Chapter 32: Immortal Engines
V's eyes fluttered open for a second. His body ached. He felt like he'd been run over by a Militech Behemoth and a convoy of Raffen Shiv motorcycles. He groggily looked around, he was in his house and in his bedroom. He was wearing that nice royal blue bathrobe that had come with his mansion. He noticed movement in the bed next to him and wrapped an arm around the bed's other occupant.
"Awwhh... Panam? I had the strangest dream... I got my ass kicked in the Gladiatorial Games. Got disintegrated, but then Johnny saved me. He- He's like a guardian angel.", V sighed. Something felt off about his bed partner. Panam's hair was a lot shorter than it was before. V just rubbed his eyes for a moment trying to focus on who was in bed with him.
"Morning, V. Did you sleep well? I certainly had fun yesterday...", Hildegarde mused as she stared back at him from her position in bed with him.
V just launched off the bed in horror and shock, taking the blankets and covers with him as he escaped. Hildegarde was in his bed, fully dressed save for her jacket, and stared at him coyly. V wondered what Johnny had done with his body yesterday and absolutely hoped that it had nothing to do with the infamous outlaw. He tossed the covers onto the floor and pulled his robe slightly tighter. This was not what he was expecting to see. Had he woken up in some kind of alternate universe where he and Hildegarde were a couple? No, he was dead, this was Hell. This was exactly what Hell looked like.
"H-Hildegarde? What are you doing in my bed!?", V stammered.
"Having some fun? You were out cold, I figured that you needed a bit of a wakeup call.", the outlaw noted as she donned her jacket. "We didn't do anything intimate, V."
"Preeeem... Why are you in my house again?"
"Another retrieval mission. The Crown would like a word with you. Seems like you've impressed them with your fighting expertise in the Gladiatorial Games yesterday."
"I got my ass handed to me on a silver plate. How the hell did I impress them?"
"You lost to Jericho, as expected. There are few that can actually fight him, one of them is me. You took several Disintegrations to the face and survived. You're the dog's bollocks as far as my father is concerned."
"Great! What do I have to do? Prostrate myself and let him walk on me?"
"No. Just come along with me to London and have a nice friendly chat with tea and crumpets, maybe some jelly babies and jammy dodgers too. It'll be fun, V. Just me, you and my ruthless Father in the throne room."
"Awesome.", V noted sarcastically. "I can't wait."
"Get dressed. Try not to look like a gormless wazzock while you're at it."
V just walked into his closet and picked out some formal wear. He didn't know what a 'gormless wazzock' was, but it was probably bad or horribly insulting. He really wanted to ask Johnny what was going on, but the Rockerboy was still absent from his mind. His core-processors were still active, so he wasn't disabled, Johnny was just being quiet. The Rockerboy was probably also sleeping off the absolute bollocking they'd received yesterday. Once he had dressed up in the best Monarch-themed formal wear, he left the closet and joined Hildegarde again, the outlaw was just sitting demurely on the edge of his bed.
"Ready to go, V?", she asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
V and Hildegarde just left the mansion. V was escorted to the outlaw's armored Aerondight again, sitting in the passenger seat. Once the outlaw had also joined him, the car began to make its way towards the docks and the bridge that connected to the Albion once again. V decided to make some small talk again, against better judgment.
"You're being nicer to me. Are you playing with me?", He asked.
"Honestly, no. You really did put up a good fight yesterday. I have a level of respect for that. You're still a plonker, but you're more capable than I originally thought.", Hildegarde mused. "You're durable, V. Somehow. For a mostly human mercenary..."
"Ah, so I have impressed you. 'Bout time I got some respect!"
"Don't let it go to your head, V. I have some respect for you. Jericho has an offer for you if you're willing to take it. I'll let him explain later."
"What? Really?"
"It's more upgrades. Your chrome is horribly out of date."
"Well... That'd be nice."
"It would. Maybe you'd actually be useful in more ways than one."
"Aaannd there it is, the mockery is back."
