Chapter 33: Rock And Roll All Night...
As V entered the Marketplace District, he'd realized that he'd taken Hildegarde's car onto the floating city. Not an issue, he just dialed his garage and had a car delivered... Or he would've if personal vehicles were allowed delivery onto London. Shaking his head, V just hailed the nearest taxi cab. The taxi was also automatically driven by Janus, so V just announced that he wanted to go to Kerry Eurodyne's Estate. The vehicle just sped off into the city before stopping about forty feet from where V had hailed the cab originally.
"Destination Reached.", Janus noted.
V looked around. He hadn't even left London. Kerry lived here? When? He must've relocated at some point after the Second Collapse. V just tossed the door open and hopped out. The Black Cab service deducted nearly four thousand Eddies from his bank account adding insult to injury. V sighed and walked towards the nearest building, it was a towering nightclub and bar vaguely Rockerboy themed with anarchy signs and street-artwork depicting rebellion. There was a noticeable line outside so V just got into the queue with everyone else. Johnny just holographically appeared next to him.
"So, Kerry lives in a nightclub? He's gone and sold out as well!"
"So? Maybe this is like the Afterlife Bar? Maybe he's a fixer now like Rogue?"
"I doubt it. He could barely keep his shit together when Samurai was touring. And look, this place even has his stupid theme all over it. Rockhalla, can't imagine what that's supposed to be like. Inside's probably covered in faux fur and cheap lube."
V just ignored Johnny for the time being. The line was moving and soon V stood in front of a bouncer, the large man fully chromed out with military-grade cyberware.
"Sir Knight... Odd place for you to be at this hour, you're a bit overdressed for the club...", the bouncer noted.
"Oh, I'm off-duty today. Just wanted to see if Kerry was around, we're old friends."
"You know Kerry? On a personal level?"
"Yeah, I was kinda his right-hand man back in NC a few years ago. I helped him set up that gig with Us Cracks. I'm also pretty well respected here, Hildegarde can vouch for me."
The bouncer just looked shocked for a moment before composing himself. "Well, the man himself is upstairs in his penthouse. Is Hildegarde meeting you here?"
"Nope. She's off doing her own thing today."
"Good. She's not allowed in here. Ever. Not that I could stop her, though."
"What? What did she do?"
"Shot up a bunch of gonks for lookin' at her wrong. Either that or she was bored. Don't know, don't care. She ain't allowed in here unless Kerry hired her for some reason and even then... Eugh, enough about her, go on inside."
V tossed the bouncer a 500 Eddie chip and walked through the doors. He idly wondered how many places Hildegarde had been banned from; probably too many to count. Upon entering, V just stared down a long hallway with Samurai memorabilia hung on the walls. Guitars, records, a few Samurai Jackets, hung among the memory of a time long passed. Two massive nearly twenty-foot-tall golden statues stood at the end of the hallway beckoning towards those who were entering the club. On the left stood Kerry Eurodyne himself and across from him, Johnny Silverhand in all of his cynical glory.
"Well, shit. Didn't think he cared...", Holo-Johnny mused as he looked up at the giant golden statue of himself.
"Johnny, you know damn well he cared! Let's just go...", V added.
Entering into the club itself, V found that the entire place was decorated in an alternative-rock theme, the bar and floors were concrete with some dimly glowing orange neon lights running around the area. There was a large stage set up at the back, simulating Samurai's first major gig at the Red Dirt. Several booths with distressed red leather benches and weather wooden table-tops lined the rest of the area. It looked like a dive-bar, a somewhat upscale dive-bar. A few of the Mods gangers stood in the corner drinking and conversing with each-other. A few other mercenary types lingered around the bar as Samurai blared through speakers somewhere in the ceiling. An odd-looking bio-modded mercenary with bright green spiky hair, reptilian eyes, scales and a forked tongue badly played darts, his eyes occasionally darting towards V and then away. V just ignored him for now and continued towards the elevator on the left side of the room. A clawed arm shot past him and briefly blocked his route.
"Knight... The Crown doesssn't come here often... What are you doing here?", the reptilian merc asked, his yellow eyes narrowing.
"Just visiting an old friend..."
"An old friend? That elevator leadsss to Mr. Eurodyne'ssss residence. May I ask why the Crown wantsss to sssspeak with him?", the odd merc hissed, literally, at V.
