Chapter Text
Ice quietly clanked and agitated the remainders of V’s Margarita as he slowly spun the glass around. His thoughts were far from the drink, instead fixated on something else entirely.
Someone else.
Was it weird to find alluring the prospect of getting apprehended by one particular MaxTac operative?
Probably. Jackie most certainly thought so - the fact that he had already reiterated at least three times in the span of their rather short conversation.
Speaking of the oversized ex-Valentino, he had just returned from the bathroom and sunk into the couch across from his unlikely corpo friend.
The pair sat closer together than usual to compensate for questionable privacy of their table. The usual secluded booth at the far corner of the main room was out of commission. Something about a pair of borged-out patrons getting into a scuffle and smashing the whole thing into shards and splinters.
Thankfully, visiting the place in the late afternoon meant that the speakers weren’t blasting on maxed-out volume just yet and there were very few people around to eavesdrop.
Nonetheless, even the smallest sliver of intel could spell doom for the Arasaka Counterintelligence officer, so V had implored his friend to be discreet.
Jackie leant in over the table and spoke with a soft tone. “You should be glad you got outta there alive, hermano.”
”A cuz of mine once was in the wrong place at the wrong time… A psycho tore him limb from limb, no joke.” Jackie sighed. “Choom was built like a tank, and punched like a train. Little good that did him in the end.”
V shrugged. The fight sure was tough, but nothing he’d call particularly life-threatening. He had the crazy guy’s skull skewered on his left Mantis Blade within a few minutes.
”Anyway.” The bigger man took a generous swig from his glass of Centzon. “This ain’t even the most dangerous encounter you’ve had at that store, hm?”
”But before we get to that.” He pointed at V with his glass. “What were you doing in that snob central store anyway? That’s what I really wanna know.”
V groaned. “We’ve got this fucking party that Arasaka’s throwing… And all my suits are either your standard issue scop or need throwing out anyway.”
In truth, the work was so hectic that he had been pretty much living in two sets of clothes for the past five months - a black and red Arasaka suit that gave way to a gray melange tracksuit for gym and yoga.
Trip to Jinguji was meant to be a little treat to himself. Instead, it turned into a fight to the death and an encounter with a hottest murderdoll that the corpo agent had ever met.
”’Saka does parties?” Jackie looked genuinely surprised. “And here I thought they were keen only on squeezing every bit of life juice outta all of ya.”
”Harsh, but not exactly untrue.” V had to concede that point. “Turns out if you get senior enough, you get invited to this kind of shindig.”
”You don’t look thrilled in the slightest.”
”Bleh…” V grimaced. “It’s all the same bullshit schmooze-fest that we gotta do day in, day out. Just the venue’s different and we can get shitfaced on company dollar.”
“Although the latter’s just for gonks who won’t go far anyway. Cos in truth those’re just networking events with heads of departments. If you’re lucky, you get to slingshot into a much better position. If you fuck up, you may be dead in the watter. Sometimes literally.”
Jackie raised an eyebrow. “Why do I sense excitement as you’re telling me that, holmes?”
The other man shrugged in response. “Cos that’s exactly what I’m planning to do.”
”If all goes well, I’ll be doin’ gigs that Jenkins won’t even have the clearance to know about.”
The ex-ganger chuckled lightly. ”You really can’t wait to rid yourself of that guy.”
That observation could not be more spot on. V was desperate to get from under Arthur Jenkins’ shadow that had been looming over him ever since he joined the Counter Intelligence Division.
Jenkins always treated V like a streetrat that he had picked up from the gutters and, from sheer goodwill, ‘allowed’ to rise through the ranks of Arasaka. In truth, V got into the ranks of the elite unit on his own merit after paying his own way through Arasaka Academy and scoring towards the top end of the table in all entry exams.
Nonetheless, coming from outside the corporate world did put a target on V’s back and his current boss did keep the sharks away on some occasions. Yet, he proved to be a much, much more useful asset to Jenkins than the other way round.
V could probably suffer through another couple of years under the guy, but recent events had massively tipped the scales in favor of jumping the Arthur ship for something better.
“You kiddin’?” The corpo huffed bitterly. “That op back in Atlanta, the one after which I had to lie low with Snake Nation for a month. That’s enough to turn on the guy and lose no sleep over it.”
With his glass empty, he turned around to face the bar and quickly caught the eyes of Mateo, who was manning it at the time. Two nods were exchanged, followed by a transfer of Eurodollars covering the two drinks for V and Jackie, plus twenty percent in tips.
