Prologue: Retrograde

Lucy didn't feel anything when the ship touched back down to Earth. David was right. The moon wasn't that special. It was just another prison. Lucy was still alone.

After she left the shuttle, she looked around for Falco. She saw him leaning on his car, waving at her. Lucy walked toward him and got into his car. "So," He asked as he buckled up, "How was it?" Lucy's silence spoke volumes. "And here I thought you'da be happy. You really think David would want you like this?" Falco said, trying to cheer Lucy up.

"Don't you dare act like you knew him!" Lucy snaps at Falco with tears in her eyes.

"I did. David wanted us to achieve our dreams, especially yours. You got to go to the moon, what else d'ya want?" Falco asks as he enters Wattson.

"I…" Lucy begins to say before breaking down into tears, 'I want him!' She thinks. Falco remains silent, but puts a hand on her shoulder.

After a few minutes, Lucy calms down, "So, what happened while I was away?"

Falco chuckles, "Where to start? So, there's this new guy, V, and he's one helluva merc! Started off small time, until he caught the attention of Dexter fucking Deshawn!"

"THE Dexter Deshawn? I thought he delta'd outta Night City like 2 years ago?" Lucy said, her voice both bored and in complete disbelief.

"The one and only. He did leave NC, something about Pacifica, but then he returned outta nowhere. Saw him in the Afterlife a month ago myself." Falco says as he takes a turn, "But that ain't even the start of it. So, Dex hired V and some other guy to snatch some Saka tech. That secure-your-soul shit. But then V, outta fuckin nowhere, straight up killed Saburo Arasaka."

That threw Lucy into a loop. "Y-you're kidding. That gonk really offed the emperor himself?!"

"The one and only. So, V grabs the package and fucking dips, but not before killing his partner. Something about him screwing up the plan. But then, just as things seemed crazy enough, Dex fuckin offed the gonk for screwing up the plan and getting too much heat onto him."

Lucy looks unsurprised, "Can't blame him. I wouldn't work with anyone dumb enough to kill the CEO of Arasaka."

"Ohoho but this is where things go from crazy to batshit insane." Falco says with a grin akin to that of a kid in a candy store.

"Try me." Lucy says as she narrows her eyes.

"V came back to life."

"Fuck off. That's impossible." Lucy says in disbelief before seeing Falco's look, "Holy shit you're completely serious. How is that even possible?" She says before realizing what this could mean, "Is it possible for David to-"

"No can do. He survived because of the relic. Shit rebooted his brain after Dex shot him in the head. Next thing you know, V is back out on the streets, and he has his eye on Arasaka."

"Arasaka? Why?" Lucy asks as Falco turns the car again.

"Dunno. Guess you gotta ask him yourself. From what I can gather though, he's after something called Mikoshi." Falco says. "Still, that man is dangerous. He's killed the leader of the Voodoo Boys, sat at Rogue's table, killed an entire Nomad clan, killed Hanako Arasaka's bodyguard while almost killing her in the process, killed all of the execs of the Claws, won a boxing match against the current champion, do I need to go on?"

Lucy was, once again, shocked. "He did all that… all in a month?" She asks, to which Falco chuckles.

"He did all that in the past two WEEKS." That left Lucy shocked for the rest of the ride.

The car stops at Lucy's condo, which used to be David's. "Take care o' yourself Luce, and cheer up! Just give it time and those happy memories are going to be just that, happy." Falco says as Lucy gets out.

"I'll keep that in mind." Lucy says with her back turned.

/./

Lucy enters her penthouse. It used to belong to David, but she managed to obtain all his assets. She sees the grave of Gloria Martinez, while she has the coffin containing David out in the garden. She goes up to her bed, takes off her clothes, and begins to fall asleep. 'Mikoshi… I know that name.' She thinks as she drifts off to bed.

/./

It was a cold evening in Arroyo. Well, as cold as Night City can get. V was walking around, and frankly he was bored. He was honestly just killing time, completing some gigs when he passed by them. That is until…

"Hey, ya see that?" Johnny asks V. He turns to see what Johnny is talking about, and notices a symbol in the alley of a mega-plex. The symbol was just a turquoise ER, but there was also a brain dance next to it.

"The hell?" V says out loud before putting on the headset.

/./

The two fish swam apart from each other, and the camera panned into the center. Around there, two cops were making small talk, until suddenly,

*BANG*

One of the cops' head got shot by a shotgun, and the owner of said gun then proceeded to kill each and every officer around him. V realized what this was, it was a cyberpsycho!

The psycho realized he was surrounded, so he figured to put his new gear to the test. He enters Sandevision, and proceeds to massacre the back up. It seemed like all hope was lost, but then a red field shined around the psycho.

Just in the nick of time, the psycho activated Sandevision again and dodged the incoming Maxtac fire. "Cyberpsycho spotted." The first soldier said.

"This freak's got military grade ICE." The second soldier said.

"And we don't? Get to it!" The first soldier ordered.

As the second soldier got to work, the other two gave her cover fire. The psycho used Sandevision yet again, but it didn't matter. Soon enough, his ICE broke, and the rest of the troops came down, killing him in cold blood.

"Fucking freak." Muttered the first soldier before pointing his gun right in front of the psycho's face, and pulling the trigger.

The screen fades to black, but not before playing a final message.

"This is a cautionary tale."

"One David Martinez chose to ignore."

/./

"Oh fuck!" V says as he gets out of the Brain Dance. His heart is racing, and he has a lingering headache from the virtual bullet in his brain. Immediately, his mind goes to the final message, 'David Martinez… Oh yeah!' V thinks as he remembers his job at Arasaka. 'But what happened to him?'

After thinking it over, V decides to text El Capitan. He asks him about David Martinez, and gives him a day to dig some stuff up.

Unbeknownst to V, Johnny had similar thoughts. 'David Martinez. I swear I've heard that name before.'

So, what do you think? This is just a prologue, so don't think all chapters are going to be like this. Yes, this is taking some priority over Tale of the Liar and the Oni, but I figured to take a break from that one for a bit. Not to say I'm abandoning it, no way in hell am I canceling my favorite fic. It's more that I've wanted to write a new one about Cyberpunk, especially Edgerunners. That anime is sooo good. I'm not ashamed to admit I cried at the end. So, what do you all think this fic will be about? Let me tell you all right now, this is a prologue, not a chapter. I left a lot of stuff out for a reason. What is it? You'll see.

Before I forget, this V went down the Corpo life path, looks like the basic male V, and is a weapons expert (so he has high stats in Reflexes, Cool and Strength). He's also wearing his normal outfit seen on the cover art (So Samurai jacket, regular jeans, etc).

Have a good one!