The rest of the car ride went uneventful. V finally had some respect from the infamous outlaw and that meant he was on the up and up with Monarch's elite. Maybe it was due to him being knighted, or perhaps it was due to whatever had happened in the arena yesterday. V only had bits and pieces of what had happened, most of the experience seemed like a dream, but it had actually taken place. He could hardly believe that the King of England wanted to speak to him, but they had met years earlier and it wasn't that far-fetched at all. Maybe it was a business deal? He really didn't know what was going to happen, but it had to be good.
The Aerondight parked itself once again in the lower levels of the Albion, the early morning sunlight bounced off the many shining buildings making the whole structure twinkle like a polished jewel. The Market district was calmer at this hour, but some Night City tourists still walked the streets and perused the many shops around the area. V was led down a different path this time, the non-express route, and followed behind Hildegarde as she led him past a few casinos that had been placed towards the rear of this level. A few street carts were set up in an alleyway with various table games available for passing tourists of those that enjoyed gambling outside. The two of them just avoided the games of chance and continued down the street a bit more, passing an open-air boxing ring. Vik was seated in the front row and was watching two burly Londoners bare-knuckle boxing each-other; neither seemed to be gaining the upper hand. V just kept on walking, he could talk to Vik later, he idly wondered if some of his other friends were also enjoying themselves somewhere in the massive floating city.
Hildegarde just led V into one of the public elevators, this one made of stainless steel and glass with a terrific view of the Market district beneath them. A few other Londoners joined them as they rode up to the next level, this one was the Aristocratic district and beheld museums, universities, and other interesting landmarks. Once again, since it was early morning, few people were around. V and Hildegarde just left this elevator and hopped into another one right beside it, scanning her eye briefly on a biometric reader, before riding up another level and into the Lower Imperial District.
The Lower Imperial District was completely devoid of tourists and regular Londoners, instead other Crown's Guards, Legionnaires, and Monarch Corporate Guards. Monarch drones and workers in exo-suits milled around the area in front of them. St. Paul's Cathedral sat in the middle of the narrow district with a truly gargantuan Mass Driver Cannon held above its dome. V just stared at the weapon on awe; it was a larger version of the Gauss Cannon that Jericho used. A super-weapon that could destroy entire cities.
"Magnificent, isn't it? That's Charybdis, one of the two Mass Drivers on the Albion. The other one, on the rear is called Medusa. Guess why.", Hildegarde noted as she noticed V's stare.
"No idea. It's monstrous, though. But, why?"
"Why? To protect the Crown, of course..."
"Who the hell would attack the city?"
"Other nations, V. These past two years haven't been pleasant for the rest of the world. The NUSA and the Crown are really the only two world powers left. China fell to ruin shortly after Janus locked down the Net. Japan relied entirely too much on Arasaka and fell into chaos when the Arasaka family mysteriously died one night. As Jericho would say, Cut the heads of their false kings and let those who feed on carrion feed for eternity."
"Preem, more cryptic bullshit. In other words, Janus caused a second NetKrash, a second Collapse, and the end of the world as I knew it."
"More or less. The EEC is still around, although they have almost no power over us. Their rules, regulations and laws just warnings and not actual threats. Not when we could crush them from orbit with the Mass Drivers that Janus took control of. Of course since Janus controls the Net and Monarch controls Janus, the Crown gave control of the entire UK to Monarch, their savior and the only one not affected by Janus' automatic Black ICE.", Hildegarde mused. "Didn't Jericho already tell you this? Don't tell me you've forgotten already!"
"No... But he was cryptic as usual. So if I understand correctly, the world ended, chaos reigned, and Monarch came along and picked up all the pieces. The Crown suddenly backed the NUSA and the Collapse ended, NetKrash 2 ended, and now the whole world is begging on their knees in front of the Crown whether they know it or not."
"Close enough, V... The world is a better place, as you've seen for yourself. Monarch is more than a corporation, it's a new way of life. The NUSA gave the Crown, and thus the UK, control over the once proclaimed 'Free States'. They also made sure that the Mega-Corporation known as Monarch had a corporate HQ in every state. Unbeknownst to the NUSA, Monarch runs the entire country as Monarch is the Crown."
"Blah blah, world domination, blah blah, shady corpo deals, what's next?"
"That's for my father to decide. He is the King after all. Or did you mean with you?"
