This chapter is a bit shorter, because I didn't want to start another important plot point. Sorry for that, I think the next one will be longer.

"Seriously, the fuck was that," growled Kerry, after he took off the wreath.

He blinked a few times and rubbed his strained eyes. Damn, it felt like ages since the last time he tried braindance… Kerry completely forgot how exhausting it was. His mouth dried up and he could feel his hands were slightly trembling.

"Weird, wasn't it?" asked V thoughtfully. "Told you someone must've messed with that thing."

"Y'mean that static, eh?" Kerry looked up at V, who was apparently standing next to the armchair the whole time. "Haven't done BD for a long time, but can't remember 'twas like that."

"The static was added on purpose, obviously." V took the wreath from Kerry and removed the chip. He studied it for a short time, then hid the small drive into his jeans pocket. "Any idea why?"

"Thought brain job is your job, Sherlock," said Kerry, raising his eyebrows a bit.

"Oh, I know why," replied V with a little smirk. "But if you wanna be my Watson, you gotta prove yourself."

Prove yourself, huh? Kerry reeled back on the armchair and tried to recollect the fragments of the braindance he'd just seen. If there was anything he could tell without a second thought, he'd say that it was some sick shit, but that surely wasn't the kind of answer V was expecting. Kerry thought carefully about all the times he saw the static: near the windows, near the mirror and during the meeting with Diane near the end. Three times. If the static wasn't a random distortion or chip damage and there was some purpose behind that, then all those moments should have something in common. Could it be…?

"Well," started Kerry, "you can't see the snatcher in the mirror or hear their voice near the end. Not even once. The static's s'pposed to hide that fucker's identity, right? An' the location of the building too, I guess."

V nodded appreciatively.

"Congrats. Test passed. You're officially worthy of bein' part of the investigaton."

"Fuck, 'course I am! Say you'd doubted me and I'll conk you on the head!"

"I mean it, Ker." V grinned and put his hand on Kerry's shoulder, gripping it tight for a second. "I wasn't very convinced about the whole idea of you bein' my partner in crime, but I'm actually glad you're here with me. Got a feeling we can solve this together."

Kerry smiled back. He felt strangely proud that he managed to impress V, even if it wasn't anything big. And oh damn, it was so refreshing to hear someone being genuinely happy with his presence – not as a rockstar or an idol to admire, but as Kerry. Just Kerry.

Maybe as a friend too?

"Y'know, I tried editing that BD while watching," continued V, completely unaware of Kerry's thoughts. "You can get a third person view in the editing mode."

"Wild! Can you do that?"

"Yep. This wreath allows it." V waved the headset. "But I couldn't even enter the mode, the BD seems… ah, dunno." He scratched his head. "Protected, for lack of a better word. Never seen anything like that. Never even thought it's possible."

Kerry sighed quietly.

"Don't tell me it's a fuckin' dead end."

"Nah, 'course not." V smirked. "It's just a beginning."

V was a professional, Kerry had to admit that. When he first saw the merc, he thought V was just another kleptopunk from the streets of Night City. Living on the edge, always in debt to some shady gangsters, more lucky than good. It quickly turned out V's mind was as sharp as a brand new katana and he also had huge experience at investigations.

When they started planning the next move, Kerry immediately suggested they should go to Hayward first. It was obvious, as he was their client and he probably had more details to share with, maybe some of which importance he hadn't been aware of. V, however, just shook his head and said that it would be wise to learn a bit more about the braindance before they visit Hayward. He pointed out that there is a chance they could enter the edit mode and find something worth asking the client if they were to visit him anyway. That perhaps Hayward would spill the beans if he knew more than he was letting on.

"Okay," said Kerry in response, "but you just said you can't edit that BD. How're you gonna extract anythin'?"

But V had a solution for that as well, as it turned out he was good friends with one of the best braindance editors in the whole Night City. Kerry joked that maybe V could arrange an afternoon tea with the current mayor since he seemed to know many important people, to which V replied in all seriousness that yeah, sure, it would be no problem but Jefferson Peralez had recently blocked his number.

So much for trying to be funny.

To meet the techie, they needed to go back to Watson, but turned to Kabuki this time. Kerry realised he recognised the place in front of which V parked the car. In fact, he'd been incognito in Lizzie's Bar a few years ago because he heard that good joytoys were residing there. The word of the street was they were using braindance technology to spice up the experience and it made Kerry curious to such an extent that he decided he would try. He wasn't disappointed, the rumours turned out to be even more than true – however, as a twisted memorial to that night, his car got stolen from the car park in front of the club. It wasn't like Kerry was attached to the wheels, but he developed some kind of inexplicable resentment towards the place anyway and never visited it again.

