Cybergate 2027 - A Baldur's Gate 3 / Cyberpunk 2077 Crossover

XXII

The clean-up crew was eerily effective. Its two members, clad in hazmat suits, bagged the Ironhander bodies and removed gory remains from the basement as if dealing with broken jars in a supermarket. While they were walking to the back door with the corpses, the interface on Barcus' neck blinked, and Astarion asked them to stop. As suspected, someone was attempting to contact the dead goon.

Vhonthra had just taken a break from delving into Shadowheart's manipulated psyche. Sweaty from the experience, she drank from an energy juice can when he approached.

"Say, Vi, can you interact with that guy's interface for me?" He nodded toward Barcus, and the blonde moved over with a curious look. She linked the cord from her wrist to his port, and her expression turned stern.

"It's his boss, Wulbren, asking what's taking so long."

A chance to mock that prick for failing... Or perhaps it was an opportunity to mislead him. "Text him, please, that... they succeeded but accidentally killed... the doctor, and that they lost one guy."

Dr Shiv shook his head. "Why do I have to die?"

"Because Wulbren wouldn't care, Doc, and it should take some heat off your back."

"Oh! Clever."

"He asks who died," Vi said, frowning. "Any idea who those two goons were?"

"Not a clue." Astarion drummed on his chin in thought. "Can you go over Barcus' last calls?"

"Yes... There's Tim, Jeanette, and someone called Brownhands."

"The last one sounds like an Ironhander."

"I don't want to know how he got that name," she said with a sarcastic smirk. Astarion chuckled, but as the seconds passed in silence, sweat crept down his face.

"Wulbren says they should 'clean' the bodies and then come back."

He exhaled in relief. Since the little ruse worked, it seemed wise to extract more info. "One more thing, Vi—ask him when do we meet the Sharrans."

She nodded. Her eyes fluttered for a moment. "He wrote, and I quote, 'In the morning. I'm not losing sleep over these Gonkians.'" She disconnected the cord. "Nice fellow."

"Yeah, Wulbren is a real piece of trash." He gazed at Shadowheart, who was still lying unconscious on the surgical table. "How's the operation going?"

The blonde returned a teasing grin. "I'll tell you when I'm finished."

"Fair enough," Astarion said, and she returned to work on the influencer with the ripperdoc. They didn't need him standing idle and staring, so he followed the cleaning crew outside, sinking into thoughts. He was sick of being chased around! Shar was out of his league, but having Wulbren the Bongle stab him in the back and try to flatline him was humiliating. Vi seemed like she enjoyed danger... Maybe she'd agree to plot revenge with him.

The blonde's aerocar sat in the building's parking lot. That must've been the noise he'd heard before she attacked. Its colour was silver now, and the licence plate looked new. Undoubtedly, she'd changed the digital registration as well. Barcus' car had to be there too, right? It might prove useful if he wanted to trick Wulbren later, but which one was it? Vi could probably find out through someone's interface, so he ran to the clean-up crew and—as absurd as it sounded—asked to leave Barcus' corpse there.

"Do you also want his pistol?" one guy said in an indifferent tone.

"Yeah, why not," Astarion replied, unsure what was the correct response. "But we might need you to pick him up later."