Night City.

Born the brainchild of Richard Night's ambition of a new and awe-inspiring slice of the New United States. For some, it was a paradise, others; the very epitome of Hell. And for the mercenary who came to Night City in the pursuit of becoming a legend, it was different.

Adam Smasher, David Martinez, Morgan Blackhand, Rouge Amendiares, Hanako Ararsaka of The Arasaka Corporation, and Johnny fucking SIlverhand, are all legends in their own rights.

Time itself was a blur to V, who came to Night City on the cusp of a deal that went upside down from the moment he accepted the gig; transporting an actual live Iguana with help of Jackie Welles, a man he hadn't known at the time would become a very important focal point in the development of his time in Night City to become the very thing of legends, or to die trying. With some days seeming to blend into one, the pair of them got up to all sorts of mischief and fuckery. The only thing keeping the other out of jail or on the corner strung out on a bad braindance was each other, and the small group of those people the pair had met along their journey to the top.

Jackie's unique sense of humor paired with V's noble, but focused mindset of navigating the turns and twists of Night City gained the two of them certain audiences with fixers, middlemen, and gangoons who jumpstarted their career in leaps and bounds before the biggest of all fell through.

The raid on Arasaka tower in order to secure The Relic; an experimental biochip, given multiple theories of its true purpose and their own, should they manage to have it. It seemed almost too easy, V thought once or twice during the heist.

Until it wasn't.

The culmination of the bullshit came full circle when Saburo Arasaka was murdered by his own son, in cold blood. From there, things quickly unraveled, from his friend dying in his arms to him ending up with The Relic in his head now. Time seemed to never be the one thing that V had any of when he really needed it. And, as if the universe itself couldn't resist fucking with him even more, the ever so famous, or infamous in V's eyes, Johnny SIlverhand was the very thing that encompassed The Relic, it essentially being a temporary mind coffin to the rocker boy turned 'freedom fighter', was now suck in his head to do God knew what at the time. Even now, it still baffled V as to how or why he did not go batshit insane with everything piling on top of him.

The only bright light at the end of the proverbial tunnel was in an unlikely business alliance through the Queen of the Afterlife to help him find any hope of ridding himself of The Relic, and Johhny along with it. Though, in hindsight, plotting the kidnapping of one Anders Hellman by way of sabotaging the local Solar Power Station did seem to only put people's preconceived notion of his craziness on the same spectrum, if not above it when it was found that he played a hand in doing so. V did indeed get his man, information on what could be done to fix his problem was little, and only served to put him back at step one.

His pursuit to become one of Night City's legends, and rid himself of Johnny Silverhand often came at the expense and or well-being of others first, in order to put the merc in the best spotlight possible to make any sort of noticeable change. V soon came to a crossroads in a choice on his way on his path to his salvation from the constant torture of having to endure two people inside of his mind, the constant sickness and the random passing out would stop.

He could have leaned on the arm of Rouge, Silverhand's ex and gone straight balls to walls in a firefight, with the fire in both of their eyes that each of them possessed.

He could have gone at it alone with him and Johhny Silverhand, knowing that fight would be one of legend in itself, and that Silverhand's personal vendetta with the psychotic cyborg killer would have come more quickly to light than a grenade lodged in one's nose.

Anything with Arasaka directly was never a good idea considering Arasaka's track record with humanity and profit. Even if it would have cost him his life, there would have to be something else to be done in order to break himself off a life he was sure would only give him a fate worse than death. From how Johnny told him time and time again, going out in a blaze of glory would hold so much more of an accomplished feeling than being a corporate dog.

But there was one that seemed to speak out to him in his most dire moment on that rooftop above Misty's. It was one that he didn't want to, against what his mind and even his heart did; was something he would feel eternally guilty for even entertaining the idea of.

Panam Palmer; the one person since coming to Night City that V could say without hesitation was the textbook definition of fire incarnate. Her love for her family and personal pride was only outweighed by her quasi-neurotic nature when coming to blows with her clan's leader for a better, more independent future where they would know no masters but themselves; to embody the true sense of the word free spirit, and press on in the face of the unknown. Through their mutual agreement of helping the other, the end result was something that neither could have honestly said was something that they wanted, but understood why the empty cavity remained in their chest until the spark was lit. Her smile, her skin of honey-dipped bronze, and the swagger in her step that came with a woman on a mission all drew the merc initially, but what truly captivated him, urged him to go down deeper into the rabbit hole of Panam's mind was her drive to do whatever it was that she set her mind to; be that for the betterment of herself, her clan, or in recent weeks, for himself. An itchy trigger finger was considered a good thing under the right conditions, and others like using a military-grade RPG to down an AV to doing the absolute craziest thing of assaulting Arasaka tower with him, and even contending with Adam Smasher himself, all with a smile on her face and her trusty rifle by her side.

