Chapter 9: Alcohol

"Good evening, Night City! Breaking news flash. Westbrook District is in chaos today; thirty-two criminal incidents in a single day, leaving the NCPD exhausted and clamoring for a raise. The once-dominant Tiger Claws suffered heavy losses today: forty-one core members died in the streets, all the same way! Ha!..."

"Buentrabajo (Spanish: Well done), girl!" Jack Welles, sitting in the passenger seat, listened intently to the radio broadcast, turned, and gave Xida a thumbs-up. "You really went for it hard!"

"There aren't enough of those Tiger Claws scum to die; they're like cockroaches in a dump, impossible to kill off completely!" V drove, glancing through the rearview mirror at the short-haired girl in the back seat talking to someone. "But thanks to Xida, otherwise getting bitten by these cockroaches would still be disgusting."

"I'm just average; it's my partner... my boyfriend who's amazing!" Xida replied, arbitrarily defining the nature of their relationship, and glanced nervously at Yahweh beside her.

Yahweh turned to smile at her, his right hand remaining in place with no intention of moving.

Xida, however, felt a mix of gain and loss, her left hand tightly but loosely clasping his. Realizing now was not the right time for deep connection, she sighed and turned to respond to the surprised gossip of the two in the front.

"Joooo!" Jack was shocked that Xida's "boyfriend" could remotely eliminate forty-one people in an instant without appearing; he figured that even if not a legendary-level cyberhacker, he was close.

V raised an eyebrow. She had watched closely; the forty-one Tiger Claws trash died in a terribly gruesome manner. As a senior employee of Arasaka Corporation, she instinctively identified Xida's "boyfriend" as an extremely dangerous, uncontrollable factor, but she suppressed this professional instinct in an instant.

In Night City, strength is the foundation of survival. For Xida to have such a powerful partner guarding her, V sincerely wished her well from the heart; she didn't want to hear one day that this cute little girl had died a tragic death.

Xida graciously thanked the two for their unconventional blessings and stated she and her boyfriend had private matters to discuss. V and Jack exchanged a teasing smile and stopped nagging.

"Yahweh..." Xida shifted slightly to the left, turned to look at Yahweh, getting closer to his illusory form.

"Xida?" Yahweh likewise turned his head to look at her beautiful violet eyes; he sensed her emotions were somewhat unstable.

Hitata Castedei is a very emotional girl. This was the conclusion Yahweh reached through twenty-four-hour uninterrupted observation.

Their first meeting was the same; when she, for some reason Yahweh still didn't understand, recklessly inserted the mysterious Biochip into her Neural Interface, he had already sensed it.

She was like the seductive Asmodeus, leading people to fall; she was the first anchor that dragged him into the mortal world, yet he was willing.

So he simply shifted right to Xida's position, letting their figures overlap.

Just like this morning, even without the warmth of physical contact, the feeling of hearts linked together did not deceive.

Xida pressed her lips together, turning to look at the flowing, flickering neon lights outside the window.

In the blurred reflection of the car window, the short-haired girl's dimples were flushed red.

Compared to Xida's cautious driving and Yahweh's steady autonomous driving, V's driving style was particularly ferocious. Only when the Thorton Mackinaw stopped did Xida snap out of the ambiguous atmosphere. She glanced in surprise at the time displayed on the car screen; a half-hour drive, V had delivered them to Afterlife in just fifteen minutes according to the navigation.

"By the way, this is V's first time here, right?" Jack Welles got straight out of the car, leading V down the stairs at the head of the group, heading toward the entrance of Afterlife.

Xida shook her somewhat dizzy head, got out of the car with Yahweh, and walked side-by-side following Jack and V.

"Hi! Emmerick!" Seeing from afar that Jack and the security guard at the Afterlife entrance didn't seem to get along, Xida hurried over to greet him; she didn't want to get scolded by Rogue again later.

"Welcome back, kid," facing Xida, a good kid who frequently entered and exited Afterlife, the fierce-looking Emmerick softened.

Jack rubbed his nose and, under V's mocking white eyes, followed Xida into the Afterlife club.

"You'd never guess, V," Jack whispered to V, "this place was a morgue decades ago!"

"Oh!" V replied perfunctorily, curiously examining Afterlife's unique decor.

"Don't take it lightly, girl," Jack patted V's shoulder. "Can you imagine? Susan Forrest, Old Serpent, and even Morgan Blackhand are regulars here!" Regarding the legendary figures famous throughout Night City, Jack knew them all by heart.

