Joachim Heinrich - Homeward
V was almost two years younger than Jackie Welles, a fact the Heywood local would never let him forget when the opportunity presented itself.
"Hermano… you need to come by for dinner more often" Jackie smiled, "the ladies don't want a stick to hold onto at night, you know?"
Usually V would groan and grumble, rumbling back some kind of complaint or metabolism explanation for the reason he had yet to grow…
But he remained in silence, his feet idly swinging in the wind. From the doorway to the rooftop's edge, Jackie could see how he was looking down at the streets below.
His eyes were glossy…
The words came out soft and nasally, a small slight away from a whisper. It was a miracle that Jackie heard the question.
"Already heard about it?"
V looked around to Jackie, a bruise already forming around his left eye, tissues stuffed in his nose.
He was still in his black boxing shorts. The fight had been concluded nearly half an hour ago, and V still hadn't washed or changed…
Jackie sighed and walked over to the boy, slowly sinking into a comfortable spot next to him.
He didn't mind the sweat or the blood, and casually looped an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders. It wasn't a choke hold, or any kind of rough housing, Jackie just sat there quietly.
V didn't try to shift out of it, he barely moved as they sat there.
The relative silence was pleasant yet tense. All the noises of the city barely managed to touch the small haven that sat high above Vik's Dojo.
But it wasn't meant to last.
Something had to be said, and Jackie Welles was usually the man to say it.
Except he didn't get to. V spoke up, his voice even lower on account of Jackie now being so close to him.
"I told Vik I didn't mean to do it" V was picking at his nails, his fingers the only thing that was moving.
Jackie knew the boy to be quiet, but never this still.
Lifeless.
His hands weren't damaged either. The Welles boy had expected them to be battered or something, once they were unwrapped and revealed.
Jackie didn't say anything, merely glancing toward his friend.
"But I knew"
V couldn't look up. His eyes remained locked and focused on the streets far below.
"I knew he'd die… and I still did it anyway"
Jackie hadn't seen the fight, but word was spreading fast.
And the word? That some two-bit kid, 'Jackie's boy', took some offense to what Old Johnson was saying about Vik.
Kid didn't like what Johnson was saying, slandering his coach, so after some back and forth they decided to settle it in the ring.
...and did the seasoned boxer win?
No... the kid took a few stings, but in the end he caved in the man's chest. He was dead in a minute.
'David versus Goliath' was what Jackie's Valentino choomba had said.
Old Johnnson's brother was baying for blood, but Vik was sorting that out right now. Jackie had only heard whiffs of it before he came looking for V.
"What's everyone saying?"
Jackie took a moment, taking in everything V was letting out right now. The drifter from Pacifica, the nomad with no past… he was worried. He was scared.
But… he didn't feel anything for what he had done, merely what it might cost him.
"I don't know really, but all I've said is you've always had a mean right hook" Jackie grinned.
The joke didn't land very well.
In an explosion of movement, V had pulled himself away and shot straight for the stairs. All that anger and frustration had very suddenly bubbled to the surface.
Jackie ripped himself out of his stunned stupor, launching to his feat with an exclamation aimed at the back of the retreating kid.
"Wait!"
V's desperate charge ended at the door way, where he waited.
This was Jackie's chance.
"Bad joke, I know" Jackie was cautiously approaching the spooked boy, his steps slow and careful.
"But what does it matter V? Huh? You popped the ticket of some old fart bad mouthing Vik. Made a name for yourself in a day! What's so wrong with that mister V?"
Jackie had closed the distance V had put between the two of them, reaching the boy's side and managing to keep the little kid from rabbiting.
He didn't make any contact with him yet, but he did stand near him, letting V know that he was close.
"It's alright" Jackie tentatively reached a hand out, clasping it on the boy's shoulder.
V shuddered, but didn't run.
"What's wrong, idiota?"
"It's.. it's about where I'm from…"
'Oh shit' Jackie couldn't help but think.
This was it.
