Chapter 5: Mall Strides
A few days have passed since their date and their bond is growing stronger with V getting a call from Michiko about the data he found. "V, good morning. I was searching through the data shard you got me about Cynosure. This isn't good, I am surprised Militech managed to hide this from Arasaka," Michiko said.
"Yes, Militech did a good job burying it. I found it when I was on a gig in Dogtown. There was a report that wanted to make it big. We went into one of the Cynosure labs and found the data but she got killed by a Militech agent who was tailing us. I managed to kill him and keep the data shard for safekeeping for leverage against Myers if she ever went after me," V said.
"Smart move. This is insane, this could trigger a world war. Myers is a traitor to humankind, and every nation would want to remove her by force. She will fight back and drag the world into a death spiral. You did a good thing hanging this to me. I have allies who will find this useful, once I get more data. I will be able to bury Myers and Militech once and for all," she said.
"How Militech is too big?" V asked.
"They are attached to the hip of the NUSA. Once the government falls, then the Militech goes with it. This will help secure the FSA's future. Netwatch along with the EEC and their allies will be the ones to utter the death nail to Myers's vision," she said.
"You hate Myers huh?" V noticed her sheer venom for the woman.
"That bitch ruined my life and forced me to go back to the family. Do you know fighting Arasaka like this isn't new to me? I was blackmailed by the former president Elizabeth Kress to aid in Anti Arasaka operation within America," Michiko said as V was surprised by this.
"Seriously, you fought against your own family?" V asked, never hearing about this.
"it all happened when the first Arasaka tower fell. Militech and Morgan Blackhand led the assault. That narrative about terrorists attacking it was bullshit. Some of the well-known Edgerunners at the time joined this assault, Johnny, Rouge, Spider Murphy, and Shaitan among others. Their actions got the towers destroyed and Spider Murphy killed my father Kei Arasaka via Soul Killer," Michiko said as this is new to V.
"That happened like that," V said as the events around the Arasaka Tower Holocaust were left unclear by the common folk.
"V I was there when it happened and Kenichi told me everything. I was only a teenager, barely out of high school, when this happened and my life was changed forever. Elizabeth formed the narrative that Arasaka was the one who triggered the nuke but it was her orders to carry out the attack," Michiko said.
"Never heard about that," V said.
"Buried in the sands of history. I was roped into it, she forced me to help her take out operations in America in exchange for keeping my citizenship. I would be kicked back to Japan if didn't do what she wanted. I am American, I don't have a history with Japan at all. I am a West Coast girl through and through," Michiko said.
"Gee xenophobic much," V said.
"Militech is filled with that nonsense. When I got out of college, I set up my own Megacorp Danger Gal. A private investigation, bodyguard, and security company set up in Night City to get involved with high-class classes and exploits but it is a front for my anti-Arasaka operations for the NUSA," Michiko said.
"That is rough Lady Michiko," V feeling sympathy for her.
"Thanks, but Myers got paranoid and kicked me out. Burning everything of my old life, I went crawling back to Arasaka to take on my duties as the leader of the Dove Faction. I will continue my mission and make Arasaka in my image," Michiko said.
"I will help you with that," V said.
"Thanks again, well I should let you go. I will talk if I need something," Michiko said to cut off the phone line.
"Things are getting interesting," V said to watch some TV in the living room.
Ayaka is talking with Michiko on the phone. "The date seems like a big success," Michiko said in a playful tone.
"Yes, it was wonderful. He is very nice and empathic. Very good to speak with him, very cute," Ayaka said feeling happy to be around him.
"So, are you going to make your move?" Michiko uttered to her.
"Well, I will, just need the right moment. Does he even date older women," Ayaka said feeling nervous.
"I don't think he would care. My husband didn't care about me being older than him. He wouldn't either. You are beautiful, gentle, cunning, and empathetic. You are going to catch his heart no problem," Michiko said.
"Thanks, Michiko," Ayaka said feeling too lucky to have a friend like her.
"Anytime Ayaka, go get him and be happy like I used to be," Michiko said to cut the phone line.
"Myers, that bitch will pay for what she has done to you," Ayaka said swallowing her anger at the suffering of her best friend to go see V in the living room. "Hey V, let's go hand out the Sacramento Mall Complex," she asked.
"Oh yeah, that has been recently, right? It's some type of mega mall?" he asked.
"Oh yes, there are shops, attractions, shows, all sorts of restaurants and weapon shops. All you can ask for is there," she said.
"Well, it will be interesting. Is it another date?" he asked.
"Of course. Let's get dressed up and head for the train station. The Mall is deep underground under the city. Getting there by train is the only way," she said.
"Preem, let me get dressed," V said as Ayaka was excited to go into her room to put on a cute outfit. She got on a blue blouse, a white frilly skirt, and purple slippers.
