Valarie rested with her back against the metal wall of the closed ramen shop behind her, her gaze up on the sky above. Or what she could make out of it anyway, the towering skyscrapers and neon lights obscuring the moon and stars. Her foot was tapping against the pavement, not with nerves, but following the beat pouring out from a man's radio across the street. True to her home city's namesake, this was when it came to life. For Valarie, or as she was known by most, V, the night was when the work began.

Tilting her head forward she caught sight of an ad across the street showcasing Araska's corporate logo and it brought a scowl to her face right away. It felt like a lifetime ago when she had been among their ranks as another corp slave. She saw herself as an agent in their schemes but in reality she was barely even a pawn on the chessboard. Now that she wasn't stuffing herself full of chems and booze every night just to sleep, she could look back on her former occupation with the disgust it warranted.

When she finally cut ties with them, it initially felt like her life had come to a bitter end. She was waiting every day for a hole to open up in the ground beneath her, one that would swallow her right up and wipe her from the history books. She thought it a curse that they'd burned all records of her so that no other legit corp would ever even consider signing her on. But now, she knew that was the greatest gift those self-righteous sacks of shit could have ever given her.

Valarie was a ghost. She was hardly even Valarie anymore these days. She was V. A merc with a growing reputation, and developing talents to back them up. What she learned in the hellscape that was the Araska offices gave her quite the edge of the gonks passing for her competition. Even if she was forced to return the augments the corp had supplied her with, she knew her body could handle them and so much more. Someday she would become both a living weapon and a living legend the likes that Night City had never seen before.

Stretching her limbs out in front of her, she admired her own arm, turning it so that the small socket in her forearm faced upward. With a smirk, she snapped her wrist downward and imagined a mantis blade emerging from its hidden compartment. No such chrome had been installed yet, leaving her most reliant on her own skills along with a few bits of metal installed here and there to help add to her edge.

"What chica, you don't get enough attention from the gonks at the Afterlife? You admiring yourself now too?"

Jackie spoke to her as he came around the corner bearing two bottles of some nasty looking glowing energy drink, one of which he thrusted into her outstretched hand. V's smirk remained when she saw Jackei's big goofy smile as he twisted off the cap and drank deeply from the bottle's contents.

"Do you even have any idea what they put in that shit? You'll be lucky if doesn't melt a hole through your stomach."

Valarie teased him as she handed the bottle back to him. Her brash companion had managed to down his in a single chug, and now satisfied, shot the empty bottle into a nearby trash can like a basketball. Both of them watched as it danced around the edge before sinking down into the hole, Jackie pumping his fist downward with a victorious laugh as he snatched the still full bottle from Valarie's hand.

"You only live once chica. Enjoy it while it lasts, ya?"

Seeing as she wasn't going to touch the stuff, Jackie tucked the bottle away in his jacket and strutted forward down the block. Valarie rolled her eyes and began to follow him. Jackie was her only connection back to her old life, and the only thing from that time she didn't want to leave behind. He pulled her way from a dark place, giving her purpose once more. In a way, she owed him her life and that was a debt she took very seriously. Outside of obligations though, she did enjoy her time with him. Night City could easily eat away at you if you allowed it. The wanton violence, sexed up advertisements, and near universal drug use did little pleasant for the psyche.

But Jackie was a ray of sunshine amidst that bleakness, corny as it sounded. It was rare to ever see him without a smile on his face so long as they weren't on a job. And even then, she'd heard him crack a joke here and there in the middle of a firefight. Sure, sometimes it got on her nerves, but mainly she was happy to have that kind of distraction in her life.

They had been partners for well over two years, and yet she knew little of his other friends. T-Bug was perhaps the only one she was aware of but even calling them 'friends' was a stretch of the definition. Co-workers was far more accurate, and as far as Valarie could tell, T-Bug seemed to prefer V's own more careful touch to things over Jackie's brazen style.

Valarie didn't mind. After all what few friends she had she kept separate from her work as well. Nothing made things more twisted and complicated than bringing personal relationships into the work environment. Especially with the kind of jobs they'd pulled. It was the primary reason that Valarie had never seriously considered going on a date with Jackie. He was sweet enough to her and had a certain charm, but fighting beside your lover brought a degree of stress that Valarie wanted no part of.

