As promised, Wakako sent V off to an alleyway to retrieve the package she had asked for. The package featured a moth with the Death's Head logo on its belly, exactly what V wanted. Once she had secured the package, she thanked Wakako once again via text message and started making her way back up the street where Judy had parked her van. Once she had spotted the van, she rounded the front of the vehicle and hopped into the passenger seat after being invited inside.

"Hop in, V," Judy said to her. "Did your fixer have anything useful?"

V nodded as she handed her the braindance she had retrieved from Wakako.

"Got a hold of one of their latest BDs," she stated.

"Lemme get everything prepped," Judy said as she took the package and transferred it to her rig. "You make sure the wreath's snug on you."

She reached behind her seat and pulled out a braindance wreath, which she then handed over to V. V then adjusted the metal wreath around her head, making sure it was securely in place.

"You'll watch while I edit in real time," Judy continued, slipping on her own wreath. "The ol' one two."

"Alright, let's do this," V sighed. She wasn't a huge fan of BDs, especially not the explicit kind…

"Once we're inside, I want you to describe what you see. Might catch something I'd miss."

She then booted up the BD, sending V's consciousness into the program. The scenario started off with some poor gonk being dragged into a building by a bunch of scavengers. V could easily identify them by the holographic masks they wore to hide their faces.

"Scavs," V pointed out. "Who knew that besides chopping people up, they also scrolled XBDs…"

She then flipped into editing mode in order to have a look around the simulation while it played. Instantly, she noticed how hot the room was when she switched to thermal vision.

"Damn it's hot in here," she noted. "ACs are running at full blast, probably to cover up the screams…"

She scowled. Scavengers really were the lowest form of life in Night City… She started looking for details in the room that could help her pinpoint where they had scrolled the BD. After giving the room a once over, she found a few key details that she thought might help them narrow down their search.

"There's an Electric Corp patch on the coveralls over there." She highlighted them for Judy. "There's also an old take out cup half-full of coffee and a half eaten pizza from Buck-A-Slice near the door."

"Why's that relevant?" Judy questioned.

"Means someone's grabbing Buck-A-Slice regularly, which is not something someone does for the flavor and fresh ingredients. Pizza's got more in common with plastic. Nobody's gonna schlep across town for it."

"EC used to have a big ol' complex in Charter Hill not too far from a Buck-A-Slice…"

"We should head there, then."

"Alright. I'mma disconnect us from the BD."

Everything went white for a moment as V emerged from the braindance. She felt slightly dizzy after removing the wreath. This always happened when she came out of a virtu. Some sort of BD vertigo. She leaned against the open window for some fresh air as she waited for the nausea to subside.

"You okay, V?" Judy asked, slightly concerned.

V gave her a silent nod. "There's no time to lose. Get us to Charter Hill."

Judy nodded affirmatively as she punched the van into gear.

"Still can't shake what I saw back in the virtu…" V confessed, her body still shaking from the experience. "If all they scroll is snuff, then…"

"Stop it," Judy cut her off. "They'd have to be utter gonks to waste her on something like that."

"What do you mean?"

"We're talkin' about a girl who's not only a natural at what she does, but also's got a doll's implant. That's not a package you find lying out in the street."

After a short ride between Jig-Jig Street and Charter Hill, the two of them arrived in front of the old Electric Corp complex, passing in front of the Buck-A-Slice on their way there. V looked out the window, sizing the place up before turning towards Judy.

"I'll find us a way inside," V declared. "You sit tight for now."

She furrowed her brows seeing Judy looking so anxious. She placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her a little to help ground her.

"Hey, it's going to be alright," she said to her reassuringly. "We're going to find her, Judy."

"Yeah…" Judy lowered her eyes. "But in what state?"

V wanted to be encouraging, but even she had her doubts regarding Evelyn's safety. She had no idea what to expect once they found her.

"We'll cross that bridge once we get there," she said, taking the realistic approach. "Right now, let's focus on getting inside."

