AN: Didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but having reached 5k words I felt the need to publish another chapter. Hope you're all having a good day, and this chapter finds you well.

"He's coming to"

Words… the voices of people filter in slowly.

I drifted out of the murky depths of my dream, a shallow fog that held me softly. But I still have my memories, the burning pain… the explosion.

It was a trap!

"His heart rate spiked!"

Shane!

I try to move, launching myself up and away from where I lay. Restraints keep me down. My fear increases.

I'm trapped… weak…

A hand comes to rest on me, followed by a voice I knew well, but only through a comm line.

"Easy… easy Jones"

This steadies me.

My eyes drift open to the disgustingly bland shades of an Arasaka medical room, and the scratchy bearded face of Fred.

There were two other medical officers in the room, and a shaded man lurking by the door, but I focused on Fred for now.

His silver toothed grin seemed… forced.

"Jesus John… you gave me a right scare" Fred removed the hand before crossing his arms over his chest, "nasty bit of biz"

"Right" I grunt, my voice scratchy and worn, "how long have I been out?" I hold my gaze on him, letting my head rest comfortably on the metal operating table.

Fred's eyes twitch to the left, glancing down at my form.

…

"What?" I snap, "something wrong?"

Fred rolled his shoulders slightly, his smile hollow and empty.

"You've been under the knife for awhile John. They didn't think you'd make it a bit… you took quite a hit"

I couldn't get a good view from my prone position, and craning my head didn't really tell me much.

"Let me up"

Fred didn't say anything.

Something white hot and violent burst into my tone, and I grit my teeth to keep the vitriol down.

"Fred. Let. Me. Up."

For a moment he didn't move.

He shrugged and reached for the clamp control a second later, "fine. Try not to freak out"

After a hiss and a brief punch of movement, I could move freely. Unrestricted. So I sat up, and looked down at myself.

I couldn't breathe.

"Holy shit"

"Yeah" Fred's voice was distant, further away and sunken in water. I couldn't understand. My body… they'd taken my-

"The blast fucked you up pretty badly Mister Jones"

That voice pulled me away, managed to distract me momentarily from all the changes that had been rendered to my flesh.

The shaded man, bald and stern, clothed in the classical dark Arasaka suit, red lining and all.

He was still lurking by the doorway, but he no longer rested against it. I assume his shaded gaze was focused upon myself.

How could he not stare?

I'd lost nearly half of my lower torso along with my legs, my right hand...

"Pretty expensive job to patch you up again"

My panic and fear was coming down, little clues and details on my implants slowly sinking themselves into my consciousness. I recognise some of these pieces, I know what they are and what they can do. Combat implants.

One's that I've only ever wistfully browsed through, but never able to afford on even my exceptionally generous Corp paycheck.

Arasaka had just outfitted me for a fight.

"So I can see" I reply to mister glasses, scratching the back of my head, "now I'm just wondering when you're going to tell me the catch,-"

I glance up at him, attempting to snag his gaze.

"-so I can hunt down the son of a bitch that did this to me"

Glasses stopped his movement. His gloved hands came up to remove his glasses. Military implants. Optic models.

Very expensive.

His voice was strong, commanding.

"Good. I've read every report Arasaka has on you, and that's what every single page has to say about you Mister Jones; you're very good"

He cleaned his glasses slightly, taking time to adjust the heavy shades before seating them on his face again.

"Your desires and the job are one in the same. Arasaka is bringing me in on the hunt, and I want a capable team. I thought I'd extend a welcoming hand"

Military service. Probably where he got the eyes done for. Went private after all the wars ended.

Arasaka snatched him up and put him to work, tying down loose ends or keeping chatty mouths shut.

"The implants are at my expense Mister Jones" his hands clasped behind his back, a military man at ease, "but I do hope you take my offer in joining my little cabal"

It wasn't much of a decision really.

My answer was obvious.

Shane was dead.

My body was fucked.

And this man was giving me the means and motivation to enact awful bloody revenge on the son of a bitch who did this to me?

The only thing I didn't know for certain was the man's name.

"Do I gotta sign anything, Mr...?"

