Prologue: You've Hit Rock Bottom, Corpo
A man stood in a bathroom as he puked his guts out in a sink, rinsing it out before looking in the mirror. He had Caucasian skin, black hair with neatly shaved sideburns, silver eyes and a goatee. He was clothed in an expensive looking black suit and red undershirt with a pair of business shoes.
This is Vincent Verne, Arasaka counter-intelligence expert. And he was not feeling well at all. The man heaved in the toilet after going to a stall.
The man's condition was a sort of stress-induced ulcer that caused convulsive vomiting on occasions of high stress. It was treatable, of course, but with little time to recover, his ulcer has yet to heal.
After he cleaned himself up, the man got a phone call. "Hey V, you there?" His friend, Jackie Welles, a hispanic sounding man asked as the now named V answered.
"Yeah, I'm here Jackie." V nodded. "Just needed a breather." He responded.
"You sure you're okay? You sound like you busted your gut's airlock." The man noted. "Your ulcer acting up again?" He questioned.
"I'll live. Don't worry." The man replied.
"Este trabajo te va a matar." His friend responded.
"I'm not dead yet, Jack." V said. "We had a leak, my boss has been on my ass about it, that's all." He added.
"No way you're fucked though, right? Really, you're the one who fixes other people's shit." Jackie said.
"Jackie, when you're working in Arasaka counterintel? You're always fucked." V sighed as he walked out of the bathroom. "Listen don't worry about me, I'll talk to you later." He added.
"Bueno suerte." Jackie told him as he hung up. V then made his way to the elevator and went up to Jenkins' office. As he went up, he saw a report about the Maneater of Port Clovis, a truly massive Bull Shark, killing Antolini Crime Family Matriarch, Mama Maybelle.
'Unexpected, but welcome. I never liked her anyway because of that deadweight shark finning enterprise she was running.' V thought, feeling a twinge of satisfaction in Maybelle getting killed by one of the creatures she hunted.
The report continued with the patriarch of the family, Vito Antonio Antolini, promising vengeance for the Shark's transgressions against his family. As well as a report of Kyle Leblanc miraculously surviving the explosion that the shark caused on the Cajun Queen a few weeks before killing Maybelle. Albeit badly injured and in critical condition.
"Poor kid, sure hope he comes out alright." V sighed. It was at this moment that Jenkins called him.
"V, what the fuck?! You were supposed to be in my office an hour ago!" The man told him.
"Sorry, got held up, ulcer acted up again. I'm headed that way now." The Corpo responded.
"Fucking Frankfurt… I wouldn't put it past that Abernathy bitch to dump this in our laps." The man sighed. "I'm hanging up. I'll be in my office. Hurry up." He told V before ending the call.
"Fuck I could really use a break." V sighed as he leaned against the elevator, before the doors to the elevator opened. As he walked towards his boss's office, he noticed someone he recognized.
"V. It's been ages." The man said. "Name's Frank, we met during Icefall." This made V seem to perk up.
"I didn't know you were in Night City. How've ya been?" The Corpo asked.
"Pretty good. What about you?" Frank asked in reply.
"My boss is on my ass about Frankfurt." He replied.
"Jenkins, right? Heard about that. Well, least you're not the poor sap who has to do work around Port Clovis." Frank said. "That place is the embodiment of "Gold plated on the outside, and rusty scrap metal on the inside"." He added.
"Yeah, and the Maneating Bull Shark that's swimming around is proof of that." V nodded. Secretly, though, he thought it was karma biting Port Clovis in the balls. "Speaking of, I saw pictures of that thing. Those mutations it has… think it's an escapee of some TCRI project?" He asked.
"Could be. Those guys do a lot of genetic shit, so it's possible." Frank mused.
"Yeah. Definitely something to consider." V nodded. "Anyway, I should get to Jenkins. It was nice seeing you again." He added.
