"Drive! DRIVE!" I yelled from the back seat as bullets sliced through the window.

River weaved around traffic as another set of bullets ricocheted off the roof of the truck. "Guess it went well, then?" he grunted as he tried to duck into cover while driving. "Who was that guy? Panam said the head was blocked out by his cyberware, same as yours."

I climbed up from the back seat into the front as we gained distance from the drone and the police. "It was a proxy, a doll, the same thing as the guard we shot. They're being controlled by-" Searing pain split through my head and my vision went black. "AAAUUGH!"

"V!" River panicked, grabbing my arm with his hand.

"Keep driving!" I yelled.

Out of the blackness, Mr. Blue Eyes' face appeared in my vision such that I couldn't look away from him, and I couldn't block him out with my eyes open or shut.

"You're wasting your own time, V," he warned, his voice unscrambled unlike his first call.

I gritted my teeth and tried blocking his connection. "Fuck off!" I hissed.

"V?!" River called again. "What's going on?!"

He continued, "I can afford to be more patient than most, but you've opened up a shorter route to achieving peace and I don't intend to waste it."

"You call kidnapping 'peace?!'" I spat, my head still splitting.

He frowned. "Numbers don't lie, V, and I ran yours. I hoped you'd defy the odds and be able to visualize saving thousands of lives instead of just two, but you disappointed me. You're so blinded with hatred of corporations, but you've put yourself on the board between Militech and Arasaka. You'll have to side with one of us eventually."

I snarled and clenched my fists against my head, feeling the truck shift as River kept driving. "Great fuckin' choices, considering you're the one with hostages. Think that makes me trust you?"

"I think you'll do what you have to for survival," he replied. "Arasaka won't help you, and part of you already knows that. I don't care what your other plans are – none of them will work because you simply won't make it that long without my help. I'll stand by my word. Come in, your friends will go free, and I'll help fix you."

My Kiroshis rebooted and my vision came back. I sighed as my headache finally subsided, and I looked around as I sat back in the seat. We were back in Watson, speeding through traffic on the highway. River briefly glanced at me every other second as I pulled myself together.

"What was that, V?" he asked raggedly. "Are you okay?"

I shuddered and punched the dashboard in frustration. "Fuck! No, I'm definitely not okay!"

"What's going on? What just happened?" he repeated.

"Militech took Judy and Vik," I growled as I processed last hour in my mind. "Mr. Blue Eyes is a Night Corp AI controlling bodies through Doll Chips. The guard we shot was one of his proxies. He's secretly allied Night Corp and Militech, and he's holding Judy and Vik to get me to come in."

"Fuck…" he breathed grimly. "What does he want?"

"The Relic, what else?" I scoffed. "Says he'll let them go if I go to Militech HQ, but he wants to use the same tech he used to condition the Peralezes on me, to re-wire my brain so he can get the Relic."

"Shiiiit," he hissed.

He pulled the truck off the highway and down a side road, then with no one appearing behind us, he drove into a dead-end dark alley and parked at the end. Seething, I dropped out of the truck and began pacing in the alley. He followed me out and stood by the back of the truck while watching me. Johnny materialized in front of me with his arms folded, but he didn't say anything.

"We should call the Aldecaldos," River suggested. "We go in with cavalry and get Vik and Judy out."

I shook my head. "No way. Saul would never go for that, and I'm not gonna send them to get slaughtered."

"Your other options are finding Johnny's people or Arasaka," he argued. "We can't do this alone."

I glared at him. "'We' aren't, I am. There's no other option. He wants me."

He reached out and grabbed my arm. "Like hell! There's no way you're going without me."

Johnny also glared at me and kicked off from the wall. "Don't you fuckin' quit on me!"

"You don't get it!" I shouted and pushed both of them away, my arm flailing in midair as I shoved the image of Johnny. "His bodies? Those proxies? They used to be people! Real people that he fuckin' harvested to be his Dolls! We go in there, what's stopping him from doing that to us? What's stopping him from doing it to Vik or Judy while we spend days gathering the Aldecaldos or getting Rogue on board?"

River's eyes widened. "The fuck…? He'd do that to them if you don't go?"

"I don't know…" I breathed. "But they're in the heart of Militech and under the watch of an AI. They can do anything they want to them, even Doll Chip them without them knowing. Willing to bet he'll do that to me, too."

He stepped closer to me. "I won't let that happen to you. I'll be right there, and I'll kill anyone who tries to put you under."

