V
She strolled through Arasaka tower like a rock against a river, parting anyone and everything around her in her wake. Not a single word, not a single insult. Only eyes on her, V tried to ignore it and remain cool but something was itching at the back of her mind. 'Why the silence now?' No one dared to say a thing to her, not a single word.
The receptionist was already replaced, a man this time, he seemed just as uncaring. 'Shit, already?' V retracted her gaze when the new receptionist glared at her with a mix of pity and disgust. Barely a day and already replaced.
She swallowed and shook her head, hastening her gait towards the elevator and quickly pressing a button to take her up. An AI chattered in her ear with a cheery voice trying to assuage any potential 'work risk anxiety' and 'undesirables.'
She ignored it.
Stepping through the doors, V was instantly met with a shoulder on her hand which she slapped away instinctively.
"Hey hey relax."
V blinked, relaxing her shoulders. It was just Frank, a more simple minded corpo. "Oh, it's just you Frank." He saluted at her with a reserved grin before nodding towards the empty halls which were usually bustling with other corpos.
Frank eyed her with thin lips, his eyes wide with worry. "You're the one he decided for then? No one else is here." He pointed out while whistling, "Good luck V."
Adjusting her ponytail, V scrunched up her nose in confusion. "Who's he?"
Frank could only laugh bitterly, almost as if he was saying goodbye. "I guess you'll find out, tell me when you get back." He tried to reassure himself of something, something he knew.
V was really getting tired of this shit.
Brushing him off, she gave her best no-nonsense look. 'Whoever they replaced Jenkins with really likes his theatrics.' She thought while stepping through the dimly lit halls, automatic doors opening into the antechamber.
V scrunched her eyes and looked around, "What? No 'step into the antechamber' this time? So much for secrecy." Maybe the new director of counterintelligence was a newbie, that would make her life a lot easier.
The doors opened without bothering to scan her, definitely not typical. It screwed with her mind, this silence. The doors opened without a scan, letting her through into the pitch dark room. The faint murmurs, a whisper all encompassing. The copper scent of blood, her eyes widened.
It smelled like smoke.
V's heart rate skyrocketed.
Below her foot was a body, Sanford. Jackie's age, cold corpo just like the rest. And yet his body was even colder now, V's eyes shook as she saw the source of the murmurs…
She wished she could turn back time.
A silver flash in the dimly lit chamber, the figure stood up to his full height with his figure shadowed by darkness only for the screen to whir to life, backdropping his silhouette and revealing a soul black as night.
V's heart stopped.
Black tattoos ran down his arms only hardly made visible by the light of the screen. He wore a dark cloak with a dim azure glare around his collar, his silver hair shone in the light and his strong back rippled with power. He was a giant, 196 centimeters of lithe muscle she could clearly see rippling underneath that coat of his.
Heavy set were those crystalline eyes, each narrowed into almost imperceptible slits and yet shone brighter than the backdropping screen. Not a single line of chrome or sign of implant on his body, not one.
That only meant this could be one person… No. One being.
Vergil, the Devil of Arasaka, stood across from her over Jenkins' old meeting table.
His eyes were blue.
His eyes were deadly.
V felt sick, her cheeks burning as a strong pull urged her to retreat. To run, to hide, to scamper away and forget all semblance of humanity in the process. A scream died in her throat while he turned and looked through her, pierced through her without prejudice in an aloof display.
She was an ant.
This was Jenkins' replacement? Not a man, but a DEVIL?
'This isn't happening, fuck! I… is he wiping out the entire counterintelligence board?!?'
Heart thumping in her ears, breathing sporadic. V swallowed the lump in her throat and inched away from the body at her feet, a chill running up her spine as her soles touched another deceased corpo.
"Shit!" V eyed the corpse, her breath stuck in her throat. A wave of ice cold washed over her and she shot her gaze back to the Devil.
Or to where the devil had been.
He disappeared when she looked away, gone was the Devil yet inside this hell he still watched her. Stalking her. She could sense his presence but V couldn't tell where he was hiding or why he felt the need.
V's skin heating, she clenched her fists but at the same time; her face was white and the air around her was thick like a suffocating blanket, her eyes surveying desperately to find a hint of the devil.
She'd only hear his heavy murmuring.
"When early morn walks forth in sober gray…"His voice sliced through the thick blanket like a sword through a falling droplet of fresh water. Human yet something else, reserved yet passionate.
A passionate intensity.