”Now I need special risk assessment done to even enter NUSA, contractually forbidden to use my full name in public and a whole buncha other bullshit that I gotta suffer through just cos the intel he swore by was utter trash.”
”And!” V was really wound up by that point, and he recognised it. “Motherfucker forgot to reinstate my security clearance when I got back. I almost got shot on sight by the security guys when I tried to stroll into the usual entrance!”
Jack nodded along to V’s little rant before changing the subject entirely. “You know I love that corpo gossip of yours just like mi abuelita loved her soap operas, but there’s a specific piece I wanted to ask you about,
“Shoot.”
V quickly raised a hand to indicate he was reversing on his word as a server carrying their drinks arrived at their table.
The other man nodded in understanding and waited for the woman to leave earshot area before continuing.
”Corpo Plaza shitshow from two months ago.” Jackie’s brow furrowed as he seemed to recall everything that the public did get to know, including a deadly chase through half of Night City and an aggressive suppression campaign by Arasaka that followed.
”Know anything ‘bout that? I hear Adam-fucking-Smasher was on the scene, so it has to be something big.”
V knew exactly what his friend was referring to. The incident involving a prototype piece of tech and a false flag operation against Militech rapidly cemented itself as one of the most whispered about incidents within the black granite halls of Arasaka Tower. It also had the potential to ignite the next Corporate War, so even talking about it was strictly forbidden, no matter if you had the clearance to know anything of substance or not.
As far as Arasaka management was concerned, the incident dubbed CS-DM-01 had never happened. Kate and Douglas from V’s department were disappeared quicker than the first cleanup crew AV landed among the ruins of devastated Corpo Plaza.
V himself never got involved in the aftermath. He didn’t even know the names of any of the participants except for those from the Arasaka side. Rumor had it that Frank Nostra was recalled to track down the escapee survivors, but it was only that - a rumor. Even his familiarity with the agent didn’t get V far in getting any additional intel out of the guy.
With all of that in mind, V decided that for his and Jackie’s sake, it was best to play dumb. “Heard of it, but nothing more than that. Never came by my desk or anybody else’s desk that I know of.”
“If Jenkins knows something, he ain’t telling me.” This much was true.
”Shame.” Jackie looked disappointed for a second, but then his face changed back to his usual happy-go-lucky expression.
He swiftly threw yet another question V’s way. “So tell me about that MaxTac chica that you’re so hung up on. What makes her so special that you’re gonna forego all of your common sense, hm?”
“I swear you’re like a walking, shooting screamsheet, Jackester…” V let out a defeated sigh, accepting his fate and finally getting to the juicy bits.
”She was the first to storm the place, Mantis Blades at the ready. Takes guts to do that knowing there’s a rampaging cyberpsycho inside.”
And then officer Rory would proceed to boss V and Zane, the shop owner, around for a good five minutes. Taking statements, interrogating why a corpo was not in an office in the middle of the day, even teasing him for not dispatching the cyberpsycho quicker with all of his top shelf chrome.
Normally, V’d just tell the gonk in blue to fuck right off and walked out. As a senior Arasaka agent he was borderline untouchable for NCPD so there wouldn’t be any consequences to worry about and yet… He let her put him through the paces.
More shockingly to the man himself, V would even go as far as to say that he enjoyed being told what to do by someone who wasn’t his self-serving, sociopathic boss. The thought of Melissa doing so again, this time without the chopped up maniac bleeding out in the corner and V dressed into something less shredded.
V’s involuntary grin wasn’t unnoticed by his living conversation partner. “I saw that smile before. You always get it when you’re about to jump into somethin’ really fuckin’ dumb.”
”Do I?” V raised a surprised eyebrow. “First time I’m hearing it from you. Or anyone else for that matter.”
“I’m telling ya, mano.” Jackie leaned forward. “‘Member when we were gettin’ drinks at el Coyote and you got that brilliant idea to subcon Snake Nation for one of your gigs?”
That was exactly the same gig that ended up with Vincent having to get his identity completely wiped and start going by the moniker of V.
“Don’t remind me, please.” V leant backwards with a loud groan. “It’s not the same this time. Got nothing to do with work.”
”Everything’s got somethin’ to do with work with ya, V.” Jackie gingerly took a sip of his drink, for he knew that he was absolutely right.
“So, you gonna go hunt for cyberpsychos now in hope to bump into that chica again?”
”No!” The corpo man vehemently shook his head. “That would be insane.”
But in his head V took a note of the idea. Of course, he was too busy to keep tabs on every psychotic massacre that happened in Night City. MaxTac didn’t even bother attending most of them, anyway.
