The hospital room was as noisy as a street market when Sasha begrudgingly opened her eyes.
Maine was screaming at a fixer over comms.
Dorio was contacting a getaway driver for their next gig.
Rebecca was wiping down her beloved iron while making "biu-biu-biu" gun noises like some feral, carefree gremlin.
Ever since Sasha got hospitalized, these idiots had turned the place into a temporary HQ. Maine claimed it was because the room was spacious and had better net-speed than his dump of an apartment—hundreds of times better, he said.
But Sasha knew the truth:
It was just their excuse to stay with her.
A clumsy excuse… but one she didn't want to expose.
Because these people were all she had left.
The bullet had hit her sixth vertebra. Severe nerve damage. Lower body completely paralyzed.
Sure, the data she sent to Network 54 went out successfully.
But she waited an entire week.
No broadcast.
No report.
Not even a rumor.
See?
This is what resisting a corporation gets you.
Pain, consequences, and nothing to show for it.
At some point the room grew quiet. Sasha looked up.
The three were staring at her.
"Don't stop what you're doing. Why're you looking at me like that?"
She forced a big grin.
"Sasha," Maine said, "it's just paralysis. Get better soon. A team without a netrunner ain't a team."
Dorio elbowed him hard. "If you don't know how to comfort someone, shut the fuck up. Sasha, don't worry—you can get an exoskeleton installed. You'll be hopping around again in no time."
"Really? That's great." Sasha smiled. "I can't stand staying in bed all day. How much does an exoskeleton cost?"
"About… 500,000."
Silence.
No tragic death, no dramatic last stand—ordinary folks don't need that.
One simple word—money—was enough to crush every fragile piece of happiness they had.
"H-haha…" Maine forced a laugh, pounding his chest. "Don't worry. Pfft—five hundred thousand? We'll just take more jobs. We'll have it in no time."
"Boss," Sasha said softly. "Find… another netrunner."
"The fuck did you just say?" Rebecca exploded.
She was tiny, but when she was pissed, she was like a raging tyrannosaur. She jumped onto the hospital bed, grabbed Sasha by the collar, and screamed:
"Find your mom another netrunner! You're not dead, so you're still working! And five hundred thousand ain't shit—we'll steal it, rob it, whatever! Didn't you snag yourself a corpo sugar mama? Go beg her! Go lick her boots! Let her keep you! Be her pet! If that's not enough, she can have me too! And if that's not enough, she can have Dorio and Maine! There's always a way if you don't give up!"
Maine muttered, "I'd… rather not."
"YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Rebecca snapped, then grabbed Sasha's collar again.
"Sasha… we're trash, sure. But this is the only life we've got. Don't fucking leave me. Please."
Sasha didn't respond.
But silence was the clearest answer.
"Thank you, Rebecca. And… I'm sorry."
Sasha curled up, pulling the blanket over her head.
She was tired.
Truly tired.
She had tried.
She had fought.
But none of it mattered.
There was nothing left in this world worth staying for.
The only thing she could do now—was not be a burden.
"You wanna die so bad?" Rebecca snarled. "Fine, I'll help you!"
She drew her gun.
Maine and Dorio panicked and tackled her.
As the three wrestled, someone knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
They all turned and saw a woman in a suit.
"Quite lively in here."
The woman removed her sunglasses. "Name's V. Just V."
Rebecca instantly behaved. Maine and Dorio released her.
"I'm Maine, Sasha's team leader."
"Dorio. Second-in-command."
V nodded. Back when she was just a "player," she'd seen their story—the big guy, the buff woman, and the tiny green-haired gremlin Rebecca.
This room really was something… full of legends who never lived to see the ending.
Rebecca felt V's gaze and snapped, "The hell you staring at?"
"Rebecca-chan, right?"
"Chan your ass! We friends now?" Rebecca flipped her off—
Only for Maine to drag her hand down immediately.
Corpos weren't people you could piss off casually. Especially an Arasaka executive.
V didn't mind. She already knew Rebecca was fundamentally kind.
Her attention shifted to the lump under the blanket.
Sasha.
Not surprising.
Waking up from a dream always came with a price—and that price was pain so sharp most people preferred to keep dreaming.
"I brought flowers. Want to see them?"
Sasha didn't move.
