As the mad old man gave V a rundown, Takemura stood patiently outside the door, arms folded across his chest.
He was alert and attentive of this place, watching every exit and entrance he could identify. All across the girded and pipe filled ceiling were security cameras. More than a handful were pointed toward him, but Goro didn't mind.
One thing he was beginning to learn about Night City's criminal world, was the value of one's word.
Most places he would disregard such a notion, even openly laugh at the idea. But the places that V seemed to frequent, the locations that knew of him or he'd rubbed shoulders with were honorable.
They kept their word.
Takemura knew that they had every right to blast him away once he had brought the thief to him. Any corporate agent worth their salt would know what a place like this was, this Market.
An illegal trade center for augmentations and chrome, acquired through any means and distributed outside the control of those responsible for the creation of said technology.
Arasaka took a personal hatred for places such as this, and most never made it off the ground before they were ground to dust under a heavy corporate heel.
Frankly he was repulsed by the place, but equally intrigued.
It operated with rules and laws, shakier than what his own corporation presided under, but still established enough that no one questioned them.
Rules and order were a necessity to prevent chaos and anarchy, something that the criminals of this building understood at least.
This Skully was mad, but very educated and well learnt. His older age proved his experience.
Not to mention the implants that he had Goro bring with him for V.
The arm was nothing short of a legendary find, an old model with more defects and problems then Goro would be comfortable listing.
But only if used as a projectile weapon.
As a limb it was powerful and strong, durable and incredibly flexible. Goro had yet to see the Thief fight, but if it was true that he went toe to toe with Adam Smasher… this limb would only be an incredible improvement for the long run.
The neural enhancement was a different matter.
Takemura had never seen anything like it. The small chip and connected cartridge was inserted right in the center of the brain, grafted on with eight nodes that had automatically burrowed through V's grey matter.
The cartridge rested within his spine, right at the joint between neck and torso.
Skully was discussing it with V right now.
The Arasaka agent could just barely overhear them through the tinted door to the operating theatre.
"That's the program running at 40%, the upper limit of its safety parameters. Even then it was far too dangerous for general production. That much information being brought into a normal brain would be fatal"
A moment of silence.
"Good thing you're not like most folks"
There is an even eerier quiet that exudes from the room. V says nothing in the way of a response to this statement, rather focusing on a different topic all together.
"I need a full rundown"
There is a shuffle of movement before the old doctor speaks, "one moment"
More movement, some huffs and puffs, and then;
"Below 10% usage you will experience a slowing of time. Spikes of adrenaline, increased muscle tension… The unit will handle the overload but it'll be using your brain as spare RAM while you get used to the Cyberdeck" Skully was taking short pauses between his worlds, likely showing V diagrams and charts.
"20% is when the Ricochet and targeting options become available. It'll be a piece of cake to track targets from around corners, as well as estimate bullet ricochet predictions. It's 99% percent accurate. God's eye is integratable with any Tech and Smart Weapons… Smart obviously being the better choice as it saves your brain the extra strain"
V chimed in with another question.
"Considerable drawbacks?"
"Headaches, nasal bleeding at worst" Technology whirred and moved, along with something being dragged across a surface slowly.
A demonstration?
Takemura wished they would just let him be in the room.
"The 30% threshold is the point of advanced targeting. We're talking surfaces, wallbangs, material penetration. Anyone within your eyesight becomes an executable target. God's eye will tell you the chances of each shot, and help direct your body accordingly. With your new arm… I'm assuming you'll have 360 degree execution capability, even if you catch a glimpse of the target"
Takemura felt his chest seize up. A breath forming but not moving.
He knew what this technology was now. He remembered exactly what it was and where it came from.
Militech and Arasaka joint project, 2042, refined soldier capabilities.
A mad man had come forth, a scientist with a name buried under so much black ink and red tape his identity would never again see the light of day.
His idea had been simple and elegant, but destructive in the long run.
Use the brain like a computer. A technological override of an individuals biology, pushing them to limits and a state of consciousness far beyond what anyone could imagine.
Crazy bastard had come up with the tech himself, and being sponsored by both companies, he'd begun trials of his device.
