Chapter 28: Tying Up Loose Ends

The Rayfield Aerondight slid into its parking space in Monarch Tower, V had been enormously successful finding information about and actually talking to Daichi Arasaka, the lost son of Michiko Arasaka. He'd even managed to get his hands on a data-shard that contained Soulkiler 4.0. He simply headed into the elevator with Asher, the shorter girl saying farewell for the time being and heading back to her own apartment. V would go and find Jericho and give him the good news. Or he wouldn't, even though not doing so was probably the worst decision he could possibly make in his life. If he didn't inform the cyborg of Kokuryuu and instead tried to upload the data-shard into Monarch's mainframe, his Knighting Ceremony would suddenly turn into a public execution. He just decided to hit the big red 'Stop' button in the elevator. He needed to have a chat with Johnny,

"Janus? Unlock Johnny Silverhand."

'Affirmative. AI unlocked.", Janus responded.

V just looked around for a moment. He didn't see Johnny anywhere.

"Peekaboo! Miss me?", Johnny shouted scaring V slightly as he appeared directly behind him.

"Yeah, actually I did. Could've used your insight back there. Where did you go anyways?"

"Nowhere. I was still in your head except the only thing I could do was watch you make an ass out of yourself repeatedly. It was like watching the worst Rom-Com in history and there wasn't any popcorn."

"Gee thanks, Johnny. I did end up getting the information by the way, no help from you."

"Oh you did alright, after running around Night City like a headless cock."

"So what's your take on this? I know you saw Daichi Arasaka and heard his offer..."

"Fuck, V. You're between a rock and hard dick. You side with Monarch and they'll keep ruling the world. You side with Arasaka and they'll start another uprising in the streets, except you'll be on the wrong side of it. The dead side."

"So? What do you think I should do?"

"Well, V... You've already gone and stuck your dick into a bear-trap, why not stuff your head into another one? What I'm sayin' is, side with Monarch."

"Really? Thought you hated them."

"I did, but you know what, watching your friends live happy lives under them sorta opened my eyes. They're the lesser of two evils, V. Don't get me wrong, they're definitely the Bad Guys, but they're not the bad guys."

"Preem, thanks Johnny. I think you just saved my life again."

"Yeah, from yourself and your stupid brain. You couldn't even open a locked gate without me up here, makin' sure all of those extra functions work. A tiny girl had to open it for you."

"Jeezus Christ, Johnny... Can't just take the compliment, can you?"

"Yeah, fine. Go ahead and grovel at my feet, V. You'll be doing a lot of that."

"Shut up, Johnny."

V, still standing in the elevator, pressed the Down button and headed for Jericho's Lab. He knew the cyborg had to be down there, he just hoped that he and Hildegarde were done doing the things that they were doing with each-other and he wasn't walking into a situation that would end with him gouging his own eyes out. Johnny made a comment that maybe he should scroll a BD for blackmail purposes. V just vehemently disagreed with Johnny; Hildegarde wouldn't submit to blackmail, she'd just kill him.

Upon reaching the bottom-most floor of Monarch Tower, the elevator chimed loudly and V stepped off into Jericho's Lab. The long hallway in front of him had two doors, one on the left was slightly open and entered into the bedroom. Thankfully, nobody was inside. The door on the right was wide open and led into the kitchenette. Continuing forwards, V spotted Jericho at his workbench with Hildegarde sitting on the couch next to him. They were both deep in conversation as it appeared. V just walked up to them.

"V! You've returned. I heard you took Asher out to collect some data for us. How did it go?", Jericho noted looking up from his work.

"Well, it went about as well as expected. Found some old friends that are also knights, almost got my ass kicked by a group of clowns, nearly went on a life-changing factory tour and then I found Arasaka hiding in plain sight."

"Hahaha... You met the Bozos, didn't you? Did they show you their magic tricks? Did they pull a rabbit out of your ass?", Hildegarde mocked.

"No they didn't. They just told me about how they're going to make you disappear."

"Sure they did. How about that Factory Tour? Is Asher still alive? I heard those never-ending jawbreakers are laced with explosives. You start licking them and then BOOM. You explode."

"We never even got that far."

"Figures, V. You're boring."

"Well, jokes on you because I found Daichi Arasaka!"

"That's all well and good, V, but we have other issues to tend to. One of our previous crewmates has mysteriously reappeared in Night City. He has signed a contract with the remnants of Arasaka. He knows who we are and where we are. He must be dealt with posthaste.", Jericho noted.

"What? Who?"

"I believe Asher and Hildegarde have both mentioned Vostok to you? Find him and kill him. Again."

"Oh! Yeah, there's no need for that. I'm Vostok-"

V was abruptly cut off by Hildegarde and she jumped off of the couch and onto his chest. She pulled out her firearm and pressed it into V's skull. Jericho just stood up calmly and approached them.