"Me. I guess."
"I have no clue. Let's just go and face the music, shall we?"
Hildegarde just led V into the next elevator, this one also locked out. She scanned her eye on the biometric scanner again and shoved V inside, riding upwards to the final level of the complex. The High Imperial District. V had been here earlier when he'd been knighted a few hours ago. As the elevator doors opened, he was led by the arm through the Victorian-style courtyard and into the lobby of the original Monarch Tower. This tower was built in a similar manner to the one that dominated Night City, albeit a bit shorter by a few hundred floors. The circular tower stretched upwards dwarfing all other buildings and reaching to the heavens as an insult to the gods themselves. A large holographic display showed Monarch's slogan, "More than a Corporation, it's a lifestyle!", just as Hildegarde had said.
Inside Monarch Tower's lobby, there were no lines of random gonks looking for employment or seeking Chipset installations. A few individuals in fancy attire stood around and drank champagne or conversed with each-other in hushed tones. A few more aristocratic gonks stared at Hildegarde for a second before turning away. The Outlaw's reputation was well-known even here, as it seemed. Allistair, the butler-esque fellow that had handled Hildegarde's 'bounty' a few years earlier stood behind the main desk.
"Oh, hello Hilde. What brings you to-"
Hildegarde just cut him off. "Father wants to see this plonker. Let him know I've arrived."
"Of course..."
"One of these days, that guy is going to go nuts and try to flatline you.", V noted.
"He won't. He's known me and Sigmund since we were born.", Hildegarde sighed. Allistair, the hapless butler just pressed a call button and let Siegfried that his daughter had arrived with V.
"Ah, he's expecting you. Please go on up.", Allistair stated. "And Hilde... Could you perhaps show a little respect?"
"What? I do, Allistair. This is just business, you know you're more of a father to me than my father.", Hildegarde added, the butler just blushing slightly.
"I- I know. I just wish you hadn't taken what I told you at face value... The life I had before this, well, was one of my darker times."
"Cheer up. I'll buy you a round in the pub when I'm done."
Hildegarde just led V into the luxury elevator, the doors closing and the compartment beginning its route up to the upper levels of Monarch Tower.
"What?", V asked.
"Allistair used to be a Solo back in the day, when he was younger. The Giant of Albion, was what he was called. He was legendary before disappearing after the Great Northern Conflict. My Father found him and employed him as a personal body-guard for a while. He was surprisingly good as a butler, so he took care of Sigmund and I and told us stories of his lifestyle."
"And you relished that lifestyle so much that you went and became as legendary as he was."
"Yep. You got it, V. Any other questions you'd like to annoy me with before we reach my father's throne room?"
"Nope. Not right now."
"That's good, you're finally learning..."
The elevator eventually stopped and deposited V and Hildegarde into a CEO's office not unlike the one that Sigmund occupied in Night City. This office, however, had a set of controls inside it with multiple Monarch employees at them. This was also the helm for the Albion as it seemed. Rows of holo-screens took up most of the wall in front of them with data scrolling past at mach speed. Siegfried Von Bretton sat behind his massive desk. V approached calmly followed by Hildegarde.
"Sir Vincent...", Siegfried noted. V just knelt in front of the imposing man. "Rise."
V just stood back up. "My lord?"
"You have proven your strength in battle. You are far more durable than expected given your upbringing and cybernetic enhancement. I would like to offer you a new role in our kingdom."
"A- A new role?"
"Yes. You will remain here, in Night City. You will be the Knight Commander. You will receive the latest cyberware that Monarch can offer to further your strengths. You will protect the Night City branch of the Crown. You will take orders directly from the Crown and do as necessary to protect its rule. Do you accept my generous offer, Sir Vincent?"
"I do. I will honor you."
"Indeed. Then go, Knight Commander Vincent, go and take your place at the head of the Crown's Guard. Your seat on the Council will herald us all into a new age."
"My seat?"
"Yes. You are part of our Royal Council. Your opinion matters in how the Crown is run from this day forth."
"I... I... I will do what is best, my lord."
"Then proceed, Knight Commander, go forth for the future of the UK and also the world.", Siegfried concluded before turning back to his holo-screens and his work desk. V just stood in mild shock for a moment. He wondered what Hildegarde thought of this and just turned around to face her.