The big secret after all, the one thing V never shared with anyone. Why he was on his own, where he had come from… all things he'd never told to anyone else.
"But I'm worried if I tell you… if I tell anyone…" V's hand twisted into a fist, his eyes still averted as he hissed, "they'll leave me"
Jackie took a moment to think before he next spoke. His words were clear, slow and honest.
"Can't speak for anyone else you choose to give the truth to," Jackie shook V's shoulder, getting him to finally look up at him.
"But I can speak for myself"
The smile that Jackie sent him, the pure grin on his face that just promised everything would be alright…
"I'm not leaving you. You're my friend, V. And no matter what happens, you always will be"
The smaller boy had his arms wrapped around Jackie in a second.
His head was tucked a few inches under Jackie's chin.
It was a powerful hug that followed, and through the sweat and blood that covered him, Jackie hugged him back.
There was a muttered 'thank you' that Jackie felt against his chest.
After a moment he released him, and V slid back, his gaze still fixed on the ground.
"So" Jackie pointed back to the view, "what'd ya say we get two deck chairs, some cerveza and have a chat?"
V nodded at him with a soft smile.
"But first, you take a shower and get cleaned up" Jackie looked V up and down "You smell like shit"
V's eye twitched.
Jackie cackled with laughter as he dodged the boy that swung up at him, trying to punch him in the nose.
Both of them were smiling.
Later, they would talk.
And Jackie Welles would begin to understand just how important he was to the small drifter boy, V.
I can't begin to describe the amount of pain I feel.
But I'm conscious…
I'm alive.
I'm alive?
With an electric start, I explode onto my feet. I… don't know where I am, but I was laying on top of a metal table, clean and sterile.
Cables and wires come loose, flailing in the air at their sudden disconnection.
The instant I find my feet, I've lost them, crumpling to the floor as my legs give out.
I'm barely able to get my hands up in time to catch me, and as the ground reaches up to greet me, my chest slaps against the pristine white floor.
The instinctive wince is mounted to my face, my eyes finding irritation with the piercing lights of the room, the ones focused on where I had lain in this…
Operating room?
This wasn't any kind of Trauma center. Having the service meant I was liable to being tracked by more than just the dispatched medical teams, so I never bothered. Even if I could afford it...
Vik stitching me up was a better alternative to a homing beacon in my body. All I know is I'm in some kind of lab space.
It's hard to get myself back to my feet, but using the table as a support I'm able to make it.
My head fucking hurts, really fucking bad.
That pain I didn't know how to describe?
Yeah, I've decided on it being a million different knives, slices off chunks of grey matter. Not to mention the massive weight I'm feeling on the front of my brain.
Ignoring that pain proved to be a difficult task, but not insurmountable. With my harsh breathes finally under control, I take stock of the room.
There's two workstations, screens and various pieces of painful looking technology. All of it is foriegn and strange, devices I'm not quite familiar with, or have no knowledge of whatsoever.
Behind these two workstations are two vacated seats, each with a small tray space and tool area next to the open monitors. There's a hot cup of coffee on one, small clouds of heat wafting up into the air.
This was a surgical room, for sure.
And then my eyes noticed the damn logo, the mark on the far wall behind the desks, clearly emblazoned.
Arasaka.
'What the fuck am I doi-'
The very concept of a natural reaction, of conscious thought, is swept aside by a tidal wave of processed information.
I'm used to this.
My programming kicks in, and I immediately switch to assessment, taking stock in seconds.
Weapons; restricted to close range. Even disoriented, I'm across the room in a heartbeat. There's a myriad of surgical tools, but the four elongated scalpels are my choice.
They're like knives almost, nearly six inches of blade for each of them.
Enough to pierce through skull if thrown at the right point.
Clothing; minimal. Elastic briefs, form fitting nothing else.
If this is some kind of surgical facility, some kind of location with uniforms and specialized outfits… I'd stick out like a sore thumb. This being an Arasaka facility also meant that there would be guards.
