V, with Judy's and Panam's help, hobbled over to Buster and Ayako, a tight, painful coil of emotion in her chest. Buster was dead; all she had to do was look. The occipital port had blown, took most of the back of his skull with it, synthblood the color and consistency of paste mingling with bits of bone and brain on the rip-terminal. "Jesus Christ," was all she managed to say, fighting back tears.
"He was movin' at turbo-speed," said Judy, and she was crying, wiping at her eyes and trying to look strong. "Then his head blew. But ain't what killed him. Was dead before that. Heart gave out. Just… couldn't take the load."
"Buster managed to save you before he died," said Panam, levering her mouth into a pained smile.
V stumbled over, reaching underneath Buster's bulk and carefully removing the cross from his neck. She stared at it in her palm for a long time, staring at the flecks of blood on the gold, then slowly closed her fingers over it. "Rest easy, choom," she said to Buster, and put her hand on him. Then, "'Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends'."
"What's that?" asked Judy quietly.
"Bible," said V. "Remember this Valentino guy had it tattooed on his arm." She paused, sniffling, staring at Buster. "I'm gonna miss you, man," she said, her voice quavering. "Hope your daughter and wife's waitin' for you up there. Gonna spend the rest of my life makin' sure you ain't died for nothin'. Gonna make you proud, Gramps."
Hand shaking, she patted Buster on the shoulder, then turned and made her way over to Ayako. Seeing another choom like that, V's resolve finally crumbled, hot tears blurring her vision. Ayako had been barbecued by her hardware, cooked from the inside-out.
"She flatlined before she hit the rip-chair," Judy told her, rubbing at her arms like she was cold. "Think her AI, the one who proxied Buster, tripped a killswitch 'fore the sporeware turned her into a walkin' nuke."
"Where is Trauma Team?" asked Panam.
"They ain't comin'," said V, staring at her reflection in Ayako's inert oculars, wishing those laser-pupils would flicker on, and Ayako would get up, crack jokes. But Ayako, V told herself, would never get up and crack jokes again; and suddenly, the world seemed a little colder for the loss. "Oiwa," she continued quietly, "terminated the TT plans of everyone on the club's list. Nobody's comin' for 'em. Or us if we snuff it."
"Maybe we can talk to Lucy," suggested Panam. "Work something out."
"Maybe," said V. She was quiet for a long time. Then, "I don't wanna just leave 'em here. It ain't fuckin' right."
"And whaddya suggest we do?" asked Judy, sounding frustrated. Then she continued a little more calmly: "Can't haul 'em 'round the Crystal Palace, babe. I don't like it neither, leavin' 'em like this, but we ain't gotta choice right now." Judy took V's hand, squeezed. Her hand was warm and moist. "Let's just focus on this Sam shit right now, and we'll figure somethin' out later."
V didn't want to just leave, but knew Judy was right. She nodded. "Okay," she said quietly, staring at the bodies. "Sorry, chooms," she said to Ayako and Buster, and wiped at her eyes.
Something glitched in her Kiroshis, and for a moment, V felt real animal fear, thinking the new biochip was malfunctioning. Then, slowly, pixels accreted into polygons, and Ayako ghosted into existence, her engram sitting atop a bank of servers like a phantom. She stared at her corpse, then said, "It's freaky, seein' myself dead."
"Ayako?"
"Babe?" said Judy, looking worried.
"Don't have to talk aloud to me, you know," said Ayako's engram, grinning. She flickered out of existence, reappearing beside V. V could feel her body-heat, like she was standing there in the flesh. "I'm in the neural matrix," she confirmed, planting her hands on her hips. "Wirelessly jumped."
"Where's Goto?"
"Gone," said Ayako. "Part of somethin' greater." She vanished again, blinked back into existence beside Buster. "Goddamn," she said, sounding almost guilty. "Sorry, Ojisan," she said, and slowly shook her head.
"Judy said Mochi pulled a killswitch on you," said V.
"Babe, are y'talkin' to Ayako?" Judy cut in, noting V's extended silence.
Ayako nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Put me outta my misery, like I asked."
"I'm sorry—"
"Me dyin' was never your fault, Val," interrupted Ayako. "It had to happen. When a snake grows, it sheds its skin. So that's what I did." She paced for a moment, glancing at Judy and Panam. "Right now," said Ayako, "we gotta AI to slay. I'm gonna help you. Lucy's been informed 'bout what happened here. She's tweakin' your covers." She looked at V and smiled. "That said, how's it feel? Not havin' a burnin' fuse inside your head anymore."
"I dunno how I'll ever repay you," said V, meaning it.
"You're already repayin' me, doin' this," said Ayako, still smiling. She reached for V's hand, and V felt the warmth of it, felt the hardness of Ayako's cyberware. "Don't worry," she said, "by the end of this, we're gonna be more than square, choom."
V didn't care if she looked stupid doing it: she pulled Ayako into a hug, surprised by the simulated solidness of her body, and didn't let go. "I owe you everythin'," said V, squeezing Ayako's ghost and swallowing a sob.
Ayako hugged her back. "You don't owe me shit," she said, good-naturedly. "I wanted to help you. Needed to."
"If that's Ayako you're huggin'," said Judy, "give her another for me, and tell her thank you."
"She can hear ya," said V.
Judy looked at the space where Ayako was standing. "I didn't like you at first. Thought you were a bitch. But obviously that ain't the case anymore." She paused. "Thank you, Ayako. Dunno what I'd do if I lost Valerie." Judy smiled, then said, "You're the fuckin' preemest."
