Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

From Badlands To Good Times A Cyberpunk 2077 Tale	By : Crystal_Dreams_Writes Category: -Misc Video Games/RPGs > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3887 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Cyberpunk 2077 nor the characters from it I do not make any money or profit in any way from the writing of this story

Chapter List
- 31
- 32
- 33
V had managed to get a couple of hours at the punching bag, and some time for herself. She didn’t want to be tense when Vaughn came. She wasn’t even sure if she should tell him about her encounter with Judy, but then again, she wasn’t sure if Vaughn didn’t know already.

As she was waiting for the call, she spent some time with her gun, making sure it was clean and trying to come out with any small tweaks and modifications she could do to it, not like she foresaw any issues with Vaughn, most of the killing at Batty Hotel he did, she was just the backup, but one couldn’t be completely sure. As she mused these thoughts, the buzzer on her door went off. She frowns, she rarely gets any visitors. Any of her friends would drop her a line first, and her landlord preferred emails to personal interaction. She drew her gun and approached, with one move, she opened the door and aimed. Vaughn was standing there with V’s gun aimed at him, he simply raises an eyebrow “Bad neighborhood, I take it?” V breathes out “Fuckin’ hell choom” She finally lowers the gun “I was expecting a call, not a personal visit… Wanna come in?” V steps aside as Vaughn comes in, he was wearing that slick black and red Arasaka suit, and half her floor was probably staring daggers at him as he made his way to her door. He finally steps in as the door closes behind him “I felt like I should do the walking for a change” he says calmly as he approaches V’s window “Picturesque…” V looks at him “Can I offer you anything? I got some Broseph, maybe a Spunky Monkey lying around, my machine should still have some scop burgers still” The man simply shook his head “Thank you” she smirked to herself, surely a man like him was no longer used to lowly synthetic food from a Megabuilding.

“Are you ready to go?” he asks as he finally turns around to face her, she nods “I’m ready, what’s the play?” she asks as she holsters her gun. She was uncharacteristically overdressed: Reinforced pants, heavy boots, a complete top, and a heavy jacket that concealed her gun. Vaughn nods to her “You and I are going to spend some time in a nice hotel” he speaks as he starts to walk to the door, V grins, the wording had to be intentional “Don’t you wanna dine me and wine me first, choom?”.

About thirty minutes later, V’s confident smile disappeared when Vaughn’s car was driving through the heavily watched gate to the Konpeki Plaza. People like V just don’t get to see these hotels from a distance, let alone set foot in them, but there she was. Vaughn drove to the entrance of the hotel and killed the engine, V looked around but she only saw Arasaka personnel “For a fancy hotel, it sure is empty” she says casually as she exits the car “Counterintelligence requested the hotel to be vacated” Vaughn explains as he walks to the gate, V following close “The guests who were willing to be moved, were given two additional days of stay at a Konpeki Hotel of their preference, and those who weren’t, were reimbursed”. The duo was standing in the lobby, the gigantic hotel seemed more haunting with the weak sunlight managing to slip inside “We will attempt to trace every step the mercs made” he announces as he approaches the reception desk “The three stopped here, they gave a fake name that showed on the system” V nods, approaching too “No doubt T-Bug’s work, she was experienced in infiltrating databases” Vaughn stood at the desk and looked around calmly “There are three cameras in the area, one is looking directly here, the second to the corridor, and the third to the bar. The three of them were deactivated. I believe one of the mercs was a netrunner as well or at the very least a very competent techie with some netrunning skills”.

The duo resumed their walk, stopping at the entrance to the bar “They used a covert story, one of them was a Militech representative hoping to strike a weapons trade deal with an Arasaka representative, the representative was waiting for them here. Naturally, they never showed. But their covert story allowed them to walk past the gate with the Flathead, the cover held” Vaughn points at the cameras he had mentioned before “Smart move to turn them off then… It’d of been easier to identify them if they weren’t” says V as Vaughn nods “Irrelevant, considering their fate”. They both walked down the corridor until they approached the elevator. “Their reserved suite was not an exclusive one, so they didn’t need any special code, especially since these double as apartments as well” V followed him as the elevator closed, he looked at the keypad and punched a number “42nd floor, Lapiz Lazuli suite” he announces as he points up “They didn’t deactivate this camera, it was either on purpose or they slipped. We have confirmation of their presence in the hotel that way, and we know they made it this way”.