Judy nodded, seeming a little less nervous. "I'll wait for your signal and scrub the subnet for blueprints in the meantime. Let's link up on holo' before you go."

"Sounds like a plan."

After synching their comms together, V let herself out of the vehicle and started climbing the crumbling structures in order to get inside the compound. The old complex was pretty run down, so it wasn't hard for her to get onto the metal walkway. She moved around silently, making sure to ping every enemy she saw with her scanner as she made her way past the guards, taking them out one by one with a mix of quickhacks and martial arts so Judy could follow behind. After taking out all of the guards outside, V progressed into the main complex.

"Got the blueprints," she heard Judy speak over the phone. "Try to find a way into the lower levels."

V uploaded the map to her interface. More guards and cameras stood in her way, but not for long. After neutralizing the threats inside, she snuck her way over to the stairway leading down into the basement. She then pinged Judy on her phone, instructing her on how to reach the stairs. Once they were reunited, V started making her way down into the lower levels.

"I'll scout ahead," she said. "You hang back while I clear us a path."

"We need to reach level minus 2," Judy explained. "I bet that's where they're keepin' her…"

V opened the way, making sure to stay quiet as she equipped herself with her pistol. She had a silencer attached to it in case she needed to take someone down quietly at a distance. As she carefully made her way down the first set of corridors, she heard Judy speak from behind her.

"Wait!" she called out suddenly. "I recognize that shirt…"

V turned her attention towards Judy, who was standing in front of a pile of bloody clothes. On top of the pile sat a dark gray t-shirt with a logo on the front.

"Evelyn's?" V guessed tentatively.

Judy gave her a slow nod. "Without a doubt…"

The amount of blood that stained the fabric was concerning, but V couldn't worry about that right now. She needed to clear the way so Judy wouldn't have to fight her way inside. She let Judy linger behind while she pressed on towards the other levels. She took out a pair of guards on her way to the stairs, planting one bullet in one's skull while she snuck behind the second guard to snap their neck. Once the coast was clear, she signaled Judy to move forward before pressing onwards. The next room had a few more guards inside, but V managed to take them down without making any noise once again. She moved around the complex like a panther stalking its prey. Judy had to admit seeing V in action was quite impressive. It was clear she had done this sort of thing before, even before she became a solo. She had to wonder what kind of assignments she used to run back when she had been working for Arasaka…

The further they breached the complex, the more disturbing things became. On their way towards the lower levels, they discovered what the scavs were truly up to. Scrolling XBDs was merely the tip of the iceberg. Besides harvesting organs and used cyberware, they were also manufacturing drugs. It seemed as though they were dabbling in all sorts of illegal activities and the bodies just kept piling up the further they delved into the place. V kept piling even more bodies on top of the ones they encountered by taking out the guards from stealth. Judy continued to hang back until they finally reached the elevator leading to level minus 2. Once they stepped out, it was only a matter of taking out a few more guards before they finally reached the BD studio.

In a large room, an old worn out mattress had been haphazardly plopped down on a pair of wooden palettes. A few cameras and props dotted the room and on the other side of the makeshift bed, V spotted a figure huddled against the side of the headboard.

"That's Evelyn!" Judy exclaimed. "Don't touch her! If she's recording, you'll scramble her brain. Wait until I cut her link."

While Judy ran off towards the studio's computer, V made her way towards Evelyn. Judy had been right about finding her battered and bruised. There was hardly a spot on her body that wasn't covered by some sort of wound or bruise. She had been severely beaten. Moreover, she was still jacked into the studio's mainframe. Whatever it was that was still playing in her mind, it made her eyes twitch and her body spasm as if she were experiencing a seizure.

"Grab the link and tell me when you're gonna yank it," Judy explained. "I'll break the link on my end at the same time."

V took the wire in her hand, kneeling down in front of Evelyn as she cupped her head in her other hand.

"I've got it," she announced. "Tell me when you're ready."

"Wait for my signal…" Judy replied, setting herself up at the computer. "Ready… aaannnd… Now!"