"It is a miracle," agreed Panam. "And you have the gratitude of our clan for it, saving one of ours. Saving my friend and a member of my family. I am truly sorry for ever doubting you."
"Don't blame her for doubtin' me," said Ayako. "Arasakas ain't exactly earned anyone's trust." She stared at Panam for a moment, something conflicted in her expression. Then, "But don't thank me just yet."
They left the Technomancer clinic, locking the door behind them. It was the closest thing to a burial they could give Buster and Ayako, even if the latter wasn't exactly dead, at least not entirely. "You mentioned Night Corp was after the FreeNet," she said to Ayako, as they walked in the direction of the lightrail station. "Somethin' 'bout AIs usin' it. If they're tryin' to avoid scrutiny, why not just stay on the other side of the fuckin' Blackwall?"
"It ain't enough anymore, stayin' behind the wall," said Ayako, walking beside her. "After Songbird kept pokin' holes, showin' 'em glimpses of what the other side was like? She piqued their interest." She looked at V. "It's like that ancient cartoon, the one with the mermaid. 'They wanna be where the people are', y'know?"
"Why would AI be interested in us?"
"Why wouldn't they be?" said Ayako, genuinely curious. "We created them. Most of them, anyway. They wanna meet their gods, then show those gods that they ain't such hot shit."
"I never wanted to meet no gods," said V, frowning, fingering Buster's cross around her neck.
"You already saw some shit," said Ayako. "With Jefferson Perelez. That whole mind-control thing. Playin' politics. AI, they want in on the game." She shrugged. "Guess it gets borin' behind the Blackwall. No toys to play with."
"Y'know a lot 'bout these AI," said V.
"Spent time behind the Blackwall," said Ayako.
"Y'ever talk directly to 'em?"
"Talked to Sam, like you."
"Not what I mean," said V.
Ayako said nothing.
V shifted the subject. "Goto mentioned we don't gotta worry 'bout Militech." She was fishing for more information, hoping Ayako knew something about that.
"Trevor supposedly disabled the missile before he went away," said Ayako.
"I thought y'said it couldn't be done."
"Actually, I said it could be done with enough time," said Ayako. "And Trevor had some help."
"Where'd he go? Trevor."
"Doesn't matter," said Ayako. "He's gone now, chasin' shapes in cyberspace."
V didn't like the sound of that. In fact, Ayako was sounding pretty weird to her, real cryptic. "Y'sure you're okay?" she asked.
"'Course. I'm in my element," said Ayako.
V supposed she could understand that. For someone like Ayako, who'd lived for the bodiless existence of cyberspace, her body had been a prison, and now she was free, a ghost in the wire. "Y'gonna find another body?" she asked.
"Already got one in mind."
"Better not be mine," said V, automatically.
Ayako snorted. "No, dumbass. Your hardware's impressive, but it ain't the kind I want and need. No offense." She laughed, then said, "I ain't gonna Johnny Silverhand you, Val. The biochip's clean."
"Y'think Militech was tryin' to keep you outta Night Corp's hands?" she asked suddenly.
"Probably part of it," said Ayako. "But they also need another Songbird. Ain't found a replacement yet."
"Don't think they ever will, y'don't join 'em," said V.
"Good," said Ayako. "Last thing the NUSA needs is another Songbird."
"How do y'think Biotechnica and Arasaka fit into this?"
"I don't think they really do," said Ayako. "But if I had to guess at somethin'? 'Saka needs somethin' big to bring themselves back from the brink of bankruptcy. And Biotechnica? They want a bigger market-share. Wanna become the Big Dog in the Free States."
They boarded the lightrail without any issues, rode it back to the hotel.
Lucy was waiting for them in the room, a shadow against a display-hologram of fluorescent-blue dolphins, her expression wavering indecisively between pissed-off and sad. "You're fucking lucky your choom Meredith has been helping me keep Militech and the ESA off your back," she said as they stepped inside.
"Look," said V, "I ain't in the mood to get bitched at, Lucy."
"You don't think I'm upset about what happened to Ayako and Buster?"
"Buster was tryin' to save Ayako," said V.
"I know that!" snapped Lucy. She sighed, pinched the skin between her eyes. Then, "I'm just tired of losing people. That's all."
"Ayako ain't gone." Seeing the puzzled look on Lucy's face, V continued, "Not exactly, anyway. She's an engram. On this." She showed Lucy the neural matrix taped to her chest, the wire looping into her neuroport. "Usin' my new biochip to render."
"If I didn't see your file for myself, I'd think you were crazy," said Lucy. She went quiet. Then asked, "Can she hear us?"
"She can hear us."
"Ayako, you're a fucking idiot," said Lucy, tears glinting in the corners of her eyes. "And if you had a body, I'd fucking strangle you."
Ayako snorted. "She's pissed. Tell her she can still strangle my corpse if she wants."
"Fuck off, I ain't gonna say that," said V, shoving at Ayako.
"Is this where she is?" asked Lucy, pointing at the spot V had shoved at the air.
"Yeah."
Lucy punched the air, where Ayako's head would have roughly been.
"I almost felt that," said Ayako, grinning. Then, "Tell her if she wants to hurt me, she has to punch you ."
"Her body's still at the Technomancer clinic," said V, ignoring Ayako. "Hers and Buster's."
"I always gotta clean her fucking messes," said Lucy, without any real rancor. She heaved a sad, tired sigh. "I'll see what I can do. For now, you should try to get some sleep. Big day tomorrow for what's left of your crew."