"Depends on who's asking."
"Voaragha is asssking. Mr. Eurodyne'sss head of ssssecurity."
"The Crown isn't doing anything with Mr. Eurodyne., Voaragha. I am."
"Well then... Let'ssss ssssee if Mr. Eurodyne knowssss who you are, and you are who?"
"V", said V.
Voaragha just called Kerry via holo-call. V picking up on the mercenary's end of the conversation. "Yessss... There'sss a Crown'ssss Guard here, saysss that he knowsss you. Name isss Veee... What!? Okay... I'll ssssend him up. No worriesss Mr. Eurodyne..."
"So, am I clear?"
"Go ahead.", Voaragha noted.
V just walked around the hissing lunatic and entered the elevator. There weren't any buttons for him to press, so he just waited for a moment as the doors closed. The elevator rose automatically and sent V up into Kerry's penthouse. V idly wondered what had happened over the last two years.
Meanwhile, back in Night City's Monarch Tower, Sigmund paced around his office. Hildegarde just stood nearby and watched him, her eye tracing his movement from side to side. She'd finished with Jericho for the time being and had been called to the CEO's office by her own brother, who was concerned about something for some reason, probably just a kerfuffle as usual.
"I mean... Did you have to kill them in the museum? Father dusted off the guillotine for public executions, you know..."
"It was easier. Besides, they would've run off, making it harder to find them since they're anti-chromers."
"You made a mess... again... Still, You did do what was necessary, I suppose."
"You were going to kill them anyways. I just did so before Dr. Valentine figured out his daughter was the one who had planned this whole rebellion. Speaking of which, has Dr. Valentine been apprehended? Hester had access to the lower levels of the armory as well as Medusa and Charybdis, it had to have come from somewhere."
"He has been. His access cards have been compromised, seemingly willingly, as it stands. Janus is scanning the Albion for any kind of intrusions or hacks. London isn't going anywhere until everything has been thoroughly checked. We can't be sure enough that something wasn't planted via traditional means rather than digitally since these gonks are anti-chrome and anti-establishment."
"Shall I go and get my own eyes on the situation?"
"If you wish. I just don't know why we're having domestic terrorism and rebellion. Monarch has rebuilt the entire world and our world is far better than it was before. We've done everything right."
"Some people just want to watch it burn, Siggie. I'll head back to the Albion in a moment. I have to clear some things up with Jericho."
"Godspeed, Hilde."
Hildegarde just left the CEO's office. Janus would be fine scanning the entirety of the floating city and a few more hours of bedtime-funtime wouldn't hurt. She'd leave for London afterwards, find V and drag him along for yet another bonding moment. She was truly unconcerned with anything that Tom Shaw and Hester Valentine had done as it wouldn't have been anything truly destructive. Those two hapless plonkers could barely hide out in a museum with cover and ambushes easily available and had died like the rodents that they were. Just mice chewing at the wires.
The elevator arrived in Kerry's penthouse, the doors opening into an exact replica of Kerry's Mansion in Night City. The view was different, showing the Marketplace District of London, but the décor had remained the same. Empty food containers and clothing had been tossed all over the place. Kerry hadn't changed much as it seemed. V just walked around looking for the Rockerboy. Holo-Johnny followed behind him, staring at the kitschy décor and up at the hideous Victorian painting of Kerry Eurodyne as an Old Man. A Rayfield Excalibur luxury AV was parked on a dais where Kerry's Aerondight would've sat in his old house in Night City.
Kerry just ran over to V. He was wearing his normal attire, a studded punk-rock vest and some leather chaps. He just stared at V for a few moments.
"Holy shit. V... You're back... Is Johnny...?"
"Johnny's still here, Kerry. Long story, but I got rid of the Relic and I was still dyin', so I found a guy who could cure me, but he stuck Johnny back in my head because he needed an AI to run this new Chipset that would keep me alive.", V abbreviated. It had been a long strange trip.
"So... You're not dyin' but Johnny's back? By the way, is your Chipset like the one I got from Monarch?"
"Yeah, sorta."
"Can...uh... Can Johnny still take over?"
"Only if I let him."
"V... Can you? I need to talk to him again."
V sighed. He turned to Holo-Johnny. "Please don't do anything stupid."
"Never. Don't worry, V. It'll be fun, I promise."
