Once again, V felt an impact.
Her vision focused first. Much the same as her awakening during the night, she found herself near enough chewing asphalt.
Then, her hearing went back to normal. The sound of hustle and bustle. Chatting. Footfalls. Beeping. Distant sirens. V groaned, making a move to sit up. Each of the teenagers stood as if nothing had happened. Interestingly, they were no longer wearing those strange outfits. Rather, it seemed they were dressed in school uniforms.
A point of note was that the small child was nowhere in sight either.
Indeed, much to Felix's word, this definitely was not Night City. For one, it was far to clean. There wasn't even a single piece of trash in sight.
"What the fuck is this!? Now where are we?" River's voice carried over the noise of the crowd. "Wasn't that the exit!?" Gritting her teeth, V got up. Her body felt heavy and her head pounded. She was absolutely exhausted.
Even still, she could see people were beginning to stare.
Judging from the whispers and murmurs V was picking up, everyone was speaking Japanese.
Joker hobbled forward and yanked on River's jacket. "Listen, I don't know what's going on either, but maybe we should talk about this somewhere more quiet?"
For a moment, the ex-cop looked as though his brain had jammed.
During the silence, V felt a gentle pressure take a hold of her hand. Judy pressed herself close. She was shaking. It was nearly unnoticeable, but it was indeed shaking. V squeezed her hand and gave her an understanding look.
Finally, River came to his senses. He grunted, let his shoulders sag and nodded. "Fine… I guess there's no sense in making a scene."
With that, Joker led the way.
After a very awkward and silent train ride, the group had arrived at a place called Yongen Jaya. Or so the station tannoy called it. The solo had never heard of it. She still wasn't even sure where the hell she was. And was sure the other two didn't either.
After another five minutes of awkward silence, they approached a back alley. Gingerly, Joker opened the door to a small cafe. Immediately, a strong smell of freshly ground coffee blew out. It mixed with another smell. Cooked meat and spices.
Simply smelling it was enough to cause V to salivate.
"Ah. You're ba- oh? You've brought friends?" A male voice. Deep and gentle, yet authoritative at the same time. Casually, a man leant against the store counter with a large newspaper in hand. An older gentleman, it seemed. Slicked back salt and pepper hair gave him a fairly refined look. Though his pink shirt, apron and slacks shifted it to a more casual style.
As each new person stepped in, the man's expression grew increasingly confused.
Then V, River and Judy stepped into the threshold. His expression finally rested on being incredibly concerned.
V couldn't blame him. Joker's friends were all teens. Meanwhile, V, Judy and River were well into adulthood.
The man grunted as his eyes squinted. He seemed to be eyeing Judy in particular. Something that earned him a suspicious glare back from V. "I hope you're not getting involved in gangs, Rin. I'll throw you out in a heartbeat." Joker shook her head at that. Though she winced a little at the movement.
"Just because she has tattoos and a weird hairstyle, that doesn't mean she's in a gang."
So that was it.
Even still, V couldn't help but quietly giggle. Judy technically was in a gang. Though likely not the sort this old man thought.
River stepped forward and tried his best to put on a calming smile.
"Sorry. Your daughter recommended your cafe to us. Uh… we are new to town. Do I smell Jamaican Blue Mountain?" Almost immediately, the old man's demeanour shifted. He grew more relaxed and a wide grin settled on his aged features.
"Daughter? Ha! Rin isn't my kid. I'm just looking after her for the time being." He gave a hearty laugh as River sat on one of the stools. "I can tell you're not a native speaker so I'll let it pass. Why didn't you say you're a coffee connoisseur?" To which River gave a sheepish chuckle. He then shot a glance and a wink towards V. His message was loud and clear. The man then nodded to Joker. "Oh, you'll want to head up with your friends. There should be some leftovers in the fridge if you get hungry later."
Everyone then shuffled through the shop and up a flight of stairs.
Everyone save River who had seemingly made a new friend. V had no clue what a blue mountain had to do with Jamaica, but it was clearly the right thing to say. Coffee was coffee in her eyes.
