Chapter 13: Jobs. Beats. Gigs.
Review Replies
Suckstobeacritic: this chapter is kinda weird tbh. its like hes a reincarnate looking around for their stuff. it doesnt feel like hes authentic as a result
ThermalsniperN7: Sorry about that, but a reincarnation thing wasn't the big finish for the whole thing.
Suckstobeacritic: why is the job still ready to go 9 months after they plan the whole op?
ThermalsniperN7: Looking back at it, it feels like an accident that we really could've planned better with. Having T-Bug give birth before Dex approached them would've been better. Our bad.
Dragon Emperor0: Who gives a shit? This guy is an ass.
also Beetlejuice? you want the kid to get bullied dont yoh?
ThermalsniperN7: Bold of you to assume he'd stay in Night City long enough for that. But real talk, he'll be with a Nomad family for reasons that will be revealed later
Dragon Emperor0: Go fuck yourself.
suckstobeacritic: so his waifu Tbug gets flatlined, he had the chance to instant revenge on yorinobu, then adam smasher 4 his dad and he doesnt. then goes to the fixer, who then shoots his sister in the head... and you still... dude what sort of stoned out of his mind progressive woke hippy emotionless morron is this?
ThermalsniperN7: V is none of that in this story. I don't consider that criticism; that's straight-forward disdain. I'm disappointed.
megakdre100: Cool chapter wish to had more of v and his son interaction as well with Val becuase the baby's still need to bond with them as well so like between jobs that cbs be happening
Dragon Emperor0: Don't worry about it.
GideonBlackthorn: good fic mc is a bit too strong right off the bat, but the nail in the coffin is the tbug/v romance she dies and its literaly just oh well moving on?! just absolutely no reaction ia very poor character writing, killed this fic dor me.
ThermalsniperN7: … Why are these kinds of reviews so common? Seriously, we try and we try, but they still call them bad. Don't like how we do things? Not our problem.
Dragon Emperor0: People like this. Listen up: Go. Fuck. Yourselves.
AnthonyR89: ...did you just call them Night? so how are they related to Richard Night? cause i doubt that is a coincidence.
i write reviews as i read, so i saw you addressed that somewhat already, heh
ThermalsniperN7: Ooh, seeing the hidden connection there, huh?
AnthonyR89: ...yeah, waiting until the baby is born, T-Bug is definitely still dying.
personally I hold to the belief that Dex was always going to betray you. whether she was in on it, I'm not so sure.
i also tend to not be so sympathetic to evelyn, either. i think she was going to betray you as well. and also that she was a sloppy idiot. honestly in my first playthrough I had every intention on killing her when i found her. then...events happened.
about as deflating as being robbed of my chance to hunt down and kill Dex.
ThermalsniperN7: Hunting down and killing Dex seems like it would've made for a decent quest. I say "decent" to leave it more open to a better judgement.
AnthonyR89: honestly, I'd have booby trapped the shit out of that car before sending it back.
ThermalsniperN7: That kinda makes me wonder why booby trapping in general wasn't an option in-game.
AnthonyR89: ...Panam chose to leave. she wasn't banished.
as for the hucow thing, not my fetish, and i honestly question why you included it. kind of the wrong kind of dystopian for the setting, honestly. better ways to do the whole Soylent Green is people thing.
ThermalsniperN7: We know she chose to leave; We played the game. As for the hucow thing, that was an attempt at showing a dark side to fetishes like that.
Dragon Emperor0: Pretty sure we said that in the author notes.
-Night City, North Cal-
V sighed as he slowly got up in his bed, Jerry Lee sleeping at the foot of it and BJ being sound asleep in a crib lent to him by mama Welles, out like a little Christmas light.
In his apartment, sunlight was glinting off the chrome accents he'd chosen, it felt quiet this morning.
Deciding to try and find something to do for the day and let them both sleep in, the Nomad grabbed his clothes, got ready, and headed out.
Humming, he took the elevator to the ground and decided to check and see what his sister was up to. It took a few moments, but she responded.