The system showed minor improvements, but only because it couldn't be utilised fully. Brain death, nerve damage, severe hemorrhaging… the toll that the unit took on the user was far too destructive.
It worked, but it killed whoever used it.
The technology had been shelved, forgotten among many other dangerous advancements made by corporations.
The scientist promptly vanished, and Takemura knew very little about the not so friendly parting between Militech and Arasaka of the joint venture.
But the test descriptions he had committed to memory. Men and women capable of making snapshot decisions and movements, landing precise hits and confirmed kills in artificial training grounds.
Takemura had asked Saburo-sama if he was eligible for the implant in order to serve him. Saburo had declined, explaining he did not need his tool to die so early.
Anyone who used the device never recovered fully.
And V now had it installed in his head.
God's Eye.
The ultimate personal targeting enhancement.
It was the Merc speaking again that broke Goro's astonishment.
"Past 40%... that's the danger threshold?"
Skully grumbled an agreement, "for you, yes. At a certain point the human mind just isn't capable of comprehending that amount of information"
"Right"
The silence that followed was tense and foreboding. Takemura pulled himself away from the wall he rested against in order to walk to the door.
His sudden abject fear failed to be explained, as a moment later the door opened, and the newly upgraded V walked through it.
Goro studied the man, taking in his new appearance.
What little hair he had was gone, shaved and removed in order for the procedure on his skull to take place.
His eyes were… colder than before, devoid of the spark that most would find in the eyes of humans. Takemura couldn't place it, but he'd seen more expression from an Arasaka Assassin drone.
"What?"
The face morphed into a perplexed expression, confused as to why the Corpo was just staring at him.
Takemura narrowed his eyes at the sudden spark of emotion, the overall change in V's features. He didn't know what to make of him, didn't know how to classify this individual.
All he knew was that something was wrong.
"We should be leaving" Goro settled on, ignoring V's question with a turn of his head and body, walking down the corridor towards what he had marked as the exit, "my presence is not welcome among these people"
The Thief didn't respond, but Goro could hear his footsteps, and knew he was trailing behind him.
At least he knew V agreed with him.
They'd talk once they were no longer being observed by others.
But they could do little to notice the small camera that observed them, one that was certainly not affiliated with The Market.
I had a lot on my mind.
Understandably.
But, as I stepped out into the cool night air, as the iron clad shutter and gate of the Market slammed closed behind me, my mind focused on a few things.
"Thank you"
Takemura, who had come to walk beside me, turned his head sharply at my words. Even as we meandered through the destroyed cars and broken wrecks that inhabited the barren streets surrounding the Market, I could feel his confusion.
Rather than forcing him to speak, I expanded on my words.
"For coming. For bringing me here, for walking into a situation you might not have walked out from"
The man huffed and looked ahead, decidedly sparing a glance over his shoulder.
I knew we were still being observed, and we would be for a few more blocks. Whatever transport Goro had taken to get us here had probably been looted by Scav's. We'd be walking till we found our own way out of the NID.
"Necessity, Thief. Do not read so personally into my actions" he moved to look in front of him, his hands finding their way into his coat pockets.
He fixed me with a harsh glare, "but you are welcome-"
I opened my mouth just to get cut off by a far more vicious look.
"-on the condition you explain what happened. Explain everything, V"
Damn he looked pissed.
Super pissed.
But he did have a right to know. He's just as much up shit's creek as I am.
Guess I'd start from the top.
"I work for Rogue, Afterlife's top fixer and Queen Bee" I patted my new digs down, checking the pockets and corners of the outfit.
Skully had given me a spare set of clothing before exiting The Market. Whoever they had belonged to 'wouldn't need them anymore'. Going by the obvious bullet holes in the long brown coat, and the slices in the vest and pants…
Yeah.
The black and grey pants and outfit would do until we got back to town.
"Exclusively?"
Takemura dragged me back to the present.
"Yes" the back pocket had something, a small container of-
Oh. Preem.
The cigarette came out of the packet easily enough, and the tip of it rested against my lower lip.
Patting my new clothes down, looking for a lighter, I continued "I needed someone dead. Someone who fucked me over and got…"
Ah-ha!
