Authors note: I just wanted to thank everyone who has read, favorited, and or followed this story; not gonna lie, I didn't think this story would have been followed as much as it has.


First Contract

Tusayan Arizona

0530 Hours

September 5, 2077

I awoke earlier than normal; kind of strange but nothing compared to the strangeness that had happened to me these past few months, as I rolled over to see Panam still fast asleep, I gave her a light kiss before getting out of bed. After getting dressed, I decided that seeing as we were in civilization again, I would check through my voice messages, and lo and behold I had messages from Mama Welles, Kerry, Dr. Viktor, and Judy. As I listened to them, Mama Welles was not to happy about me being with the Aldecaldos; though I couldn't blame her after the whole drama with Jackie. Judy on the other hand seemed to be doing well after she left NC and I decided to call her up seeing as the last time I spoke to her was right before she left. Figuring this would be a good enough time as any, I decided to call her up.

"Judy here."

"Hey Jud, it's V." I said as I heard her get excited.

"V; damn, haven't heard from you in quite some time; tell me, still enjoying NC?" Judy asked me as I took a seat at the bar.

"Actually, I'm not in NC anymore; I'm currently in beautiful Arizona where the air is much cleaner, and you can actually see the stars."

"Wow, never thought you'd leave NC; tell me, what convinced you to finally leave that hell hole?"

"Same reason as you I suppose; after Jackie died, I became depressed and it only got worse when I found out the Relic was killing me. To be honest, I was at wits end when I ended up falling in love with a woman whom I'm now traveling with; if we never crossed paths, no telling what would have happened. It also didn't help that not only did she go out of her way to help me, but she is smoking hot as well." I explained as

"Oh, who is this woman V; you gotta tell me." Judy said as she got a giddy as a schoolgirl.

"Her name is Panam, and we both are riding with a nomad group; kinda funny how I went to NC after my former nomad clan disbanded, and then I leave with another."

"Damn V; I'm glad you finally found yourself somebody to share life with. Anyways, how's the whole relic business treating you; Johnny still being an asshole?" Judy said as my mood soured at the thought of Johnny.

"It's a really long story, but in the end Johnny and I became almost like brothers; however, it was short lived as the Relic was getting progressively worse to the point that I had to find a way into Mikoshi to separate myself from Johnny. Unfortunately, he is no longer with me, and the biochip caused to much damage and I got only six months to live." I explained while noting Judy became worried when I mentioned I'd be dead by this time next year.

"V, if there is anything that I can do at all; please let me know; I cannot lose you too."

"Sure thing Judy; though I gotta figure out where I have to start first." I mentioned as I noticed Panam had messaged me about getting her some coffee to start the morning off right.

"Hey Judy, I gotta go; Panam is asking me to bring her some coffee." I said as we said our goodbyes and disconnected. After grabbing the coffee, I made my way back upstairs to the room that Panam and I are staying in, and upon entering, I noticed that she had already hopped into the shower. Leaving the coffee on the table, I hopped into the shower right behind her and give her a small kiss on the neck and a tiny nibble on her ear lobe, eliciting a moan from her, and her turning to face me. After a quick makeout session, she had told me to turn around, which I obliged her while being intrigued at the same time. Her idea that she whispered into my ear was that we would clean each other's back off. We continued in the shower for another ten minutes before Panam decided that it was enough, and we needed to get dressed for the upcoming day. A few things were on the to do list; mainly getting a layout of the town, hearing what the hotel manager needs help with, and seeing a ripper doc to see if they know anything about this damn relic. As I opened the closet to retrieve my clothes, I had noticed that our Aldecaldo jackets were packed away and in their place was my clothing set that I purchased after getting to NC.

As I waited for Panam to finish getting dressed, I decided that it would be a good idea to open the window shutters and let in some sunlight. Peering outside, I noticed that the day was not only beautiful, but the sun was particulary bring today, or so I thought; maybe I just wasn't used to being away from large skyscrapers and buildings yet. It's just as Doctor Viktor said, plenty of sun and the freedom of the open world did wonders for my mental health and having Panam at my side just exemplified it even further; thinking on it, I kinda wished I had meet her earlier. Walking over to the computer, I opened up the web explorer to take a look at the recent news, and one article in particular surprised me.

Night City

August 1st, 2077

Word has reached us that Arasaka has endured a devastating attack on their NC branch; reminiscent of the 2022 attack that left thousands of dead. The death toll is still unconfirmed, but early reports show that nearly all the people inside have been massacred when Arasaka Tower's computer mainframe was hacked; the result being the automated defenses designed to prevent another nuclear act of terrorism has turned on their owners. Early reports also indicate that Hanako Arasaka as well as is Yorinobu Arasaka's bodyguard Adam Smasher are among the dead; Yorinobu is expected to make a statement in a few weeks' time when he recovers from injuries sustained from the attack.

