Chapter 2: Welcome to the City of Dreams
VV pronunciation: "Viv".
Review Replies
Pragma: Uh oh bad start. Why would we want a written version of what we have ALREADY seen IN the game? Think about it. Why should we see a written version when I can just play it on the game? Even if it's just a pirated version I can PHYSICALLY be on it. When it's your story it should be fresh. NOTHING on the Game. Stories you created that are NOT in the game. That is ORIGINALITY. If you are just gonna go with the canon, then why should one waste time to read this when I can just play the game with the SAME lines one is written and one can be played PHYSICALLY. If you want to go canon, sure , go ahead but it should be YOURS. Not the game one. Plot A belongs to CD Project Red Plots B through Z should be yours.
ThermalsniperN7: ... I don't think they realize the course we've got planned.
Dragon Emperor0: Yeah. We have a plot planned for this story, but unfortunately, that plot ties into the plot of the game. So we kinda need to use the game missions as a base. It also allows us to easily establish continuity so we know where it would be safe to deviate from what was canon. On top of that, this story is also a kind of "What if?" Styled rewrite, so again. Using the missions in the game is kinda necessary here.
-Streets of Heywood, Night City-
A couple days later, V whistled as he looked around while he walked with Jackie, Manny sitting on his shoulder. Night City was indeed a megatropolis, and it had the massive electronic billboards mounted on colossal buildings to prove it. It almost looked like paradise.
Almost.
But he could see that under the flashy facade was a place ruled by corporatocracy, police violence and gang turf.
He could see that because they'd passed several ganggoons in as little as two blocks, saw a police shootout across from a place called Tom's Diner, and everywhere he looked, there was sex workers, druggies, and corporations in all directions. That wasn't even mentioning the Militech Drones that were everywhere.
It was a chaotic place, and it wasn't hidden at all.
"Pretty crazy city, ain't it, V?" The bruiser commented as he guided his Nomad friend through the streets.
"Crazy? Yeah. Pretty…? Compared to the badlands, maybe." The Nomad shrugged as they passed by a Trauma AV that was picking up someone on stretchers.
"Heh, true. True. So, where to first?" His friend asked.
"Wherever you live. I'll need it before I can get on my feet here." V replied, feeding a piece of fruit to Manny idly.
"Alright, sounds good." The NC native nodded before he guided V through the streets, dodging a few mugging attempts as they went, and brought him to a bar called El Coyote.
Though right as they were about to go in, they heard a commotion coming from the alley next to it, prompting them to investigate at Jackie's behest since he didn't like trouble being this close to the bar.
"Hey! Pendejos!" Jackie yelled as he stomped over to where the commotion was, and saw that it was a young man (probably only nineteen) in Valentino street clothes being shaken down by a Six Street gangoon with a metal Mohawk implant.
"What the- Stay back, assholes!" The gangoon shouted, pointing his pistol at them. V just shot it out of his hand…with a hipshot.
"You were saying, fucknugget?" The Nomad smirked as he blew the smoke from the barrel of his pistol.
Jackie grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "Alright, mano, let's see if you like picking on someone not your own size." He added before he caught a punch thrown at him before headbutting the guy to knock him back, which allowed V to come up behind him and slam his head into a dumpster and shove him inside in one motion.
"There we go." The Nomad grinned as he wiped some nonexistent dirt off his hands, Manny giving off no reaction to the fighting.
"Nice one, V." Jackie nodded before helping his Valentino buddy to his feet. "You okay, mano?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'll live." The Valentino nodded before looking at V. "Who's the new guy?" He asked.
"Nomad that left his clan for new pastures." The bruiser replied.
"Name's V, by the way." The Nomad in question added.
"Juan Martinez." The gang kid said, shaking V's hand. He then turned and picked up a crate from the ground.
Inside the crate was a twelve box of beer bottles, specifically ones from the Lost Abbey brewery.
"Here, lemme carry that." Jackie said as he took the crate. V looked over at the brand and whistled.
"Lost Abbey, huh? That stuff's top shelf." He noted.
"Yeah. Guess you were being shaken down for all this?" Jackie asked Juan, getting a nod in return.
"That's right. Go ahead and take a few bottles as thanks, if ya want." He offered.