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this, Hildegarde.", Jericho reassured.

"I'm sure too. That Unification thing. Vostok is back. He survived inside the Chipset. That's why he tried that ridiculous 11th hour betrayal two years ago!", Hildegarde spat.

"No... No actually... I just lied.", V explained.

"Lied about what!?", Hildegarde cursed.

"Please get off of V. I'm certain this is not another attempt at an 11th hour betrayal since V came to us first.", Jericho continued to reassure as he began to pull Hildegarde off of the hapless merc. The plum-purple woman resisted, but Jericho's grip was firm.

V took a moment to brush himself off. He probably should've worded that better. He just reached into his pocket, Hildegarde aimed her rail-gun at him. He pulled out the data-shard as he raised both hands into the air in an attempt to surrender.

"I lied to Daichi Arasaka. He asked who I was and I told him I was Vostok. I made up a story about how I killed you, Hildegarde, and he believed it. He gave me this data-shard, it apparently contains a new version of Soulkiller. He wanted it uploaded into Monarch's mainframe."

"So you're saying that you lied to Arasaka and they believed you?", Hildegarde noted. "And that your 11th hour betrayal was actually your idea..."

"Yes, yes and unfortunately yes.", V noted.

"First, good job. Second, great job. Third, you're the dumbest merc in all of history."

"Noted, noted and noted."

"Well then, V. Let's have a look at this data-shard.", Jericho added reaching out for the shard, V just handed it to him. The cyborg inserted the shard into a reader attached to his workbench.

"Hmm... It's as I thought..."

"What is it?"

"It's Arasaka's pathetic attempt at overthrowing us. This data-shard contains Soulkiller, but they've modified its targeting system to aim for Rogue AI's instead of people. It's useless.", Jericho noted as he ejected the data-shard and crushed it into powder in his hand. "Janus is not a Rogue AI. Janus is a sentient and adaptive AI."

"Well, that's good for us right? Daichi was talking about something called the Technological Singularity. He wanted to stop it. Said AI's would take over the world."

V just stood back as Jericho erupted into laughter. The cyborg displaying emotions that V didn't expect.

"Oh... No... It's far too late to stop it. It's already happened. And it will continue for the rest of time..."

"Oh. What is it?"

"The Technological Singularity is the evolution of mankind aided by our own creations and led into an age of serenity. Humanity is about to transcend mortality."

V just shrugged. Whatever Arasaka had wanted to stop, had already begun. It was too late to stop anything right now. No more 11th hour betrayals. No more corporate greed. No more strife or pain or hardship. Only the technologically based transcendence of humanity's own evolution. The future was looking bright.

"So does this mean I can kill V since he's Vostok or is that not applicable anymore?", Hildegarde asked jokingly.

"No. Do not kill V. He is not Vostok, he is still useful. If and when he is not, you may act on your instincts, Hildegarde.", Jericho noted as the attempt at humor flew over his head like a ditched AV. He seemed serious though.

"Well, then. You heard him.", Hildegarde noted, her eye narrowing on V's face.

"Yeah? I'll be ready when you come to kill me, Hildegarde. Your head and neck are your weak spots... No, wait... Your biggest weakness is your tendency to gloat way too much. How do you think I managed to get off my lucky shot?"

"Oh V... I can hardly wait for the moment we finally square up. One on one. To the death."

"Your death."

"If you say so, V.", Hildegarde noted, rolling her eye, shrugging and heading back to sit down on the couch.

"V, you have done well. I suggest getting some rest before your Knighting Ceremony. It begins the day after tomorrow.", Jericho noted as he looked back down onto his workbench.

"Yeah. I'll see you two later."

V just turned around and headed back up the elevator. He'd head back to his mansion and get some good food and great sleep. He was absolutely sure he'd done the right thing. He jumped into his Aerondight as soon as he was back in the garage and sat back as the car drove itself back to Pacifica, or Neo-London as it was to be called now. It was only at the last moment when his car had parked in front of his house that he'd realized he failed to tell Jericho where Daichi Arasaka was actually hiding. Oh well, it probably wasn't important. Right?

After V had left, Jericho and Hildegarde conversed about their new plan. V was gong to be involved in it. He would convince Arasaka that they'd won. Monarch would Feign Death along with everyone else on their team. It would be the perfect simulation of the end of the world, but in reality it would be the end of Arasaka and anyone else who ever tried to stop the bigger things that were already in motion and gaining speed.

"V is oblivious. I'll create the simulation. It won't be hard. A private BBS controlled by Janus and used to Feign Death. V will be the perfect decoy since he will believe it is all his own doing. His reactions will be genuine.", Jericho mused.

"I hope you're right. What if V actually tries to kill me during my Feign Death protocol?"

"Only then will you tell him our plan. If he does not believe you, incapacitate him, but do not kill him. It will only appear to be a bad dream to him when it is all over."

