Chapter 30: Knight of Cydonia
Hildegarde just rode the elevator on its long journey from Jericho's lab towards the CEO's office where Sigmund lived and worked all day long. From what she was aware, he had minimally cybernetically augmented with just the necessities for his job. He was almost as human as V, but that could be changed. She just leaned against the back of the elevator and waited for her chance to get the jump on her hapless corpo-slave brother. Soon enough, the elevator doors opened and deposited her into the massive office with its nearly 360 degree view over Night City. Sigmund stood at his desk and was already having a conversation with their father. She just walked up behind Sigmund, quietly listening to their holo-call.
"...I cannot believe you do not have an heir yet. You're 30 years old, Sigmund. Get out there and meet somebody! I cannot rule the Kingdom for all of eternity!", Siegfriend lambasted.
"I'm trying... There's just... Nobody around...", Sigmund cried.
"Ahem... What if I could guarantee the eternal rule of our father? Jericho has his ways, after all. A few cyberware surgeries and you'll both be outliving Saburo Arasaka...", Hildegarde interjected.
"What? What are you talking about!?", both Sigmund and Siegfried exclaimed.
"Immortality. That's what I'm talking about. Jericho has the means to do so."
"Is this true!?", both of them asked again.
"It is. I've been blown up, set on fire, shot in the throat, nearly beaten to death, and run over by a tank. I'm more than human now. I'm immortal. Won't you join me?", Hildegarde noted with a smirk.
"Well, that explains how you've managed to live so long... Perhaps. What does this entail?", Siegfried asked.
"A simple blood transfusion and a basic power-core replacing your heart. Jericho can do all of that if you come here."
"London is already on its way to docking with Night City. Jericho's Floating London concept worked. I'll be on land at... 11am.", Siegfried noted. "I'll find you myself. I have an interest in your... offer."
"Uhh... If Father is down with it as well, then perhaps Jericho can also give me the same longevity. It will give me more than enough time to find a suitable heir!"
"Or you could just rule Monarch forevermore..."
"Hildie! I don't know if that's for me..."
"Stop being a wimp and stand up for yourself!"
"Auugh! I don't know! Just gimme the time!"
"Oh, Jericho will... I promise you..."
Hildegarde just left the two of them alone, Sigmund in the office itself and her father on his way on board the Albion, the ship-based mobile platform the London now sat upon. The Albion would be docking in Night City in a few hours and it was a modern marvel of technology as the entire city of London had been uprooted from its terrestrial home and built into a multi-tiered mobile city. The lower class on the lowest levels with a rising hierarchy comprising the rest of the levels until the uppermost was reached. Up there, the original Monarch Tower sat alongside the Eye of London, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Palace, Elizabeth Tower and London's former corporate center. The European Union wasn't entirely pleased with London suddenly becoming mobile and leaving England, but there was naught they could do about it; the entire city was heavily fortified and armed with both traditional weaponry and Mass Drivers on the city itself and in orbit. The two central Mass Drivers on London itself had been nicknamed Medusa and Charybdis and protected the city from all angles. It currently traversed a set path around the globe stopping and trading with various locales. Next week, it would be in South America, and then later on in Long Island before it headed back across the pond to its original territory.
Entering back into Jericho's lab after a long elevator ride, Hildegarde just flopped down on the couch next to the cyborg's workspace. He was still busy with some new upgrade to the many version of the Chipset that he'd developed over the last two years. The newer versions only offered at the least, Net access and protection from Janus' termination protocols. None of them had any ability enhancements like their original models, although V's version of the Chipset was still available to Monarch's Corpo Security and the Crown's Guard.
"I talked to them. Father and Sigmund are both interested in becoming immortal.", Hilegrade sighed.
"Really? I had some time to build a few more RTG's, these ones capable of more than two kilowatts of peak sustained usage. Hildegarde, keep in mind that although your lifespan will effectively be infinite, you and your family are not invulnerable. The Nanotech-Enhanced Synth-Blood will offer some level of regenerative ability over your natural healing, but you can still be killed by normal means. That means gunfire, severe trauma, and decapitation. Your head still needs to be firmly attached to your body."
"Oh... And here I was thinking I'd become a goddess of war. What about neck snapping? V's nearly done that several times to me."
"I can repair your broken spine and the Chipset provides the same autonomy that your spinal cord does, just on a much lower level. You won't be dead, but you certainly won't be able to move. Your head needs to be attached to your body, otherwise you'll have around fifteen minutes before recovery is impossible."