The cafe's attic was quite large considering the cosy atmosphere of the shop. Dusty, to be sure, but rustic. A damn sight better than some of the apartments in Night City. The beginnings of personal decoration were strewn about. Most notable were the posters of - what V assumed to be - various action flicks. Towards the corner was a workshop table which played host to numerous half-finished projects. From first glance, it looked like lockpicks.
Joker slowly hobbled to a bed in the corner of the room and immediately slumped onto it, face first. Gesturing to the room in general, she could barely mutter "Just… make yourselves at home."
"How are you feeling, Rin?" Panther softly sat down on the foot of the bed. Her features creased in worry. Meanwhile, the bear girl - whose alias V had yet to hear - sat herself down on a padded bench. A spare from one of the downstairs booths. She had roused from unconsciousness just before they left Mementos, but it was clear she was still completely drained.
"Uuugh…" Joker mumbled, snuggling into her pillow.
"So your real name's Rin?" V asked. Her tone was a little more awkward than intended. Not speaking any Japanese, it felt a little strange and out of place. Even if she was used to dealing with Japanese speakers and did so almost daily. Though they all had auto-translation.
Joker just managed to turn her head to look up at V. "No. It's Lynn. It just translates to Rin. So I just let people call me that. So… you understand Japanese but you don't speak it?"
"It's an auto-translator software. It comes standard with Kiroshi eye implants."
"Eye implants? You mean… like contact lenses? Oh, I'm Ann by the way. That's Shiho and the dumb idiot is Ryuji." Panther's lip twitched into a smirk at the little dig. Knowing he had no clue of what she was saying, Panther relished the chance.
Judging from people's reactions thus far, it was likely a safe assumption that cyberware wasn't a thing here. V sighed and leant against the table Lynn had deposited her bag on.
She then put pressure on a spot near her temple. With a click, she prepared to remove the left section of her facial cyberware. Before doing so, she couldn't help but grin. "This might be a little weird." She uttered before removing the plate.
Everyone in the room - aside from Judy - looked on in horror. A small section of skin surrounding the left eye came loose revealing a metallic subdermal plate covered in tiny wires and circuits. The eye itself also came loose to reveal its innards. The removed section held its form completely. It was as if she held a piece of a 3D jigsaw puzzle.
The blond boy was first to show something other than horror.
Surprisingly, he even jumped in joy. A huge grin slapped itself on his lips. "Holy shit! She's the Terminator!"
The term was unfamiliar. Though it did ring a bell deep down in the back of her mind. She glanced at Judy who seemed to be giggling to herself. "The kid's not wrong, V. It's a reference to an old movie from before BDs."
V shrugged. Pop culture wasn't her forte. Granted, growing up on the streets of Heywood didn't really give her much time to consume old world media.
Not that it mattered. At least there was some sort of analogue the kids could latch on too. Placing the plate back where it belonged, V then continued her explanation. "Kiroshi is just the brand and corp that makes eye implants. Almost everyone I know has them. It can auto-translate over fifty languages in real time… among other features."
As she spoke, Ann had taken it upon herself to act as an interpreter for Ryuji and Shiho. She quietly copied what V was saying word for word.
"V, you sound like a saleswoman." Judy scoffed.
"Hey! I resent that remark!" The solo gave a look of mock offence before pulling her partner in for a hug. Though she composed herself once more after seeing the various curious expressions in the room.
Then, from Lynn's bag, a cat emerged. Similar in colour to the small child that was in the Metaverse. It looked up at V and almost seemed to study her. Its eyes held an intelligence not unlike Felix's dog, Bandit. The similarities between the two were almost uncanny.
It then opened its mouth. "Our new friends are full of surprises!"
"The cat talked." V flatly said.
"The… cat… talked." Judy copied.
A few silent seconds passed.
"That's fuckin' adorable." Judy finally broke the silence. She quickly began to fawn over the talking cat. Said cat was doing its best to act like it didn't want the affection, but even V could tell it was loving it. The purring was a dead giveaway.
V could only shrug.
After spending the better half of a year with a dead Rockerboy terrorist in her brain, nothing seemed to surprise her any more.
She had yet to decide if that was good or horrifying.