"Yeah. Same here." The man nodded before the two went their separate ways. After entering his boss's office, the Corpo sat down and waited for the man to get off the phone. After he was done, he contacted Abernathy.
"Director Abernathy." He said to the one on the other side of the call.
"Saw the vote. What the hell was that?" A voice questioned.
"You wanted to get the problem handled, now it is. Nothing to bitch and moan about." Jenkins states.
"I told you to handle the issue, not massacre the entire European Space Council. Do you have any idea how much this will cost?" Abernathy questioned.
"The cost is a minor annoyance. We risked losing the license, but now we've bought ourselves some time. This is a win, take it." Jenkins retorted.
"The path of least resistance and lack of nuance. That's what points to you." The woman said. "We're not done with this topic." She finished before hanging up. Jenkins turned his chair so he could look out the window.
"I've always hated that bitch." He told V.
"And I've always hated Maybelle Antolini. Guess we're on the same page, almost." V replied.
"Heard about that too, huh? Eh, her fat ass had it coming." The man shrugged. "Anyway, she's actually the reason why I called you here." He added.
"What needs to be done?" The Corpo asked.
"I want you to get rid of her for me." His boss continued as he placed a data shard on the table.
"That's… pretty high risk." V noted with a frown. "I could end up losing my job if I do this." He added.
"Didn't you say that you were thinking of putting in your three weeks notice so you could join your sister at Militech?" Jenkins questioned.
"Yeah… But not until the end of this year." The man nodded.
"Well, now you have an excuse to leave early, and finally get that ulcer taken care of." The higher up stated. "Course I'll be sure to send you your last paycheck afterwards." He added.
"... Alright. Fine." V conceded with a sigh. "Got anything I can work with?" He asked.
"Cash, and I'm leaving you my AV. Should help a bit." His boss replied, placing a key and cash on the table. "Use it to hire people you know inside out, got it?" He questioned.
"Got it." V nodded.
"Good. I await your report." Jenkins nodded before V left for the AV dock. As he left the office, one of his subordinates walked up to him, nervously clutching a datapad.
"I have those files you asked for." He said in a timid tone. The man was about to chew him out about it, but then the words escaped him as he realized that's exactly what happened to him. It was unfair.
"I'm in a rush. Just send them my way." He ordered, his subordinate doing so. He then went to his computer as he got a call from his sister Valentine Verne, who was a high ranking member of Militech.
"Hey, Vincent. Still working at shitty ol' Arasaka?" She asked as soon as he answered. Valentine—or Val as she preferred to be called—looked a lot like V. Which made sense given that the two were twins.
She had long, black hair that covered the right side of her face. Like V, she had caucasian skin with silver eyes and implants could be made out on her face.
She wore an agent suit that consisted of a black shirt with white highlights that did surprisingly well in containing her DD-cup breasts, a pair black dress pants that looked almost blue which really fitted her peach shaped ass, and a pair of high heels. She also had a pair of pistol holsters on her hips.
"Actually, Val, today's gonna be my last day on the job." He told her as he took a stimulant booster, and his trauma card as he left the office.
"Truly? Oh thank god. Does that mean you'll take my offer then?" She asked.
"Yep. I'm joining you in Militech." V nodded.
"Finally! Now I don't have to be alone here anymore!" She exclaimed.
"I'll see you after my last job here. Then I'm headed home, my ulcer is killing me." He told her.
"Be safe out there, little brother." She smirked.
"I'm fifteen seconds older than you, Val." He chuckled as he hung up, stopping only when one of his coworkers flagged him down.
"Sir, over here!" They called.
"What is it?" V questioned.
"One of our assets may have encountered some issues." The man explained.
"Frankfurt again?" The Corp groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"No sir, this is local. Our Biotechnica agent thinks they may be feeding him false intel, making them look clean." He explained.
"How bad is it?" The Corpo asked.
"Low risk to life but blackmail is possible." The man responded.
"Are there any solutions to this?" V questioned.