"Great. And what will you be doing?"

"I'll be cradling your 'dead' body. Just in case someone else tries the same thing. Please use Synth-blood during your protocol, red blood is no longer convincing."

"Fine. No problem, I don't even like the taste of the red stuff."

"Good. Then I shall prepare the battlefield. Arasaka will think they've won and when that happens, Janus will destroy them..."

"In a moment, Jericho. Do you have time for round five?"

Jericho just grinned at Hildegarde. He always had time for another round. The outlaw just led Jericho into their bedroom. Arasaka's downfall could wait a few more hours, Hildegarde couldn't. All this stress was making her tense and she needed that sweet relief once again.

V's Aerondight just slid up to the front doors of his mansion, V got out and let the car go and park itself in his own parking garage. The garage itself was now filled with a multitude of Aldecado vehicles. He slogged up and into his own home, it was nearly midnight and he desperately needed sleep. He tossed his jacket onto the coat-rack and unbuttoned his pants as he got ready for bed. He barely had time to dodge the tiny squishy yarn creature that flung itself at his face. He slipped to the side, but the tiny yarn hands wrapped themselves around his throat. There was a Yarnling in his house.

V just pulled the tiny robotic doll off of him. Asher did this. She'd ordered a Yarnling for him. Great. He held the Yarnling out at arm's length and looked at it. It was a tiny yarn version of Johnny Silverhand. It held a small toy guitar in one hand. It stared up at him with big glowing button eyes and a wide muppet-mouth.

"Hello! I'm Johnny! Wanna play some tunes?", the Yarnling asked happily.

"Uh, no. Hey... Janus? Can I transfer Johnny, my AI, into this thing?"

"Yes. You can. Your AI will remain in your Chipset and allow for enhancements. However if you wish for his personality to be transferred, it is possible to beam the Engram into it. It will give Johnny Silverhand a temporary body instead of his holographic form. Range is limited to the household, however."

"Ah, shit. Oh well. It was a nice idea. I don't need Yarn-Johnny running around and causing chaos."

V just ignored the Yarnling for now, petting it on the head a few times before heading towards the bedroom. Panam was already in bed. He walked into his closet and disrobed completely before joining his beloved in a warm embrace. He needed sleep. Tomorrow was yet another day.

V awoke to the sounds of loud guitar music playing in his living room. Classic Samurai tunes were cranked out of the speakers in the ceiling. Panam had run off again, leaving him in bed alone. He just got up, rubbed his eyes, and headed into his closet to get dressed in Monarch's regalia. It was time to be professional. He'd go and check in at the Monarch Tower just as soon as he figured out why his house was filled with music.

After getting dressed, V walked into his living room. Holographic Johnny and Yarn-Johnny were both seated on his couch with their guitars out. The two of them seemed to be bonding as Chippin' In rang out loudly.

"Hey, V! You're finally awake. Looks like Asher bought you a Yarn Thing. It's pretty fun, not gonna lie.", Holo-Johnny noted.

"What's up, dingus?", Yarn-Johnny added.

"Oh great. It's already picking up your traits. What am I going to do with two Johnny Silverhands?"

"Go crazy?", both Johnny's asked.

"I think I've already gone crazy. I've got Johnny Silverhand in my head and in my living room, except one is made of yarn and the other is made of cynicism."

"Go frack yourself, Vee.", Yarn-Johnny noted.

V just sighed. This was ridiculous. "Yarn-Johnny? Why don't you call up Molly? I'm sure she needs a friend. That's Asher's Yarnling. Real-Johnny, I'm going to Monarch."

"Molly? Sounds like a real peach. Can't wait to show her my tricks.", Yarn-Johnny noted.

"Do Yarnlings have genitalia?"

"No. But I still have my personality."

"Good luck with that, Yarn-Johnny."

V just sighed. His life was getting more and more ridiculous. He just left his mansion and headed back to the parking garage where he'd left his car. He slid into the driver's seat and commanded the vehicle to return to Monarch Tower. It was time to figure out how they were finally going to end Arasaka once and for all.

V's car dropped him off outside of Monarch's main entrance. There was a backlog of vehicles that had arrived for a Knighting Ceremony and there was nowhere for him to park. V just walked into the main lobby and into the absolute chaos that awaited. Several lines of people were queued up around the lobby. One line was for the Crown Residency Program and had a line of gonks that went out the front doors and down the street. Another line was for the Crown Laborer's Program. V caught a few conversations regarding Monarch's workforce policies as he walked through the lobby.

"Name?", a receptionist asked.

"Hector Alvarez."

"Age?"

"43"

"Expected Salary?"

"Uhh... 95 thousand a year?"

"Unfortunately, Monarch has no positions that pay that amount. Our minimum is 430 thousand a year for Construction. We offer corporate housing, four ten-hour workdays with two one-hour paid breaks. Weekends are optional and offer increased pay if worked."

