28/08/2077
Megabuilding Ten, Watson District
Night City, California
V and Meredith
-
The morning had been a slow one, the sun was, in a rare display of laziness, was refusing to come up as early as it usually did. Instead of the golden yellows and oranges that usually were splayed onto the mega-buildings and skyscrapers, a dark tinge of red had replaced the bright colours as the sun slowly came to its own, V rubbing away the sleep from his eyes, stopping himself from tossing and turning in his sheets.
The presence of Meredith still in his bed made him turn to his right, rolling to his shoulder to see her quietly snoozing under the sheets. She must have woken up in the middle of the night, because he noticed that she had taken his tank top that he had been wearing the night before draped over her chest, the fabric obviously too large for her as it flopped onto the mattress, revealing a similar amount of skin that she had done when she had taken off her dress shirt.
He had to admit, reluctantly, that she might have looked better in his clothes than V himself did.
He silently turned to his left shoulder, allowing Meredith to continue taking some more sleep. She'd affirmed to him that it was her day off, the computers and the geeks could handle a quiet Sunday, she at least had faith in that, and she'd already confirmed that the Flathead drone was hers. She was going to allow herself to enjoy the free day she would have, and at the very least, grant herself a lazy morning. Something that V could personally attest to, as he himself enjoyed a good morning where he could do his own thing. The corporate life was one that didn't allow much of a personal life.
If he had to fraction it, his professional life had been three-quarters of his entire life, and something about him being only twenty-seven made him feel that his early years were wasted away. High executives had confirmed that for somebody so young in the business, he had the acumen and experience of somebody much older and much wiser than him. Perhaps, in his mind, it was his experience of the three-year service in the NUSA military. He'd seen things that had pretty much eliminated the youthful ignorance and innocence he'd still kept with him when he left the Aldecaldo Nomads.
That hope and optimism, demolished effectively as he travelled free states that yearned to be free. Yearned for freedom for so long, that fighting and dying was the way they would achieve it until the peace was confirmed and America had begun to rebuild itself from the second civil war in its history.
As the morning light continued to rise and lighten up, V had already received a ping from Jackie. He'd confirmed with Dex that the heist was ready to go at Konpeki Plaza, and they were to meet one more time at The Afterlife before the job went ahead. Nerves were reaching V's gut, something felt off but then again, every single time he wandered into danger he would suppress the feeling. It was necessary to do so, there was no place for amateur actions in a job that was worth the possibility of millions of eddies for everyone involved. They were about to raid the single largest corporation and one of the most powerful in the world of a biochip, and pray that they never got caught out.
The more he thought about, the more he felt normal at the fact that perhaps the butterflies were to be expected. Robbing Arasaka was the job of a lifetime.
Rising from his bed, V took the empty glasses and bottles, disposing of them in the kitchen as Meredith remained in bed. He made himself a warm mug of coffee to wake himself up from the internal laziness that he could still feel set in his bones. The holo-presenter was quiet, turned off in the night before as the couple eagerly kept themselves entertained with each other without the background noise. The fact they had worked through the two bottles of wine and bourbon was pleasantly surprising, but V didn't mind. It wouldn't cost much to replace them, and as long as they went to good use, he wouldn't pay it much mind.
Finishing the coffee, he went to his wardrobe to get dressed. The regular black Oxfords, suit pants and white shirt would do, at least make him look presentable when he went to one of the hottest clubs in the entire city. Fixers effectively spent half of their time there, making contacts, speaking to other fixers, some of them even looking to gain a favour with another fixer, or if anything, even try to speak to Rogue.
V continued with his own morning ministrations, mainly giving himself a shave. The beard was starting to itch, and any decent corpo that was walking in to Konpeki Plaza needed to look like the consummate professional. Walking in like a bearded, nomadic street kid didn't slide right in his personal experience. As soon as the shave had been done, he'd immediately gone to brushing and flossing his teeth. His daily cycle of making himself busy before leaving kicked in, and as soon as he was done, he took a moment to himself as he sat on the couch. He noticed Meredith roll over to face him, eyes fluttering open slowly, rolling over again and again before she finally woke up. V smiled as she perked up from the pillows and sheets.
"Morning, Stout."
Meredith grumbled from the bed. "Can't keep up the romance in the morning, V? Shameful displays of non-affection, makes me feel unloved."
V's eyes rolled. "The day you ask to be loved by me is the day we stop these little escapades. Let's not get too carried away with having to talk about fucking emotions. That isn't the way we roll."
