65. THE LO-LIFE

The Lo-Life is the northeastern most business in the Zone.  It sits right next to the NE entrance, and it takes advantage of that.  The owner is an uptown fixer named Sketch.  Sketch is a respected talent broker who paid a song for the bar after the walls went up.  Then, after the trouble died down, he opened the place as a convenient hassle free place where any deal could be struck, anything could be bought or sold, without the law interfering.  As a bonus he never has to worry about health inspectors, permits, or taxes.  On top of that, due to its location of being technically inside the Zone, but within steps of the exit, the bar has become a popular place for corporates and rich kids to go “slumming” in the Zone so they can tell their friends how hardcore they are.  But it also gets the best booze in the Zone, and the eatery next door, also owned by Sketch, gets fresh food.  So the places have also become popular with the locals who can afford it… which usually means pros laying low and hard men and women who can get the job done.  This creates a perfect melting pot for the kinds of deals made here.

But it comes at a cost… the beaver brats and suits that come tend to give the place a low reputation with the rest of the Zone.  It’s not a solo bar, as the place is too clean, sterile, and too full of tourists for any respectable pro to become a regular, and its too seedy for the outsiders to come on a regular basis as well.  But there is enough overlap that deals are made and contracts are brokered here often. 

Too keep things copacetic, Sketch has deals with several bars and restaurants in the Zone to bring in food, booze, and other hard to get needs.  They pay Bushido their protection fee, and they pay the cops guarding the Zone entrance regular bribes so that their dealings and shipments go off smoothly. 

There have been incidents however.  Back in 2020 a group of Exotics in feline packages from Little Odessa who called themselves the Aristocatz started hanging around the place.  After one of them said something smarmy to visiting member of Maelstrom, none of them were ever seen again.

(The Lo-Life originally appeared in Night City Stories from Atlas Games.)

Written By Deric Bernier, image from Crime Craft

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