Dead gonk left me with a light, perfect.
I lit the cigarette.
"He got someone important to me… very important... killed" I took a drag, feeling my lungs burn as the smoke came down.
Can't cough though. Still got my balls after all.
"Rogue knew where the guy was. Rogue knows where everyone is… for a price. My servitude seemed like nothing at the time, so I traded it for my revenge" I pulled the cigarette away, looking around at the crumbling infrastructure of the old industrial district.
Something seemed… off.
But without being able to put my finger on it, I kept walking with the 'Saka suit by my side.
"But Dex, the guy I zeroed, he's not the only one responsible. Working for Rogue serves as a means to an end. Getting paid means gear and equipment, and eventually I rub shoulders with enough people that are connected to up on high, that can get me where I need"
I shook my head, a strange breeze shuddering across my forehead.
The feeling was indescribable, but it wasn't… bad.
Trust the corpo to still have questions.
"The fixer, Dex. His job got your friend killed… but he was not the one who pulled the trigger, yes?"
I point at Takemura, a grin across my features, "too right. Adam Smasher's our target. Borged out fucker's gotta go for what he did to Jackie. For what he did to me"
Goro kept his eyes on me for only a few moments longer, before sweeping out toward the street.
"I assume there are others"
"Yes"
"...so you work for the Queen of the Afterlife" I can hear his sarcasm in the title, underused and rusty as it is, "but this does not explain your assault at Arasaka"
"Escape" I corrected, "I only recall waking up there. I was taking down a Cyberpsycho, nasty Militech piece of work… then nothing. Next thing I know I'm waking up in an operating room. Arasaka was trying to-"
Like a waterfall of Cyber intrusions, quick hacks and every nasty Daemon you can imagine, fear crawls down my spine.
The chip.
'Holy fucking shit the chip.'
I reach up to the side of my head, and yank out the Relic that I had so casually forgotten about. The one that had cost my best friend his life, the one that had put me into this situation in the first place, the one that-
It comes out cleanly and neatly.
However… it looks… different.
To be perfectly honest, it looks dead.
The unearthly glow of the chip is no longer there… what… what the fuck's happened?
Why-
I raised my metal hand, the one that held the cigarette so casually, to inspect the fingers that held the smoke like an old friend.
I don't smoke.
I never have smoked.
What the f-
"V?" Goro's voice felt both distant and terribly close. My world seemed altered.
What the fuck is this.
What the fuck is happening.
"I guess it's about time we talked then, huh?"
From thin air, materialising in a casual half cocked stance with a cigarette of his own in his human right hand, was a man.
Long black hair, slicked over his shoulders and out of his face.
Black tank top embroidered with a stylized part robotic Japanese demon.
Boots and frown, a gaze hidden by reflective silver shades.
But it was the silver arm that gave it away. It was the prosthetic attached to this body that let me know who this was.
He… he's supposed to be dead. In fact, he probably is, I just couldn't make heads or tails about the fact I'm currently hallucinating him.
"A hallucination would be easier to explain" he brought the cigarette up to his mouth, "trust me"
Trust him.
Trust him?!
He's a terrorist.
A rocker.
A night city legend.
Johnny fucking Silverhand.
It had been so long since I'd seen him, seen any of them.
They had existed as memories and recordings, the only evidence that marked their existence. I had mourned since then, bemoaning my failures and refusing to complete such work for them ever again.
Not for a company that would never understand what I had accomplished.
They had asked for perfection, and I had given it to them.
Even after so many years they couldn't hope to replicate my work, especially with their oh so precious, 'cost effective' policies.
But that had been far too long ago.
Truly, what felt like a lifetime.
And this entire time he'd been alive, functioning, even progressing past the built in flaws. Incredible. Marvelous! Spectacular!
He had made it to Night City, and had aged beautifully. How he'd managed to do so went beyond me. Any procedure he would have undertaken to survive for so long would have a ridiculous mortality rate.
But he always was so very tenacious, even at a young age.
I still remembered when he had been in observation, just after his birth. Curious and deadly, exactly as I had-
"Professor"
I turn away from my monitor as my Agent makes me aware of their presence. I was so enraptured by the footage, I hadn't noticed the woman enter.
