Chapter 3: Positive Void Coefficient
The Chevillon Ragnar sped onward. The small town that V had his car repaired in way before the events that had transpired in Night City came and went and soon the large checkpoint gate loomed in the distance. Previously, V had been forced out of his vehicle and submitted to a mandatory search. As the Ragnar slowly came to a halt in one of the lanes, he was surprised as the officers there did nothing but wave them through. Perhaps this was due to them being inside a Militech vehicle? Regardless, they sped through the checkpoint and continued towards the gleaming skyline of Night City.
It had been a minute since V had been in the City, over 3 months since the last time he had been here, having left with Panam and the rest of the Aldecados. No doubt, Vik, Judy, Kerry, and his other friends had been worried. He'd tried to keep in touch with them, but had obviously been preoccupied with a more important situation at the time. The scents and odors of Night City began to permeate his senses again, the same smell of smog and congestion, the chemicals from the water treatment plants, and the smell of poor gonks getting killed in the streets. V had already thought of a good 'Safe Haven', it was fairly secluded, off of the beaten path and close to friends who would vouch for him.
"Hey. Over there... Continue down the highway and then pull off near that club, the Coyote Cojo.", V directed. Jericho turned abruptly and sent V sliding into Asher as he made the left turn.
"Hi, V!", Asher exclaimed as V collided with her, his hands inadvertently making contact with her breasts and face.
"Aagh! Stop right here! In the parking lot. It's not far, just behind that gate!", V exclaimed as Jericho applied the brakes with way too much force, causing V and Asher to fly forwards against the front seats. V's hands going to new and interesting places on Asher's body in the process.
After the abrupt stoppage, V had been catapulted between the two front seats and now laid in an awkward position with Asher on top of him. His left hand firmly planted into the NetRunner's crotch and his right arm laid over her neck in an incredibly odd position.
"Oh, V. I didn't know you liked me like that. And we haven't even been on our first date!"
V just shoved Asher back upright and removed his hands and arms from their incriminating positions before composing himself and sliding back into the rear seat. Johnny was sitting coolly between them.
"Usually I'd wait before fondling a nice lady like that, but... You've got some gall.", Johnny mused, smoking a holographic cigarette.
"Shut the fuck up, Johnny."
After removing his hands from Asher's bottom, V climbed out of the Ragnar slightly humiliated. Asher exited as well and stood next to the massive SUV in the rear parking lot behind the Coyote Cojo. A few gang members glanced in their direction and immediately avoided their stares as they took notice of Jericho, who was seemingly fiddling with his nano-ceramic blade.
"Where is this safe haven you've spoken about? I see nothing but gangers and gonks.", Jericho mused as he scanned the area for potential hostiles.
"It's back here. Behind the gate. It belonged to a- It belonged to my best friend, Jackie. He's... No longer with us.", V noted, pointing in the direction of the once-beloved hideout and garage.
"Oh. Sentimental value. I understand. This area is secure enough. Off the beaten path with enough cover. Lead on, V.", Jericho mused, now sliding his blade back into his arm with a slight click.
V led the three of them towards the unused garage. He knelt down for a moment, unlocking the sliding garage door. Stepping inside, he noticed that Jackie's belongings had been removed leaving the place nearly empty. He opened the side door leading into the adjacent chamber where Jackie had spent most of his days drinking or daydreaming about the future. The mandala was still there, now seal-coated and propped against the wall, as well as the couch, table, chair and desk with computer.
"This appears to be adequate, although small. It will serve as our base for now. Asher, please use that computer for whatever you need. Undoubtedly it contains an access point into Night City's Net.", Jericho added. "I will use the adjacent garage as my workshop."
"Got it, Jericho. You wanna do the standard Veil?", Asher noted.
"Yes. That will be sufficient, although limit the Veil to only us and only when we're moving.", Jericho coincided.
"Veil?", V asked.
"A stealth subroutine. Asher will take control of the CCTV cameras and hide us from view when necessary.", Jericho explained. Asher had already begun attaching her Cyberdeck to the computer.