"Uhh... What kind of housing?"

"You will receive a Luxury-class apartment in one of our designated zones. You may apply for permanent residency after a 30-day probationary period."

"Um... Where do I sign? When do I start?"

"You may start immediately or whenever is best for you and your family. Please sign on the line. You will receive a free V-Chip augmentation as a signing bonus."

V just watched the somewhat dirty and disheveled man sign quickly on the line. The receptionist handed the man a voucher for a free Chipset and a keycard to his new apartment. The man looked overjoyed and walked out of the Tower with a spring in his step. Johnny just appeared next to V.

"Half a million Eddies to go and build shit. Who woulda thunk?"

"Yeah. And you get a free apartment..."

"Monarch's not that bad, honestly. I think we made a good choice."

"Really?"

"Yes really, V! Do you doubt me?"

Yeah, I do. You've always been 'smash the corpos, blah blah, free the people, blah blah, the government knows better' kinda shit."

"Well, Monarch isn't just a corporation like all the other greedy fucks. They are an actual government. And it seems like they really do care about the people, V. It's a welcome change."

V just brushed Johnny off for the moment. He wasn't wrong. He stumbled his way through the crowd of people still waiting in various queues, still picking up pieces of random conversation.

"...How much?"

"A lot... More than I made in a year working for Biotechnica to be a janitor at Monarch..."

"Did you take it?"

"Yep. We've got an estate in Heywood..."

V continued on. Passing lines of people. Happy people that were being given what they desired from life. It was quickly becoming obvious why Monarch had such a meteoric rise to power after all the other corporations had fallen. They were offering something that no others had, living wages and a quality of life. V briefly passed a large holographic sign for Monarch Medical. The sign noted that there was Universal Healthcare at no charge to the populace of Night City. Your choice of treatment at no charge. If Monarch had been around a few years ago, he could've sought top level treatment for his Relic issues, Evelyn Parker would've survived, Jackie would be fine. It was a nice dream, but ultimately, if he'd just never met Jackie none of this would've happened. He'd still be a nomad, living under the harsh sun day by day. Everything had happened for a reason, and that was how he had come to this. But... If Jericho had been successful five years ago in Prague, what would the world have looked like? Like this? Or something worse? V just kept walking. He continued on towards the main elevators and pressed the button. He entered the small compartment and hit the button to go to Sigmund's office. He didn't know why he pushed that button, but something deep inside told him that was the right decision to make.

As the elevator doors opened up into the massive CEO's office, V noticed that Jericho had assembled his crew, minus Scotch for some reason. Asher, Hildegarde, and Sigmund stood around the huge semi-circular desk at the far end of the room with a series of holo-screens activated. V just walked over to them to see what was going on.

"Hello, V! We're just going over our plans for your Knighting Ceremony!", Sigmund noted.

"Ahh... Okay. Where's Scotch?"

"Scotch is no longer needed. Janus takes care of all of our flight and vehicle needs. Scotch has decided to enter retirement and pursue a career in bartending. I believe he both works and rents a room at the Afterlife.", Jericho noted, not turning around. "Sigmund has taken his place on our team as our Corporate Liaison."

"Preem. How the ceremony coming along?"

"Quite well, V. However, since you've agreed to assist Kokuryuu you should probably be headed back to them if you wish to maintain your ruse."

"Riight... You sure you can't just nuke them from orbit or something?"

"We can do that... However, the fallout from the orbital Mass Drivers will decimate most of Night City. Janus is capable of Black ICE'ing them when they connect to the Net however, but it would appear that they have modified or acquired some of my Chipsets and have circumvented attempts at digital assassination. Best to keep up appearances, Vostok, and visit them in person."

"No problem. I can do that. Do you want me to take them out while I'm there?"

"No. Let's keep our agreement in the dark for now. The less they know about us, the better. It will make for a better ambush when they finally reveal themselves."

"Got it. I'll head over there right now."

"Good luck, V."

V just turned and left the office. He'd head back to the Totentanz and talk to Daichi Arasaka again. He'd go ahead and tell them that he'd succeeded in uploading Soulkiller 4.0 and that everything was ready. He hoped that Jericho had some kind of plan for this, since inevitably it meant an assault on Monarch Tower by Arasaka and their lackeys.

As V left the room, Jericho turned towards the others. He flipped a switch on the holo-screen and displayed a diagram of Monarch Tower.

"The simulation is ready. Sigmund, prepare to lock down the Tower for a 'training exercise'. Only one elevator leading up to the main offices. Commander Wejj and General Ponsonby will provide reinforcements. When Arasaka enters, you know the protocols. Give them a fight, but pull your punches. Let them think they've won. And when they think they've won, we'll destroy them."

"Yay!", Asher squeaked. "Sounds like fun!"

