Chapter 29: Calm Before The Storm
As night fell, V was just pulling into his garage. He parked his Rattler next to the rest of the Aldecaldo vehicles. He wiped his brow and walked off towards his mansion before noticing the bonfire that had been set up on the beachfront. He looked at it, the Aldecaldos had set up a small campsite on the beach with their signature bonfire in the center. It was a lot like trying to go camping in your own backyard, but perhaps the sand made them feel like they were out in the desert instead of in a major city. He could hear music and laughter and decided to go and check up on his nomad friends.
V just walked into the tiny nomad 'camp'. The Aldecaldos had set up their bar/truck at the edge of the sidewalk and boardwalk. A few small tents dotted the surrounding area, presumably by nomads who refused to live in the city. Or they were just for atmosphere, not a lot of Night City locals got to meet nomads and a few passersby interacted freely with the clan. V just walked towards the bonfire. He could see Mitch and Cassidy sitting on a log bench. He also noticed Carol, who had new cyberware; borg-ware to be precise. He just went over to talk to them.
"Hey, Mitch! What've you been up to?", V asked.
"Oh hey, V! Just runnin' some jobs for Monarch. They pay real well, like you said. I got a new arm!", Mitch noted showing off his now-matching cyber-limb.
"And I got a new gun!", Cassidy announced showing off his new Smart Gun.
"And Carol got a partial borg conversion...", Mitch noted.
"I just got some arms and legs.", Carol noted showing off her new satyr-like legs and mechanically enhanced arms.
"Preem. Looks like you've been making out pretty well. How's the clan?"
"Clan's doing well, V. Panam is adjusting to city life just like the rest of us. Had to set up camp again, even if it's just down here on the beach outside your mansion.", Mitch mused. "It's never been easier to get what we want. Food, water, tools, meds, clothing, entertainment, cars, guns, ammo, the list goes on and on V."
"Half the time I go to sleep, I'm just hoping I don't wake up and we're back in Death Valley and all this has been a dream...", Cassidy sighed. "I really gotta thank you for whatever you did to get us this land, V. It's like heaven on earth."
"You got us steady work that doesn't enslave us to a corporation. We haven't been hired by Monarch, we just take some of their commissions. We could run trade routes outside of NC if we wanted to. Maybe even smuggle some goods out to Las Vegas and still have a nice place to lay our heads when we're done.", Carol noted.
"V! You're back! Come now, there is much to do!", Panam shouted upon seeing the wayward merc. She just grabbed V by the arm and dragged him away from his mansion and farther into Pacifica.
"Panam? What's going on?", V asked in confusion.
"V! There is so much here. I have spent most of my time enjoying your mansion or exploring the area. There is a shopping mall and amusement park. Come on. It's better at night!"
"Janus? Unlock Johnny.", V thought. Johnny would enjoy this.
"Again, V? Locking me up doesn't get rid of me."
"Shut it, Johnny. We're going on a date."
"Whatever..."
Johnny just followed behind V and Panam holographically. The two lovebirds in front of him walked down the boardwalk towards the large and newly renovated fairgrounds. The massive ferris wheel turned slowly and lit up the night with strobing lights around its circumference. The roller coaster zipped around its track. A bunch of carnival games had been set up and some Night City locals walked around the area with drinks and fast-food in hand. It was lively and nice. No danger, no gang violence, just another nice town. Too nice and not enough action. Johnny retched.
V just walked beside Panam as she pointed out all of the cool little features that had been added to the seaside amusement park. She lamented her ability to win anything at the carnival games. V stepped up to a ring-toss game, he activated his Reflex Core and Dexterity Core before aiming and tossing the plastic ring at the target. His first toss was an immediate score, followed by his second and third throws. The game operator just applauded him and shoved an oversized Us Cracks chibi plush into his arms. He'd won a Blue Moon doll which was nearly 3ft tall. It could keep Yarn-Johnny company.
"I'm pretty sure that counts as cheating, V. Don't think Jericho intended the Chipset to be used on carnival games...", Johnny sighed.
"You want me to try to get all three of them or is just Blue Moon good enough?", V asked.
"Just the one, V. There are other games. Try the strength tester!"
"Don't use the fucking Strength Core, V! You'll send the damned bell into orbit!", Johnny chided.
V just approached the game and grabbed the mallet. He didn't want to show off, so he heeded Johnny's word and just used his human strength. Regardless, he still managed to ring the bell and was promptly handed another oversized chibi plush, this one being of Red Menace.
"So strong, V. How about another one?", Panam mused, slightly sarcastic on the first part. She just headed over to another game, this one a shooting gallery with multiple targets to hit. All of the targets were shaped like Scav gangers.