Fortunately, a man of his standing could always rely on his team for such tasks…
——
[ Hello, V. Will you make our session today? ]
[ You’ve canceled at the last minute three times in a row. I’m concerned about your chakra flows. ]
Message from the Sensei elicited a frustrated sigh out of the suit-clad man. He had no time to sit still and think about balance. With the mess that was the inside of his head, he doubted it would even be possible to get in the zone.
He would’ve canceled the dubiously helpful practice years ago, but his Arasaka health plan required he attended at least one session a month. As if anyone in his profession had any chance to ever achieve Zen…
[ Not today. Got a lot of work. ]
V swiftly dismissed one message window with a thought only to open another one.
Carter, her assistant, pulled through with the data as usual.
[ I’ve pulled that data feed you asked for. It’s available on Channel 5, your usual security credentials. ]
Also usual was his nosiness. A quick message followed.
[ I still don’t understand why we need to monitor cyberpsychos all over Night City though? ]
V realized that in his annoyance he squeezed one of the armrests so hard that it cracked only when he heard the noise. “Shit.”
This was his third damaged office chair in a month. Perhaps he really should’ve taken meditation more seriously.
Such a response to a simple - and very valid - question didn’t come from V’s annoyance at the guy who was actually quite good at his job. If anything, V always prided himself for being one of the more level-headed seniors in their team.
His momentary outburst came from five days of not being able to fully focus on tasks at hand because his mind kept wandering back to the encounter at Jinguji.
Even asking Carter to look into the NCPD cyberpsycho alert tracker could land him in hot water with Jenkins, but that was the only way without having to drive round the streets of Night City tuned into a cop frequency.
V knew that Carter Smith was really Susan Abernathy’s man inside his boss Jenkins’ team, feeding intel on all major goings on so that the Special Ops Director could see an attack coming from a mile away. This meant that any irregularities would be passed on right to her to be used as ammunition to claim Jenkins was incapable of controlling his own people.
Given he was vying for a promotion, V had to make this entire thing seem like him being proactive about something. He’d only then have to admit that the lead went cold, file a report that would get lost in the sea of paperwork and call it a day.
[ My office. Now. ]
V preferred to leave no paper trail of such conversations if he could help him, and his small glass cubicle was the only place he could be reasonably certain not to be listened in at. Operative word being ‘reasonably’.
Smith must’ve ran from his open space desk, because he was knocking on V’s door within two minutes.
”Come in,” the more senior man said as he sent a mental command to unlock the door. “I guess I should’ve told you about why I needed you to look into that.”
”That’s fine, V, sir.” Carter awkwardly bowed - a habit he had picked up from all the corporate etiquette instruction videos that were recorded in Japan. V didn’t know any other American who bothered with that rubbish unless in the presence of someone from the Head Office.
“It just seemed odd that we’re looking into cyberpsychosis suspects while one of the main operations is in a state of near crisis.”
”You let Jenkins and I worry about that.” V easily slid into his usual tone of cool composure and calm confidence. “I asked you to look into NCPD chatter on chrome crazies because I’ve got a hunch.”
”Oh?” Carter cocked his head to one size, looking rather confused.
“Remember James Norris? Lieutenant Colonel that wiped out an entire regiment of NCPD before MaxTac got him?” V knew that the other guy knew. That BD had been watched by good three-quarters of their floor.
”Had top tier Militech cyberware. As did some others since. I’ve got my suspicions that-“ V paused to let the other man fill in the blanks. The lie would feel more believable to him that way.
The assistant eagerly took the bait. “Militech must be testing some new tech and it’s not going so well, so they’re planting those failed patients all over the city for MaxTac to clean up.”
Carter looked elated that he had finally connected the dots that weren’t there to connect in the first place until V made them up.
”Spot on.” V stood up and gave the younger corpo a congratulatory pat on the shoulder. “We gonna make a proper agent out of you yet, Smith.”
Just as he did that, an alert from the freshly created feed popped up in his peripheral vision.
There was a rumored cyberpsycho sighting in Kabuki. Militech response team was sighted at the scene, but not heard from in a while.
V’s brow furrowed. The whole rival corpo conspiracy was a pure fabrication, but now it started to look that he was genuinely onto something there.
”Shit, boss.” Carter must’ve seen the same message. “You might be right!”
”I guess we’ll have to see, won’t we?” The other man said coldly.
MaxTac support or not, he still was voluntarily walking into an active cyberpsycho incident.
A quick check on traffic to Kabuki revealed nothing positive. “Seems like the only way I’ll get there on time will be on an AV.”