"Urg, hey V… What's with the wake up call?" Val groaned.
"Nothing much, just trying to see what I wanna do today. You got any plans?" V asked as he hopped into his Quadra.
"Not particularly, except maybe taking on a job I held off on." The woman shrugged. "What about you?" She asked.
"I had a couple things in mind, but wasn't sure when to do them. Today might be as good a day as any." Her twin shrugged. "Well, good luck with your job. See you later." He nodded.
"Later bro." Val nodded as the two hung up.
As he drove along, V mulled over his options in his head on what to do today—when he recalled how a certain Militech counterintelligence executive still owed him a date.
'Hm… I wonder if she's available…' He mused before dialing Meridith's number.
"Stout here." The woman said, still as ravishing as ever, V had to admit.
"Meredith, it me, V. Helped you with that convoy Gilcrest leaked to Maelstrom." The nomad said as he drove, deciding to jog her memory in case she didn't directly recall him.
"Oh, I haven't forgotten. What's the occasion?" The Corpo woman questioned with a smirk.
"Just did a serious ball buster of a job and I could really use an excuse to unwind. So, I figured that—seeing as we still owe each other a date, I thought I might take you out for something. How's that?" V asked, deciding to pass a car that was going too slow for his liking.
"I'll take you up on that offer. I got some free time on my hands." Meredith grinned.
"Preem, got any places in mind? I'd make a few suggestions myself, but I don't think a dive in Heywood, Lizzy's Bar or the Afterlife would be exactly to your taste." The nomad hummed in a knowing tune.
"I know a few places. I'll text a list to you." The woman told him.
"Nova. Tonight, then?" He asked.
"Sure. See you then." Meredith nodded before the two hung up.
"Okay, gonna need to find something else to do while I'm waiting." He mused, right before David appeared in the passenger seat. "What's up, David?" He questioned.
"I seem to recall a boxing coach mentioning a street fighter racket. Wanna try and see if we can crack a few skulls for some Eddies? Could help you get some scratch for some gifts for BJ." The Streetkid engram suggested.
"Sounds good. I'll see about hitting it up." V nodded as he drove.
Though he certainly wouldn't be doing anything without making sure his son would be fine.
(Elsewhere)
Val sighed as she made her way to a given spot where she was supposed to meet her next client, which was an alley where a car was waiting.
"Val, I presume?" The voice of Jefferson Paralez questioned as the female Merc slid into the car.
"Got it in one." The woman nodded in reply as she looked at the (presumably) middle-aged politician. He was wearing a normal suit like every other Corpo, no surprise there. "What's the job?" She questioned.
"An investigation. Quick and clean, but discreet, you see." The man replied.
"Really? And what could the up and coming hopeful for the Night City mayor position possibly need investigating?" Val asked.
"We're hoping that you'll do a private investigation into the passing of the previous mayor, Lucius Rhyne." Jefferson's wife, Elizabeth, replied. "As well as look into something that he may have been looking at himself before his death." She added.
"Got anything for me to go off of as a starting point?" Val questioned.
"We'd suggest looking into the Cyberpsycho attack that occurred directly before Reine died. That's likely your best bet." Jefferson replied. "As for what he was looking into, does the term "Will of Night" mean anything to you?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah. It's the last known will and testament of the founder of Night City, Richard Night. Word is whoever finds it and figures out its exact details will know exactly who has a claim to the City." Val nodded. "Though a lot of people assume it to be a myth." She amended.
"Well, whispers say that Lucius might have stumbled across something of note that could reveal a path to it." Jefferson told her before handing her a BD chip. "Here. This BD chip contains some footage from the scene of the Cyberpsycho attack." He added.
"Alright, let's see this." Val nodded as she slipped the brain dance in.
As she did, Johnny soon appeared and became visible on the screen.
"Ya know, when I realized that I could see BDs through your eyes, I thought it'd be for play, not work." The Rockerboy grumbled, his chagrin quite palpable.