"This is way too easy. You really think V will be successful?", Hildegarde chided.

"He will. I will send him a message once he's done what he needs to do.", Jericho noted.

"I guess I'll go get ready too. I really hope this copycat you've prepared is convincing."

"It is. And it'll eliminate any threat of V actually killing you. Remember, you want to lose this fight, Hildegarde."

"I know... It's just not in my nature to throw a fight..."

"You're not throwing the fight. You're just acting out a part in a much bigger picture."

"Fine. I'll put on a good show for V. Hope he likes it, it's as close as he'll ever get to the real thing."

"Sigmund, you'll head into your safe room. Stay there until we're done."

"No problem, Jericho."

"Good. Then everything is in place. Get ready. The Fall of Monarch is upon us."

Asher, Hildegarde and Sigmund just left down the elevator together. They had to get ready for this simulation. It was time to put an end to Arasaka once and for all.

Rather than taking his own Rayfield Aerondight, V instead called upon his trusty old Rattler and drove himself over to the Totentanz. He was still wearing the Monarch Regalia, but it was best to keep up appearances. He had told Daichi Arasaka that he had his ways into the corporation, and this was probably his most convincing disguise. He proceeded to park in front of the club, got out and walked through the front doors. The same Maelstrom guard just stared at him before asking for the passcode again. He once again gave it and was promptly led back to the hidden room he'd been inside before. The accompanying gangers looked a little on edge as they walked V back towards Daichi Arasaka's base. Upon entering the secret base, Daichi Arasaka just looked up at him.

"Vostok! You've returned! And you're wearing Monarch's livery as well. I assume you have been successful?", Daichi noted.

"I was. Getting in was easy, getting to the mainframe was a little harder. They had a NetRunner. They don't have one anymore. Wanna guess why?"

"Ah... Good. We can proceed. Unfortunately, one of my most trusted was assassinated a few days ago. You will be the one to lead us since you are trusted by Monarch."

"You want me to lead you into Monarch?"

"If you have done what you've promised, then entering their corporate offices will be easy. There will be no security. Once we have made it to the CEO's office, there is one last shard to be uploaded. It will reactivate Arasaka's old orbital uplinks and allow us to erase Monarch's demon from the Net."

"No problem. Give me a moment, though. Need to call in a few favors from my team. They'll keep the heat off of us."

"Do whatever you need to do. You've already proven yourself as an ally to Arasaka."

V just made a holo-call to Jericho. His phone rang several times with no answer. This was unlike the cyborg, he usually picked up immediately. He called Asher instead and had the same issue. Begrudgingly, he called Hildegarde. Almost immediately, the outlaw answered his call and seemed quite cross with him.

"V! I don't know how you managed to do it, but consider this your official resignation from Monarch!", Hildegarde shouted.

"What? What did I do?"

"You uploaded something, didn't you? Not this Soulkiller 4.0 rubbish, but something else. You had your doubts about us didn't you? Saw another way out and took it! Get your bony ass back here so I can kill you!"

V just sighed. That data-shard he carried around with him had some kind of malware on it didn't it? As soon as it was able to, it had automatically connected to Monarch's Net and began its destruction. He was absolutely screwed. Welp, time to join Arasaka! Yet another Revolution was coming and he had no real escape from it right now.

"Nice fucking job, V!", Johnny applauded as he appeared behind V. "Guess it's time to cut and run, go back to being a Nomad or some shit. Better yet, try the suicide path and take on Monarch. Die like a legend, V!"

"Yeah, I'll be back, Hildegarde. Looks like it's time for us to square up. One on one. To the death."

"I'll be waiting for you V. Your head will make a nice new addition to my trophy wall."

The call ended. V just turned around to face Daichi Arasaka again. "No reinforcements. They're too busy with Monarch's security. We'll go in quietly. There's a service elevator in the garage."

"Lead on, Vostok. I'll have my best Arasaka Assassins accompany us. We are few, but we are strong. When this is done, I can guarantee you a permanent position on my security detail. You will be what Adam Smasher was to Yorinobu."

"Long as I get paid..."

V just walked out of the Totentanz's hidden room. Daichi Araska donned a dark cloak that concealed his face and motioned to the rest of his gang to follow him. There were maybe a dozen or so gangers. This was doomed to fail from the start. Not enough support, not enough tech, no NetRunners, just guns and more guns. Against an Ultra-Corporation and a God AI. At least he'd get to die like a legend, right? Right.

V just drove like a madman, Daichi Arasaka and two Assassin cyborgs sat in his cramped Rattler as he made his way through the streets. He entered the old Corpo Plaza where almost the entirety of Monarch Corporate Security appeared to be in a fight with hundreds of Arasaka robots that fired back at them. Concrete cover had been set up for the Corpo Guards, but neither side appeared to be advancing. He drove around the side of the Tower, making sure to dodge and weave keeping himself out of the lines of fire. He slid sideways into the garage and soon came to a halt in front of the elevators.

