I have absolutely no idea how long I was falling for, but when I finally stopped, it was like I woke up from a really, really deep sleep. Before I could even think of moving, my Kiroshi started bombarding me with all the information about me and the cyberware.
Half of the things are in critical condition; a lot of parts are not even working properly. Finally, after a system reboot, my body finally came online, and I started to push the heavy metal sheet off of me.
Throwing the thing to the side, I rolled on my stomach and started crawling out of this pit of garbage that I'm in. I have absolutely no idea why, but I'm in unimaginable pain right now. Did DeShawn and his bitch beat me after shooting me? It makes no sense, but something must have happened between him shooting me and throwing me here.
After finally reaching the top, I started crawling my way out of this dump when I saw the bastard who shot me and Takemura. Oh right, it looks like I can rest for a second.
Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I let go and felt DeShawn drag me towards Goro.
"Here," he said, dropping me in front of Goro. "Heavier than she looks." Oh, go fuck yourself!!
After taking a few breaths, he started begging, "Now listen here, dwag! I did exactly as you asked me, so less you and me figure this ou-" I never realized how fucking satisfying it is to see him snuff it the way he tried to flatline me.
I was trying to get a little comfortable when Goro came and crouched in front of me. "アラサカ様,あなたのお父さんを殺した犯人を見つけました. (Arasaka-sama, I have found your father's killer.)" Oh right, he was still working for Yorinobu. I wonder when he exactly turned against Arasaka; well, to be fair, he turned against Yorinobu, not Arasaka. "それは彼女です,私は疑いません (it's her, I have no doubt)."
I tried getting up and sitting, but in the end, I only ended up hurting myself. "Fuck" looks like a broken rib.
Before I could even think about it, I felt a slap. "Quite," Goro growled out, scowling at me before going back to his call. Oh, this bitch is going to pay for that. I tried to pay as much attention as I could, but I neither gave two shits about that call nor did I have the energy to stay conscious.
It only felt like I just blinked when I was sitting in Goro's car. "あなたはクソのような臭いがします (you smell like shit)," he said with a condescending tone.
"Go fuck yourself too," I growled out before passing out again. This day was really not going the way I was hoping, or remember it going.
And it was only going to get worse from here.
I was rudely awakened by the driver of the car before I was handed a booster. "I need your help," Goro yelled. It's been a long time since I've used these things, I thought before injecting myself with the booster, and I immediately felt the pain receding. I almost orgasmed right there, but I knew that this was but a fleeting feeling. Throwing the booster out of the car, I immediately came face-to-face with an Arasaka exterminator. Startled, I looked towards Goro, who swiftly handed me a gun. A fucking gun! It's been even longer since I've used this fucking thing!
Tightening my grip on the handle and focusing a bit, I took a deep breath while I aimed and started firing. There are some things that you just can't forget—some things that are too ingrained in you. I may not have held a gun in the past six years, but that doesn't mean that I forgot my training. These were the thoughts running through my brain as I was firing with a mean smirk on my face.
Firing at the exterminators is just a waste of bullets; these bitches are literal bullet sponges. So instead of firing at them, I aimed for their bike's weak spots, like the petrol tank, the engine, tires, or anything else I could get my eye on. Soon, the fruits of my labor showed themselves as the bike exploded in a spectacular fashion right under the exterminator. The guy turned into a fucking veneer. But before I even had the time to feel good about my kill, I heard a rough "traitor."
Form the other exterminator. What the fuck did Goro do to piss them off this fast?! I mean, he was being all buddy-buddy with Yorinobu not twenty minutes ago!
"The booster will not last long!" I heard Goro shout as he dodged a family car in front of us. I still don't get why he felt the need to point out that the booster that I applied was not going to last long. I mean, I could see the bloody glitches right in front of my eyes! "Don't you think I know Hideshi Hino?!" I bit back as I fired more shots at the biker's head, but of course the fucker shrugged them off like they were nothing.
"Huh?" I heard a voice beside me and saw Goro looking at me with confusion. Jesus Christ, "Focus on the fucking road!" I shouted, watching as he barely missed a semi before spinning on the road. And between all that, the exterminator abandoned his bike and jumped onto the fucking car with his mentis blades out like in one of those really bad action BD's, "Shit!" I screamed as the fucker took a swing at me but missed by fuckin' centimeaters.
Try as I might, this guy was just not dying; every single bullet I unloaded on him was just shrugged off like they were made of plastic! I was almost ready to jump him myself out of frustration when Goro slammed into a fucking pole and squished the guy between the car and the metal pole. But this move didn't do any favors for my already broken and beaten body. I was almost immediately out the moment the car hit the pole.