Meredith sighed loudly, rolling herself out from under the sheets of the bed. Even wearing his top, her own black lacey underwear and having bedraggled hair, Meredith still managed to look like the stunning, corporate bombshell that she was. Her lithe form slowly sauntered over to the couch, she bit lightly on her lip as she climbed on to V's hips, placing languid, longing kisses on to his cheeks, V himself nuzzling and small pecks on her neck.
"Well, we can talk about more fucking and less of the emotions if you really want to. I can think of one of those things we did a lot of last night, and I don't see why we can't do more…"
V hummed as he began to play with Meredith's hair, placing strands of wild hair behind her ears. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"Mmmm, definitely. We can play all day, if you want."
"You'll want to do that anyway when I tell you what I did with your little virus shard."
Meredith stopped, leaning up over V's head as she glared directly into his eyes. "The fuck did you do to the shard, V?"
"Nothing bad, you get as much data as you would have if I didn't mess around with your cyberpsycho-virus." V muttered, staring directly back. "I gave you direct oversight and control over Maelstrom's entire financial network, pretty much turned their finances into a puppet for you…"
"So?"
"…so, if Meredith Stout wants to look like one of the great, caring corporate types who wants the key to the city by doing a kind and moral thing by destroying a gang of cyberpsychos permanently because they have no net to run with no money to use, you can be."
Meredith's eyes softened as he explained. "You looking to put me in public relations instead of Ops Management, why, trying to keep me safe from Verstappen and the ghost of O'Connor?"
"Favours, you know, our currency. PR is a shitshow, but you'd be good for it, and you wouldn't have to worry about cemented and thrown into the ocean."
Meredith laid a long kiss, one with tongue heavy on V's lips. She lingered; aftertaste was still fresh on his lips even five minutes after she had stopped kissing him. She teased him, grinding her hips against his own before she stopped, sliding off before she curled up next to him on the couch. Meredith turned on the holo-presenter, the quiet voices of the news reporters filtering into V's apartments. Her hands couldn't keep still, and as V closed his eyes to find his own calm before he went on his way, Meredith placed her head gently on his shoulder once again, her eyes closing as soon as she felt V's triple-drummed heartbeat slow down.
She had been the first to notice how that when he was leading the Cypher-9 team, he'd been the most augmented soldier in the team by far. He'd started off as some sub-contractor that helped Militech sort out some leaks which stopped when he had done the job and he'd continued working as he became a Militech internal problem-solver until he got placed in Internal Ops. Cypher-9 was his team, pretty much doing black operations that kept Militech secrets and reputation in the best light. Verstappen had placed a bullseye for V as a secondary target, but Meredith had said very little.
Her personal life was hers and hers alone, perhaps V knew more than anyone else at the office. Thankfully, that meant Verstappen didn't question her other than her professional working relationship with him. There wasn't much to say there, she worked as an ops manager for him, not much else.
"I could say the same for you."
"Why?"
Meredith looked up at V from her head-perch on his shoulder. "I might have had a word with a fixer, who knew a netrunner who might have slipped into Militech's systems when we retrieved O'Connor's corpse. Said netrunner might have corrupted a lot of the data on O'Connor's CPU so we have some deniability when it comes to Internal Affairs. Well, not me, but you do if you ever get caught."
"How much did it cost?"
"Enough for it to be worth it, besides. I said I'd cover for you if you got the drone, you kept your end of the deal. I kept mine. We're even, V."
V's heart warmed, if only a little bit before the cold tinge of the micro-generator cooled it down. "I appreciate that, Meredith. Thank you."
"As long as you don't try and walk into the office, you'll be good for the foreseeable future."
It didn't take long for Meredith to have a shower and remain relaxed. The day passed by, the pair ordering food and spending the day with each other as they usually did when Meredith managed to pull a day off work before it hit six in the afternoon. He got another ping from Jackie, asking him where he was.
"Shit, gotta go."
"Where to?" Meredith asked, eyes flittering to V as he pulled over a black, floral patterned waistcoat, buttoning it up before he took the A-228 Chao smart pistol from his stash and slipped it into his hip holster.
"Meeting at The Afterlife, just another job brief. Should hear from me in a few days." V grunted, taking the hardcase from under his desk and taking the document shard from the case, handing it to Meredith. "Documentation and blueprints for the Flathead, as promised."
"Thanks, V."
V placed a chaste kiss to Meredith's cheek. "No worries, make sure to lock up when you're going home."