Glasses man smiled. I really didn't like it. Predatorial was a good way to describe it. Something that didn't fit on a human face.

"Kincaid" he reached a hand out, "and no, nothing to sign. Welcome to the team"

We shook.

They were 18 and 19.

Jackie Welles didn't really know what to say or do. Vik was patching him up. Misty had a tight grip on his hand.

...his mother was already on the way to Vik's clinic.

But V?

Vanished.

As soon as anyone knew heads or tails of what was happening, he was there. Something about Padre telling him about the gig that was happening.

Bunch of fucking horse shit to be honest… it wasn't supposed to be a shootout with Tiger Claws and Sixers.

Jackie and the Valentino's had come in trying to do a deal, not start a three way gang war. The Welles boy was just muscle for someone much smarter. Matteo something.

Gonk was dead now, alongside Edgard and Hawkins. Both caught a bit too much lead to could be considered healthy.

Jackie had taken two to the side.

Then the Claws started popping up, and everything went to shit. Bullets and limbs, grenades, quick hacks…

Jackie was surprised he'd managed to make it to his bike in one piece, let alone vacate the area.

V had been waiting for him at Vik's place, his Hellcat parked out front. Misty had busted out of the shop as soon as Jackie slid of his bike, his large form being supported under V's arm.

Jackie had felt the gaze staring into him from his shorter friend.

"I'm fine" he had grunted.

"Misty" V's voice was so soft, yet so very slow and serious, "can you get Jackie down to Vik?"

She must have nodded, because a second later Jackie had his full weight slung onto the opposite side.

Misty managed to get him down the stairs quite quickly, while V disappeared into the night, the wheels of his ride screeching against the road.

That had been over two hours ago.

Misty was mad at Jackie, going by the silent and reproachful gaze she was shooting him.

Vik was royally pissed at him, even if the scratchy grunts and stern gaze were still leveled at the gunshot wounds on Jackie's side.

But it was the end of the surgery, and soon he'd be allowed off the table.

"Where's V?" he tried to ask, a casual air of indifference as he watched their responses.

Vik's shoulders tightened, something he did when he was seriously annoyed by something. Jackie was regretting his-

"He's getting you out" Misty mumbled, her anger shifting into that quiet sadness of her's which savagely dug at Jackie's heart.

Jackie bulled past it, taking a second to glance at Vik to see if the man would dispute what misty said.

Nothing.

"Getting me out of what?"

"The Valentino's" Misty continued, her hands nervously shifting "he's going to be gone for a few days, doing work for Padre"

Jackie was floored.

The Padre had been trying to get V under his wing for a very long time. House visits, calls, messages, job offers.

Jackie hadn't been privy to every attempt made by the fixer with Valentino ties, but he'd seen how many times V had to step away from events and moments just to make or decline calls.

Jackie had been jealous at first, especially with how his runt of a friend would always decline the offers.

You're being given jobs directly from an infamous night city fixer, and you'd rather hang around you jobless Gonk of a friend? V was a mystery to Jackie, one that still left him with so many questions. But he refused to remain idle while his friend was being given so much underground attention.

Jackie had joined the Valentino's soon after that.

Now all he felt was confusion.

He voiced it to the quiet and still medical room.

"Why?"

Vik pulled away from Jackie, done with fixing the stubborn bastard, and done sitting quietly.

"Because this is the second time in a week you've shown up from a war zone" Vik stood, marching over to a desk to fiddle with something. If he didn't he would have dosed Jackie with some knuckle anesthesia.

"You've been stitched up more times in the past 3 months than you have in your entire life Jackie" Vik twisted something, breaking it and getting a wince out of the Welles' boy, "eventually something's going to happen where you don't get back up"

He still didn't turn around to face Jackie, having said his piece and stewing in his discomfort.

"V couldn't take it if you zeroed out Jackie" Misty mumbled, and then added much more quietly "I couldn't take it"

Jackie let his head rest back, gazing up at the dark ceiling past the bright and intrusive medical operating lights.

He'd known things were getting crazier on the streets.

Especially for the gangs. More product, more money, more guns… every bit of powder needed to ignite the keg that was Night City's underground operations.

People came in through one end of the city, and bodies came out the other.

