NCX—Night City International Orbital Aerospace Port.
Yorinobu Arasaka's personal shuttle touched down on schedule.
He was eighty-one years old this year, but looked like a man in his forties.
V had been ordered to greet him.
"Mr. Arasaka Yorinobu, welcome to Night City. I hope your journey was smooth. Your AV is ready—this way, please."
Her attitude was impeccably respectful.
Yorinobu didn't make trouble either.
They both entered the same AV.
Once airborne, V began, out of courtesy, to introduce Night City's landmarks—
Yorinobu suddenly cut her off.
"You… V, correct?"
"Yes."
"I've heard about you. You actually dared attack Arasaka Tower. Last time something like that happened was 2023."
What's that supposed to mean?
A warning?
A lecture?
V kept her expression neutral. "I was reckless. I will reflect on my actions."
"No. I mean, you did well."
V looked at him, surprised.
This was the prodigal prince of Arasaka—the one who never got along with his father Saburo. Whether it was genuine hatred for the corporation or the realization that he himself was nothing more than a tool—whatever the reason, he'd stolen the Relic prototype from a lab in Japan and fled to Night City, setting off a chain reaction of chaos.
Perhaps… he could be useful.
V's mind accelerated.
If she could rope in Yorinobu—
a member of the Arasaka family—
her chances of stealing high-level tech would skyrocket.
And with her help, Yorinobu's plan to sell the Relic would become smoother. If he stole anything else in the future—she could help him "move the goods."
A win-win.
With that thought, V began probing.
"Is Mr. Yorinobu testing me? I clearly harmed the corporation's interests."
"The corporation's interests?" He sneered. "A corporation is a man-eating wolf. Militech, Kang Tao, Biotechnica—they're all the same. Arasaka is simply the greediest and vilest among them."
"Mr. Yorinobu, please be careful with your words."
"Careful? Don't delude yourself. Corporations crush people, manipulate lives, spark wars. V—you attacked Arasaka Tower because you saw the darkness at its core, didn't you?"
Yorinobu stared straight at her—
as if he could see through her.
V held his gaze for a moment, then looked away—deliberate.
Yorinobu smirked.
"Young people. Still too easy to read. I can see through you. And so can Michiko."
"No… I'm just—unwilling to accept it!" V clenched her fists. After a long hesitation, she said, as if revealing something painful: "I gave everything to the corporation, but in return… I—didn't want to do what I did. But I had no choice."
"I understand, V. I understand it all." Yorinobu patted her shoulder.
"But corporations are like this. You can only endure."
"And if I can't?" V looked at him. "Mr. Yorinobu… if you can change everything, I can—"
"V. That's enough." He stopped her cold. "This is grown-up business. Children don't need to get involved. I'll change everything. You only need to wait quietly for dawn."
Silence filled the AV.
V looked at Yorinobu.
Yorinobu looked at V.
This was the prince who once gathered people with kindness, who built the organization "Steel Dragons"—only to watch his father, Saburo, crush it effortlessly. From the blood and broken bodies of friends and allies, Yorinobu had learned one truth:
External force can never topple a corporation's foundation.
Crowds are just mobs.
Only internal decay can destroy a corporation.
Only a system can fight a system.
Only a god can kill another god.
This revelation—this apocalypse—belonged to him alone.
V understood that look.
He didn't think much of her.
She wasn't part of his war.
V resumed her professional smile.
"We'll arrive in two minutes. I've prepared the top suite in Konpeki Plaza for you."
Yorinobu nodded and looked out the window.
He had great things to do.
Talking to someone like V for a few minutes was more than enough.
When the AV touched down, V escorted him to the suite.
Before leaving, she made one last attempt.
"Mr. Yorinobu, here's my number. If you ever need anything, you can contact me anytime."
"No need. Tell your people to leave. I have my own security. Tell Michiko I'll visit her in a few days."
Once more—
confirmation:
he really didn't think much of her.
V bowed and left.
As the door closed, she heard Yorinobu on the phone:
"Cloud Nine? Send me your best doll performers. I'm exhausted. Need to relax."
The door shut.
V: …
He calls escorts the moment he checks in.
Truly Johnny Silverhand's biggest fan.
Down in the Konpeki Plaza lobby, staff bowed to V one after another—not fake courtesy, but genuine respect.
V returned each salute with a smile.
She wasn't Yorinobu.
She wasn't born to "do great things."
But when others offered her sincerity—
she offered sincerity back.
After reporting to Michiko, V returned to her office and opened a group call with Meredith Stout and Joanne Koch, sharing what she learned about Yorinobu.
"A pity," Koch said with real regret. "If we could work with Yorinobu, we could bypass Michiko and access Arasaka's cutting-edge tech."