"Let's just get this over with." Val sighed as she watched the first moments of the footage, which appeared to be the Cyberpsycho humming a tune that was more than likely made up.
"Shit. Hell of a way to go…" Johnny winced as they watched the cyberpsycho kill a guard from behind with his mantis blades before he was gunned down by an NCPD detective.
Said detective looked to be of Haitian Creole or Trinidad and Native American descent, possibly all three, with an imposing boxer build and a singular cyber eye that made him look like he belonged in a Terminator movie.
Val's breath hitched when saw him, her legs clenching closed in arousal—this was an instinctual habit of hers—it typically only happened when she saw a guy who matched her type.
And this guy was exactly her type.
This detective was clearly a "no time for bullshit" kind of guy. His left eye was an implant, and he was wearing what she could see were custom detective clothes, private investigator, if she was right.
'I think I just hit the jackpot.' She thought absently.
"Cool the hormones, Val. Ain't no way I'm sharing the body of someone who sleeps with a fucking pig." Johnny retorted.
"Piss off." The woman hissed back as she swapped to audio mode. "… Red Queens Race. Where have I heard that name before…?" She mused as she heard deputy mayor Holt mention it.
Deciding that there wasn't anything else to be gleaned, she exited the brain dance. When she returned to reality, she saw that the limo had stopped next to an AV.
"Anything?" Jefferson questioned.
"A couple things, yeah." Val nodded. "Who was the officer who zeroed the Cyberpsycho?" She asked.
"Detective River Ward. He's a capable one from the force who's also looking around for clues on this case." The man replied.
"Mind shooting me his deets? I think I might get a second opinion." The woman requested.
"Certainly. Anything to help." Elizabeth nodded as Val began to get out. "One more thing though." She said, causing the Widowmaker to pause. "Your father, he was William D. Night, correct?" She asked.
"Yeah… Why?" Val questioned in response.
"Would your family happen to have any relation to Richard Night?" The woman asked.
"… More or less. Our grandfather was Richard Night's only surviving son who his wife kept hidden for his own safety. Leonardo Night, he became a nomad not long after leaving the city." The assassin nodded slowly.
"I was wondering what happened." Elizabeth mused. "Well, it is good to see that the Nights are back in their territory, if your relation actually turns out to be genuine. I have my doubts, but I will wait and see what happens." She added.
"Right…" Val nodded as she exited the car and made her way out the alley and rounded the corner towards Jigjig Street. "River Ward?" She questioned as she dialed the detective in question. "Name's Valorie, but you can call me Val. Listen, I think I may have a tip to offer you…" She continued as she slipped into the crowd.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back with V, he was currently making his way to the Glen, specifically a rooftop where he saw some people gathered around.
Seemed like this was where the fight was.
"Okay, let's see who I'll be fighting." He hummed as he approached the crowd.
The opponents in question, a pair of twins apparently, were now facing him.
"Two against one? Guess I shouldn't be surprised that fair fights are out the window." V snorted, realizing that he was literally seeing double.
"We used a neural link to connect together so we can fight with greater efficiency." The twin boys said in unison.
"Well that's not creepy at all." David noted, appearing next to a wall as he leaned against it. "So what's the plan here, you gonna use the sandy?" He asked.
"Probably. Let's see what happens." V thought back in reply. "Let's do this." He nodded, tossing in his own eddies before the twins started running at him from his left and right sides, but before they could connect—the nomad activated his Sandevistan and slid out of the way of the haymakers—causing the two to nail each other in the jaw instead, sending them stumbling backwards.
"What the–?! What happened?!" The two boys wondered as they rubbed their jaws.
"You were too slow, that's what!" V jeered.
The duo yelled as they charged again, only for V to dodge their attacks and use the presumably older brother's momentum to catch his arm as he followed through, swing him around and then hurl said brother into his siblings, causing them to tumble to the ground moments later.
"Oof!" The two grunted from the impact as they tried to find some cohesion.
