Chapter 11

I reached Sandra's apartment, though I had to slowly haul the heavy case on my own because she refused to leave her sanctuary. When I was finally inside, I heaved the case up onto her counter and caught my breath while Sandra began hacking the lock. I looked around at the clean apartment styled after a Japanese dojo, except for the large turret hanging from the ceiling, dutifully rotating slowly as it scanned for hostiles.

"Excellent…" she mumbled as she started working. "Judy said you ran into some trouble with a guard?"

I nodded exhaustedly. "Yup, from SSI. Get this – he was guarding Holt. We're checking the guy's implants to see where they came from. It'll tell us who's behind SSI, whether it's Holt or a corp."

She smiled as she successfully hacked the lock and opened the case. Inside was a small, flat, rectangular antenna, a large mirror, a disconnected and bloodstained Mantis Blade, and a shard I recognized as the one containing the braindance of the attempted assassination. She put aside the blade and the antenna, then lifted the heavy mirror out of the box. I scanned it as she took it out, and out from behind the mirror ran a small power cable that was coiled into the case.

"That's not a mirror," I noted as I read the data on my Kiroshi interface. "That's a smart screen!"

Her jaw dropped in shock as she examined it, then darted over to a wall to plug in the power cord. "What's it doing?" she asked as it booted up.

At first, the display seemed only like a mirror. But when turned on, it flashed a blue, red, and teal pattern every few seconds between reflections.

"Oh, fuck," I whispered. "It's the same thing, the same pattern as the Peralezes' screens."

She stood up and studied it, then raced back over to the outlet and yanked out the plug. She panted as she looked up at me with the cord in her hand. "Not risking being brainwashed like them. V… This could be huge!"

I shook my head in disbelief. "So, Holt used SSI to condition Horváth to try to kill Rhyne, and he's conditioning the Peralezes so he'll win. But then why is he losin'?"

"Because it's not Holt," she observed confidently. She stood up and led me to a set of screens in her living room. She clicked them on, revealing dozens of information windows that took me a moment to comprehend. "Holt's paying SSI, but less than the Peralezes. I'm assuming it's because he's only one guy and they're a couple that each need individual defense. But Holt's not paying them enough to be funding their entire operation."

"Then who is?" I asked.

She smirked. "Night Corp."

My eyes widened, then I sighed and rubbed my temples tiredly. "Project Carpe Noctem… Once they found out the workers could be conditioned, they started work on the Peralezes."

"Oh no, this got started a LONG time before Carpe Noctem," she continued. "That project just happened recently, but I think they've been in the Peralezes' heads for decades. Look at this," she paused and brought up a set of small windows filled with timelines and descriptions. "Night Corp gave both Jefferson and Elizabeth grants and scholarships to give their education every possible advantage, and they kept them together as a power couple the entire time. Get this – as soon as they graduated law school 15 years ago, Night Corp put a few hundred million eddies into an infrastructure project supposedly to do with NCART, but the project failed without results. But that's exactly when SSI became officially registered as a new corporation. Night Corp started the investment in the perfect politician couple, then created SSI to keep the project going."

I frowned. "This is insane. How did you find out all of this so quickly?"

"Same way I found out about Carpe Noctem – it's all in Night Corp's systems. It helps to be working on the inside," she added proudly.

"So then how does Holt or that chromed-out guard fit into this? Coincidence that Holt hired the same security company?" I asked.

She breathed shakily and shifted her balance as she brought up a few more windows with profiles on Holt and the Peralezes. "It's not coincidence. Everyone knows that Holt is in with pretty much every corp able to afford a mayor. So, who's the perfect candidate to go up against that? A city councilman who had already been campaigning all over the city with no corporate ties. And how do you force an election?"

My stomach and jaw both dropped. "You kill the Mayor."

"Exactly," she breathed. "Without brain scans, it's impossible to know, but… it makes sense. SSI conditioned Holt to one day have Rhyne killed." She then pointed to the smart screen. "At the very least, this screen being identical to what was in the penthouse means that both Horváth and Peralezes were being programmed, and it can't be coincidence that everyone involved here is against Rhyne – even Holt."