They severed the link simultaneously as V pulled the cable out of Evelyn's head. It didn't seem to change anything, since Evelyn was still unresponsive and shaking.

"Thank god!" Judy exhaled as she ran over to them, relieved to see that she was still breathing. "Ev'? Can you hear me?"

She kneeled down next to her, putting her hands on her shoulders. When she saw that Evelyn wasn't responding, V slipped her arms around her and hoisted her up from the floor.

"Let's get her somewhere safe," she declared. "Where are we taking her?"

"Let's get her to my place," Judy answered. "I've managed to seal off the doors and power up the elevator. Let's go!"

She led V towards the elevator, making sure the coast was clear before ushering her inside the cabin. Once they were back at street level, they loaded Evelyn up into the van and V stayed with her until they arrived at Judy's apartment. V then entrusted Evelyn to Judy's care and stepped outside onto the balcony to give them some space. She then took the cigarette case she had received from Judy back at Lizzie's Bar out of her pocket, brushing her hand over the embossed logo on the front.

"Come on, is it really that hard?" she heard Johnny's voice coming from behind her. "Please, just one. For me?"

V exhaled. "I already told you I don't smoke…"

"Just my luck. Non-smokers are the fucking worst…"

She placed the case back in her pocket and spun around to face the door.

"We goin' in?" Johnny asked.

"Jesus Johnny, give them some space!" V exclaimed. "They've both been through hell!"

"C'mon, what's there to wait for? Didn't go through hell and back just to stand in front of a door!"

V stared at the door for a moment, feeling slightly annoyed, but also worried. Evelyn was one of the few people that could help her with the biochip and things weren't looking up for her recovery. She hadn't woken up the whole time they were driving to Judy's house and V was worried she might never wake up, ever. If things didn't pan out with Evelyn, she would have no choice but to go find Hellman, or take Takemura up on his offer.

She took a step forward, letting the door slide open as she stepped into Judy's apartment. She then made her way over to her room, where Judy was standing near the doorframe. She had gotten Evelyn into some clean clothes and had set her down on her bed.

"She's sleeping," Judy sighed. "At least, I think she is. Her eyes are closed and she's not shaking anymore." She shook her head. "I would've already killed her by now if I didn't feel so bad for her."

V looked over at Evelyn over Judy's shoulder. "You're mad at her? Why?"

Judy scowled as she turned to face V. "When you asked me to scour her behavioral chip, I was just about done dealing with your shit."

"Judy, I didn't have any other-"

"I know. It's okay…"

"I still don't get why-"

"You'll find out in a sec. I'll show you the virtu I found. Just lemme set up the parameters."

V nodded her head in agreement and stepped aside to let Judy pass. While she went to set herself up in her office, V walked into the bedroom to speak with Evelyn. She could see Johnny casually leaning against the wall. As she sat down on the edge of the bed, she heard him speak.

"I'll be the first to admit, this does not look good," he said to her.

V reached over to touch Evelyn's shoulder, hoping to wake her up gently. Instead, Evelyn shoved her hand away, remaining silent as she kept her back to her.

"Hey," V said calmly. "How are you feeling? D'you need anything?" Her eyes dropped to the floor. "I'm not here to nag. I just want to talk to you…"

No response. V let out a deep exhale as she slowly got up from the bed. It seemed as though she wasn't going to get anywhere with Evelyn for the time being, so she made her way towards Judy's office where the young woman was waiting for her.

"Have a seat, V," she said as she invited her to sit on the stool next to her desk. "Data was in pretty rough shape. Not all that editable…"

"Doesn't matter," V stated plainly. "Just roll the clip."

She equipped herself with the BD wreath and leaned back against the wall while she waited for Judy to boot up the braindance. V was then transported into the virtu, where she found herself in some kind of chapel with a huge red holograph displayed on the wall.

"I think I recognize these," she said, pointing out the holograms projected next to the altar. "These are Veve markings."

"You familiar with them?" Judy inquired.

"Not enough to know what they mean."