"Come along, V. You're the Knight Commander now, best start acting like it."
The plum-purple outlaw just grabbed V and heaved him back into the elevator, this time taking the express one down into the courtyard bypassing the lobby entirely.
"Uhh... Do I outrank you now?", V asked.
"Outrank the Princess? No, you do not, V."
"Riiight... Forgot about that...", V sighed. He did, in fact, forget that Hildegarde was technically Royalty and not just a horrible, ruthless mercenary who sometimes worked for the Crown.
"Did you? Or did you hope that you did? I'm employed as a Mercenary, but if shit hits the bed and Sigmund somehow dies, I'll be forced to take over Monarch in his stead."
"I really can't imagine that..."
"Neither can I."
V just rode the elevator back down into the courtyard before shuffling into another elevator and heading back down to the Aristocratic District. Hildegarde just shoved him forwards into the mezzanine before starting to walk off on her own. V went to follow her before he was shoved back again.
"Go and explore the Crown if you feel like it. I'm done with you for now."
"What? I thought you liked me."
"I have respect for you, V. Liking you is something different entirely. If you want to come along with me, be prepared to do some things that a Knight isn't expected to. I'm a merc and you'll be a merc in this situation."
"Well... A little break before I get serious about this would be nice. What are you doing?"
"Well... Come along and see..."
V just followed Hildegarde farther into the Aristocratic District. It seemed that the Outlaw had been hired for something else and this was just the tip of the iceberg of shady shit that Monarch had going on. They were still a Mega-Corporation after all and there was no end to the bullshit they had to deal with.
Hildegarde just walked down the streets of the Aristocratic District, the area was becoming more lively as the day progressed into the early afternoon. Most of London's more famous architecture sat on this level with multiple museums to the arts set around a large marble arch. She ducked into a doorway of a large modern building called The Museum of London. V followed a few feet behind her. A museum? Why in all that was holy were they going someplace so boring? V just watched as the outlaw walked up behind a tour guide who was rehearsing his speech for the day. The museum wasn't officially open quite yet and the somewhat younger and dark-haired man seemed to be nervous for some reason.
"Hello, Tom! Nervous?", Hildegarde asked loudly, startling the younger man.
"Aah! Hildegarde! Wh-What are you doing here?"
"Oh, you know... Just looking at the exhibits, admiring the artwork, the things one usually does in a museum..."
"Ah... Well, we're not open yet."
"Oh I know. You left the door unlocked, a bit strange isn't it? Anyone could just walk right in."
"Oh... Well, I must've forgotten to lock up after my smoke break."
"You don't smoke..."
"I- Uh..."
Tom the tour guide just took off running in the opposite direction leaving Hildegarde in the dust. The outlaw just watched Tom run away before simply pulling out her rail-gun and firing a non-lethal shot into his leg, the younger man stumbling to the ground in agony. She calmly just walked over to the man.
"We know about you little plans, Tom. Where's Hester?"
"I don't know anyone named Hester!"
"You do... You anti-cyberware idiots think that we should just go back to the old ways and that mobilizing London was a mistake. Now tell me... Where is Hester?", Hildegare hissed leaning closer to his face. V just watched this unfold in front of him. Trying to jump in and save the man was not a good idea.
"I don't know!"
"Okay! You don't know. I guess you're useless!", Hildegarde noted rather cheerily. Tom just winced. He knew what was about to happen. The plum-purple outlaw just smashed her foot down onto Tom's leg breaking it. Tom just screamed.
"Oh, don't cry... You still have another leg to stand on!"
"I-I don't know anything... I haven't seen her in weeks!"
"Are you sure?", Hildegarde asked as she promptly broke Tom's other leg, the young man screaming out in agony again.
"I- I- If I tell you, will you spare her? Let her have a fair trial?"
"Oh. So you do know! What a revelation!", Hildegarde noted gleefully. "Tell me what you know, Tom. And I can guarantee you a fair trial. Both of you."
"Hester is in the back rooms, in the artifact storage. We- We didn't mean any harm! It was just going to be a protest against that Chipset that Monarch is forcing on everyone!"