"Yes, we can pull him out now calmly, that way that no eyebrows are raised. Though Jenkins will be livid." The bespectacled man replied.
"Hm… If they're being fed false intel, then they need to be pulled out. No sense having him stick around." V decided.
"Right, I'm on it." He nodded as V left. Once the man was in the garage, he got in the AV and called Jackie.
"V! You still alive?" The bruiser questioned.
"I'm here, Jackie." The man responded. "I got one last job to do before I put in my four weeks notice with my boss. Could use your help with it." He added.
"Last job? Heh, anything to get you out of that viper pit." The bruiser nodded. "Meet me at Lizzie's Bar. We can talk there." He added.
"Got it." V nodded before hanging up. "Destination: Lizzie's Bar." He said to the vehicle.
"En route." The AI responded before it started flying to its destination. The man then sat back and took a glass of Krug Grande Cuvée Brut champagne that was offered. The alcohol managed to calm his nerves as he turned on the radio and heard another report.
"This just in: local Port Clovis sources have told Port Poseidon reporters that the area's Sapphire Bay district has been heavily poisoned!" A woman said.
Port Poseidon was where Night City resided, in a coastal nook of Utah, Nevada and California that bordered the badlands at all sides. It had many different districts similar to Port Clovis.
When V heard that Sapphire Bay had been poisoned, he widened his eyes. What the fuck was going on over there? As if his thoughts were heard, the news report continued.
"Eyewitness reports suggest the local shark hunter, Pierre "Scaly Pete" LeBlanc was seen dropping poison barrels into the area. Exact causes are unknown, but one witness has speculated that he's trying to draw out the Maneater of Port Clovis." The news anchor said. "Whether this has worked out or not remains a mystery. Stay tuned in as we get the latest updates. This is N54 news." She finished.
"All this to catch one fish. What happened to Kyle must have really pissed him off." The Corpo said to himself. "But he shouldn't be surprised, I saw what he did to it and its mom. He has it coming."
Yes, contrary to popular opinion, V was a Corp who loved animals. Especially sharks, who he found a certain kinship with in certain respects. As he continued to his destination, his life doctor called him.
"Hello Mr. Verne. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." He asked.
"We're not supposed to meet until the end of the week. Is something wrong?" V asked.
"Rather something to do with your neuralnet. It's exhibiting unhealthy amounts of stress." The man explained.
"Oh. My ulcer acted up a short while ago. That's probably it." V nodded.
"Remember, your exercises will help you. And perhaps try and pursue less stressful avenues of work." His therapist added. "Speaking of, you mentioned that you and your sister come from a pedigree of famous writers going back three generations. Perhaps you could follow that avenue?" He suggested.
"That's certainly something I'm looking at. And I've got plenty of time to plan out my first book." V nodded.
"Then I wish you the best. Take care." The therapist nodded as he hung up. V sighed as he leaned back and looked at the city outside his window, a hologram of a Widowmaker precision rifle floating in the air as he flew by. A short while later, he arrived at the bar's airspace.
"No designated landing site detected." The AI reported.
"Find a spot as close to it as possible. Fuck procedures." V instructed.
"Affirmative. Initiating landing sequence." The car droned before landing on the roof. As it did, the Corpo was met by three hooligans playing basketball.
"Hey! This look like a landing zone to you, cyber psycho?" One of them said as he walked up to V. "You could have crushed us!" He added as he tried to hit him with the ball, but V deflected it with little effort and sent it flying towards the second goon and knocked him out before he palm struck the first guy in the clavicle and knocked him down.
"Learn to read the guy you're trying to attack next time." V grunted before walking up to the door, where the Mox bouncer stood.
"Trouble wants in, huh?" She mused.
"No trouble, just biz." The man responded as she stepped aside, allowing him inside. As he walked in, the Corpo started looking for Jackie, but couldn't find him.
After a short while of looking, he finally stopped his bruiser friend sitting in a booth. He was quick to walk over to him and take a seat.