"I didn't know you spoke English, Mona." Ann's eyebrow quirked. Almost immediately, the cat broke from Judy's clutches and puffed its chest out.
It gave a proud huff.
"I'm also full of surprises, Lady Ann!"
"I dunno what Mona's sayin' right now, but I bet it has somethin' to do with tryin' to impress Ann." Ryuji grinned. Before anyone knew it, the two were glaring at one another. A moment of tension passed before they both burst out laughing. "Anyway, I feel kind'a dumb not bein' all multilingual. Shiho, wanna go grab some of that amazin' smellin' curry?"
The bear girl - who had now been appointed as Shiho - startled for a moment. For the last few minutes, she had zoned out. It looked as though she was about to fall asleep at any minute. Once she composed herself, she gave a smile and nodded. "Sure. I can't really focus all that much, anyway."
After a moment of silence, the room now only played host to the English speakers of the group.
"Back on topic, why were you guys in the Metaverse anyway?" Ann set things off almost immediately. V had to admire her willingness to get straight to the point.
"Metaverse, huh?" V took a minute to put pieces together in her mind. "Well, we were hired to investigate some weird missing person cases. Each one seemed to be linked by a single Bra- uh… video named Mementos. The… client…" V grimaced, earning her a short glance from Judy, "wanted us to see if we could pick anything up by watching the video. Then… we wound up in the - as you called it - Metaverse."
"I guess that makes sense. We can go into the Metaverse by using a phone app, after all." Ann absentmindedly twirled a strand of hair around her finger as she spoke.
"Then we met Pixie near a weird vortex thing. That's when we heard you guys get into a fight. The guy that attacked you was sadly one of the missing people. I wanted to try taking him alive… but well… you know the rest."
Ann gently rubbed the spot on her side where she had been shot. Rin then groaned, likely from a bout of pain. "Well, we're alive. That's a win in my book." She managed to utter before digging her face back into the pillow.
Mona made a humming noise, garnering everyone's attention. "I think that vortex you mentioned might have been what we were looking for. So we weren't far off at all. Interesting."
Next to pipe in was Judy. "Speakin' of. What were you kids doin' there? We spilled our guts. Only fair you spill yours."
Ann shrugged.
Mona chuckled in quite a condescending manner. "We're the Phantom Thieves!" He declared, puffing his chest out once more. He paused expectantly as if V was supposed to know exactly what he was talking about. "We use the Metaverse to enter a person's Cognition - or Palace - to steal the desires - or the Treasures - of corrupt individuals and invoke a change of heart. Doing so makes them come to terms with their sins."
Immediately, V was on edge.
"That sounds like brainwashing." V bluntly stated. It seemed to catch Mona off guard. His chest deflated and his mouth hung open. "I'm not going to pretend like I understand whatever the fuck a change of heart is, but… messing with someone's head? That's serious shit. Trust me. I know."
Judy silently squeezed V's shoulder.
A strange tension hung in the air. One that made everyone immediately uncomfortable. V let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Normally, I'd just zero the gonk if they need it. But seeing as you're just kids, that's not going to happen." Judging by the confused looks on each of their faces, it probably wasn't smart using Night City slang.
"What the ever so delicate woman is tryin' to say is; she'd just kill someone instead of doin' whatever it is you guys do." Judy played translator before V could do so herself. Normally, the jabs Judy took at her were all in the name of fun. Though V had to admit that one made her sound a little unhinged.
The sudden reaction of horror from the two girls just added to that notion.
Again, V sighed. She gave a side-long glare at her partner. "Like I said. I don't intend on killing anyone."
"Don't look at her that way, Rin. You and Ryuji first decided to go after Kamoshida knowing full well that stealing his desires could kill him." Strangely, it was the cat that came to V's defence. Even if V had no clue about what he was talking about. For a moment, Lynn remained speechless before resigning to defeat.
"Touche." She muttered.
"Anyway." Ann forced the tension back out of the room. "You guys clearly aren't from around here. Or anywhere that I can think of. Are you - and I can't believe I'm asking this - human?"
Both V and Judy shared a giggle. "Yes. Human as the day I was born." V reassured. Though her expression tightened as she felt Judy's grip on her shoulder tighten. "I don't suppose Night City fires any neurons?"