I only became conscious again when I felt Goro pull me out of the car.
"Don't you dare faint on me again." I heard him speak before setting me down against something. Looking towards the flaming car, I saw the exterminator still twitching. Exerting myself as much as I could, I raised the gun and finished the guy off. Before I could drop my hand, Goro snatched the gun out of my hand and said, "We need medical assistance."
"Way to point out the obvious," I bit back as I tried to focus a bit. "Wait, I remember you from Konpeki." I have absolutely no idea what prompted me to even do this, but one look at his face and I immediately started irritating him.
"Focus! Do you know someone?"
I just gave him a shit-eating grin before saying, "Did really well there. A plus, my man."
"Do not waste time!" he shouted in anger, which caused me to laugh. Or at least try to laugh; something is definitely broken in my abdomen.
"Viktor will fix us up." I groaned out.
Obviously, he had absolutely no idea who I was even talking about, so he just looked around and said, "We need to get there somehow. Call someone. Anyone."
Yeah, nodding. I dialed Delamain on the hollow and waited for him to pick up, which he did in just two rings.
"Greetings. My indicators show that you're outside the service area."
"Hel del… need to go to Victor Vektor, the ripper doctor, near Misty's Esoterica. Come pick us up." I said, trying to stay awake, but it looked like I had lost a little too much blood; my eyes were getting too droopy. Eh, I can let go for a while. I'm not going to die here. I thought before closing my eyes and going to sleep.
"Certainly, a car will reach your destination within 20 minutes." was the last thing I heard before passing out.
Unfortunately, my slumber was not restful at all; I was constantly getting in and out of consciousness, getting glimpses of the things that were happening around me. Like Takemura trying to insert some sort of jack into my neural port in the car and Vik trying to carry me to his clinic and then operating on me, I was even up for some of the conversations.
"How is she?" Takemura asked, gesturing to me. He was looking far better than what I remembered him being in the car. Looking at Vik, I could see that he was fiddling with his arm and looking at me with concern. "Slower on the mend than you, but getting better every day."
I tried to pay as much attention as I could, but once again, I was pulled in by sleep. The next time I woke up, I saw the clinic was empty, and half of the machines and electronics were turned off. I was alone, except for one person.
"No fucking way." I breathed out as I saw Death standing with a fucking cane! Can he get any more cliché!?
"So! How was your trip?" He asked teasingly, to which I just glared at him and screamed, "You couldn't have warned me before pushing me like that?!"
The bitch just shrugged and walked towards me, twiddling with his cane, and said, "And miss all the fun? Nah."
Shaking my head in despair, I thought, what kind of crisis was going on up there that such a childish person was the death? With a heavy sigh, I looked up at him and asked, "How long have I been out?"
He spoke after a few seconds of deciding how to best approach the topic: "Half a week, I'm afraid."
"Half? Fuck. Where's Eve?" Last time, I was out for two and a half weeks; surely I have enough time.
"Her chip was nuked two days ago. She's with Woodmen right now," he finally said with a grimace.
Clearly, I don't have enough time. "I need to go." I groaned out, trying to get up, but I was immediately pushed back down on the chair.
"Not right now," Death said, standing over me with a hand still keeping the pressure on my shoulder.
"The fuck, you mean not right now?!" I asked…. No, I shouted, and I saw as he shrank back a bit, "You know what is happening to her! Right?!"
"Yes, I do know, but please give me this one more night. Tomorrow morning, the first thing you can do is go and save that girl. Okay?"
"Why?" I asked, trying to understand why he was trying to stop me from leaving. But what a world it would be if we could get a single straight answer from others instead of their games.
"I have my reasons," he said cryptically before putting me to sleep by touching my forehead. "Now please sleep." was the last thing I heard.
When I woke up, the first thing I heard was Viktor muttering, "I don't believe it."
Now what, "Vik?" I asked, gaining his attention and sitting up in the chair. The first thing I noticed was how fucking easy it was. I felt no pain, no stiffness, no soreness. Nothing.
"V? You're awake?" Okay, what kind of gonk question is that? I was sitting in front of him here! Of course, I was awake!
"What do you think?" I asked him with an incredulous look, which just screamed, What the fuck!? "Anyways, I need your help." I said, lying back down on the chair, "I need you to install an Arasaka Cyberdeck in me!"
"What? You just came out of grave danger; you nee-" Victor and his heart, but I really don't have time for this right now. "Hurry the fuck up, Victor!" I screamed and watched as he got to work with a resigned sigh. "Also, I need reinforced tents and thermal monowire," I said after a few seconds, as he was taking out all the necessary stuff from the shelf.