V didn't care. She calmly asked a nurse for a vase, filled it with water, arranged the flowers, then pulled up a chair beside the bed.
"I've been busy. Biotechnica's situation is handled for now. I figured I owed you an explanation."
The blanket trembled.
V crossed her legs, arms folded, voice steady:
"That night's incident was officially classified as a 'security drill.' Biotechnica did not suffer a breach, nor any losses. Any rumors online are considered slander. All documents, records, and alleged evidence are labeled as fabrications. Biotechnica will not accept responsibility and reserves the right to pursue legal action."
"FUCK OFF!" Rebecca yelled.
Sasha's voice trembled beneath the blanket. "What about Network 54…?"
"Network 54 belongs to Militech. It's a corporate subsidiary. You really think it would sabotage another corporation?" V sighed. "Word is, as soon as your report arrived, the station head sold it back to Biotechnica—for a fat profit."
BANG!
Rebecca punched the table. "Is there no justice in this fucking world?!"
"There is." V glanced at her. "Corporations are justice. Their decisions are the law. Unless…"
"Unless what?"
Unless we become gods too.
V answered only in her mind. Out loud, she said nothing.
Instead, she lightly tapped Sasha's blanket.
"Get up. I'm taking you somewhere."
Sasha didn't budge.
"I saved your life. You won't give me this little bit of face?"
Slowly, Sasha sat up.
V pushed her wheelchair toward the door, but Maine and the others blocked it.
"Where are you taking her?"
"None of your business."
"You—"
"It's fine, Maine," Sasha cut in quickly. "V won't hurt me. Let her through."
"You're siding with a corpo dog?!" Rebecca kicked over a table. "Fine! Go! Die if you want! I won't save your ass again!"
Maine and Dorio shared a glance, then chased after Rebecca.
V asked softly, "You okay?"
"I'm fine." Sasha forced a smile uglier than crying. "Them forgetting me… is better."
V lifted Sasha into a Delamain cab.
"Watson Industrial District," she said.
"Affirmative, Miss V. Choose Delamain—leave your troubles at the door."
No interruptions on the way.
"Hurts?" V asked.
"Yeah." Sasha nodded.
"No one can take down a megacorp alone. You were doomed from the start."
"Are you mocking me?"
"No. Just stating facts. Cruel facts."
Sasha clenched her fists. "Then what would you do?"
"I'm not you. The question doesn't apply."
"Hah. So you're just like me—helpless."
"I never claimed to be helpless," V replied calmly. "I simply said I'm not you. I tackle problems differently."
She finally looked at Sasha.
"You heard the public version. Want the internal one?"
Sasha's eyes shifted—curiosity breaking through the numbness.
"The data you stole? I made a copy. Sent it to several other megacorps under Arasaka's name.
Biotechnica controls food, medicine, and energy—all prime profit sectors. The other corps have been drooling over them for years. Now they finally have leverage."
Sasha blinked. "So Biotechnica… is in trouble?"
"Deep trouble. Their clean façade is intact, but behind the scenes, they're on fire. Other corps demanded concessions immediately."
"And Biotechnica agreed?"
"They had no choice. Securicien has too many users—mostly war veterans. If other corps expose it, those veterans will mobilize on their own. A 'just war' against Biotechnica would erupt overnight."
Sasha let out a broken laugh. "A just war… sure. So Biotechnica caved?"
"Completely. Lost a ton of assets. Arasaka took the biggest slice. Which is why Michiko Arasaka took notice of me—and promoted me into the inner circle."
"Then congrats," Sasha muttered. Then paused. "Wait… I sent the file straight to Network 54. When did you make a copy?"
"Remember the chip I gave you? It had… enhancements."
"You said it didn't have a virus!"
"It didn't. Just a few backdoor scripts. Everything that reached you automatically reached me too."
V smirked. "By the way—High-Frequency Purple Mood Vibrator? Girl, you've got exotic taste."
Sasha's face went crimson. "V, you fucking bastard!"
When they got out of the cab, V had fresh claw marks on her face.
"You really are a cat. Good thing I temporarily disabled my distress beacon or Trauma Team would've busted in."
"Hmph." Sasha huffed. "Where are we?"
"An abandoned warehouse in Watson."
"What for?"
"For the final curtain call of this insane little play."