The two girls shook their heads.
Judy's grip tightened.
"What year is it?"
"2018. Wait… are you saying you're from the future?" Lynn had gained enough strength to sit herself up and was now thoroughly enthralled in the conversation.
That date confirmed two things. Both of which really didn't sit well with V.
First, they were indeed from the future.
And second, not only that, it seemed they were from another world entirely.
Felix was right. This was a reality different from her own. "... Shit." V murmured under her breath. "For now… let's just say we're not from around here." She then studied Judy for a brief moment.
The techy was clearly about to go into full panic mode.
"I need to talk privately. Is there a place nearby that Judy, River and I can do that?"
Lynn briefly looked disappointed, but soon agreed. She thought for a moment. To Judy's credit, she was keeping it together quite well. Even if her grip was starting to hurt. "There's a batting cage just down the street. It's still open but no one's usually there right now."
With that, V urgently whisked Judy away.
She nearly had to drag River away from his half finished meal when going downstairs. He was in the middle of what was very likely an enthralling conversation with the old man, Ryuji and Shiho, but there were more pressing matters to discuss.
The old man's expression had returned to concern as he noticed the urgency in V's movements. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but V either didn't hear or didn't care.
TINK!
The baseball thwacked against netting. V recovered from the overswing, grunting a little in frustration. She still hit, but it skimmed the top edge of the metallic bat and bounced harmlessly into the safety netting behind her.
"We're fucked." She said bluntly. River and Judy sat on the bench just on the other side of the netting. Thankfully protected by thick chain link fencing. "Fucked royally in the ass."
"V… just tell us what's going on." River - notably a lot calmer than before - watched as V repeatedly missed her swings. "We're lost, that's for sure. But it sounds like you know something else."
"I met Felix again."
"... What? When?"
"I got pulled into some fucked up dream world when we left the Metaverse. Felix was there. He called it the Velvet Room or some shit. I wanted to put a bullet in his gonk ass grin and I tried… but…"
"But…"
"The fucker has some kind of power. The millisec I tried to pull iron, my hand started to burn. Like… actually burn. The fucker called it a sanction. Apparently, when we made that pact with Pixie, it bound all of us in some cosmic contract." Another swing and a miss. "If what he says is true, the fucker owns us."
"All three of us?" River launched himself from his seat, glaring at V.
"Yes, River. All fucking three of us. He wants us to help someone called the Trickster. It's one of those kids. I have a hunch it's Rin - uh… Lynn. Can't be sure though. It has something to do with Arasaka."
V could have sworn she saw Judy twitch at that.
"Just fuckin' great." River grunted.
"Just my fucking luck, eh?" V's shoulders tightened. "All I can really do is apologise. Even if this is on that fucker, Felix, it was me who agreed to Pixie's deal in the first place."
At that, Judy shook her head. Breaking from her own train of thought, she gave V a look she couldn't quite identify. "I think I speak for both of us when I say we don't blame you for this, V. Even if Pixie was lyin' about us flatlinin', I don't think any of us would wanna risk it." She paused. "That said, this whole fuckin' sich is crazy. I mean… a talking cat!?"
"Wait… what?" River perked up at that. Part of V wanted to laugh at his sudden dumbfounded gawk.
Another part shared his bemusement.
"Remember the little kid in that mascot suit? Turns out he's not a kid. Go figure."
"Why am I not even surprised anymore? After the day we've had… I'd be surprised if cats didn't talk in this weird ass reality." He retorted. River actually managed to laugh. It was good to hear. "Fucked up, mind-shattering circumstances aside… what are we going to do now?"
"I don't think there's much we can do other than play along." V - in a fit of frustration - threw the baseball bat down the batting cage. It struck dead centre on the home run target prompting celebratory claxons to blare for a second. "Felix did say we'd discover a way to get back home eventually… so I guess it's not all bad news."
She then looked up at the slowly darkening sky.
"As for right now… we should probably find a place to crash. I doubt Lynn's attic is on the table."