In other news, human cloning has progressed into the early stages of trails and combined with Arasaka's "Protect your Soul" program, can soon see an end to the last hurdle of humanity all together, death. Many people are unsure just how much this would cost, but just like "Secure your soul", it may only be reserved for those who have the capital to invest into it. Though this does beg the question, we determined that we could clone, but has anyone questioned if we should?

As I continued to read through the articles that were of little interest, I heard the bathroom door open reveling Panam wearing the same outfit she had one when we left NC. Getting up, I grabbed my iron just to be on the safe side, the Malorian Arms 3516 which became my go to pistol after I retrieved it from a job that I had with Rogue. With luck, I would not have any need to use my sidearm, but you can never be too careful, especially when you are in a place you've never been before.

"So, what's on the schedule for Panam Palmer today?" I sarcastically asked her as she gave me a slight elbow to the waist.

"A wise guy eh; well, I would like to take a trip down to the garage to see if they have any parts that I could buy to upgrade my Thorn with." She said as I gave her a little nudge back and eliciting a laugh from her in the process.

"Sounds like a good plan; I may need to take a look around there as well to see if I can find a more advanced computer module for my car."

"A computer module; what for?"

"Simply put, I have an AI that I brought with me from NC, but my current onboard computer module is too weak for me to install him into my car." I explained as I went into detail on a job I had back in NC with the cab company called Delamain and how I was given this particular Delamain after merging the personality constructs. I figured that it would be beneficial to have Delemain installed on my main vehicle incase anything happened, then he could take command of the vehicle. As we walked out the room, I remembered that the manager of the hotel wanted to speak with us about a potential job, so I figured our first stop would be to speak with him. As we went downstairs, we entered the lobby of the hotel and asked Lana where her father was; telling us he was in his office, she proceeded to show us to his office. Walking into the office, we were greeted by Lana's father who beckoned us to take a seat as he poured a little bit of whiskey into a small shot glass and gave it to us.

"I just wanted to thank you again for letting us stay without charge; it's something that you honestly didn't have to do." I started before getting cutoff by Lana's father.

"As I said yesterday, we are more than happy to adequately compensate our daughter's rescuer, anyways, this is also the perfect time for us to get acquainted; you see, I happen to be one of the fixers in this town and I can get you into contact with them, but first I need a favor."

"Alright; I'm listening." I said as I placed the empty shot glass onto the table next to Panam's glass.

"Lana, can you get a map of the surrounding area."

"Sure thing dad." Lana said as she walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a decent size map of the state and placed it on the table.

"The issue that we have is the Raffen's have set up camp here and have been harassing people passing through; until recently things were kinda quiet with them, but they escalated their attacks and have started murdering people. If you can eliminate them than I can put a word in with the rest of the fixers and see if we can dig anything up for your situation."

"How do you want to go about tackling this Panam? I remember the last time we did something remotely similar, I got swarmed by Raffen Shiv pretty quickly." I said as I turned towards Panam who was deep in thought; formulating a plan that she no doubt would like to sleep on. Knowing her, she'd want to use the Panzer and just batter down their gate and eliminate everyone inside; the issue though being two against many is never good odds.

"I'll need time to think, but I've got a few ideas; we can discuss them on our way to the garage." She mentioned as we shook the managers hand and left.


The small town of Tusayan had everything one could want if they were raising a small family; hell, it even had an old-time drive-in theater that was still operating. As we were walking down main street, I noticed that town life here was significantly different from that of NC; in place of the clubs, strip clubs, bars, BD studios were small, medium, and large parks, movie theaters, and libraries. A longing feeling soon overcame me as I watched the local town-folk go about their daily routine and as the children were playing in the park; funny seeing as not even a year ago I thought the best life possible could be obtained through the hustle and bustle of Night City. Matter of fact, I felt like I was the baddest motherfucker alive when Jackie and I were running together with Merc work, and all the clubs we'd hit was a time to be alive. Of course, that all changed after a botched job and my life was drastically changed, now I just fight to survive for Panam's sake. As we continued our way to the garage, I felt Panam wrap herself around my arm and as I looked at her, she looked completely in peace; like there was absolutely no weight on her shoulders.

"You know, this is really nice." I said as Panam looked at me and smiled.

"It is, like there isn't a care in the world." Panam said as we arrived at the garage and walked inside. Entering the garage, we were greeted by the clerk who looked a little uncomfortable with Nomads in his shop. If I had to guess, probably something related to the Raffen Shiv in this area and their atrocities to the surrounding community.

"I do hope you'll are not here to cause trouble." The clerk said as he was reaching for something; if I had to place a wager, I reckon it's iron. Not actually that bad of an idea, having some form of defense would make a potential robbery much riskier and potentially save the man's life; though I should calm him down before me and Panam are staring down the barrel of whatever he has.