V flipped the breaker.
Lights hummed to life.
In the center sat a bruised, bound man.
"Biotechnica needed a scapegoat," V said softly behind Sasha. "This is the one they chose. Frank Adams. Board member. The man who approved Securicien."
Sasha's pupils shrank.
Click.
V chambered a round in the Lizzie pistol and set it gently in Sasha's hand.
"Do what you need to do. I'll handle the rest."
V left and closed the warehouse door.
To her surprise, Maine's crew was waiting outside in a car.
Pretending to be angry, yelling at Sasha, but following her anyway.
V chuckled quietly.
Then—
BANG!
Sasha rolled out in her wheelchair, face bright with a sunny smile.
"Go to your friends," V said, walking away. "And… don't be late tomorrow, Miss Sasha."
Dorio and Rebecca rushed past V to fuss over Sasha.
Maine stopped in front of V.
"…Thank you," he said sincerely.
"For what?" V asked.
"For everything."
"You owe me one?"
"Hell yeah. Anything. Just say the word."
"I'll remember that." V's eyes flashed blue briefly. "Here's my number. Call when I need you."
Maine grumbled, "Figures. Corpo dog being a corpo dog."
V turned. "By the way—there's a dead body inside. Biotechnica defector. Good bounty. He's yours."
Maine's eyes lit up. "Holy shit! Boss, you're amazing! Boss, you're the best! Boss, mua!"
V returned to Arasaka Tower. She was busy—carving out time to play hero for these kids was already more generosity than she owed the world.
But the moment she stepped off the elevator—
Special Operations Division blocked her again.
This time, Abernathy herself stood among them.
"Director Abernathy."
V bowed first, as per protocol.
"Deputy Chief V." Abernathy's expression was complicated. "I underestimated you. Want to work under me? I'll guarantee you better prospects."
"Sorry. I'm not considering department transfers at the moment."
Abernathy's voice chilled.
"V. Don't refuse a toast only to drink the forfeit."
Before V could reply, a cheerful voice chimed in behind her.
"My my~ Arasaka's internal relationships seem so harmonious. Unlike Biotechnica—ours is nothing but knives and backstabs."
Joanne Koch stepped up beside V, glowing with fresh promotion energy.
"Deputy Chief V, won't you introduce us?"
"Of course." V gestured.
"Ms. Koch, this is Director Abernathy of Special Operations.
Director Abernathy, this is Joanne Koch, head of—"
"Correction," Joanne said with a sweet smile. "I was appointed just recently. I'm now the Chief Executive of Biotechnica's Medical Division."
"Oh? Congratulations," V said politely.
"All thanks to Deputy Chief V," Joanne replied. "She helped us root out certain… dead weights. Once they were gone, real talent could finally rise."
"You flatter me," V said. "I only did what was necessary."
"Not just that."
Joanne leaned closer.
"You even helped broker the partnership between Arasaka and Biotechnica. Michiko-sama praised you endlessly. You mustn't downplay your achievements."
She then turned to Abernathy.
"Isn't that right, Director?"
Abernathy's jaw tightened.
But she forced a smile.
"…Yes. Deputy Chief V was… instrumental."
"Glad you agree." Joanne smiled brightly. "V, let's not keep Michiko-sama waiting."
As the elevator doors closed, they heard:
"MotherFUCKER!"
Abernathy's furious scream.
She'd dominated Night City politics for years—yet today, she'd been upstaged by a 23-year-old punk.
Her subordinates rushed to calm her.
"Don't worry, boss. She just got lucky. You've got Zetatech and Kang Tao backing you. She's nothing."
"You know nothing!" Abernathy snapped. "Michiko-sama used to rely only on me. Now there's another voice whispering in her ear. And this V—she's ruthless. She aims straight for the throat. Hard to believe she's only 23."
"Maybe Jenkins taught her?"
"Maybe. Doesn't matter."
Abernathy's eyes hardened.
"She can't be allowed to live. Where's the one we prepared?"
"Still needs tuning."
"No time. Deploy them now.
V always rides Delamain, right?
Fine.
If she's not afraid of death—I'll send her to meet it."
She added coldly:
"Set the ambush in Corpo Plaza.
Tell NCPD to delay response for fifteen minutes."
"Yes, ma'am."