However, before they could do so, V activated his Sandevistan again and appeared behind them this time and before either of them could register what was going on—before the nomad grabbed their heads and based them together, causing them to fall to the ground, unconscious
"Way too easy." V chuckled as he shook his head, taking his winnings. "Let 'em know if they wanna go again and bring in another brother? I'll be more than happy to kick a third ass!" He called to the crowd as he walked away, David nearly ready to lose his ability to breathe due to laughing so hard.
(Later)
Meanwhile later on that day, Val made her way to a dive called Chunk Buffalo's, where she entered and found a pair of men sitting at a booth, one of which was the one she was looking for.
The place was pretty bog standard for a diner in NC, 50s-80s aesthetic, cheap but decent coffee, pretty tolerable food, old TVs, it was a nice place all things considered.
It also made Johnny pop out again and lean against the booth Val was approaching.
"Meeting a cop in an old diner where he's already talking to another cop." The Rockerboy said, looking at the two men despite them not being even remotely aware of his presence. "Could you pick a more cliche way to start a meet-cute buddy cop flick?" He stated with an audible eye roll.
"Oh shut up, rocker boy." Val huffed in her head as she stood across from the detective and the man he was talking to. "You River Ward?" She asked.
"Yeah, I take it you're Valorie?" River questioned.
"You're seriously going to work with a Merc? And this one on top of that?" The man across from him, a middle aged Chinese gentleman with a thinning hairline, questioned. "You do know that she's called the Widowmaker, right? Taking guys like us out is a favorite pastime of hers." He added.
"Only the criminal kind. I tend to leave cops alone." Val chimed in.
"Good to know." River nodded. "Now… You said you had something regarding the Lucius Rhyne case?" He questioned.
"You still on that? The sarge said to drop it, remember?" The man across from him said.
"Relax, Han, does it look like I'm doing anything? I'm just sitting here listening to gossip." River pointed out.
"... Fine, but it's your ass if sarge finds out." Han grunted. "I gotta pick up my little girl, you keep things clear, alright?" He added as he left, prompting Val to sit down.
"Alright, talk. Who sent you?" River asked.
"It's less who sent me and more who's invested in uncovering the manor of the mayor's death. That being Elizabeth and Jefferson Paralez, my clients." The Netrunner assassin replied, leaning back in the booth, her Black Widow bodysuit and low fastened zipper allowing her rack to bounce slightly as she did. "Though I fully admit that my investment for pay and answers are secondary, as I'm most concerned about what Mayor Reine was looking into before he died more than anything else." She added.
"That being?" The detective prompted with a raised eyebrow.
"The Last Will of Richard Night." Val replied.
"That old myth? Shit." River chuckled.
"Not so much of a myth when legends of NC are convinced it's real." Val pointed out. "You know William Night, grandson of Richard? He seemed to believe it's real. He died to keep it safe." She added.
"Fuck… If the Pirate Nomad of the last Corporate War was convinced it's real, then I gotta see this through." River cursed before blinking. "Wait, Valorie Night, William—you two related?" He asked.
"He was my dad." Val nodded. "I saw how he died. He died on his feet, not a scratch on his back. Best middle finger to Arasaka ever since the 2023 nuke." She added.
"Ooh man, that story I've heard before." The detective chuckled. "I enjoyed telling my sister and her kids about it. The way the kids looked so enraptured was a sight to behold." He added with a fond smile.
"I still miss the crazy bastard." Val nodded as she and River got up and went to the Detective's car. "One of his favorite types of pizza was pineapple and olive pizza, did you know that?" She told him, causing River to do a spit take with his coffee and start coughing.
"Bullshit!" He hacked, trying to regain his composure.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, V had stopped near a fancy looking restaurant that was favored by Corpos called "Earth's Horizon" near the city center. A place where workers from all corporations liked to go and have a meal or drink. The fact Meredith wanted their date to be at this place didn't surprise him much, given her station.
He had to admit, the decorator did a great job with the place. Just from the entrance alone, he could spot a very rainforest themed interior and he could faintly hear rainforest ambience. Definitely a relaxing place for a date.