"Hey Jackie." He said with a smile.
"Don't come here often do you? Ha, good to see you again, cabron." The bruiser chuckled as he hugged his friend.
"Good to see you too, bud." The Corpo nodded. "So, what's new with you?" He asked.
"Eh, sparks flying between the Valentino and Malestram boys. But I can't complain. What about you? What's got your shorts in a knot?" The Street Kid asked. V then brought out his datashard.
"Datashard. Have a look." He said as he held it out to him.
"Mhmm, mhmm." Jackie nodded as he looked it over. "Definitely won't come cheap. Needs to be done on the sly, a crew of techies, a driver, a solo and a netrunner… But I don't think I can do a job like this, ese." He continued.
"Why?" The Corpo questioned.
"Not my style, and I honestly thought it wasn't yours either." He responded.
"Jackie, you know how Arasaka operates. I can't turn this down, if I do, I'm done for." V stated.
"Well, let's just liquor up and talk life, then." Jackie said as a waitress brought them some drinks. "Tequila, lime juice and grenadine, perfect for nerves." He nodded.
V took the drink before thinking about what to drink to. "Here's to changing lanes in life." He said as he raised his glass.
"Now that's what I like to hear." The street kid nodded in approval as the two clinked glasses and downed their drinks. "You know what I call all this Corpo bullshit?" He said. "Un Paco con el Diablo. You sell your soul when you join those Arasaka fuckers."
"That's the thing about sales, though. You can always buy things back." V grinned as he leaned back.
"Well, if you can buy yourself back, then do it." Jackie chuckled before two Arasaka agents suddenly walked up to them.
"You V?" One of them questioned.
"Yeah, and who're you? Don't believe I know you." V questioned back.
"That's not important. We're here for you." The agent replied. "Jenkins assigned you a task today. You're going to share the details with us." He continued in a demanding tone.
"How do you know about that?" The man questioned, before his body's systems started shutting down.
"You're officially being let go from Arasaka, as such all your implants will cease functioning and your access is terminated." The agent stated as V started feeling weak, while another agent grabbed the data shard. "Kill him and get it over with." He stated to the agent beside him.
"Hold it." Jackie said in his native tongue, getting their attention. "I think you two might have forgotten just how far from home you are right now." He stated as he loomed over the second agent. "Not sure this barrio suits you, nor is it a healthy option." He added further.
"Are you threatening us?" The other agent questioned.
"Just sayin, you start shooting, some of us may join in, and someone might die tonight." The bruiser retorted.
"Come on, we have what we came for." The leader said as they left, letting Jackie check on V.
"Well, guess this means you won't have to quit after all." He chuckled as he helped his friend up.
"I… wish I… could say the… same…" V uttered as he grew weaker due to his implants shutting down. "I feel like shit…" He groaned.
"Probably the same way my brother felt when he quit drugs, it'll pass." His friend said. "Come on, let's get you to a Ripperdoc, that'll help you feel better." He added.
"Just give me a moment to get my shit together…" V rasped. "I literally just lost control of my life… time for me to take it back." He tried to growl, but failed.
"Damn right." Jackie nodded. "You couldn't say no to them so they said it to you. This may not seem like it, but This is a turn for the better." He added. "'Sides, you still got your sister." He pointed out.
"You too, man." V added.
"Yeah, me too, hermano." Jackie chuckled as they left the bar.
(A few months later)
V spent his new life mainly making sure his finances were in order, getting a new ride from his sister when his company AV was taken from him, and becoming a Merc with Jackie in his off time from work at Militech.
And now he was the head of Militech's Counter intelligence, and was on the path to becoming the director of that branch. Thankfully, it was much less stressful than his Arasaka version of the job. As a result, his ulcer was finally gone, much to his relief.
As of right now, he was having dinner with his sister, her wife Esmeralda and her husband Benimaru, as well as a colleague of theirs: a woman named Meredith Stout.
