Chapter 4: Outlaw

The drive back to Jackie's garage was largely uneventful. V had been stuck in traffic for several hours and night was beginning to fall. The headlights on the ancient Porsche were horribly inadequate and barely lit up the road in front of him. Johnny still sat in the passenger seat and winced every time they hit a pothole, despite him being an AI and unable to feel anything. V pulled the car into a parking space in the back lot of the Coyote Cojo, scraping the front bumper slightly on the parking block.

"V! For fucks sake, that's irreplaceable!", Johnny cursed.

"Johnny..."

V got out of the car, inspected the damage to the front bumper out of sheer curiosity and headed towards the garage. He unlocked the door and pushed it upwards, Jericho wasn't in the garage anymore. He opened the side door and proceeded further into the living quarters. Asher was sleeping face first on the desk next to the computer, she snored loudly. Jericho sat on the couch, a laptop-like computer sat on the table in front of him. He appeared to be reviewing data of some kind, the translucent screen displaying text in a language that V wasn't familiar with, although he assumed it to be Jericho's own dialect from wherever he was from.

"Hello, V. I know it is late, but I have one more task for you. You will be picking up a friend, from the airport tomorrow. She is very dear to me. She will be using a pseudonym, 'Rachel Sweet', please bring her back here as soon as possible.", Jericho noted, not looking up from the computer screen.

"Preem. Anything I should know about your friend?"

"Don't touch her."

"Wasn't planning on it... By the way, that thing with Asher was your fault, you took that corner way too hard."

"What? What thing with Asher?"

"Nevermind..."

Jericho sent V the details. He was supposed to pick up Jericho's ladyfriend around noon. That was when the flight was landing. V looked around the room, there really was nowhere to sleep at the moment, so he just left. He wasn't even going to try to sleep on the floor with Asher's loud chainsaw-like snoring vibrating the walls. He simply got back into the slightly dented Porsche and made his way towards his old apartment. It was actually still being paid for, despite the fact that he hadn't expected to ever return to Night City. Johnny didn't chime in at any point during the trip, which V felt was odd, but perhaps that even AI's had to sleep once in a while.

As he entered the parking garage of the Megabuilding, he noticed that his old car was still parked here. It was covered in dust and had been vandalized with spray paint in a variety of curse words and rude imagery. He sighed and parked the Porche next to it for the time being. He slogged into the elevator and listened to the N54 news bulletin blare on about gonks getting killed in Pacifica again. There never was any good news in Night City, such was the life. The elevator eventually landed on V's floor and the overly tired cyberpunk slogged his way out and away towards his apartment. He slid his keycard down the reader next to the door and stepped inside. Nothing had changed. Everything was the same as he'd left it. Too tired to think of anything else, he just crawled into bed head first, not bothering to even orient himself onto the pillows and fell asleep with his feet hanging off the side of the mattress. He slept soundly, a dreamless sleep of someone who had been awake for entirely too long.

A ringing suddenly awakened V. Was he late? Did he miss the flight? Was Jericho calling to scold him for oversleeping? Nope, Vik was calling. V wiped his eyes groggily and answered.

"Vik... What time is it? What's up?"

"V! I found a lead on that reactor core. By the way, it's around 11am. Sleeping in?"

"Lead? What? So someone else has had a reactor fitted? Who?"

"Come down to my clinic. I think you should see this in person..."

V just got up and got dressed, he donned the Samurai collectible T-shirt and threw on some brown slacks, he brushed his teeth with the somewhat stale toothpaste in his bathroom and headed down the elevator. He jumped back into the Porsche and sped away towards Vik's clinic. The morning sun blasted him in the face and made driving somewhat difficult. Johnny sat in the passenger seat, glaring at him. Rather than park the car and walk through Misty's shop again, V parked on a different street this time and walked directly down the alleyway leading to Vik's clinic. He stumbled groggily down the stairs and through the door into the shop. Vik had information pulled up on his computer with the mugshot of a rather intimidating person pulled up on it.

"What's going on?", V asked, still wiping his eyes as he hadn't slept nearly enough last night.

"Check this out. I found us a lead on that reactor.", Vik noted pointing at the mugshot. "This is Hildegarde, an infamous outlaw from Europe. She carved a bloody swath throughout Europe, Russia and Asia. She was wanted for everything from murder, to theft, to well pretty much everything.", Vik noted. The image on the screen was a headshot of a very serious looking woman with dark brown hair cut into a messy bob, an eyepatch adorned her right eye with her left eye, gray in color, set into a piercing stare directly at whoever had taken the photo. Her lips were curled into a permanent scowl.

