Lynn's pen tapped against her paper.

The classroom's clock ticked with eminence. Its rhythm was only interrupted by the scratching of pencil on paper. Each and every student was focused on one thing. Their exam.

Lynn, however, couldn't focus.

The tapping continued as she stared out of the window to her left. Down in the courtyard she spied a squirrel climbing up one of the trees. A simple thing but she felt a certain envy as she watched it go about its carefree endeavour.

The creature was small, but it was free.

Now wasn't the time. She grimaced as she made an attempt to return her focus back to her test. She more or less had to physically drag her eyes down to the paper. For a short period, the Japanese letters blended into each other, confusing her. She let a quiet sigh flow out.

Even after a whole month, her brain still hadn't switched gears from reading English.

Some of the questions were downright weird, so Lynn felt comfortable blaming her lack of focus on that.

In reality, the cause was more personal.

I'm not good enough.

The words seared into her mind like someone was holding a red hot branding iron against her skull.

Once again, people could have died under her leadership. Once again, there was an injury. Once again, they were caught off guard. It all piled up on her over the last few days. So much so, she was reluctant to allow any follow up on Nakanohara's case.

It was only Mishima's excited ramblings that clued the thieves in on their success.

If it could even be called a success.

According to Mishima, after Nakanohara confessed, he lost his job and was evicted from his apartment. Two things Mishima was a little too happy about.

Had they really rendered a man homeless?

Was that really justice?

This time, Lynn's grunt of frustration was a little louder than she intended. Kawakami abruptly gave an agitated "shush" from across the room. Lynn could feel the stink eye from the teacher even without looking.

I'm not good enough.

The words pulsed once again.

She took a deep breath and made the attempt at completely shutting off her brain from those thoughts. Instead, she needed to make at least some kind of effort at finishing the test. Not that it would have mattered regardless. The faculty had already written her off.

Something that she - at first - hated. But as her time here went on, and especially after recent events, she had begun to agree with it.

Maybe she was just a failure and a violent, problematic child.

No. She was just going round in circles.

Test. Test. Focus on the test.

Her throat was suddenly very dry and she could feel her heart doing its best to breach her ribcage. She wanted to scream, cry, laugh and disappear. Holding in those urges started to grow increasingly impossible.

Her back arched.

She felt sick.

Sweat beaded on her forehead as she did her best to read the page. It was no use. Something was about to burst and it wasn't going to be pretty.

Not. Good. Enough.

A hand desperately grasped at Morgana. The soft fur managed to ground her somewhat, but she was still teetering over the edge.

The sudden contact startled the black cat, eliciting a short lived "fight or flight" response. He glanced up from under Lynn's desk and made a move as if to say something. Only stopping himself after noting the dead silence in the room, he instead decided to let Lynn scratch and stroke his back.

Thankfully, it was helping.

At least in the sense that it had prevented any immediate outbursts.

For a few minutes, Lynn focused everything on the sensation of Morgana's fur. Then, when she felt her heart begin to calm, she took a deep breath. Panic attacks weren't unknown to the girl, but they had recently become a lot more frequent.

Nights were the worst.

With nothing to focus on, her mind was forced to process all the trauma she had undergone in such a short time.

She shook her head and locked her eyes on the exam. She had barely even started and there was only thirty minutes left. A completely different sort of panic set in. One spurred by the inevitable lecture from Sojiro if she flunked. What followed was a mad scramble to answer as many questions as she could.

It was next to impossible for her to finish everything, so she had to prioritise.

Needless to say, by the time the exam was over, she did not like her odds. No doubt she'd be in league with Ryuji, knowing his track record of goofing off.

The rest of the day went by thankfully without incident. School was dismissed and just as she rounded the corner of the school gate, she ran face first into a solid, broad chest. "Hngh!" She let out a girlish squeak as the resulting impact sent her to the floor. To add insult to injury, her glasses fell off sending her vision into blur mode.

"Ah crap. Sorry, Lynn… you ok?" The voice was masculine and spoke in english. She also recognised it. River. His blurry figure leant down and offered a helping hand. After a brief rummage to find her glasses, she took the hand and hoisted herself up.

Under any other circumstances, she would have simply laughed it off, but the panic attack earlier still tightened her chest. Instead, she opted for keeping herself neutral. "Fine. I'm fine…" She stuttered. She noticed something when putting back on her glasses. Her eyebrow perked up as she looked around. "Where's the other two? Weird seeing you alone."