The two nodded as they did so, walking into the Dive and seeing a pretty standard looking Heywood bar, a jukebox in the corner playing hits from Spanish speaking countries and Brazil, while the people inside the bar either played pool or sat at the bar and tables ordering food and drink.
"Not a bad place, reminds me of some of the spots the Bakkers used to stop at back in the day." V noted as he uncorked his beer bottle.
"Should be a bit like those days for you, then." Jackie nodded as he took a swig of his beer. Manny, meanwhile, ate some fruit on the table after crawling off of V's shoulder.
As they sat at the bar, the bartender across from them leaned on it to talk to them. "Hey there, Jackie." He greeted.
The man was a bit more stoutly built than Jackie with a rounder face, a beard and short black hair. As far as cyberware went he had a golden left hand.
"Hey Pepe, how're things?" The man asked, spinning back around to face the man.
"Pretty good, now that you're back from outside the border." The bartender replied before gesturing to V. "New friend of yours?" He asked.
"That's V, a Nomad that left the Bakker clan. His sis is already in the city, just gotta find her." Jackie replied.
"Yeah. Lookin' forward to seein' what she's been up to." The Nomad nodded in affirmation.
"She got a name?" The bartender questioned.
"Well her nickname is VV." V replied, causing Pepe's eyes to widen before he chuckled.
"I think you'll be surprised once you find out." He grinned, much to the Nomad's confusion, but he shrugged it off.
"Know where she is?" The man asked.
"No, but I do hear that she takes the occasional odd job from the Afterlife pretty regularly." Pepe stated.
"Now there's a name I remember." V mused, recalling a job or two that the Bakkers had gotten from that famous bar.
"Whoa, looks like your sis's been really getting up in the world since she's been here." Jackie whistled.
"Sounds like it." The Nomad nodded as he finished his beer. "Hey Pepe, don't suppose you know where in town I can sell an old jalopy of a car I got on me?" He asked, wiping his mouth.
"I know a place owned by the Valentinos that would be willing to take it." The bartender nodded.
"Alright, write down the location. I don't have any actual implants yet, so there's no sense trying to flick them to me." V told the man, who nodded before writing down the address on a sticky note before giving it to the Nomad. "Thanks." He nodded appreciatively.
"De Nada." Pepe nodded.
(Later)
"Yo, Padre!" Jackie called as he and V walked into a cathedral that was across from the auto yard that the Nomad was trying to get his car to.
The cathedral itself was rather aged and weathered, with Latino Christian art and stuff all over the place–being lit mainly by the light of small and large candles.
"Ah, Jackie. Welcome back, mijo." The man greeted warmly before looking at V, who had Manny riding on his shoulders again. "And I see you've made a new friend. May I ask your name?" He noted before addressing V.
"Vincent Night, but I prefer V." V replied.
"In that case, welcome to Night City, V." Padre said in a welcoming manner only he could pull off. "I am Sébastien Ibarra, but most call me Padre."
"Thanks, uh, Padre." The Nomad said as he shook the man's hand.
"Padre here is one of Heywood's fixers." His friend stated as he gestured to the man and the cathedral around them. "This is pretty much his base, kinda." He added.
"Well, I won't deny it has a relaxing atmosphere." V mused.
"I endeavor to keep it that way." The fixer stated, hands behind his back. "That aside, I assume you're here to build ties, yes?" He inquired.
"Well, if I'm gonna get work around here, I gotta get in touch with local fixers for biz, right?" The wanderer nodded. "So I'm ready to take jobs when you are." He added.
"I've got one that should help get you started, but you'll need to get some implants first." Padre said.
"Sounds good." V nodded. Padre smiled as he pulled out a box and opened it, before pulling out something: a silver ring. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a Spanish Doubloon. "Wow, that looks really good." He whistled as he accepted the ring.
"It is made with real silver, and the Doubloon on it is a genuine one from the pirate age." Padre smiled, glad that V had an appreciation for such things.
"Damn, this thing is beautiful." V grinned as he slipped it on his finger.
"A show of companionship between us." The priest stated. "Juan told me what you did for him when you got here. So I wanted to thank you for helping one of my boys."
"It's nothing, community is something us Nomads take stock in a lot." The wanderer turned merc replied.
"Then we will get along very smoothly." Padre nodded in approval of V's outlook on life. "Now then, I recommend paying a visit to Viktor Vector in Watson. He's one of the best Ripperdocs I know. Jackie, I trust you to lead V there." He told the bruiser.