"Don't like it," he complained, when they took the stairs to the Lizzie's Bar basement. "Don't like it at all."

"Chill out, Ker. She's a pro and pros never work on display."

"Well, but you're doin' it right now." Kerry smirked. "What if I scoff all your pro secrets?"

"Got plenty." V laughed quietly. "You can have some for a price."

Kerry shrugged.

"Sure, 'kay, so name the price and transfer is on the way."

"Who said I was talking 'bout eddies?" asked V with some strange tone.

Sadly, Kerry didn't have a chance to ask what it was all about, because V peeked into the dark room they reached, then turned back with his finger on his lips. Be quiet, but why?

The riddle got solved as soon as they walked through the door. The room turned out to be a real studio, right under Lizzie's Bar, probably directly under private booths. In the middle, there was a big, adjustable chair, similar to the one at Kerry's cyberware clinic, and on the desk he could see some high-tech equipment – along with food leftovers and cigarette buds. The owner of this all, a young girl, was sitting at the desk and she was in the middle of a braindance session. She probably was the editor V was talking about, because apart from the wreath, she was also wearing a haptic glove and doing some weird moves with it.

V approached the girl and gently touched her arm. There was the danger of frying up brain synapses if one woke up too abruptly, that warning was all over the BD headsets advertisement. Despite this, there were hundreds of casualties reported every week. Apparently, people still valued braindance fairytales more than their own lives.

"V!" The girl seemed really happy when she took off the wreath and saw the person who woke her up. Kerry had to admit, she had a beautiful smile. "Long time no see!"

"With emphasis on 'long time'," sighed V. "Good to see you too. How's Evelyn?"

"Ah." The girl became sad suddenly. She took off the glove, then reached for a pack of cigarettes and smoked one. "No changes."

"Damn. I'm sorry, Judy." V's voice sounded genuinely sad.

"Nah. It's okay." Judy waved her hand and then she pointed her cigarette at V. "So, why are you here? I won't believe if you say you wanted to ask about Evie. Know you too well."

"What if I say I missed you?"

"Nice try." She smirked. "You're lucky I like you, chromehead."

V reached into his pocket and pulled out the BD chip. He held it for a second in an open palm, as if wondering about something, but finally handed the small item to Judy.

"No! No fucking way!" she exclaimed, as soon as she grabbed the chip.

"W-what?" V sounded confused. "You know what this is?"

"Not talking about the chip, you gonk," snorted Judy. That was the moment when Kerry noticed she was looking directly at him… and he also realised he didn't put the hood on. "You brought here Kerry Eurodyne? The Kerry Eurodyne?!"

Yeah. Sometimes Kerry kept forgetting that fame was ten steps ahead of him on every point. But Judy was a friend from what V said, so there shouldn't be any problems… right?

"The very same," said Kerry flippantly. "And I'm probably not the most VIP persona that guy knows, tell ya." He pointed at V.

Judy's eyes lit up and she smiled very broadly.

"Fuck me, Kerry Eurodyne in my private dump…" she started slowly, but her voice was seething with excitement. "I've been your fan since I turned eight! You've probably heard it a million times before, but your music is what keeps me alive in this damn city. No joking."

That was… not exactly unexpected, but sudden for sure. Kerry did meet his fans in weird places – the strangest one was in the middle of a medical examination at the proctologist when the doctor asked if he could have an autograph – so nothing could surprise him. Usually, he didn't enjoy encounters with fans, as the vast majority of those people were half-brain fanboys or fangirls and Kerry often had no idea what to say to them, but… Judy seemed to be normal. She didn't squeak, not yet at least.

Besides, there was no escape at that point anyway.

"Oh, only a thousand, I guess." Kerry shrugged. "So which album is your fav one?"

Judy pondered for a moment, while playing with her green and purple hair thoughtfully.

"Aether, I think," she said finally. "It's different from the rest, I'd say… mystical, even? I mean, I love all those heavy albums, but using synthesizers… damn, it was a brilliant idea to mix in some electronics! And the lyrics to Black Sun on the Horizon hits me every time I listen to it, right into the heart." Judy put her hand on her chest. "Wish you recorded some more music like that."

Now it was Kerry who smiled. Aether was his most experimental album so far and the reviews were rather mixed, with a majority of negative. A lot of critics disliked the electronic tunes, but not many of them realised they were a nod towards the eighties of the previous century, which became popular in Kerry's youth again. Besides, the haters didn't bother to uncover the meaning of the lyrics which resulted in panning them as being "bland" and "pop-like". In fact, most of the songs were about very personal experience and feelings, such as divorce or depression. Kerry didn't care, though. Aether wasn't his favourite one, but surely was the most intimate and he definitely needed to record it. It was all the more surprising that Judy chose this particular album. On the other hand, what she just said about the lyrics… Perhaps, for some reason, she was able to understand the true feelings behind those songs.