That elicited a rather concerning response. Instead of cracking a joke or getting offended, River seemed unsure of himself. Like he didn't know what to do. "About that. V collapsed about an hour ago and hasn't woken up yet. Boss called a woman to take a look at her. Takemi… I think? Judy's in a panic so I guess I thought I'd come get you."

Lynn was quite speechless after that.

The moments just after their escape from Nakanohara's Seedling Palace came to her mind. The merc was coughing up a storm and threw up what looked like blood. At the time, no one seemed to want to bring it up. Judy looked like it was a regular occurrence but still a frightening one. V herself refused to talk about it when she recovered.

As such, Lynn left it alone and in the days following it, almost forgot about it entirely.

She then felt a sense of urgency. Quickly, the girl rushed off in the direction of the station with River hot on her heels. She would have to let everyone else know while on the train.

Morgana poked his head out from Lynn's bag. He had heard what was happening, but his mind wasn't focused on that. Instead, he watched Lynn's expression carefully. The earlier near-meltdown had spooked the cat and from that point on, he had made it his mission to keep an eye solidly trained on her.

On the train, she pulled out her phone and opened up the Phantom Thief group chat.

She sighed in irritation as Ryuji and Shiho had already started sharing memes and complaining about the exams. Ann - who was usually the voice of reason in said conversations - was absent at a photoshoot.

Lynn would usually have happily joined in, though she had to ruin the fun just this once.

[Rin-Tin-Lynn - Just found out V collapsed at Le Blanc. Heading there now. Sounds bad.]

[RyuRyu - Wait wut? U mean the unstoppable BA terminator?]

[Shi-hee-ho - Who else do you know who only goes by the letter V? Is she ok, Rin?]

[RyuRyu - I no a lotta peeps! I have a social life outside of u guys!]

[Shi-hee-ho - .]

[RyuRyu - Shush u! Anyway wut Shiho said. She good?]

[Rin-Tin-Lynn - No clue. Still on the train. I'll let you guys know if anything changes.]

With that, she clicked off the app and pocketed her phone. She hoped that she hadn't completely derailed Ryuji and Shiho's prior conversation, but it was better to let people know then keep them in the dark.

She sighed and let her mind go blank as the train rattled along towards Yongen Jaya.

A rhythmic pounding resonated throughout V's entire body.

At first, she barely registered it until it grew louder and louder. Accompanying the pounding was an insistent buzzing noise. It was as if a claxon or siren was going off the rails. It was nearly deafening.

It took a moment for her to finally realise that it was music.

Loud, annoying and seizure inducing music.

With that realisation came an instant wave of different senses. The smell of alcohol, sweat, drugs and urine. The sound of screaming, laughing and thudding feet. The heat of way too many people crammed into a single room. A nightclub.

She opened her eyes and immediately regretted it. An onslaught of obnoxious strobing lights nearly blinded her.

Without thinking, she picked up a pair of aviator shades and put them on, rendering the scene much more palatable to the eyes. The thought of why she had such a pair of shades didn't cross her mind. Not that she was given much chance as a heavy figure slumped into the seat directly next to her.

"You look like shit, Johnny! Hittin' the booze like usual?"

V's first instinct was to reply with a flippant dismissal and take another deep swig of her drink. But then her mind caught up with her mouth. Did that voice just call her Johnny? Also, she knew that voice.

"J-Jackie?"

Sure enough, the man sitting next to her was indeed Jackie Wells. Chiselled jawline, piercing eyes, charming smile. The whole nine yards.

He gave her a look up and down before sniggering. "Looks like you're losin' your grip, Broder! You good?"

This didn't make any sense. "Y-you're dead… and… I'm V. Not Johnny."

"Hah! What pills are you on now? I want some! Who the fuck is V? Sounds like a wired out joy-toy. Maybe chill on the tequila, Johnny."

Without another word, V sprang up from the seat and stumbled away from Jackie. Her head spun as the noise and movement around her began to grow overwhelming. It bore into her brain like a drill. It hurt.

She felt her focus slipping momentarily. When she regained it, she was charging into the club's restroom. Disgusting interior aside, she almost slammed herself against the mirror. She begged whatever higher beings were out there to just see her own face. Sure enough, as if to personally spit in the face of her very existence, staring back at her wasn't V. It was the rugged, bearded face of Johnny Silverhand. As if for the first time, she also noticed the trademark arm cyberware of the rockerboy.

