After Rebecca and Sasha returned to H Building, they carefully put away the clothes they had just bought. Without wasting any time, they took the elevator straight up to David's floor.
Coincidentally, David had just returned from meeting with V and was lounging on the couch, watching TV.
When the doorbell rang and the two women walked in, David raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised. "What's wrong? Did something happen while using the armor?"
That was his first instinct—after all, the [Project: Source] armor was still in its testing phase.
Rebecca and Sasha quickly shook their heads like a pair of wind-up dolls, then launched into their explanation, recounting everything that had gone down outside the mall.
David's expression darkened as he listened. A flash of intensity crossed his eyes. "Oh? Someone from the biotech company actually approached you directly?"
"Mm-hmm!" Rebecca nodded vigorously. Her voice turned sharper as she added, "And you won't believe this, but that biotech company... they've developed something twisted. One of the guys we beat was on the verge of dying—and then suddenly, after injecting something, he mutated into this huge monster!"
"That's right!" Sasha chimed in, her tone more analytical. "If I had to guess, it's likely a newly developed serum. Something that rewrites the body's genetic structure in a short amount of time. Essentially, it triggers mutations."
There was a clear contrast between the two women.
Rebecca was all emotion—intensity, gut reactions, and fire. Sasha, however, was the calm in the storm. Her mind moved quickly and methodically. A textbook hacker with the skills to match.
"A new serum…" David muttered under his breath, frowning deeply.
Given the pace of current scientific advancements, the idea of a serum that could rapidly rewrite genetic code wasn't far-fetched anymore. Especially not in Night City. Companies like Biotechnica didn't give a damn about ethics. If it meant bigger profits, they'd sacrifice anything.
"David," Sasha said softly, worry slipping into her usually composed voice. "Biotech has links with other megacorps in the city. If this escalates because of what happened today, you could be dragged into something bigger."
She wasn't wrong.
She was thinking not just about herself, but the potential consequences David might face by standing too close to them.
But David simply gave a calm smile and said, "If I'm afraid of something this small, how can I hope to control Night City in the future?"
That one line.
Simple. Direct. Unshakably confident.
Sasha froze. Her breath hitched slightly.
Then David added, glancing at both of them, "Besides, Sasha, we're all in this together now. You, me, Rebecca—there's no separation between us anymore."
"We're a team, right? Partners riding the same wave."
Rebecca grinned wide, completely on board. "Exactly! What's there to be afraid of when we've got David on our side?"
She spoke with the same naive honesty that always made her feel like a younger sister. But as she spoke, she missed the way Sasha's eyes changed as they lingered on David.
We're all in this together now… there's no separation between us anymore…
His words echoed over and over in Sasha's mind.
Does that mean… he sees me as his own person now?
Is that his way of protecting me?
It sounded… kind of… sweet. Maybe even romantic…
The more Sasha thought about it, the redder her cheeks became. Her normally sharp mind was suddenly spinning in an entirely different direction. That calm hacker's demeanor started to crumble beneath a storm of emotions.
And there it was.
Classic Sasha.
She was brilliant. Tactical. Logical. But at heart? A total love brain.
She'd never experienced anything like romance before, never had someone she admired this much treat her like an equal. And now David's casual, confident words had sent her imagination spiraling into fantasy.
"Hey, Sasha? What's with you?" Rebecca blinked in confusion, noticing the odd expression on her friend's face. "Why are you zoning out all of a sudden?"
"Huh?! N-No! I wasn't thinking anything weird!" Sasha snapped out of it, her voice rising a pitch too high. She waved her hands as if swatting away her own thoughts, then coughed to hide the flush in her cheeks. "Ahem… Anyway, David, should we take any action on this now?"
Before David could answer, the television behind him suddenly interrupted with breaking news.
["Hello, residents of Night City! This is a breaking story—just moments ago, a large-scale gunfight broke out in the Watson North Industrial Zone!"]
["Our reporters followed the NCPD to the scene, where a direct confrontation was confirmed between the military tech company's personnel and members of the Vortex Gang."]
["We now go live to our correspondent interviewing one of the military tech operatives on the ground…"]
The room fell into silence as all three turned to the TV.
David leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing. Another corporate clash. Another bloody battle on the streets.
"Looks like the city's heating up again," he muttered.
Rebecca snorted. "When is it not?"
Sasha, meanwhile, was still struggling to keep her thoughts from spiraling back toward David. Her cheeks were still faintly pink, her fingers nervously tapping against the hem of her jacket.
But deep inside, she had already made a quiet, firm decision.
Whatever happens… I want to stand by David.
Not just as a teammate, not even just as a hacker.
I want to be something more.