Authors Note: I do not own Cyberpunk 2077, just an avid game fan.
Rated M for MATURE.
Phew, kinda nervous now that the traffic graph is finally updated with views on my story. Can't believe I got 25 Chapters wrote within a month! It's been a lot of work rewriting things. And I knew from the start that people who didn't want to reread would skip ahead, fine with me! That's the glorious thing about being a reader, and also why I named my chapters for you to do so. But for me as a writer, I want things to flow and build properly even if that means resetting the tone of this story. Anyways I gotta write for me, but I do hope you enjoy my story! :)
The air in the dark, dank hallway hung heavy as I stepped cautiously, the dim light casting long shadows on the decaying walls of the abandoned apartment building. The silence was broken only by the creaking floor beneath my footsteps, resonating through the desolate corridor.
Navigating through the gloom, a shiver of fear traced its way down my spine. Each step felt like an echo in the hollow spaces, amplifying the quiet unease that settled in the darkness. As I approached a weathered door, my hand trembled slightly before splaying it on the door.
With a deliberate irritation, I raised my other hand. My four distinct knocks echoed through the emptiness, hanging in the still air.
After a moment of silence the door abruptly swung open with Takemura, "Ok. Come inside, quick." He hissed while swiftly grabbing me by arm to pull me through the threshold before locking the door once more.
The door on this side was strapped with live explosives, appalled I glanced towards him, "Now you gonna tell me what the fuck you were thinkin'?! The news is blowin' up, AVs are swarming, searchin' for this place, all to get me involved!" I hissed vehemently under my breath to the corporate rat. If looks could kill he'd be dead by now.
Takemura looked to the floor as he sighed, "I offered her some tea…"
I laughed manically with both of my hands hovering beside my head before throwing them down, "You kidnap Haneko Arasaka and offer her a cup of fuckin' tea?!"
He looked to the floor shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, "Yes…she respectfully declined." But Takemura straightened his stance adjusting his machine gun in both palms, raising his chin to look down on me, "Tell her the truth about Yorinobu, no embellishment. And state your terms clearly, perhaps to you she will listen." He ordered.
"He's gone fuckin' psycho…" I muttered under my breath shaking my head.
However, I'm at a dead end. What better way to get a new lead than from 'Saka themselves?
"Welp, here goes nothin'." I announced as I strode towards the dining table candlelit as I took a seat across from Hanako Arasaka.
Seated stiffly within a two-person table in the abandoned building, she exuded an air of refined grace that starkly contrasted with the decay around her with a red tea kettle and two cups untouched.
Hanako's posture was impeccable, every movement deliberate and controlled. Her attire, a seamless blend of traditional and modern imported silk, spoke volumes of her status as the emperor's daughter and now sister. Dark eyes, sharp and observant, as she refused to look at me but rather reluctantly to the familiar face of Takemura approaching.
This isn't gonna work.
The dog held his hands nervously as he spoke within their native language, my auto translator upgrade from Judy reacting, "Hanako-Sama…this is the woman I spoke of." He shifted on his feet nervously, "Please, listen to what she has to say." He nodded his chin towards me.
Leaned into a laid back slouch, my arms and legs crossed, an ankle nonchalantly resting on my thigh, jiggling in rhythmic casualness.
"I was there that night at Kopeki Plaza, I saw Saburo Arasaka die." I firmly stated as she raised her chin to stare blankly within the boarded windows, I continued "He wasn't poisoned, that's a lie your brother made up and spread." leaning with elbows on my knees, yet she still refused to glance my direction as I finished firmly. "Yorinobu murdered him."
Finally she scoffed with a stare into Takemura, "You must be mad to think I'll listen to such nonsense."
"Why?!" I exclaimed, slapping my palms down on the table as her eyebrow twitched ever so slightly staring into the boarded windows once more, "My word mean shit to you?!" My voice rose with anger.
Goro shook his head as he gripped his wrist tightly before addressing her, "Hanako-sama, I apologize on her behalf…"
My head snapped to him, still pissed about this gonk bullshit, "Oh, shut up Goro! Was s'posed to be honest. Well that's what I'm bein'!"