"No problem, Padre." Jackie nodded as he motioned for V to follow him.
"So, that impound place is across the street, right?" The Nomad questioned.
"Yeah, we can drop your car off there and take the Metro to Watson." The Streetkid nodded as they walked towards the building. "You'll like Vik, he's probably one of the best friends you'll ever make here in NC." He added.
"Alright, let's go." V nodded as they left.
(Later)
After dropping the Nomad's car off at the impound lot, the duo hopped on the Metro and traveled to Watson to see their new friend and Ripperdoc. It was a good hop and a skip from the Metro station, but neither of them minded.
"Vik's clinic is nearby, just past my girl Misty's Esoterica." Jackie stated as they entered what looked like some sort of tarot shop.
"Huh, this place reminds me of a place on the old Indian reservations. Cool." The Nomad nodded, looking around.
"Nice to see that you have some familiarity." A female voice spoke up. V turned to its owner and saw a woman with short blonde hair that just reached her neck with blue eyes with black eye shadow and caucasian skin standing there. Her attire consisted of a blue tank top, black shorts and a pair of black boots with fishnet stockings. As far as accessories went, she had a spiked goth collar and a medallion hanging from her neck.
"Misty, I assume?" V guessed.
"That's right." She nodded in confirmation. "And you are?" She asked.
"V." The Nomad replied. "I just got here after working a job with Jackie here." He added, gesturing to his new companion.
"I guess it was good that you met Jackie." Misty smiled before Manny let out a hiss. "Oh, and your scaly little buddy too." She added.
"Oh, this is Manny. He's a Lesser Antillean Iguana we klept from–get this–Arasaka." Jackie grinned proudly. Misty's eyes went wide.
"That's very bold for a job of that nature. Aren't you worried that Arasaka might come looking for him?" She asked, worried for the little reptile's safety.
"They didn't put a tracker on him as far as I'm aware, so I think we're good." V shrugged.
It was around this time that a light above a door around back turned from red to green, followed by a buzzer.
"Oh, that means that Vik just finished with a patient, you should probably go see him." The blonde told them.
"Alright." The Nomad nodded before giving Manny to Misty. "Sorry, little buddy, but I gotta go in alone." He told his scaly comrade, who let out a whine. "Hey, don't be like that. I'll be back soon." He said in an assuring tone before he went to see the Ripperdoc with Jackie.
As the two men went around back to the clinic, V soon took notice of a siamese cat that was eating some cat food next to the stairs.
"Hey there, little fella." He smiled, petting the little furball, who looked up at him with a meow as its head got some scratches, which were very appreciated.
"That's Mr. Brighthouse, he's a cat that Vik and Misty take care of." The bruiser stated as he rubbed the cat's head.
"I can see that he's a good boy." The Nomad smiled before the two went into the clinic.
"Hey Vik!" Jackie called as the two entered the clinic where Viktor Vector sat at a desk, watching a boxing match on a rather small cubicle TV.
Viktor was an older gentleman with black hair that was slicked back and eyes that were cyan blue, which were covered by a pair of glasses. His body looked like one of a retired boxer, with various old injuries all over him including a nose that looked like it'd been broken once or twice.
Attire wise he wore a blue shirt, a pair of black pants and brown shows.
"Jackie Welles, back from outside the border!" The Ripperdoc exclaimed as he got up and gave the Street Kid a hug. "Welcome back. Who's your friend?" He asked, looking at V.
"V, Nomad from the Bakker clan. Or at least, I used to, anyway." The man introduced himself.
"I see. First time in Night City?" Vik asked.
"Yep. First time getting implants, too." The Nomad nodded.
"Lucky for you, I got some fresh implants last week, so I can give you the basic implants. Since it's your first time, the basics are free. Anything else will cost you." The Ripperdoc explained.
"Alright, that sounds fair." V nodded as he shook the man's hand. "Let's get to it, then." He added, sitting down in the seat that was right across from them.
"Alright, I'll let you browse a bit, and see what extras you wanna pay for. I'll get things ready." Vik said as a panel lowered itself in front of V, allowing him to look through what was available.
As the Nomad browsed Vik's wares, he came across an assortment of implants and cyberware. There were optics, healing implants, metal skeletons, and even upgrades for perceived time and movement speed.