So I would be able to find ballistic weaponry.
Time for a floor plan.
As my optics come online, there's a wave of errors, notices and crawling lines of text. This is almost like… a full boot up.
'Focus'
I snap out of it and closely scan the room. No cameras are both a relief and a worry. This isn't a monitored space because what is conducted in this room, going by all the surgery equipment, would be better to be kept away from any kind of permanent documentation.
I'm only observing the systems without interacting with them. I can see the security. Without the proper clearance or codes there would be no way I could access them.
Of course, 'Blackout' would be able to influence it, but as soon as I let loose with that Daemon I would need to be in a position of power, preferably with a gun in my hand.
So I needed an improved weapon.
Now is a time for action.
My feet take me to the only door in the room, a grey panel that had been locked from the outside.
I place myself beside it, and despite the lack of strength in my body, the pain in my head, I still.
That cup on the desk, probably coffee of some kind, was fresh.
The desks had been vacated for a mere moment.
It's owner would return.
And I will be ready for when they do.
"Careful!" Tobias snapped at me, noticing how I nearly wheeled the cart into the admittedly sharp corner of the corridor.
"Sorry" I grumbled, glancing around the nearly barren corridors. There were spatters of guards, roaming in pairs of two all throughout the floor. Cameras kept the corridors and passages surveyed, but the muscle was on standby for extreme circumstances occurring within rooms.
On the lab floor of Arasaka tower, one of those floors that didn't exist unless you worked on it, I found myself stressfully wheeling very expensive equipment.
These dissection and retrieval orders came from the very top.
Tobias was a head surgeon and the facility head of most programs. He was the closest to Hellman's work, so it was only natural he would take the lead to recover the stolen relic.
When an unknown source had provided them with the body of the Thief, it had been transported right into Arasaka tower within the very same hour.
Yorinobu Arasaka himself had given authentication for this.
So it was obvious that Doctor Tobias Shaw was going a bit stir crazy.
Failure to extract the relic safely would lead to punishment, and not the kind of punishment you would recover from.
It was hard to find your way through the grey concrete walls, and darkened carbon doors, all identical from one another.
The only reason I knew where I was going was because I'd been down here hundreds of times. As a more experienced assistant, I had been chosen to assist the bald and aged doctor.
I'd be paid a lot for this, I knew I would. Might even get a promotion if there's a successful-
"Frederick! Here!"
Sheepishly, I realised I'd overshot the door to the lab. We'd only stepped out for a few minutes, just to pick up the piece of storage tech that was coming down from the R and D floor.
"Sorry Doctor Shaw" I flip the cart around, and move toward the now open door. Tobias is waving me through, an impatient expression on his face. He's already punched in the door code and unlocked it.
I pass into the room, my eyes shifting to my desk.
'Ready to sit for the next three hours? As my supervisor chews me out?' it's a rhetorical question directed at myself.
I hear the door slide shut, Doctor Shaw following me in.
And the trolley is pushed right up to the empty surgical table-
…
...Empty?
"Ughk"
I don't get a chance to turn. A hand clamps on my shoulder, and in the bright illuminating light of the room, the flicker of a blade passes in front of me.
"Any sudden moves, and you die, understand?"
The voice is coarse and rough. But it was calm. Very calm. I find it very hard to doubt the conviction in his words.
I'm barely able to see the blade he's got against my neck.
It's a surgical scalpel, the extended one meant for taking bone samples. We had them brought up after we did a biological scan of the dead body.
There's a powerful shake building in me, causing my leg to twitch uncontrollably.
"Answer quietly, do you understand?"
The blade tightens closer to my neck.
With a squeak I whisper, "I- I underst-stand"
The blade does not relax from my neck.
"Where is this place?"
"Arasaka tower, Night City"
"Floor"
"...Forty-five"
The blade dips for a moment, nearly slicing into me.
"Lie to me again, and you will die, right now"
I take a shuddering breath, "sixty-two… we're on floor sixty-two"
"Security?"
