For the first time in a while, V found himself speechless, and for someone like him, the statement could go either way. On the one hand, V was thoroughly surprised that his sister was alive and well, albeit not in the traditional sense from what he figured if the timing in his head was correct. Yet, the other, more pressing thing on his mind that he could not let go of under any circumstance was the condition of Panam and Mitch. Assurance only went so far into the solo's mind before hitting a wall.

''Uh, sis,'' V said, understandably still reeling from Lia's presence, and the apparent lack of concern about his friends. The deeper into cyberspace she was leading them would only make it all the more difficult to get out to the real world. ''Not saying it's not good to see you again, but we need to be heading out of here.''

''Hmm?'' Lia craned her head over her left shoulder, a light tone of delight in her voice at V's question. Then it came back to her. ''Ah, your friends, right? They are in quite the pickle, aren't they? But getting out right now will only make it all the easier for them.'' Lia's despondent tone came with little warning. ''We need to get you ready,'' Lia said once again, only making V question what his sister meant by ready. From what he could tell, and what she did explain to whatever she sought out to do could only be done here, inside the net. ''We have little time.''

V scrunched his nose, questioning to himself if Lia was of a sound mind as she had said she was, or if the time spent in the never-ending expanse of cyberspace made her go the slightest bit crazy. Then again, when he stopped to look back at how she behaved when they were younger aligned relatively well with how she acted in the present. For V, not knowing where she was or how her health fared did little but dampen the already fleeting emotions as the days passed. ''And that's what I still don't get. Make what easier? From what I saw, the chrome those bozos had were 1st, 2nd Gen at best.'' V noted the difference in tech from the components to the OS used. ''And I was only having trouble with the one.''

''Yes, but if you did not notice, the facility itself is collapsing in on itself, albeit rather slowly. Were you or the three of them to damage a section with too much force, then we would be trapped here, only to die a short time after.'' Lia chided her brother, leading the pair to a section of the cyber world that resembled a city square, scattered about with plots of exotic flowers, pristine stone benches, and cobblestone walkways all situated on a raised plot of the landscape, with the centerpiece of the square was situated around; a sleek, yet sizeable silver and white console. ''We need to use that terminal to upload the Daemon you need to get us out of here, but one problem.'' Lia folded her arms.

Seeing the pout on his sister's face further convinced V that her sister's traipse into cyberspace was having a detrimental effect on her psyche. ''And that would be?''

''Allow me you to go out on a limb here, did you happen to see and hear a beam of light that-''

''-climbed into the sky before darting away? Yea, this has something to do with this?'' V interjected as he gestured to the console.

''Yes, actually that beam of light is the Daemon, or rather part of it. The rest is residing. . .within my digital code,'' Lia laid a hand over her heart, her words nearly whispered to V, who turned to look at his sister. Digital code? But, that would mean. . .no. It couldn't. It doesn't. There's no way that-

''-V, I can hear you thinking,'' Lia smiled to her brother, watching his eyes trail to her comforting hand that he laid upon his shoulder. ''It's. . .ok. It's been this way for some time.''

''Wait, wait, wait a minute,'' V threw his hands up in protest and motioned for Lia to stop talking for a second so he could digest this. A construct? His sister was a construct, and yet that only served to have him ask more questions with the biggest being how she managed to maintain her sense of self. ''Why not escape into the net? At least there you could have a chance.''

''Easier said than done. The rest of the Daemon is essentially me.'' Lia brought V closer to the terminal. ''Without it, I am stuck here, and only able to manipulate this space to a limited degree. When it comes to communication with other entities out in the net, it only comes in blips, and if not with static following.'' Lia sighed dramatically. ''But until recently, when I began to hear through the chatter a bit more clearly.''

V looked on at the terminal, seeing the rough outline of what he rightly assumed was the entirety of the space that the pair occupied. ''And how come you can't just take back what you need? It's part of you, isn't it? Unless a protocol was put in place to prevent that.'' V looked to see Lia take a seat on a nearby bench, her hands carefully tucked into her lap.

Lia hummed, the long draw of breath telling V all that he needed to. A rouge Daemon, but to also be part of a person that would prevent departure into the net would only make the present situation all the worse. If his time dealing with Johhny was any indication of his sister's words, she was essentially as good as dead to anyone else less experienced. ''Fuck. How long has it been for you?''

Lia turned from V slightly, the question seeming to cut deeper than the sharpest of knives. ''Too long. Too long, indeed. However, time is not on our side for me to answer all of your questions, brother. we will have to make do with footnotes until we can rescue your friends,'' Lia looked on to the sky before pointing her gaze to V. ''The Daemon will not integrate with me until it completes the primary function, and that can only come to pass if it has a pathway to occupy,'' Lia suggestively pointed to V's neural jack.. ''Then the Daemon's auxiliary function will come into play, making me 'whole' once it fully uploads into your neural net.'' Lia's air quotes were lost on V.

''And you figured me your gopher, was that it?'' V asked, a sneer on his face at Lia's question who remained silent.. ''What happened to your body?'' V surveyed the contents of the terminal, attempting to delve further into the net, intent on bringing up the camera feed of the Arasaka facility. Anything to see and make sure Panam and Mitch were okay. He would be damned if he didn't try.

''Not entirely sure, but I would have to venture Arasaka disposed of my actual body or it simply is kept on ice somewhere not in the facility,'' Lia slowly walked over, slinking her arms around her brother and resting her head on his shoulder. Though being inside the net was nowhere near the same as it was in real life, the sensations replicated came second to none to anything else. For the moment, both siblings felt the proverbial warmth of another; for V, knowing, but also feeling his flesh and blood be present eased his thoughts, while it performed the opposite effect for Lia. ''But. . .I am glad that you are alive and well, V. I know. . .dealing with me is not the easiest thing in the world, and me asking you this is. . .difficult, but I want you to know that I love you.'' Lia whispered, her smile growing a bit as V's hand came to rest on her hand in a comforting grip. ''And-''

''-Love you too, sis. We can talk about that later; Arasak and all of the other questions that I have, but, we need to go. Now. So, how can we capture the Daemon?'' the smile on V's face made reassured her a bit.

Lia nodded, maneuvering from around V to show him the terminal as she keyed in a few commands before executing a program with a final keystroke. That would be the easy part, the hard part would be before her brother to deal with the aftereffects. ''I just created a signal to bring the Daemon here, as it will see you as a suitable host to integrate with. The Daemon will merge with you, and when it does, the primary function will be yours to command. I set the terminal to take you back once that completes.'' Lia pointed to the horizon after hearing the shrill tone of the Daemon jetting to the sky before pausing, searching.

ZOOM! V took a step back at the speed, suddenly feeling a numbing feeling at the base of his neck. He had one more question to ask, and it was one that he should have led with when the idea of getting out of there came about. ''And what will happen to you?'' V turned around to face Lia again. ''And how will I know how to use it?''

''We become one, in nearly the same way that you did with Johhny Silverhand.'' Lia gave her brother another hug, wanting to relish the feeling, however digital and constructed it was one more time. ''It is not ideal, but it will help you to save your friends.'' the gleam in V's eyes died for a moment before he managed to dig within himself and find the will to bring it back.

''Family,'' V said with a tone of finality over Lia's shoulder.

''Beg pardon?''

''I said, family,'' V repeated, hugging his sister a bit tighter. ''Panam, Mitch, and The Aldecaldos are family. And you are too, little sis. I'm getting you out of here too. We're both going home.''