But now they both refused to look at me as I sat back into the chair with palms raised, "Fine, maybe I am just a two bit thief…but I'm the two bit thief that stole that fuckin' relic off you!" I pointed into both of them.
Hankeos face didn't waver from her stiff judgment as I pointed into the table with each emphasis, "Slotted it in, took a bullet to the brain, died…!" my voice cracked, tensely gripped my hair as she finally looked within me in subtle shock despite her chin raised.
"You…died?" She slowly inquired.
I gripped the table with a hand as my eyes narrowed into her, "Oh yeah! And now I've got Johnny fuckin' Silverhand in there, and I'll do anything to live."
I pushed away the table into a lean back, arms crossed with a wave towards her, "So I've got exactly nothin' to lose, but you've got lots!"
Hanako looked into the floor in grim contemplation as Takemura dropped his hands to his sides with a step towards her, "Hanako-sama! V is living proof of the terrible crime your brother committed." He waved towards her with a bow, "We can confirm every word she speaks of only you help her with the relic."
The emperor's daughter glanced at her fathers former guard to only look down once more, Takemura rubbed his hands nervously with glances between me and her. This was his defining moment to return to the fold, where his honor got him.
A noise echoed and rolled in the hallway, Takemura looked into me with a sneer, "Go and check."
Why do I always draw the short straw…
I crept out of the chair and noiselessly pulled out my iron. Rolling my feet forward in silence towards the door, I whispered, "Got a bad feeling about this…"
The sudden explosion unleashed a violent surge of energy, propelling me backward with an intense force. The explosion's deafening roar drowned out any semblance of order, leaving my ears ringing in the disorienting aftermath. The world became a chaotic whirlwind of debris, and I found myself careening through the crumbling structure as the ground gave away below me within a free fall. Amidst the chaos, a sense of weightlessness gripped me, a brief suspension before reality reasserted itself.
The impact was harsh, knocking the breath out of me. The air hung thick amidst the wreckage of smoke and red flares, ears still ringing, breathless, battered but alive—as gunfire erupted overhead, rounds discharging as screams and yelling ensued.
"Arasaka elites! On the ground asshole! Don't move!" Barked from above as my vision wavered.
Johnny ran before me waving me up."Last chance to get the fuck outta here!"
"Takemura—" I croaked as Johnny turned away and halted before snapping his head to me.
Johnny crouched waving his hands erratically within a panic, "Forget him! Guy's toast! Less you wanna wind up like him!"
He waved his hands up and forward before looking at me and taking off in a run.
Gritting my teeth against the lingering shock, I summoned every ounce of strength, pushing off the ground to my feet. The world around me still echoed with the aftermath two floors above. I held my side heaving as my vision darkened, regardless I stumbled forwards attempting to run down and out the hallway.
As I sprinted, urgency fueling each step, my vision darkened and suddenly I was sprawling outside. The world blurred in a chaotic swirl, losing my balance. my face met the unforgiving pavement with a jarring impact, the collision reverberating through my entire being.
Pain flared, and as I lay there, the taste of grit lingered in my mouth as shadows crept into my vision.
"Dont you fuckin' dare float off!" Johnny ordered crouching over me.
He slapped the pavement yelling, "Come on!"
I shifted my hands underneath me once more as I coughed blood, "Kheh-Kheh"
"Gotta get the fuck out of this city!" Johnny broke in a run yet again.
I pushed off the ground tapping my wrist. In a rapid succession of moments, the urban landscape blurred into streaks of light as I ran and drove with urgency. The memories of how I arrived at this isolated destination remained elusive. Lost in the hazy gaps of recollection I sat within a motel outside of town staring at the window in exhaustion.
Johnny creeping towards the window splaying his hands on the desk before it to look out, "Think they make these motels for royal fuck ups like us?" He sat on the desk before me with a foot propped on the chair. Beside the desk was old blood spattered upon the wall as he looked around continuing his tangent, "AC's busted, dirty needles under the mattress, shitters clogged…"
I squeezed my eyes shut wishing I was back within the cottage with Judy like the start of my day, when I opened them I looked around slowly.