Ayaka is excited to get into the living room to see that Ayaka is already dressed up in casual wear. "By the way, you look quite cute," she said.
"You too," he said as Ayaka felt her heart beating fast.
"So cool, I hope there are a lot of things in this underground mall," Ayaka said as they went outside to get into his AV to head down towards the city to enjoy the sights of the colorful buildings. They see billboards of the different worlds that humans have colonies on.
"Space travel is insane nowadays," V said.
"Right, we got colonies on planets like Venus and Mars. The Dwarf Planet Ceres is within the Asteroid Belt. Even on moons like Luna, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Titan. There is a secret research base on Titan owned by the Dove Faction. It's so far away, it's quite isolated," Ayaka said.
"Very interests. After this is done, we can go traveling in space on vacation," V said.
"Yeah, that would be nice. Space is beautiful and mysterious," Ayaka said as they went into a hangar to park her AV to go towards the train station. They make a short walk to see people walking among them to enjoy their day.
"So many people here," V said.
"This city has a lot of people due to the expansions happening for the past 50 years. It is the capital after all and it's the center for all government, corporate, and civilian functions here," he said as it got very windy blowing against her skirt.
The train station is down there," he said. Within 30 minutes, the duo is on the train going towards their chosen location.
"It's pretty packed, seems like a rush hour today," V said as they were within twin seats at the window. V sees the beautiful countryside set against the sun rising high against the mountains. "What an amazing view," V said as they headed into the underground tunnel to go towards the underground mall deep under the city.
"We need some snacks to clear up this hunger, hey hostess," Ayaka said as a pretty-looking Exotic lady spotting catlike ears and a furry tail coming out of her skirt. She pulls in a cart filled with snacks and drinks.
"Yes sir, you folks need something for the trip?" she asked to look at Ayaka's horns. "A fellow exotic among us," she said.
"Yes, you have cat ears," Ayaka commented.
"Thanks, you madam, anything you need?" she asked.
"Yes, we will share a plate of buttered biscuits," Ayaka said as the V nodded their heads to agree with this.
"Also, blueberry tea for us please," V said as the hostess nodded her head.
"Okay, here you go," she places a plate of snacks and two drinks on a tray in front of Ayaka.
"Thank you," V said as Ayaka transferred his eddies to pay her for the good food.
"Here is a tip for your good service," he said as the waitress was happy to see this.
"No thank you, enjoy the meal you two," she said as the duo were enjoying their meal.
"Wow, this is tasty," V said to take a bite out of the crispy biscuit. "For train food, it's not bad at all," he said as Ayaka drank his cool blueberry tea. She looks at the screens to see a new report about the terrorist group called the Iron Legion. "Iron Legion?" he questioned.
"A Neo Nazi terrorist cell. They have been a problem for a while now. They have the backing of Militech to get them to cause as much damage in the FSA as possible," Ayaka said.
"Where did they come from?" he asked.
"Well, they date back to the 2000s in Idaho. They took over the state when the nation was in the admits of the Collapse. The people came together and kicked them out of the state. They had retreated deep within the forests of the state in their bunkers and settlements to train for the day they can come back," Ayaka clearing remembering this from experience.
"So awful, such hate festering for so long," he said finding them pretty pathetic.
"People can't let go of the past. They are trapped by it. Now the Militech and the NUSA are using them to attack our allies. Becoming a terrorist group trying to undermine them," she said as they headed into the mall to see it's a massive complex underground that has a ton of shops, restaurants, and attractions.
"Wow, this is pretty nice," he said.
"Well, we should get to the shops and get me some pretty outfits," Ayaka said as the duo went around to head to clothing shops. Ayaka sees a shop that has pretty dresses on display. "So pretty, let's go inside," she said to drag him inside to search around to grab onto several outfits she wanted to try out. "I need your opinion about these, okay?" she asked.
"It would be a treat to see you in pretty outfits," he flirted.
"Oh, you will not be disappointed," she said to go into the dressing room to strip out of the jacket to be only in her purple bra and panties. "I am going to knock his socks off," she said wanting to impress her crush.
V sits down to wait for his partner to come up and she wears the first outfit. "Oh wow," he said as the outfit consisted of a white shirt with a knee-length blue skirt, knee-high white socks, and yellow shoes "You look wonderful," he said as he was taken aback by her beauty as her short hourglass figure is hugging her outfit showing off her soft curves.
"Oh, you noticed huh," she said giving him an alluring look making his heart race. "Glad you like it, I got more where that came from," she said as she got into her second outfit. "How is this?" she asked as she came out to show off a nice white sundress.
"Nice," he said as she went back to change into another outfit.
"What about this one," she said striking a pose while putting a hand on her right hip showing off a yellow top and brown pants.
"She knows how to fill out those pants," V thought dumbly staring at her plump ass looking pronounced in the shorts. "Great," he said snapping out of it.