'When early morn walks forth in sober gray…'
V gripped the book strapped to her hip, eyes darting all around her. That verse… She knew that verse. But she didn't see him, only heard the movements of a ghost as flashes and wisps of dark azure darkened these chambers further. Each step felt like walking on fragile ice, she inched nearer and nearer towards the exit until-
Her neurons lit up with warning signals as she pressed against a figure, a hard body likely built from years of vigorous exercise and combat in the streets of Night City. She could feel his breath against her neck, controlled, entirely focused.
"Little wanderer…" He trailed off, words kissing her nape and sending chills down her spine.
V swallowed, heart beating in her ears like a machine gun. There was only one thing her mind jumped to, a single utterance. The only chance she had!
"Hie thee home!" She finished.
All was silent for what felt like hours, the beating in her chest almost reminding her of the night she spent sleeping in 'the Edge.'
'This is a better way to go out than drowning in a tub, at least.'
She reserved her fate a long time ago, it wasn't like anyone survived in Night City for long to start with. Dying at the hands of a legend like Vergil, a ghost, a devil… It was a mercy more than anything.
His breath washed over her bare neck one last time leaving goosebumps in its place, then, with little difficulty he brushed her out of the way and snatched the book from her magnetic clip.
…
She could only blink as he strolled idly back towards the table, his nose stuffed inside the book, her book. He wasn't killing her, he hadn't turned her into a shish kebab.
V blinked, then blinked again. A scathing hot fire bubbled up in her chest at the sight of him so… So callously taking her book! But she couldn't do anything, not to Vergil. She repressed that crippling fury inside and retained her coolness, the practicality required to be a corpo.
He flipped through the pages expertly, "You've taken excellent care of this, I never expected to see it again." Was his observation. Gone was the danger in his tone replaced with a cold, almost neutral calculation.
V swallowed, tugging at her collar. "Of course, vintage from the romantic age. Guy who sold it to me wasn't the biggest fan of Blake." She said while remaining perfectly still, her voice may have been expressionless but her body told a different story.
Tugging at her sleeves, her knees shook, her entire body screamed at her to run while he was distracted. But she could not move from her spot, "Was… Was it yours? Do you want it back?" She asked as more of a squeak than the leveled and cool tone she was going for.
Whatever, it wasn't like it made a difference anyway.
Vergil merely flicked his gaze towards her, almost uninterested. He shut the book and tossed it at her feet.
"No."
'No… To what?' She asked two questions.
An emotionless remark, but one with a hint of respect? It was his book, maybe he was a fan of William Blake at one point? It was most likely. She tried to read him to gain any insight, one of her talents as counter intelligence meant reading even the most stony poker faces. To see past other people and reveal their lies.
But he was on another level, it was almost as if there was nothing going on behind those cool blue eyes of his. Single minded passionate intensity.
It was crippling.
Vergil strolled up to her and crossed his arms, sword strapped to his waist. He was so much taller than her that she had to bend her neck to match eyes with him. He was about to drop a proverbial bombshell wasn't he-
Wait, why did he look so familiar. His features, especially his face, seemed oddly familiar, but she couldn't recall anyone in her life who looked the same. Those strong shoulders and piercing blue eyes, she faintly recalled seeing someone just like that.
'White hair is common enough… But where have I seen those exact eyes before?'
Noticing her intense gaze, the Devil of Arasaka snapped in front of her causing a flame to erupt from beneath her soles. She flinched away and kicked herself mentally.
He blinked and tsked as if recalling something annoying, "I'll cut to the chase, I need you to be the new sub-director of counterintelligence."
'Sub-director?'
Wait, he wanted her to be one? His second in command? There had to be a catch. Vergil was the quintessential corpo, at least in mannerism so there HAD to be a catch.
V narrowed her eyes slightly, meeting him head on despite their size difference. "I see, since you slaughtered Jenkins and…" She eyes the bodies littering all around her, the stench of blood still strong.
Gulping, "...The others. You decided to pick me." She half questioned him, half pressed.
He blinked twice at her, raising a brow almost imperceptibly. "Correct, you have a relatively harmless track record."
She tried not to blush.
"Much better than Jenkins for that matter."
She tried not to scowl.
V placed a hand on her hip, scrunching up her nose and narrowing her eyes. "I can tell that's not all you want to talk about, Is it?" The sword wielding Devil shook his head minutely, snapping his fingers.
Suddenly, the screen flickered on again and revealed a girl who looked to be in her early teens with shoulder length hair and two heterochromic eyes colored red and bluish-green. Athletic and tall, her cybernetic enhancements made her look more dangerous than the average woman however.