"Are you sure?" he asked, turning back and looking at me with an expression that was screaming at me to reconsider my decisions.
"Yes, and I need as much protection as you can give me. Fast! Please!" While he was gathering the stuff, I decided to look through my holdings and bank account and saw that I had almost 5012139 eddies in my account. Well, at least I'll be able to pay for all of this stuff. "Here!" I said, transferred the eddies, and saw Victor's eyebrow rise up in surprise. The man was about to do this for free without even asking me for money. He really is a good friend. I thought as I came towards the chair with everything I asked for.
During the surgery, I also asked Vik to add some extra RAM and memory. I don't think I need self-ice or anything right now.
I will need half that stuff when I go up against the Voodoo boys; those are the fuckers I really have to watch out for…. Quick thing: do I even want to deal with VDBs this time around? I mean, I don't really need them for anything; I know for a fact that they won't be able to help me with anything aside from making contact with Alt. But even she didn't help that much, to be honest. Well, it's more like I never gave her a chance. but eh. Tbh, if Death came through on his promise of taking care of the chip, then I guess I won't need them for anything really.
But on the other hand, I can't really leave them unchecked either. They are messing with the blackwall. I mean, it's not like I haven't messed with it myself, but I know when to stop. VDBs deliberately go and poke in the fucking thing; if they ever go too far, then they can actually bring about the apocalypse that they fear so much. Yeah, it looks like I'm hunting for some VDBs again. And to be fair, it's not like it was that hard; last time, I took half of them down relatively easily. I mean, they are netrunners, not fighters.
Nodding to myself, I thought that I should just take the steps I took last time, and I would find them just like before.
"You're all set." Viktor's voice brought me out of my musings. Running a diagnostic, I saw that my Arasaka operating system was running and ready for nethacks to be installed. Apart from that, I now had increased RAM, memory, and a few armor buffs. And I also have a monowire in my wrist. Nodding in satisfaction, I sat up. "But please, V, you should be resting; you were in grave danger before."
"The chip in my head? Is that the problem?" I asked, cutting him off. But instead of concern or sadness, he just responded with a confused shake of his head and said, "Well, yes, or it was, but I think it should be okay for now."
"What do you mean?"
Turning a monitor towards me, he showed me scans and data directly from my head. "The chip repaired a lot of damage that the bullet caused you, and until yesterday it was working in full force. But when I checked it today, it was completely dormant."
...Death came through, it seems. Holy shit. "So can I remove it?" I asked, knowing that deep down the answer would be a big no.
"No." There we go. "The personality construct on that chip and your mind are both linked; removing them will kill you. But that's fine; you won't need to, because it is not doing any more damage." He answered with a confused and slightly frustrated shrug while staring at the monitor. It looks like he was still trying to understand what was happening with me.
"But I will still see the memories, the construct?"
"Yes. I'm afraid that is something that will not stop."
"It's fine." I can handle Johnny a second time, I think. Shaking my head in despair, I just said, "Thanks, Vik. For everything."
"Where are you going now?" He asked while watching me leave the clinic.
"To Pacifica, I need some decent hacks." I said I was making a list in my head of all the hacks I'm going to need. I was almost out when I turned back and screamed. "Oh, and keep your schedule free; I'm going to bring you a patient today."
After climbing the stairs, I almost started walking towards Misty's shop when I stopped and changed my direction towards the metal gates leading out of the alley. I will meet Misty later; we both need to have a long chat. Maybe I will tell her about my round trip. Who knows?
"Now how do I get there?" I murmured, reaching the street. Looking at both sides, I thought about whether I should just travel through public transport or if I should call one of my cars.
"Just call your ride."
"Holy fuck!" I screamed and jumped in fright because I didn't see or hear anyone approaching. Frantically looking around, I saw a very dead, glitchy, smoking rockerboy. 'Oh, you're the construct.' I said, trying not to show the sadness I was feeling. I mean, it wasn't just sadness, to be fair. I was weirdly happy too. Seeing Johnny after such a long time actually brought a small smile to my face. But unfortunately, this was not my Johnny, not the guy who made the promise to give his life for mine, not the guy who won enough of my trust to make the same promise in kind. This was still the selfish bastard who only looked for himself. But weirdly, this Johnny was not as hostile or rude as he was when we met for the first time in my apartment.
"Yes, but right now you really should get the fuck out of here," he said with a smile of his own, pulling me out of my musings. Nodding my head in understanding, I opened the holo to call a car when I saw that there was only one option: the Quadra Sport R-7 "Vigilante." Shaking my head, I remembered that I had none of my old cars here. After my surgery, when I came back to Night City, I sold almost all of my cars and vehicles, except for Johnny's Porsche and Jackie's Arch. Hopefully this time I won't have to repeat the same thing here. It really hurt the last time I did that.