"Was it? What about you plans to overload Medusa and Charybdis? Your plans to infiltrate the armory and destroy London? Did you think we didn't know?"
"Oh... Oh no...", Tom sighed. He had been caught.
"V, please come over here and cover the exits. These two insurgents will not be leaving here alive. Treason is a capital offense.", Hildegarde stated. "Neither of you have Chipsets, how intriguing, yet you still got caught. Why is that?"
"I don't know!", Tom whimpered.
"Well, it's because we have eyes everywhere. That officer that you 'paid off' was one of our undercover agents. I thought you were smarter than this, Tom. You're supposed to be a scholar."
V just watched the perimeter. There were only three exits from the massive main hall of the museum, the front doors and the two side exits. He didn't see any movement and he and Hildegarde were the only two inside the hall except for Tom.
"Now, let's see if we can't draw the little punter out... Sing for me, Tom.", Hildegarde hissed as she bent down and grabbed Tom's arm twisting the limb to its breaking point. Tom wailed in agony as his arm was bent backwards. "Come on out, Hester. Tom won't have to suffer if you do."
There was no reply. Hildegarde just shrugged and bent Tom's arm until it broke, his elbow snapping backwards at the wrong angle. For extra pain, she just twisted the already broken limb until bone poked through the skin. She moved onto his other arm, bending it backwards as well.
"Tom's only got one good arm left. Guess what goes next? Come on out and save your friend!", Hildegarde shouted to the rafters. Movement from the back rooms pulled the outlaw's attention for a moment. One of the doors opened a crack and then shut again. "Looks like she doesn't care about you. How sad."
"Please! Hester! They've found us! Come out and we'll get a fair trial!", Tom wailed in agony with three of his major limbs broken. He sang even louder as Hildegarde proceeded to break his final limb at the elbow and shoulder, nearly ripping it off his body in the process. He cried bitter tears as he slowly killed. V just stared at the him. "You... Please, help me! You're a knight! Do something!"
"I protect the Crown.", V noted, turning away from the man. If he did anything other than his duty for King and Country, it would be seen as treason and he'd also be experiencing the same agonizingly slow death. Despite what his morals told him, he had gotten roped into something much larger than himself and he could do nothing about it. No more 11th hour betrayals.
"Oh look, out of limbs to break. I guess you're just going to have to die now. I'll make it nice and slow for you so you can think about all the things you've done.", Hildegarde mused. "Oh wait, I forgot about your John Thomas! Let's not forget about that, shall we?"
"No... Please... Just kill me..."
Hildegarde said nothing as she just slammed her heel down into Tom's groin, a resounding crack and the high-pitched warbling of a broken man ringing off the walls of the museum. The back room doors were blasted open as a red-haired woman ran into the main hall. She wore a patchwork outfit with a long raggedy jacket, second-hand combat pants, and a bandanna. A large scar carved through her left eye. "Don't kill him!"
"Oh there you are! Hello, Hester. Nice to see you. Sorry about Tommy, looks like I broke his bellend. No more happy future full of grand-kids for you!" Hildegarde noted. "V, restrain her. We're headed to the Crown. A quick execution awaits these two."
V just went over to do his duties but was back-kicked in the gut, his armor taking the blow as Hester dodged away from the Knight Commander.
"You promised a fair trial!", Hester shouted.
"I did. But for what you've done... Planned to overthrow the Crown... Is a capital offense. You know what that means right? The only punishment is death. And I am your judge, jury and executioner!"
Hildegarde just spun on her heel. She raised her foot up and slammed it down onto Tom's skull, crushing his head like an watermelon and splattering his brain-matter across the museum floor putting an end to his misery. "Oops. Looks like I slipped."
Hester just dodged backwards and pulled out a double-barreled shotgun, aiming and firing on the plum-purple outlaw. Hildegarde just dodged the flechettes using her Chipset-Enhanced relfexes and grabbed the firearm out of the red-haired woman's grip. She turned the gun on its wielder and blasted the scarred woman in half at the waist. Hester was still alive despite this and feebly attempted to crawl away.