I huffed and leaned back against the wall with a thud. "River… I don't exactly have a track record for people around me surviving-"

"Don't even start," he warned, taking a step closer. "Not walking away. I'm in this as much as you are, and I'm not letting you face it alone."

"I don't want to lose another person I care about!" I countered.

He looked surprised for a moment, then smirked. "Good to know. I'll make sure not to die. But I'm not just doing this for you. Han may have been corrupt, but for the time we were partners, he was a damn good one. And this AI shot him in the back like a coward. I'm doing it for him and for his daughter, too."

Johnny groaned. "This is all very touching, but if you're ready to grow some balls, I have an idea."

"What?" I huffed frustratedly and looked over to Johnny. "Oh, wait, lemme guess – nuke all of Corpo Plaza? Take out all the corps at once and go out with a bang?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw visible confusion on River's face.

"Fuck you, too," Johnny retorted. "Blue-Eyed Batshit's cryptic phone calls were more than just to warn you, they were to scare you into making a rushed move that he's already expecting you to make."

I ground my teeth. "Like breaking in and getting Vik and Judy out?"

"Or surrendering out of guilt, or not even taking yourself offline so he can still fuckin' mess with your gonk ass!" he growled.

River curiously hummed, "Uh… V?"

I scoffed and internally kicked myself for overlooking that thought. I shook my head and disconnected myself from the Net.

River raised an eyebrow. "You… talkin' to Silverhand?"

"Yeah," I softly replied. "Just took myself offline. Don't need the AI hacking me again while we figure out what to do."

He nodded. "First thing's first, we need a plan. If this were a job, how would you approach it?"

I started pacing again as I thought it through. "First, I'd get details from a fixer on who or what I'm after. Then, I'd recon the place, check perimeter, then find a way to sneak in through a grate or hatch, maybe through a garage or something other than a main entrance. But cracking Militech HQ is way different than sneaking into some autobody shop or warehouse. It'd be like Konpeki Plaza, with Netrunners keeping tabs on the whole building and a LOT more security. Also likely means no weapons."

"One problem at a time," River nodded. "Alright, so we'll need blueprints to the building, uniforms, an access card, maybe a vehicle?"

"Johnny also said that the AI will be expecting me to break in for a rescue," I added. "Either that or surrender. Not sure if I'll have a choice. Trying to get corpo building blueprints and access will cost more than either of us could afford, no matter which fixer we go to."

He pursed his lips. "I have some favors owed to me, even by a fixer or two."

My eyes widened and I looked quizzically at him. "A fixer owes you that big of a favor?"

"Try not to sound so surprised," he replied smugly. "Sometimes fixers need cops too. But the only way this may work is if you surrender yourself. Once this AI sees you surrendering, that'll open up an opportunity for me to get in and find you and the others."

"Huh," I hummed. "Alright, once I'm in, they'll confiscate my weapons before taking me to Vik and Judy. He promised to let them go, but I don't trust his word. First thing I'll do when I get there is make sure they leave unharmed, that way we'll only have to get the two of us out. But I want to see what he's got planned for the Relic so we know how to stop him."

He nodded. "OK. Give me the weapons you want for while we're inside. I'll check around to see if Vik and Judy have been released before I come to find you. Soon as I do, we'll fight our way out, taking whatever information we can with us. But the only way this'll work is if the AI believes you're really surrendering, so you can't come with me to know the plans to get me in. We can't blow this."

I grimaced and started pacing again. After a moment, I replied, "OK," and unsheathed my katana, unholstered my pistol, and handed them both over. "Even with those gone, at least I'll have this," I added as I revealed the launcher in my arm.

He gingerly took the weapons and looked back up at me. "Get replacement weapons and wait for my signal. Once I'm ready, head in. I'll meet you there."

"You sure you're up for this?" I asked worriedly.

"Damn sure," he replied before pulling me in for a quick, hard kiss. He pulled away after a second and started walking back to the truck. "It'll take me a couple of hours. Try not to get into any trouble until then?"

I chortled and shook my head, then started walking away from the alley. I didn't reconnect to the Net yet, but I waited for River's truck to pass before talking to Johnny again.

"I know you're listening and that you have an opinion," I called out in my mind. "Let's hear it."

He appeared a few yards in front of me with his arms crossed. "I stopped being able to tell which one of us feels it when something's wrong, but right now I can definitely tell we both don't like this."

"No shit, Sherlock," I quipped with a huff and continued walking.

"I've broken in on Arasaka before without much notice to save people, but I at least had more backup than an ex-cop input," he noted. "He may not be a stranger to gunfire, but this is still out of his depth. He's still only a rookie merc."