Stepping in front of the screen Vergil gestured to the girls side profile, "She went by Kalina ann, this file is one I compiled myself which you would've known if Jenkins bothered to heed my request over the past year or so." V stiffened at the mention of her former boss, still trying to process the fact that Vergil wanted her to be the sub-director just under him.
He used a remote to size up a specific image, a chip of some kind. "She has a construct I need, a man named Arkham is encoded inside."
"Who's he?"
"No one, but he holds crucial knowledge that I desire."
"I see, and you want me to find this Kalina ann?" Her specialty was finding people, no wonder he picked her… But as sub-director? What did that even entail?
Vergil twirled his Saya in his hands, sticking it into the floor. "Seeing as I have no desire to be a director for Arasaka, I chose you to unofficially take that role, in spirit."
He clicked his tongue, "Official duties I will have to attend to but management, employing, it will all be your call."
V pursed her lips, "Sir, I am flattered but I have less than a year of experience-"
He stared through her, uninterested. "That… Is of no concern to me, experience in this world is merely the experience of the deprived to scratch and claw for scraps of power while being powerless themselves." Vergil scowled, locking eyes with her and rooting her to the spot.
He crossed his arms and pointed at her, a heavy set glare. "You will be different, you will be better. Jenkins was too busy chasing revenge, I killed him because eventually he would've died anyways if not by my hand."
Vergil spoke with an icy tone, she could feel it. "He lacked motives, merely an animal clawing for more and more while destroying everything he touches. A disgrace."
Jenkins was always the one to make a show, elaborate or not, sometimes it got him into trouble…
She reeled back as Vergil finished with a biting remark, "His goals were not fit for his stature." She could only think of one way to respond.
"What are… Your goals, sir?"
Vergil stiffened, the first time she managed to catch him off guard. He paused and shut his eyes, "That is not your concern, but know this-"
His eyes flashed open in a glare of azure, his fingers clenching into a fist. "The power of Sparda cannot be contained by the folly of mankind, one day you and the rest of this city shall know what I speak of."
'Sparda?'
What an odd thing to say, she supposed that it was better left unsaid, what little he did say only raised further questions. But pushing luck wasn't the sign of a successful corpo, not at all. V relegated herself to silence, swallowing down any further response.
The Devil of Arasaka nodded, nothing else needed to be said. "Use your technology to access the data, it should be uploaded to your folders later tonight." He turned with his back facing her, tapping the ground with the butt of his Saya.
"You may leave, Valerie."
Cold, he didn't have anything else to say to her. She had a task and that was all there was to it, she wasn't in a place to deny anything or refuse his commands. If he could gut Arthur without a second thought and no cover ups then he could behead her in the middle of the plaza and nothing would happen.
That's just the level they were working on.
'You may leave? That's it?'
V almost followed his request, no, his demand-but instead she found her interest piqued. This was the first time she'd seen much less interacted with the so-called Devil of Arasaka, he was everything she expected him to be and more…
Besides one thing.
His subtle interest in the book she carried, something from his past. An elixir of knowledge that told her one thing above all else.
'He's human just like the rest of us.'
The thought was comforting at the same time it was terrifying, sublime. She wanted to ask more but the rational part of her brain forbade it. A simple salute would do, not that he was looking at her to notice.
He practically whispered his final adieu, "Feel free to contact senior operator; Kate Karbowski, but you will not pester me." His last words to her, brutally honest and efficient.
No room for argument, as much as she wanted to. To be brutally honest, she was glad to be dismissed. Every second spent in his presence was like walking on rusty nails, possible, but put too much pressure and-
They'll sink in.
Speaking of rusty fangs, 'He left Kate alive? That bitch always manages to slip out of everything doesn't she.'
The woman was a devil in her own right, always letting others take the fall for any shit she pulled, hopefully as sub-director she'd be able to have some leeway with the deadly vixen.
Still.
The world had completely flipped on its head in the last twenty four hours. She needed time to process, from Vergil's promotion and her subsequent one and the fact that she was going to be managing a covert operation to retrieve a construct engram of all things. From what she knew they were meant to contain personalities in the form of data, a way to become immortal for many people.
But they lacked a soul.
…
Stepping into the antechamber before always made her feel like she was naked, that she was being stripped away and laid on an inspection table. But now? It felt like a heavy chain around her wrists and ankles broke, the pressure lifting as the door automatically shut behind her.
'Relax V, just let it sink in…'
…
"Shit."
A weary smile adorned, she pursed her lips as if trying to frown at the same time. A sick crawling feeling was running down her back, flashes of shredded corpses and the faint scent of smoke from the destroyed implants. Book in hand, she left behind the carnage and tried to think of the brighter future that was in store.