There was a lot to look at, but what really caught V's eye were the Mantis Blades, Speedrunner and Kerenzikov cyberware.
"Alright. Think I got my first choices down." The man said as the screen was pulled away by Vik.
"Alright, just gotta give you some anesthetic…" The Ripperdoc trailed off as he gave V an injection of said medical drug, shutting off his ability to feel pain. "Now, I gotta put you under for the whole procedure. Ready?" He asked.
"Go right ahead." V nodded. A moment later, his world went black.
(An hour later)
"And there we go." The Ripperdoc sighed as he sat back, wiping his hands clean as he removed his gear from his hands. "You should have the usual stuff that most people have in NC, scanners, optics and what not." He added.
"They're certainly working." V nodded, wincing a bit. After he woke up from the surgery session, he could still feel some dull aches from where he was cut open. He decided against testing his Mantis Blades for now since he didn't want to cause any unneeded aggravation.
"Here." Vik said as he handed his patient a meddoc inhaler. "This should help your body adjust to the implants. Three puffs now, two in an hour." He continued.
V took the medical item and immediately took three puffs before putting it in his pocket. Then he stood up and stretched his legs, letting out a content sigh as he did.
"Thanks for that, Vik." V nodded.
"No problem. Just give Misty the Eddie transfer and we'll call it even." The older man smiled back as the two hugged briefly.
"Will do." The wanderer nodded as he exited the clinic and went to see Misty, where Jackie and Manny were waiting.
"Yo, ese!" Jackie called as he waved his friend over. "Great news, I talked to my mom and she said you could crash at our place until we can get you some new digs." He added.
"Awesome. Thanks for that." V nodded as he let Manny retake his rightful place on his shoulders. "And Misty, here's the scratch for the non-basic implants." He added, sending the woman what he owed.
"Thanks, V, I'll get it to Vik as soon as possible." The woman nodded as she took the eddies.
"Come on, V, let's go. Mama's making Carne Asada for dinner tonight." Jackie stated as he walked out to the streets of NC once more.
"Sounds tasty." V grinned as they went to the Metro.
(One train ride later)
The two were now back at El Coyote and waiting for Jackie's mom to come to them so the Nomad could meet her.
"So, you tried to get in touch with your sister yet?" The Streetkid questioned as they sat in Jackie's "Sanctuary". That being the garage where he worked on his Arc motorcycle.
"Yeah, several times." V nodded. "But for some goddamn reason, it keeps going straight to voice-mail." He added as he tried calling again.
(Elsewhere)
-Apartment, somewhere in Night City-
The contact image for V flashed in the vision of a woman in a dimly lit apartment room as she was doing something–but she paid it no mind, as she was busy.
Doing what, exactly?
"Ooooooh fuck! Yes! Right there honey! Yes!" VV moaned as she was currently being devoured by someone between her legs.
That someone was a woman, around her age, Latino–and had black hair that was cut in a pixie cut and dyed green and neon purple at the fringes. She was just as nude as her partner, showing unblemished skin (cyberware lines excluded), a C-cup rack and a heart shaped ass in the dim light of the apartment.
"Urg, Viv, honey. You got someone callin' you. Shouldn't you answer it?" The woman questioned as they started grinding against each other.
"It can wait just a little longer, Judy." VV purred as she got on top of the Moxx technician. "Really… There's no need to rush." She grinned, her own red and purple hair flopping to one side of her pixie cut, before she leaned down to kiss her girlfriend.
(Elsewhere)
"Aaaaand voicemail, again." V sighed as Jackie was kind enough to pull out some Bambu spiced rum for him to make a drink with.
"If she's gonna be this unresponsive, ya might wanna try again tomorrow, mano." The bruiser suggested.
"Might have to. Man, what is she doing?" V sighed before shaking his head. He could focus on his sister's antics some other time.
Taking the offered bottle of XO spiced rum, he poured some into a glass before adding some lime juice, crushed ice and cane sugar on top. Essentially making a Caribbean daiquiri.
"Fan of the pirate life?" The bruiser questioned.
"Used to live in a house boat with Viv and my folks before we joined the Bakkers. Havana, Cuba, Nassau, the Florida Keys, Florida itself, the Bahamas, Jamaica. We basically stopped by every island spot we could before finally deciding to settle in California permanently." The Nomad shrugged. He then pulled out what looked like a Spanish Doubloon from his jacket and looked at it fondly for a minute or two before putting it away again.