"Yes dear?"
"I managed to recover more footage, as well as some images involving… new additions to the subject"
My temper curled in my gut, "replacements?"
The woman in the pure black onesie nodded, "yes Professor. The events of Arasaka tower were confirmed, he suffered a loss of limb, the right arm. We tracked him to a harvesting site and a mole witnessed the physical implant"
I snapped at this, "show me!"
The agent began to forward me the images and recordings, making sure to send any and all relevant data. She knew not to cushion me from such disgusting details. Because I needed to know everything about him, I needed to know what had been done to him.
How dare anyone touch, and change, and ruin him.
How dare such dirty and filthy machinery be integrated with my art.
My design was perfect and flawless.
Of course only a monster of metal could cause such damage.
Flesh and metal were always at odds with one another. Cold hard steel had been humanity's favourite for far too long. I had always been looking for ways to rectify that.
"Sent"
The images appeared before me.
It took me seconds to process.
A shaky hand rose up to remove my glasses, preventing me from truly seeing the images anymore.
I took a slow seat in my chair, the only one in my spacious office and laboratory.
"Professor?"
"Not now dear" I sent a mental command to the nearest set of speakers.
A slow violin permeated the room, drifting in through speakers mounted both high and low. An orchestral surround sound.
The music wasn't so loud that it drowned out any possible conversation, nor did it distract any of my major thoughts, it was merely the rail that guided the train of my mind.
Marissa had personally recommended it.
"Dear"
I knew she was listening, as she had been from the moment we occupied the same space.
"Go to your siblings, and tell them that I would like an active tail on the subject, starting tomorrow"
She waited by the door. Stock still and patient, waiting for the moment I allowed her to be dismissed. She wouldn't move until I said so.
Loyalty was such a fickle thing.
Most people needed money, or an exchange of something with value, in order to guarantee loyalty.
A flaw, one that I had corrected with the right genetic tweaks.
"It is also crucial he does not spot you. Please don't disappoint me"
I still have my eyes closed as I dismiss her with a wave of my hand, focusing on every little thing that needs to be in place.
Soon he'd come home.
And then I could move along to the next phase.
'V'
I can't help but smile. His choice of name was perfect. Everybody would assume it was short for something, like Vincent or Victor.
The truth was far more simple.
'You have no idea how good it is to know your alive'
And like any proud father, I awaited the return of my son.
Goro Takemura had seen many things. Horrible things. Strange things. Acts and atrocities, tasks and missions, working for Arasaka, serving Saburo Arasaka had opened his eyes to the many instanities and contradictions of man.
Killing people to save others being a primary and well learned lesson early on in his career.
Sometimes, even friends and family had to be put down for the greater good.
Before he knew it, Goro had been at times ordered to execute colleagues he'd shared lunch with.
Being the blade of the Arasaka's deceased leader had promoted a lonely life.
One where attachments did not need to be made so carelessly.
Such as the case of V.
A means to an end, an individual with inherent value and more skill then he was willing to admit.
But as Takemura rolled his hand over the grip of his pistol, he was for once in his life, completely lost.
Because V was…
Well he was shouting at a car.
Nearly four district blocks away from the illicit and illegal Marketplace, the destroyed automobile seemed to have paid V some kind of offense.
Well versed in the visible and obvious signs of cyberpsychosis, Takemura had gone for a weapon.
He'd seen V begin to freak out, panic over something, before he'd ripped a familiar chip from his head.
It appeared the Thief had kept his treasure extremely close to him.
The Relic. Yorinobu had stolen it from Saburo, and V retrieved it from Yorinobu at Konpeki Plaza and left it in his head since then.
Chip in hand, the partially crazed mercenary had then snapped his head up to glare at a destroyed vehicle.
"Trust you? What… How is this even possible?" V clutched at his head for a moment, averting his eyes from the place he was staring at.
His head snapped up, his glare coming back, "the chip, obviously" V lifted said item, presenting it to the air.
He went silent.
"But why are you on a piece of Arasaka tech? You!? Of all people-"
V stopped, cut off by something.