"Go! Get to the corporate offices! I'll deal with the CEO!", V shouted. Daichi Arasaka ran for the elevator alongside his two assassins. V hurried into the compartment behind them.

"Vostok, take one of my cyborg assassins. The CEO is a very tough opponent. Our victory today counts on you!"

"You sure you'll be fine? That other cyborg is still alive and out there somewhere."

"He will be crippled. The malware on the data-shard has assured it."

"Alright, you're the boss."

The elevator doors opened for a moment, a few floors down from the CEO's office into a large datacenter. Daichi Arasaka walked off carefully with his bodyguard. He raised up Kongou, an Arasaka pistol not unlike the one that Yorinobu had carried and headed off to do what he needed to do. V just continued up to the CEO's office. He pulled out his Monarch 3516 and took some cover in the elevator. Hildegarde was undoubtedly waiting for him. He was going to be ready this time. No playing games. Just a fight to the death. Her death.

The elevator chimed as it reached the CEO's office, but the doors didn't have any time to open before rail-gun blasts shot through the doors and perforated his Arasaka Assassin bodyguard, the cyborg falling to the ground sparking and dropping its katana. V just bent down and grabbed the blade, sliding it into his belt for safe-keeping. The elevator doors just opened a few inches, damaged by the gunshots fired through them. A few seconds later, a pair of plum-purple gloved hands reached into the elevator and wrenched both of the doors open. Hildegarde just knocked V's gun out of the way before she grabbed him and tossed him out of the elevator.

"V... Or should I call you Vostok? So this is your true 11th hour betrayal... After all we did for you, you go ahead and turn on us? Nice job crippling Janus, I don't even think Jericho thought of that little hiccup. Don't worry, Janus will be back online as soon as you're dead. That malware they stuffed into your skull cannot-"

V just shot Hildegarde, she did tend to gloat way too much, or in this case monologue. V's bullet just struck the outlaw squarely in the chest, the blast knocking her backwards a few feet. Either Hildegarde was getting slower, or V was just getting better. Either one would work.

"Have you finally learned how to use your Chipset? Color me surprised."

V just dodged out of the way of her rail-gun shots again, activating his Reflex Core. He felt time slow to a halt as he turned and fired on Hildegarde again, this time knocking her rail-gun out of her hand and across the room. The outlaw just stared at her hand for a moment before lunging towards V, fists flying. V took a hit squarely to the jaw that dazed him for a second before turning his gun on her again. Hildegarde just wrenched the firearm from his hands and tossed it across the room. Now both unarmed, she just punched towards his head with deadly speed. V just caught her hand and punched upwards against her elbow, breaking her right arm. Hildegarde's eye just widened in pain and shock.

"Oh you're good. Too bad you're not good enough!"

Hildegarde just backswung with her other arm, striking V across the face and knocking him to the ground. She leapt onto his chest and began to rain down on him with punches. V just dodged again, this time delivering a powerful Strength Core augmented kick to her knees, the limbs breaking backwards and sending her onto her chest. With one arm, she brought herself back up and crawled towards her gun that lay a few feet away.

"Not good enough? You're too cocky, Hildegarde. If you weren't too busy mocking me you could've had an upper hand."

The outlaw just stared up at V, she was prone and laying on her back, propped up on one arm to stare at V. Her face was twisted into a smug smile.

"You think you've won? I may be disabled, but when I recover, Jericho and I will end you. We'll kill you and Panam and all the other nomads. All of your friends. They'll all get to die screaming your name, V. All wondering why you turned your back on them!"

"No... Not today, Hildegarde.", V noted as he drew the Arasaka katana. He held it out and aimed it at Hildegarde's throat. "You told me yourself not to spare my opponents..."

"C'mon, V. If you kill me, Jericho will-"

V just swung the blade using his Strength Core. He channeled all of his strength into that killing blow cutting off Hildegarde mid-sentence. The blade cut effortlessly through her throat sending her still smirking head flying, a gout of silvery synth-blood spraying upwards. Her headless body just reached for the stump where her head used to be before falling to the ground twitching and spasming. A few seconds passed before her body lay still and a large pool of synth-blood had formed below it. V just walked over to Hildegarde's severed head. The smug smirk was still on her face.

"It's done. She's dead...", V sighed.

"Yeah. Look at you go! Still gotta go back to being a nomad again, though.", Johnny added as he appeared next to Hildegarde's head. "Seems a bit too easy if you ask me. Didn't she have titanium bones?"

"Maybe, Johnny. Or maybe she just talked herself up way too much."

"I mean, she didn't even use any of those cool superpowers... Almost like she let you win."

"Let me win? Hildegarde is dead. Why would she let me kill her?"

"Dunno, don't care. I'd just keep an eye out V. Something ain't right."