"Jeez. And she's got one of those fission-fusion reactors?"

"Nope, it's not a hybrid like the one you showed me. It's a fusion reactor. Same design, just without the hassle of that fission core. She's the only one I was able to find any information on. Unfortunately, she's dead."

"What!? How the hell is that going to help?"

"Well, at least we know that there was someone else fitted with one. Maybe we could figure out who installed it? It might lead us to the answers you seek. I haven't been able to find anything else out about her except that she was killed in combat over the Mediterranean sea about three years ago. Apparently there was a killswitch installed onto her reactor, her employers didn't tolerate failure. It was activated and it blew her to kibble shortly afterwards.", Vik mused.

"Great. A dead outlaw. Looks like this isn't going anywhere..."

"V, maybe you should just let Jericho know? Any hints as to who made this are worth it.", Vik added hopefully. V just sighed and called Jericho.

"Hello again, V. Have you collected my friend from the airport yet?", Jericho asked, sounding somewhat happy.

"No. But I did get a lead on that reactor core. There was an outlaw in Europe who had one installed, but she's-"

"Irrelevant. I am already aware of the outlaw you speak of. Please try harder next time. And don't forget to pick up my friend. It is nearly 11:30. She is to be arriving soon. You do not want to be late, do you?", Jericho glossed. V just sighed again. He glanced at the clock and quickly headed towards the door post-haste. He had barely enough time to get to the airport before the aerodyne landed.

As the AV landed, a tall woman exited hesitantly. She wore a plum-purple bodysuit that emphasized her rather large bust and a short navy-blue jacket with puffy sleeves, a set of tactical pants adorned her legs with long knee-high boots cladding her feet and long elbow-length gloves covering her hands and arms. Her bodysuit and jacket were accented with gold trim along their edges and she wore a similarly adorned eyepatch over her right eye. She scanned the airport for anyone who may have anticipated her arrival, but saw nothing. Quickly, she headed off towards check-in, which went smoothly with the agent stamping her passport and directing her towards the baggage exchange. She grabbed her only suitcase and headed for the exit. She didn't want to be here any longer than necessary. She had a bit of a reputation and those that knew of it were best kept at arms length. This had been Jericho's doing, though, and Asher was skilled in her own ways. She scanned the room again, just normal gonks coming and leaving. She spied a rather unkempt young man wearing a kitschy Samurai shirt standing with a cardboard sign near the exit. The sign he was holding read 'Rachell Sweat'. Pathetic. She sighed and walked over to the man, keeping her gaze fixated on him for any sudden moves. This wasn't Jericho, this was just some gonk.

V's eyes widened briefly. He knew who this was. He knew who this was because Vik had showed him her mugshot a few moments ago. He also knew that, for certain, Jericho knew a hell of a lot more than he was letting on. He also knew that among the dead people he regularly interacted with, this was going to be another one.

"H- Hi. I'll be your driver for today. Right this way, ma'am.", V stated, trying to be as casual as possible. The last thing he needed was for the presumed-dead outlaw to become suspicious of him. The last thing Vik had mentioned was that the Outlaw in question had gained the nickname 'The Genocider' for killing those who were of no use to her.

V walked as calmly as he could towards the dented Porsche 911 that awaited outside, hopefully the Outlaw wouldn't notice the obvious bumper damage and would be impressed. Inside he was sweating bullets. He could feel the Outlaw's gaze boring into the back of his head as he walked further towards the vehicle.

'You have a nice car for a driver. Is this yours?", the Outlaw asked.

"Yep. It's mine. It's a real classic.", V added, opening the passenger side door for the deadly woman behind him before unlocking the trunk at the front of the vehicle.

"My, what a real gentleman...", the Outlaw complimented coldly as she laid her suitcase into the trunk and saddled into the passenger seat.

V walked around the side and entered the driver's side door, inserting the old-fashioned metal key into the ignition and slowly, carefully taking off from the parking spot. He didn't even slip the clutch. Better not look like a complete gonk to someone like this. She did have a reputation, after all.

"Oh, V... You're fucked.", Johnny noted, not appearing anywhere in the car at the moment; all the seats were currently being used. Instead, he just lambasted V from the interior of the hapless cyberpunk's skull.

The car ride was mostly uneventful. They'd gotten stuck in traffic again on their way back to the Garage. The outlaw had her head propped up onto her hand and arm, which rested on the door panel of the antique car. She looked out the window at the cityscape as it passed by.

"So... Hildegarde, what do you think of Night City?", V asked in a poor attempt at small talk. There was a click and the feeling of cold metal pressed against the side of his head.