Takemura let his hand slip away from his pistol.
V was having a conversation of some kind, but it seemed like he didn't have anyone on the Holo. It was quite possible he'd received the call quietly, but to go from such erratic actions and temperament, to shouting and gesturing.
Takemura narrowed his eyes, clearly observing how V was speaking.
He was directed towards a specific point, speaking and gesturing there. He also seemed to be completely enraptured by whatever he was focusing on.
Dissociation? Perhaps an overload of the mental implant…
No.
He was-
"Soulkiller?"
Takemura felt his stomach bottom out.
Arasaka-sama had been insistent on meeting his son as soon as they had touched down in Night City. All those days ago, Goro had been preparing security for his boss and asked about the contents he wished to retrieve from his wayward heir.
Saburo-sama at the time had responded pointedly and directly.
"The Relic? It is a more pure extension of Soulkiller's purpose"
Soulkiller had been declassified for Takemura. The net program that could burn out a person's consciousness, to quantify a personality and memories into data and then create a perfect copy of that.
An engram.
Saburo-sama had used this program on many people. Both friend, foe and those that toed the line between these two distinctions.
In fact the new flagship service, the one referred to as Mikoshi, was associated with the Soulkiller program. The technology was used to make copies of the old and wealthy, those that wished for a chance to live forever.
"Hey, Takemura..."
From out of his thoughts, Goro was greeted to V staring at him seriously, the cigarette still firmly in his metal right hand.
"There's some things we need to talk about"
"John Jones, meet Adam Smasher"
It's arguable that I looked stupid right now, just blinking dumbly at the giant metal behemoth.
Kincaid had brought me along to one of his team meetings, held deep within Arasaka tower and through more security doors and fields then I could keep count of.
And as soon as the steel door had opened into the sparse combat prep room?
Adam Smasher, arms crossed, looking pissed as hell.
Well, I assume he looked pissed as hell. The mostly chrome Night City legend hadn't made a noise as he appraised me.
But the metal scar that ran up his faceplate was vicious.
Judging by the depth of the wound and the damage that still remained on his face, Smasher's left eye should be missing.
But there was a pointed piece of tech, directed right at me.
So keep the wound, but exchange the essentials.
Our little stare off was interrupted by an oddly cheerful Kincaid, muscling his way in from behind me.
Since neither of us broke our stare off, Kincaid tossed the introduction over his shoulder as he proceeded past.
Smasher glanced at my new boss, turning halfway to face him, grunting in his deep synthetic voice, "Kincaid"
It was as close to friendly acknowledgement I believed the Borg was capable of.
Kincaid already had his glasses off, polishing the dark shades as he looked around at the other people in the room.
There were three more.
"Adam" the glasses were returned to his head, covering the extensive eye implant.
"Kid's got a solid record. No need to bust his balls"
Smasher turned back to me. His grunt was savage and raw. The silence he left after it was even more so.
"How can I? Looks like the meat bag did it first" the brute chuckled.
Anger coiled in my belly, but it's only release came from the clenching of my hands. After all, it may be easy to get pissed at someone for making fun of recent implants…
But when that someone is Adam Smasher?
"Please Adam, can we start?"
"...fine"
The wall of metal clomped over to the table that I assume we were supposed to be gathered around.
Taking a steadying breath, one that doubled for a bit of a rage reduction, I walked in the man's wake.
I stood between Smasher and Kincaid. Over the sea of resources and diagrams covering the holotable stood the three unknowns.
One man. Two women.
I think. It was hard to tell with the third.
"Johns, meet the other half of the team" Kincaid pointed at the one closest to him, on my left.
The man.
"This is Mike. We go way back"
By the looks of it, a few corpo wars at least. The man was older and grizzled. His face was still his own and it displayed the years he'd spent on this planet. Beneath that… chrome. Extensive chrome.
Every chord leading up into his skull was either black or grey, a multitude of metal roots that snuck up out of the tactical vest he wore..
His grey sideburns trailed up the sides of his head, leading to a skull dusted lightly in hair. Some people just couldn't admit when they were going bald.
Mike didn't say a word, he just nodded at me, our gazes meeting briefly before he turned his cobalt gaze back to the table.