My eyes track down, noticing the ever expanding pool of blood, naturally being pulled to the drain beneath the surgical table.
He'd killed Tobias… based on the amount of blood he'd sliced his neck open.
My fear spikes.
"Oh god, please don't-"
The blade pushed itself into my neck, reminding me of its sharpness.
"What are the security features on this floor?"
This man had been dead… no pulse, no brain activity…
"Guards and cameras in the corridors" I gasp, "Guards are armed and very dangerous"
"Turrets?"
"...by the elevators"
"Thank you"
In the end, even after I had told this man everything, and I had cooperated...
This dead man.
After all of that, just like he had done to shaw Shaw, he slit my throat. The scalpel glided quickly across my neck, the flesh parting easily.
Blood pooled out onto my chest, flowing freely from the gaping wound.
I collapsed to the ground, dying slowly and painfully.
And the dead man?
He started to undress me.
It all happened at once.
The lights on the floor began to flicker and sputter, the camera's pulsing and drooping, power having been cut to them.
In the instant this happened, the now very alert corridor guards had their attention drawn to the bloodied scientist being flung through the open operating door.
The figure slumped against the wall, still and unmoving.
"Check in 62A, we've got a network breach coming from your location. At least one hostile element is within the building"
From the far end of the corridor, with their weapons now pointed toward the only open door, the security pair 62A, advanced. They were stationed at one of the many junctions and corners of the 62nd floor of Arasaka tower, and were the closest responders to the now active incident.
One of the guards keyed his Mic, speaking directly to the security center for the floor.
"This is 62A, Daemon has crippled lights and monitoring systems. Source of Daemon is Lab room 26, we are approaching with caution"
Far away in the security room, a conversation that was muffled and distorted occurred out of earshot of the microphone. The leader of the two man team, did not hear exactly what was said, but he could have sworn hearing something about how the 'subject was already deceased'
The calm voice of the security room came back in a moment.
"Confirmed 62A, standing orders are shoot to kill, but to avoid cranial damage… subject's head must be intact, I repeat, the head must be intact"
The guard grunted, cocking his rifle as he and his partner closed in on the open lab door and the scientist's body.
"Roger that control, we're moving in"
The leader hesitated however, taking a side glance at the crumbled body.
As his partner moved toward the open door, the leader of the pair stepped around the scientist's body, studying his features for a brief moment.
He'd just seen them pass earlier, and both of them were heavily chromed-
The glossy eyes of the body suddenly focused, shifting toward him.
His legs were swept out from under him by a very powerful leg.
As he fell, his yell was taken away by a sharp scalpel to his throat. A hand shot up and wrapped itself around his gun, another one finding its way to his wrist.
He couldn't even scream as the force of the grab and twist shattered the bones in his arm.
The weapon was wrenched from his now broken limb.
As the leader of Guard pair 62A collapsed to the ground, bleeding from a hole in his throat, his partner was shot sixteen times in the back by automatic fire.
The shooter, the one who had pretended to be the body of the scientist, turned on the slowly dying guard, and aimed his own gun at him.
In the next second, the leader of Guard pair 62A saw black.
The security booth on floor sixty-two was in chaos. All the plugged in NetRunners and cybersecurity professionals were doing their best to shut down the Daemon that was running rampant.
Calls and communications were going in and out of the room every second, everyone making as many updates and requests as possible.
A voice called out, "62C and D are approaching the subjects location"
And in a heartbeat,
"62C has flatlined!"
Followed nearly a moment later by, "62D as well!"
The head of floor security was beginning to sweat, his fear eating him up. If he failed to contain this, there would be problems. His higher ups would not be forgiving, especially with how things were at Arasaka.
With that in mind, "Lock down the elevators! Alert Yorinobu-sama's asset"
A few faces turned to him in surprise.
"Now!" the man screamed, causing the frozen workers to scramble back to their stations. An outgoing call was made.