V just grabbed the small underpowered air-rifle of the game. He activated his Aim-Assist and his Reflex Core. He took his aim on the Scav targets and remembered his first job with Jackie and their rescue of Sandra Dorsett in that blown out apartment. He followed his auto-aim reticle and fired off individual shots from the automatic gun, hitting his targets precisely. The game operator just applauded him.
Oooh! We've got a real Merc playing games tonight!", the operator announced as they handed over the final Us Cracks doll, this one being Purple Force.
V just looked at the trio of Us Cracks dolls. They were far too large to lug around on the boardwalk and his mansion was fairly far away at this point. He scratched his head for a moment before calling Janus and summoning his Aerondight. As the car slid up to them, the passenger side door opened. V just deposited the three dolls in the rear passenger seat, the three chibi dolls looking whimsically comfortable in the car. The thought was not lost on Janus either as the rear seatbelts wrapped around the plush toys and strapped them in safely.
"Hey, V! Over here!", Johnny called.
V just walked over to yet another carnival game, this one a guitar simulator. The prize of this game being a chibi-style Kerry Eurodyne. Kerry was apparently still touring the world despite the world having changed drastically over the last two years. He looked at the rules and realized that he'd have to play a Samurai song and try to get as many of the chords right as possible. This was going to be easy.
"Johnny? Wanna take over my hands?", V asked.
"Hell yeah!", Johnny noted.
V just selected Never Fade Away from the list of songs to play and began to shred chords on the game guitar. Johnny guided his hands and pulled off mini-solos in between the main riffs and chords, much to the delight of the many onlookers. V even began to sing.
"A thing of beauty..."
"I know...", Johnny added unheard by anyone except V.
"Will never fade away..."
V's impromptu rendition of Never Fade Away rang out into the crowds, older folks turning an listening to the song in remembrance. Younger folks rocking out as V ripped and shredded on the toy guitar. V just let the few last chords ring out into the night as the song ended. The game operator was just staring at him in awe.
"I... I've never seen someone play like that. It's like you're Johnny Silverhand reborn... Just take the prize, man.", the operator stuttered.
"Yeah. You could say that...", V noted as he took the Kerry doll. He just walked back to his Aerondight and placed the Chibi Kerry into the driver's seat. Janus promptly secured doll-Kerry with the seatbelt.
"What are we going to do with these?", Panam asked.
"I dunno. Have you met Yarn-Johnny?"
"Yes. He's like the real thing. Only tiny and made of yarn."
"They'll be his friends. They're also tiny and made of cloth."
"V... You so silly sometimes... I guess I never noticed this side of you before...", Panam mused.
V just wrapped his arms around Panam and continued down the boardwalk towards the shopping center. The Monarch Market was open 24 hours a day. It never closed and he had never been inside the mall since it had been officially reopened. He remembered fighting his way through Animals Gangers years ago. This was going to be a welcome change of pace as the parking lot was filled with nice cars and a few Aldecaldo vehicles.
"This looks nice. Maybe we can get some decorations for the house?", Panam added.
"Yeah. Maybe something for the both of us. Monarch makes game consoles, maybe there are some of those?", V noted.
V just walked through the front doors of the shopping mall. The interior was pleasantly lit with LED lighting and animated billboards showcasing the latest technology. There was a food court filled with cuisine from around the world, primarily British Cuisine, but there was the occasional slurp shop and hotdog stand as usual. A Monarch-branded Ripperdoc had a line wrapping around the mezzanine with random gonks awaiting their V-Chip installation. A few other shops displayed Monarch's other technological offerings such as power tools, entertainment systems and game consoles. A massive VR display with active demos caught his eye. He spotted Jake Scooter and Taco, two Aldecaldo nomads trying out the system. The salesman beckoning to the onlookers.
"This is the latest from Monarch in VR gaming! It combines the visceral feeling of a BD with the interactive content only provided by immersive VR! Come and try out 'The Legendary Mercenaries' game demo today!"
V just looked up at the display screens. Jake and Taco were both engrossed in a VR shootout between their own VR mercs and someone else. Taco appeared to be assaulting Arasaka Tower circa 2023, his avatar representing Johnny Silverhand's last stand. Jake was playing as someone else in a more recent heist on Arasaka in their home country of Japan. V recognized the arms and body of Jake's avatar as being Hildegarde's. He idly wondered how much the outlaw had been paid for this cameo. Both players of the 'Legendary Mercs' game seemed to be having fun.
"We should buy this one, V.", Panam noted.