She continued listening to the clip. Evelyn had recorded herself talking with someone whom V could only assume was a member of the Voodoo Boys. The woman she was speaking to had encrypted her image, making her face impossible to identify.

"Normally, this sort of encryption is easy to crack," Judy explained. "But not this time. Whoever she is, she's got serious netrunning skills."

This checked out with what she knew about the Voodoo Boys. They were true wizards when it came to running the net. V was no chump when it came to running the net, but she was nowhere near their level. Seeing as Evelyn had seemingly made a deal with one of them, she wondered if they had been the ones behind the cyberattack on her behavioral implant.

"Think we might be dealing with the Voodoo Boys…" V guessed.

"The spine chillin' netrunner crew?" Judy pondered. "Hard to find 'cause they don't wanna be. Wouldn't know where to start."

"Got some people in Pacifica I could call. That's usually where they're holed up."

From what she gleaned from their conversation, Evelyn had been hired by the Voodoo Boys in order to spy on Yorinobu. Why they needed her to record a virtu of Yorinobu's apartment, V couldn't say, but judging by how touchy the woman got when she mentioned the biochip, V suspected it might have something to do with that.

Judy pulled V out of the virtu. Once she was back in realspace, V slipped the wreath off and proceeded to massage her temples while she breathed in slow, steady breaths to calm the nausea down.

"So, what're your thoughts?" Judy asked, spinning her chair around to face her.

"I'm thinking Evelyn's not been telling us the whole truth…" V replied.

"You're tellin' me?" Judy scoffed. "If I'd known what she'd gotten herself into… Argh! I'm so mad at her!"

"She was only supposed to capture the virtu. It's impressive she managed to organize a full-blown heist and swipe the biochip from under her boss' nose."

"So that's why you were at Lizzie's that day. You were the one she hired for the job…" Judy hung her head with a long exhale. "And then she brought this all on herself. On you, too." She paused, looking up at her screen. "There's one more recording… Wanna see it?"

V nodded. She slipped the wreath back on her head, trying to ignore the lingering nausea she still felt from the previous braindance and got comfortable in her seat. As Judy loaded up the virtu, she felt herself slip back into cyberspace, where she landed in Evelyn's shoes once again. While she was trying to light herself a cigarette, she could hear the woman from the previous braindance having a conversation on the phone in the background in a foreign language.

"What language is that?" Judy asked.

"Haitian Creole, maybe?" V hypothesized.

"Lemme see if I've got an auto-translator. You try and tune in on the other side of the convo'."

V zoomed in on the woman's phone, tuning into the frequency so she could hear both sides of the woman's conversation. Once she had access to the other person's feed, she saw a change in the visuals as Judy's translator started deciphering what the woman was saying.

"She's our best route to Yorinobu," the woman declared. "We must take this risk."

"I wished I shared your confidence that Silverhand will lead us to Alt," a man spoke to her on the other end of the call.

"You have a better idea?" She was met with silence. "Good, then if you're done questioning my judgment, you can get back to work."

V paused the video. "Okay, Judy. We're good."

She was then taken out of the simulation once again. This time though, the aftershock was so intense, that V had to excuse herself to the bathroom to puke. Repeated use of the BD wreath had really taken its toll on her and she couldn't cope with it anymore. After emptying the contents of her stomach into the porcelain bowl, she sat down on the bathroom floor and took a few deep breaths.

"Who's this Alt they were talking about?" V asked, suspecting that Johnny was nearby listening in on her thoughts.

"Alt Cunningham," Johnny replied, appearing in front of her as he sat down on the edge of the tub. "'Member Soulkiller, from when you experience my memories? Alt's the netrunner who created it."

"Okay… and why do the Voodoo Boys think you can help them find her?"

"It's a long story, V. But honestly, I've got no fuckin' clue. One way or another, everything leads back to her. Finding her should be our biggest priority."

"I thought finding Rogue was our top priority."

"If Alt knows as much as I think she knows about the biochip, she can help us out."

