Chapter 5: Bad Guys Don't Knock

His broad hands roamed over her lower chest, brushing and squeezing the wounds while letting out a deep humming. It was extremely uncomfortable, especially since Judy wasn't wearing any bra at the moment.

But Viktor Vektor was a professional. He didn't give her breasts even one glimpse, but instead took her right hand and checked the red soon-to-be scar around her wrist.

Next, he made a short check of her vital signs via her personal link before he put some nano-patches on the wounds and handed her a bottle of pills.

"Immuneblockers. Take one each day, two if you feel pain in your lungs or wrist," Viktor told her as he got up. "You got pretty lucky, kid, that V was there in time and brought you to me."

"I'm grateful," Judy said and put on her top. "Thanks…to both of ya! I promise, I'm gonna pay every Eddie back as soon as I get the money."

"Kid," the broad man then said with a soft chuckle, lying one hand on her shoulder, "if anyone, you should thank V. She paid everything. All I can give you is my expertise and the advice of an old man to take it slowly. Your lungs are half synth now and your body has to get used to 'em as well as to your hand. So, no marathons or hard work for at least one week, got that?"

After receiving a slight nod from Judy, he then turned towards V, who had watched the check-up from behind, leaning against the wall. "I hope you got a plan, kid."

"Hope so too, Vik. Thanks for everything!" she replied, shaking the Ripperdoc's hand. Viktor then took his leave and Judy and V remained. The sun was already setting, painting the entire room in a slight orange tone.

"Wanna take a shower? You've been down for three days, so…"

Judy scoffed and took a whiff from her armpits, scrunching up her nose in disgust after she did so.

"Yeah, I think you're right."

The young woman then cautiously got up, still feeling a bit weak, and walked towards the bathroom, which didn't have a door. Without hesitation she took off her clothes. She wasn't shy when it came to showing her body, plus that she had already watched V naked, secretly. So, it was just fair and square if the violet-haired woman could now take a look at her.

And indeed, V stood there for a moment, not moving but only gawking until she eventually snapped out of it and said "I'm gonna getcha a towel."

Chuckling softly, Judy took position under the shower and pushed the button that enabled the stream of warm water. After a first sigh of relief, memories about her last shower with Evelyn flooded her mind, followed by the events that had come after this. She missed her best friend. What had happened to her? Where was she now?

"Dammit, Eve, why are you always such a magnet for trouble?" she mumbled, her fist hitting the wall, before she unclenched it again and whispered "I hope you're okay, wherever you are."

She then stopped the waterstream and stepped out of the shower. V had already prepared a towel and some clothes, which were neatly piled up at the rim of the sink. Cautiously, the Hispanic woman dried the wetness off her body and put on the fresh clothes, mainly consisting of a black top and gray shorts.

V was sitting on the sofa, back towards Judy and watched the latest news of daily death and destruction. The shutters were closed now, a sign that the sun had already set.

"Um, I'm done," Judy then mentioned in order to get her host's attention. "Mind if I lay down again? I'm pretty busted."

"Nope," V replied and turned off the TV. "I'm pretty done, too. Just take the bed, I'm gonna sleep on the couch."

Ten minutes later, both women had finally laid down. V on the couch and Judy in bed.

And though both had been tired beforehand, they both were still awake. Judy, because her head was spinning with thoughts, and V, because she somehow couldn't find a comfortable spot, yet.

Being aware of the other woman's restlessness, Judy spoke into the obscurity "You don't have to sleep on the couch, y'know," and received an answer right away.

"You sure 'bout this? Don't wanna cross your private space."

Hearing the doubts and even some insecurity, the BD-techie chuckled and answered "V, the bed's big enough and as long as you don't get touchy, we're gonna be fine."

Then some commotion and the rustling of fabric could be heard and right after Judy had scooted a bit over, V crashed down beside her.

"Thanks, Judy!"