Joining a gang had given Jackie some direction and focus in his life. By answering orders and commands he actually felt like he was able to do something.

To have an impact.

And it wasn't as restrictive as the military. The freedoms and comradery shared by the Valentino's was superb. They all stuck up for one another, even in the worst of situations.

...but tonight?

That was a trap, one that two gangs had been aware of.

So there had been either a spy, a leak of intel, or just really bad luck. Jackie wagered the first being more likely rather than the other two.

The situation had gone from bad to worse in the blink of an eye, and through sheer dumb luck or divine fucking providence… Jackie had made it to Vik's in one piece.

"Jack?" Misty's hand touched his shoulder, gently, "we want you to live. All of us"

Vik snorted, but Jackie knew it was just his tough side recoiling at the affection and care. He'd never admit it but the man had a heart of gold. Also, he'd never admit about how much he cared about Jackie. In his own way he always showed it, just like V.

Jackie sat up straight, getting his eyes away from the darkness that inhabited the ceiling.

"So what's V going to do?"

Vik had the answer immediately.

"He's making a deal with Padre. Heywood's favourite fixer always offered him more eddies than he could imagine to sweep a few problems under the rug" Vik was seated in his chair now, arms crossed and resting against the small back of the seat while he watched Jackie.

"V's always refused him" Jackie mumbled.

"Yeah, he has. But now he's got something that Padre can give him… Padre's going to pull some Valentino strings and pull you out. In exchange, V's going to finally do the gigs"

Jackie narrowed his eyes, "why would the Valentino's be fine with this? Padre doesn't own them"

Vik shook his head softly, "who do you think commissioned the jobs? V's doing it for free, meaning they don't have to pay out the ass, so long as they let a busted up Gonk walk away from their exclusive club"

Jackie slumped slightly into his chair.

"...and what are the jobs?"

Misty's hand rubbed his shoulder, softly, calmly.

Looking to her, Jackie understood what her worried gaze signified.

After all, he was being a bit stupid, not understanding what it was that the Valentino's wanted. He was a member after all, and only two things could force the gang to bring in outside resources.

"Two people, witness protection. Padre and the Valentinos want them zeroed"

Jackie bowed his head at Vik's crisp explanation.

In a few days, V would return.

Jackie didn't hear much about what had gone down, but little details snuck through every now and then.

And he didn't like them one bit.

When he asked V if it was true, if he really had done when everyone was saying he did, all he got was;

"I did my job"

And Jackie had responded, defeated and sad. This spectre, this wraith wearing the skin of his friend...

"Don't you have a heart?"

The Northern Industrial District has been, and always will be, a mess. Every block of the damn place had a scav haunt somewhere, organ and chrome harvesters, or Sixer and Maelstrom hideouts.

Not the friendliest place to be moving around it.

However, a few locations that weren't constantly getting raided by the NCPD, Solo's and bounty hunters contained some of the few upstanding civilians of the NID.

Hidden away from the more active and dangerous inner zone of the district, in the farthest north of the northern zone was a tall black building. Large, obviously used in a previous life for industrial storage of some kind.

And while it looked abandoned, many a life form did in fact inhabit it.

They just didn't like it when people knew that it was inhabited.

"Look you dumb gonk! For the last fucking time, before I shove this power drill so far up your ass you'll-"

"Easy Skully" one of the large security guards, decked out in mismatching gear and partially cybernetic, pushed a beefy hand against the chromed out old man.

This building was known as the Market. An illicit location that dealt out some of the best Black Market tech anyone could imagine.

Night City's Cybernetic haven, free to all that left their troubles at the door. Of course each piece of hardware had a price attached to it. Things could be haggled.

The entire community of the Market was layered from four floors. The basement was storage, where every vendor kept their wares in relative security. Going one up, to the main floor of the market, was where everyone auctioned and dealt for their wants and needs. Business was conducted openly and obviously for all to see.

Third floor was the operating rooms. Ripperdocs that worked for the Market were trusted and honored by almost everyone who knew about the place. They were the ones that reattached limbs and eyeballs after all.

It seemed conducive to a better environment to treat those that ripped you open with a little more respect than most.