"Now, I know you're about to die. But for fun, I'll just let you go. Crawl on out of here. Go on. You can make it, I know you can! Keep on going! Who needs blood anyways?", Hildegarde mocked as she just watched Hester drag herself across the floor before laying still. "Are you done? Hester? Are you still alive?"
"I think she's dead.", V noted.
"Of course she's dead, V! Look at her!"
"I... really don't want to..."
Hildegarde just turned and walked away from the grisly scene she'd made in the middle of the main hall. She made a holo-call to someone, V only hearing her side of the conversation.
"Yes, job's done... The Museum of London is to be closed for the day... I made a mess... Send a clean-up crew... I did try to talk to them, but they didn't want to listen... Well if you want to do my job for me, then come on down and try it! Stop whinging, Wejj, you'll never be anything more than a Corpo-slave nobgoblin! Fine... Bye..."
"Uhhh... So how did that go?", V asked.
"More of the same. Wejj will be here soon to take care of this mess. I just need to not hurt him the next time I see him.", Hildegarde sighed. "We're done here, V. Go on and reward yourself with some Mr. Whippy, maybe call Asher and go on another date."
"What?"
"Go on and explore London, do what you like. I'm done for today. I need to do some things with Jericho... Or would you rather accompany me to that? You know, I've never taken on two guys at once, maybe you could learn something..."
"Yeah, no. I'm going to go and wash my brain. Thanks for the horrifying image, though.", V scoffed. He was definitely not going to go along with Hildegarde and experience her extra-fun-bedtime with the cyborg that nearly killed him.
"V, why not? You never got to fuck her up in combat, why don't you just go and fuck her instead?", Johnny decided to appear at the worst appropriate time.
"Shut it, Johnny!", V shouted to nobody. Hildegarde just stared at him.
"Looks like your imaginary friend is back. I'll leave you two alone."
Hildegarde just walked out of the museum leaving Holographic Johnny and V alone in the main hall with two corpses. V just left the scene, he really didn't need to spend any more time in here now that whatever contract the Outlaw had taken was done. Opening the main doors, he was instantly surrounded by Monarch Corpo Guards who rushed inside around him. He walked down the stairs and into the Aristocratic District and found a bench to sit down on. Johnny joined him as a hologram like usual.
"Were you there the whole time?", V asked Johnny.
"Yeah, I was. Couldn't talk to ya though. That fight yesterday did a number on me. We ran outta power, V. Almost died."
"Shit... Gonna need to see Jericho, then. After he's done with Hildegarde... Might need to get one of those power-cores."
"Why not right now? I mean, Hildegarde was in your bed with you... Think she likes you V, just doesn't want to show it."
"Yeah, no. I'm not walking into that mess. And I'm pretty sure she was just messing with me."
"Yeah, maybe... Hey, those two gonks that got killed in there, they were just like you, ya know? Against the corpos. Tryin' to take down Monarch just like we took down Arasaka."
"I guess. I'm a Knight of the Crown now, though. I'm kinda committed at the moment and Monarch runs the whole fuckin' world. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't take them on. Not in a billion years, Johnny."
"Well, same shit different color. Corpos will be corpos, V. At least they're doing a good job at ruling the world. All of your friends are happy, at least. What are we gonna do now? Retire?"
"Yeah. We're gonna retire. Maybe play a few gigs here and there. Speaking of which, how about we go and find Kerry?"
"Kerry? Sure, V. Haven't seen that old gonk in ages."
V just got up off the bench. He did want to go and explore London a bit more, but maybe finding Kerry Eurodyne was a better idea. It had been a long two years since they'd done anything together and the other Rockerboy would either be overjoyed that Johnny was back in V's head or he would be ashamed and appalled. V just walked into the elevator and returned to the Marketplace District of London. This was going to be interesting, to say the least.
Chapter End.
A/N: Once again, I'll state that this comes from a Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop game that was forcibly modified using DnD 5e rules because we're all philistines who refused to learn the actual game rules much to our DM's chagrin. He tried. He really did. That being said, V is still woefully under-leveled. He's Level 17 while everyone else is hitting Epic levels. And yes, I know that Epic Level DnD hasn't been a thing since like 3.5, but it works in our homebrew.