"I agree," V said. "But he truly doesn't value me. I'm not going to push myself onto someone who clearly doesn't care—costs face and risks exposing our operation."
Meredith, ever the soldier, believed in active offense.
"If the Yorinobu route is dead, find another branch of the Arasaka family. Who else is there?"
"There are some," Koch said, looking through records. "None with significant power, and they're all far away." Then she joked, "Saburo is close and definitely powerful. Maybe we should try him."
"You want the head of Arasaka to help us steal from Arasaka?" Meredith rolled her eyes. "Are you stupid?"
Yet—
V suddenly froze.
Her expression sharpened.
"…Maybe it's not impossible."
"Huh?"
Even Koch—the one who made the joke—was stunned.
"Did the nano-serum fry her brain?" Meredith muttered.
"It shouldn't have side effects like that," Koch said, staring at V. "V… maybe you really should get checked."
"My brain is fine!" V snapped.
"Then why the hell would you try to recruit Saburo Arasaka?"
"I have a plan," V said seriously. "Some details still need work. Let me think it through. If everything goes as I imagine—having Saburo on our side isn't impossible."
"You sure?"
"It's worth a shot. Dragging things out with Michiko is dangerous for us."
"Fine. When you've got a full plan, explain it. Though I think you're dreaming."
The call ended.
V began plotting.
Unlike her two partners, V was a "returnee."
She knew Yorinobu would eventually steal the Relic chip containing Johnny Silverhand's engram—
and she knew he would strangle his own father Saburo in Konpeki Plaza.
Last time, the Relic chip ended up in V's skull.
But this time…
What if she inserted the Relic into Saburo's skull instead?
Johnny Silverhand—
inside Saburo Arasaka's body—
resurrected through the corpse of a corporate god.
Would that work?
V felt it absolutely would.
Johnny hated corporations with burning obsession.
He'd side with her instantly.
With Johnny possessing Saburo's body, she wouldn't just access Arasaka's cutting-edge tech—
she might take control of the entire corporation.
Her heart pounded.
With Arasaka's full power behind her—
she vowed she would cure herself.
The path ahead suddenly lit up—
a new route through the darkness.
But the plan required precision.
This time, there were no two dumbasses hiding behind a TV wall to save her.
As V continued constructing the plan in her mind—
Meredith called, breathless:
"V, we've got a situation. A corporate spy slipped into our underground factory!"
"Shit!" V cursed. "Did you catch him?"
"I'm on his tail!"
"Your location?"
"Coronado Farms. Southbound highway."
V walked to the window.
Her optics flared blue.
The city below dissolved into a fortress of data—
cars, drones, traffic lights—
every entity converted into streams of 0s and 1s.
In 242 milliseconds, she hacked into Night City's traffic management system.
Jumping camera to camera like a flying fish through water, she located Meredith.
A Militech Hellhound armored vehicle barreled down the highway, chasing a Mizutani Shinobi MZ2.
The runner's driving was good, the car powerful—like a nimble thief slipping through the grip of a heavily armed giant.
"That the one?" Meredith heard V's voice through the Hellhound's AV system.
"Fuck! Stop hacking my ride! I upgraded it, damn it!" Meredith shouted. "Yes—that's him. Slippery bastard. Handles like a greased anal bead—hard as hell to pin down!"
And she says I play dirty?
You're not exactly pure yourself.
V ignored the thought.
The ramp ahead gave her an idea.
"I'll divert him into the Solar Power Plant. Take him out there."
Her optics flared—
she uploaded Vehicle Hack into the Shinobi MZ2.
Instant takeover.
CLACK.
Door locks sealed.
The wheel jerked violently.
The car drifted and shot into the ramp.
Meredith's Hellhound followed.
"You two go ahead. I'm heading there now."
V severed the network connection, snapping back from her digital flight to her flesh inside Arasaka Tower.
Pressure crashed down—like falling into mud—
but she ignored it, ordering an AV immediately.
By the time she reached the Solar Power Plant, Meredith had things under control.
The Shinobi's door had been ripped open.
A young man was pinned to the ground by two Militech soldiers, yelling:
"放開我!你哋咁多人打我一個算咩本事!有種單挑呀!"
(Let me go! What kind of skill is this—ganging up on one guy! Fight me one-on-one if you dare!)
V frowned.
"Chinese?"
"Cantonese," Meredith said, flicking away a cigarette butt. "He's Kang Tao."
V turned—
and nearly burst out laughing.
Meredith Stout had a black eye.
And a bruised nose.
"If you laugh, I'll deck you."
"Ahem." V coughed the smile down. "He did that?"
"Who else?" Meredith growled. "Kid can fight. If we didn't have numbers, he'd have dropped us. People always say 'every Chinese person knows martial arts'—guess they weren't lying."
Well… not exactly…
V didn't explain further.