"You sure you can pay for this? I mean, it is an expensive Corpo place." David questioned.
"I have ways of managing prices at expensive places. As long as I'm careful I should be fine." V nodded.
Conversely the Nomad was currently dressed in a now repaired version of suit he wore during the Konpeki job, which should be good enough for a date like this.
"Let's hope that holds true." David commented before vanishing.
Then an expensive looking car rolled up and parked in the empty space next to V's and out stepped Meredith. When the Nomad saw what she was wearing, he had to admire her sense of style.
Meredith was wearing a little black dress with classic but stylish heels and a few (four, at least) pieces of high tech jewelry on her arms.
"You're early." She noted as she strode towards the man, her stride having the strutting poise not uncommon with Corpos generally but with a certain rigidity that demarcated her Militech background.
"I figure it would be good to be early." V nodded as he offered his arm to her, which the Militech hooked with hers. "So, any particular reason why this place was on your list of dating spots?" He questioned as they walked up to the front door.
"It's a place where we Corpos talk biz and have dates. It seemed like a no-brainer in that respect." The blonde replied.
"Considering what I could see from outside, I can see why." The Nomad nodded. "Let's go in, then." He said as they went inside.
(Elsewhere)
Back with Val they had gone to see the Cyberpsycho's employer and didn't find anything particularly revelatory, so they decided to check in on River's CI, a man who ran a store nearby.
That was until some Tyger Klaws got in the way.
"Oh jeez, I'll handle this, Val." River told her with a sigh.
"Actually, allow me. I got a way with the Tygers." The sniper said as she got in between the two. "There a problem, gentlemen?" She questioned, arms folded.
"We got business with the detective. Outta the way, sweetheart." One of the thugs tried to order—it was in Japanese of course but universal translators fixed that issue—and it sounded like he thought he was big and bad… That was adorable.
"That's adorable. Tell me something, you guys happen to be under the employ of Takashi, Satoshi, Suguru or Satarou Okada?" The woman asked.
"What's it to you?" The other thug questioned.
"Not much, just that I happen to be on very good terms with their mother Wakako." She replied, her fingers tapping on her arm as a gesture of implied threat. "So tell ya what? How about you step aside instead, and I won't tell Wakako to put her sons on your asses for getting in my way. Sound okay to you?" She added.
"Y-Yeah. Yeah, sure! Come on, man– let's get outta here!" The first thug gulped nervously as he speed walked away with his pal in tow, neither wanting to incur the wrath of their boss' mother.
"Damn, that was actually nice to watch." River whistled, impressed by Val's silver tongue.
"Oh that was nothing, I may have Wakako on speed dial but that's far from the only ace I have up my bra for dealing with the Klaws." The woman chuckled. "Now." She purred, licking her lips and allowed the man to see that she had an actual silver tongue. "I do believe we have a CI to go see?" She hummed.
"Uh, r-right." The detective coughed, trying to hide the blush that appeared on his cheeks.
(Elsewhere)
Back with V and Meredith the two were now at their table mulling over what to get based on the starters, salads, entrees, and then desserts. Drinks too, but that was a given.
The interior of the restaurant was very much naturally themed with a very noticeable Corpo feel, much like Konpeki plaza, but with more plants, rocks, waterfalls and ponds interspersed throughout the interior—the tables even being connected by bridges that stretched over the ponds where fish of all kinds swam. Exotic disease free birds sang in perches and amazingly, amphibians and reptiles like Lesser Antilles iguanas were present as well.
"I can see why this place is a Corpo restaurant." V hummed as he looked over his menu.
"Yeah. Definitely a big favorite among Corpos, especially the animal lovers." Meredith nodded as she looked over hers.
"Funnily enough, my friend Jackie and I snagged a Lesser Antillean Iguana from Arasaka once. We decided to call him Manny." V told her. "And later my sis got her own one, hatched it from an egg she klept from Yorinobu Arasaka, and she decided to call him Rhino." He added.