"Why the Cyberdeck?", V asked.
"Oh, well. It's just a failsafe. You know, against Black ICE. So if someone tries to fry me, they'll hit the Cyberdeck first instead of my brain. I'm not ready to be a crispy critter, yet!", Asher noted, pointing to her equipment. V thought vaguely of T-Bug, who had met a fate worse than death and had been burned by Arasaka's subnet nearly a year ago. "Once I'm in, I'll have access to comms. I'll be in your heeaaad, V!"
"Preem. Looking forward to it.", V sighed sarcastically.
Jericho had already left the side-room, having gone to setup his equipment in the garage itself. V and Asher just stood in the room staring at each-other.
"So, do you know any other NetRunners?", Asher asked inquistively.
"Well, I did. Bugbear was one, she wrote a book I think. And Nix, from the Afterlife bar. I also used to work with T-Bug, but things went south during a heist and she got zeroed.", V mused, recalling some of his past business partners.
"Hah! T-Bug got zeroed? When?"
"Almost a year ago, we had a heist, steal a biochip from Araska. It went bad and led me to you- to Jericho.", V mused.
"That's... Not right... T-Bug is totally fine. I just spoke with her. Like a few days ago."
"What?", V added, T-Bug was totally dead. Fried to a crisp with all of her synapses burned out.
"No really. T-Bug is living it up in the Crystal Palace. That heist went really good for her!", Asher noted happily. "Here, gimme a sec. I'll give her a ring..."
V just stood in mild shock. Was T-Bug actually alive? What about the heist then? What exactly was going on? The call Asher was making connected and a familiar face appeared on V's comms, T-Bug wasn't wearing her netrunning suit, but rather a nice floral dress.
"What, Asher!? Why are you calling me?", T-Bug asked in annoyance, seemingly having been interrupted from her new lavish lifestyle.
"Oh, nothing. I just met one of your friends! His name is V and he said you're deeeaaad.", Asher chimed.
"Oh fuck! V's still alive? Uh... Nevermind. How are you?"
"Oh I'm doing great! By the way, V is also on this call. I think he wants to know why your not a crispy critter.", Asher added.
"Hey, Bug. Kinda weird that you're living it up in space, huh?", V noted in annoyance.
"Oh, V! Good- Great to see you... I- Uh... Look things just worked out for me. I never meant for you and Jackie to get killed, it was Dex. It was all Dex! Arasaka knew about the heist and they offered more. You can't blame me, really...", T-Bug stuttered, now having been found out.
"You sold us out! For what? What did Arasaka offer that was better than our payday?", V said angrily, missing pieces now falling into place.
"A life of mai-tais and luxury? Look they wanted Dex and the Relic. It was a simple double-cross. You weren't even supposed to be involved. I'm sorry V. Truly."
"Bug... You'd better be glad you're up in space right now, because if you weren't, I'd zero you myself... With my bare hands!"
"Cool. Great-talking-to-you-Asher, I-have-to-go-now, bye!", T-Bug abruptly ended their conversation and presumably resumed whatever it was she was up to in space leaving V angry and Asher inquisitive.
"Soooo... That was T-Bug. Like I said, she's totally fine. We're like friends, sorta.", Asher concluded. V wasn't having it and left to go find Jericho. He'd had enough conversation with quirky NetRunners for a while.
Leaving through the side door, V entered into the main garage section of Jackie's old storage unit. Jericho had already set up his workshop and was busy tinkering with some kind of mechanical device, his augmented fingertips working away with clicks, whirrs and the occasional spark of a soldering iron. V peered over his shoulder in mild curiousity.
"Hello, V. I suppose you are free to do as you'd like for now. I will be busy with this little project for some time. Perhaps since you are familiar with Night City, you would be willing to do a little research for me.", Jericho noted, not looking up from what he was doing. "Here take this data shard, it contains the designs for my own cyberware as well as my reactor, perhaps you know someone who may be familiar with them."