And the top floor, floor four, where Martin Skully was waiting impatiently for security to let him pass into, was Management.

The Market had a ruling floor, one that oversaw the free and equal trade flowed as intended.

Skully had been called up due to two no names showing up completely out of the blue. The only conscious one of the two had said that the unconscious one knew Skully.

Management had brought him up mid operation to confirm this.

Ripperdoc's such as Skully were as highly regarded as they were stern and annoying. He was absolutely livid about having to make the painfully long 5 minute walk to the top floor, and he was prepared to let everyone know of his grievances.

"Look I got a customer downstairs right now. I'm replacing some pretty sensitive area's, if you get what I mean" Skully fumed.

He was dressed as he always was, white lab coat tattered and stained with blood, covered in patches and marks collected all over the globe. His chrome was minimal, knee and elbow replacements being the largest and most obvious exchanges.

His internal work was all private and his own business, but being a 87 year old smoker would mean his body had taken quite a being.

Skully was old school, someone that didn't play well with the new generation.

All so damn set on making a name for themselves, they hardly cared about the damage they caused.

"Either let me in or I'm turning around right this instant, you chromed up fuckstick!"

The guard sighed, stepping back and opening the door into Management.

Skully grunted and strode by, hearing the guard mumble into his earpiece, "Doc's here, and he's pissed"

Management was a group of five offices, arranged in a hexagon. The entrance into the space was the sixth side of the shape.

Skully already knew where he needed to be.

People liked to drop his name all the time, figuring it'd get them into the Market or even a discount.

He snorted at the idea.

'Discounts? Madness'

The door he needed was directly in front of him, and with a savage push he launched it open. Finally, he'd be able to see the two-

His eyes landed on the slumped form, completely disregarding the obvious corpo that sat beside him.

"V?" he whispered, disbelief coloring his features.

The body of his old… acquaintance had been haphazardly dumped on the old and torn waiting couch of the office room. Surrounding them, guns at vaguely directed toward them, were the four personal guards of the individual who occupied the office.

The suit that had come in with V, tried to talk.

"You are Skully? V told me to bring him to-"

A more familiar voice cut across the Japanese man.

"Enough"

Alexandra Brine. Head administrator for the Market and the closest thing to a security chief that the building had.

She was seated very calmly behind her desk, hands comfortably holding one another as she gazed fixed at the two men on the couch.

Her hair was long and pink, reaching down to the small of her back on most days, but tied into two buns currently.

An angular face, devoid of major modification besides three strips of silver beneath her cobalt blue eyes. Skully knew her fists were armored and entirely chrome, two excellent skin grafts from the third floor being the only thing hiding that detail.

She was poised and serious, all business in her considerations toward the two men on the couch.

"Skully. You can vouch for these two?"

Her voice was lighter in both cadence and tone, but detached from her feelings. Skully felt for his aging bald head, rubbing it softly as she turned to regard him.

"The kid, sure. He's dependable and trustworthy. Never met the suit before"

Alexandra met eyes with the Corpo next.

She studied the man, but remained speaking to the Ripperdoc.

"Why would Arasaka be accompanying your friend, Skully?"

"No idea. Kid never dealt with Corps, especially the big ones" the old man replied, "quite interesting if you ask me"

The suit obviously had enough being studied while remaining silent.

"I am Goro Takemura. V is my ally and witness, I need him to live, and the longer he remains in this condition-"

Alexandra nodded to a guard, and the man struck the suit with the butt of his rifle without hesitation.

The man spat blood out onto the ground, but went silent.

Skully took a second to reappraise V.

Missing arm, more scratches and cuts than a regular day in Night City… obviously an extended period of time dealing with trauma…

Skully had to ask.

After all, he owed the kid.

"I know how you feel about Corpo's Alex" Skully got a glare for his words, but continued anyway, "but seeing as my friend is on death's doorstep and unconscious, I'm going to speak to the suit, and I'm going to need him to be able to respond"

Alexandra held her furious gaze. She didn't nod, but her lack of disagreement as her head snapped back to watching the Arasaka goon doubled as permission.

"So, Takemura, care to explain what happened to my associate?"