V just sighed. He walked over to the CEO's desk. He typed a few words into the console and accessed its data-shard port. Hesitantly, he inserted the new data-shard and began the upload process. This was the end of an empire. For better or for worse. So much for being a knight and having his own section of the city. The open road called to him again. He'd leave Night City and go back to being a nomad. This was his fate, as it always had been. But... Jericho was still out there. Now that Hildegarde was dead, he'd come for V. He had to get out of Night City and fast. He had to get out, leave Panam behind, get free, get away. Sacrifice himself to Jericho so that his friends could live on. This was bad. Why didn't he think of something else? Why didn't he just kill Daichi when he had a chance?

"It's because you're an idiot, V.", Johnny noted.

"Fuck you!"

V just ran. He ran towards the open elevator doors and smashed all of the buttons. Nothing was working. He ran out of that elevator and towards the one next to it. He smashed the call button and had no choice but to just wait for the elevator as it began to rise towards the office. The elevator was taking a while to get there, seemingly coming from the bottom of the tower. V hoped that Jericho wasn't onboard. He hoped that the cyborg's first sight wouldn't be the headless body of his beloved. He hoped for anyone else, but then realized that if it was Sigmund, then the Crown would be after him as well. He just sulked and accepted what was about to happen when the doors opened.

The elevator doors opened. Two glowing blue eyes met with V's. Jericho was here. A dull-metallic hand reached outwards faster than human and lifted V off the ground and hauled him backwards.

"Sorry for the deception, V. It was necessary. You've done us a great service.", Jericho noted, a bit too calmly.

"Jericho? I- I had to... She didn't give me a choice..."

"Oh? Oh... You've killed Hildegarde. A shame. I suppose she went easy on you..."

"What? Didn't you love her?"

"Oh I do. Just not that one.", Jericho noted pointing to the headless corpse on the floor.

"What the hell do you mean!?"

"That's not Hildegarde, V. That's a copycat. A mechanical drone controlled through the Net."

"Trust me, V. I'm not that easy to kill.", the real Hildegarde noted as she walked around Jericho. "The face is good. But not the body, I think you got my proportions wrong..."

"Wha? What's going on?"

"A ruse. A simulation. Make Arasaka think they've won. Let them jack into our Net. And then fry them like tempura. Daichi Arasaka is nothing but a dreamer. He's alive, though. In captivity."

"But..."

"A training exercise for the corporate troops outside. That's what we've done. What better way than this to draw out our enemies?"

"So this is nothing? What about the data-shard I just uploaded?"

"Janus has already seen it and decrypted it. It is a call to arms by Arasaka. It was supposed to call all of their allies to them, here. However, we now know all of their own locations and Black ICE will be sent to them instead. This is the End of An Empire, V. And you caused it."

"I... I..."

"You thought you'd betrayed us. That you'd lost everything. And that you had to pay the price...", Hildegarde mused as she bent down to stare at her own body double.

"I am sorry for not informing you, V. But this had to happen this way. The screamsheets will herald you as a protector of Monarch. Daichi Araska will be locked up until he's old and gray. Or until Janus gets tired of him.", Jericho noted. "Soon the exercise will be over. Life will return to normal and you will be knighted. It is best to deal with our problems now, rather than later."

"I... I think I get it..."

"I hope you do."

Jericho just let V go and headed off to the CEO's desk. Hildegarde followed him taking a moment to look one last time at her copy's severed head. She just scoffed and stood next to Jericho at the holo-screen. Jericho pressed a few buttons before beginning a broadcast.

"Operation Onslaught was a success. Corporate Takeover drills have been performed and will be evaluated. I commend our corporate security for their brave efforts. Please take the rest of the day off."

Outside, the corpo guards just laid down their weapons, the 'Arasaka' robots powered down. Office workers returned to their offices and the lock-down was lifted. V just stood in shock. He didn't move or respond for a while. This was insane. He just stared at the bloody corpse on the ground behind the two mercs he'd worked with. The elevator chimed again as its doors opened, Sigmund rushing into the room and stopping dead in his tracks as he laid eyes on the headless body in the middle of the room.

"Oh... Oh gods no... Hildie...", Sigmund gasped as he knelt down next to the dead copycat's body. He just closed the copycat's eyes on its severed head before starting to cry.

"I'm over here, Siggie. That's just a body double.", the real Hildegarde noted, shrugging slightly.

"Oh! Oh thank god..."

Sigmund just ran over to the real Hildegarde and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. It appeared that he wasn't told about the plan either.

"Maybe we should get rid of that?", Hildegarde noted pointing to the dead copycat. "It's a little unnerving."

"I'll have the drones strip it for parts. Despite its synth-skin covering, it's still a useful robot if we reattach its head."

"Whatever. As long as it doesn't look like me anymore."