V just sighed even harder and relented. He felt himself float backwards weightlessly before coming to a rest in a seated position inside his own head. He saw out of his own eyes but had no control over what was happening. Time for another rollercoaster of emotions.
"Kerry?", Johnny-V asked.
"Johnny?", Kerry replied, taking notice of V's new stance, posture and attitude.
"What'd you wanna talk about?"
"How long can you stay like that? Is it like before?"
"Nah, I can do this all day if I want. V will probably complain later, though. Only one of us can control the body at a time. The other one just appears as a hologram to the other."
"Ahh... Okay then..."
V hadn't realized that he could appear to Johnny just like the Rockerboy did to him. He forced himself to materialize next to his own body, but instead of seeing himself, he just saw Johnny's holographic form pasted onto himself like a bad Halloween costume.
"Johnny? Please don't do anything stupid. I beg you.", Holo-V noted.
"Oh, you're here too! Don't worry, V. I've got this.", Johnny noted mentally.
"Well, I just wanted to say... I can't say I'm glad to see you again, Johnny. You're a fucking prick, you know that? Disappearing and reappearing like the Ghost of Christmas' Past! At least V is still good, though.", Kerry mused walking around his penthouse a bit.
"You actually want to ask me something or are you just gonna complain?", Johnny-V asked mockingly.
"Oh fuck you, Johnny! I forgot about how high and mighty you always acted. Yeah, I did. I want to get Samurai back together again."
"We already did that, Kerry."
"I know! It's just... Denny, and Nancy, and even Henry want to meet up again. I'm signed on with Monarch Records, I can do anything! I'm a British Rock Star! That fuckin' Chipset fixed Henry's brain and that drugged out gonk wants to rock like it's 2013! We just need our frontman again..."
"Huh. Henry's clean? Never woulda thunk... Where are the others, anyways?"
"Still in NC. Henry bought my old place, lives like a fuckin' king by playin' funky bass solos at the Red Dirt."
"Well, If you're down, I'm down to play some old tunes. This a reunion tour or some shit?"
"A local one. First one is right here in London before heading back to NC. Monarch's been on my ass about remastered recordings. What better way than to just perform them live again and release a BD?"
"Preem. Lemme just consort with my conscience.", Johnny-V noted. "Hey, V. I'm gonna need your body for a few days..."
"Only if you promise not to ruin my relationships with Panam or... Or anybody else! Especially Hildegarde!"
"Hey, if the Outlaw is down to perform the horizontal mambo with you, don't blame me if we end up dirty dancing..."
"No, absolutely not! I will jump in there and rip you outta my skull myself. I'll find a way!"
"Whatever, fine. Try to live a little, V. You're too tense."
V just grumbled loudly inside Johnny-V's head. He did not want to do anything other than official business with Hildegarde. Ever. That situation was both scary and it would also ruin his relationship with the woman he actually loved, Panam Palmer.
"Okay, we're good Kerry. Just gotta not be me, well the old me, but you know...", Johnny-V noted.
"Alright. Fantastic! I'll call them up! We'll set up in here tomorrow morning, you down for some Blistering Love?"
"As long as it isn't the literal kind..."
"Preem! Get yourself dressed up like... well, yourself! I'll be here waiting for you. You'd better fuckin' show up!"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Kerry."
Johnny-V just took the elevator back down to the barroom. Voaragha just stared at him again as he reentered. Johnny-V just ignored him and went to the bar instead and ordered his usual fare. He drank a few cocktails feeling the numbing sensation of the strong alcohol rush through his body. It was damn good to be back.
Outside of London, Hildegarde just rode her custom Arch Nazare motorcycle into London. Asher had been helpful for once and given her V's current coordinates. He was at the Rockhalla, a nightclub in the Marketplace District for Chrome-Rockers and various mercenary-types. It was a bit like the Afterlife, but with a British twist on everything. She'd been barred from entering the place after shooting some gonks that had been ogling her and making some truly disgusting comments. She'd only done what her father would've if he'd heard what they were saying about her. Oh well, she was going into the club whether management liked it or not. It would be fun either way it went.
A few moments later, Hildegarde had arrived at the Rockhalla and parked her motorcycle near the side door. She walked around the front of the building and shoved herself into the front of the line. The bouncer just stared at her.
"You're not welcome here."
"I know. Are you going to stop me?"
