Watson North Industrial Zone — once the beating heart of Night City's manufacturing.
After the nuclear blast of 2023, this place briefly became the most prosperous district in the city, producing industrial supplies for reconstruction and sheltering countless displaced families.
But time is ruthless.
As Night City revived and megacorps returned, low-end industries were tossed aside like junk. Factories shut down. Workers were fired. Families moved out. Those wide factory halls became havens for gangs. In just a few years, Watson Industrial Zone devolved into a playground for the wicked — a place of demons, freaks, and the nightly parade of monsters.
V rode through the ruins in a Delamain cab.
She was hunting.
But she hadn't picked her prey.
Joanne Koch needed test subjects.
V needed training dummies.
So why not kill two birds with one stone?
Militech Scavs?
Maelstrom?
Maelstrom were chrome junkies — walking cyberpsychosis risks.
Scavs were kidney-harvesting, limb-chopping butchers who treated human bodies like synthetic meat, hanging organs and cyberware in glass displays with price tags.
V personally hated the latter more.
After all… she'd been a Scav victim once, too.
Delamain braked suddenly.
A group of Maelstrom gangers had piled burning cars in the middle of the road — screaming, firing into the sky, laughing like lunatics.
Robbery?
Ambush?
Or just one of Maelstrom's midnight brain glitches?
Impossible to know.
You never know what's mostly inside a Maelstrom skull — meat? Or circuit boards?
But V knew one thing:
She'd chosen her prey.
Several cars had been stopped.
Terrified passengers cowered inside, screaming as the Maelstrom pack approached.
V lowered her window.
Took a look.
Raised the window.
That was enough.
The Maelstrom gangers convulsed violently, collapsing in synchronized seizures. Sparks burst from their heads like fireworks in the summer sky.
V took a sip of tequila.
"Delamain."
"Yes, Miss V?"
"Full Foods Factory."
"At once."
The Full Foods plant loomed in the night — the biggest synthetic-meat facility in Night City, a dark monster waiting to swallow anyone foolish enough to enter.
Two Maelstrom grunts were smoking and telling filthy jokes by the corridor entrance.
Footsteps echoed.
They threw down their cigarettes and raised their Copperhead rifles.
"Who the fuck's there? Show yourself!"
No answer.
Only sparks bursting from the backs of their heads as they dropped, foaming at the mouth.
In the final second of their consciousness, they saw a pair of glowing blue eyes floating in the dark.
V slipped inside without a sound.
Maelstrom dropped one by one.
Cameras glitched out.
Auto-turrets went silent.
It wasn't just biological life that bowed before the Reaper.
Non-living systems bent to her too.
"So, get away, another away…"
V hummed an off-key tune while committing mass homicide.
She was in a good mood — apparently being a netrunner had its charms.
"Ugh!"
"Wah!"
"Gh—!"
Bodies dropped like flies.
Eventually even Maelstrom's boss noticed something was wrong.
"Why's it so damn quiet out there? Come on — we're checking."
Brick stomped out.
He was a hulking man, chrome grafted everywhere — exposed wiring, pipes across his body, his real face carved away and replaced with six red optics and a breathing modulator.
He and two goons stepped out of the office and froze at the sight of the factory floor —
Littered with bodies.
"What the FUCK? Who?!"
Brick bellowed—
Then saw those two floating blue eyes.
He raised his Saratoga Tech Shotgun—
only for it to explode into useless scrap under a shower of sparks.
V emerged from the shadows wearing a Reaper mask.
"G-Ghost!!"
The two goons screamed.
Brick smacked them.
"Ghost your ass! That's Weapon Glitch! She's a fucking netrunner!"
A netrunner?
If she was just a netrunner—
nothing to fear!
Maelstrom feared gods.
They never feared humans.
One drew a spiked bat.
Another raised a prybar.
They charged.
Reboot Optics.
Sonic Shock.
Both dropped instantly, unconscious, flying past V and slamming into the walls like discarded trash.
V walked toward Brick.
Brick panicked and drew his DR-5 Nova kinetic revolver.
V didn't dodge.
No need.
He pulled the trigger—
but the barrel aimed wildly off-target.
Her Reboot Optics had already fried his vision. He was blind.
"Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!" Brick roared, firing wildly.
Bullets tore machinery apart, sparked off walls — but couldn't touch her.
Rage flickered into survival instinct.
He threw the gun aside.
Mantis Blades snapped out from both his forearms.
"DIE, BITCH!"
He lunged.
V stopped.
Her eyes glowed—
Quickhack Upload.
Cyberware Malfunction.
Sparks burst from his arms.
Cyberware Malfunction.
More sparks across his chest, legs, spine — everywhere.
The first hack crippled his blades.
The second crippled his entire body.
The infamous Brick collapsed to his knees — a broken washing machine, his cyberware fried beyond use.
Now he understood why his top-tier ICE failed like wet paper.
The thing standing before him wasn't "top-tier."
It was beyond that.
"Had enough?" V asked.
Brick spit out metal shavings and oil.
His synthetic voice rasped, "You… what the hell are you…?"
"Sleep."
V's eyes flashed blue again.
Brick went limp.
She triggered Ping — scanning the entire factory.
Every Maelstrom member within the building was unconscious.
Satisfied, V left as silently as she had arrived.
Outside, dawn was breaking.
"Sun's up," V murmured, squinting. "A little bright… but warm."
She opened her holo.
"Joanne. Full Foods plant. First batch of test subjects is ready. Send your people."
Then she climbed into the Delamain cab.
Work time.
Day shift.