After all, the corpo is an opportunist above all else. Always using the situation to get ahead and taking everything in stride without hesitating for a moment otherwise, flatlined, rejected, removed, let go. There was no time for doubt.
Not anymore.
'Forget everything else, forget Arthur, forget Frank, forget them all.' She didn't need them anymore, this was her show now.
Her gaze was steely, her eyes dead set and her posture perfect. Here she was strong, no longer just an underling. Answering to Vergil meant answering to no one else, he stood at the very top above all else besides the Arasakas themselves. Being his underling made her greater as a default, yeah, that's it.
'Sub-director V, I like that-'
Red white and death, a flash of silver hair on her left as she walked through the sliding doors parallel to another. A man, no… Another devil. V's eyes shot open, lips quivering while she slowed etched her gaze to follow the figure on her left.
He walked with an uneven gait, hands in his pockets. The man from earlier in the tram; he had a hole running through his red jacket and a giant sword on his back that was taller than she was. Devilish and rogue, uneven, unbalanced, unfocused.
The opposite of Vergil in every way.
Stunned in place, V watched as he stepped through into the antechamber with a dangerous grin marrying his lips, the same blue eyes as the Devil inside.
'That's the familiarity…' She realized, legs tied to the floor.
Face shadowed, only his white grin was visible to her as he trounced past. 'That's the similarity!' Two devils under one building, two of the same-
A deadly agony.
V bolted for the alarm.
Vergil
Power, the means, the will to power. An idea popularized by Nietzsche when he decided that humanity was driven by this call to power, the feeling of power growing, all that is good is merely power.
Vergil disagreed, power was not a good, power was a tool. And humanity did not wield power for the sake of noble strength, to control one's own fate… No, they wielded power to deny their very powerlessness, to create convenience. A posture, like a gorilla beating its chest when surrounded by hunters.
He desired power because he knew that without it… You were nothing, a mere puppet for the world to master as you dance along the lines of fate unable to change, unable to protect, to rely on the strings of others you intermingle with, convoluting the process even further.
He rejected the very idea.
"And with the second amulet, I shall no longer be bound by such…" He spoke to himself as he sensed the approaching power, the approaching entity.
"A cruel mockery."
He held his amulet tightly, the warmth thrumming against his chest in proximity to its twin. Now was the moment that would define an age, for the first time in centuries would the Key of Temen be united at long last.
The mobile device on the table vibrated as the sliding doors shot open, the dim light of the screen casting a shadow over his form while another figure strolled into his domain without a second thought, such a thing would usually result in the immediate death of whomever thought they could challenge him.
But Dante was different.
Dante was here.
A whistle, "Phew, you've sure been busy."
Vergil didn't bother turning around, "You came." A statement of fact.
He hmphed, clicking his tongue and cocking those firearms of his. He didn't say a word for a moment as he surveyed all around. "This where you've been holed up all these years? An errand boy for Arasaka?" He said, kicking a body out of the way.
He gestured to the entire room with his silver firearm, "Some party this is." He scoffed, gesturing towards the exit. "No food, no drinks, and the only babe just left." He said as if to accentuate his supposed failure.
Turning to face his brother, Vergil couldn't help but smile the slightest grin at his foolishness. "Oh little brother I do sincerely apologize for disappointing you, I was so excited that I could hardly concentrate on preparations for the bash." Edge laced his words.
Dante smirked at his instant bite back. He was the exact same as he remembered him, same Dante, same cockiness. It was like going back through time, a sort of deja vu. Neither of them reacted when an alarm blared and red lights began flashing through the room, periodically lighting up their features.
Red flashed over his face, "Whatever. In other news, it's been a year since we last met. How about a kiss from your little brother?" He opened himself up for a hug, the callous energy in his eyes flaming like the red coat he wore.
He quickly spun his firearm on his finger and brought it up to eye level, "Or better yet, how about a kiss from this?" Vergil stared down the barrel without fear, one of Dante's prized pistols he never let himself go without.
Pathetic.
Dante laughed, his finger trigger was clearly itching. Vergil would love to see him try and hit him with that. The red flashing lights and alarm made up for the silence. Dante tilted his head, chuckling still.
"So, this is what they call a heartwarming family reunion."
Vergil let his smile fall.
Click
The Yamato's blade flashed out of its sheath, the smallest hint of the blade visible.
"You got that right."
Yorinobu Arasaka
Fear, fear was the sole thing keeping him going. He hated that fear, the feeling that one day everything he's ever done will be for nothing and Arasaka will be untouchable. These lingering threads of fright and fear haunted his every move, his every waking moment spent recalling how it made him feel.