"Hey, don't mention it," she replied, giving V a slight bump. "You saved my life, V. Givin' you a comfy place to sleep is the least I can do. Though, I don't wanna know how uncomfy your couch must be that you prefer this bunk here."

"Hey!" V then exclaimed jokingly, bumping the young techie back, who just chuckled again.

Silence settled in as both tried to sleep again. But while V was slowly drifting into sleep, Judy still couldn't find some rest since her head was filled with so many unanswered questions.

"What's V standin' for? If I might ask, of course."

"Hmm…?" V hummed with a drowsy sigh, before she answered. "Um, Valerie."

"Valerie-and…"

"After my parents died and my clan decided to fuck me over, I lost all my roots. Names are like dust in the wind in Night City. So, why bother with 'em if a simple letter can do the trick and nobody gives shits 'bout you anyway? Only people I consider as friends are allowed to call me by my name, 'cause they're the only ones who care anyway."

"Valerie… Actually a cool name," Judy returned, letting this name reverberate in her mind, just because she liked the sound of it. Though, the story behind it sounded very tragic. But the Hispanic woman decided to not ask any further for the moment and changed the topic. "So, I guess I'm your friend then, huh?"

V turned on the spot and faced Judy, who was now looking at her as well. "Maybe I'm just a gonk, but somehow I trust you. I dunno. And you can only trust friends, right?"

"Guess so…"

Judy had already made the one or other bad experience with trust in her life, so she remained cautious. From her point of view, V was indeed a total gonk to trust her just like that. But maybe that's how she was. Caring and friendly. A bit naive, maybe. The sort of human being that was totally misplaced in the big city.

"Judy…" V then said, already sounding drowsy again. "What's the story behind your name?"

"I thought names are dust in the wind for you," Judy replied a bit more sour than intended, yet recalled that V had told her her name without hesitation. With a sigh she managed to gather some trust. "But if you wanna know, it's Ricarda Juanita Álvarez."

No answer. Neither a scoff nor a confirmation. And the reason was quite simple: V had already fallen asleep.

For a moment, Judy stared at the figure of V in the only slightly enlightened darkness. Even though her demeanor was indistinct, she realized that her savior was sleeping peacefully.

Had V even heard her name before she had entered Morpheus' realm?

Judy didn't know, but it would be one of the topics that would keep her awake for another couple of hours.

Black military pants with neo-kevlar weaving, a gray nanofabric tank top and a jacket with flexible armor plates woven into it. Plus, a .45 caliber M-10AF Lexington with additional magazines and a knife.

As Judy watched how V dressed and geared up, she asked "Expecting trouble?". She, herself, still was in her nightgown and about to inspect the pile of clothes the violet-haired woman had given her.

"It's like with condoms. Better have one and don't need it, then needing one and don't have it," was the mercs simple answer as she checked and loaded her pistol.

An answer that made Judy scoff while she began to dress up as well.

From the corners of her eyes, V watched how Judy took off her clothes, but then quickly looked away again and got the techie's gun from the armory, handing it to her as soon as she was finished.

"Show me again how you aim," said V, gazing deeply at the other woman like an instructor. After an annoyed frown and rolling eyes, Judy did what she was told to. And V immediately realized again that she had no experience with how to use a gun.

She then approached her, pushing and pulling at some parts of her body, saying "Keep your back straight and lean a bit into the gun for more balance. Arms straight and not bent or you'll fuck up the follow-up shots. You're right-handed, so aim with your right eye, not the left one. Try to feel the trigger. Don't pull through. Watch for the breaking point and then pull or you'll miss your target easily. Got that?"

"Geez, I guess… And I thought operating my microwave was difficult," Judy replied and tried to implement her friend's recommendations, which eventually looked even worse than before.

Internally, V shook her head upon how unrelaxed Judy was at handing the gun. But instead of instructing even more, she approached the younger woman from behind and guided her with her entire body.

