Panic set in as So Mi looked around frantically. What the hell happened to V? Why didn't she feel what V was feeling? And most importantly, where did she go? For a moment, she debated calling Viktor to ask if he might've known anything, but ultimately decided against it. He already seemed well beyond what he knew how to do when she went to him the first time. No, she'd just have to make do.

As So Mi reached the elevators to get back down to street level, she felt her phone buzz. A quick check revealed a text from Takemura giving the exact coordinates to the location of the meeting he'd told her about. Another text followed immediately after it, written in all caps. "COME ALONE- 10:30," it read.

Song didn't even bother replying. Instead, she plugged the coordinates into her map, marking the precise location of the meeting: a small side road below the main street level, running along the canal. She gave herself a satisfactory nod. She knew the where and the when. Now she just needed to know who and why. Above all, though, she needed to be prepared, and if her face-off with Takemura was any indication, then she had a lot to do.

First and foremost, she needed a weapon. Since the neural matrix and the subsequent surgery rendered most of her cyberware defunct, she could only get so far with her cyberdeck, especially since it seemed to be rapidly getting outdated after two years. As she made her way back to the hideout, she couldn't help but hope that all of her basic FIA training still resided in her somewhere, waiting to tease out, because she had a feeling she was going to need it.

Part of Song expected that during the walk back, she would get at least an inkling as to what had happened to V, but there was nothing. Now, she was starting to get worried. V wasn't just in pain before she vanished, she almost seemed… scared, but of what? The thought of her being out there, alone in cyberspace with Song powerless to help her, it drove her mad.

The door to the hideout slid shut behind her, and Song booted up her scanners. She was hoping not to have to resort to this, but she didn't seem to have a choice now. Her scans highlighted an unassuming button tucked away under the desk. She reached down and pressed it, listening to the sound of mechanisms groaning to life. Next to her, a section of the wall retracted to reveal a hidden compartment- an FIA cache from the war. Reed was the one who insisted that all the NUSA's safehouses be stocked with emergency caches. He was always one to be overly cautious, but it served him well in life- especially considering how right he ended up being. The one in what would eventually become Dogtown had been completely depleted by the time the ceasefire was issued. Luckily, for Song, though, the one sitting in front of her remained untouched.

The first thing she grabbed was the three credchips, loaded with ten thousand eurodollars each. There was no telling what kind of money she would end up needing. So Mi had never been one to frequently use any kind of proper weapons. Until recently, a cyberdeck was all she ever needed, but now she didn't have a choice. There were several options to choose from- knives, assault rifles, shotguns, grenades- but ultimately, she settled for one of the Kenshin pistols. It was small, low-key, and something that she actually trusted herself to use effectively if it came down to it.

After stocking up on ammo, Song began thinking about her next move. The time was 4:30. With six hours left until the meeting, she decided that she was going to be there early- very early. Takemura and whoever else they were meeting with already had an advantage because they were the ones picking the location. She intended to level the playing field by surveying the place from top to bottom. If she knew the place as well as they did, then they wouldn't be able to surprise her with anything. Giving herself a satisfactory nod, she set out to the coordinates Takemura had given her.

It was a surprisingly short walk from the hideout, which only made Song more on edge. If things went wrong, then she ran the risk of her safehouse being discovered, and she couldn't help but worry that an ex-Arasaka employee wouldn't take too kindly to finding an NUS safehouse. As she looked around, she took note of every little detail she possibly could. Her gaze stopped as she looked at a ladder leading up onto the roof the warehouse that gave this place its cover from the upper levels. She quickly scaled the ladder and smiled. Not only did the roof provide her with a perfect vantage point to watch everything and everyone, but there was also a maintenance terminal. She knelt down beside it and jacked her cyberdeck into the slot. As it was, the terminal only gave her access to the building's subnet, but breaking past the firewall was child's play. After a few keystrokes, she had access to all the systems in the area, most notably, the cameras. She sat down and made herself comfortable, mentally preparing herself to be ready for anything.

Darkness crept in before long, further shrouding her from view. Every so often, So Mi would spot passers-by on the cameras- just people looking for a place to sleep with something over their head. However, none of them stayed long. Finally, she spotted the familiar shape of Takemura hobbling down the street. To his credit, he put on a convincing act. If she didn't know what he looked like, she would've probably suspected him to be just another bum. She watched quietly as he leaned against a concrete barrier, blissfully unaware of her presence. Not much later, a second figure appeared- much younger than Takemura but looking in equally worse shape. Takemura gave the man a discreet nod as he approached, and Song listened in through the cameras.

"She should be here by now," the second man said impatiently.

Takemura shook his head. "She will be here… soon. Did she tell you anything?"

"No. She merely told me you were being annoyingly cryptic- which I have no difficulty believing. So, then, why are we here?"