"Of course." Meredith replied, blushing slightly at V's actions. He might not have cared, but occasionally it felt nice to be cared for. "V, give me a call when it's done. Just to know that you're, you know, safe?"
V waved his hand nonchalantly before he left the apartment. "Yes, ma'am."
It didn't take long for V to move to the heavy elevator with the hardcase in hand, he'd already called for the Outlaw GTS to be ready for when he reached the ground floor. The hustle and bustle of the megabuilding was in full swing when he swiftly slipped through the crowds and the persons that shouted and called out for others as he made his way past. All V could think of was that they were all a bunch of no-hopers and deadbeats, a majority of them were hence why he usually kept himself away from them unless they absolutely needed something from him. Even then, he was hesitant to even look at any of them.
As he stood in the elevator, he pinged a message to Jackie, telling the broad ex-gangoon that he was on his way with the drone and the client's info. The elevator itself rolled slowly down, stopping on random floors to pick more people up to go all the way down to start milling around the city. He soon pushed himself to the front of the elevator, the first man to leave the steel cage of people before he quickly jogged down the steps of the mega-building to the hypercar that waited for him.
He slipped into the leather driving seat, sliding the hardcase in the next seat before driving through the heavy traffic to The Afterlife.
-
28/08/2077
The Afterlife Club, Watson District
Night City, California
VV had pulled through the evening traffic and parked up neatly right next to Jackie's cycle. The traffic itself wasn't too bad for a Saturday evening, although he suspected that was more because it was early and Afterlife was a club that nobody could just walk into. The Outlaw GTS had turned off it's lights and neon glow, with V hopping out with the Flathead drone hardcase held tight in his grasp. A lot of the kids trying to get in looked like they had no chance, too young to be getting in or just too unnoticed to have garnered the attention for them to get an invitation.
The Afterlife was a fixer-joint, a place where they could find a spec to hide away in and look for somebody, they knew would be good business. Clients, solos, mercs, any one of any stripe or specialty got in if they were good enough for it. V himself could have gotten in if he had worked often enough for his rep to grow enough. Jobs were common enough and he could do most of them, it was just his lack of interest. Corporate warfare and armed situation strategy were major parts of his skillset, and whilst the latter was used, his experience as a former Corpo didn't really matter half of the time.
He walked across the parking lot, meeting Jackie as the ex-Valentino waved two passes at the nearby bouncers for him to confirm his and V's entrance. A cacophony of groans, gasps and complaints from people in the line grew louder as the pair marched down the dirty staircase into the bright glow of teal light, neon colours flashing and lounging in the entryway of the club. He couldn't blame Jackie for being excited at the prospect of working for Dex, getting into a real hot seat in a hot club, but V was much more collected. His thoughts lingered to the night before and how he wished he could have remained with Meredith and taken more time with her again.
For being such a hardass, V had slowly realised over his seven-year career with Militech that he must have felt something for Meredith Stout, the aggressive, demanding Ops Manager with an armoured heart that was he was slowly chinking away at. Perhaps she was doing the same for him, cold-hearted half-cyborg that he was.
Damn her for making me feel something equivalent to affection for her, the bitch… V thought as they finally rolled up the main door. Care too much for our own good, on both sides.
"Hey, choom, you okay?"
"Right as rain, Jack. Just, feeling a little off is all." V muttered as they approached the large bouncer that stood in front of the double doors. "Tell you when we get out of the meet."
Jackie's face fell a little bit, but his smile returned when he patted V on the shoulder. "Sure, bro, no worries. We can talk about with a drink at Lizzie's, see that hot little bouncer you got a little chemistry with the past few times we been chillin' there."
"Jeez, don't lower your voice or anything. It's just conversation between me and Rita."
"Sure, homes, that's what it sounds like when you been flirting with her every chance you get when you ain't shooting a guy or taking a damn siesta. Keep the game up and you might get a little fun with the Mox chica and that sounds like some fun!"
"Jesus Christ, will you please shut up?"
The two street-rats looked forward to see the large bouncer in front of them stepping forward, arms clasped tight as he made himself look larger than anyone else could feasibly be. V had heard tales from the streets about the invincible bouncer of the Afterlife. Emmerich Bronson, brooding, quiet, impossible to get past and more than a hundred-percent ready to lend out an ass-kicking if necessary. His black shades, combat gear and trench-coat lent him the mystique of such a reputation, as the two mercs looked smaller every second they stood next to him. As Jackie almost froze in silence, V was the first to speak.