"I don't recall ever telling you my name... How did you know?"

"Uhh..."

"V... You're dead now.", Johnny mused.

"Drive, kid. And don't do anything stupid. This is a nice car, after all. It would be a shame if it had to be deep-cleaned...", Hildegarde hissed, pressing the gun harder into V's skull.

Stupid mistake. V had already known her name. He'd known it since they'd first met eyes. Jericho apparently didn't feel it was necessary to tell Hildegarde about him, and now he was sweating even more bullets. He just drove, like he'd been told to. He drove in silence and tried really hard not to piss his pants. This had gotten bad. Maybe she wouldn't kill him, since at the speeds they were going, both of them would be ground into paste if he crashed. Or not. He didn't know.

"Why the fuck did you do that, V? What, did a pretty face and great set of tits distract you? You had the sign! You knew what she was supposed to be called, even though you spelled her name wrong like a toddler. Come on, man... How have you lived this long without a brain?", Johnny insulted. V just gripped the steering wheel harder. They were getting close to the Garage now. Jericho would be able to explain everything. Maybe.

V slowed the car down, sliding into a parking spot behind the Coyote Cojo again. Hildegarde still held him at gunpoint, she motioned to open the trunk and exited the vehicle still keeping her weapon trained on him. She grabbed her suitcase and opened the driver's side door, pulling V out of the car and hoisting him up onto his feet, the gun now pressed against his back.

"Here? Nice ambush. Are these your gangers?", Hildegarde asked, motioning towards the various Valentino gang members loitering around the area. There was a sudden foom noise as Hildegarde's gun fired off a shot, and then another. The Valentinos laid dead. "Now they're gone. Why don't you tell me where we're going?"

"Right... Up... Here... Past... The... Gate...", V stuttered, Hildegarde was pushing him forwards. The gun pressed firmly into his spine.

V walked slowly and as precisely as he could. He motioned towards the closed garage door.

"Here? Why stop now? What are you waiting for? Who sent you? How did you know?", Hildegarde's questions battered V's mind. V just banged loudly on the door in front of him getting two good knocks, but was pulled back immediately, Hildegarde pulling him into a headlock and pressing the gun against his head. "Wrong move."

"Aaand... We're dead. Nice job, V.", Johnny lambasted as he leaned against the closed door.

V just screamed internally. This was not how he'd seen this interaction going. All he had to do was pick up Jericho's friend and drop her off at the base. That's it. But then he opened his mouth and attempted some small talk. He heard the gun begin to whine, almost as if it was charging up before the garage door opened suddenly. Jericho stood in front of him, almost nose to nose. A look of confusion graced his face.

"Ah. I see there's been some kind of misunderstanding..."

The mood inside the garage was frosty. Hildegarde just stared at Jericho, occasionally staring at V and then back. Her arms were crossed and she looked a bit pissed.

"Discretion, Jericho. There's a time and place. During a particularly difficult heist? Obviously. When you're sending our newest teammate to pick up other teammates who have no idea who the fuck they are? Tell them who's coming!", Hildegarde roared. "He doesn't even look like another Solo, he looks like a gormless cockwomble!"

"I understand. I had hoped that V would introduce himself in a courteous manner. Perhaps I was wrong. Or perhaps you jumped the gun. You have never been to Night City, there is noone here that will recognize you. And even if they do, your reputation undoubtedly precedes you.", Jericho noted.

"My reputation? Did you forget, Jericho? I'm supposed to be dead. Of course, with no body discovered, that leaves my fate ambiguous. Hrrm... I suppose my retirement is over.", Hildegrade mulled.

Jericho sidestepped around the Outlaw and opened the side door. "The living quarters are just beyond. Perhaps you should settle in, cool down a bit. I'll inform V of our current plans."

Hildegarde just stared daggers at V for another moment before she collected her suitcase and walked into the adjacent room, slamming the door closed behind her. Jericho turned his attention to V, who just stood there in mild shock and confusion. Johnny leaned against the wall behind him.

"Now, I should've explained from the beginning. You are a part of our team now. The fifth member and with a fitting name at that, V. We're all working towards the same goal, my goal. I will pay you a considerable amount, do not worry. I only need you to trust me.", Jericho noted. V just nodded, he was already in this. "Now, I have one last teammate to collect and then we will be ready for the big picture. As of right now, I require fissile materials. There is an old nuclear power station on the outskirts of town. We will need to acquire a few of the fuel rods from inside. Can I count on you?"

"Yeah, you can. Shouldn't be too hard, place has been nearly abandoned for years. Maybe a few Scavs, but nothing too difficult."