She stumbled back, tripping up over a passed out patron.

"No, no, no… I got fucking rid of you, asshole!" She tried regaining her footing and grounded herself against one of the urinals. "You're gone! Get lost!" She spat with vitriol. The reflection mimicked her every move, it displaying just as much fury as she felt.

This wasn't a hallucination. She was no longer V. Try as she might, a horrifying sense of realisation set in. V didn't exist.

Who was V, again?

Why was he angry again? Granted, he was always angry these days.

"Fuck… I need a drink." Johnny groaned. Briefly, he took the shades off to rub his eyes. Only to notice he had done so with the hand that had just been clinging to a urinal for dear life not two seconds ago. "Jesus! What the fuck is wrong with me?" Quickly, he rushed to the sink and began splashing water over his face.

Johnny sighed and looked deep into the reflection.

Something was wrong, but he couldn't place it. It was like he wasn't staring at himself, just someone that kind of looked a little like him. It pissed him off. He could feel the buzz he had been keeping going begin to fade. Sober meant clarity and clarity meant more anger. Johnny relaxed his shoulders as best he could.

He wasn't sure why, but his heart was racing a mile a minute. He also felt a distant pressure at the base of his skull.

Grimacing, he straightened himself up.

Not right. Get out.

For the briefest of moments, static cut through Johnny's vision. He caught images of red and black. He shook his head and tried refocusing. The static returned and completely obfuscated his vision.

Shapes moved in the mess of blurred visuals. It felt like something was trying to fight its way out of reality itself.

GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD!

As the movement and growing pressure built itself up to a crescendo Johnny felt the voice deep within his soul. Like a raging animal, something was slamming against some metaphorical cage in his mind. He felt like vomiting.

The pressure, struggle and static only built on itself until finally something cracked.

Reality itself splintered and ruptured.

Not even a millisecond later, everything shattered. As if the whole world itself was simple glass. Leaving nothing but darkness and the distant sounds of rattling chains.

Dr. Tai Takemi lazily studied a clipboard as she sat at her desk. Like usual, she casually leant her feet up on its surface and leaned heavily back on her chair.

Its creak threatened giving out, but the old thing had yet to fail her yet.

Still, she huffed.

She glanced up at Lynn with a curious gaze. "Don't know where you found that one but she's more metal than human." She spoke slowly and languidly. "I'm not a mechanic."

Sheepishly, Lynn uncomfortably scratched the back of her head. "Would you believe me if I said she's a multi-dimensional time traveller?"

Takemi's only response was a tired glare.

"Whatever. Keep your secrets." She flipped the page on her clipboard, sighed and shifted her weight.

Laid out on the examination bed on the other side of the cramped room was the unconscious form of V. Sat in a chair next to the bed was Judy, clinging to V's hand as though the merc's life depended on it. It was hard to pinpoint Judy's exact expression. It was a mix between anxiety, desperation, irritation and even a little annoyance.

"In any case, it's her brain. From the tests I can run, I can tell her brain activity is not normal." Takemi tapped the clipboard on her own head as if to emphasise her explanation. "It fluctuates wildly and oftentimes stops completely before returning to normal. Technically speaking, she's constantly going brain dead then recovering."

The doctor had always been somewhat lethargic since Lynn met her last month. A pessimistic disposition coupled with apathetic body language.

However, now Takemi was seemingly breaking from that mould with genuine surprise and curiosity. Not that Lynn could blame her. From what it sounded like, V's situation was - as the girl's dad would put it - completely FUBAR. "Wait… so… shouldn't she be rushed off to hospital or something?" Lynn momentarily felt a sense of panic overtake her.

"Normally, yes. But here's the kicker; whatever's been implanted in her head is keeping her somewhat stable. It messed with my equipment and showed some false data." She thought for a moment. "I think this episode was brought on by a system shock of some kind. Has she experienced any kind of undue stress recently?"

Judy accidentally let out a single snort of amusement. Though a curious eye from Takemi shut her up.

Lynn sighed. "Probably more than you could imagine." Having said that, Lynn probably didn't even know the half of it herself. The foreigners were still one giant mystery to the Phantom Thieves.

For a moment, Lynn was somewhat glad to have something else to think about other than her own issues.