Looking to my left, I saw the quadra come towards me with all of its aggressive glory. There's a reason I loved this car so much: the loud backfire on every single gear change, the exposed engine growling with enough power to leave any gang chasing me into the dust. And this car also handled extremely well. Obviously, my sentiments were not shared by Johnny.
'It's no Porsche, but it'll do the job," he said, appearing in the passenger seat of the car.
Shaking my head in amusement, I just slammed the accelerator and started tearing through the city. "It's been a long time since Night City has seen a Porsche, Johnny," I said distractedly as I watched the city I once loved so much again. I mean, it's not like I don't love; I do. But this place has taken so much from me and from so many good people that you can't help but grow to hate it a little bit. But watching all of these landmarks after almost six years brings a bright smile to my face. If someone saw me right now, then they would surely say that I'm definitely cracked in the head, smiling dopely just by looking at the city rush past me.
"It's fine; we'll just nick mine again." I heard Johnny say, to which I just distractedly nodded and agreed, until I actually paid attention to what the fuck he just said. Whipping my head around, I saw him just shrug his shoulders and say, "Or you can buy the one El Capitán is selling." Valid point, but back the fuck up! "What do you mean again?" I asked him, just to watch him light up a cigarette. With a dismissive wave of his hand, he said, "It means we have to take it from Grayson a second time. Also, don't forget my gun. I remember that you preferred it."
....Surely this can't be what death meant!! "Are you looking through my memories?" I asked carefully, knowing that it was a very real possibility, but I was also genuinely hoping that it was the other possibility that was true.
"Don't need to. Was there with you, remember?" He said it with a mean, cocky grin.
"Oh fuck! Did you come back too?!" I asked, laughing in elation. At least someone is here that I can share this burden with!
"Yeah. was getting bored up there, so when your choom made me the offer of returning, I took it." Well, it doesn't get more Johnny than that.
"You're actually here." I murmured in with a bit of happiness. I mean, our relationship sure was rocky, but in the end, he did become one of my best friends. "Holy shit, I—" I began to blab about something else when he cut me off and pointed to the road. "There's no time. We can talk about this later; right now, you need to go to the clouds if you're going to save that girl." realizing that I was driving extremely slowly, and by that, I mean I was matching traffic speed.
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," I said once again, slamming the gas and taking off. "But first, I need some quick hacks," I said as I watched Pacifica come into view. Just as I crossed the bridge, my phone lit up with an unknown number.
"Huh, how about that?" I murmured and picked up the call. And in came a smooth and dignified voice.
"It seems that we are going to be working together, so I thought it was best to introduce myself. My name is Mr. Hands."
Laughing, I parked my car and asked, "What? No hello?"
"Alright then. Hello, it's so very nice to meet you." He replied in an amusing but frankly condescending tone.
"V," I replied, matching the amusement.
"Hmm. Well, if you ever need work in the Pacific, then do call me."
"Then expect a call from me soon, Hands," I replied, ending the call just as I entered the shopping complex in Pacifica. After looking around for a second, I made my way straight to the counter and loaded up some necessary but important hacks, like short circuits, reboot optics, cyberware malfunctions, and many more. Loading them onto my cyberdeck, I got in my car and started making my way towards the clouds. Clouds was almost on the other side of the city, so I thoroughly enjoyed the ride there. But there were still some questions that I had to ask Johnny. "What exactly happened up there?" I asked him, but only got a raised eyebrow in return. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"I mean, did he offer you something for coming here?"
"Not really," he said, lighting up another cigarette. "Like I said, I was bored. I had nothing to do, so I tried to spend some time with your choom Jack, but after a while that got boring too." I mean, Jackie is not really his crowd, so I get it.
"But why? It doesn't make any sense." I wondered out loud, "Why would death send you back? I mean, he sent me because he had a job for me. But what about you?"
"I have no idea. He asked, and I jumped. Well, to be clear, he asked, and I waited for him to get you on board."
"Wait, what?"
"He was planning this whole thing for a while. Asked me for input too."
"I'm going to have some words with him the next time I see him," I muttered under my breath as I parked the car and got out of it. Knowing I'd have to leave all of my weapons near the entrance, I left my iron in the car and made my way towards the clouds.
'Do we want to do this quietly or loudly?' I asked Johnny once the elevator started moving.
