Even in these chains, you won't break me
"Caitlyn? This is V. Listen. There's a place in Kabuki. I'll send you the address. Meet there in half an hour. Ask for Jim; he'll guide you to a table in the back."
The merc didn't wait for a reply and swiftly ended the communication, paying little attention to what the British woman had to say.
She disliked working with partners. The first time she did, Jackie lost his life. The second time, asking for backup resulted in Saul being blasted to bits by Adam Smasher, and several Aldecados lost their lives.
Johnny Silverhand was gone too. Not a single person who ever followed her into battle had avoided losing their own lives or the lives of those close to them.
That's why she had just had a heated argument with Judy, barely an hour after waking up.
"Jude," she had said, "I've got a few weeks to live. Can you please spare me the pain of having to arrange your funeral as well?"
The young Alvarez had been outraged to the point of screaming in Spanish. But V would not give in. Yes, Judy could handle a gun; she had proven herself in a few fights, but not like this. Not if V could help it.
"Jude, please! I'm not asking you to stay at home and cook me a nice meal while I'm off dodging bullets!"
"And what am I gonna do, huh? Play netrunner when we both know you're much better at this than me? And don't serve me the 'fake a BD' stuff."
"Then what? Do you want to go storming their base headfirst? Because we both know I'm also better at this than you!"
Judy's eyes had become dark and would have struck her down on the spot if she could have. Then her shoulders had dropped, and the anger had turned to a storm of pain and sadness that her eyes could barely contain.
"V. I can't do this. I can't watch you go off and just wait with my fingers crossed hoping you're gonna come back in one piece. You can't deny me the few weeks I should still have with you. They are way too few already..."
"I know, Judy. Look, we don't know anything about the job yet anyway. I'm just gonna meet the two Brits and see what info they got. Do some recon. Then we'll have to devise a plan. Together. We'll cross that bridge when we have to."
She kissed her deeply, as she had made a point to every single day since they had left NC on the top of Panam's ride, and stormed off her apartment before her heart decided to never leave the bedroom ever again.
She took the elevators down to the garage. Seeing her old vehicles here, gathering dust, pained her heart. They were loaded with blood, bullets, and history. If she had listened to El Capitan Muamar, the fixer, she'd have bought a lot more than the four sets of wheels she had in front of her, but she had preferred to invest in real estate.
She already knew which one she'd go with. The one she had missed the most. The Kusanagi CT-3X. There was something special about the way the wind would hit her face, about the smell of the city assaulting her when she was driving the red motorbike.
"Fuck, I missed you..." she whispered, touching the cold metal like the skin of a long-lost lover.
She reached the diner, currently serving brunch to the very few customers, quite in advance, but she preferred to be here first.
"V! I can't believe it! It's been months! Where have you been, girl?"
"Jim! Yeah, sorry about that, had to lay low a bit. Can you get me my usual? At my table?"
"Sure thing, darling! Take your seat! I'll be right here."
"I'm expecting a couple of girls, by the way. Send them my way, if you don't mind."
"Well, someone hasn't lost her Don Juan habits!"
V hid her blush by wiring him a sizeable tip in advance.
Caitlyn and Vi arrived before her meal, much to her disappointment as she was starving.
Jim pointed them to her, not without a shocked look at Vi's massive arms. V would have a hard time describing how terrifying those could be. Put next to each other, her two hands were as big as her table for two.
"V," started Caitlyn. "Thank you for calling. I wasn't sure you would."
"I hesitated. But you got a headstart, so..."
"Right."
V stared at Vi. The pink-headed girl hadn't spoken a word to her since Caitlyn had woken up. She had guessed that the posh one was the one in charge of talking, but still, there was something in her eyes. Like a storm contained. She feared this look more than the corpo behind Cait's name. And those arms.
Kiramman explained everything they had found about the Animals, which wasn't much. Every trail they had followed had gone cold and trapped after their encounter the day before.
"Okay, first things first. That prototype of yours. How did it end up in the arms of this Deckard guy?"
Vi grunted, and Caitlyn shook her head with shame.
"It got stolen from our lab. By Jinx."
V had heard that name. A terrible loose cannon merc, as likely to manage the hardest job ever without breaking a sweat as she was to screw up a simple pizza delivery, according to her reputation.
"That's bad luck, but it doesn't say how Deckard got it. Nor does it explain how you knew he had it."
Vi scratched her head.
"My sister told us herself who she sold it to. She likes to make a fool out of us."
"Wait! Your sister is Jinx? Even I know her rep! Best and worst merc on your side of the ocean, from London to Berlin!"
Vi grunted again and looked by the window.
"There's another thing I don't get," pursued V. "Let's say we get this Deckard gonk. This prototype of yours, I don't suppose it's a chip we can remove from his slot, is it?"