It didn't take a second for her to mentally kick herself for being selfish. Judy must have been going out of her mind right now. Still, Lynn's attention returned to Takemi who was staring expectantly. A vague response wasn't going to cut it in this case. "Ex-boyfriend issues. He was stalking her and we had a confrontation a few days ago."

Takemi shrugged and took down a note. Hopefully a small twist of the truth would satisfy her.

"Well… in any case, she should wake up soo-"

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

V's scream startled everyone in the room. The merc suddenly bolted into a sitting position with an expression of sheer panic cemented on her features. She grasped at her body frantically like she was searching for something.

Likely her pistol.

A moment later, clarity took hold. She paused for a moment and looked down at her hands. "I'm me… I'm… V." Her breathing slowed and she seemed to relax in a sense of relief. "Where am I?"

"A local street doctor's clinic. You're scarin' me, babe. Is he back?" Judy replied before clasping a hand on V's shoulder. Though she looked a little confused. "Didn't Vik manage to get the chip out when he put your processor implants in?"

V took a moment and the tell tale blue glow of her eyes briefly punctuated her thought. "He did. I'm fine… I just had a dream. It was… no. It wasn't like I was him. I was him. Judy, I forgot I existed!" Up until now, Lynn hadn't seen V show any sort of fear but her expression right at that moment was of sheer terror. The merc rubbed her forehead and furrowed her brow.

Thankfully, the fear seemed to dissipate as she did.

Or at the very least, V had taken to shoving it down into the bottom of the metaphorical barrel.

She looked up at Lynn and instantly tried changing her disposition. Though it only took a matter of seconds for her to give up and slouch. "Long story. I'll tell you later, but first… I need a fuckin' drink."

"Uh, no. I'm not about to let a medical marvel just waltz out of my clinic." Takemi's eyes narrowed as she stood to her full height. Or rather, the height her comically large heels gave her. "You might feel fine right now, Missy, but who knows when you might collapse again. Besides, that brain of yours is way too curious. And yes. I understand English."

V almost seemed intimidated by Takemi's sudden authority.

Truth be told, Lynn knew the feeling. The doctor could be incredibly scary when she wanted to be. Perhaps it was the usual laid back nature she held coupled with her general aesthetic that almost seemed to boost the impact of when she did try to exert herself.

Judy didn't seem as intimidated, however. She eyed the doctor suspiciously. "If that's the case, then how do you know we understand Japanese?"

Takemi shrugged and tapped her head with her clipboard. "Because I'm not stupid." Blunt as always, that answer explained everything she needed to. At least according to the doctor. "But that's besides the point. Our patient here isn't in any condition to go anywhere. Much less go for a drink."

"I've been living with this condition for six months, doc. I can handle it." V grumbled and completely ignored the protests from both Judy and Takemi. "I'm not dying any time soon and I'm definitely never going to fade away."

She paused as those last words left her mouth. Her expression briefly betrayed her fear once again before she scowled in anger.

Without so much as another word, the merc left the room.

Takemi took one long breath and shook her head. "I don't get paid enough for this…" She muttered to herself. "Someone better ante-up the money for the tests I had to run. Oh… and I guess you're the next of kin?" She glared at Judy who nodded. "You're going to need to sign a waiver in case that idiot falls over dead in five minutes. I'd rather not deal with any lawsuits. Have enough of those on my plate as is."

"Crossroads? Eh. Looks good enough." V shrugged as she looked at the rather unimpressive exterior.

After much insistence and a little argument, she had managed to convince Lynn to find a decent cocktail bar. Shibuya wasn't all that known for its nightlife, so Lynn looked further afield. She eventually came upon a small article recommending a small bar in Shinjuku. Crossroads. The article's author - one Ichiko Ohya - put extra emphasis on the proprietor, one Lala Escargot. Quite the character if the article was on the money.

The door opened before they could reach for the handle and out stumbled a woman.

Black hair, large sunglasses perched on top of her head, a camera dangling from her neck and most amusing of all, a rosy blush dusting her cheeks. She was drunk.

"Oh, sorry! Hehe… off to work I go!" The woman mumbled, giggled and hobbled off. V caught a glance of a rather large person standing behind the bar shaking their head in what she could only assume was disappointment.

Going off what Lynn had dug up, the figure must have been Lala Escargot.

Shrugging, V and her accompanying friends let the black haired woman by and entered into the bar proper.