I shrugged. "Wasn't exactly my depth either until recently. Everyone starts sometime. Don't tell me you're actually worried about River?"

"HA!" he laughed. "Not even close. But the last thing we need is you balling up into another punk-ass, drunken puddle for what little time we have left if he gets killed and we don't have anything to show for it. By my eyes, he's a civilian until I see how well he spits lead. You ready to have that kind of casualty on your conscience?"

"With or without his help, we'd need to get in there somehow," I countered. "I think you're right that Blue Eyes was trying to scare me into thinking I have less time than I do, but it doesn't change that I'm dying, and fast. I'd rather die saving Vik and Judy than just trying to save my own skin. You nearly bought it a couple of times breaking in to save Alt."

He smiled. "It does have that Night City Legend feel to it, I'll give you that. It's ironic that only now does this happen instead of when you were already an emotional mess. You're better in combat now than you were, but you would have less convincing to do to make Blue Eyes show his hand."

I tilted my head to the side as I thought of what he said, then another idea came to mind.

I trudged slowly around the center of Corpo Plaza with an opened six-pack of Broseph Ale. I finished the last drops of the second bottle in the pack, then started into the third. With all the drinking I had done with Johnny, I figured I could handle the whole pack, but I had a fine line to toe between being convincingly tipsy and ready for combat. I felt warmth in my extremities as I stretched and looked above me where two large holographic fish circled above the park in the middle of the Plaza. Around me, skyscrapers from Militech, Kang Tao, Petrochem, Orbital Air, and Arasaka stretched into the darkening evening sky. Lights from the signs and buildings joined the ones from the park. Reaching my fifth bottle, the lights started to bother me, which gave me a good indicator that I was ready.

I drifted along with the buzzing feeling in my head as I watched AVs fly overhead, each one making me wonder if Militech knew I was right there, and if they'd come to snatch me when Mr. Blue Eyes had enough of waiting for me to come in on my own. I flopped myself onto a hard, concrete bench across the park from Militech's HQ, looking up and down the building, wondering where Vik and Judy were inside, anything that'd help force my mind back into some form of hopeless state. I had bluffed my way through situations before, but I never had to trick my own mind before. But then again, I had never been up against an AI that literally knew minds inside and out, either.

Finally, my holo chimed with a message from River.

Hey, V. Randy just left the hospital and should be home soon. I'll let you know when he's settled in, and maybe we can all cook again. See ya around.

I smirked as I read the message, knowing full well what he really meant. I took one last swig of beer and started walking around the outer rim of the circle, following signs leading towards Militech's main entrance. I allowed myself to stumble a bit, but I continued unabashedly forward. A long bridge dotted with more benches passed over the five lanes of traffic below. The benches were mostly empty save for a couple of employees out for a smoke break. Closer to the entrance stood a pair of NCPD officers and a Militech mech. Behind them, but still not yet inside the building, was a security checkpoint manned with two Militech guards. I didn't have to feign being nervous even with the amount of alcohol I had consumed. But I let a defeated look plaster itself on my face.

The guard studied me cautiously, then gestured towards a set of weapons lockers. "Deposit all weapons, and step into the scanner."

I followed the instructions and deposited two pistols and a knife I had forgotten to sell. Then I stepped into the checkpoint's body scanner. My optics became slightly distorted as the deep scan ran.

"State your name and business," the guard droned, no doubt having repeated the phrase a thousand times.

I wasn't exactly sure how to answer. "Name's V. Here to… see someone named Mr. Blue Eyes? Name ring a bell?"

The guard eyed me as he considered the strange response. The scanner beeped with a blue light, which usually didn't indicate trouble, but I stayed inside. The guard tapped on a tablet while he looked through a directory, but he made a surprised hum when it chimed. He picked up a phone and punched in a few keys.

In a hushed tone, he began, "I have a VIP guest for Mr. Harford at the front gate… Yes… Alone… Yes, combat implants, non-lethal. All other weapons deposited… Very well. Sending him in." He hung up the phone and tapped a few keys on the pad.

Behind him, a large, thick steel door the size of a small building began to open just wide enough to allow two people through.

He looked back at me. "Please step inside. You will be escorted to Mr. Harford's office immediately. Your weapons will be returned to you upon your exit."

I frowned. "Who's Mr. Harford?"

"Um…" his jaw dropped as if he had been hit with a stun baton. "He's the CEO. Don't you know that?"

Johnny instantly appeared with a concerned glare. "You go in that office, and you won't come out. No way they don't have him guarded up the ass after you killed the last Blue Eyes proxy."