He swore that he would dispel that fear one day, and his Father, Saburo, indulged in that fear… It was the core of his being. Give someone fear and they will bend the knee, strike it deep into their soul and never let go.
That fear he's felt every day since that night in Saburo's private study, it made his skin curl, it made his skin burn.
Yorinobu Arasaka's blood boiled.
Inside his penthouse overlooking the plaza, he paced back and forth with a phone pressed to his ear. "Damn you Vergil, pick up!" He cursed the empty space, the silence that was presented to him at all times.
Tall, lean, expressive in every action. He wore glasses and had dark raven hair, despite being nearly a century old he hardly looked middle aged. And yet with how much Vergil made him want to choke the life out of the nearest attendee, you'd think he would have gray hairs by now.
'Vergil has always been a wildcard, but this… This is unprecedented.'
Oh yes, he's heard of his little killing spree, the so-called devil of Arasaka had been busy at work; he was a respectful warrior, but slaughtering the entire counterintelligence board was not what Yorinobu considered honorable.
The slight whirring of two black eyes with points of red, machinations whirling into motion as a modulated voice rippled through the penthouse, "You struggling with the brat?" Yorinobu ignored him, he didn't pay the machine to talk.
But when it came to Vergil, he always had something to say.
Adam Smasher, a legend to the rats of society; a pawn to the top brass. A weapon to point towards your enemies, nothing more. And yet there were times when that weapon decided to grow a personality, to regain that one aspect of himself he still hadn't molted away with implant after implant.
His voice wasn't pleasant on the ears, an inhuman rasp. "How long until you'll let me rend his tiny fucking body apart, days, weeks?"
Yorinobu growled and tossed the phone away, pressing his thumbs against his temple and cursing in Japanese. The Devil of Arasaka was drawing too much attention, and the other branches were already aware of the slaughter. It was a shit show and he knew Vergil would merely dismiss him to his face if he tried to reprimand him, no, only facing him with respect and as an equal did he even acknowledge.
But patience was running thin, his eyes bleeding into a rage.
"Smasher!" The full borg reared his head up, blinking robotically with two dreary eyes.
Yorinobu clasped his hands together, muttering as he swallowed down the lump in his throat. "Don't let your fear get in the way, I admire our friend here but he must be taught a lesson." Otherwise Saburo would turn his beady emotionless eyes to Night City, these attention drawing schemes have gone on long enough.
Smasher laughed deeply, a raspy drawl. "Fear? I'm not so terrified of pretty boys and their faggy hair dues, I am the one who kills." He cracked his cybernetic neck and stood to his full height, exiting from the shadows and revealing a body draped in black. An entirely mechanical body rippling with power, narrow and sleek.
A being fit for pure power.
"It's been six long years since I met that boy, a test for my oldest body… Clearly it wasn't up to par."
Yorinobu nodded, crossing his arms and glaring through the window overlooking the city. "See that you don't fail, you are the only way we can limit his actions to not destroy everything I've worked for." He didn't bother looking for a response or waiting for one.
"Yes, I'll teach him a lesson, all in good fun."
Unlike most men, Smasher felt fear and wanted to feel more. The humanizing ability to fear; such a thing would be a drug to the inhuman cyborg, a weapon given life once more… Adam Smasher felt fear that day for the first time in a long long while, he felt fear of death, of loss, of weakness.
And it only made him stronger, deadlier, an even greater tool. And an excellent body guard.
Adam chuckled with excitement coursing through his artificial veins, his weapon systems whirred to life and with a small haze around his body, lightning danced in those beady eyes of his. "The Devil of Arasaka? That used to be my name, slaughtering demons, the cyber-psychos… That was my calling."
Yorinobu rolled his eyes, scoffing and looking towards Arasaka tower. "Do as you must, just make it quick and deliver my messag-"
Crash!
"I'm going to have some fun, try not to die, Yorinobu!"
The window blew apart as Smasher shot out of the penthouse like a bullet, jutting his hands into the side of the building to slow his descent to the ground. Yorinobu scowled while watching the egregious destruction from afar, shaking his head and cursing. Of course Smasher would go off the rails at the tantalizing prospect of fighting The Devil of Arasaka.
As if sensing his inner suffering, an explosion rippled from above.
Yorinobu whipped his gaze towards the sky to see an explosion of debris from the upper layers of Arasaka tower. The glare of his glasses fading to reveal two terrified eyes, a rippling explosion in each.
Arasaka tower was under attack.