V took the shard and attempted to insert it into his head, but realized that the slot was missing for some reason. He fumbled around with it for a bit in confusion.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, that Chipset I installed uses all the available ports on your neural link, so you won't be able to read shards anymore. I suggest you get yourself some kind of tablet computer.", Jericho noted, still not looking up from his workspace. "It does have its own cyberdeck, however."
V just sighed and pocketed the data shard. This was proving to be a bit of an annoyance. He was cured of the random visual glitches and crippling pain that the Relic had been causing, and that was the trade-off. V just left the garage entirely and walked around the corner towards the Coyote Cojo, he considered going in and having a drink, but decided against it and set his internal GPS for Vik's shop. He pulled out his phone and dialed up the Vehicle Delivery Service, which promptly dropped off Johnny's Porsche 911 coupe. V swung the driver's door open, turned the ignition key and slammed the clutch pedal to the floor, he revved the turbocharged flat-six engine a few times before dropping the clutch and peeling out of the alleyway towards the road back to more familiar territory. It was good to be back.
"Easy on the clutch, V. This car's a goddamn classic!", Johnny yelled, he'd appeared in the passenger seat like a ghost.
"Johnny... Honestly, I have to say I've missed you a bit. Missed your banter...", V sighed.
"Me too. Hate to say it, but I really did miss having a good friend for once."
"What's your take on this whole thing?"
"My take? Hmm, V. I think you're in way over your head. It took us getting to Mikoshi to get me outta your head and this Jericho guy just went and plopped me back in like it was nothing. His NetRunner is a four cents short of a nickel; hell, she makes Spider Murphy look like a Harvard Professor. If I were in your shoes, I'd head for the hills. This guy knows way more than what he's telling you, I've seen it already too many times.", Johnny waxed.
"I really don't think that's a good idea, Johnny..."
"Hey, your funeral. Or I guess ours... Hmf. How does this work anyways? I'm stuck up here, in this chipset. If you die, do I just keep on living inside your rotten brain? Fuck, V."
"Yeah. Fuck V. That's pretty much what's been happening all year long..."
"Hey, look. You're alive right? That's what you wanted. You've just got your best pal, Johnny with you this time."
"Haha. Yeah...", V sighed. Vik's Ripperdoc clinic was nearing. V pulled into a parking space near Misty's Esoterica and got out. This was going to be interesting.
V walked into Misty's shop, the familiar odor of incense and potpurri filled his senses. Misty stood behind the counter, not paying any attention to him at the moment. V coughed.
"Oh! Oh, V! You're back... Did you find what you were looking for with the Nomads? You have to have, since you're back.", Misty said.
"Yeah, I did. I'm back. How are you faring?"
"Better, V. I was able to download Jackie's engram after your conflict with Arasaka. It's almost like he's back, but... not really. It's not really him. I just wanted to hear his voice again. He can be real motivational at times, though.", Misty mused, pulling up a small holographic pedestal. The late Jackie Welles stood on the platform in all of his rambunctious glory. Despite only being around 8in tall, the holographic Jackie exuded the late companion's best traits. "Vik's downstairs if you want to see him."
V just nodded, noticing a friendly wave from holo-Jackie and proceeded out the back door and down the stairs towards Vik's clinic. Vik was going to have the shock of a lifetime after he found out that Johnny was back. V opened the sliding door and stepped into the clinic, taking a moment to move the gate aside within the foyer.
"Shit. V, you're back! I guess this means you got what you wanted from Arasaka and the Nomads. What brings you to my clinic? Don't tell me you're having issues again...", Vik noted, taking sight of the wayward cyberpunk. V just shrugged.
"Well... It's a long story. Basically, the Relic is gone and I'm me again. I got this new biochip installed by this guy, Jericho, in Arizona. All the glitches and pain is gone, but... Johnny is back. Jericho said something about needing an AI to run the chipset. You ever heard of anyone named Jericho?", V asked.
"No. Never heard of anyone called Jericho... Never even heard of this biochip, either. Have a seat, I'll take a look at your chrome.", Vik added. V sat in the all too familiar chair and let Vik get to work.