"Fuck…" I gasped. "Then that means Night Corp will have covert control of the mayor, no matter who wins."

"And I think they've already sold it," she continued grimly, pulling up another set of windows. "These project names gave me what I needed to look for. Project Condin was through SSI, so I couldn't find any information on it. But when I looked into both Carpe Noctem and Oracle through Night Corp, I started seeing large orders of cyberware and components being ordered all from Militech, not even a mention of Arasaka or other players like QianT."

"That doesn't make sense," I argued. "Night Corp is all about anti-corpo control of the city, gettin' big players like Arasaka and Militech out of NC. If they've invested all this time and money into perfecting the Peralezes, they wouldn't just sell that out."

"Maybe not before," she shrugged. "But about ten years ago when they started doing AI research, something happened that made them shift a lot more of their funding into AI-related projects. These funds have repeatedly been used to purchase equipment primarily from Militech. Ever since Arasaka launched the 'Secure Your Soul' program, Night Corp doubled the amount of stuff it was getting from Militech. Then we ended up with these projects that both deal with AI and reprogramming the brain."

I hummed and calculated it out. "So, they want to use the AI conditioning technology as some kind of competition with the Relic?"

"I'm hoping to find out. Lemme see if I can get some kind of serial or part numbers from the screen's components."

She clicked off the screens, and in the split second of looking in the reflection, her eyes widened, and she gasped in horror. I heard the familiar electronic beeping of a turret's targeting laser engaging, which set off my Synaptic Accelerator just as a deafening blast filled my ears. With time slowed, I looked over just in time to see a large caliber round punching a hole through Sandra's chest. The shock and horror reflected in the last look I'd ever see on her face. Another blast signaled another bullet heading towards her while the turret slowly inched its way in my direction. My Synaptic Accelerator was about to shut off, so I triggered my Sandevistan and kept time slowed down as I bolted across the living room to the bedroom. I whipped out my pistol and started firing round after round as I went, but the turret withstood the hits and followed me with a trail of shots that tore through the kitchen counter, the evidence from the crate, and every wall in sight until the turret couldn't see me.

In the bedroom, I noticed that Sandra kept her netrunning setup just a few feet away from the bed. I quickly tapped on the main screen and looked for settings to deactivate the turret, but even the system reset option was code-locked. A volley of turret fire blasted through the dividing wall between the living room and the bedroom even though I should've been out of its sight. I laid down flat on the floor on the opposite side of the bed to ensure that I couldn't be seen through any new holes in the walls, and I tried to steady my breathing as I waited for my Sandevistan to recharge. My nerves jumped as another wave of bullets blasted from the turret, but this time they seemed to be hitting the other side of the apartment. I heard shattering and sparking, and I realized that the turret was destroying Sandra's computers in the living room along with all of the data she compiled.

When my system had finished charging the Sandevistan, I triggered it and leapt to my feet. I knew I couldn't risk looking around as I ran out of the bedroom, but as I rounded the corner from the bedroom to the apartment door, I saw Sandra's broken body partially buried under shrapnel and rubble from the destroyed screens and the walls above. I kept slamming on the door sensor to open the door, and as it gradually slid open just enough for me to slip through, the turret fired its first shot towards me. The shot missed and blew a hole in the door across the hall just as my Sandevistan shut off. I bolted down the hall, narrowly escaping a line of fire following me through the blasted walls of her apartment. Even in the elevator as it went painstakingly down to the first floor of her building, I half-expected more shots to rip through.

When I breathed the night air just outside of the doors, the reality dawned on me that another person I trusted had just been killed right in front of me. The realization hit like a hard punch to the gut knocking the wind out of my lungs. I leaned panting against the doorframe and tried to calculate a plan, but the Relic began malfunctioning and started giving me a sharp migraine.

Johnny materialized crouching in front of me with an urgent look on his face. "We gotta move, V. No way in hell no one reported those shots."