I miss Byte too.
Johnny leaned towards me, "No for real—who fuckin' comes here to sleep? Somebody leavin' town just keeps drivin', somebody goin' there sleeps in the damn city!"
Silverhand shrugged, "What goods a motel in the middle of nowhere…" He looked nervously at the door.
"Johnny? Shut up, please. Not helping." I sighed deeply, rubbing my forehead with the back of my pistol, "Yep. Just two fuckin' losers." I placed the pistol into my lap, "And I thought we were screwed when Goro kidnapped Hanako."
Johnny waved towards me, "Uh-huh, see. Decide to cross paths with a corp, this is what happens." He nervously flicked his eyes from me and the door, "You think you just stepped in shit. Actually, you fell headfirst into a cesspit."
He stared into me sternly, "Anyone knocks, blast the fuckin' door. No warning." He shrugged, "Not keen on us endin' up like Takemura."
Tires rolled on the pavement outside.
"Hear that?"
I nodded, lifting myself up to a crouch. "Car."
"At this hour? In this place?"
I raised my pistol as I watched the headlights creep under the door and shut off.
"Fuck. Just one? Finger on the trig V."
Light feminine knocking rapped on the door as I creeped towards it.
"Not a word V." Johnny whispered.
"I have a message for a V." A woman's voice called.
"Don't touch that door."
I backed away looking around for an exit and finding nothing.
"I know you're in there! Are you asleep? Time to wake up!" The stranger called through the door.
I placed my pistol into it as sweat rolled down from my eyebrow, "Who's there?!" Tapping the barrel of my gun against the door, "I said who's there?!"
"Ugh, want the whole motel to hear or will you lemme in?" She scoffed.
"I'm armed, don't try anything." And I opened the door to a woman in a ballerina pink corporate dress smoking a cigarette with a hand unamused on her hip.
"Finally, ugh…" she scoffed, stepping through the threshold to casually look around, "That on the wall—is that blood?"
"Yep. Knocked the last star off this dump." I sneered, waving my pistol to her, "So? You were saying, got a message?"
She sat within the desk, "Sittin' right here." I creeped towards her curiously as she sighed, "It'll start soon."
I sat within the nearby chair next to the blood spatter beside the desk, "What'll start?" I raised my eyebrows.
She put out the cigarette and her head hung limply downwards.
Johnny leaned his shoulder against the wall on the other side of the desk with arms crossed, "It's a doll." He sneered.
"Or a proxy."
Her body raised upwards as she cleared her throat only to shift the ashtray aside with the least amount of contact possible as she clasped her hands onto the desk.
Her voice was different now, "I must make one thing clear. I still think you are mad, but—"
"Hanako, that you?" I narrowed my eyes into the proxy.
"But I can fool myself no longer, I believe you." She finished regardless of my interruption, looking into me with red glowing eyes.
I shifted uncomfortably within the seat, "Damn shame you didn't believe me earlier. Goro might've still been alive had you."
She leaned back within the seat to raise her chin over me, "If you invoke his name, remember he did everything for this conversation to happen. That demands respect."
"Tsk—Fine."
"You will help me, you are living proof of Yorinobu's crime and treason." She ordered.
"You gotta help me first—"
"Perhaps I did not speak clearly, we must act quickly."
I shrugged with oozing annoyance, "Well I'm pretty tight on time, too. Dyin', in fact. My dead body'd make for a lame ass witness."
Her finger scratched her temple thoughtfully, "I understand."
"Wanna know everything you know about Mikoshi."
"Mikoshi, one of my fathers projects. A data fortress with servers and Satellites. Think of it as an archive of personality constructs, digitized psyches."
"Try a prison?" I sneered, crossing my arms.
She looked away, "A matter of perspective. In any case, that is not where you'll find salvation. Not without extensive knowledge on the relic and construct creation procedure."
