Chapter 33: Deluxo

Afternoon.

Japan town.

Rocky's warehouse.

Lucy arrived at the time they'd agreed on.

She passed the door scanner, watched the indicator flick from red to green, and stepped inside.

Rocky still wasn't there.

Jackie was.

He'd shown up early and claimed a corner like it was his own place. When he saw Lucy walk in, he knew right away this had to be the netrunner Rocky recruited, so he pushed off the crate he was sitting on and walked over.

"Hey. You're Lucy. I'm Jackie. Not sure if L already mentioned me."

"Yeah. I'm Lucy," she said, giving him a slight nod.

Jackie grinned.

"Hah, L never said you were a total knockout. Anyway, welcome to the crew. Grab a seat, L should be here any minute."

He pulled a chair out for her, all easy warmth.

"No, thanks."

Lucy brushed past the chair, moved to one side, and leaned her back against the wall. She folded her arms and settled in to wait.

"Uh… alright then." Jackie scratched his cheek, but didn't lose steam. "L told me your skills are top-tier. With you in, this gig is pretty much a lock."

He kept talking, same enthusiasm, not bothered at all by the cool shoulder.

"Do you guys just like hyping people up?" Lucy asked.

"Me?" He laughed. "Guess so. But I figure that is a good thing. Loyalty, friendship, being decent to people, staying fired up. My mom drilled that into me when I was a kid."

He tipped his head, thinking.

"L's kind of the opposite. He doesn't get excited about much, people included. Only gets serious for the ones close to him, the ones who matter. You're actually the first netrunner I've ever heard him praise. On past gigs, he never had much patience for the ones we worked with."

Lucy's eyes shifted.

"I see."

She had pegged Rocky as the type who was just naturally good with everyone. Hearing it laid out like this, that image cracked.

Her mind flickered back to the night before. Technically, they barely knew each other. If Jackie was telling the truth, then why was Rocky that focused on her already? Just because of her skills on the Net? Lucy didn't know. Maybe if she watched him longer, she'd figure it out.

"How long have you known him?" she asked.

"Me and L?" Jackie leaned against a crate, thinking it through. "Almost two years now. The first time I saw him was in my old friend's clinic. L was still just an apprentice there."

He smiled at the memory.

"My friend said he was hungry to learn, always grinding. I thought he had potential. Then one day he came to me and said he wanted to start running merc work together. That is how we ended up brothers in arms."

Jackie snorted softly.

"Crazy how fast it goes. Back then, he was still just a—"

He caught himself.

His mouth snapped shut like someone hit mute.

"Yeah, can't go any deeper on that," he said, suddenly serious. "If L doesn't want people knowing his past, I respect that."

"I understand," Lucy said.

She hadn't expected him to start unpacking history like that. It had just been a casual question. Now, with Jackie cutting it off halfway, curiosity she usually kept on a tight leash tugged at her.

What was Rocky like two years ago?

Jackie was good at talking. The warehouse had felt like a dead space when she walked in. Now the silence had loosened.

The rolling shutter at the entrance started to climb.

Metal rattled. Both of them turned toward the door.

A car eased into the warehouse.

Classic American design straight out of the 80s. Polished metal body, hard angular lines, a tail wing bolted to the rear like it was daring the air to slow it down. The whole thing looked solid, heavy, and fast.

The gullwing door lifted.

Rocky climbed out.

"L, when did you pick up this thing?" Jackie walked over, circling the car. "Looks fancy, sure, but the style doesn't really scream 'you'."

"Got it recently," Rocky said. "Don't let the retro shell fool you. This thing cost me serious eddies. Performance will knock your jaw loose."

He had wanted his own wheels for a while. Konpeki Plaza made that need obvious. This commission was the perfect excuse to finally do it.

On the surface, the car wasn't as flashy as a screaming red supercar. Underneath, it was anything but simple.

With the Module Library in his corner, there was no way he was dropping real money on a dealership ride. This machine was bought with points, not cash.

[Vehicle Module: Deluxo]

[Classic Deluxo from GTA5. Excellent ground performance, with a switchable flight mode. Airspeed drops when airborne, but maneuverability and control remain incredibly high. A true hybrid land and air platform. Highly customizable. Can be fitted with machine guns, missiles, and high-strength armor plating.]

[Price adjustment: None]

[Item Module: €30,000 per vehicle (default top-end tuning)]

[Tech Expansion: €400,000]

It wasn't as loud visually as a supercar, but it still looked clean and expensive, with the kind of presence that told anyone watching that it was not cheap.

More importantly, Deluxo's performance was brutal—strong armor, solid weapons, good handling. Being able to go airborne opened up routes most people didn't have. For rushing into a job or getting the hell out when it went sideways, terrain stopped being a problem.

That was why Rocky picked it.

Of course, a stock Deluxo wasn't enough.

The base model only had two seats. The armor and weapon output were fine where they came from, but in Night City, dropped into this timeline, they felt soft. That didn't match his standards at all.

Luckily, Deluxo came with a whole family of expansion modules.

Rocky spent another €10,000 on the [Deluxo Four Seat Expansion Module], turning it into a proper crew ride. Another €20,000 went into the [Deluxo Full Reinforcement Module], cranking its armor and weapon systems to something more fitting for Night City's average level of insanity.

Finally, he threw €10,000 at the [Deluxo Jet Propulsion Booster Expansion], upgrading its mobility even further.

Seven figures in eddies worth of top-tier vehicle, stitched together for a total of €70,000 in module costs.

"L, don't try to scam me," Jackie said, eyeing the car skeptically. "I'm not buying it."

Rocky didn't argue. He just smiled.

"You'll see when we take it out. For now, we should go over the op."

He led Jackie and Lucy into a side room off the main warehouse floor. Rocky had turned this space into a compact operations center.

Terminals lined one wall. A small weapons rack sat in the corner. A heavy table anchored the middle of the room, already scattered with shards and printouts.

Everything he needed for this kind of job was right here.

"Let's run the plan one more time," he said, taking the head of the table. "First step, Lucy helps us book a room on the target floor at Konpeki Plaza using a fake profile. Any issues with that?"

"Let me check," Lucy said.

She picked up a tablet, slotted her connector, and hooked into the building's online systems. Data streams flickered across her eyes.

"The target is on the fortieth floor," she said a moment later. "That level is reserved for staff from small and mid-sized corps. It is part of a lower-tier corporate housing package, and there is only one suite type assigned to that floor."

She unplugged, the light fading from her gaze.

"As long as I spoof a small company employee account and book that suite type, we are guaranteed a room on that floor. It is straightforward."

"Good," Rocky said. "That is perfect."