"No, sadly it is not."
"Sounds like an implant then. Does it mean you need him alive?"
"Preferably, but not necessarily."
"Blowing his head is fine?"
Caitlyn looked uncomfortable. Vi took over.
"Depends. Look, V, gonna be real honest with you. Anything we do to the guy could damage the prototype. It's fragile, and more importantly, it's everywhere."
V sighed. This job was getting more and more complex, and not the fun kind.
"Look, I don't really care anyway. All I want is to get Misty back. The rest doesn't matter to me. Some time ago, I'd have asked for the eddies and all kinds of details like that. I don't care about that anymore. If I can help, I'll help, but I'm not here to do a job for you. I'm only here for Misty."
Caitlyn nodded.
"We understand. We want to help too. We felt bad for not arriving on time the other day. We could have prevented all this. At the end of the day, all that matters is this poor girl's life. If we got to sacrifice the Hexc... The prototype for this, so be it!"
V raised an eyebrow. More than the slip of the tongue, something else intrigued her.
"This is an odd talk, for a corpo. Never knew one to care about any lives, especially the life of a rando girl reading Tarot in a dark alley."
Caitlyn's face grew red, and Vi tensed.
"I know the reputation of the Megacorporations", countered Caitlyn, "especially in this city, where human life barely equals the value of a cheeseburger! But we do care!"
V raised her hands in surrender.
"Alright alright. No need to get your panties all twisted, or whatever you say in London."
V noticed how fondly Vi was looking at her wife when she got defensive. She knew this look: the same Judy had when she thought V wasn't noticing. The look that made her feel blessed a lot more than she thought she deserved. This simple look made her reconsider her whole opinion of the brawler. Suddenly the idea of facing her was not scary anymore. It was unbearable.
"Okay," she resumed with a softer voice. "Sorry, we might have gotten off on the wrong foot. Times have been... trying for me, to say the least, and learning that Misty has been taken really gets my nerves on fire."
"Don't worry," answered Vi. "We get it. More than you know. Look, it's easy. We'll do everything we can to help you get her back. We'll try to recover the prototype ourselves in the process, and if I get to crush a couple of their skulls to teach them what it means to hurt my wife, then it's cherry on top. Agreed?"
She extended her gigantic hand, making her wife snicker.
"Yeah, agreed," answered V with a smile and an awkward shake.
"The real question is: where do we start? The only thing we know for sure is that Deckard will be at the Arena in eight days. And by that time, it's way too late."
"Let me make some calls. I got all the best fixers in NC on top of my contact list, and they all owe me big time. One of them is bound to know something. And if not, we'll do it the old-fashioned way: we hit one of their dens and shake them until one talks."
"There's still one thing I don't understand," cut Caitlyn, visibly not as thrilled with the partnership as Vi. "Who's Misty to you? Hell, who is she to Viktor? I spent all night searching, and I couldn't make a connection."
V laid back against the leather of the chair and took the time to appreciate a bite of the crispy fake bacon.
"Misty's Vik's neighbor."
"I know that, but... that can be all."
"It is. Don't go looking further. At least it started this way; now they're close friends. She sometimes serves as his assistant or secretary, some shit like that."
Caitlyn pouted.
"That can't be right. All my research mentioned that there's only two things that prevail in Night City. Greed for the ones on top, survival for all the others."
V scoffed with disdain.
"You'd be surprised to see how many good people there are in this city. People with hearts bigger than Arasaka's tower, kinder than anyone I've ever met. People like Vik, who works pro bono more times than he gets paid to save lives. Like that ex-cop, River, whose family invited me to dinner even when they can barely afford it. People like Misty. Like Judy."
She took another bite.
"The thing is, those people tend to be chewed up and spat out by the city, you're right. Theft, cons, rape, murder, kidnapping. Kind people are perfect prey, so yeah, they tend to die faster than others. Or worse, see their kindness die before them. And the ones who don't, the ones like Vik, well... They're cursed nonetheless. Cursed to see all the others get not so lucky, and to know that no matter how kind they are, it will never be enough to help everyone."
"I... I see," stuttered Caitlyn, taken aback. "Are you one of those people maybe? What kind of unlucky are you?"
V scoffed again, almost wanting to laugh, if her heart didn't hurt so much.
"Nah! No way. I've been yo-yoing between the greed and the survival quite a lot. But I owe Vik big time, and Misty... well, Misty's Jackie's girl you see."
"Jackie Welles? Your former partner, pronounced dead almost a year ago?"
V felt the sting in her throat and down her lungs. She didn't know if it was the memory or her dying body, but she felt it.
"Researches, huh? Yeah, I guess we are listed as known associates somewhere. He was my best choom. He's not here anymore to protect his girl, so the least I can do for him is take care of that in his absence."