"So there's still hope if my head goes flying, that's what you're saying..."
"Very little hope. I would need to attach your head onto a stabilization unit almost immediately. A full-borg conversion would be the likely outcome guaranteeing your survival."
"I'm already nearly 75% borg, Jericho. I've got my head and some jiggly bits, but you've already replaced everything else. If I go full-borg, I want to have the same impressive bust that I do now."
"And you will... If it does come down to that."
"It won't. I'm curious, that's all. Immortality at our fingertips, the idea is mental."
"And it's all possible due to Janus, Monarch, and of course, us."
"You know, I think we should celebrate our wonderful revelation..."
Hildegarde just dragged the cyborg away from his desk. Yes, there was time to celebration, V's Knighthood Ceremony wouldn't begin for a few more hours and the festivities surrounding the day wouldn't be ready until the Albion had docked either. She and Jericho had just enough time to slay the beast with two backs.
"Wake up, Samurai! It's half-past 10!", a small squeaky voice shouted into V's ears. His alarm was blaring. A set of small fuzzy fists beat him in the head a few times. He begrudgingly got out of bed, wiped his eyes, kicked Yarn-Johnny off of him and looked at the clock. It was almost 10am. He'd overslept for his own knighting ceremony. He'd spent too much time with Panam last night. Yarn-Johnny just hopped off his bed and grabbed the Blue Moon and Kerry Eurodyne dolls.
"I'd hang around with you, but these two need my attention first.", Yarn-Johnny noted as he carried the two plush toys away.
V wiped his eyes again and idly wondered what Yarn-Johnny was going to do with the dolls, but then decided that he really didn't want to know. Yarn-Johnny was turning into the Real-Johnny and that was terrifying. He ran into his massive walk-in closet and donned his finest Monarch Regalia before slogging out of the bedroom. He stumbled groggily into the kitchen and had his robotic servants serve him the strongest coffee available, which was actually real coffee since he could afford it. He slammed the mug and hurried out the door, his Aerondight was already waiting for him. He jumped into the car, Janus not waiting for him to seat himself properly, and sped off towards the city center. Undoubtedly, Hildegarde was going to mock him to death for being late to his own ceremony. She'd get her comeuppance in the Gladiatorial Arena, though, even if it was only to the knockout.
The Rayfield Aerondight sped through the city streets avoiding other vehicles with ease. It rounded the corner towards Monarch Tower and spun into its parking space, the driver's door flying open and ejecting V outwards before the car had stopped moving. V's Reflex Core activated and he ran towards the elevator. He wasn't sure where exactly he was going, but he'd find out. Probably finding Sigmund in his office was the best bet. V slid between the elevator doors as they opened and flung himself inside the compartment, not seeing who was currently inside it. In his rush to get inside, he promptly collided with the elevator's sole occupant and found his hands grabbing onto two squishy orbs that happened to be attached to a very angry outlaw's chest as he slammed into them bodily.
"...Is this the part where you tell me that you love me?", Hildegarde snarled as she took immediate notice of the placement of his hands.
"Uh-"
V had no time to respond before he took an uppercut directly to his jaw, the force of the blow sending him sprawling across the floor outside the elevator. He saw stars and suddenly there were three Hildegardes standing in front of him. For the first time in ages his HUD blared an error code at him and his vision glitched out before stabilizing.
"What are you doing here, V?", Hildegarde asked as she stared down at him.
"The- The ceremony!"
"You're in the wrong place. You were supposed to meet here at 7am to be debriefed on etiquette. Your Knighthood is to take place on the Albion, London's new permanent home."
"Where?", V stuttered. He was still recovering from the sudden head trauma.
"In the bay. Come along..."
Hildegarde just dragged V by the arm off towards a different Aerondight, this one heavily armored. Its livery was painted in royal purple with gold accents. This was apparently Hildegarde's own personal vehicle. V was tossed onto the passenger seat and quickly bound in place by the automatic seat-belts. Hildegarde entered the driver's side and commanded the car to take them to London. Rather than route them across the country and Atlantic ocean, the GPS sent them towards Wellsprings and the dock that sat over there. V just oriented himself in the passenger seat and looked out the clear glass windows of the car.
"Were they soft, V?", Johnny asked appearing in the rear seat.
