Interlude: A Hand in the Shadows

There must be some vein of logic in the actions of the Arasaka Scion, that much you are certain of; if it was truly madness, then he would not be so deliberate in his requests; he talks to you as if he has already foreseen the conclusion.

But what?

A question of which no satisfactory answer can be found.

If it was only that, then it would not be outside the young man's power to have women shipped to his gilded cage to enjoy and have no need to venture this far to Night City.

The gangsters and petty mercenaries he sought information and likely a connection to are aligned with militech and are marked for death.

Are they important?

Is this Gloria Martinez somehow connected to them? Or does she or her son have a greater role to play in his plans?

Maybe you are ascribing the Scion too much sense, that he truly is insane and, like you were briefed, is suffering from a mild case of delusions, unable to bridge the gap of understanding that he does not live as he would in the video games he often played.

For It would be normal to have questions, even moreso when you work in the Arasaka Corporation, where information is a highly valued commodity; it is encouraged- no, expected, for you to stick your nose into business that doesn't concern yourself; condemnation only arises if you get caught.

Such inquisitiveness is present and frequent among those officers and personnel from the Kyoto branch and a few Dove-aligned employees who investigated their milieu of queries all while working towards the same goal–separately.

Both had the same questions, having accessed the same information, albeit not to the exact scope, owing to the often fractious philosophies and covetous nature of Arasaka's various departments and Towers.

"Who the fuck is Gloria Martinez?"

"Why does he want us to stalk a group of subpar mercenaries?"

"Who let the Young Master get behind the steering wheel?"

All were legitimate inquiries, but the sought answers could only be found in the young man behind it all, and, regardless of how hot these questions were burning, he was not someone they could black bag and threaten with water torture until he revealed the logic behind his insanity.

Of course, those who would fall within the machinations of the Arasaka Scion remained ignorant to these mysteries, blissfully unaware that their unimportant lives would be made, if only slightly, more meaningful by their unwilling and unwitting involvement.

Gloria Martinez would be one of the lucky few; she'd been scheduled for a job interview for a position she did not recall applying to, using a CV she had submitted long ago, before reality ground down any semblance of ambition and hope for self-betterment.