Huh?"

How could a simple breakfast run lead to taking down a cyberpsycho? As Oliver and Jack questioned him, Carl walked over to the vending machine to buy two bottles of purified water and recounted what had happened.

"You weren't dragged into it, you actively participated. Sandevistan, mantis blades, subcutaneous armor—you actually dared to face an opponent like that? You really have a death wish."

Oliver was struck by Carl’s audacity. If he encountered a cyberpsycho like that on the street, he would have turned and run without a second thought.

"I just wanted to make some money. Who knew it would only net me ten thousand eddies? I couldn't even cover the cost of a new weapon."

"Next time something like this happens, call us, Carl. It’s too risky for you to go it alone."

Jack didn't approve of Carl’s reckless behavior either. Carl nodded in response to their concern.

"I just wanted to test if my instincts were right. It won't happen again."

He wasn't suicidal. Experiencing the Sandevistan once was enough. If he had to face it again, he would at least need to upgrade his own cyberware first... or learn more techniques from braindances.

After buying the drinks and tossing them to the others, Carl remembered the chip he had swiped.

"Speaking of which, I picked up a chip. It’s risky to plug an external chip directly into my own interface port. Oliver, can I use your computer?"

"Be my guest."

With permission from Oliver, who was busy skewering sushi with a fork alongside Jack, Carl walked to the computer in Oliver’s room and inserted the chip.

The data loaded quickly. The chip contained nothing extraordinary, just a short text record. But the content of the message was strange:

"The cherry blossoms born from chrysanthemums and roses have arrived in Night City."

Carl understood "Night City," but the code words were completely lost on him. What were chrysanthemums, roses, and cherry blossoms? Just flowers? But using the word "born" suggested they might be people. Did the sentence mean someone had arrived in Night City?

There was too little information. Why would a cyberpsycho be carrying a chip with such a message? He couldn't fathom its significance. However, one thing was clear: this was all the information he had.

Carl valued information gathering highly. He committed almost everything to memory, whether useful or not, because his talents were maximized through the accumulation of data.

After asking Oliver and Jack to save him some bean curd sushi, Carl browsed other websites and stumbled upon a car dealership page.

"Isn't this Old Captain’s car site?"

Oliver, sipping water while bringing over the bean curd sushi Carl had requested, saw the screen and spoke up.

"Old Captain?"

"He’s a fixer in Santo Domingo. I heard he used to be a corpo, but he hated the corporate structure, so he became a fixer. I didn't know he sold cars too."

"They’re all used cars."

Jack walked over, familiar with the site. "Basically, they’re cars where the previous owners died or were in a hurry to sell. If you don't mind that, the prices are pretty cheap."

"It is cheap."

Looking at the vehicles, most priced under tens of thousands, some even under ten thousand, Carl had an idea.

"Oliver, Jack, what do you think about me buying a car? That way, we won't have to cram together when we travel."

"Buying a used car?" Jack stared at the screen. "Won't there be issues later on?"

"Old Captain’s cars are trustworthy. Generally, anything he handles personally is clean. You can check which ones he’s selling himself; those have been cleared and are safe. Forget the other listings; those really might be risky."

Oliver knew a lot about Old Captain’s site. Every street kid in Santo Domingo had browsed it at least once. After all, for a street kid, what could be more attractive than a cool car and a powerful, stylish gun?

"Do you have any recommendations?"

Looking at the dazzling array of vehicles, all described with flowery language, Carl didn't know much about cars and decided to leave the decision to Oliver.

"For starters, let’s go with a four-seater. Even if we take two cars, it doesn't matter, but for missions, we really need a four-seater."

After browsing for a while, Oliver pointed to a car that Carl recognized—not just recognized, he had actually sat in one before.

[Archer Hella EC-D I360]

This car, known for its solid reputation and durability, was listed on Old Captain’s site for only 31,000 eddies, and it was nearly brand new. As for why it was nearly new? The person who bought it was shot dead by street thugs on the way to pick it up. The owner's family, having lost their breadwinner, couldn't afford the car and had to sell it.

"This one... alright, let's do it."

Carl quickly decided on his first car purchase in Night City.