Song took this as her chance, moving carefully and quietly, she disconnected her cyberdeck and slid down the ladder. The dark of night shrouded her until she emerged from behind the building and walked up to them. "You're here because of me," she announced.

The second man's head whipped to face her, hair bristling as he reached for a gun, but Takemura stopped him. "You are here. Good." Takemura shifted his gaze from So Mi to the man standing beside him. "This is Oda. He was Hanako-sama's bodyguard. When she was murdered, he was cast out as I was."

Song took another cautious step forward, closing the distance between them. "You can call me Songbird," she introduced herself to Oda. "I bet two years on the run must've been tough, disowned by the corp entirely and called nothing more than a fugitive."

"Not… entirely," Takemura replied. "We are not so crude as to spend two years twiddling our thumbs. My work to avenge Arasaka-sama by removing his son's head has not stopped, and the two of us are getting help from the inside, the very person we are waiting for now."

As if on cue, the low rumble of a car approaching them hit their ears. It only took a few moments for the three of them to see the high beams piercing through the darkness as it drove slowly toward them. The car was all black- an unassuming four-door sedan with only a driver inside. Song tried to peer through the windows to see who it was, but they were too tinted to get a clear look. The car stopped just a few feet in front of them. The engine, stopped and the lights went dark, leaving them only with the flickering lightbulb hanging in the street lamp above them.

The driver's side door opened, and as its operator stepped out, So Mi felt her heart skip a beat- several probably. "You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me," she murmured too quietly for Oda and Takemura to hear. She silently cursed V for getting her mixed up in all this, because walking toward them was none other than Michiko Arasaka.

"Well, well, well… you've outdone yourself, Takemura," Michiko said as she approached them, her gaze fixated on Song. She could see it in Michiko's eyes and in the subtle grin on her face: she knew exactly who she was. "Song So Mi as I live and breathe. I've heard quite a bit about you."

Song let her hand brush against her hip, moving it as close as she could to her pistol without looking suspicious. "Who from?"

Michiko shrugged. "From just about everyone with a pulse- Myers, the NUS, medias, even Arasaka Counterintel. Your little stunt at NCX two years back turned a lot of heads- especially when we all learned what Myers was using you for."

Song tensed at the reminder- at the Blackwall. "That's all behind me now. I'm done with it all." She was never again going to be just a weapon for some higher conflict.

Michiko leaned in close. "Then why are you here? Why did you, a former FIA operative, come looking for Takemura?"

Song took in a deep breath as she mulled over her answer. She wasn't going to risk saying too much- just something short and sweet. "I… need help. I've got a construct in my brain- not on a biochip but physically in my brain. I need an Arasaka Relic to put the construct on before it kills me."

Much to her dismay, Takemura spoke up. "There is more to it than that. The one in her brain is the woman I spoke of long ago, V. She is the only one still living that was a witness to Arasaka-sama's murder."

"What!?" Oda asked in disbelief. "You mean to say that the one who attacked Arasaka Tower- the one who gave Yorinobu-san his chance to murder Hanako-sama- is in her head right now?" he demanded.

Michiko raised her hand up toward him. "Calm yourself, Oda. If he's right, we cannot afford to do anything rash." She returned her attention to So Mi. "So, we get the construct out of your head, saving your life, and we get V?"

Song didn't like it, but she made a split-second decision in that moment. She wasn't about to let them see her full hand. She needed to keep her cards close, and as long as they didn't know the full extent of the relationship between her and V, she had an advantage. "That's right. A fair bargain, I'd wadger."

Michiko shook her head. "I disagree. You see, Arasaka's work on the Relic has made leaps and bounds over the last two years, and the new Relic 3.0 model is more than priceless, so how about I add one more condition to this little deal of ours? All in the interest of fairness, of course."

Song should've expected as much. It could never be easy with schemers like the Arasakas. Even so, this was still her only option, she didn't have much in the way of choices. "Fine, what is it?"

"My dearest uncle, Yorinobu has made it clear as crystal that he fully intends to run this corporation into the ground," Michiko explained, pacing back and forth as she lit a cigarette. "I was happy to support Hanako in her bid to replace him, but obviously that's no longer an option. Now, as the daughter of the one rightful heir to the Arasaka empire, I think it's time that I claim what's due, but I can't do it alone, which is why I've enlisted the help of Oda and Takemura. To put it simply: if you help us- help me- to take Yorinobu out of the equation, then I'll get you your Relic. Do we have a deal?"

Alarm bells were ringing all across So Mi's brain. This could only end in disaster. It was obvious that Michiko had more than she was letting on. Perhaps she intended to sell her out to the NUSA, or even to Myers herself- she would certainly make for a good peace offering. Not to mention the fact that, for all she knew, V was nowhere to be found in her brain, and she didn't want to think about what would happen if they knew her one bargaining chip was no good. And yet, she had no other choice. This was the only way forward.

"Deal."