"Good," she said as she got into another outfit to get out of the dressing room to reveal a bikini. Ayaka had a goofy look on his normally composed expression. "What do you think?" she asked.
"You look great, that's an understatement by the way," he said as her black bikini top was holding in her cute small chest and bikini bottom showing off her voluptuous bottom.
"Going to a dip would be nice," Ayaka said as she tried multiple bras and panties for herself to collect as much as she could. "Okay I am good," she got a good amount of clothing and underwear to wear.
"Nova, that is good enough. I will pay for it," he said.
'Thanks," V said feeling grateful.
"No problem, it's my pleasure," she said as the clothing was delivered to her penthouse later. "Come on, more things to see here," she said to drag him into a hat shop. "Look at all these pretty hats," she said to grab onto a straw hat.
"That fits your sundresses," V said.
"Yeah, it does," she said feeling happy.
"Yo Lady Ayaka. You are here too," a light Chinese accented voice said as a 5'7 tall Chinese/Japanese woman sporting a silk silver top and black pants with white slippers. Her long black hair with pink streaks is tied in a low ponytail matching well against her pale skin tone and hazel eyes.
"Oh, hey there Cho. V this is Cho I mentioned before. The best sniper in the Dove Faction," Ayaka said as Cho was pleased to see V there.
"It's nothing compared to you V. Your record is beyond approach. Killing Adam Smasher is truly an impossible task and yet you bested him," Cho said sounding excited to meet a legend like V.
"Oh, it's no big deal. Adam was a brute, all I did was push the right angles and he became a pile of scrap metal," he said.
"Nova, I am happy to have someone like you in our group. Helping Michiko-Sama is a blessing and it will be for you too. Well, I need to head for the gun shop to grab an Aki Ashi there, see you later," Cho said to go off on her own.
"Seems nice," V said.
"She is nice, she didn't make it for the Arasaka Tower raid but she will be coming on missions," Ayaka said as she grabbed a funny cow hat. "This is so adorable," she said to place it on her head but her horns were in the way.
"You need to cut holes to make that work," V said amused.
"Yeah yeah," Ayaka said as she grabbed a few hats to pay for them and get them shipped to her penthouse to head into the large corridor.
V sees an ad for a big water park being opened soon in Sacramento. "Oh, Aqua Zone, big water park," V said.
"Oh, it's very nice. The government is investing in the entertainment section to bring in my tourists," Ayaka said.
"We should get a snack," V said.
"Oh yeah, they have a pretzel shop here. They have these cinnamon sugar pretzels, they are delicious when they come out fresh and hot from the oven," she said.
"That sounds good," he said as they went over to grab some pretzels to sit on a bench near the center of the park. They have citrus punch and vanilla dipping sauce. They rip a piece from the pretzel to dip it and bite into it. "Preem stuff," V said.
"I got good taste right," Ayaka said to eat into her own.
"This date is wonderful," he said.
"Yes, the second one we have been on. It's always pleasant to be with you. I am surprised you don't have anyone with you," she asked.
"Yeah, there were a few women in Night City but no one got my attention like you do,"
"Oh, so sweet, liking the attention of an older woman's company,
"You are mature and wise. Sweet and helpful. I can't ask for a better partner on the field,"
"Or in life," she said to get closer to place her hand on his own. "I had my eyes on you since I heard about you. Your empathy and your sheer will get me in my two hearts," she said to drink her citrus punch.
"After getting dumped by Arasaka for the first time open my eyes. There are more things than endlessly getting rich and putting down others," V said.
"I agree, people keep repeatedly making the same mistakes over and over again. An insane mindset but you managed to break it when you teamed up with us. Now we have changed history and with you by my side. We will keep making history and turn Arasaka into something new and move away from the dreadful past," Ayaka said as V is honored to know a woman like her.
"You are very unique Ayaka," V smiled as Ayaka felt her hearts beat from his handsome smile.
"I try," she said.
"Hey, I want to give you something," V said feeling nervous about this.
"Oh, a gift, I hope it's good," she flirted to give him a little wink.
"It is, just close your eyes and I will give it to you,"
"Okay," she said to close her pretty eyes.
"She is cute sometimes," he thought to reach over and give her a deep kiss on her small pink lips. She realized what was happening to began returning the gesture for them to tongue leash into each other's mouths while embracing each other.
"Oh, so smooth honey," Ayaka's gentle Japanese accent was a delight to the ears.
"Well, my gift is becoming your boyfriend. How about it?" he asked.
"Oh, of course, I wanted this for so long. Give me more," she begged.
"As you wish milady," he said playfully as they kept making out with him holding onto her right breast to lightly caress it.
"Oh, this is a dream come true," she said as she enjoyed the treat she always wanted and now they are both a couple enjoying the rest of the day.