At 9 a.m., Sasha arrived punctually.
Compared to yesterday's broken spirit, today she was back to being a rainbow cat.
"Maine fired me."
V raised a brow. "You're happy about that?"
Sasha grinned.
"It's kindness. I can't run gigs like this. They want me to rest. They also said you're rich as hell, so serving one rich corpo lady can pay more than our whole crew combined. So? Want to keep me full-time? Sugar-mama me?"
"Sugar-mama you?" V eyed her. "With only half your body working, shouldn't your salary be half too?"
Sasha puffed up her cheeks.
V burst out laughing — and Sasha laughed too.
"V… thanks."
"You're welcome, Sasha."
"So, lesson time?"
"Let's begin."
Teacher and student settled in.
"Today's lesson is my ultimate skill," Sasha said mysteriously.
"Oh? Show me."
She sent over a daemon.
V checked the name:
Cyberpsycho Protocol.
[Cyberpsycho Protocol]
Upload Time: 1.5 sec
Duration: 60 sec
RAM: 22
Induces hallucinations, forcing the target to attack nearest friend or foe. If no targets are nearby, they will commit suicide. Each stack of Cyberware Malfunction reduces RAM cost by 6 (max 3 stacks).
Every different quickhack applied beforehand increases this daemon's duration by 25% and increases target damage by 25%.
V remembered this from her previous life.
She used to think it literally turned people into cyberpsychos—
but no, it just hijacked their optics and fed them hallucinations.
Brain-in-a-vat stuff.
Looking through her memory, she found her own Legendary blueprint for the same daemon.
"I think this daemon can be improved."
Sasha blinked.
"Improved? By you? My legs are broken, not your brain."
"You don't believe me?"
"Why would I? You're a newbie, and—"
Before she finished, V sent the modified daemon.
All effects were the same—
except the 25% boosts were now 40%.
Sasha's jaw dropped.
"You—you actually improved it?!"
She stared at V for a long time, then whispered cautiously:
"…Are you trying to seduce me?"
V: "What?"
"With skills like this, why would you need me to teach you? If you want something from me, just say it. I won't refuse. No need to hide it."
V: "…"
V chopped her gently on the head.
"Ow!!"
"You can't use half your body so your brain's going haywire, huh? Stop thinking about weird shit."
"Then tell me — why does someone at your level need me as a teacher?!"
"I learn fast. Genius."
"Genius?"
Sasha eyed V's suit pants.
"You got a chrome cannon installed?"
"I DO NOT."
V groaned internally.
Where was the shy, innocent pink cat she remembered?
This one talked like a horny AI that escaped containment.
"Okay okay, no need to yell…" Sasha sighed, disappointed.
What are you disappointed about?!
V pinched the bridge of her nose and changed topics.
"So Maine really fired you?"
"Hehe, kidding. They just want me to rest. They said once they earn 500k, they'll buy me an exoskeleton. But it's a loan — I'll work it off later."
"I see." V nodded. "You have good friends."
"I know. I'm probably the luckiest girl alive."
Sasha's eyes sparkled.
Then, just as V was touched, Sasha suddenly leaned in, smiling wickedly:
"But they also said if I get you to sugar-mama me, they won't need to work so hard. So… think about it? I may be half-usable, but my fingers and tongue are very flexible."
"Jesus—again?!"
"What? Teasing a gorgeous corpo lady like you is fun!"
After lunch, V arranged a flying car to take Sasha home.
That afternoon, she had a loud, chaotic negotiation with Joanne Koch — the shouting could be heard across the entire 66th floor.
That night, V put on her Reaper mask and wiped out another Maelstrom den.
The next day.
And the next.
And the next.
Such was the simple, joyless life of a corpo dog.
On the fourth day, negotiations finally concluded.
Biotechnica ceded the Locust Farm and the entire synthetic-meat production line.
Arasaka supplied a security force of 500 Samurai and 100 Takeda-class powered suits.
Arasaka was a security giant — nobody could complain.
To Arasaka, 500 soldiers was pocket change.
Michiko Arasaka ate real meat and drank real water — she didn't care about insect farms or synthetic meats.
The deal existed for one reason only:
To send a message.
Arasaka and Biotechnica now shared interests.
Anyone wanting to attack Biotechnica had better think twice.
Night City hated Arasaka.
But being universally hated only meant one thing —
you were strong enough to earn it.
With Arasaka's banner raised, the siege against Biotechnica dissolved.
At Abernathy's request, Kang Tao and Zetatech joined the coalition, but they were late.
Too late.
All the big slices were already taken.
Michiko was pleased.
She didn't want to rule Night City by force — she wanted a coalition, not a dictatorship.
She lost her father to corporate wars.
She understood the pain.
So she praised V again —
and never mentioned Abernathy.
A message.
Clear as day.
V became the hottest star in Arasaka overnight.
Everyone rushed to flatter her.
Everyone…
except Abernathy, who smashed seventeen desks in a row.
"That bitch! That fucking bitch! I'll kill her — tonight!"
Abernathy — born elite, highly educated, brilliant.
But she'd never failed in her life.
Until today.
For the first time, she tasted bitterness.
I don't lose. I can't lose.
Her face twisted.
"Release that thing. I want V dead tonight."
Her subordinate paled.
"But it's still unstable. We need more time to calibrate—"
"Calibrate? CALIBRATE?! I pay you idiots to produce results, not calibrate! Tonight. Even if it breaks after one use — I don't care. Deploy it. Kill V. If you fail— you die. Understand?!"
"Y-yes, Miss Abernathy."