"Hey Berry—what happened to you?" Misty asked as Berry limped inside. She stepped out from behind the counter in surprise.
"I… I…" Berry had just collapsed into a leather chair, and hearing Misty's question made her blush violently. She had no idea how to explain
"Hi, Misty. Morning!" Jackie and V walked in, unintentionally rescuing Berry from her awkward situation.
"V, Jackie." Misty turned and waved at them. "Oh right, V — Dr. Viktor can see you now."
"Okay, I'll head over." V nodded.
"I'll wait here. Gonna chat with Misty about some private matters." Jackie said he'd chat, but that gossip-loving heart of his was burning red-hot, his eyes darting back and forth between the awkward Berry and V, looking absolutely ready to enjoy the show.
"Wanna come with me?" As V walked past Berry, she reached out a hand.
"Hmph." Berry turned her head away, ignoring V completely.
She was still angry. In her head she thought: she'd give V the cold shoulder — hard — let her know she wasn't someone so easy to win over.
Of course, to V, this was just her little girlfriend throwing a tantrum.
"Then I'll go by myself. You better wait here like a good girl." She ruffled Berry's hair affectionately, and before Berry could react with an angry outburst, she slipped out the back door. Only her fading voice remained.
Fuming, Berry had no choice but to slump back into her seat.
Covering her face, she stewed in her own irritation.
She really didn't know where V learned all these tricks.
Ever since this morning, V had been acting like a completely different person — not hiding her intentions at all, staring at her with openly affectionate eyes as if afraid others wouldn't notice.
And who was Berry? A proper tough guy — a man's man — someone who aimed to become a Night City legend, the kind of iron-boned warrior who could carve himself a seat at Liangshan Marsh. How could someone like her fall for a little cool-girl punk like V? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Even thinking it wasn't enough; Berry stomped her feet twice on the floor, imagining V's annoying face beneath her boots.
Only after that did she barely manage to calm down.
…So quiet. Only V left, right? What about Jackie? Misty? Why isn't anyone talking?
Berry lifted her head — and immediately met two pairs of burning, gossip-hungry eyes.
Jackie and Misty were leaning on opposite sides of the counter, both staring at her with faces that screamed we saw everything.
Crap. Did they see her stomping and muttering like an idiot earlier?
Eyes widening, Berry felt a tidal wave of embarrassment crash over her; her face flushed instantly.
"Ahem, hahaha… Berry, we didn't see anything at all. Right, Misty?" Jackie tried desperately to smooth things over.
"Yeah, yeah! We were just saying… uh… what were we saying?" Misty tried her best to hide her aunty-smile.
"Right, right — the best fixer in Night City, Dexter DeShawn. He gave us a big job…"
The two continued their clumsy act, but Berry could no longer contain her shame. After a brief hesitation, she suddenly covered her face and pushed open the back door, running out like a shy schoolgirl.
"I—I'll go check on Vik!"
Face buried, she ran away in one breath. Watching Berry flee in embarrassment, Jackie and Misty exchanged a knowing smile.
"Shouldn't we tell Berry?" Misty giggled softly. "She's still got a hickey on her neck."
"Nah." Jackie waved it off. "When we first got together, we were way worse than that."
V and Berry, still stuck in their own little love chase, didn't know this couple were the real veterans.
Viktor's clinic was located in the basement of the alley behind Misty's shop — left turn out the door.
Stepping into the alley, several men were lying on the ground smoking clouds of synth-leaf, a few others twitching on dirty mats with cheap braindance gear on, drooling and giggling obscenely.
That was Night City — always ready to ruin your good mood with its ugliest face.
But seeing this familiar decay and depravity, Berry felt a strange sense of calm.
Right. She was a merc making a living in this cesspool of a city — someone who wanted to become a legendary city-wrecker, a menace the NCPD hated. In this city, she slept could with whoever she wanted, do whatever she pleased.
How could she be conquered by little V? Ridiculous.
Thinking this, Berry restored her tough-guy confidence and strode into Viktor's clinic.
Walking down the stairs, she heard V and Vik talking.
"…Dexter DeShawn. Jackie said he got a job from him. Super mysterious, says we need to meet in person. I gotta run over later." That clear, bright voice could only be V.
"Oh? Dexter DeShawn. Big name. But I'm guessing you haven't been paid yet, right?" Viktor's voice was calm and weathered, like a middle-aged American TV protagonist with a past full of stories.
"By the way, Vik!" As if hearing Berry behind her, V suddenly raised her voice. "I wanna get some new chrome! Serious stuff. Upgrade my optics, maybe swap out an arm — full mechanical!"
Viktor raised an eyebrow but didn't move a muscle. He knew perfectly well V was just teasing.
Of course, the target of the teasing wasn't him — so he was happy to watch the show.
"You dare!" As expected, before V even finished, Berry's furious voice echoed through the clinic.
She stomped down the stairs in only a few strides, storming up to V.
"You promised me — no more implants!" Berry bared her teeth like an angry kitten, glaring at V's mischievous expression.
She had only calmed down three seconds ago, and V already broke her defenses again. She almost wanted to bite her.
Seeing Berry flustered, V crossed her arms and grinned. "Oh? So you didn't forget."
Only then did Berry realize she'd been tricked again.
Too angry for words, the 1.6-meter-tall "tough man" Berry flushed red, pointing at V and stammering like an idiot.
"Alright, alright. Sorry, Berry — I was joking." Seeing Berry truly upset, the 1.72-meter-tall V quickly pulled her into an embrace, resting Berry's head against her chest to comfort her.
This time, Berry didn't push her away. She clutched V's shirt nervously.
Even in this cyberpunk world, Berry hated cyberware. She hadn't installed a single implant on her body.
Because she had a fear —
Cutting out your perfectly healthy organs and replacing them with cold machinery felt like losing a piece of your soul. Like the original "you" would bleed out with the discarded flesh.
If it were just for treating illness, fine.
But in this world, swapping limbs was as casual as changing a phone case. People mutilated themselves just because they felt like it.
In Berry's eyes, treating your original body like disposable junk was terrifying.
Today an arm, tomorrow a leg — until you became like Adam Smasher, with only half a skull left from your birth body. Could you still call that person the same "you"?
Thinking V might become like that terrified her.
For Berry, V's warmth, her scent, the feel of her skin — these were all parts of who V was.
If V turned fully mechanical, with no warmth to hold, no heartbeat to hear…
Could Berry still see her as the same V?
It would be like the real V died piece by piece on the operating table, replaced by a machine carrying her memories.
Just imagining it filled Berry with dread.
...
T/N Berry is supposed to be taller than V at 1.8 meters or 5'9 in freedom units but I thought it would be funnier for her to be shorter than V.