The Arasaka man was wonderfully composed. His rage simmered beneath the surface, but he did not direct it at any of the people in the room.

He was a professional after all. A man with standards and practices that guided his words and actions.

"I have not been told by him directly. Upon retrieving him I brought him here at his request, before he failed to remain conscious"

The man tilted his head to examine V's still form.

"He did mention… I believe he was bested by Adam Smasher, at Arasaka tower" the Japanese man twisted back to Skully, gazing deeply into his eyes, "V told me to take him to you in order to 'beat Smasher'. From what happened at Arasaka tower today, this is the best explanation I have come up with"

The words reached his old brain slowly, but once they did...

Skully felt like he was going to fall over.

Jesus fucking christ.

V wasn't just here for the debt that the ripper doc owed him, but for the special gear he'd donated years ago.

Skully had seen the news about an attack on Arasaka, as well as some of the minor details, but hadn't thought much of it at the time.

"Martin"

There must have been something on his face, an expression that Alexandra wasn't used to. She had to draw him out of the little trance he found himself in.

"Yeah. Sorry" Skully rubbed a hand across his face in frustration.

He was going to catch some flak for this.

"Alex I need to prep for a surgery on the kid. His buddy needs to come to"

"Skully, you can't just-"

The doc cut her angry rebuttal short, a common frown holding his aged features together. His expression was tight and determined.

"I owe the kid, Alex. I'm in his debt for some work he did for me, awhile back. Before you were running this place" Skully tagged his comm line to the third floor, "Hey Gus, prep my station. Transfer Jeff to Stevie, he'll finish it up good enough" Skully ended the comm channel before Gus could reply.

Alex took the head of the conversation, trying to get what she could from the situation.

She knew not to interfere with debts and what people owed to one another within the Market. To disturb such agreements would be… detrimental to her rule.

That being said, she'd at least try to get her pound of flesh.

"And the goon?"

Skully looked at first to Alex, and then to the big and beefy Arasaka goon. One who's life now rested in whatever he had to say.

"I need him" Skully glanced casually at Alex, "who's going to help me carry up the parts from storage?"

Alex huffed while Takemura let out a small sigh.

"Fine. Go settle your debt" Alex stood and waved off the guards, "once its sorted I don't want to see these two ever again"

"A reasonable agreement" Skully nodded, shifting his attention to Takemura, "Mister Corpo, do me a favour and carry our horribly injured friend to my operating room"

Takemura didn't have to be told twice.

Skully cheerfully walked out of the room a moment later, V and his Corpo carrier in toe.

"First we drop him off, then we go get the chrome we need"

It was going to be a long day, and a much longer operation.

Skully knew what parts V was going to get installed. After all, V had been the one to acquire over half of them in the first place.

"And you just did what Padre told you to do huh? No remorse. No regrets? Not even a smidge of hesitation?"

"It was a Job Jackie. All I did was complete it"

"His family!? His kids?! His wife! Jesus V, Padre told you to kill a mole, and plug a leak, not murder-"

I remember snarling at him. The fury I had felt at the time was unexplainable. Killing had felt… right. Correct. It was my purpose.

I didn't say that. Instead;

"I did my job" was all I hissed.

And there was now fear in his eyes. People couldn't understand. Humans couldn't. They searched for meaning and purpose in any and everything.

Me?

I knew what I was meant for. I knew exactly why I had been brought onto this planet-

And Jackie asked me that question.

That damn question which haunted me every night. It clung to my subconscious in every waking moment.

It was asked the same way, every time.

Confusion and shock, perhaps a mild amount of horror. Like the person who spoke it couldn't comprehend what I had done, or why.

"Don't you have a heart?"

And then it's his body as Konpeki… it's riddled full of bullet holes, his clothing bloodstained and torn.

His eyes were still open.

"You're pretty fucked up kid"

That was… the new voice. The one that had started popping up in my head recently.

'Who are you?' I tried to ask, tearing myself away from the image of Jackie…

"Time to wake up kid"

I'm awake.

At first I just lay still, blinking and still.

I can still remember who I am, I still know what I'm doing… but I don't know where I am.