"Easy choom, we are not here to cause troube; matter of fact, we just want to do a little shopping." I said as I defused the situation and placed the clerk at ease.

"Oh, my apologies; I didn't recognize you and we've had some issues with some nomads around these parts killing, raping, and stealing; you can never be too careful now adays. Anyways, what is it that you are looking for?"

"Well, I'm hoping you'd have a computer module powerful enough for an AI." I explained as the clerk looked through his catalogue

"And what about you Ma'am, anything I can do to help?" The clerk asked Panam as she gave him a list of parts that she required for her Thorn.

"I'll see what I can do, but it may take a week for me to acquire all these parts; if you want, you can pay for them now and I'll call you when they are ready for pickup." The clerk said

"How do we know you won't try to pull a fast one on us?" I asked him as the whole paying and not having it on hand didn't sit right with me.

"Well, as you can see this is a small town and unfortunately, I have the only auto-mechanic shop here, as you could imagine, if I did something like that I would not be in business for long." The clerk explained as I looked at Panam whom seemed to be thinking on it before voicing her opinion on the mater.

"Unfortunately, I don't think we can pay you in full for parts you don't even have; however, would you accept us paying twenty percent now and we would pay for the rest when it arrives?" Panam asked as the clerk thought it over for a minutes before agreeing to her terms and wrote up a contract.

"That I can do, and if you sign here on this contract, I can place the order for the parts and have them ready for pickup when they arrive." The mentioned as he handed us a pen and we both signed and paid for the order before leaving. As we stepped outside the garage, we noticed that it was getting close to noon and started walking towards the commercial district to get some food. Walking down main street, we noticed that there were more people out and about and while being more crowded, the crowd felt oddly comfortable compared to how it would have felt in NC. After five minutes of walking, we had come across a small street taco stand and at Panam's insistence, we decided to order food from there. Not gonna lie, I was hoping to get some Mexican food seeing as it is my favorite, and by the looks of it, Panam's favorite too; after placing our orders we sat down on a small bench overlooking a water fountain and started to discuss the day's events.

First and foremost was our plan to deal with the Raffen Shiv; personally, I would just take the Panzer and level their hideout, and Panam seems to agree. Though getting into another major fight just after the Arasaka raid was far from our agenda, we knew that if we didn't do something about the Raffen's, they would eventually become our problem and it would be better to do a preemptive strike than wait around like Saul did back in the bad lands of NC. As we continued to converse our lunch was ready and I went to get it, as I walked back, I could see Panam was lounging on the bench and sat back up when I came to sit down. I handed her order to her and proceeded to eat mine; an interesting feeling too as when the relic was acting up, eating was difficult for me, but now it is normal again. After lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel's bar and drink before leaving to head back to the Aldecaldo camp first thing in the morning; tell you what though, I was not looking forward to the drive. I always enjoyed drinking with Panam, even way back when we first met and she has good taste for beer; though today would be interesting as I wonder if alcohol would still fuck with my nervous system like it did when I had Johnny riding shotgun in my head.

"Panam, you know that you can always come to me for anything when it comes to leading the Aldecaldos." I said as I took a sip of my beer and she turned to me with a slight smile forming on her lips.

"Thanks V; I really appreciate it." She said as I placed an arm around her and pulled her close, which she gladly reciprocated.

"Believe me when I say this; you'll make a great leader for the Aldecaldos, and Mitch, Cassidy and I will be there to help you should you need it." I told her as I kissed her on the cheek and noticed that her blush was reddening.

"Oh, you better expect you'll be helping me quite often; though it's funny as I always looked at Saul and his leadership with disdain, but now I understand he only wanted what was safest for us." Panam said as the nastalaga was starting to creep in.

Flashback

Panam PoV

The Aldecaldos camp was bustling with life and I was getting settled back in; just an hour prior Saul has told me that I'd be leading the Aldecaldos by his side and I had never been more terrified in my life. True, from what V had said that I'm a natural born leader and had the Aldecaldos best interest in my heart, but something else had taken my heart's interest as well; that person being V. I was now torn between my family and the love of my life as I sat on my bed contemplating the events of the previous three months, and how quickly I fell in love with V. Getting got up, I looked over and saw V was still unconscious after his fall in the cantina and my heart ached for whatever was ailing him; it was there that I made a vow that I'd help him get better. As I walked outside my tent, I was approached by Saul.

"How's V doing?"

"He's still unconscious and I don't know if he'll wake up anytime soon. Saul, I'm scared for him; one minute he was fine and the next he was passing out and the blood Saul, there was so much blood, I thought he had died right then and there." I screamed in between sobs; Saul placed a hand on my shoulder, and I started to settle down; I guess the stress, fear and anger that I've had bottled up was starting to come out.