"Boss pointed me to a capsule hotel not too far away. The girl - Shiho I think she said - offered to foot the bill for us. To thank us for helping." River gave a sheepish shrug. Putting the heavy topics aside, both V and Judy gave the man a mocking stare.
"Look at you, casanova!" V gleefully jumped on the chance at levity. He replied with a quick flip of the bird. "Who's Boss?"
"The old guy. His name's Sojiro but everyone just calls him Boss."
"Does everyone in this town have some weird nickname?"
"Oh, you're one to talk, V." Judy grinned. V couldn't help but grin back.
"Point taken."
It was then that Lynn decided to make her presence known. She had apparently changed out of her uniform. Now, she bore a simple apron and a white button-up with a bow loosely dangling from the neck. She even changed her hair from letting it loosely flow to tying it into two short braids. Combined with the glasses, the whole ensemble was a perfect snapshot of the cute highschooler waitress.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt. Boss sent me to ask if River wanted to finish his food. He also wanted to know if the two of you were hungry."
As if on cue, V's stomach grumbled.
Judy giggled.
"It's 'ganic, V. No syn-scop in sight. Boss is… a fucking magician." River was positively gushing as though he were a kid in a candy store.
"Can't say no to 'ganic shit. Guess we'll have to swap out our plans for Sushi, eh Jude?"
"I'll allow it." The techie smirked. "Was kind'a lookin' forward to it though." She then turned to Lynn, offering a sympathetic look. "How's the wound, kiddo?"
In reply, Lynn gave a brief thumbs up. "It still hurts like crazy but I can't let Boss know I'm hurt. He's suspicious enough as it is." She gently rubbed the area in question. Her face told V it was a little worse than she was saying, but if the girl wanted to tough it out, V wasn't going to stop her. "Speaking of… you might do well to get some new clothes. All three of you stand out pretty badly."
"One thing at a time." V uttered. Judging from Judy's willingness to joke around and offer sympathy, the techie had calmed down. A fact that brought its own sense of relief to V. "Food first. Then sleep. Tomorrow, we need to look into restocking. Don't know about the two of you, but I don't feel comfortable with just my side iron."
The merc placed a hand on the pistol's grip. Usually, she kept the holster on her hip for ease of access. Loud, proud and in the open. Now it was safely concealed on the inside of her jacket. Away from prying eyes.
"If you're talking about guns, I know a guy." Lynn had surprised the three of them. Up until now, V was under the impression that iron was not commonly carried around here. She had noticed the group of teens were each armed when in the Metaverse. But when they were no longer armed after leaving, V chalked it up to some weird Metaverse thing.
"That'd be pretty helpful."
"I'll introduce you tomorrow. I need to have a word with him, anyway."
The feeling of hot water felt amazing against V's skin.
She could feel the stress of the day's events melting away. Leaning back on the side of the bath, she let a content sigh pass through her lips. After one of the best meals she ever had, the night was topped off with a surprise visit to the local bath house.
More specifically, it was the girls. Ryuji, Morgana and River remained in Le Blanc. River had taken an immediate liking to Boss. She smirked at the thought. Briefly, her mind drifted to Takemura. Perhaps it was the food, or maybe it had simply been a while since she had seen him.
Granted they didn't exactly leave off on good terms.
The grizzled bodyguard was just as loyal to the Arasaka family as ever, even after Yorinabu's attempted assassination of both him and Hanako.
She never did find out where that whole fiasco went.
After a moment, she felt pressure on her side. Opening her eyes, she saw Judy lounge on her, laying her head on the solo's chest. The towel that covered her body was slipping in the water and V couldn't help but give a dumb smirk. She was sure Judy knew the solo was staring, and that meant she wanted her to stare. Something that V had no issue in doing.
Then, she remembered her company.
Said company was looking on at the public display of affection with both curiosity and mild embarrassment.
"Before you ask, yes. We're dating." V winked at the three teens. Each one turned their heads in embarrassment. "Anyway, what's your story? You guys all seem pretty close knit. Even the blondie."
"Well we've been through a lot together. I only arrived just over a month ago due to… reasons." V noted the hesitance. "I met Ryuji on my first day of school and we basically stumbled into the Metaverse by accident."