All of that to say, she was more than a little surprised when Jackie brought up going on a three man job with one of his other partners. Up until now, the two of them had only taken jobs that were small scale. Easily handled with just two pairs of hands and T-Bug working the systems as a pseudo third operator. This was a change that Valarie wasn't quite sure how to feel about just yet. But the eddies promised were too much to turn down without at least hearing out the offer more seriously.

Which was where they were headed now, to meet Jackie's contact at the

Afterlife who arranged this gig. Along with this mysterious third member of their squad. As Valarie and Jackie waited side by side for the crosswalk signal to change, her curiosity finally got the better of her. Hands stuffed into her pockets, she nudged the big man beside her with her elbow.

"Sooooo…when you gonna give me the sitch on this third guy? I don't like running a job with someone I barely even know. You vouch for him?"

Jackie quickly nodded his head, stepping forward onto the street the very second they got the signal to walk.

"Of course. I wouldn't have set any of this up otherwise. Only thing is…I'm not sure he's your type of guy."

Jackie's voice trailed off towards the end of his sentence while he reached up to sheepishly rub the back of his neck. V merely raised an eyebrow as she followed up with further questioning.

"The hell's that supposed to mean? I'm not here to screw him, we're working a job. Whats type got to do with anything?"

Valarie suddenly felt much worse about this arrangement then she had just five minutes ago. Jackie's reaction was enough to secure that uneasy feeling. Normally he was confident, often overly so, and to see him acting shyly sounded off warning bells in Valarie's head. Jackie must have noticed the shift in her tone and quickly tried to reassure her.

"It's nothing like that! Get your head outta the gutter chica, I only meant that you and him got a different way of going about things. You got that slow, careful thing going on. Shadows and quick hacks, taking 'em down before the gonks even know we're there. And I respect that, y'know."

He was rambling and buttering her up. Even more signs that all of this was a bad idea. Not that it stopped Jackie from continuing.

"He's more aggressive. Like me, yknow? Slings lead like a pro and got the kinda implants where he could put someone's head though the concrete. Wild shit."

"Great. So he's some chromed up adrenaline junkie. Don't tell me he's an Animal or something."

Jackie was quick to shake his head, laughing at the absurdity of her suggestion as if that would be enough to relieve her.

"Nah, nothing like that. He used to be a nomad actually, ran with a clan before setting up shop in the city. The night he ditched 'em was the same day we'd met actually. But ah…that's a whole other story. Better you meet him yourself and then you make the call. Cool?"

There was a twinge of desperation in his voice that was enough to soften Valarie's stance. She knew Jackie well enough to be certain he wouldn't steer her wrong, at least not intentionally. Plus he was right, nothing was set in stone and she could judge the man once she'd met him. Hearing that he was a former Nomad though did pique Valarie's interest. She'd only had passing interactions with the clans that ran the outskirts around the city. They were a strange bunch, and too unpredictable for Valarie's liking.

There was no use speculating though, especially since they'd just arrived at their destination. The Afterlife. What was considered the big leagues for mercs the city over, but for V it was just another place to get drinks and talk business. Jackie always tried to sell her on the whole legends shtick but she wasn't buying it. Rubbing shoulders with the city's other mercs didn't mean jackshit. The only way to actually earn their respect was to get a rep for being capable, and a fat stack of cash to prove that they were with every eddie spent. And that's what V had her sights on. Money and notoriety.

Brushing past security, Valarie and Jackie both headed for the bar. But while V opted to take a seat, Jackie remained standing and gave her a pat on the back.

"Order something for me and grab a drink for yourself too. I'll go check in and see if the client's here."

He was gone before Valarie could even ask him what he wanted. Valarie sighed and just settled on two beers, waving over the bartender to place her order. She was happy to see that it was Claire running the bar, a gearhead chick that Valarie had a lot of respect for.

In the meantime she scanned around the room, looking over the usual faces she'd come to expect hanging around. A collection of muscle, netrunners, gangbangers, and of course, mercs like V willing to most anything for the right pay. Valarie's standards for work were a little higher than most, but having standards was an important part of the job.