"You two have to have some serious brass to give Arasaka the middle finger like that twice." Meredith couldn't help but chuckle. "Ever think about introducing those two to each other?" She questioned.
"Maybe. Haven't decided. Also, how are you surprised? Given my family's history, fucking with Arasaka is a favorite pastime." The nomad pointed out.
"Point very well made." The Militech woman chuckled once more. "So, you have any particular preference for a drink?" She asked as she picked up her menu.
"I'm not particularly picky, anything with Gin, Rum, Whiskey or tequila." The man shrugged.
"Then I suggest the New Barcelona Presidente, it's probably one of the best rum drinks on the menu. Up your alley." The blonde suggested.
"Well, now that I gotta try." V smiled, his mind made up on his choice.
(Elsewhere)
Back with Val and River, the two arrived at his CI's place by nightfall.
"So what's the plan, you go in and I wait?" Val asked.
"Last time we talked it didn't go so well. Best you go in." River explained. "Tell him Igor says hi. He'll know what it means." He told her.
"Got it." The Widowmaker nodded as she got out and went into the store.
"What do you need?" The man at the desk questioned.
"Igor says Hi." The woman said, causing the man to suddenly start bolting out the back door. "Son of a bitch." The Merc groaned, facepalming.
She quickly rushed out into the alley next to the store in hopes of catching him, but River was one step ahead and managed to catch the man instead. That saved her a fair bit of trouble.
"Hey Neil." The detective said, pointing his side arm at the man.
"Damn it, River, you can't do this—this is harassment!" Neil protested as he was backed into a wall.
"You always bounce at the sight of this guy?" Val questioned, looking at Neil.
"Screw you!" The man snapped.
"A club, Neil, Red Queen's Race. That ring any bells?" River questioned.
"I'm not—" Neil started to deny before Val held up her right arm.
"I'm sorry, were you about to refuse to say anything?" The assassin pressured calmly, her elbow unhinging to reveal her cyber arm mounted sniper rifle.
"N-N-No!" The clerk gulped, now realizing exactly who Val is. "Look, all I know is that it's a members only club outside city limits but it shut down not long ago." He explained.
"Probably after Rhyne's death." Val deduced.
"We could still learn something before they finish cleaning out the place." River hummed as he let Neil go.
"Then let's go." The Widowmaker nodded as they left Neil alone and headed out.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile back with V, he and Meredith got their drinks (V getting the New Barcelona El Presidente and Meredith getting a Love and Victory which was a Gin cocktail with tonic, lemon, violet, bitters and just a touch of liqueur) and were now trying to decide on what to get for dinner.
"Hmmm, how about we get their charcuterie board as an appetizer, then we get their 24 oz steak to split with roasted beets, potatoes and brussel sprouts, then their house salad and then after that we can get their dessert special?" V offered.
"Simple, covers all the course bases and doesn't break the bank. Sounds doable to me." Meredith nodded as their waiter arrived.
"Are you both ready to order?" He asked.
"Yes. We'd like the charcuterie board as an appetizer." V began with a nod. "For our main course, we'll split a 24 oz steak with roasted beets, potatoes and some brussel sprouts." He continued.
"We'll also have your dessert special." Meredith finished for both of them.
"Ah, the chocolate mousse. Understood." The man nodded as he jotted that down.
As this was going on, V got a call from Jackie.
"Hey Jack, what's up?" The man said.
"Hey Mano, sorry to bother you, but after I picked up BJ and Jerry Lee today I got to thinking, how'd you like to hold an ofrenda for T-Bug? Put her to rest in style." The street kid offered.
"... I think I'll take that offer. Thanks for bringing it up." The Nomad nodded, sighing a bit.
"Alright. I'll talk with mama and see if she's willing to host it." Jackie nodded before ending the call.
"What was that about?" Meredith questioned.
"My choom brought up the idea of having an ofrenda for my late output." V replied.
"Yeah, you mentioned her. A netrunner, right?" She asked.