"Like that…'' the experienced merc told the young techie calmly and pressed her body closer. V felt her warmth and how soft her skin was, and smelled her sweet fragrance. She enjoyed this moment and when she guided Judy's triggerfinger until it clicked, it was somehow the most exciting thing she had done in years.

Both then turned their heads to look at each other and there was this short moment when time was standing still, which got broken when V smiled and whiffed "See, easy-peasy."

Both then broke contact again, clearing their throats and blushing.

"Uh, thanks…Val. Um…"

"You're welcome. Let's hope you'll never need it…"

Observation.

Observation was pure agony.

It was nothing more than waiting.

Adolfo Brians hated to wait. He loved to be in action, whereas the killing blow was waiting at the end as a satisfying crescendo.

He was a tall, handsome man. Sportive and attractive, his black hair bound into a ponytail. Actually, he looked like the son every mother-in-law could wish for. But in truth, he was an assassin. An ice-cold psycho-killer with no remorse or conscience.

Being an operative for the right employer came with its perks. A good income. State-of-the-art implants. And, of course, having fun with your prey beforehand.

The downside, however, was, if you screw up the job, then you'd be screwed as well, or severely punished.

Yes, Adolfo had succeeded in killing Adriana Oliveros, but leaving traces was unacceptable in this game. Caren Crown had put their new scrambling-tech to the test by hiring professionals, who'd try to crack it. A standard procedure that mostly ended deadly for those who would be so lucky to crack those safety measures. Continuous improvement process, it was called, short CIP.

Adolfo had been made by leaky safety measures and Caren, his commanding officer, had screwed up by failing to clean up that mess. Their employer had generously given them seven days to cut those loose ends or they'd be considered a loose end as well.

Unfortunately, they had not been able to find that BD-whore who had brought them this trouble. So, they were forced now to observe certain key positions, where this Álvarez-bitch could show up. Even scanning the database of the hospital and the morgue hadn't brought up anything.

"Selina!" he called into the back of the black van he was sitting in. And just a few seconds later a young, Asian woman appeared, who seemed to be pretty annoyed. Her messy, shoulder-long, pink-dyed hair hung loose from her round, with piercings plastered, head. She wore a typical tight netrunner-suit, its zipper all open down to her pubic mound.

"Whaaaat?" she said with a big sigh and licked her fingers like she had enjoyed a tasty meal.

"Anythin' on the net, yet?"

For a moment, the young netrunner stared into empty space, her eyes glowing red, until she snapped out of it again and returned with a snippy "Nope. Can I go back 'n' finish watching my porn now? Was in the middle of my second round, y'know."

Adolfo knew one thing, he hated Selina. And if she wouldn't have been Caren's sister, he would've already killed her for this insubordination.

"See ya, big guy!" she simply mentioned as she didn't get any contra, rubbed her spotted fingers under his nose and vanished in the back of the van again.

"Lil' horny cunt," he muttered and took a sip of cold coffee as he tried to ignore the moans that were chiming from the back of the van.

A black car pulled over. An Archer Hella to be exact, and as he saw who emerged from it, he spit the brown liquid all over the windshield.

"There she is!" he yelled and in a second, Selina was back in the front, too, her breathing heavy and one of her perky, pierced breasts hanging out of her suit.

"Who's that other cunt?" she asked, earning an angry glare from Adolfo.

"Just do your fuckin' job and scan her, gonk-brain!"

"Right," she returned and began her hack. "Shit! Thick ICE and a jammer. Can't crack it that fast, and she'd notice me if I'd try." A few seconds later, the two women were gone.

"Alright. Looks like we got a new player in the game," the male assassin mentioned and initiated a call. After two seconds, the face of Miss Crown, a.k.a. Caren appeared.

"Lieutenant, report!"

"The target just arrived. But we have a problem. She seems to have hired an unknown bodyguard."

"This lil' shit could never afford a bodyguard. Seli, did you scan her?"