That voice…

"Skully"

My voice is fine, even though I expected it to be weak and hoarse for some reason. I must have made it to the Market safely.

Glad Takemura had figured it out.

"V" the wise and old voice snapped at me from nearby, "glad to see you always know how to keep my days interesting"

I turn my head slowly.

His space is smaller than Vik's, almost like it used to be the first time I'd done a job for him.

There's a large computing area with a wide array of monitors. Behind the wall of screens is a seat that is being occupied by the old man.

"Skully"

The man frowned yet remained focused on his monitors, "you shouldn't be awake yet. But then again most people can't process large quantities of anaesthesia like you can"

I grunt, and raise myself up.

I would have expected my arm to be in pain, but I find the pounding and throbbing ache in my skull to be the most noticeable. In fact, my right arm doesn't even-

It's black, and very obviously mechanical.

I knew my limb was gone, but I hadn't expected there to be so-

My eyes traced up the new limb, taking into account that my stub was gone, along with my shoulder.

"A newer limb then the one you left me. Carbon polymer, steel joints and bearings. Intricate connection to your nervous system and the associated implants. Give it a roll"

In a daze I move the limb.

I don't feel the metal move, but I see it move. My brain is trying to tell me my arm is moving, that it is indeed twisting and turning for me to inspect… but I don't feel it.

The odd movement must have caught Skully's eye.

"Strange experience I guess… military implants don't function so well if they're allowed to feel"

"Oh" was all I could mumble.

Skully got up from his seat, slipping on some very archaic glasses as he looked me up and down.

"Quite an interesting arm if you ask me" he stepped back from around the monitors, approaching my side and taking the limb careful in his weathered hands.

"Militech used to use these, until the costs began to outweigh the benefits. See here" he gestured to the elbow of the limb, "loading point. This baby can spit out 50 cal rounds so long as you've got ammo" his finger traced down from the elbow to the palm.

"That's where it shoots from?" I asked, my head still moving slowly.

"Yup" Skully popped the 'P' and he took my new metal hand and started rotating it around, "kinda why they turned off the whole 'feeling' thing"

I nodded.

"Now it's good to fire quite consistently… but there is a tad problem with overheating. I'd recommend you use the hand cannon as little as possible"

"Uh-huh"

"The arm's strong. Should suit whatever you need to do with it"

I scratch the back of my head as I nod again, absorbing his information.

"I uh… also attached the module you gave me" Skully stepped back to his work station, looking over his monitors displaying countless amounts of information, "it took well. You've got an… interesting head after all"

I glance over to him, hand still cupping the surgical zone on my skull.

"Is it active yet?"

Skully shook his head, "not yet. You really shouldn't use it yet V, it can cause a lot of-"

"Just run it" I sigh, taking my time to gently massage my temple, "I've gotta get out of here before I piss off Hector anymore"

"Hector?" Skully lets out a grunt of laughter, "you've really been out of the loop V. Alexandra runs this place now"

I remain silent and Skully gets the message.

Tapping away at the screens he adds, "you might feel a slight sting"

The vibrance of the world shoots up ten fold. Color, detail and light, all being processed at a speed my brain took a moment to catch up with.

"Ah!" I gasp, clutching my head and closing my eyes. Deprived of vision my brain latches onto the smells and sounds of the room, creating an image for me even as my eyes are screwed shut.

The sensory input stops and I collapse backwards onto the operating table.

"Yeah" Skully says lamley, "God's Eye is quite intense"

"So I see" I moan.

"That's the program running at 40%, the upper limit of its safety parameters. Even then it was far too dangerous for general production. That much information being brought into a normal brain would be fatal" he glances at me over the lip of the monitor, "good thing you're not like most folks"

I don't reply to that comment.

Skully and Vik are the only people that have taken a good look inside of me, but Skully's the only one with the equipment that let him really see.

He's made his guesses and assumptions, but I've never given him a straight answer.

I shift the topic.

"I need a full rundown"

He nods, "one moment"

This shouldn't take long.

I'll be explaining all of the stuff done to him in a bit, just wanted to get everything on an even keel before I start to push some of the already established narrative points. Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing and supporting this story! Y'all are the reason this keeps going.

Best regards,

Freedom.