"Good, then I shall inform the rest of our team. Come along, V.", Jericho noted as he motioned to follow. He opened the side door and entered the larger living quarters. V followed behind him as did Johnny.

As V entered the adjacent room, he took notice that Hildegarde had unpacked already. Her suitcase lay open revealing an assortment of more plum-purple body-suits, some ammunition for her gun, a laptop-like computer that was still folded and an assortment of other items that he didn't feel like examining in detail. One particular object stood out as it was set on the table, a silver tea set with the kettle already steaming and a fresh cup of black tea in a small cup. Hildegarde sat in the middle of the couch, her legs propped up on the table and her arms across the top of the seat. Asher sat at the computer, reviewing some kind of data. There was nowhere for V to sit down.

"Alright, Hildegarde, this is V. Our newest teammate.", Jericho noted, pointing to the hapless edgerunner.

"Vee? Tell me that isn't your birth name. Your parents weren't very creative were they?", Hildegarde half-mocked.

"It's Vincent, actually. But I go by V. Just V.", Said V.

"Well, at least you've got a normal name. Now, what skills do you possess?", the outlaw asked, leaning forwards on the couch.

"I'm a pretty good gunslinger, I'm decent with quick-hacks, I can drive good too... Uhm... I'm actually pretty well known around here, I pulled a heist on Arasaka a few months ago...", V stated.

"Pretty good and Decent don't mean too much. We've had others that have been Pretty Good and Decent and they're no longer members for obvious reasons. You'll just have to prove yourself the old-fashioned way."

"I will. You'll be impressed."

"Hah. No, I doubt that.", Hildegarde laughed as she relaxed back onto the couch.

V got the sneaking suspicion that Hildegarde didn't like him very much. It may have been for their rather unconventional first introduction, or it could be that she just didn't trust newcomers. He sighed and leaned against the row of lockers at the top of the room.

"V, this is a battle you're not winning. I've met women like her, hell I've even boned a few. You're not going to win her over with just your good looks and heinous sense of fashion. Go out and do your thing, then try talking to her again.", Johnny mused.

Jericho glanced between V and Hildegarde a few times before composing himself and calling their attention.

"Now that introductions are over. I have a small task for you. I require fissile material. There is an old nuclear station on the outskirts of town. You will be breaking in and securing a few of the fuel rods for me. V, you will want to take an ample suppy of Anti-Rad with you. Although the fuel-rods are contained in cases, there is still the possibility of radiation poisoning.", Jericho noted, pulling up a map on his computer. He pointed out the reactor and where the fuel rods would be stored. "It should be a simple In-and-out job. I will pay you 50 thousand Eurodollars for this. I will not be coming with you as I have a few more things to do here."

"Good. You drive like a bloody plonker.", Hildegarde added.

"This means that Hildegarde will lead the group, V will aid with infiltration and Asher will provide the appropriate cover. There is a Militech Ragnar parked outside. This will be your vehicle, it should get you into the complex without suspicions.", Jericho continued.

"Oh, wait... I'm being included for once!? Cool beans...", Asher mused. "I'll just stay in the car, if that's all the same to you. I'm not a good fighter."

"We know, Asher. You're only good at hacking, and being obfuscatingly annoying.", Hildegarde sighed.

"Hey! I'm not annoying!"

"Yes, you are. Honestly, Asher, you're a bit weird. I've seen some weird stuff and you're at the top of that list.", V added.

"Hey, what's all this? Is this 'Everyone Hates Ashlynne Day' or something?"

"Your name is Ashlynne?", V mused.

"Aaah! How did you know my real name! Are you a spy? Spyyyyy!"

"But... You just said it..."

"No I didn't."

Jericho just stared at them. "Well now, everyone nows each-other's names. You'd best get prepared. The best time is now, as it is getting quite dark."

V was already prepared. Asher grabbed her cyberdeck and Hildegarde simply checked her weapon and grabbed a few extra clips for the firearm. She was the first one to exit the garage, giving a disdainful look towards V. Asher followed shortly behind. V just followed the two of them towards their vehicle.

"V, you're in luck. You get to ride around with two lovely ladies. One is crazy and the other is psychotic. Take you pick.", Johnny mocked.

"Don't you have anything better to do, Johnny? Aren't you supposed to be running the Chipset or something?", V snapped back.

"Yeah, I guess. If I only knew how to do that, V. I'm an engram, not a combat AI."

"Fuck...", V sighed. He was 2 steps forwards and 3 steps back. He was alive with no issues except for the Rockerboy that lived in his head and there was no way to get rid of him this time.

Chapter End. Everybody Hates V.