I nodded, then slowly stepped forward towards the door. I looked up at it and felt a sense of dread for when it would close behind me. As I walked through, a glamorous marble and stainless-steel lobby spread out ahead of me. It reminded me of Konpeki Plaza, though with a slightly more electronic and industrial feel. A few people in suits crossed the lobby while chattering quietly to each other, but my attention was caught by a stern-looking guard approaching me.

"Come with me," he ordered.

I swallowed and nodded meekly, then I sauntered forward behind the guard. He led me to a set of elevators without saying a word, then tapped in a code on the sensor pad to unlock additional destinations in the elevator. I watched the pad light up with the name "CEO LEVEL" as the elevator ascended. I let my body sway with a lack of control to keep up the slight illusion of being drunk. The guard glared condescendingly at me from the corner of his eye, then returned to face forward.

The elevator finally slowed and halted, then opened out to an empty hallway. The guard guided us across the hall and through a glass door which opened into a small reception office. The receptionist looked up at us, then nodded to the guard. The receptionist stood up and gestured towards a set of steel double doors.

He smiled routinely at me. "Mr. Harford is waiting for you."

Without a word, I triggered my Sandevistan. In a blur, I shot tranquilizers into the guard's and receptionist's necks, then sped over to the corner of the room and deactivated the camera before my implants shut off. The camera was off before the guard's body hit the floor, and after a moment, I heard no alarm. I breathed and started rifling through the guard's holsters and pockets. He had a basic Lexington automatic pistol, some spare ammunition, and a boot knife. I pulled his Militech jacket and hat from his body and slipped them on, then shoved him into one of the coat closets on the side of the room. I checked on the receptionist and swiped an access card from his jacket pocket, then I squeezed him into the closet with the guard.

I rounded the desk again and tapped the computer awake. I flipped through the messages, most of which seemed like operational reports. One conversation with Lucas Harford caught my interest:

From: Dir. Collins R&D

To: CEO Lucas Harford

Mr. Harford, our production of the units requested is on schedule, however I must remind you that these units are EXPONENTIALLY more expensive than our own mechs, which even beat out the high-end Kang Tao droids. I can build you an army of mechs and drones with the price of what we're building here. We're burning through our yearly budget in a matter of weeks!

From: CEO Lucas Harford

To: Dir. Collins, R&D

These are for a client, and not for you to question. Just build them to specification and stop sniveling about your budget. Your department will have the money. Don't even think of cutting corners for a single unit in this order. Not even a hair can be out of place.

I read the messages again and clenched my teeth, then switched over to the cameras on the network. I saw the inside of the CEO's office, which was guarded by two turrets and two guards. I shook my head and continued cycling through various hallways until I found what looked like a security office with three holding cells. I could see Judy and Vik in their own cells, and the last was empty. I nodded at the empty cell, glad that River hadn't been caught, at least not yet. Looked for any sign of a floorplan so I could find my way around, then straightened the Militech jacket and headed out of the office.

I took the elevator down to the security level. Walking down the hallway, I held my breath as I walked passed a pair of people in suits, neither of them bothering to look up at me. I continued down the hall, noting that there were no signs or markings on the wall to indicate where I was except for the occasional door, and several halls branched out to almost make this level a maze. I heard the thumping of boots as I reached a corner, and I kept my gaze and stride confident like I knew where I was going. A guard rounded the corner quickly and quickly studied me as I glanced at him, but he continued without stopping. I breathed a little more easily and remembered to disconnect myself from the Net again, then heard someone else coming as I continued around the corner. Poking out from another side hallway, I saw a long, slim crate being hauled on a dolly, then the guard pushing it appeared.

"River!" I hissed.

He jolted his head towards me, then he sighed with relief and pushed towards me. "There you are," he replied, keeping his voice low. "This way."

I sped up to him and we walked down the hallway where he was headed. He had also been dressed in a Militech uniform and armed with the standard-issue Militech Lexington.

I looked down at the crate he was hauling and asked, "How'd you get in here?"

He smirked. "Told you someone owed me a favor. Got a map to get us to the armory and the jail cells, and I've got a truck in the loading bay ready to get us all out of here. What have you found out?"

I looked around before replying, "We have to hurry – I'm supposed to be in the CEO's office by now, so they may sound the alarm soon. The AI is building more bodies, and they're very expensive. If Night Corp is paying for them, there's no way they'll be able to keep that kind of money transfer quiet. Someone will find out."

"If they're paying with money, yes. But what other asset does Night Corp's AI have?" he suggested.