"Yeah." The man nodded.
"She the reason why you waited so long to ask for this date?" Meredith questioned.
"I needed to take time to process some stuff." The nomad admitted.
"I don't blame you. It isn't easy, figuring out what to do after a loved one passes on." The Corpo woman sighed. "Or gets flatlined. Even us Corps know that pain." She added.
"Much less how to cope…" V mused sadly.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile back with Val and River they soon reached where Neil alluded to them about where the club could be, and right off the bangle, there was an issue.
It was crawling with Animals.
"Oh great…" Val groaned before looking at River. "I better handle this on my own. I can afford to do something like this while you can't." She told him.
"What're you planning?" River questioned.
"I'm gonna sneak in and cause the entire gang to short circuit. Once I do, you'll come in and find the club." The nomad woman told him.
"Alright. Do your thing." The detective nodded, prompting Val to get out of the man's truck and get to work.
Getting into the perimeter and hiding behind a crate, Val peeked out from behind it and proceeded to run a Breach Protocol to send a network knockout daemon.
It didn't take long.
After that she accessed the cameras and got eyes on every animal in the area before she caused them all to short circuit—allowing her to walk to the entrance and let River in with no issues.
"Nice work." The man nodded as he looked around, seeing all the out-cold gangoons.
"There's a reason I got a rep, big guy." The woman told him as they made their way to a crate that seemed out of place in the given layout of the area, which struck them as rather odd to them.
Opening it, they found a hidden elevator inside.
"You'd think we're in a sci-fi flick with stuff like this being a thing." Val quipped with a roll of her eyes.
"Uh have you seen the stuff around these days?" The detective questioned.
"Touché." Val nodded. "So do you wanna head in with me or do we wanna split up?" She asked.
"Well officially I can't be here, as I'm short a warrant." River admitted. "So unfortunately you're on your own." He told her.
"Fucking cops, never wanna get their hands dirty." Johnny scoffed.
"Not the time, Johnny." Val retorted. "Alright, I'll let you know what I find." She nodded as she went down into the clubhouse, descending the stairs.
(Later)
When she reached the club, she saw that it had once been nice and was pretty much a wreck at this point. There were Animals crawling everywhere on both floors.
'What a surprise.' The Widowmaker scoffed mentally as she started analyzing everything in the place. She decided to take the same quiet approach and take down everyone like a true stealth specialist.
After breaching the protocol code of the cameras, she used them to get eyes on and ping every person in range—and then proceeded to do a mass short circuit.
That caused everyone in the club to fall unconscious.
"Ya know, if you were born early enough to fight in the last Corporate War, you would've been a wartime legend with stuff like this." Johnny remarked as he assessed Val's handiwork.
"I probably wouldn't have been nearly as good because half the tech would've been outdated!" The woman chortled as she got to work.
Heading into the manager's office, she took a look around for anything of note that could shed some light on Lucius. It took a bit, but she did find some incriminating messages on a shard that mentioned an opponent of Jefferson's.
"Well, while it's not intentional, it'll help Jefferson out at least." The woman mused.
Next she started scrolling through the security camera feeds, and saw something potentially damning, so she called River.
"Val, what's up?" He questioned.
"I just brought up the security footage. It looks like Lucius' death was caused by a heart regulation implant failure that was triggered by a spiked BD in his usual booth." She told him. "I was just there, thing would've given me a heart attack if I tried it." She added.
"Any idea who spiked it?" The detective asked.
"No, but I got a pretty good idea of who covered it up, and you're not gonna like it." The Netrunner replied, scrolling through the footage again.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back with V, the Nomad was now being ushered into a Militech van with Meredith so that they could continue the next phase of their date, and needless to say, after a good meal and more than a few drinks—it didn't take long for things to start getting steamy.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that they were heading to the No-Tell Motel.
The second they arrived, they headed for a room Meredith rented in advance… and the Corpo woman wasted no time in taking off the man's clothes and he didn't waste time doing the same to her, either.
