The Music Industry
Danny hesitated as she stepped into her home. She didn't spot anything really out of place, but her instinct told her something was off. And one didn't get to be as old as her in Night City, doing her job, without some caution.
She pulled out her gun, and moved into the room.
Then a chair swivelled around, and she saw herself faced with a teen. A familiar teen, who was exaggeratedly stroking a robot? Some kind of blue spider?
She blinked at the sight.
"So we meet again." Mokoto Kusanagi greeted her.
"What do you want?" Danny replied flatly. She wasn't going to play that kind of game.
Mokoto pouted at her, obviously annoyed she went off script.
"Get on with it. Why are you here?" Danny then asked after the silence started to stretch.
"I'm disappointed, you know. All things considered, not entirely surprised, but disappointed." Mokoto stated, even as she put down her robot spider, that promptly scuttled under the chair "After all, if Johnny was still around, he'd likely call you a sell out."
"I'm sorry?" Danny replied, thrown again.
"You were Samurai. And that wasn't just music, but also an idea, an ideology. And yet now you are part of the music industry…" she stated, then started muttering "Need to get that engram, might have more impact if he said that himself."
"While I can see Johnny having words, I pride myself on my integrity." Danny replied.
Mokoto looked up, and pouted again, before she replied: "I thought you liked my song! I wouldn't have agreed to sell it to you otherwise. And now you sold, or licenced, or whatever it out! To advertise for those things of all. Tank! doesn't even fit with that kind of ad!"
Danny blinked, then asked: "Wait, a step back. Ads for what?"
"Mr Stud." Mokoto replied, pouting "I got a citation for vandalism because of those. So I decided to go straight to the source of that problem."
Danny grimaced, then replied: "You're right, the song is likely entirely wrong for the kind of adverting they do. And I certainly haven't signed off on that. Let me check a couple of things, will you?"
Mokoto seemed to brighten up, and replied: "Sure."
Then she added less loud: "Good that I wasn't that wrong about you."
Danny shook her head, then added: "Oh, and you are a merc, right?"
"Yes?" Mokoto replied, again surprised.
"I might have need of one, depending on what I find." she replied.
The change that came over the girl was almost comical. Danny shuddered. Almost too eager…
Meanwhile in Mokoto's head: "XP go brrrr..."
(Eh, probably gonna regret my word vomit later, but I'll drop it anyway, straight from writing. Mokoto goes straight to the source, not the corpos that negotiated the deal, but the artist that decided she 'wanted' her song. And because there was a Blofeld imitation that anchored itself in my mind, featuring Tachikoma. Only thing missing - do we have a last name for Danny? Because it doesn't quite feel right without the full greeting...)