The bouncer hesitated for an awkwardly long time as he considered how important this job was versus how important his life was. He had a wife and kid back at home and dying for an absolutely pointless cause was not his game plan. "No."
"I didn't think so."
The outlaw just unceremoniously threw the entry doors open and walked into the club, the bouncer sighing in relief that he didn't need to fight her. She sighed as she passed all of the gaudy Samurai shit on the walls and threw the next set of doors open. V was in here somewhere and he was probably drunk. He was almost certainly going to grab her tits and profess his love to her, she could sense it. She'd have to break his jaw, but at least then he wouldn't be able to speak sweet nothings into her ears and annoy the living shit out of her with pointless banter.
As she entered the barroom itself, the few gangers and mercs just stopped talking for a moment. She stared at them menacingly. They just went back to normal conversation. She saw that idiotic lizard-man, Voaragha, tossing darts with aim worse than a blind man at a urinal and ignored him. He wasn't anything special, just another gonk who had gotten bio-modded instead of cyber-modded. Her eye scanned slowly over to the overdressed imbecile at the bar, there was V being his best self and getting hammered. She sighed.
"Vee...", she whispered as she got close to his ear.
"Oh shit. What are you doing here? I thought they banned you!", Johnny-V noted.
"They did. But they really cannot refuse me. Especially if it means killing worthless gonks that are below me."
"Uhh... Hey, V kinda checked out for the next few days. It's me, Johnny."
"Oh... Color me surprised. This is going to be interesting after all..."
"Is it?"
"Oh yes. V is boring, pathetically stuck in the past. We've got a bit of a kerfuffle, some trouble at the Crown."
"Are we killin' gonks and takin' names?"
"Perhaps. Come along, Vonnie, it'll be fun. You and me, all alone."
"Preem. One on one time with the world's greatest Rockerboy and the world's most infamous outlaw. Can't fuckin' wait!"
Johnny-V just downed another shot before standing up and swaying slightly. Holographic V just face-palmed as Johnny piloted his body like a drunken baboon. Hildegarde was dragging them off on another fun mission. This one probably related to their Museum Murder. He just groaned loudly as Johnny followed behind Hildegarde, walking out of the bar and into the Marketplace District. This could only end one of two ways, dead or in bed, and V almost wanted to be dead right now rather than think of what would happen if the other option took place.
Hildegarde pulled Johnny-V along with her. The left the Marketplace and headed down lower into the bowels of the Albion itself, taking a maintenance elevator into the Worker's District. This level was where all of the engineers lived and worked to keep London floating and sailing around the world. The houses were a lot more basic and utilitarian down here with slab-like designs meant for efficiency rather than luxury. A few workers milled around with various sets of tools carried. Hildegarde just ignored them for now and pulled Johnny-V farther down towards the lowest levels of the Albion, hopping into a maintenance shaft that led into the Power Control Room.
Johnny-V just stared around the massive control room at the bottom of the shaft. A large security door stood in front of them with several automatic turrets and robotic sentries posted up nearby. Hildegarde just walked through the blockade, opened the door and motioned for Johnny to follow. The turrets just traced him movement as he slowly crept by them. V was a Knight, so this was probably accessible to him with his security clearance. As they continued into the Control Room itself, Hildegarde slammed an Anti-Rad hypo into his chest and dragged him into the room. This was the room directly outside of the truly massive fission-fusion hybrid reactor that powered the entire city, the massive spherical reactor glowed blue through a thick glass pane.
"Janus? Any signs of intrusion?", Hildegarde asked.
"Negative. There are no security issues in the core.", The AI replied.
Hildegarde scanned the room with her own cyber-eye, searching for anything that may have been planted or tampered with. There was nothing. Hester and Tom weren't stupid enough to enter this highly-radioactive room after all. What a shame. She wondered what they'd down with the Access Cards they'd acquired if they hadn't come to the most important part of the Albion. Turning around, she just walked over and opened a maintenance door that led down an observation tunnel. The tunnel would eventually connect with the main turbine hall and the massive engines themselves. She just motioned for Johnny-V to follow her. Johnny shrugged and went along.
"You gonna tell me what we're looking for?", Johnny-V asked.
"Bombs.", Hildegarde noted.
"Oh shit! This place goes up, all of Night City will as well!"