'Let's do it quietly. No need to create additional problems for yourself.' Sound logic. Getting out of the elevator, I entered the establishment and quickly uploaded a ping to the camera at the entrance. Now knowing where all the goons are, I walked up to the counter and was greeted by a "Welcome to the clouds!"
Once again, I paid and jacked in my personal. This time, however, I got a lot more choice of dolls than just Sky and Angel. Knowing that I'm not even going to bother with them, I just chose Sky and quickly moved inside. Inside, it was the same place that I visited last time. Looking around, I walked towards Evelyn's room and watched the same recording play once again. Taking a copy of the entire thing, I moved out of the room and walked towards the VIP section. I was just thinking about how best to approach this situation when a VIP patron just walked down the stairs. Smirking, I waited at a distance, carefully looking for my chance. Just when he was within reach, I gently brushed against the guy and nicked the VIP pass from him.
"That's new," Johnny commented as I walked past the guard, who nodded as I flashed the nicked card.
"Not really new, just a skill that I don't use often. I mean, how many people do you think carry things that could be pickpocketed?" I asked while walking towards the restricted area of the clouds. Thank God no one was here.
Reaching Woodmen's office, I slipped out the monowire and got ready to deal with whatever would greet me on the other side. Opening the door, I burst in, readying both monowire and my quickhacks, but unfortunately, no one was there; the office was empty. Looking around once, I moved to his computer and began searching for any kind of information. It looks like he informed the management, but he still hasn't contacted Fingers yet. Looking through the files on the computer, I found that there was a concealed room down the hallway, and it could be opened from here.
Doing just that, I moved towards the room, opened the door, and saw that inside was a small, fully furnished living quarter. Inside, Woodmen was working on something on a laptop on the couch, facing away from the door. On the far side of the room, there was a single bed, and in it was Evelyn, lying completely unresponsive.
Sliding the monowire out, I crept behind the walking anal seepage and tapped him on the shoulder. Startled, he jumped and turned around. Just as he looked at me, I swung the monowire upwards while holding it from both sides and literally scooped out his entire pelvis and some of his torso from his body. Screaming in pain, he fell back on the glass table behind him, shattering it in the process. uploading another ping in an electronic, I looked around and saw that none of the goons were reacting to his screams. It looks like this entire room was soundproof, which is good.
After uploading a short circuit, a cyberware malfunction, and an overheating hack, I just sat on the couch and watched him wither in pain. The agony that he was feeling was bringing me the kind of satisfaction that I've not felt in a really, really long time. Just this soundproof room points to the fact that this is not the first time something like this has happened.
After a few minutes, I got tired of the entire thing, so I just walked up to his flaming body. "This is so much better than you fucking deserve, but I'm pressed for time." After saying that, I swung the wire one more time and decapitated the waste of oxygen.
Shaking my head, I walked towards Eve, gently wrapping her in the bedsheets, and picked her up. "Let's get you out of here," I murmured, walked towards the elevator, and pressed the screen to take us down. Knowing that there's no way that we can walk out of here quietly, I readied myself again.
When doors opened up once again, I looked around and saw two of the guards talking to each other in hushed tones. I thought that they might just move on, but one of them saw me holding Eve and shouted, "Hey! That's our doll!" The four other guards who were around all turned towards us and pulled out their weapons. Taking a deep breath, I activated the overclock mode and started firing quick hacks while I was also shooting from a gun I picked up from the woodmen's office. Within a matter of seconds, all the goons in front of me fell either due to burning, short circuit, or a shot to the head, but in return, I also lost a lot of health. Hacking in overclock is always a gamble; I have to make sure I don't overdo it, but often I don't pay a lot of attention to the amount of RAM I'm smoking up.
Passing the shaken and frightened receptionist, I walked out of the clouds and quickly ran into the elevator. Finally, taking a sigh of relief, I quickly took some bouncebacks and some boosters to boost my strength, knowing that I'd have to face more people outside. The moment the elevator came to a stop, I called my car and walked out, dispatching two more guards with a silenced pistol that I picked up from a guard I flatlined upstairs. Looking around, I found no one, so I ran towards the car and laid Evie on the back seat of my car. Jumping in the car, I slammed the gas just in time to see a few more claws come out of the building. Flinging a grenade towards them, I drove out of there and watched a…. Smoke screen? Looking down, I saw that they accidentally threw a bloody smoke grenade at them!
"It looks like some things never change," Johnny appeared, laughing his ass off. Flipping him off, I flicked a message to Vik to be ready.
Looking at Evie in the back seat, I thought that I should inform Judy about this. Clearly, Johnny also reached the same conclusion. 'You should call and inform your output.'
"Not my output anymore, Johnny, but you're right."