The finger drifted to the middle one.
Before Kincaid could speak, the woman cut through.
"Name's Vi"
Her arms were combat implants, ones with thick forearms and a few small exhaust pipes running through them.
Some kind of gorilla arms, ones that weren't obviously extended right now, but certainly ready to tear some poor gonks apart.
She seemed… kinda familiar. Especially with the long red hair, snaking down the small form she managed to cut in the Arasaka-
"You're that cop!" I exclaimed, remembering exactly who she was, "the one who fucked up those sixers so bad it made-"
Kincaid's hand landed on my shoulder.
"The news, yes. No need to remind her, yeah?" he took a pointed look at the woman…
Who was staring daggers into my very soul.
Christ.
Touchy subject, will try to remember later.
But I knew who she was. Vi Mecelius. Ex-NCPD Max Tac, discharged for incredible amounts of excessive force.
Crippled a whole bunch of sixers, murdered a bunch more. Just with her hands.
Couldn't have been more than 10-15 different news stories that appeared on the same day. Hell, even the mayor had made a public appearance regarding the incident.
Needless to say, Vi was kicked off the force.
Nice to know I would wind up in the same room as someone like her and Adam Smasher, the known quantities.
Really makes me wonder what Mike's done.
"And last but not least, meet Wolf, our personal Netrunner" the last figure, wearing a full helmet and stocky yet blocky clothing, nearly three heads shorter than anyone else in the room (and almost a few meters in the case of Smasher) was the unknown.
Wolf huh?
A netrunner too.
Heard nothing about anyone like that, and in a specialised profession such as that… that is a good thing.
No facial features to describe, but the helmet was wicked. The wolf design that ran across what would have been a smooth black surface…
Well at least whoever this was played into their persona.
"Nice to meet y'all" I finally settled with speaking, looking into the eyes of each person, except Smasher.
The Borg was right beside me, and completely disinterested in the briefing, but it felt like he was breathing down my neck.
Creepy fucker.
"Today's little discussion is about" Kincaid tapped on the holotable, bringing up a projection, three dimensional, "this man"
The man was tall, grim looking.
Japanese, probably. White coat and visible throat augments. Mild scruff…
I didn't recognise him.
But surprisingly, Smasher did.
"Goro Takemura, Saburo's old bodyguard… whats the problem with this dumb cunt?"
Kincaid brought up a new image, one with two video files attached to it.
The first video file depicted the man stepping into open traffic, stopping a vehicle, then stealing said vehicle at gunpoint.
And the second video, on loop, was this man leaving a vehicle then returning to it.
Except he had the one armed bastard with him.
"He's in contact with our target. 'Saka ninja's have been after him for awhile, but because he knows how the company operates… well he's typically long gone before the net closes around him.
"Typically?" Vi asked, eyebrow raised as her arms came to rest in a cross beneath her bust.
"Either he's gone, or he's gone and we have to clean up a few corpses" Kincaid rolled his eyes, "so our gracious employers have brought us together to find and eliminate these problems"
I'm… starting to see it now.
A fully capable team.
Smasher was both Muscle and Shock and Awe.
Vi was muscle, but a refined brawler, one that can operate on street level without drawing too many eyes.
This probably meant Mike was firearms of some kind, weapons specialist.
Besides the introduction of being a Netrunner, I would have guessed that Wolf would be running comms and operational security.
Kincaid was our leader, he called the shots.
Meaning me… I'm our tracker. The nose on the ground.
"We've got a lot of resources at our disposal for this one folks" Kincaid rubbed his hands together, "so today we're going to use some of those eddies to start combing Kabuki"
...really should have reconsidered the concept of coffee this morning, because this was beginning to feel like it might take awhile.
AN: Thanks for those that review, y'all are the reason I post more of this stuff. Been having heaps of fun writing this, so I hope y'all are having as much run reading it.
Story note: And the plot thickens! Got the new characters coming in, as well as finally some more development of the original game plotline. Next chapter should actually have some Panam in it, as well as some Hellman, Yorinobu, Koji and Smasher.
Till next time guys!
-Freedom