V just sighed and walked over to the salesman, he asked about how much the system cost and was given the device for free. The salesman apparently wasn't expecting an actual 'Legendary Merc' to buy the system, let alone the new Knight of the Crown. V was promptly handed a box and a bag to carry around with his new VR gaming console inside.
"What games should we get? We already have Legendary Mercs. Maybe a sports game? What's Cricket? Hm... Football looks like Soccer... Maybe car racing?"
V just bought all of the VR games. That should keep everyone entertained for a while. They could be Cricket players? Or racecar drivers? Or even Legendary Mercs in their free time. In their retirement, more likely, when they were too old to be of any use in the field.
"Gods, there's so much to do here. What do we do next?", Panam wondered.
"There's always the amusement park itself. We could go on a few rides...", V added.
V and Panam simply left the shopping center with V depositing their goods into his Aerondight. He and his lover walked down the boardwalk again, heading towards the Ferris-Wheel. It was time to relax and the view from the top of the wheel would be nice. It had been quite a while since V had the time to actually sit back and reminisce on what had happened. As he and Panam hopped into the booth, he simply let his mind wander. This was the life. Yes, Monarch was probably the villain and they were up to no good and the world was probably doomed, but ignorance was bliss in this time and this moment. He finally had it all.
Far away in Monarch Tower, Asher and Hildegarde were engaged in pointless conversation. Sigmund stood behind them in utter confusion. The CEO of the Monarch had too much on his plate and almost never had a chance to go out and enjoy his own empire. He had gotten to play around on Monarch's VR gaming system and had experienced Hildegarde's exploits embellished from a gaming point of view. He wondered idly if that was what had actually happened.
"Soooo... My Yarnling went on a date with V's. It went... Okay? I guess...", Asher noted.
"Why? Why do you even have a Yarnling? Why does V? They're meant for children, Asher. They're little robotic helpers or babysitters.", Hildegarde sighed.
"I like them. They're cute! And they talk..."
"Asher... I swear..."
"So... Hate to interrupt your engaging conversation, but Hildie, have you actually done the things you're doing in our new VR game?", Sigmund asked.
"Yes, I have. Embellished in certain ways, but I have actually done those things. Why? Are you worried about me?", Hildegarde mused.
"N-No... Just worried for your safety."
"Don't, Sigmund. I've lived this long and I'm sure to have even more Legendary moments. Perhaps it'll be DLC."
"Well... Just try to keep your head on, okay?"
"Is this about the body-double? It wasn't me. I'm harder to kill than that."
"I... Hildie... I can't take losing you. Neither can father... Just... Just be safe, okay?"
"Sigmund. There will be a day when I die. Remember me for who I was, not who I became."
Sigmund just walked away. He didn't want to talk about this anymore. He didn't want any of his family to die. He just needed some time alone for a while, maybe time to think of who to marry. Who to pass on his empire to. He needed to call his father and headed up the elevator into his office to do so. Maybe the King of England, Siegfried Von Bretton, would have some words of wisdom.
As Sigmund left the room, Asher just stared at the man before turning back to Hildegarde. As much as she tried to be cheery and upbeat most of the time, she had some questions.
"But... You're never going to die, right? Jericho said something like that. You're sorta immortal with that power-core."
"Yes, Asher. That's one way of putting it. If I don't inevitably get killed in some horrific way, I'll live forever. Long enough to see the stars in the sky die. Forevermore."
"What about me and Scotch?"
"I'm not sure on that. Longer than others, definitely... Much longer than V. If you had a Fusion-Core, then perhaps you could also transcend mortality. Ask Jericho, he knows more than I do."
"Oh... Well if I live to be two-hundred, I'll be happy!"
"If you keep doing what you're doing, you won't live to be thirty. I'll kill you instead."
"Don't be mean, Hilde. We're friends."
"Do not shorten my name, Ashlynne, you know how I hate it... Unless it's from family, of course."
"Eep! Okay..."
Hildegarde just left Asher alone in the Data-Center. She headed back down the elevator towards Jericho's lab. She had some more questions about her own teammates and their longevity. Jericho could explain this better to her, or he could even guarantee their extended survival. Anything was possible during the Technological Singularity.
V and Panam just sat together in the Ferris-Wheel pod. The night skyline of Night City and the renewed Pacifica took up most of their view. He could see AV's landing at the skyport as well as ad-blimps on their journey around the corporate center. Ads blared on about Monarch's offerings to the rest of the city. He could see where the slums had been, now bulldozed and rebuilt into 'Effiency Apartments', small pod-like homes that were cheap and plentiful. No more ramshackle huts. Night City was quickly becoming the so-called 'City of Dreams' that it had been originally designed as. Even Pacifica had been fully renovated into a modern seaside town with some British influence from the Crown, city dwellers walked the boardwalk at all hours of the day and enjoyed themselves without the threat of a sudden gang attack.