I staggered towards my car and regained my balance as my head started to clear. As I got in the car, I looked up and saw the full moon shining brightly, seeming even brighter as the Relic's distortions still messed with my head. Then something tripped in my mind.

"The Moon," Misty's voice explained. "In her light, what was once far away and difficult to grasp becomes sharp and clear."

The Trauma Team AV swooping across my view of the moon brought me back to reality, though the memory of Misty's tarot card sent a shiver up my spine. I looked back and saw the AV landing at building entrance, then four armed paramedics jumped out and raced inside. I shook my head and gripped the wheel, then gunned the engine. Johnny appeared in the passenger seat, but for the first time, he waited in silence for a few moments before finally breaking it.

"Dunno why you're acting all fuckin' surprised. I warned you not to step in this, and you dove in head-first."

I snarled and slammed on the brakes, skidding the car to a dead stop while cars passed by in the other direction. "Don't you try to fuckin' blame me for her death!" I yelled out loud.

"I'm not, you are! I can see it on your face," he argued. "You know as well as I do who reprogrammed that turret. She may have been a good netrunner, but she stole data from Night Corp not once but twice. You don't really think it was a coincidence that she was kidnapped after stealing the first time, do you?"

I gritted my teeth and thudded my head back against the headrest. "You weren't even in my head when that happened. How could you know that?"

"I've been able to see your memories for some time, V," he replied as he faced me in the seat. "Working for a corp while stealing from them takes some serious balls. She had to have known what she was risking."

I sighed and clenched my eyes shut, then as I heard the honking of horns from the line of cars waiting behind me, I looked back up and continued driving. "Everything linking SSI and Night Corp, all the projects… all that proof is gone."

He scoffed. "Proof that a supposedly benevolent corp is just like the rest of them? Human experiments with brain conditioning? The future mayor being a corporate puppet? You could light up all the screamsheets in Night City with all the proof you found, and all you'd be is another gonk prophet like your abducted-by-aliens buddy, Garry. No one would believe it, even IF the corpocunts let you live to tell about it."

"Then the fuck else am I supposed to do?" I asked angrily. "This is the major leagues! I can't just give up, especially if Sandra was just murdered for everything she found. Means I'm next!"

"Focus," he demanded. "You have another target on your back now, and with no professional crew, you can't fight two corps at once. You need to stay on target to bring down Arasaka with Alt. Tomorrow's the parade, and it's your best shot at doing some damage and finding out how to get to Mikoshi. Once Arasaka's taken care of, then we go after Night Corp and Militech."

I huffed. "And the Peralezes? Do they get to know what they're in for?"

"Fuck the Peralezes," he scoffed. "If their heads are as scrambled as what we saw, they won't remember what you tell them regardless. You gotta hit the bastards pulling the strings first."

I hated to think that way, but I also knew that Johnny had a point. I felt nauseous dropping the investigation while knowing that something was happening. I remembered telling River to do the same thing with his case about the mayor's murder, and the irony of it all made me want to shoot something. As I trudged from the elevator to my apartment, it felt like it had been a lifetime since I had gone through the halls of the Megabuilding and actually slept in my own bed. So much had happened in the last two days, and the shower I didn't realize I needed so badly gave me more time to come to terms with the plan before collapsing into bed.

I was startled awake by someone banging on my door. It was just after 2 AM, and I had really hoped to get some appreciable sleep, but instead I flipped on the lights and slipped into a pair of shorts. I reached for my gun and crept over to the door as another round of urgent pounding reverberated through the apartment. I moved aside from the door and tapped on the intercom, which displayed the camera from the sensor outside the door.

"River?" I asked in surprise as I saw him looking around.

"V!" he hissed. "Open the damn door!"

I quickly unlocked the door and stood back as he stormed through. He punched the intercom and sent the door slamming shut, then rounded on me.

"Quick – get dressed, we have to leave," he urged.

I wanted to object, but the look in his eyes made me take him more seriously. I dropped my gun on one of the shelves as I started changing. "What's going on? What happened?"