"Uh, look, this is friend of mine, Jackie Welles and I'm V. I assume you're Emmerich."
The bouncer nodded stiffly. "Knowing me ain't getting you in, and you're saying those names like they're meant to sound familiar."
"We're, uh, here to talk to Dex." Jackie interrupted. "Should be enough reason to let us in."
"Really now?" Emmerich questioned, eyes aglow with orange light. He was on the holo. "Dex, got a couple of live street-rats here to see you. Got a case with them, looks big. They in?"
There was a moment of silence, one that V used in the milliseconds he might have had left to send a prayer to whatever god was listening for their souls. Something along the lines of praying Dex didn't give them the shaft and just take the drone off them, V was too busy expecting a double-cross that he didn't clock on to the fact that Emmerich's eyes stopped glowing and he'd moved to the side of the door as Jackie led them inside.
"Dex is busy at the moment, but wait up and get yourself a drink. One of his guys'll bring you in soon."
"Thanks, choom." Jackie replied, V following silently behind.
The one thing about The Afterlife was that the bar was built inside an old morgue and mortuary. Large blocks of chambers that used to hold onto decomposing bodies were removed to make space of the massive amount of mercs and solos that were in Night City. The club itself felt cold, the odd chill in the air that remained from the building in its days of confining the dead to the holding place before they ended up in a furnace. V could feel it pinching against his skin as he and Jackie walked to the bar. The place itself was relatively drab and grey, yet the placing of neon whites and blues and the occasional green made it feel more like a proper bar than a club from anywhere else. The more he looked around, the more V noticed that the place was a hive of every type of solo and gangoon in the city.
Animals, Sixers, Valentinos, and Tyger Claws with rogue Maelstromers along with endless amounts of solos and joy-toys were all clinging as closely as they could to the nearest fixer, to look like they were with the 'in'-group. The chambers in the centre were filled to the brim with alcohol instead of corpses, with a tall man and a stocky-looking, red-headed female bartender serving drinks to the various patrons. As the pair took their seats, V looked at the stasis tubes that were filled with virtual dancers, almost floating in the tanks as if they were swimming naturally in the water. Almost as soon as V had sat and laid the hardcase on the top of the bar, a much older lady, wearing tight leather pants with a shoulder-less yellow shirt walked past.
"You see that? That's fuckin' Rogue." Jackie excitedly whispered. "The best fixer in all of Night City, Queen of the Afterlife."
V nodded. "Thought you'd been saying that Dex was the best. Guy spends two years out of the game and is still on top, bullshit, choom."
"Nah, Rogue was lining up jobs for solos and mercs when Dex was still shitting in his diapers. Afterlife? This is her joint, her domain. You see her little entourage tryin' to gain a favour from the Queen, she gives the best jobs. Best rewards too."
The red-headed bartender soon approached, a genuine smile on her face as she laid her hands on the bar top. "So, what I can get a pair of newcomers on their first trip to the Afterlife. I'm Clair, by the by."
"Tequila Old-Fashioned with a splash of cerveza and a dash of chilli garnish, por favor. Oh, name's Jackie too. Just in case." Jackie asked, a dazzling smile as he spoke. Guy is just a natural charmer, V thought to himself.
"Silverhand special, for Jackie. And for the suit?"
"Slinger for me, please."
"Silver and a Black, coming right up."
V quirked an eyebrow. "You name your drinks after famous guys?"
"Famous guys and gals who are either missing or KIA. Usually, the ones that go out in mind-blowingly spectacular fashion, mid-op is the best way. Age-old tradition, it is."
Jackie had to laugh, smiling all the while as Claire finished making the drinks. "What a beautiful tradition, well, here's to us, V!"
"To two chooms in the City of Dreams, alright!" V had to accept it, whilst he hadn't known Jackie as long as he wished he had, he did consider him a true friend and even having a friend was rare enough in Night City. "Guess dying spectacularly is a small price to pay for going down in the history books!"
"Ah, you gotta be living like true legend before you go for the blowout." Claire added before she went to look after other customers. "Don't down 'em too quickly, not if you got business."
"Right on Claire, don't you worry!" Jackie yelled; the man had somehow turned into an excitable child. "You know, death ain't nothing but a final flourish. All about living life to the fullest."
"Jack, don't be getting all sentimental right now. Ain't the right time, and you ain't the guy to be saying last words before the job starts."