"Heeeeyyyy Guuuuyyys! Janus let me back into the Net! Looks like we got 'em good! I've got the locations of every Arasaka ally in the world!", Asher exclaimed through the comms system.

"We already know, Asher!", Hildegarde shouted.

"Oh. So, how did you like piloting a drone through the Net?"

"It was awkward. There's a lag between my actions and its actions."

"Oh. Well, the regular ones don't have that kind of lag... Maybe you could try those instead of the body-doubles!"

"No thanks, Asher. If V needs to be killed, I'll kill him myself."

"Really? Did you see what I did?", V noted.

"You beheaded a robotic drone that looks like me. You did not actually fight me, V. There's still the gladiator games tomorrow if you feel like fighting. Remember, it's to the knockout not the death."

"Now then. Now that this is all over. Janus? Use Soulkiller.", Jericho commanded.

V just stood in silence for a moment. He watched thousands of lights pinpointed on the holographic area map of California suddenly go dark all at the same time. There was still one tiny light glowing faintly on the map of California. The light was pinpointed on Monarch Tower. Daichi Arasaka was still alive, but imprisoned. Jericho simply typed a few more commands into the computer, this time showing a map of the entire world.

"Janus? Eliminate all of them. Their families. Everyone."

Janus complied and found even more people connected to the Net in one way or another. Some of them were Authorized Users judging by their blue coloration on the map. The others, mostly in yellow were not. Once again, thousands of lights blinked out of existence and left the map dark, save for a few blue lights that flickered in a sea of darkness.

"Hm. Authorized Users... Run a background check on them. If they are not affiliated with Daichi's uprising, leave them be. If they are, force a mandatory chipset upgrade and the ones that refuse, flatline."

"Acknowledged.", Janus replied.

V just watched in mild horror as Jericho commanded Janus to take out all of Arasaka's goons including their families. Nobody left to rise up against them if everyone was dead. V had thought of this before, that Jericho and his crew were the villains of his little adventure. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the truth right now. Are we the bad guys? Yes, we are definitely the bad guys.

"V? Something on your mind?", Jericho asked.

"Uh, yeah? What the hell did you do?"

"I simply tied up some loose ends, V. Arasaka is dead. You should be happy, you know what they did to you."

"I know what they did to me... What's stopping you from doing that to me?"

"Respect, V. We have had our differences, yet you have stayed by my side regardless. You are loyal. Besides, Arasaka killed my family, I'm simply returning the favor."

"I mean, if you really want to see how badly Jericho can fuck you up, you can just enter the pit fights against him tomorrow. I'll just be in the stands... Laughing at you.", Hildegarde mused.

"Wait... I thought you didn't fight because of the radiation?", V noted.

"I am able. I made some upgrades to my own system, V. I added a recycler to my own core that scrubs radiation as fast as it accumulates. Do you wish to 'throw down' as Hildegarde put it?"

"Heh. Maybe..."

"Very well, V. This is your knighting ceremony, after all."

V just sighed and began to walk back towards the elevators. There was nothing for him to do here. He'd gotten to finally kill Hildegarde, but even that was a farce. He just needed to go and lie down for a while, maybe check out the rest of Neo-London and the new Pacifica.

"V? Leaving so soon? Well, get some rest. Your ceremony begins tomorrow morning at 7am.", Jericho concluded.

7am!? V just hurried into the elevator before realizing he'd picked the elevator that had been shot up. He ran out of that one, nearly tripped over the headless drone body in the middle of the floor and ran into the adjacent one, pressing the button to go back to the garage. Johnny appeared next to him as he rode downwards.

"Ya know, maybe it was a good thing it wasn't the real Hildegarde...", Johnny noted.

"Really? I thought you hated her."

"I do. But she's gotta live, V. Like I said before, Jericho's sanity is being held be a few thin threads. If she dies, the rest of the world follows."

"Great... At least we sorta get a long now."

"And you got to blow off some steam by 'killing' her. I think she was impressed."

"Or she just threw the fight..."

"Or that. Ya know, I think you're right about that. It was way too easy."

"Gee what made you think that? Was it the fact her arms and legs broke like twigs or that she didn't kill me with her pinkie finger and let me cut off her head? You saw how she reacted two years ago..."

"Yeah. What was I thinking? V's the 'Legendary Merc' he's always saying he is. Nope, still just a gonk after all."

"Goddammit. Janus? Lock out Johnny, please?"

"Confirmed.", Janus noted.

Johnny's holographic form just disappeared. There was a peaceful silence in V's head again. Now that he knew he could turn off Johnny and finally ignore all of his banter there was peace in his life. He could finally rest easy. The elevator chimed as the garage floor was reached. V just jumped into his haphazardly parked Rattler, which now had a parking ticket on its windshield, and took off back towards his mansion. Night was falling and he was getting tired.

Chapter End.

A/N: Arasaka is gone for good.