As the Ferris-Wheel reached its apex, V just looked off into the distance. The greenhouses of Biotechnica and Petrochem in the distance were still there, just rebranded with Monarch's stylized-M logo. The highway that led out of Pacifica had been complete and there was just a simple toll-plaza, not a Militech checkpoint. He could see vehicles entering and leaving, some of them looked like Aldecaldo trucks and others civilian cars. The brightly lit road stretched off into the distance southwards until only sparkling streetlights were visible. He turned to Panam.
"You ever miss the open road?", V asked wistfully.
"I do. I don't miss the endless struggle to survive, though. Scavenging or bartering or taking shady jobs and getting paid in scop... There's always the campsite on the beach near our house if we need to reminisce about old times... And the highway, we can leave whenever we want and come back without any problems."
"I guess we aren't nomads anymore..."
"No, V. Now we're a family..."
Panam just leaned against V's shoulder as the Ferris-Wheel began to make its slow descent back to the ground. V relaxed, this was the life. Everything was nice, calm, and boring. The Aldecaldos had a place in the world, presumably, the other nomad clans also did as well. No more war, no more homeless, no more poverty, no more pain or strife. Humanity and Mankind were at peace at last. Anything was possible and there were no limits to what they could achieve. Sure, Jericho and Monarch had some kind of ulterior motive, but what they had done to the world was truly a sight to behold. Maybe the Singularity wasn't that bad anyways. The world could be worse and somehow it wasn't.
Far away from V's Ferris-Wheel relaxation, Jericho sat in his lab. Hildegarde paced around his desk for a few moments before sitting down on the couch and turning to face him. She had some questions about her teammates and their roles.
"...But what about their longevity?", Hildegarde sighed.
"Longevity? Their lifespans, you mean. Asher and Scotch are good for a few hundred years or so since they utilize an RTG. Eventually its power will fade and their biomechanical augmentations will fail, causing them to grow old and die.", Jericho noted.
"What if I wanted them to live longer?"
"Do you? I suppose bio-medicine and genetic therapy could reduce the effects of natural aging. Their RTG's would need to be refueled in the end, Hildegarde."
"What about us? You haven't aged. You look younger than you were when you were 'killed'."
"I was reborn. I was in my 50's when I died, I am in my mid-30's right now, reborn as Jericho. Only my brain, spine and genitalia are organic. The rest of my body is mechanical. I will never age due to my nanotech synth-blood and nuclear fission-fusion hybrid power-core."
"But what about me?"
"You are the same, albeit that more of your body is organic. You have the same nanotech synth-blood and fusion-core. You will never age past your mid-30's as that is when you had your blood-supply replaced with nanotech. That being said, V's killing shot on you two years ago was actually fatal. Your own synth-blood saved you back then and it shall do so again and again. I hope you don't get bored, Hildegarde. It will be hard to renounce your immortality at this point."
"As long as we're together until the end, I'll never get bored of this... What about V?"
"V? V is human. He will age as normal. Without a power-core of any kind or nanotech-enhanced synth-blood, he will eventually die of old age. Most likely within the next century or so, just like everyone else with a basic Chipset. V would need, at the minimum, a Radioisotope-Thermoelectric-Generator or Fusion-Core with a full blood-supply replacement to be brought into the New Age of humanity."
"So it's possible then? To make our little group that's always been and always will be last until the very end?"
"More than possible, definite. Even your father Siegfried or your brother Sigmund can be made like us if you choose, I already have all the materials to do so. All you need to do is ask."
"Us and our teammates, definitely. My father? I'll have to ask him. Sigmund? Same thing, lemme ask him. V? No. Not yet."
"As you wish..."
Jericho just turned back to his workbench. Hildegarde got up from the couch with the reassurance that she'd both live forever and her best friends would be there alongside her. Even if she denied their friendship, she still enjoyed Asher's silliness and Scotch's world-weary wisdom. V was fun to mess with, but was still too new to really judge. She knew her father would readily jump for immortality, but Sigmund probably wanted to die of natural causes. She'd go and ask them. There was still time. She had all the time in the world.
Chapter End.
A/N: I've realized I've spelled the Aldecaldo's name wrong for the entirety of the fanfic. Sorry for that. You get it though. I'm also desperately trying not to make the EPILOGUE of the fanfic longer than the actual story itself. Once again, the main Nuclear Nomad storyline ended in CHAPTER 22! Everything past Chapter 22 is the Epilogue. I should probably make this its own separate fanfic.