"Sorry, sis'. She was too well protected. I think she's a netrunner, too," answered the pink-haired woman while she fumbled her breast back in and closed the zipper of her suit.

"I knew it!" Miss Crown exclaimed, her tone signing that she was upset now. "I knew that this lil' bitch was way too stupid to pull this off. UGH! Why didn't I see that?!"

"So, you think the target hired this netrunner to do the job?" Adolfo asked with a frown, getting a loud response right away.

"Of course, you dumbass! Cross-referencing, my ass. Only a netrunner could've cracked our scrambler, and we need to know how she did it. New objective: capture the netrunner, alive!"

"And Álvarez?"

"I don't give a shit what you do with Álvarez. Stick your cock down her throat, kill her…I dunno. Just silence this cunt!"

"Understood," Adolfo confirmed as he checked his Melorian Overture revolver, whereas Selina put on a bulletproof jacket and equipped herself with an SMG.

"I'm sending a team over. This time, we need to do this right. No one-man-show!"

A bit furious, Adolfo replied harshly "I don't need additional men for these two bitches. They're just standing in my way."

Unimpressed, Miss Crown returned "You can use 'em as you see fit, I don't care. But Selina will be the only one who can take care of that netrunner, so keep her safe. You got that?"

"Understood, Captain!" the assassin answered and left the van.

"And Seli…stay safe, okay."

"Will do, sis'! Love ya!" the Asian woman returned joyfully as she readied the gun and followed Adolfo. Then, the call was terminated.

"Just turn left here and park the car," Judy told V as both were approaching the building, in which the BD-techie's apartment was situated.

The building itself was an old-fashioned, small three-story apartment block at the edge of Kabuki, near the Data Term. It was painted blue and looked run down…like the rest of the city that wasn't in the center.

"Home Sweet Home," she then mentioned dryly as the car stopped and she disembarked it, followed by V. They both walked along the building towards the entrance, whereas, out of a sudden, the merc softly touched Judy's elbow and whispered "Just keep goin', I'm right behind you."

Judy didn't know what this was about and kept on going until she had reached her apartment.

"Oh fuck, no!" she moaned as she saw that the door was wide open and it was obvious that her place had been ransacked. A soft touch on her back told her that V was there too, who walked past her.

"Everything's clear," she said after she had scanned the place and both entered the apartment. And while V closed the door, Judy inspected the damage.

Everything that hadn't been stolen, got destroyed or vandalized.

"Fuck!" the young techie cursed again as she saw her entire technical stuff - her life - in shatters.

Yes, this Crown-bitch and her crew had searched every nook and cranny, scavenger and thieves had taken care of the rest.

"I'm sorry, Jude!" V mentioned, sounding truthful as she looked over the remnants of her friend's life. She felt really sorry for her, yet knew that it would only make things easier to leave everything behind and vanish from the face of the earth.

It suddenly knocked at the door, and while Judy drew her pistol, V remained relaxed and went to open up.

"Hey, what're you doin'?! What if it's the bad guys?" Judy said, but only received a smirk by V.

"Bad guys don't knock, Jude," the merc replied and pushed the button that let the metallic door slide open. Behind it, stood a black-skinned, skinny guy with gray hair and cheap implants.

"Uh…h-hi! Is, uh… Is Judy home?" he asked, being obviously nervous.

Immediately, the techie appeared beside V, reassuring "It's okay! Hey Rufus, did you see who did this?"

"I-I don't know who they were, but they…they came in, guns blazin' 'n' shit and then went into your apartment. The whole show was over in, uh… maybe ten minutes. I-I tried to close the door, but… Then the scavs came, and…"

If the story hadn't already been clear enough before, Judy listened to it anyway, until a movement behind Rufus' back shifted her attention. She saw this tall man with black hair, bound into a ponytail and remembered him from the virtu she had edited. The virtu that had ruined her life. It was the assassin. Beside him, was a young woman with pink hair, clad in a netrunner-suit.