"Tracked down your runaway. Hellman was hidin' under Kang Taos wing. He thinks sooner or later the engram will consume me, process can't be stopped."
"Surprisingly deterministic conclusion for a man of science…" her voice trailed as she looked knowingly within me.
"At the very least got my hands on Relic schematics. Got detailed information about its inner workings, project tech documentations…" My voice trailed knowing Hellman was dead.
"Got Alt, and got a girl like Alt— brilliant.". Johnny shrugged nonchalantly.
Judy's not a fighter! She's a techie.
"Useless, with Hellman reported dead." She blinked blankly.
"We both know that girl is more than a pretty face between your thighs…first to make doll soldiers, first to merge two living neural networks for a play time scroll." Johnny waved to me.
"…Got my own genius Techies." I reluctantly admitted with a nod, rubbing my legs nervously at the thought of Judy and Alt.
"All useful…I suppose." her voice trailed coyly.
"So, what do you offer?" I crossed my arms tightly defensive.
"Soon, let us meet in person. At Embers, In the city center. It's discrete. " She sighed looking over to me, "Arasaka will back down with Takemuras death. Just remember one thing, we both must exercise extreme caution."
With that the woman in pink drooped her head once more, limp. Until she looked around curiously groaning "Mnn." As she reached for the cigarette within the ashtray.
She took a puff and sighed, "Well, that's my job done." With that she stood and left, leaving me and Johnny alone.
"Know what?"
"What?" I looked towards him as he pushed off the wall.
"Think I'd rather have a wave of 'Saka elites barge in here." He strode towards the bed sitting down tensely with elbows on his knees.
I nodded in agreement, "Right. 'Cause least we've dealt with 'Saka henchman before…but this?" I shook my head slowly, "This is something new."
He stood abruptly with his hands on his hips staring down the door, "Glad to see you get it. We've just landed on thin ice, crash landed."
I sighed, "But we can't let that proxy get to us. Think about it. What's she got now? A forgein city, a homicidal brother, and a fuckin' thief."
Johnny paced glitching erratically.
"It's why she sent a proxy. She's alone. And shittin' herself more than we are." I pressured him.
Johnny halted his pacing to step towards me with a stern stare, "Uh-huh." He leaned close within my face, "Clink."
I laughed nervously waving my hands as I pulled away, "What? Did you just say clink?"
He leaned uncomfortably close again with a face etched in anger, "Mhm... Sound of her attaching her leash."
I looked between my seat and the crimson wall, realizing the use of this motel… last person who sat here… committed suicide. With a shaking hand I slowly pulled out my pistol looking into it with contemplation. A new message broke my morbid thoughts within my halo from Judy Alvarez.
Heya V!
Started tunin' our virtue - got me thinkin' bout you again.
Got no idea how much I'm digging this right now. Splicing together two emotive tracks is super hard - there's a lotta noise I need to filter out for this to come out baby soft, but the contrast in our reactions… I mean, it'll give you shivers. Don't even have to amplify the emotional tracks.
N O V A!
I shook my head slowly as my chest strung in deep despair placing the gun on my lap.
Yeah. Sounds super cool.
However, guilt overwhelmed me as I bit my lip raising my head as I put away my iron in shame.
No. It's fuckin AWESOME. And the best thing is, it's not pretentious or nothin. Totally relatable.
I squeezed my eyes shut leaning my head against the wall and after a moment of silence she replied.
Laugh all you want mi calabacita, it's nova anyway.
I scrunched my eyebrows together curiously leaning forward onto my knees, successfully reeled in and intrigued.
Calaba- who?
I laughed wearily at her reply running a hand through my hair, a smirk curling upon my lips.
Nvm, nothing xD
Alright, I gotta go. Byeeee!
"Heh." I slowly pushed myself off my knees into a stand.
"X.D? Did your output really just use that?" Johnny scoffed, "What is this 2010? Just lame."
I rolled my eyes with a genuine smile, "Try adorably lame. Anyways, who asked you?" I waved him off absentmindedly as I opened the door.