"Asset has responded. Eta less than five minutes"
The head of security sighed, relaxing into his chair slightly.
He might just make it out of this one alive.
After all, who could go toe to toe with the Night City Legend, Adam Smasher?
The guard groups were beginning to hang back.
After dispatching the last two units, collecting their ammo and scavenging useful pieces of armor, I was kitted out well enough to deal with troops individually. In fact, the tightness of the corridors worked to my advantage, allowing me to spring around corners and take them apart.
Blackout was doing its job, keeping the Camera's from being able to zero in on my position.
But this was only a convenience.
I was inside Arasaka tower, deep behind enemy lines. Simple carelessness and a touch of fortune had allowed me to escape, but keeping my head would be far more difficult.
By now they would have locked down the lifts completely, meaning I had to find an edge of the building, something with a window.
I had a rough idea on how I would make it out, and it was crazy, but lacking any other realistic choices I'd have to take it.
An extended battle would end in capture, death and defeat.
So my priorities were as follows; find or make an exit, keep moving, avoid serious threats.
As long as I followed them, I'd make it out-
The lights in the corridor finally returned, meaning tower security had finally dealt with Blackout.
But this wasn't what caught my attention.
My adrenaline spiked and I leapt backwards, bullets cutting up the space I had just occupied.
"Nice moves... for a sack of meat"
The voice…
I knew that voice.
He was here, down the corridor, in the same building… the same space.
Fury injected itself into my veins, the burn of hatred running through my system. My world narrowed down, my focus pointing itself to my new priority.
Kill Adam Smasher.
Adam Smasher was only 1% biological material. What was left of his brain was securely attached into a body of military grade metal and steel. He'd lived a long life dealing death and destruction on a whim, so much that he established himself as one of the greatest and most dangerous mercenaries to ever live.
A Night City Legend.
At the top of the food chain, his cyber enhancements were the prime on any market. Illegal work melded with top tier technology, meaning he had the best of the best.
This target, running amok throughout Arasaka's tower was flesh.
Meat.
Smasher had gotten a brief scan in before he'd taken his shot.
There were of course a few cybernetic enhancements on his target, but nowhere near enough to go toe to toe with him.
So when his target had dodged his opening volley, he'd been impressed.
"Nice moves… for a sack of meat"
He did this usually, an attempt to get into the target's head. He was famous enough to know people recognised his voice, and chances were the target would as well.
The fear created would give him an advantage, one that he would use to pull his stupid meaty head off.
Adam Smasher readied his rifle, and was about to march slowly down the corridor, emphasising his steps to further psych out his opponent.
What he was not expecting was a blur of movement, and a single shot ringing out in the corridor.
His optics had tracked the movement, and it took his startled brain a moment to process what had happened.
He fingered the trigger on his heavy machine gun.
It clicked, uselessly.
Smasher glanced at the barrel.
His opponent had put a singular round straight down the barrel, breaking the loading mechanism and permanently jamming the gun.
He dropped it with a grunt, facing back to the corridor-
His target was approaching him, a sword, presumably pillaged from one of the slain guards, in his hand.
"Come on then, Meat" he taunted, bringing his hands up and beckoning toward the target, "I'll tear you limb from limb"
The smaller human darted forward, and for once in Adam Smasher's life, the inconceivable happened…
He was put on the defensive.
"Yorinobu-sama"
Everyone in the room was bowing to him, the now head of the great Arasaka corporation. He had been in a meeting with Militech and their purchasing of BioTechnica Assets, when a priority alert had been sent his way.
The Thief, supposedly dead, was still alive.
The tower security teams were ineffective with dealing with the Thief, and had requested use of his highly paid bodyguard.
So Yorinobu had sent Smasher ahead, planning to watch the events unfold later.
He had assumed the Cyborg would deal with the problem in moments.
But now that he stood in the security booth on the top floor, patched into the live feed of floor sixty-two, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The people around him, his loyal subjects, were still working bowing to him as he watched the largest feed in awe.