With no time to lose, V ignored the questioning glance of his subordinate. The only AV that was always on standby and didn’t need to be cleared for use in advance was Arthur Jenkins’ personal one. He would certainly be in deep shit for using it without asking, but none of that would matter soon enough. Plus, his made up on the spot excuse appeared to actually have legs so it could even turn out in his favour in the end.
——
Absence of infuriated calls or messages from his boss signaled that Jenkins was up to his neck in corpo clusterfuck that was covert mission damage control.
The dead quiet of the airtight cabin was interrupted by the AI voice of the autopilot. “We have arrived at our destination. There is not enough landing space. Please advise.”
“Not a problem. Just hover at a second story level and open the door.” V readjusted his crimson-red tie and sent a mental command for his reinforced tendons to activate.
”Sir, the company policy strictly prohibits dangerous
”I couldn’t care less,” V interrupted. “Override.”
The command worked. The door began opening, allowing for the previously serene cabin to be filled with the usual hustle and bustle of the megapolis, punctuated by occasional sounds of gunfire. It would be impossible to tell whether this gunfire related to the cyberpsycho V was about to confront or if it was just your usual bit of old Night City ultra-violence.
”Please be advised that your Trauma Team policy has been suspended for the next hundred eighty seconds.”
“Cheapskates,” V grumbled under his breath as he looked down to make sure he wouldn’t land onto some unfortunate passerby or a car. The additional paperwork would ruin an entire evening.
The area was cordoned off by virtual tape, so it was pretty much deserted. A couple of Militech vehicles were parked on the curb, but there was nobody to mind them. The path down was clear.
“Return to base,” he told the disembodied voice. There was zero need to push his luck with Jenkins any more than strictly necessary.
Aiming at one of the yellow centerline stripes in the middle of the road, the corpo agent stepped into the cool, noisy air of Night City.
The feeling of freefall evoked an unusual, rarely felt lightness. It was rather exhilarating and reminded V of that one time he was sent to Luna for a Low-G training. No matter how cynical he had gotten over the years, there were certainly fun bits to his job.
He landed with a soft thud, leaving a small crack in the tarmac. Immediately surveying the wider area, V spotted a MaxTac AV parked a bit further down, blocking an entire intersection and attracting quite a crowd.
”Pfft,” he scoffed. “Those guys can land wherever they want, huh?”
But then an unsettling thought popped up in his head. MaxTac AVs rarely ever landed. They usually hovered, providing aerial support to the land troops that were more than capable to deal with just about any threat, no matter how chromed out that threat would be.
The fact that this AV wasn’t airborne and seemingly shut off meant that even the pilot had to join the fight as well.
’What did you get yourself into, V?’ The man wondered as he dove into the nearest alley that promised to lead him to his destination.
It took only one turn around the corner to spot that the situation was rather dire. Absence of Militech agents was quickly explained by an entire alleyway packed with uniformed corpses in different states of dismemberment. Just from a quick glance, one could spot some torn limbs, slashed throats and even a severed head.
V grimaced and looked away. Even with his track record of witnessing death, this was proving a bit much.
Mantis Blades at the ready, the Arasaka agent proceeded more carefully. Every other piece of combat tech was tuned towards spotting danger as soon as possible, as even a single unmitigated attack could add V to the pile of mutilated corpses.
He started walking faster after hearing sounds of metal violently clashing against metal - MaxTac must’ve still been fighting the psycho. The fact that this wasn’t yet over after an entire squad got involved was even more unnerving.
It was surprising to walk into a relatively large open area. The floor was covered in a thin layer of water that reflected the night sky, creating a surreal effect like you were looking down into a black vastness of sky.
In the middle of this black square, two figures battled it out. Mantis Blades of the MaxTac operative repeatedly struck at chrome forearms of the Militech soldier, failing to do any meaningful damage. Said fists then swung in counterattack, but also failed to hit its target.
There was no doubt that the Mantis Blades owner was Melissa Rory. V would pick up her alluring silhouette from a lineup of identically uniformed women.
Mesmerized by the intricate battle dance, V took way too much time to notice the bodies of other elite NCPD enforcers. Some were definitely dead, but some appeared to be simply unconscious or incapacitated.
’She took out the whole damn Militech hit squad and most of the MaxTac team?!’ V shuddered.
“Argh!” Melissa’s groan pulled V’s focus back towards the battle.
One of the strikes from the cyberpsycho did find its mark, sending the formidable law woman flying backwards until she crashed into a concrete wall.
The crazy soldier lunged forward to deliver a killing blow, but her fist met a surprise obstacle.
“Not so fast.” V grinned from behind his own criss-crossed wrist blades. “I ain’t letting you kill this one.”