"Been workin' on something similar, actually. Not identical, though, but experimental too… yeah, well, there's a small event next week in Dark Matter. Official release of the new single. Come along if you're free, can get you a pass."

Even though it seemed entirely impossible, Judy's smile became even broader. She jumped in excitement on her seat and covered her mouth in an attempt to quiet the little squeak she finally let out. Let her be, thought Kerry. Judy still seemed much more mentally stable than most of fans he had met so far. And he had to admit – her enthusiasm was cute.

"Not intending to interrupt, but we're here for a reason, Judy. We're working on some case right now," said V suddenly.

"We're?" she asked, astonished, and gave them both a suspicious look. "Thought Kerry Eurodyne is a musician, not a merc?"

V crossed his arms on the chest and got a weird look on his face.

"We don't talk about this," he murmured. "Maybe one day, but for now… we need your help."

Judy stared at them for a moment and finally, she giggled.

"The pass for that next week event is your bargaining chip, V. Tell me what you want and I'll see if it's worth the prize. It's something about this little one, right?" She raised the chip.

"See," started V, "long story short, a girl got kidnapped. Her husband got this chip as a message, but someone messed with it. Some parts are blurred…"

"Cut out," interrupted Judy and nodded. "Normally, when I trim a scene, I try to blend it with the next take, so there's no jump visible. But," she raised her index finger, "if you just cut it out, there's static left in place of the deleted part. Seems no one bothered to erase it. It happens."

"Can you recover those parts?"

"Probably no," answered Judy without a second thought and shook her head. "I may try of course, but don't expect much."

"Shit," cursed V. "So all that's left is the edit mode. Hope you can trigger it."

Judy frowned upon hearing those words.

"But you can do this by yourself. I gave you an editor's wreath. Is it broken?"

"All good in the hood. I tried editing as usual, but no such luck. This BD's like… protected. Locked. Never heard of somethin' like that."

Her frown got deeper.

"It's 'cause locking for editing is something new on the market," explained Judy. "You don't see protected BDs very often… Such things are done by people who are far more skilled than me and those are almost always shady stuff. Combined with cut out scenes… Maybe you shouldn't pry into it, V. Do you even know what you're dealing with?" she asked with a concern in her voice.

"Honestly? No damn idea yet," admitted V frankly and bit his lip. "But it's 'bout someone's life. We really need to learn the snatcher's identity and maybe some info on the place they're holdin' the girl. You're our only hope right now… I mean, my and Kerry's," he added after some hesitation, emphasizing the word "Kerry's".

Clever, thought Kerry, laughing on the inside. Brilliantly played. He could feel there was no reason to trick Judy like that, as despite what she was saying, she probably intended to help them anyway, but… just in case…

"He's right, Judy," added Kerry, nodding enthusiastically. "We don't have anyone else to turn to. If you don't help us… we can't save the innocent girl."

V turned his head so that their eyes meet. His determined expression didn't change, but Kerry could see clusters of tiny wrinkles that appeared in the corners of V's eyes, as if he wanted to smile.

"Fine!" Judy sighed heavily. "But if you wanna know my opinion, I'd stay away from the whole affair. I'll try to crack the security system, but that's it. Don't wanna be involved more than necessary, I'm planning to live some more."

"Love you, Judy," said V with relief. "How long is it gonna take?"

"No clue." Judy glanced at the small chip she was still holding. "Can't do it right away. Best I can tell, no sooner than two, three hours. I'll call you when I'm ready, okay?"

"Have I told you I love you?" chirped V.

"Love ya too!" added Kerry.

"Too much love will kill you if you can't make up your mind…" she hummed and then laughed.

"Torn between the lover and the love you leave behind," finished Kerry. "Damn, girl, you got some pretty good music taste!"

"Yeah, I know," admitted Judy, in a disarmingly honest way. "I'm your fan after all. Now, off you go. Need some peace, quiet and darkness to focus. But…" she hesitated and turned to Kerry again, "can I… ask you something?"

"Fire away."

"Can I… can I hug you?"

"Black Sun on the Horizon" is a song by Gunship. It's as Judy says - the lyrics hits you right into the heart, it's electronic and very 80s.
The song that Judy and Kerry sing at the end is "Too Much Love Will Kill You" by Queen. She's got great music taste!