"Panam; I've seen V fight, so I highly doubt he'd give up this fight without seeing it through to the end; however, we are now in critical danger and need to leave this place before the Raffen Shiv come back with greater numbers." Saul said as I immediately got worried; mostly for V as he had practically no one that I know of that could take care of him.

"And what of V; look at his Saul, he can't stay here alone."

"I know that Panam, which is why we are taking him with us; he's much safer with us than by himself at this point." Saul said as he called Mitch over so that his order to pack and move could quickly be spread through the camp. "Panam, we'll place V inside your truck, and I'll ride with you to provide support should you need it." Saul added as we both walked up to the cot and managed to lift V up enough to place a small gurney under him to make carrying him easier. After words, with the help of two other Aldecaldos, we lifted the gurney and walked it over to my truck and placed V in the back of the cab.

"Saul, do you mind driving so I can be in the back caring for V?" I asked as Saul thought it over and figured it would be best for me to be in the back to keep V's head elevated.

"Sure thing Panam, but we will need someone else with us then to man the gun if we get attacked mid move." Saul said as he called Mitch over and told him the plan, which mitch agreed. Saul and Mitche's vehicles would be driven by some of the veteran Aldecaldos which would help alleviate the logistical nightmare of leaving vehicles behind and needing recovering later. In a record time of three hours, the Aldecaldos were on the road again, and heading to their destination before leaving North California again. After an hour and a half of driving, the Aldecaldos arrived at the new location that they'd set up shop. Of course, the first tent to be put up was mine so that they could get V out of the sun; funnily enough, someone placed a second cot on the opposite wall of the tent and a chair between them. I also decided that it would be a good idea to get V out of his heavy and bulky cloths so that he could remain cool and rest. When I walked outside the tent, I saw Saul walking up to me with an Aldecaldo jacket fitted for a man and he handed it to me.

"This is for V Panam; I decided that it's time for V to become an official member of this family." Saul said as I could feel my heart throbbing and excitement grew; something told me that V would accept without a second though so I took it hung it up in the tent. After sitting down in the chair again, I waited for V to wake up, and to my surprise, he started to rouse not to long after; maybe fifteen minutes give or take.

V's PoV

I awoke to the worst headache possible, that damn relic must have malfunctioned again and with how it feels, I need to get this corrected soon, or I may not even make it. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I saw Panam sitting in a chair next to where I was laying down and I was relieved to see it was her. As I got my bearings, I soon realized that the Aldecaldos must have moved because the area looked different from what I was used to. From what Panam told me, they packed up and moved three hours after I passed out and had been out for at least half the day; what got my attention though was the tent, the two cots, and the Aldecaldos jacket hanging above my cot.

"Hey Panam; what happened?" I asked her as she sat next to me.

"We are in the camp; we moved shortly after you fell unconscious. V, you gotta tell me what is going on with you. One minute you are fine and enjoying a beer with me and the next you're unconscious and bleeding pretty badly." She told me as I could tell she was wanting to cry but kept her nerves in check for me.

"Panam; it's getting worse." I started before taking a deep breath and explained to her the whole Johnny Silverhand construct sitting in my hand, and how this damn chip was killing me; it was at this point that I actually started to cry a little bit as the whole reality of my situation came crashing down on me and hard. After my story, of course she was skeptical at first thinking I was playing a prank on her, but she soon realized I was being serious and quickly got concerned again. It was at that point that I changed the subject, and the first one being the jacket as it sure as hell looked to small for her considering her breasts are big.

"Hey Panam, what's with the Aldecaldos jacket hanging above this cot?" I asked her as she looked at me with a really proud look on her face.

"Well, you see; seeing all you've done for us, you are one of us, an Aldecaldo." Panam said as I took in the news kinda shocked; never thought I'd actually get into another nomad group, and yet here I was getting inaugurated into one without even trying. The news itself was quite a shock to me, but maybe I just found what I needed and longed for. And having a family with Panam definitely had an enticing ring to it as well; she would make a great mother one day.

Flashback end.

As we downed our fifth beer, we soon realized that it was close to the bars closing time and with one last chug we made our way back upstairs to sleep; knowing that tomorrow would be a pretty long road trip and we'd need our energy. Here's hoping that the camp was fully functioning and we could get right to work.


End: I just wanted to apologize with how long it took this chapter; it proved to have been kinda difficult and I had writers block for a few days. Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you to all those who liked and followed this story, and thanks to those who have reviewed it as well. Furthermore, I am thinking of going for a more first person perspective when dealing with V and Panam and would like to have your input on whether it would be a good idea or not. As an example, the flashback with panam is what I am thinking of going towards, though am still unsure.

Until next time.