"Johnny... You're going to get us killed.", V noted, remembering that Hildegarde could see the Engram whenever he appeared holographically.
"Well?", Hildegarde asked.
"They were.", V noted.
"Good.", Both Hildegarde and Johnny noted.
"I can still see you, Johnny. Don't you have anything else you could be doing?", Hildegarde asked.
"Not really. I'll just sit back here. Like a ghost.", Johnny added.
Hildegarde just snorted and ignored the Engram. Johnny couldn't actually do anything except be annoying. V decided to lighten the mood with small talk.
"So, why do you always wear purple?", V asked.
"Oh, V... It's my favorite color.", Hildegarde noted.
"Really?"
"No. My favorite color is blue, like my jacket. The purple and gold matches quite nicely with the ionizing radiation my fusion-core outputs. It also matches my hidden eye.", Hildegarde noted, pulling her eye-patch up and showing off her hidden eye, the iridescent blackish compound eye lighting up for a moment with a violet pupil and iris. Both of Hildegarde's piercing eyes stared at V before she put the eye-patch back down.
"Thats- That's a little disturbing. Your eye... So, uhh when do the Gladiatorial Games begin?"
"After your Knighthood. I'll be beating up the Bozos first, then you can take on me. If you somehow survive the absolute bollocking I rain down upon you, then you can take on Jericho if you're feeling like a nutter."
"You know I only understand about half the words that come out of your mouth, right?"
"I'm sorry, V. Is the Queen's English too hard of a concept for you to grasp?"
"No. It's just- Nevermind."
"I don't speak streetslang, V. I'm not a plonker."
"What does that even mean? Plonker? Bollocking? Nutter?"
"First, you. Second, a brutal beatdown, and third, absolutely out of your gourd."
"So 90% of the time, you're insulting me or mocking me."
"Ding ding! Correct, V. You win one additional question to bother me with."
"What the hell does Jericho even see in you? You're a horrible, ruthless, murderer that's the equivalent of a sexier gender-swapped Adam Smasher."
"Taking the piss again, V? I suppose you're right, though. I am a lot like Adam Smasher considering what I do for Monarch. As for what Jericho sees in me, well that's easy. I'm a strong-willed woman who can fight for herself, a bit like Panam, wouldn't you say?"
"Like Panam? If Panam was a cyber-psycho, maybe... and Jericho's like me somehow in the equation?"
"You could say that. He's the better version of you, the one who took what life threw at him and ran with it and became something else. He's not Jin-suu anymore, he's Jericho, he was reborn. You on the other hand, want to keep on being Vee instead of trying to transcend what you were before. And that's a sign of weakness."
"Weakness? You're still you."
"No, I'm not, V. I rebuilt my life from the ground up. I became a Solo and didn't stick around to be another Corpo Slave like Sigmund.", Hildegarde sighed. V kept nudging her with pointless banter and she really wanted to hurt him. "Anything else, V?"
"Yeah. Why does Jericho always send you out on mundane tasks instead of going himself?"
"I'm a Solo, V. It's part of the name. I have the street-smarts and the tactics to get things done quickly, quietly and efficiently. Jericho's methods often involve leveling city blocks and that only works the first few times before everyone on the planet is out for your head."
V just shut up for now. He could see that the outlaw was getting annoyed by his constant badgering and Hildegarde's Aerondight was nearing their destination. Docked in Wellsprings outside of Morro Bay was a truly massive warship. This had to be the Albion and V was trying to figure out how he'd missed it on his way over to Monarch Tower. It was almost as large as Night City's city center and probably held three times the amount of people on it, as its stepped ziggurat-like design reached into the sky arcing upwards before ending in a spire with the original Monarch Corporate Headquarters at the highest point sticking upwards like the Tower of Babel.
Temporary bridges had been extended onto the docks in Wellsprings and allowed for vehicle travel into London itself. The Aerondight simply ascended the ramps and came to a slow stop in a massive shopping district. It appeared that Monarch had methodically re-arranged London and stuffed all of its popular marketplaces into one level. Far above, more upscale districts were homogenized and farther down below the working class and industrial zones coalesced into one before the massive arrowhead-shaped battleship hull began. V could see all kinds of armaments mounted around the perimeter of the city with a huge Mass Driver Cannon smack in the center just below Monarch Tower. Jericho's Floating London concept had been a success, as it seemed.