"Sandra Dorsett," he replied behind gritted teeth. "Your netrunner. Why didn't you call me to tell me something happened?"

"What? How did you find out something happened?" I asked as I slipped on a pair of shoes and my shoulder straps.

He crossed the room and looked out the window, then promptly shut the metal blinds. "NCPD has your digital signature on a quickhack used to take control of the turret in her apartment. They think you killed her, and they've sent a squad to pick you up."

I shook my head as I thought it through and loaded up on ammo. "That's impossible. The turret turned on the both of us and started shooting. I don't even have a Quickdeck to hack with. I use a Sandevistan implant."

"Are you sure?" he asked grimly. "You said that people had implanted chips in you before."

I triggered the implant, slowing down time just long enough for me to cross the room and stand right in front of him as he blinked his eyes, then switched it off in time to startle him.

"Positive," I replied confidently. "I wouldn't'a made it outta there without it."

He gave a half-amused smirk and sigh of relief. "Let's go."

We rushed out of the apartment to the concrete railing and looked down the empty center of the building to the first floor. A small squad of cops were entering the main elevator.

"Any ideas?" he asked.

I nodded and sprinted down the hallway to the garage elevator with River in tow. He looked around as we waited for the elevator to come.

"You know they'll be looking for your car, right?"

I looked over to him and smiled. "Feel like breakin' the law again?"

He chuckled nervously. "Seems to be our usual M.O."

I grinned as we got in and I brought us down to the garage. Ignoring my I360 and my two motorcycles, I broke into a Thrax sedan with a loud shattering of the driver's window. After hotwiring the car, I quickly popped the trunk and jumped inside. Without instruction, River closed the trunk and got in the driver's seat. It was dark and almost quiet beneath the hefty rumble of the bulky car's engine, but the trunk was spacious enough for me to maneuver my body as we started driving. My heart pounded as we descended the parking garage floors, but I felt the car stop as we reached the exit and I heard someone talking with River. The seconds felt like hours as he spoke, but once we were moving again, I was able to sigh and relax.

We drove for another ten or so minutes before the car pulled to the side and River popped the trunk. I jumped out and took a breath of fresh air while looking around to see we were no longer in the city. We were on the outskirts of the trailer park, the only light being from the porches of a few trailers and the transit station.

"Not sure you've gotten the gist of stealin' a car," I jeered at River as he got out of the car. "You generally don't park it where you live."

He chortled and leaned against it. "Oh please, cops don't come out here unless called. Figured it'd be a good idea to get you away from the patrols for a little while." He nodded towards the trailer park, then started us walking into it at a leisurely pace. "Are you okay though? You said you almost didn't make it out of Sandra's apartment."

I nodded. "Yeah… Couldn't believe what happened to her. She connected everything together, even down to the mayor's murder. But now all the proof is gone. The guard's implants may confirm some of what she found, but not enough to make any kind of solid case. What happened with Han's kid?"

"I tipped off Child Services and watched as they picked her up," he sighed. "I dunno what'll happen to her, but at least she'll have some support from Han's pension. What do we do about SSI and Holt?"

I shrugged. "No clue. It's way bigger than we thought, though. It boils down to Night Corp controlling the mayor, regardless of the election outcome, and then selling that control to Militech. If I try to tell the Peralezes anything, I might get flatlined. If I manage to tell them the whole truth, we'll all get flatlined. I can't do much of anything about SSI or Militech right now, but when I get the chance, maybe I can give the Peralezes enough info to get out from under the corps."

"Hey, you know I'll do whatever I can, right?" he offered. "I'm in this, too. Whatever you need, I'll help."

I smiled and felt a little warmth in my cheeks. "I could use a good night's sleep for starters," I chuckled. "Crazy though, cops never come in force to find just one suspect in a murder. How did you know they were comin' for me?"

He grimaced and lightly kicked the ground as we strolled. "Well, I uh… I still have a police scanner and I have it alert me if your name comes up. Not sure why they were coming so hard for you, but when I saw the warrant for your arrest, I didn't stop to ask questions."