"Oh yeah! That was right after we briefly met. Ugh… I saw Kamoshida eye you with that gaze of his. Thinking back on it gives me the creeps." Ann added. Lynn gave a confused glance to her friend before shrugging.
There was that name again.
From what V could deduce from the snippets she had heard, this Kamoshida guy was likely the first person they stole desires from. She still didn't know what that actually meant, but for now, it wasn't important.
"I don't really know what you're saying, but I do know you're talking about him. Maybe I should get out." Shiho timidly interjected herself. At which point Ann frantically shook her head and apologised repeatedly.
"It's ok, Shiho. We were just telling V and Judy the basics of how we met."
Judy raised her hand. "It's good. We were just curious."
The bath fell silent. Even if this was a public bath house, it was just the five of them. A small blessing, perhaps. At least no one would have gotten suspicious over tattoos and literal robot body parts.
Still, if V was going to help these kids out, she wanted to know a little more about them. If that meant getting into rough subjects, there wasn't any avoiding it. "How about we do a question swap? Judy and I ask you a question, you answer as much as you're comfortable with, then you ask us a question. Deal?"
Quietly, Ann conferred the translation to Shiho. The girl seemed a little put off for a moment, but then nodded. "They understand me, right?" To answer her question, both Judy and V nodded. "Alright, then it's our turn to ask." For a moment, Shiho considered her options. "Do you really kill people?"
Starting off strong. And somewhat concerning. Shiho wasn't even in the room when that subject came up. V assumed that either Lynn or Ann had told her. Something to keep in mind going forward.
These kids liked talking.
V took a deep breath. "When the situation calls for it. Which… sadly in my line of work is almost daily. I'm what people call an Edgerunner. Basically, I'm a mercenary. Killing kind'a comes with the territory." She personally tried to give as little thought to it as possible. It made things easier to swallow.
But if the last year and a half had taught her anything; it was that things were never easy to swallow.
The information lingered in the air. Shiho listened to Ann's translation and V could see the look of concern grow on her face. The merc knew that look. Shiho was probably scared stiff by now. Or perhaps disgusted at the mere thought of sharing bathwater with a killer.
"I'm sorry. That must be such an awful thing to deal with so frequently."
That was not what V had expected. Instead of distancing herself from someone outright admitting to killing on a daily basis, the girl held an expression of genuine sympathy and concern. Perhaps a bit naive, but the thought was there. Something V found herself appreciating.
"Our turn!" Judy chimed. She seemed to have picked up on the heavy vibe and decided to throw in a curve ball. "Ann, are you and Shiho a thing?" Of course she would ask that.
Immediately Ann's already steam flushed face grew even redder. She shook her head, whipping her enormous twin tails back and forth. The water they had collected assaulted everyone else in the bath. "N-no! We're just really close friends! God, don't ask things like that so suddenly!"
Judy, V and Lynn each laughed at the reaction. Though Lynn cut herself short in a sudden yelp of pain. The area where she had been impaled now sported a gnarled scar. It looked like it had seen months of healing rather than a simple few hours. Even still, the scar was very noticeable. On otherwise perfect skin, it really put into perspective how out of place most things about Lynn was.
A bit of a contrast to Ann's wound. The gunshot didn't leave behind much of a hole to begin with, so the remaining scar was minimal. Even still, when the girl first saw it, she cried in horror. Supposedly, she was a part time model and some of the photoshoots she took part in involved more revealing outfits. V felt a little bad for her, but her past experiences with models and celebrities had clouded her opinion on the matter.
Ann had refused to translate to Shiho, so it was up to Lynn. Surprisingly, the girl laughed. Though copying Ann, she assured they were just close friends. Satisfied, Judy let it go.
Lynn now stepped up to bat.
"So if you're a mercenary, what do you do, Judy?"
"I edit and tune virtual reality porn." The sheer bluntness and nonchalance prompted V to nearly choke on a sudden fit of laughter. The shocked faces of each of the teens only added to her giggling fit.
"That's… cool." Ann said, not knowing quite what to make of that.
"She's underselling herself. Judy's easily the best Braindance editor in Night City. She's also a genius tech wiz. Not to mention an expert deep water diver." V boasted, smiling at the fond memories of their first dive together.