The price for V's freedom came from those around him who believed in him and his cause to rid himself of the biochip, which he would be forever in their debt for doing all that they could. His old life before coming to Night City mattered little to the one he lived in it. No, what did matter, was the time he possessed with The Aldecaldos, who, through time and tribulation, took him as their own on account of his nature to help those in need, and by proxy, Panam. A jacket was the ultimate ask, not with words or counsel. The sentiment behind it meant so much more than something that could be bought, and the unspoken bond tied each and everyone to the other.

It would take him some time to grow accustomed to it.

''Night City chewed us up good, didn't it?'' Panam called over V's right side, gazing at the dystopia below from the dam's vantage point that gave them both Night City in all its glory and lack thereof. It was ironic in a way; their last day in this war-torn part of the country, and here they were being the ones on top for a change instead of being looked down on. V never gave much thought to the question as Panam carried on with her final thoughts about the city as she reflected on her time there. ''Bid the city farewell, we won't see it again.''

A twinge of longing swam through V's mind at her words. As easily as he and Jackie came to Night City was just as easily that he was left, and with someone who cared for him, saw the value in him where he thought there was none, and showed him how to love and be loved; all things he would have trouble figuring out, though, with Panam, it wouldn't be long before she showed him the ropes of nomadic life; an idea that he was nowhere near as against then when the idea was thrown his way after the pair's adventure in securing the Militech Panzer and the brief conversation that passed between the both of them proceeding V's passing out. ''Yea, sure thing. Just need another minute out here, is all.''

Panam smiled at him knowingly, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder as she passed him on the way to her Thorton. ''Take a good, long look, V. If you really need it. I'll be in the car waiting.'' V's heart nearly skipped a beat at her touch, but he managed to still his face and give his partner a nod. No sooner as she passed his field of vision, did his gaze fall to her backside, the confident sway of her hips in those same battle-tested jeans nearly hypnotizing him into following blindly to the ends of the earth. Stop it, V thought to himself, truly taking a moment to admire what he managed to grab hold of, or rather what grabbed hold of him. Her silhouette was briefly covered by the light of the sun. An angel by any other name would be just as sweet, but Panam was his angel, in every sense of the word, and he would do his best to pay back the debt to her and The Aldecaldos for the rest of his days, as it was only fair.

A few minutes passed with V's attention barely focused on the sight of Night City and more so on what exactly could be done to help alleviate his condition. Getting Johhny Silverhand out of his head was only, the beginning, from what Alt managed to explain to him in Mikoshi without him wanting to pull the plug early on account of her lack of urgency.

But, she was an AI when V really stopped to think about it.

6 months. It seemed to be so little of a timeframe, yet so far away in the grand scheme of V's life, the bit of it he never game much thought on planning out. He never knew of anyone crushing their bucket list in half a year unless they were rich or just plain stupid. He was neither, so he would have to do something in order to improvise. A restlessness in his mind began to form, the rhythmic slamming of his fist against the concrete being second nature to him as V breathed a heavy sigh, his eyes closed and entire body going still, hunched over the ledge. ''Could really use a miracle right about now. Heh, if I believed in God, maybe, but I doubt I'd be in his graces with all the fucked up shit I've done over the years.'' V said to himself under his breath, not trying to have Panam think him any crazier than he already was. She didn't need the extra headache, or for him gto be taking his ever-so-sweet time when they had to make for Arizona, and soon. He could mope later. Though a whine sounded in his ears, V swore up and down on account of the MaxDocs and Stims being taken after his fight with Smasher, that he heard. . .Johnny's voice.

''Get the fuck up, Samurai. You ain't done yet.''

The crazy bastard was right. He wasn't dead yet, not counting the one time that he actually did and came back. But still, Johnny's possible ghost voice was right. He had Panam, he had The Aldecaldos, and they him.

V had his goal after leaving Mikoshi: find a way to live true.