My jaw dropped. "The Peralezes… that's how they're doing it. Militech gets to control them via conditioning, and Night Corp gets equipment and funding."

"In here," he motioned towards one of the doors.

We both slid inside what appeared to be a maintenance closet. He opened the crate and handed me my katana and my suppressed La Chingona Dorada. I gratefully holstered the weapons and weighed the sword in my hand, then looked back at River.

"What's the plan?" I asked.

He pulled out a shard from one of his slots and gave it to me. I slotted it in and saw a map of the hallways leading to the holding cells, as well as maintenance ducts that wove their way around the building.

"Maintenance hatch can lead us to the security office. It's a long crawl and it's booby-trapped with mines, but that seems to be the best way unless you want to make a run for it and face Militech security head-on," he suggested.

I nodded and grimaced. "Yeah, I think the ducts will do just fine."

"Heh," he huffed. "Wise."

We crawled what seemed like the entire length of Corpo Plaza before reaching the grate to the security office. We looked through the grate and saw six guards lining the entrance to the office, with another guard at the main controls, and two turrets overhead. The three holding cells were on the left, but I couldn't see Judy and Vik from where we were.

I looked back to River and whispered, "I'll take the guard at the desk and shut down the turrets and cameras. You take down the guards up front."

"Won't someone hear the shots?" he asked.

I nodded, unholstered my pistol, and handed it to him. "Be careful with it," I added quietly with a smile. "We can't let them get off a shot. Start from the right and take them down to the left. I'll start on the left when I'm done."

He nodded and gently took the gun, then ensured the suppressor was on tightly. I quietly slid the hatch open and crawled out of the duct into a crouched position. I took out the boot knife and triggered my Sandevistan, then threw the knife into the back of the closest guard's head while dashing towards the desk. I could feel the turret sensors on me while I tapped through the computer in a blur. After hitting the turrets' shut-off command, I looked up in time to see a bullet slowly sail past me towards one of the guards up front. I pulled out my katana and vaulted over the desk towards the line of guards that were only just noticing the ones that had been killed, and I cut down two before my implants shut off. I slashed through the last one just before he pulled his trigger. While no shots had sounded, there had been plenty of shouting from the guards before they died.

"V!" Judy called from her cell.

I gasped with relief and rushed over. "Judy! Are you hurt?" I asked as I looked her over through the metal bars.

"I'm fine, but I'm pissed," she growled. "Get us outta here!"

River hurried over to the computer panel. "I'm on it!"

I went to Vik's cell and looked at him, wincing as I noticed some bruises starting to form. "Vik, you alright?"

He jumped up from the cell's bed and came to the front. "Taken worse beatings in boxing matches. I'm fine, kid."

I smiled as the cell doors buzzed and opened. I gave Judy the Lexington I stole while Vik picked up a rifle from one of the dead guards, and River came over and handed me my gun back.

"Think we can make it back the way we came?" he asked breathlessly.

I shrugged. "Unless you have a better route to the garage. How will we get them there without being noticed?" I nodded towards the others.

"Cuffs," he replied. "We gotta get off this floor, then we can escort them out on cuffs while everyone's looking for us down here."

Vik suddenly yelled out, "V! Watch out-!"

A black and red blur barreled through us, knocking us apart. I triggered my implant with just enough time to block the swipe of the enemy's katana coming towards me, but they spun around with rapidly with a series of attacks so swift that they were still faster than me. Other than the black clothes and likely red hair, I could barely make out any details of my attacker except for a pair of bright glowing blue eyes, the AI's signature.

"Run! RUN!" I barked out as I blocked attack after attack, barely managing a few near-miss attacks of my own.

I knew my Sandevistan wouldn't hold much longer, but I glanced over to see Vik duck into the maintenance duct just after Judy, while River had his gun pointed at us. The attacker rounded on me, and I grunted with a strong, hard horizontal slice. Our swords clashed deafeningly as I held my ground and the attacker held theirs, each of us pushing hard against the other. Their face came into focus as we stood toe-to-toe. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped as I slowly started to recognize the face.

It was… me.

He smirked, then he shoved me backwards and extended his arm. I was too dumbstruck to see the tranquilizer speeding towards me, but the pain of the impact and injection surprised me even further. My body started to feel heavy, I felt paralyzed, and my vision started to blur as I fell to my knees. River's voice was distant and muffled as he cried out my name, but my imposter shot him with a dart as well. River's pained yelp was the last thing I heard, and the glowing blue eyes were the last things I saw before I blacked out.