It was a night of Venus in Furs—and you can guess what happened from there.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back with River and Val, the revelation of the fact that Detective Harold Han had helped cover up Ryne's death with Holt was still sinking in—and River was steaming.
His cyber and ganic hand were both gripping the steering wheel tightly as his anger simmered, but it was the former that would have nearly bent the wheel if he hadn't decided to rub his head instead.
"Fuck!" He cursed.
"Hey." Val said, placing a hand on his arm. "I get it. We Nomads value integrity a whole lot, it's how we stick together. So I get what you're feeling." She told him.
"Thanks, but… Damn it, this whole thing is a fucking mess!" River growled, completely livid at the whole thing.
Val had informed him of Han taking part in the coverup of Rhyne's death, and to say that River was furious was to say water is wet. He just wanted answers.
Without another word, River got out of his truck, followed by Val a moment later. Han was leaning on his car, not even remotely phased by River's angry gaze.
"There a problem, River?" Han questioned.
"Is there a problem he asks?" River groaned incredulously as paced around, just about ready to punch something. "Yeah, yeah Harold, there is something wrong." He nodded, watching the older Chinese detective, towering over him. "You covered up the death of Mayor Ryne, and based on the evidence I've gathered? Seems you're an accessory to his murder too." He growled.
"The one thing that needs to be known is: Who gave the order?" Val questioned with a glare.
"Does it matter? It happened either way." Han shrugged. "That's your problem, Ward, you and Nomads like her. Your self righteous attitude and talk about justice and integrity? Doesn't mean a damn thing. Not in this city." He continued, brushing some dust off his shoulder. "This City, it's like a meat grinder, and we're the ones who turn the handle." He added.
This particular comment caused Val to feel nauseous as memories of the Hucow farm resurfaced, causing her to cover her mouth in order to avoid throwing up.
"If this city is a meat grinder, then it's in serious need of a kick in the ass." The assassin grunted after recovering herself.
"I'm taking this to internal affairs." River hissed, his posture still threatening.
"They won't do anything. It'll get you in their sights, though." The detective stated.
"That cynicism is going to get you killed one day." Val chimed in. "I've seen it kill plenty of others before, and at your rate, you'll be no different." She added.
"I'm shaking." Han dismissed coolly. "Well, I'm headed home." He shrugged as he got in his car, leaving the two alone.
Seething, but keeping his anger on a leash, River walked to the concrete railing and leaned on it.
"Fuck!" He growled angrily.
"Don't take it too personally. Guys like that are unapologetic." The nomad told him, leaning against the railing. "So, what're you gonna do now?" She asked.
"I'm gonna take this to Internal Affairs. There's no way that this is staying quiet forever." The man replied as he looked out at the landscape. "What about you?" He asked.
"I'm gonna look into Rhyne's leads on the Will of Night and get back to the Paralezes." Val shrugged.
"Well if you ever need help with that, you know how to call me." River told her.
"Thanks." The woman nodded as they stood and faced each other.
"You looked pretty sick when Han compared the City to a meat grinder, there a story behind that?" He asked.
"Let's just say that I saw something out in the Badlands that made me lose my appetite and leave it at that." The assassin gagged as she shivered.
"That's going to remain an understatement." Johnny remarked with his own shiver.
"Okay… Well, guess I'll see you later." He nodded.
"If I need you, I'll give you a call." Val nodded before the two went their separate ways.
Dragon Emperor0: Hey guys. Sorry for the delay. Given how last time we ended an entire story arc we needed to find things that would seem like a natural progression of where things were left off. So we went with this.
ThermalsniperN7: Plus, it took us a good while to get back in the mood for this story, so no surprise that it took so long. Anyway, as is the way life works, V's gonna see other women before he settles down with Panam later down the road. That should explain his date with Meredith.
Dragon Emperor0: And at long last we're finally developing the Will of Night storyline and starting Val's romance. All things considered, pretty good way to pick things up after a bit of inaction.
ThermalsniperN7: I should hope so. Anyway, see you guys next time.