Lala's general appearance was quite striking. The purple hair framed a rounded face that had a little too much makeup decorating it. She also wore a rather high quality looking kimono. Though her general frame didn't seem completely built for the look, she certainly pulled it off with the confidence of a Night City solo after his first paycheck.

"Welcome, welcome darlings!" Immediately, Lala's gruff, yet warm and welcoming voice briefly caught everyone off guard. Though only for a second. After all, exteriors very rarely mattered. What did stick was that Lala had opened with English. "I do hope my resident drunk didn't cause issues just now?"

V chuckled. "Nah, I plan to get just as drunk, so it's good."

The merc decided to ignore the obvious glare from her girlfriend. Subsequently, the techy sighed in defeat. V could hear her mumble something about it being her birthday after all.

Nonetheless, Lala clapped her hands and gave a wide smile. "Well, what can I get for you? Oh… uh, no alcohol for the minor." She glanced at Lynn who in turn nodded in understanding.

"A Vincent Garcia." V said flatly.

"Sorry, I'm not familiar with that one."

Oh right. V had forgotten in her single-minded endeavour for booze that she wasn't in Night City and definitely wasn't in the Afterlife. "Shake up a sliced jalapeno, two ounces tequila, one ounce lime juice, one ounce cranberry juice, a half ounce agave nectar and a half ounce triple sec. Rim a rocks glass with salt and strain over ice."

An eyebrow slowly rose on Lala's brow as V explained. "Well that's certainly a unique recipe. I'll see what I can do." She turned to Judy, River and Lynn. "And the three of you?"

"I'll have the same." Judy replied, giving V a knowing nod.

"I'll just have a whiskey. With a splash of lemon." River ordered. He too gave V a look, though he was a little more confused.

"Rum and coke. Drop the rum." Lynn gave a cheeky grin, to which Lala giggled.

"Cute. Coming right up. Take a seat wherever and I'll bring them over."

Turning to look for a table, V noted that the bar had quite a few patrons dotted about already. It was still fairly early so the regulars probably had yet to arrive. That was good, at least. It meant finding a place to sit was going to be fairly easy.

With only a few minutes between ordering, finding a table and settling in, Lala brought over the tray of drinks. There was a noticeable scent of spice in the air.

Judy reluctantly took up her glass and clinked it against V's. "To Vince, Jackie and Evvy."

"And… Johnny too, I guess." V added with a conflicted grunt.

The two shared a moment of silence after a long drink.

Out of the corner of her eye, V caught Lynn's curious expression. Now that alcohol was in her system, the merc felt a little better. "We use my birthday as a memorial for our lost friends." For a few seconds, Lynn's eyes widened.

Then her shoulders sagged and she let out a sorrowful "oh."

"Well, I know your baggage. I guess it was only a matter of time before mine caught up with me." V huffed and took another sip. There was a lot she would rather not talk about. Especially to a kid, but said kid had opened up to her. V felt like she was obligated to return at least some sort of trust.

Silence fell over the group as V collected her thoughts. Finally, she broke it with a solemn tone.

"Where to start. Well… the fact is, I'm dying."

Viktor's Patient Records

Name: Judy Álvarez

Age: 26

Sex: Female

Height: 5'4"

Cyberware: Cranial Fitted MoxOS Cyberdeck. Kiroshi Mk. 3 Eye Implants. Subdermal Smart Link. Biomonitor.

Patient Notes: Judy has demonstrated many symptoms of both depression and several forms of social anxiety. She's a tough one. Holds her cards to her chest. I'm no shrink, but I do know how to look for these things. Can't fool an old man you're good when you're clearly not. She has a solid circle of friends, but finds it difficult accepting new people, putting up a pretty cold front. Took me a good few routine check-ups just to get her to talk to me more than a few sentences at a time.

Medically speaking, she's in good shape. Her chrome's pretty standard. She doesn't need much up-keep and hasn't expressed any complaints in that regard. Her Biomonitor doesn't show any problems, either. Makes my job a little easier at least. Her custom Cyberdeck is a little finicky, I'll admit. Don't know what the Mox are doing manufacturing their own chrome, but hell, it isn't harmful, so I won't complain. The coding in that piece is astonishing. Next gen level shit.

Still, I've prescribed her a weekly visit to Misty's Esoterica for guided meditation. Misty says she at least shows up, but other than sitting there with a frown on her face, it doesn't seem like Judy's all that receptive. Each to their own, I suppose. I probably have V to thank for Judy actually showing up.