"No. The reactor is secure. It will cripple London, however, and Night City will have a new district."
"Oh... Okay, then..."
Hildegarde just left her cyber-eye active as she continued on. There was nothing picked up on her scanners, nothing hidden and nothing tampered with. She opened the door at the end of the hallway and entered into the turbine hall, the massive room humming as the steam turbines whirred away and kept London anchored into its spot in Night City's harbor. Once again, there were no signs of forced entry, explosive devices, or tampering. She still wondered why the Access Cards had been acquired if those two idiots hadn't bothered to actually do anything. She walked around the hall a few times, checking the entire area before continuing on into another hallway, this one leading into the Central Maintenance Hall. She just pulled Johnny along with her again.
"See anything?", Johnny-V asked, looking around and not understanding what he was actually looking at. He was a Rockerboy, not a scientist.
"No."
"Well, that's good."
Continuing on, the Central Maintenance Hall was also devoid of any kind of sabotage. Nothing had been messed with and everything was in order. Hildegarde scratched her head for a moment before giving up and asking Janus the obvious questions.
"Janus? Where have Hester and Tom been? They haven't been down here as far as I can tell."
"They were seen meeting in the London Museum regularly. I have records of their access to the armory a few weeks prior to their apprehension at the London Museum. Other notable locations include the Black Stallion pub, the Ye Olde Fighing Cocks, Hester's apartment, and Tom's dormitory. There is no record of them accessing any key parts of the Albion."
"Well shit. Guess I should've consulted our Digital God instead of running down here like a pillock. What did they do in the armory?"
"Hester and Tom stole a number of firearms using Dr. Valentine's Access Card before climbing into a storage container and fornicating for several hours. Their workplace romanticism has been noted and kept on file. They met regularly at pubs to plan a protest against Cyberware and Cyber-Modification. The protest was to take place in the Royal Gardens outside the palace. Prseumably the stolen firearms were for protection. All other records indicate an HR violation regarding sexual contact during work hours."
Hildegarde just grunted. Tom was actually telling the truth, they had actually been planning a protest and not an uprising. Maybe they didn't need to die at the museum after all. Oh well, what had been done had already been done. At least the two lovebirds got to die together.
"What about the stolen firearms?"
"All of the stolen firearms were biometrically keyed to Monarch personnel. All weapons have been recovered. Literature pertaining to a group called Humanity First has also been obtained from each of their apartments."
"Who the hell is Humanity First?"
"Humanity First appears to be an anti-cyberware activist group that has seen rising popularity since the introduction of the Ouroboros Chipset Verson Five. Their base of operations is located in Seattle. They have no known agents operating in London or Night City as of now."
"Well, that's just sad. Here I was expecting to kill a bunch of cultists expecting a world without chrome and all I got was a sappy love story about two gonks and their pointless protests... Keep an eye or two-hundred on these idiots if you aren't already."
"Confirmed. Humanity First has been under scrutiny since their creation. They will now be treated as a direct threat to the Crown."
"Good. Tell me if they decide to mobilize. I'll be the first on the ground and they'll be the first to drown in blood."
"Confirmed."
Hildegarde just turned back to Johnny-V. The Rockerboy just stared around the room in confusion before locking eyes with her.
"So... Good or bad? Are we all gonna die?"
"No. This has been pointless. Janus is well aware of our traitors and it seems there were too busy with each-other to actually plan anything more than a picket line complaining about cyberware."
"Damn. So, no action and adventure for us, huh..."
"No, unfortunately not. However, would you like to come along with me on a pleasant night out in London? There is fuck-all to do now, and you're much better company that V."
Johnny-V glanced over at Holo-V, Holo-V just shook his hands and head signaling 'NOOOO'. Johnny-V just shrugged and ignored V for the moment; he couldn't do anything and Johnny was officially in control.
"Well, if you're offering... How could I refuse?"
"Splendid. Come along, Johnny, there is much to do when you're Royalty. In fact, we could really do anything."
"Yeah... We can really do anything..."
Hildegarde led Johnny-V down another hallway and into a maintenance elevator that led back into the Worker's District. She hurried through the streets, into another main elevator, and took her new best friend back to the Aristocratic District. This was going to be fun. Fun for both of them.
Chapter End. Poor V. Again.
A/N: More sidequests. I have all these fun ideas and will continue writing until I get bored. Enjoy.