She walked toward the young infiltrator.
She needed to know what he'd seen—and whether he'd passed anything along.
"死美国佬!If I wasn't driving one of those shitty Jap cars today, you wouldn't have caught me!"
He'd wanted to yell "Jap,"
but seeing V—a high-ranking Arasaka exec—he corrected himself.
"So you recognize me," V said coldly. "I'm not Japanese."
"But you work for them!" he switched to Mandarin.
V didn't bother with a history debate.
She got straight to business.
"Name. Age. Position in Kang Tao."
"I won't say anything!"
"Then you're going to suffer," V warned.
"You won't break me. Chinese have backbone—" Meredith interjected.
"Don't waste time. Rip from his mind. Then fry his brain," she suggested pragmatically.
V prepared to hack.
The young man panicked instantly.
"Wait, wait, WAIT—sisters, at least slap me first! How would you know how cowardly I am if you don't even try?!"
V stared.
"…This is your 'backbone,' Meredith?"
Meredith sighed.
"This is disappointing. Chinese aren't supposed to be like this."
"I'm just being smart!" he sputtered. "In China we say—those who know the times are wise—"
"Enough bullshit," V cut him off.
"What did you steal? Did you send it to anyone?"
"Absolutely not! If I'm lying, may I stay single forever!" he swore.
"Pictures, videos—all here. I'll return everything! Just let me live!"
V checked the data.
Nodded at Meredith.
Meredith drew her pistol instantly and aimed at his head.
"Kid, blame yourself for seeing things you shouldn't."
V didn't stop her.
If Meredith didn't do it—V would.
The young man broke completely.
"DON'T! Please—please don't kill me—I was wrong—I'll do anything—!"
CLACK.
Meredith chambered a round.
Just before she pulled the trigger, the kid screamed:
"I can get you Kang Tao's smart-gun schematics! I can help you!"
…hm?
Meredith yanked him upright.
V asked:
"You can really get Kang Tao tech?"
His eyes darted—hesitating.
Meredith slammed a fist into his stomach. He folded instantly.
"Yes! Yes—I can! Hnnf— I can!"
"Name. Age. Position."
"Xu Zhong! Nineteen! Head of Security Section!"
"The fuck? A section chief doing espionage? You think I'm stupid?" Meredith slapped him hard.
"I'm not lying!" Xu Zhong cried.
"It's that bitch Jiang Ping! She set me up! I had no choice!"
Jiang Ping—the same bitter old auntie from Kang Tao.
Abernathy's former mistress.
"You two don't get along?" V asked.
"She doesn't get along with ME!" Xu Zhong spat.
"I'm not in her faction, so she's targeted me nonstop! If she had any guts she'd fight the higher-ups, not bully a wage slave like me! I can't choose where I'm born!"
V and Meredith exchanged a look.
Meredith holstered her gun.
Kang Tao had always been the troublemaker of the Corporate Alliance—and Jiang Ping was the root of the issue.
V had wanted to deal with her but lacked an entry point.
Now… she had one.
V's optics glowed—
she breached Xu Zhong's ICE instantly.
"I've implanted a Dollchip Puppet in your system," V said. "Three days. Bring me the schematics for Kang Tao's Type L-69 Zhuo Smart Shotgun. Fail—and I'll fry your brain."
Xu Zhong nearly jumped.
"The L-69 Zhuo is a state secret!"
"Then I'll burn your brain now." V's optics flared again.
"WAITWAITWAIT—I'll do it! I'll do it! Elder sister, please don't kill me!"
"Good. Then we have a deal," Meredith said coldly. "Get lost."
Xu Zhong looked around the endless solar array, swallowed hard.
"…Could you give me a car?"
Meredith fired at his feet.
"Run."
"Yes! Running! I love running! I'm going now!"
He scampered off like a terrified rabbit.
V and Meredith watched him disappear.
"His body control isn't normal for a 'section chief,'" Meredith said. She lit a cigarette.
V shrugged.
"I hacked his biometrics. His heart rate barely changed while crying and screaming."
"If he's not a braindance actor, he's a trained supersoldier," Meredith murmured. "Nineteen years old. Chinese really are insane."
V nodded.
Xu Zhong didn't exist in the game's canon.
But this wasn't a game.
Anything was possible.
"What do you think Kang Tao wants, sending him to contact us?" Meredith asked.
"At least not to kill us. If they wanted that, our entire operation would've been exposed already." V sighed.
"Every corp is full of monsters. We're dancing on razor blades—legs tired, heart even more tired."
"No shit." Meredith flicked her cigarette away.
"Drink?"
"You buying?"
"Fuck no. Your salary's way higher."
"It's all hard-earned."
"Mine too!"
Before they could go drink, V's holo lit up.
David calling.
"V… can you come? Lucy… she's relapsed again."