Their sights locked and time stood still for a moment as realization struck them both.

Out of instinct, Judy grabbed V by her arm and pulled her inside the apartment, while Adolfo and Selina drew their guns and began to shoot at her. Poor Rufus, unaware until the very end, got perforated by a dozen bullets and went down.

"I knew it!" V hissed as some bullets hit the wall she was hiding behind, drawing her gun. Judy, on the other hand, just pressed close to her, her eyes closed as she waited for the hail to end. And it did, not two seconds later.

"Hey!" chimed a male voice, probably from the guy with the ponytail. "We know that there's no escape for ya. The building's surrounded and you're just two. So, how 'bout you kill that lil' cunt, come out and we talk?"

"So that you can stick a blade in my guts again? No, thank you!" Judy yelled back into the short silence before the storm. Yet, the answer surprised both women.

"Nobody talked to you, punk! Let the grown-ups talk and shut da fuck up!"

Judy and V looked at each other for a moment, both being entirely puzzled why the latter one was of importance out of a sudden.

"What do you want from me?" V yelled back. "I don't know ya."

"Don't play fool with me, girl. We know who you are," he shouted back. "Listen, whatever this cunt's payin' you, we'll double it. And maybe we even got a job for ya."

"A job? Who're you workin' for? Corpos?"

"Kang Tao if you need to know. But we take jobs from everyone who has the money to pay us."

"Color me intrigued. Do I have time to think 'bout it?" V shouted back, gazing at Judy who was looking at her with worry. But with a smirk and a reassuring, soft touch on her shoulder, it was swiped away in no time. V would stay loyal to her, though it could easily mean her demise.

"You got 30 seconds!"

Thirty seconds. Not much time, but it would have to do. V's eyes began to glow blue as she mentioned "There are three fuckers down the hall, and four more on the staircase. One leading operative, one netrunner, five enforcers. Gotta take 'em by surprise."

Judy was just astonished how V could stay so relaxed upon this overwhelming, superior force of enemies. They could simply storm the place and mow them down, yet so far didn't, because they wanted her friend, out of whatever reasons, obviously alive.

Then there was this revelation about Kang Tao. Miss Crown had mentioned that Oliveros had been on Kang Tao's payroll. So, why had they killed her? A question whose answer would've to stay in the shadows for now.

"Jude," the violet-haired woman then whispered towards the techie, letting her snap out of her thoughts. "Try to find every bit of sturdy fabric and tie it together! We need to bail through the window."

After a short nod, the lanky techie went to work, while V focused. Her eyes began to glow again and after a second a scream could be heard from the hall. Right after it she left her cover and sent a barrage of well-aimed shots down the hall, ending the life of one enforcer. What followed as an answer, was another hail of projectiles that was impacting into the walls, punching out big chunks of concrete.

"Two down…" she whispered to herself as she released the half-empty magazine of her pistol and replaced it with a full one. She then gave Judy a short glimpse, who was still busy knotting several pieces of cloth together.

She was just preparing another attack to hold the attackers down, but then felt something. A warning appeared in her eyesight, telling her that someone was trying to gain access to her system. And that way faster than she could react.

A stinging pain went through her skull, forcing her to gasp and go on her knees while everything she was able to do was to hold her head.

"Judy…!" she groaned and right away, her friend was there, kneeling down beside her.

"Shit, V. What's happening?!" she asked with worry, almost panicking as she didn't know how to help.

"I'm gettin' hacked…" the slightly older woman replied under pain with gritted teeth. "I…I try to fight it, but…"

She then looked at Judy with a determinant gaze, handing her her gun.

"You need to hold 'em off as long as you can and gimme some time."

Instantly and without further thinking, Judy knew that it was now up to her to do the shooting while V was having her struggle in the net. She then heard the cracking of concrete pieces under heavy boots and realized that the enemy was closing in.