Vi nodded in agreement. The blue-haired woman didn't seem as satisfied, but she dropped the matter nonetheless.
"I understand. Again, I'm sorry we couldn't save her earlier."
"Doesn't matter now. We're going to get her back, and fry Deckard's brain!"
Then, in front of their concerned looks:
"Manner of speaking! Goddamn corpos and their prototypes..."
"Hey Dino! It's V!"
"V! By Adam Smasher's balls! Where were you, choom? Been trying to catch you for weeks!"
"Sorry. I had to... lay low for a bit."
"Everybody's been talking! Some say you're the one to blame, or thank, for the whole mess at Arasaka! Even some talks about you flatlining Adam Smasher himself!"
"I can neither confirm nor deny, Dino, you know that."
"Shiiit choomba! No way!"
"Listen Dino, I need your help."
"And I got at least three contracts that are waiting just for you, so I'm sure we can work things out."
"I'm looking for Deckard. An up-and-comer at the Animals."
Dino's face suddenly tensed on the camera. His usual cocky smile disappeared, and he rubbed his shaved skull.
"Fuck, V. Nothing is ever simple with you, is it?"
"Never. So can you help me?"
The man on the other end of the line sighed.
"I wish. Believe me."
"You mean you can't, or you won't?"
V's voice was now cold and sharp. Past biz didn't matter no more. Only Misty, and whoever was between them.
"I can't, V. I have no idea where he is. No one fucking knows! And this bastard has put up quite a crew, believe me! He keeps fucking up with everyone's jobs! He appears for a fight, wins, leaves, and nobody got no eyes on him! But he seems to have intel before anyone on any kind of gig and by the time my guys show up, gear is gone, target is dead or whatever. I don't even think he's working for a fixer! He's just ruining everybody's life for shit and giggles."
V frowned. Somehow, that sounded like Jinx. Was she involved in the plot somehow? Was she in Night City?
"You really have no idea where the hell he's hiding?"
"Fuck all! Neither does El Capitan, nor Wakako! If we had, we'd have sent freaking armies to hunt that motherfucker down. He's costing us a lot of eddies! Why do you think we all try so hard to reach you?"
He sounded pissed now, until his smile came back.
"But if you're on his ass, that's good news to me! Means the gonk is just a dead man walking."
"I appreciate the confidence, but I gotta find him first."
"I'll let you know if I got anything, V!"
"I appreciate it. Take care Dino."
V killed the call and sighed. This was harder than she expected. She figured she only had one card to play. She triggered the mental command and waited for the call to be picked up.
"Are my eyes deceiving me?" said a cold female voice on the other side. "I thought you were dead. Had to be, for dodging me for months."
"Hello Rogue."
V hesitated for a few seconds. She didn't know where to start.
"I... I've received your messages."
Rogue Amenadies, the best fixer in Night City and owner of the legendary Afterlife club, scoffed with disdain.
"So you chose to not answer me then."
"Yes, I... I had to leave the City. Lay low. But also... I didn't know how to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"I couldn't pass you messages along. To Johnny. He's... gone. We managed to get the chip out of my head, and he... he chose to sacrifice himself. Or more accurately, he let me get rid of him."
Rogue froze for a second, then sighed heavily, as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders, but also immediately replaced with a deep sadness.
"I see. I guess only Johnny Silverhand is capable of dying twice and making me feel like shit both times. I can't say he really sounds like him though but... Well, the short time I got to spend with him let me see the kind of influence you had on him."
"I'm sorry Rogue. I didn't know how to tell you."
"It's okay. I understand. At least you're alright."
Something must have showed up on V's face because Rogue paused and asked again.
"You're not?"
V felt like crying.
"I'm sorry Rogue," she whispered, holding back the sobs with all the strength she had.
"Johnny... Johnny sacrificed himself for nothing. I'm still dying. I got a few weeks left to live."
Rogue swore.
"Shit. I'm sorry to hear, V. I really am."
"Thanks."
"Anything I can do to help?"
"Actually yeah, but... not really for me. I'm back in town. A choom of mine got taken and I'm trying to get her back, but I can't find her."
"Any idea who took her?"
Rogue was back to her professional self.
"Yeah. Deckard. Some Animal that makes his name in the boxing circles."
Same as Dino's, Rogue's face changed.
"Not just boxing. Although it's the only place he shows himself publicly, but he built quite a crew. No one knows where he got the eddies and the cred for it."
"I've heard he's been messing with everyone's plans."
"Indeed he has. I already told you about balance, haven't I? Well, this little shit is completely fucking with it."
"I thought if anyone could have intel about him, it would be you."
Rogue sighed.
"You would think so. I would think so. Look, I might have something. Not as good as his location or known associates, but... I think I know where they will strike next."