My eyes widened for a moment, then I looked curiously over to him. "Keepin' tabs on me, eh?"

"You complaining after tonight?" he asked.

"Not really," I snickered. "But… maybe I'd like to know why?"

He remained quiet, and it took me a moment to realize that we had walked up the path up to the water tower. I had almost forgotten that we were there just the previous night. As we reached the gate, he turned to me before opening it.

"I hoped maybe you already knew," he answered. "Please say you do."

My heartbeat shot up, but I still hesitated. "After what happened last night, I'd rather not guess wrong again."

He nodded shyly. "I was hoping you'd give a guy a second chance. I made a mistake. I invited you over for something with the family because I didn't want to pressure you with a one-on-one date. I thought having them there would keep things calm between us, let us ease into it. But then Joss and the kids started messing with us and… I kinda thought you were gonna tell me to fuck off. Well, when you reached for me instead, I just wasn't expecting it and I panicked. But I wanted you. I still want you."

Johnny appeared sitting on the fence pretending the barbed wire was tied around his neck. "Good god, don't tell me you're falling for this…"

I sighed and felt my heart pounding, but the weight of the previous day and lack of sleep still tugged at me. I leaned back against the tall fence and folded my arms. "River… you didn't make a mistake. I can't make any plans or promises for the future. There's this thing…"

"That you couldn't tell me about," he completed. "I know. Call it veteran cop intuition. I thought you got it out when you told me how your last input died, but afterwards I figured that wasn't everything. That's why I told you about my parents."

"To give me courage? To boost it?" I asked suspiciously.

He shook his head. "Ah, no. You never needed my help there. But I wanted you to know exactly how fucked up I am, to give you a chance to consider if you'd even want me whenever you were ready."

I hummed exhaustedly. "River, I'm dyin'. Wanna haggle on, try to outdo that?"

"What?" His face fell and his eyes widened in shock.

I nodded. "Sharing headspace with a construct I caught like some disease, all because of an experimental Arasaka biochip."

"Construct?" he asked. "You mean, like somebody's mind?"

"Mhm, an engram of Johnny Silverhand." I watched as his eyes narrowed in recognition. "Yes, THAT Silverhand. And it's gettin' worse."

He folded his arms and leaned against the fence while staring intently at me. "But… Sorry, still not followin' you."

"You're talkin' to V right now, but tomorrow I could be a self-obsessed dickhead rockerboy who's not too fond of cops, even ex-cops," I smirked, then took a deep breath. "He's displacing my own neural net, River. Gradually destroying my brain."

"But it's reversible, right?" he asked with an urgent tone catching in his throat. "There's no way it could actually kill you?"

I shrugged skeptically. "Actually, doesn't look promising. Need to get him outta my brain before it's too late. Tomorrow – er, well, I guess today – I'm makin' a move on the Arasaka parade to try get some answers and some help straight from the source."

He frustratedly kicked off of the fence and paced in small circles. "Shit… But… If all that's happening, what the hell are you doing in this mess with the Peralezes?"

"I needed to do somethin' other than drink myself to death," I scoffed. "I was depressed as fuck when you first met me, but then I found a way to possibly fix the problem. It gave me some hope, but it was gonna take time. Got the call from Jefferson while I was waiting for the parade."

"Hmm…" he hummed. "I wondered what was going on. You looked a bit rough when I first saw you, but then the next time, you seemed… better."

I grimaced and nodded. "Yeah, well… that's what's going on. Got two or three megacorps after me and I'm already dyin'. Makes me doubt that I'm really cut out for relationships right now, but a friend told me to hold onto anyone special while I still could. So… now that you know, you still wanna try to be my boyfriend?" I asked with a sarcastic chuckle.

He stopped and stared at me curiously, then slowly approached and then looked down at me with a solemn face while I leaned back against the fence.

"'Course I do," he replied with a concerned smile. "This doesn't change a thing. And if you knew who you're talkin' to, you'd know I'm a master of disastrous relationships. My last one… I shot her."

I chuckled, "Shuddup. You don't have to say that."