"Come along, V. You can pop down to the shops later.", Hildegarde mused as she just pulled him along. She shoved V into a large glass elevator and pressed a button, the elevator moving upwards hundreds of feet into the next level of the city. This level was full of aristocratic homes, a large Monarch-owned brewery, the London Eye and museums of the arts and history. Londoners milled about happily.
Hildegarde was noticed by everyone, much to V's surprise. She was applauded and heralded famously as she kept dragging him through the city towards yet another elevator, this one much taller and currently locked out with a biometric scanner. Presumably, this one was an express elevator that led up to the highest levels. As the outlaw rounded the corner, a heavily scarred and chromed out mercenary stepped out and aimed his Nowaki assault-rifle at her head.
"Hiilllldegaaarde. Funny seein' you back 'ere. Have ye forgotten about yer debts?"
"Stuff it, Haggus. I'm on official business for the Crown."
"Awhh... But the boys... They played yer new Legendary Mercs game. Ye said ye'd meet them in person if they'd played it!"
"I did. Did they beat the game yet?"
"Well... No."
"Then I don't owe you shit. Win the game and I'll spill the beans on what really happened."
V just looked at the two of them in utter confusion. Who the hell was this guy? Why did Hildegarde owe him something? What was going on?
"And put that damned gun down. It's a replica and everyone knows it. It only fires foam darts. Hell, half of your chrome and scars are from industrial accidents."
"Aye? Ye tryin' ta call me bluff? Tis a real gun! Ye'll be dead!"
Hildegarde just stared at Haggus, hands on her hips. Haggus pulled the trigger on his firearm, V expecting the outlaw to dodge and wrench it out of his hands before turning it on the poor man and blowing his brains out. Instead she just stood there as a small pink foam dart shot out and bounced off her forehead.
"Get back to work, Haggus. I'll tell your kids some stories after I'm done with this job."
Haggus who has not a mercenary just sulked off back around the corner. V watched him slog over to a trio of children and hand his replica gun over to them. The three children just stared at the man as he motioned to a nearby Mr. Whippy icecream van. The man and his children just ran off to gorge themselves on strangely flavored British icecream. V just sighed.
"Ignore him. He's a local skiver. Works in the industrial district and likes to get his limbs stuck in the cogs so he can get free cyberware.", Hildegarde noted as she continued to pull V towards the elevator. She scanned her eye on the biometric reader, the elevator doors opening up before shoving V inside. Yet another long ride commenced as the two of them headed upwards into the Imperial District.
V looked around as they exited the elevator. England's entire government had been relocated to the highest point of London. He could see Monarch Tower in the distance towering over everything else. Westminster Palace sat on the side, parallel to Buckingham Palace. A massive highly decorated Victorian-style courtyard took up the remainder of the space with Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben standing proudly behind them making up the final side of the courtyard. There was a surprising amount of greenery here with trees and large parks everywhere. He was in awe.
"Welcome to the Crown, V. Don't act like an idiot and this will go well.", Hildegarde noted.
The outlaw just shoved V forwards into the courtyard. As he was pushed onward, he noticed a large crowd of people in the middle of the zone. He saw Siegfried Von Bretton standing beside Sigmund with a large group of similarly dressed nobles, presumably the Royal Family, behind them. Panam and her fellow Aldecaldos sat in a set of chairs on his left. Jericho and the rest of his crew along with River, Rogue, Robo-Jackie, Vik, Nix, Bugbear, some other familiar faces from Night City sat on the other side across from them. A large blue and gold-trimmed carpet led up to Siegfried. Hildegarde just shoved V onto the carpet and walked around the gathered audience to take her place alongside her family.
"To all here present, know ye that Sir Vincent having been recognized for brave and honorable service to Monarch and the Crown is hereby admitted as a Distinguished Knight of Albion.", Siegfried announced, beckoning to V. V just walked up the carpet as he beheld all of his friends and colleagues watching him. He just walked with confidence up to the towering man, the King of England.
"Sir Vincent, please kneel and receive your Knighthood.", Sigmund noted.
V just knelt, bowing his head to the leadership of this new world order. Siegfried bent down gracefully and placed a heavy platinum medallion around V's neck, the weight of the medal weighing down on him. Siegfried then pulled out a massive broadsword, holding it above before bringing it down and tapping V on both of his shoulders.