"So that kind of life runs in your blood, huh?" Jackie chuckled. "It was kinda obvious, now that I think about it." He mused.
"Yeah. I spent a lot of time gathering up anything pirate related I could find. Movies, books, actual treasure, even recipes. I was an avid collector." The Nomad said, reminiscing of his days as a collector of anything related to the pirate age.
Taking a drink of his rum beverage, V then looked down at his worn out jeans, beat to hell sneakers, faded Samurai t-shirt, and tattered jacket, before sighing.
"I hear ya, ese, you're definitely gonna need some new threads." Jackie nodded, pointing at his friend. "Until then though, come on. Let's go get some grub." He added, getting up.
"Right behind you." V nodded as he stood up and the duo made their way to the main bar.
"Jackie, over here!" A woman's voice called.
"Coming, mama!" He called back before looking at V. "That's my mom calling. Come on." He beckoned, leading his Nomad friend to a reserved table.
"Right behind you." The Nomad nodded as he followed his friend inside.
(Later)
"It's nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Welles." V smiled as he sat down at a dinner table with the woman and her son.
Said woman was of hispanic descent, and Jackie obviously got his demeanor from her. She was in her late forties or early fifties, if V had to guess. She had gray hair and brown eyes. Attire wise, she wore a long sleeved red shirt with a black vest over it, a pair of black pants and a pair of brown boots.
"You as well, V, I hope Jackie has helped you to adjust to things here in Night City." The woman nodded with a warm smile, fixing him a tortilla of Carne Asada and other fixings for him to eat.
"Oh, he has." V nodded. "If I hadn't met him when I did, I'd be struggling to find the impound lot to drop off my old car at." He added.
"Well, mijo, you're free to stay here as long as you need to until you get on your feet." The woman told him. "In the meantime though, I'm sure Jackie will help you get the things you'll need. Right, son?" She questioned, looking at the bruiser expectantly as he ate his meal.
Jackie froze as he looked at her before gulping his food down. "Si. Of course, Mama, mi entiendo." He nodded, not wanting to upset the woman.
"Good." The Welles Matriarch nodded in approval. "Show V to his room when you two are done eating. Today must've been exhausting." She instructed.
'You ain't wrong there.' V thought in agreement. The amount of walking he had to do today was ridiculous, and don't even get him started on getting his implants and cyberware.
"Si. I got it." Jackie nodded. The rest of the meal continued in a comfortable silence with the occasional hiss from Manny.
(Later)
V sighed as he stood in front of a mirror looking at himself, Manny laying on a spare pillow. After a moment, Jackie clapped his back, causing him to turn to his friend.
"Thinkin' about your next move?" He asked.
"Yeah. Tomorrow, I'm definitely getting some new threads, but beyond that? Maybe that job Padre mentioned." The Nomad shrugged. "Not in that order, of course." He added.
"Sounds preem to me, ese." The bruiser nodded as he flopped onto the couch and turned on the TV. "But how about we sit back and relax a while, yeah?" He suggested, leaning back.
V looked at himself in the mirror again before wincing at how shabby he looked before walking away.
"Yeah, good idea." The wanderer nodded as he sat down on the couch with his temporary roommate, the two tuning in to the local prime time shows.
Welcome to Night City, boys. The City of Dreams.
Dragon Emperor0: Chapter 2 done and out. Man, it's amazing just how much characterization you can drag out of the bare minimum of scenes in a montage when you stretch them out like this. Really takes half the work out of planning chapters.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah. I get that these were a montage in-game to avoid dragging it out, but here? We can spice things up and make 'em better. Kinda like Manny, who didn't even flinch when V shot that pistol out of that gangoon's hand. Talk about chill.
Dragon Emperor0: Crazy thing is the montages were apparently supposed to be actual missions. But due to certain things being cut, the brief glimpses were all we got. Also, we'll be taking some liberties here and there as stated before. Maybe rewriting certain plot points and scrapping certain ones in favor of either original ideas or ideas pulled from the original 2077 tabletop game. As well as this story having an overarching mystery plot that mingles with the plot of the game. So for those of you wondering why we're using game footage, now ya know why.
ThermalsniperN7: We hope you like this approach. It should give you a feel for what the game could've been like had there not been any cuts to the original content. Anyway, see you next time!