Sounds of the club drowned out their inevitable conversation, pounding music, the chatter of the different inter-social stratums making themselves known in the groups they were a part of, with V and Jackie as an island of normalcy and the unknown instead of being in any noticeable group. V's eyes wandered around the club once more, watching the gangs linger in their corners and spaces of the establishment, before his eyes faltered scanning as he stared, almost longingly at the table where Rogue was sat. V could see that she almost looked bored as her entourage spoke and laughed about jobs they had done or were in the process of doing. She'd been in Night City for more than fifty years, if not longer than that. She was a legend for a reason, her true associates were legendary in themselves.
Johnny Silverhand, the legendary rockerboy who held a vendetta against the corporations.
Morgan Blackhand, the solo who was known for being the one guy in the entire city who was a true lone wolf. He'd disappeared when the city had needed him the most.
Boa-Boa Weyland, Alt Cunningham, Spider Murphy, all of them known in Night City for one reason. Being true badass motherfuckers for one reason or another.
Before long, the duo was whisked away after they had finished their drinks and into a private booth by one of Dex's bodyguards. Again, like many others, he was taller, wider and most definitely borged-out to the gills. He didn't even speak, and so V ignored him as he followed Jackie into the private and well-lit booth, arms outstretched on a red leather wraparound couch with a cigar in his hand. His gold prosthesis reflected the light so well it almost seemed to look like it was made from solely chrome. T-Bug, their net-runner was there too, as serious looking as she always was in her form-fitting black net-running suit with a glass of water in her hand as Jackie and V entered the booth, the door closing behind them.
"Ah, finally. The conquering heroes arrive in the calm before the motherfuckin' storm." Dex announced, before taking a large hit from the cigar. "Well, looks like you boys are real workers after all."
Jackie smirked as he sat next to T-Bug, V taking the single leather chair in the corner as he laid the hardcase on the table against the glass wall. "What did I say, Dex? Told you, V is a real experienced, trustworthy guy."
"Yeah, when he isn't sipping slingers and mojitos at Lizzie's whatever chance he gets." T-Bug interrupted, a sly smile on her face. "Real hard work you're doing, V, how much time you spend hitting a home run with Rita there, V?"
"None, just friendly with the Moxes. That's all."
Dex chuckled, his laugh deep and growling in its intonation. "We don't judge here, V. You boys do whatever you like in your own spare time. That drone, Maelstrom didn't give you any problems."
V shook his head as he opened the case to reveal the Flathead. "Let's just say, Militech paid a lot of money for them to not get a prototype drone. Maelstrom ain't gonna be troubling anyone."
"Nice, real nice."
Jackie gave a loud cough, gaining the attention of the other occupants. "Look, Dex, much as I trust you, this booth soundproof?"
T-Bug shook her head, as if she were disappointed. "Jackie…"
"Now, now. Mr. Welles is right. We are talking about some sensitive material in this place. Don't worry, this place ain't gonna be having anyone listening in, no bugs, no eavesdropping, nothing. V, how did meeting Miss Parker go?"
"As well as it could go, she was giving some info on the job. Konpeki Plaza, details, location of the chip. It's in the penthouse." Time to lie your ass off, V. We know Evelyn wanted you to do the job without Dex. "I think she was looking to see if the crew was real, so I dispelled the illusion for her. We're ready to the job, alright."
"Yeah, that's damn right." Jackie echoed, as V shrugged his shoulders, handing the control chip of the drone to Dex for him to examine. "No doubts from us at all, Dex. We're ready. What's the plan getting into Konpeki."
T-Bug placed her glass onto the table as Dex handed her the control chip. "We got you registered as a bunch of weapons dealer to do some business on the premises, with your room on the ninety-second floor. You and Jackie will enter in a premium-service Delamain cab, and as soon as you get to your room, get the Flathead to find the net-runner doing security and use the Flathead to cut her off. That way, I can control the security for a limited time before Arasaka's runners find me, you get the chip and then split. No bodies, not one. This is gonna be clean."
"We can do that, sounds like corpo work. It's all good."
Jackie was quiet, nodding as he took in the information before he spoke. "Delamain, huh, premium service too is muy bien, amigo. Let's say, you know, if shit goes sideways, where we going?"
"If shit happens to go sideways, the Delamain is hard-wired to go straight to the safehouse. The No-Tell Motel, room two-oh-three. We'll exchange goods, and the job is a done deal."