"Sir Vincent, I do hereby knight thee into the Honorable Order of Crown Protectorate. Arise knight, and be recognized!", Siegfried commanded.
V just rose up, right hand over his heart and bowed to the King. He turned around and walked calmly down the carpet to the sounds of applause and cheers as he had finally achieved greatness. V was happy for once, no longer a nomad, no longer a mercenary, and no longer street scum, he was now a Crown's Guard. And life was just getting better and better for him.
As the Knighting ceremony ended, V was escorted along with his friends, family and the leadership of Monarch to a large royal AV. He sat next to Panam and the rest of the Aldecaldos, with Vik and his other friends taking their places next to him. They were headed to Night City's Monarch Plaza and the Knighthood Festivities that had been planned for the day. The Monarch Plaza had been built over the Reconciliation Park with a large arena and festival area.
"Congrats, V! A Crown's Guard! Guess you're my new CO, huh?", River noted.
"Yeah I guess. Feels weird, honestly.", V added.
"V! We're nobles!", Panam exclaimed in shock.
"We are... Nomads no more...", V sighed.
"Well, considering you're officially working for the Crown, I can send you on some more delicate jobs.", Rogue noted.
"I'll handle them with honor.", V noted.
"Eyy! Broder, you made it! You're in the big leagues now- the bigger leagues! Don't forget about all of us back home, amigo!", Robo-Jackie added.
"Never, Jackie. You're welcome to come to my estate anytime.", V reassured.
"I'll hold you to that, choom.", Jackie concluded.
"So, V... Think you could get us some one-on-one time with Janus? We've been thinking about doing some Old Net archaeology.", Nix and Bugbear asked.
"I'll put in good word for you. You'll probably be stuck with Asher, though.", V mused.
"Asher is a bit weird."
"Yeah, I know. But she's the Monarch NetRunner, so she's your only hope."
"Preeeeem", the two NetRunners noted somewhat sarcastically and resigned.
"Hey, V! So what does this mean for the rest of us?", Mitch asked.
"Oh, you'll get outfitted with the best that Monarch can offer you. Weapons, chrome, anything. Just go and tell them I sent you.", V noted.
"Goddamn...", Mitch sighed. "You hear that, Cass?"
"I heard him."
"Me too.", Carol added.
"Can't wait for some real gear...", Cassidy sighed.
"I'll have to tell Jake, Jeff and Taco. They're going to go apeshit.", Mitch noted.
"A Knight, huh? Well, I'll always be there for you if you need anything, V... Are you fighting in the Gladiatorial Games?", Vik added.
"Yep. I'll be fighting Hildegarde and Jericho."
"Be careful, V.", Vik concluded.
V spent the rest of the flight taking in the sights and sounds around him. Monarch and the Royal Crown would be watching the Gladiatorial Games. He knew that he would have to try to impress them somehow. Hildegarde would be tough since she'd had time to upgrade her chrome over the last two years. Jericho would be even worse, since V still had no idea the extent of his abilities. He'd just have to concentrate, focus his core-processors and use the best of his abilities. He checked his Monarch 3516 and Archangel, both guns were loaded and he had plenty of ammunition.
"Hey, Johnny? You think we have any kind of chance against Hildegarde and Jericho?", V asked mentally. Johnny just appeared in an empty seat near him, a champagne glass in hand.
"Not really. I think we should just watch what that PsychoBitch does to those clowns and work with that. Jericho is your biggest problem; don't think we have a snowball's chance in hell against him. What did Vik tell you again, oh yeah, Rope-A-Dope... Good thing this is only to the knockout, V."
"Yeah, I know. Once I get knocked out, it's your turn."
"Me?"
"Yeah you! You said you can take over my body if I'm unconscious! Take the helm and win the fight for me!"
"Yeah, but if I get knocked out... What happens to you?"
"Oh... Right... I dunno, maybe I can jump back in?"
"Or maybe you just die."
"Fuck... Just gonna have to deal with it if it happens, Johnny."
"Fine. Your funeral..."
V just sat back as the AV began its approach on the Monarch Plaza. It landed softly on the fairgounds and its exit ramp deployed. The Aldecaldos and the rest of his friends hurried into the Arena. V just walked calmly towards the massive coliseum. This was going to be very interesting.
Chapter End.
A/N: I've been spelling the Aldecaldos name wrong for the entire fanfic. Forgive me. V fights his former crew in the next chapter. Fun. Fun. Fun.