The doors open, and they both walk down the luxurious corridors, the silence was deafening and they eventually reached the Lapiz Lazuli suite, and it was indeed luxurious: An incredible view of the ocean, golden ornaments, an entertainment system that any techie would kill for. “They were in contact with their netrunner the whole time, it was a layered communication, hard to trace, they couldn’t move on their own or they would attract unwanted attention… They had to deploy the Flathead” Both V and Vaughn looked around, the double king-size bed evoked dirty thoughts in V, but she would be good and play nice. V continued to look around, there was no balcony, and having the Flathead leave the room and go down the corridor could be risky even with the camouflage it had. She looked around some more and found a ventilation cover. Vaughn seemed to think the same way “This is where the Flathead was deployed, it navigated through the hotel’s structure unseen and undisturbed, until it reached the hotel’s netrunner, taking him out and hijacking the network. They waited, they couldn’t risk a move without their netrunner and the bot piercing the protective ICE in the hotel… They took between three to four hours to make their next move…” It was as if Vaughn was replaying a scroll, V just noticed that his eyes were glowing faintly “The Tavernier Suite”.

They both left the suite and headed back to the elevator, Vaughn looked at the keypad again, he punched a number and it buzzed “The 100th floor is restricted, so they couldn’t have gone there just like that… At this moment, the hotel’s network was compromised…” he takes out a card from her breast pocket and slides it on the keypad, working as a reader, the elevator starts to move, and a few moments later, they were at the Tavernier Suite.

The Tavernier Suite was an entire floor, it had been turned into a palace. It had an access to a landing pad on the roof, a complete view of the entire waterfront, a massive bedroom the size of V’s apartment, and a bathroom worthy of an emperor. The light turns on as they stepped inside, Vaughn looks at the majestic suite, almost as if he was scanning for anything out of place “They waited until Yorinobu Arasaka left his room, that way they would have time to look around for the chip without issue” he then started to point at different spots on the ceiling, as if he was showing V “Cameras, turrets, and sensors. Not immediately noticed, yet they were all deactivated simultaneously” V shrugs “T-Bug was that good” Vaughn shakes his head “It’s not only that, they knew what to look for and where everything was…”.

They checked the room some more, although to describe that place as a room was a disservice. There was a live iguana in its small habitat, which brought her bittersweet memories, and real plants, most of which she hadn’t even seen before. “They started to look for a container” Vaughn continues “But they didn’t know what it looked like, they simply knew it was here somewhere… They tried the refrigerator, looked under Yorinobu’s bed, even where he kept his alcohol” Vaughn continues walking until he reaches one of the corners of the apartment “Stumbling as they were, they got lucky, and found it…” his eyes still dimly glowing, he returns to the bedroom and looks for a switch. A low buzz is heard and a small vault emerges from the floor where he had just been standing with V, she looked impressed “Maybe they knew what they were looking after all. The chip needs to be kept at a low temperature, otherwise, its integrity is compromised” he then points at a port on the vault “They had to open it via a personal link, their netrunner had to duplicate Yorinobu’s digital signature… And that’s when things went wrong”.

He connects his personal link, and the emptied vault opens, revealing room for a case “The operation took longer, but there was an incongruency, how could Yorinobu use his personal link to open this vault when he was at the bar at that moment? This is when the alarms went off” he looks at V as he steps back “They got scared, they didn’t expect this, the hotel went into lockdown. All the doors were locked, all permissions to the guests were revoked, and they were ordered to their suites. Yorinobu overrode the elevator and rode it here, but he wasn’t alone” V looks at the door, then at the place where the vault was, there was a hiding spot behind the holoscreen “They probably hid here” she says, to which Vaughn nods “They tried, their netrunner had to be hard at work desperately trying to find them a way out” he looks up to the staircase leading to the landing pad “They tried to leave, but there was nothing up there. Not that it would have done any favors to them anyway, Arasaka’s AV’s are all activated by personal link and read biometrics… So they came back”.