"Good evening, Xida," the bartender Claire greeted the guest as usual. "And Jack Welles and..." She hesitated appropriately, kindly leaving space for the new face to introduce herself.

"V, just call me V." V nodded to Claire to express thanks.

"Alright, Jack, V, want a drink?" Claire put down the freshly wiped glass. "Xida is not allowed to drink; Rogue specifically said girls with low alcohol tolerance are not allowed to drink!" She squinted, smiling, and pointed toward the distance.

"Hmm..." Xida stood on tiptoes and made a cute grimace at Rogue, who was watching the commotion from afar, but she did not refuse Rogue's kindness.

Jack and V were somewhat surprised by Queen of the Afterlife Rogue's care for Xida, but said nothing more, letting Xida sit on the other side, which conveniently gave the young girl and her partner on the call some private space.

"Two Tequila Sunrises, with some beer and chili." Jack made a "two" gesture with his fingers, comically enough that V couldn't bear to look.

"Two Johnny Silverhands, coming right up," Claire skillfully and quickly mixed the drinks.

"Looks like someone did their homework here." She complimented, pushing the glasses toward Jack and V.

"That's right, chica (girl)." Jack took the glass.

"What slang are you two talking?" V looked at the two somewhat confusedly, as if they were conducting an underground meeting speaking words she didn't understand.

"Just an old rule of this place." Xida, sitting aside, took a moment to explain.

"That's right, the drinks here are all named after regulars," Claire added while smiling and cleaning the bar and glasses. "The kind who died particularly spectacularly, preferably after pulling off a big job and dying halfway through; the people of Night City will remember their names."

"Makes me want to get my own set," Jack took a light sip of the drink; the sweet taste mixed with spiciness made him exclaim it was thrilling.

"The price is too high..." V shook her head, somewhat unable to understand.

"Everyone dies eventually! Rather than dying of old age doing nothing, I'd rather pull off a big job and not live in vain!" Jack was quite open-minded, looking full of ambition.

V didn't answer, simply raising her glass toward Jack.

"To Night City! And to Afterlife!" They clinked glasses heartily and downed the drinks in one gulp.

Xida sat on the other side and politely raised her glass filled with ice water to signal the two.

"My name is Jack, Jack Welles," Jack wiped the spilled drink from the corner of his mouth. "Want to keep a record of my recipe?" He asked Claire.

"Sure." Claire hesitated for a few seconds, not wanting to disappoint Jack.

"One vodka, with ice, lime juice, ginger beer," Jack paused. "Most importantly... add some love."

"Alright, I've got it." Claire nodded, turned, and asked V beside her, "And you, Miss V?"

"I'll pass..." V shook her head; if nothing unexpected happened, most of her future life would be spent at Arasaka Corporation, having nothing to do with a legendary life.

"I want it, I want it!" Xida looked on eagerly from the side.

Yahweh was also curious what recipe Xida wanted to leave, given her terrible alcohol tolerance.

"Alright, alright..." Unable to withstand Xida's nagging, Claire helplessly agreed.

"One for me, and one for my boyfriend!" Xida started pushing her luck again.

"I really can't do anything with you..." Claire was both helpless and curious what kind of drink recipe was in Xida's little head.

"One Hitata Castedei! The recipe is one New Tequila, orange liqueur, a bit of lime juice, coarse salt, and ice!" Xida happily gestured with both hands in the air.

"And more?"

"And more... let me ask," Xida frowned her delicate brows, turning to look at Yahweh who had already arrived by her side.

"Yahweh, what is your surname?" she asked in a low voice; not even knowing his surname was a big mistake by Xida!

"Yahweh Castelli." Yahweh reciprocated the courtesy, looking at Xida's suddenly crimson, adorable cheeks, well pleased with her cute reaction.

"... Yahweh Castelli! The recipe is..." She was so excited she forgot her words, "One part gin, vermouth, and vodka, plus lemon peel and an olive!"

"The King and Queen of Cocktails?" Claire laughed exaggeratedly, "Sharing a surname... it seems our little Xida has grown up..."

"Mm..." Xida felt her face was about to melt from the heat.

Jack and V exchanged a glance, both finding little Xida quite amusing.

"In any case, to Night City!" Jack and V clinked glasses; Xida joined the merriment with water in place of wine, while Yahweh sat beside her, silently observing everything.

Beneath the green lights of the Afterlife, the joy and happiness overflowing on their faces were so striking, so enviable.