"And how're we supposed to find her? Assuming that I do decide to track her down…"

"Just find us that juju wirehead. They'll know how to find her."

He then went silent as he completely disappeared from view. Once V's nausea had sufficiently calmed down, she stepped out of the bathroom and walked over to Judy's kitchen, where the young woman was now standing.

"Don't think I've ever seen anyone get this sick after viewing just a couple of BDs," she chuckled.

V groaned. "Think I might have overdone it with the virtus today…"

"So you're gonna call up your contacts from Pacifica, then?"

She gave her a quick nod.

"Well, good luck. Hope you won't need it…"

"Thanks, Judy."

"No, V. Thank you… You're a good person." Judy's eyes lowered to the ground. "Evelyn could never see what was under people's skin… If she could've gotten to know you better, maybe… Who knows? Maybe things would have turned out differently."

"I guess we'll never know… Take care of yourself, Judy."

She reached over and gave her shoulder a tight squeeze before making her way over towards the door. Once she was outside, she pulled up her contact list and dialed the number for her contact in Pacifica.

"V, what's shakin'?" Mr. Hands' voice sounded over her commlink.

"I need to make contact with the Voodoo Boys," V said, straight to the point. "Was hoping you could help me with that."

"Alright, alright. Straight to heavy business. I'll need to contact Maman Brigitte, but it'll be tough gettin' a word in with her."

"Maman Brigitte? Sounds like some spooky cult name…"

"Haven't had the pleasure of askin' her personally, but it's what everyone calls her. Doubt the name has any real religious weight to it, though. Voodoo Boys play pretty fast and loose with their Haitian heritage."

"Well, I was under the impression you could arrange anything…"

"Ha! You sound like my third ex-wife everytime she wanted a new purse!"

A crooked smile stretched across her lips. "Don't do any biz with them, Hands?"

"Not with the chefs, chefins, priests and whatnot. All got dirigible-sized egos. Won't talk to lowly ol' me. But if you insist, I can ask around, try to set somethin' up. I'll just need some details first."

"I've got somethin' they want."

"Truly? Wanna sell somethin' to the VDBs? Trust me, they don't want it. Don't need it. They got their own contracts, tech, network… But have it your way. I'll see what I can do and get back to ya."

"Thanks, Hands."

She hung up the call, then called for a cab once she reached the street. The sky had grown dark with clouds and it was raining outside. After the day she had just had, the only thing she wanted was to go home, take a shower and rest. While she waited for the cab to drop her off at the apartment complex in Japantown, she checked her messages and found an old message she had received from Jackie's mom. With everything that had been going on since his death, V hadn't had the time to offer her condolences. She figured, since she had time to kill right now, she would give her a call to see how she was doing.

"V? Good to hear from you, finally," Mama Welles said as her face appeared on screen. "Been a long time since we talked. Since Jackie passed away…"

"Hey there Mama Welles," V greeted her, her tone heavy with remorse. "I was calling to… offer my condolences."

"Hmm… Offer your condolences." Mrs. Welles shook her head. "Ay Jesucristo, V… You lived under our roof! Have the decency not to treat me like some stranger you met off the street!"

"Perdóname. It's just… I wish I could have called you sooner."

V had managed to learn a little bit of Spanish while staying at the Welles' house. Jackie had of course taught her all of the swear words first when he firdt started out. The rest she had picked up from hearing them speak to one another.

"Don't apologize, mi niña," Mama Welles reassured her. "I was actually going to call you. I'm preparing an ofrenda for Jaquito. We can't let him go without a proper goodbye."

"Just say the word and I'll be there," V replied.

"The ceremony will be held at the Coyote Cojo, tomorrow afternoon. Many of his friends will be there."

"I'll come by tomorrow, then."

"I don't doubt it, V. Cuídate bien por favor."

She hung up the call just as the cab was pulling in front of the apartment building. She paid the cab driver and stepped out into the rain. She then made her way over to the lobby and got on the elevator. Today had been a long, tough day and she was looking forward to some well deserved rest once she reached her apartment.