Or rather the fond memories of the night after said dive.
"You're gonna make me barf."
"Oh, and she's in a gang."
That managed to rouse a more dominant reaction from the teens. Lynn looked concerned. Ann looked curious. Shiho looked outright mystified.
Judy groaned and lightly jabbed V's side with an elbow. "I'm barely a part of it these days." She gave a reserved sigh. "Especially after Clouds." She went silent after that. Though things didn't go exactly as Judy wanted with the Dollhouse, V oftentimes had to remind her that everyone made it out alive and the Claws no longer had much say in how the club was run.
"Hey, Mateo and Tom asked me to remind you they're still up for drinks whenever." V nudged her girlfriend with a kind smile. Judy responded with a faint smile of her own.
As unpredictable as the foreseeable future was, perhaps something to look forward to was a good thing.
Next, V turned to Lynn. "Now for something a little harder. You've got baggage. Mind if I pry a little?" V asked, not expecting much. Lynn paused for a moment, her brow furrowing. She then let out an exhale and shrugged.
"It's not something I like talking about but…a few months ago I was arrested on an assault charge." As Lynn explained, V eyed her and the other two girls. Both Ann and Shiho seemed almost angry. "I had just come from the UK to move in with my dad. It was late, I was jet lagged and just wanted to collapse in bed."
V didn't like where this was going.
Lynn then went on to explain her situation. How she happened upon a struggling woman and a drunk man. The resulting altercation and shifting of blame onto Lynn. The rampant corruption of the first responders. It was a tale as common as mud in Night City.
But one that still infuriated V whenever she heard it.
What added to the bubbling fury was how Lynn's interest in guns and the fact that her father was ex-military had been warped into something violent. She had been painted as a would-be school shooter. Someone who should be locked up in a dark, cold cell for the rest of her life.
Witness after witness took turns to create the image of a rabid animal on the verge of going berserk.
It was only thanks to the great mercy and kindness of the drunkard - who turned out to be a high profile politician - that Lynn Amamiya was placed on probation and sent to live in the city. A clear as day political ploy. Anyone with half a brain could see it. But from the sounds of it, no one cared.
Before V knew it, Judy had broken away from her and was now hugging a rather upset looking Lynn.
Not that V could blame her. Judy was always the caring type.
"Thank you for sharing. Sorry for prying." V nodded in respect to the girl. She could relate a lot to the young girl. Growing up in Heywood put her in similar situations many times. Though it never got quite to the point Lynn did. She'd usually just wind up with a black eye, a broken nose or cracked rib. Always side by side with Jackie.
V was lucky to have such a loyal friend growing up.
She felt a growing lump in her throat at the memory of her friend. She forced it back down. Now wasn't the time.
Lynn gave a shrug. Judy let her go and gave a frown. "Assholes like that will always find a way to come out squeaky clean." She said, patting Lynn's head.
"I suppose it's good to talk about every now and then. I wish I could talk to my parents, but one of the terms of my probation forbids it."
"Well, that's just cruel. Judy… what can we do about that?"
"Way ahead'a you, babe. I've got some ideas on the backburner. Just need some parts and a decent subnet connection."
All three teens looked on in confusion as Judy and V began to plot. If she were being honest, after hearing Lynn's story, V felt almost passionate about helping her. It felt strange. As if a warm light had begun to bloom within her chest. Then, the voice from before resonated in her mind.
I am thou, thou art I.
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Fool Persona, thou hast attained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power.
Then the internal light and sensation faded. She locked eyes with Lynn and they both nodded in a mutual understanding.
Author's Notes
A few bits to clear up. V mentioned something in this chapter that needs a little explaining. This version of V is a "Streetkid" V but grew up alongside Jackie with a very sibling-like relationship. I always found it weird how only Corpo!V had any sort of prior connection to Jackie. Streetkid!V supposedly grew up on the streets of Heywood, has connections to Padre, is a regular in El Coyote Cojo… but doesn't know Jackie?
Also, some life issues have come up, so updates might slow down a little going forward. I'll try to keep to my personal weekly goal, though.