Meredith had blond hair that was swept back and had a black cocktail dress on that hugged her in all the right places and accentuated her DD-cup breasts and heart shaped ass, likely trying to entice V so she could get herself higher standing.
V, meanwhile, was very much enjoying the free diamond shaped window that her dress gave him to her ample cleavage. He'd always wanted to marry a woman who he got along with.
And so far, the two had great chemistry. Turns out, she loved animals just as much as he does and also hated the Antolinis. Allow us to let you listen to their conversation…
"So Meredith, didn't you say that your dream spouses were a high ranking man in Militech that you could have a polygamous relationship with involving several other women for you and him?" Val asked, sipping her Rose wine.
"Yes it is, Val. And I'm not stopping until I find him and the rest of the girls." Meredith nodded before glancing at V, which didn't go unnoticed by Val, who smirked.
"V, didn't you say that you broke up with your last output after leaving Arasaka?" Benimaru asked.
"Yep. It wasn't working out too well either, honestly, due to our work loads." V nodded. "So, the two of us just called it off." He added.
"So that means you're single, then?" Esmeralda clarified, getting Meredith's attention.
"Yep." V nodded, which made the blondie in the room grow a grin on her face.
"Oh? And what exactly are you looking for, in a woman I mean?" Meredith questioned with the eyes of a cougar that had its sights set on a male in his prime.
"Someone that's not afraid of showing that she's strong, actually loves animals, and is far from afraid of bitch slapping animal poachers to their graves." V replied, sipping his glass of Blanton's Bourbon.
"Well what a coincidence." Val smiled. "That happens to be Meredith to T." She grinned.
"Oh really?" The former Arasaka employee hummed. "Meredith, is this true?" He asked.
"I saved a live Lesser Antillean iguana from being killed and now have him as my loving pet. How's that for an answer?" Meredith replied with a smirk.
V smirked back as he raised his glass. "I'd love to meet him." He nodded. "To finding new people." He toasted, the others joining in.
(Later)
V opened the doors to his apartment in the Corpo complex, him and Meredith making out passionately as they started stripping each other of their clothes moaning in passion and lust.
"If we're gonna do this, you're going to have to marry me, you know that don't you?" The blondie panted as they separated and the Corpo man started kissing her neck.
"Oh I know. And I'm fine with that." V replied in between the kisses he was planting on her neck. His hands roamed before they grabbed her ass, causing her to moan.
"Then—ah—I'm pleased to be your spouse, Mr. Verne." Meredith said seductively as she kissed his cheeks.
"And I am pleased to become your spouse, Mrs. Verne." The man replied as he kissed her lovingly while unzipping her dress.
"Oh, I love the sound of that~!" Meredith moaned as she took his shirt off.
And so began a night of passion and lust for the two of them.
ThermalsniperN7: Surprise! A new Maneater based story has appeared! And before you ask: Yes, it has elements from my co-author's story, A Shark's Love. But don't worry- there are differences.
Dragon Emperor0: We're essentially exploring an alternate timeline where V is a Corpo, and the Maneater is a Shadow Bull Shark Woman named Mako Kisame. And the Harem here will consist of her, Meredith and the rest of the female romance options.
ThermalsniperN7: The Atomic evolution set will be appearing as a character named Patricia or Patty later on. Speaking of which, here's which evolution set suits which lifepath…
Bio Electric set: Nomad path.
Shadow set: Corpo path.
Bone set: Street Kid path.
Atomic set: Undecided.
Dragon Emperor0: So here, Mako will have an Electric, Bone, and atomic sister, and a revived mother later on. Here are their names: Bone - Mara Kisame, Electric - Elektra Kisame, Atomic - Patricia "Peppermint Patty Or Patty" Kisame, and finally the no Evolution MILF - Barbra Kisame.
ThermalsniperN7: There was an early version of this… but I decided to scrap it since it was too messy. But yeah! See you guys next time!