"Huh, strange... All of your accessory ports are missing. Looks like they've been taken up by this new biochip. Hmm... It's actually a chipset, V. Looks military-grade. I haven't the foggiest of what I'm even looking at. It's got... 7 cores, but only three of them are active right now. Odd.", Vik mused, poking around V's internal systems. "Good news is, you're healthy. I'm not detecting anything abnormal in your biodata."
"Well, that's a relief. So you have no idea what this thing is?"
"No... Never seen anything like it. If had to wager a guess, I'd say it was some kind of Black Project. Classified information. I don't even have a manufacturer for it. It just shows up as 'Unknown Device' on my scans.", Vik looked puzzled, he'd been in this business for a long time, but had never encountered any chrome he wasn't familiar with. The Relic he wasn't an expert on, but at least there was some data on it. This was something else entirely.
"Alright. Next question. Jericho gave me this data shard, said there were some designs on it. Can you take a look at it?", V asked, handing over the shard. Vik took it and inserted it into his terminal.
"Well, shit. This is some high-tech stuff.", Vik mused as he pulled up multiple diagrams of what V assumed were Jericho's own cyberware. Arm augmentations, Leg augmentations, the parts within those augmentations and the reactor core. "This... This is a micro-nuclear fission-fusion reactor. I've seen them before, but not at this size. Militech drones usually have some variant of this."
"Yeah. Jericho has one inside his chest. He said it runs his cyberware and the Chipset."
"Well, it theoretically could power someone's cyberware. The radiation would fry them before they'd had a chance to use it though. This thing's not only got a positive-void coefficient, but also a feedback loop on it. Fission material gets sent to the Fusion core, then it gets turned back into fissile material and set back to the Fission core... An endless cycle of spiking power until either the core goes through a melt-down or the fission process is neutralized. This is dangerous tech, V.", Vik waxed.
"Can you look into it? See if there's ever been anyone else fitted with it? I'm kinda in a bind here, with Jericho.", V noted.
"Is he threatening you, V?"
"No. I just made an agreement with him. He'd save my life if I helped him find... find out who made this cyberware.", V noted. He felt as though to keep Jericho's missing memories secret for now.
"Huh. I'll dig around a bit, V. But if this guy is threatening you, just do whatever he says. I'm assuming this is his chrome and his reactor and that combination is deadly, especially in a city like this. You and everyone else is in danger if he goes critical.", Vik sighed.
"Thanks, Vik. Knew I could count on you.", V concluded. He got up out of the chair and headed for the door. Vik would be able to track this stuff down, the old boxer had his resources and odd connections.
A chime called out, ringing for several moments before being answered.
"Jericho... It's been a long time.", a cold British-accented voice answered.
"Yes. It has. I need you to fly to Night City.", Jericho stated.
"When?"
"As soon as possible. I am reuniting the team. We have our fifth member."
"Done. The flight is already booked. I trust that Asher has already taken care of the passport issues?"
"She has. You'll be using a pseudonym. See you soon."
V left Vik's clinic. He got back into Johnny's car and headed back onto the highway. He thought idly about visiting some more of his friends, maybe Kerry or even River. Judy? He didn't feel like telling Panam about his interesting adventure, yet. He was lamenting that he hadn't even gotten the chance to return to the Nomad Camp.
"You should call her, V. Don't leave her hanging.", Johnny added, almost reading his thoughts.
"Fuck... Fine, I do owe her an explanation.", V sighed. He called Panam. The comms rang a few times before the familiar face of the Nomad Queen answered.
"V! You're alive. Where are you!? Mitch said that you would be back, if all went well.", Panam sounded worried.
"Hey. I'm good. It all went well. I'm in Night City again, I uhh- I ran into some issues after the Nuclear Nomad fixed me up.", V uttered.
"Night City!? How the hell have you ended up back there? No, don't answer. I shall move the clan back into the Badlands, you can tell me in person!", Panam noted, ending the call. She was mad. As expected.
"Huh, you picked a fiery one, didn't you V?", Johnny mused.
"Shut up, Johnny..."
Chapter End. V's in deep doodoo.