Taking one last breath with closed eyes, she took out her own pistol as well and then shot with both guns blindly down the hall, so that the incoming enemy was greeted by a bulletstorm that was devastating in such closed spaces. And one particular bullet would eventually make things even worse.

"You got 30 seconds!" Adolfo yelled down the hall as he was waiting in his cover, which was the door to the emergency stairs.

Selina was waiting at the opposite side of the hall, in the cover of the staircase, while one enforcer was simply leaning against the concrete wall, securing the entrance to Judy Álvarez' apartment, while the other four were waiting down the stairs.

"She's not gonna take the offer," Selina sent via the com-line, while she was roaming through the datanet of the building, trying to find an access to shut off the enemy netrunner.

"And how'd you know, wiseass?" he replied sourly, already tired of waiting.

"Female netrunner intuition. Something a gonk like you will never understand."

This snark in her voice. This insubordination. Oh, how much he hated this little bitch! "Let's see how smart you are if I shove my revolver down your throat."

"Lame threat," she merely replied with bored yawn. "Even if you could, you can't touch me, 'cause my sister would raise hell on your ass and rip off your shriveled dick."

He was just about to give a harsh reply as one of the enforcers on the stairs began to scream out of pain and collapsed, his the stairs down rolling body bringing the others behind him to fall. Being distracted, the unknown woman appeared in the doorframe of the apartment and shot a bunch of bullets, most of them impacting into the uncovered enforcer while some other projectiles hit Adolfo's and Selina's cover.

"See, told ya!" the young netrunner then spoke through the com, now getting busy again. "She somehow must've a visual on us, or she couldn't have hacked one of our men. Maybe a micro-cam… Yup, got it! Using it as access… Got that bitch! She's puttin' up a fight, but she should be busy for a minute."

"Alright, everyone, let's move in!" the assassin then ordered over the team's com, leaving his cover as he was followed by the other enforcers, who had managed to form up again.

He was so certain that everything would be over in minutes now. That this operation was as good as successful. However, the flashing events that followed only seconds later, were crushing these expectations mercilessly.

Out of a sudden, this Álvarez woman leaned around the corner and aimlessly sent a barrage of bullets down the hall, flatlining another two enforcers and forcing Adolfo to lay down.

"Shit!" Selina's voice then suddenly chimed through the network. "She's…she's countering me… A trap… ICE is breaking… AAAHH!"

He turned around as he heard Selina's screams, witnessing her losing her consciousness. She collapsed out of her cover, and only by chance a stray bullet impacted into her skull, painting the wall behind her red with blood and brain matter.

Yes, he had always disliked her, but seeing his partner's sister and a valuable operative dying like this, he lost his composure. He activated his military-grade Sandavistan, which made him almost as fast as a bullet, making it easy for him to dodge them. After drawing his knife he sprinted into the apartment, ready to kill, but instead, he looked down the barrel of the enemy netrunner's gun that was constantly following him. Quickly, he became aware that she also might have had a Sandavistan. But he didn't have much time to give it any deeper thoughts, because a second later, he got hit by a bullet.

It happened fast. Even so fast that Judy had problems not to get dizzy.

This guy with the ponytail had just appeared out of nowhere after V had shot at him with inhumanly speed.

She blinked, barely realizing that the wall at the opposite side of the door was constantly peppered with bullets, while V still tried to shoot back, but had to take cover more and more, until she had to retreat. She grabbed Judy by her arm plus the pile of together knitted fabric and went into the small bedroom.

"Tie it to the bed!" the merc-woman ordered while constantly firing at the apartment's door.

Judy had just finished tying the knot as she heard a clattering sound of heavy metal on the floor. Both women gazed with shock at the two grenades that came rolling into the room.

"Fuck!" V muttered and within a blink of an eye, she was pulling Judy with her arm around her hip towards the window, grabbed the tied fabric with the other one and jumped through the glass out of the window before the entire room exploded right behind them.