Looking over the crowd, her gaze happened to fall onto a man sitting alone at a table beside the bar. She didn't recognize him but something drew her attention. She tried not to make her staring too obvious, and in doing so, managed to catch sight of a waitress moving in to serve him.

"Need a refill V?"

The woman cooed to him with a sly smile and a hand on her hip, the other being used to hold up a tray of empty glasses. The man at the table waved her off and said something back that Valarie couldn't quite make out as she was still trying to figure out if she'd heard the woman correctly. Just as Claire arrived with her drinks, Valarie leaned over to speak with her.

"Yo Claire! Cmere a sec…"

Valaried managed to catch Claire's attention, before she nodded over towards where the lone man was sitting.

"That gonk over there, what's his name?"

Valarie tried to make the question sound as casual as possible but the way Claire smirked at her proved that the savvy barkeep saw right through her.

"That dude? Figured you'd two woulda run into each other by now. Seeing as you got the same name. You're talking about V right?"

Claire cocked her head to the side while Valarie felt her hand clench into a fist. The aesthetics of being a merc didn't appeal to Valarie one bit. She hated gimmicks, they were the poor man's way of earning a rep. But that didn't mean the idea of some other gonk running around with her name didn't sit right at all. A merc's moniker was nearly as important as the reputation behind it. Two merc operating on the same name was just asking for a bit of mistake that could see her career sunk from some other gonk's stupid mistake.

Better to solve it now. Valerie stood up from her stool and marched over towards where this imposter V had parked himself. She stepped up and slammed her open hand down on the table, leaning over and eyeing the man up. In turn the man looked startled for the first moment before returning her glare, reaching up to hold his now empty drink steady. He looked prepared to mouth off to her but Valarie cut him off before a word could come out.

"You V?"

As Valarie waited for him to reply, she took a closer look at this imposter. He had short cut hair, buzzed along the sides, along with an equally short cut beard. Golden cyberware ran from his eyes down across his cheek hooking to either episode of his head. His eyes looked to be a natural emerald and betrayed not a hint of fear as Valarie stared him down. Were circumstances different Valarie might concede he had a handsome look to him, but the situation being as it was, whether or not he was attractive was hardly a thought in her mind.

"Yeah so? The fuck are you?"

His voice was cold and steady. Valarie was starting to regret going in on such a harsh approach but it was too late to ease off the pedal now.

"V. The original. Not some cheap knock-off."

"You got some balls coming here and…"

His voice trailed off as he looked behind her. Valarie followed his gaze to see one of the suited gorillas that passed as the security for the Afterlife with his eyes locked on them. The Afterlife bar was a strict no combat zone. Getting thrown out of here, or God forbid banned, was the quickest way to end up back on the streets begging for eddies.

The imposter V lowered his voice as he gestured for Valarie to take a seat at the free chair across from him.

"Look, sit down before you bring the muscle down on us both alright? Let's figure this out."

Valarie wanted to snap back at him but the situation didn't call for it. Sensibility won out in the end and she tapped her knuckles against the table lightly.

"Fine. Just gotta grab my drink."

Valarie spun on her heels and walked back over to the bar slowly, trying to hide her anger as best she could. She watched as the guard remained staring at her until she got back to her stool where he finally looked away. She let out a sigh of relief and grabbed her beer, but just as she went to step away she felt a hand on her shoulder. Whipping her head around ready to raise Hell all over again, she calmed immediately when she saw Jackie there.

"Whoa, where you going chica? And why you looking so worked up? Relax, just phoned the client and he's almost here."

Jackie's calming tone did soothe Valaire slightly but it wasn't enough to completely get her to dismiss the situation at hand.

Valarie shook her head, not wanting to discuss what she'd just learned and equally the close call with the staff she'd just went through.

"I'll be with ya in a sec. Just gotta talk to that dude over there real quick."

Once again she gestured over towards V to highlight who she was talking about. Jackie followed her hand and, to her surprise and dread, a smile grew on her friend's face.

"V! My man!"

Valarie watched in astonishment as Jackie waved to the man she'd just spoken with, the imposter V waving back with a smirk that fell once he saw the company Jackie was with. Valarie swallowed back the rush of emotions she was suddenly contending with. She had no way to know which would win out in the end but one thing was for certain.

In Night City, there was only room for one V.