V was quiet for a moment. Everything that had been said in the meeting seemed to be legit, and he'd worked with Jackie and T-Bug often enough to know that both of them were good for their work and security. They wouldn't rat, but V's only issue remained, and the issue was the fixer. He didn't have a problem with Dex, hell, he didn't have a problem with other fixers like Okada or Ibarra but there always remained the bad stories of solos and mercs being fucked over by their fixer when the jobs were all said and all done. V didn't want to not be able to trust Dex, the fixer was trusting V enough to do this job already, but the fear of betrayal remained all the same.
The only other issue, regarding everyone else as well as V, was the amount of money that was going to be coming through for them, and how long it would take for the eddies to reach their secure accounts.
"Hold on, what's the cut. Me and Jackie did the prep, T-Bug is on plan, Dex it's obvious because you're the damn fixer. Payouts."
Dex nodded, understandable as he looked dead in V's eyes as he took off his glasses and laid down his cigar. "Cut for new talent is the same and always non-negotiable, thirty percent."
"Bro, thirty? Come on." Jackie had already winced.
"Bullshit." V muttered. "We already put our life in the line for shit that was already in-play like Maelstrom, don't be short-changing us now, Dex."
Dex began to lean up from his spot on the couch, already eager to calm the situation. "Look, I understand you boys wanna hit the big-time quick but listen up real close. Every part in this drama comes with its own risks. That's the value of your parts as determined by me."
"Too low." V stated. "Make it forty-five."
"Excuse me, boy?" Dex questioned, eyebrow quirked as his hand slowly lowered to his hip.
V shrugged. "You heard me well enough, Dex. Up it."
"Thirty."
"V, come on, man…" T-Bug lingered. "Thirty's reasonable enough."
"Forty-five."
Jackie quickly placed a hand on V's shoulder. "Hey, choom, it's all good."
"Thirty-eight, that's as high as you gonna get son when you start playing games with me." Dex grumbled, disarming everyone immediately. "Take it or leave it, thirty eight percent."
"We'll take it." V responded. "What do we do when the job's done, wait around and boil a fuckin' egg? Suck air?"
T-Bug already responded for the fixer. "Wait around and keep a low profile. Arasaka is gonna close this entire city down for at least two weeks if this goes smooth. Not that it will be our problem. As long as you boys can keep it in your pants without having to go to Lizzie's, you should be fine."
"Job begins on Monday. Long as you can wait two days for this, the Delamain should pick you up outside Megabuilding Eight." Dex spoke, standing up. "Now, as some old Greek dog went and said, life's a banquet, so be a good guy and partake in this little feast. Just don't be getting too drunk."
T-Bug had left soon after Dex, leaving Jackie and V stuck in the glass booth. T-Bug had took the drone off them, and V had allowed her as it was most likely going to be given to them as they began the job. He sat slouched in the leather seat, Jackie praying something in Spanish before he looked at V, shaking his head multiple times before he managed to look at the ex-Corpo and his fellow friendly mercenary.
"Yo, what the fuck was that man?"
V stood up, leaving the room before standing in the doorway. "You want to secure your fuckin' future, Jackie? Learn to see when somebody is too weak for their own good. I'll tell you more before we get to Konpeki, but what I just did? I did it for us, I got us a better fuckin' deal for a job that's gonna get us killed. Open your fuckin' eyes, this isn't Okada or Ibarra. You know how you always said you wanna be in the big leagues?"
Jackie jumped from his seat, standing straight as he towered over V. "Look, just because you're standing in your corporate shoes again, doesn't mean you talk to me like some fuckin' bitch you can slap around, V."
"Jackie, listen to me."
"No, you listen, gringo. You almost cost us the fuckin' job."
"I know a way we can do this without even having to cut in Dex and Bug." V stated, Jackie's eyes widening as V scanned the room. They were in the entry to the main bar, Dex's guards having left with him and T-Bug "He's giving us thirty-eight? I can get us fifty."
Jackie shook his head. "Bullshit, you'd be crazy to screw a fixer like Dex."
"Jack, if you heard half the shit I did over the past few days, you'd know that Dex isn't as big as he used to be anymore. The client, Maelstrom, just chatter from mercs in this fuckin' bar. He's not a big timer, the job is the big one."
"V, have you gone fuckin' crazy?"
V shook his head before he poked Jackie in the chest. "You come to me when you want to really play in the big leagues, Jack. I'm sorry if I made you look like some sat-out bitch in there, but this was for the good of us both. You'll see. Just watch."