"I'm serious!" he continued. "Had no choice. Found ourselves standing on opposite sides of the law. I never made it a habit, but not gonna lie, I was a little worried that's how tonight was gonna end up."

"Heh," I hummed as I stood up straight and stepped closer to him. "And yet, you've still aided and abetted a fugitive, stole two cars, impersonated an officer, and let's not forget breaking into a police evidence lockup, all in the same 24-hours." Under my breath I added, "'Fascinating and charismatic,' indeed," and I smiled sheepishly.

He grinned and stood toe-to-toe with me, then reached his hand up and cupped my cheek. "Sounds like we're still on the same side, then. Question is, what do you want? Are you willing to give this a shot?"

I smiled, placed my hands on his chest, and let our bodies press together. "Just don't fall in love with me…"

"Too late, V," he chuckled and shook his head. "Too late."

He leaned in and kissed me again, this time a sure, earnest kiss, and pulled me in closer with his other arm. Our tongues battled for a moment, then he stepped back, took my hand in his, and led me back down the path towards the trailers. We stopped to make out multiple times, including pressing each other against the walls of other people's trailers. A passing couple even wolf-whistled as we started groping each other outside, motivating River to quickly drag me into his house. As we crept down the hallways towards his bedroom, he shushed me and pointed towards the room where Joss' twins were sleeping. I nodded understandingly, and we reached his room and quietly closed the door behind us.

I woke up feeling unusually good. The mattress underneath me was firmer than I was used to, but daylight was coming through the windows, I had no headache or open wounds, and I was able to stretch my arms and legs out to their full extent. I hummed and smiled as I became aware of the tingling sensations in my muscles that followed sex, as well as the memories that flooded in to accompany them. After looking around and confirming that River wasn't in the bed or the room anymore, I slowly sat up and took note of a shirt conspicuously left on the nearby dresser. It was a black tank top emblazoned with a giant hand holding up a middle finger, and text reading "Fuck the Police!" in bold print. I grinned and slipped it on along with my shorts while Johnny appeared leaning against the wall.

"Christ, V. Can't believe you're makin' me fuck a cop," he whined. "Gonna go plug my ears and gouge out my eyes."

I rolled my eyes and ignored him. I looked up at the mirrored door as I heard footsteps approaching, then watched as River entered, shirtless but donning a pair of pajama pants and carrying a coffee mug.

"Hey," he hummed quietly. "Sorry I had to go. Joss needed help with the generator, and I didn't want to wake you. Gave the coffee some time to brew, though. Bet it'll be the best you've ever had."

I smiled, took the mug, and drank a sip. "Mmm… Best jambalaya, best coffee…"

"Mhm, c'mon," he snickered. "Keep it comin'. And…?"

"Eh, only things that come to mind," I smirked.

"Heh, ouch," he laughed and sat down next to me on the edge of the bed. His face then fell to a more serious look. "Guess today's the day, isn't it?"

I nodded and took another sip. "Yup. Glad I actually got some sleep for it."

"Good, but I can come help if you want," he offered. "Like I said, I'm in this too, and I want to help."

"'Preciate it but…" I hummed and gently nudged him with my shoulder. "Arasaka's my fight, not yours. Don't want you gettin' dragged into it. But if I make it outta there and you're still up for it, maybe you could help me with Night Corp and Militech."

He nodded, then place his hand on mine. "In that case, before you go, take this."

He reached up behind his neck and unclipped his necklace, then leaned in and placed it around my neck and fastened it. The pendant's three metal feathers seemed light around my neck, and it felt warm against my skin. I looked River in the eyes as he pulled away.

"Why?" I asked before looking down at it.

He shrugged. "It's kinda been like a bulletproof vest for me. Dunno why, but I've never been hit more than a scratch since I got it. Think you might need it more than I will, at least tonight."

I smiled and gave him a tender kiss, then held the pendant up. "I'll be sure to bring it back to you."

He put his hand back on mine. "Just bring yourself back, that'll be enough for me."

"You know me," I chuckled. "I'll do my best."