They had dealt with the Daemon lurking in their system, a clever utility that allowed the Thief to blanket his area in a total surveillance blackout.
He would then deal with the eyes on the ground, preventing anyone from truly knowing his exact location.
An admirable proficiency in stealth.
But now, in bold colors and clear detail, Yorinobu witnessed the Thief's skills in combat.
The man was fast, inexplicably quick and agile, moving around Adam Smasher before the Cyborg could keep up with him.
The Arasaka blade, taken from a slain guard, was being used to chip away at the Cyborg.
Many of the slices and stabs were aimed at the face of the Night City legend, who either ducked or dodged.
"Yorinobu-sama, your orders?"
The voice of the security head distracted him, bringing his attention down to the man before him.
"I want full assault teams sent up. They are authorised to use whatever means necessary to deal with the threat"
Yorinobu didn't bother watching the man scurry away to do what was ordered.
In fact, he ignored how everyone in the room turned away, moving back to their chairs and monitors.
All he could do was watch how the Thief darted around Smasher, faster than humanly possible.
But he wasn't cybernetically enhanced…
Yorinobu frowned.
He was missing a crucial piece of information, for this Thief was no ordinary human-being.
"Yoshida-san" Yorinobu called out to the security head, "I want the Thief pushed to the east wing. Send in our forces now. That should give Adam Smasher a break"
A sword strike chipped a piece of Smasher's faceplate.
Yorinobu went back to ignoring everyone else in the room as he studied the Thief.
V.
That was his name, V.
The cyborg roared at me, even as I leapt up the side of a wall, flinging myself into the air before pirouetting backward. His chasing fist punched a hole through the concrete, but was retracted to cover his face as I re-engaged him.
This eternal dance was getting me nowhere, but as soon as the Borg slipped up, I'd kill him.
Only a matter of time.
"Looks like your out of time"
The voice I hear, a tone layered in sarcasm and a verbal eyeroll… I don't know where it comes from, but it clues me into the sudden appearance of a large mech and four Arasak soldiers.
They had appeared at the end of the corridor, their weapons trained toward myself and Smasher.
My distraction costs me.
"GotCHA!"
A powerful force clamps around my right shoulder.
Smasher has caught me.
Time slows down.
I have seconds before he pulls my head off with his other hand, the same hand that is moving toward me.
The guards are lining up their shots, ready to fire…
My heart is pounding.
But there is a way out.
My blade switches into a now reversed grip, and with an upward slice, I'm free. My right arm however, is still in Smasher possession.
But he stumbles back, the blade having sliced dangerous into his faceplate, and through one of his optic sensors.
The guards open fire on me.
But as soon as I was free, I'm running, fleeing down the corridor.
I'm not going to die here.
Not going to lie, it was a pretty tight spot the kid found himself in. It was his fault for taking on Smasher, but props to him for finding a way out of that death grip.
Even at the loss of a limb, he managed to wound the Borg.
But with an Arm down and Arasaka closing in, I didn't have much faith we'd be making it out of here.
My little warning had almost gotten him killed, so I remained silent, observing what was happening without interjecting anymore.
Kid's a freak, but if anyone was going to find a way out of this fucked up situation, it sure as hell wouldn't be me.
He's found himself into a windowed room, one that can see out into the world.
People in the room, scientists and the like are just staring at him, confused and frightened.
The kid's ignoring them though, his eyes are on the… window…
There's no way.
A grenade, attached to a belt on his side is flung at the window. The bullet proof glass doesn't shatter, but the force of the through actually embeds the 'nade into its surface.
A moment later it detonates, allowing the howling of the 62nd floor wind to be heard throughout the space.
The Kid immediately moves toward the break.
There's no way.
He's at the lip, and I realise that there is indeed a god damn way.
The kid leaps, taking me, Johnny Silverhand, with him.
…
Kid's still a freak, but he's got balls, I'll give him that much.