The duo was in the living room, Vaughn points at the elevator “The doors opened, and Yorinobu’s bodyguard opened fire the second he made visual contact. No questions, no warnings, he just went all out” V could only imagine it, as big as the place was, she wouldn’t want to be caught there. “At this time, the hotel staff recovered control over the hotel, but the netrunner managed to pierce the ICE one last time, unlocking the doors, but she was found out and neutralized. One of the mercs was wounded, their partner tried to pull him out, and that was their mistake: Yorinobu’s bodyguard killed them both”.

V could almost hear the gunfight, and she could only imagine what Yorinobu’s bodyguard was carrying, probably some of those prototype weapons, and he was armored head to toe, the mercs doing this job had no chance. She looked at the spots where the turrets would be and wondered if they also deployed on time. “This doesn’t make any sense” Vaughn finally says, his eyes no longer glowing “Two mercs were killed here, and the netrunner was neutralized” he continues, to which V nods “That’s the version all over the news, yeah” Vaughn looks at V “So where’s the third man?” his eyes glow momentarily as he sends V a still of the elevator ride, and there they were, clear as day, three mercs riding the elevator. “The receptionist also confirms that there were three people here from Militech wanting to meet with Hajime Taki”.

V now knew that even if you could stay ahead of Arasaka, it wouldn’t be for a long time. Whatever information she uncovered, Arasaka would find out soon. “Thoughts?” Vaughn asks V as she looks at him, and she starts looking around herself “If I were with these chooms… I would want to strike fast and be done with it as soon as possible, whatever information either these mercs or Bug found, I’d want to go over many times until I committed it to memory” Vaughn fell silent, letting V continue “This is the kind of gig that always goes wrong, so you have to have a plan B with you, even if they beat Yorinobu’s man, and managed to ride the elevator to the lobby, there would be a ton of ‘saka ninjas waitin’ for ‘em” Vaughn nods in agreement, as she continues “A good thief always has a way out, and if there’s no way out, you make one” she then looks at the windows “You said Bug managed to punch through the ICE one last time and unlocked the doors, right?” Vaughn nods “Yes, but it wouldn’t have done them any good, the only door they could use was the elevator, and you know how it went” V approaches the window, and looks for something that could trigger anything “When is a window, not a window?” she asks, and finally, the panel opens, Vaughn smirks “When it’s actually a door… Not bad for a nomad merc”.

The wind entered the room, and both V and Vaugn followed the trail leading outside the room, but the ledge kept getting smaller “The wind would have knocked them off balance” he says, almost shouting so V could hear him “But if it was only one, they could have made it” she points at the end of the ledge “There’s a ladder over there” she then looks down, it was a very long and very painful fall, in fact, she wasn’t confident that whoever took a leap of faith would survive. Vaughn motions for her to return to the suite. Once there, it looked as if Vaughn was working on some other theories.

“I’m guessin’ the chip is missin’?” V finally breaks the silence, Vaughn looks at her, nodding “We’ve been spinning this as a successful neutralization, but the chip is indeed missing… As is our third thief” to V, this explained why Judy was so scared, and if Evelyn was still out there, she probably had the chip, but she probably didn’t realize it was a true time bomb. “Is it possible for the third merc to have escaped the hotel if they used that ladder?” Vaughn looks at V again, nodding slowly “With the right implants, and a proper way out, they could have taken advantage of the chaos of the lockdown and they would have a real chance of sneaking away. They hired a Delamain car to bring them here, but they also paid extra for the confidential package, all the information about their ride and navigation was expunged”.

“Vaughn, I want to ask you a question, and I need you to be straight with me” she says, the man looks at her with intrigue on his face “I thought I was being 100% open with you, have I been missing something?” V shakes her head “No… But the question I wanna ask… It might be something you don’t wanna say, but I need to know… So I know what exactly we’re working here” Vaughn nods “Shoot, I’ll answer the question” V takes a breath “What exactly is this chip we’re looking for?”.

There was silence for what felt like an eternity to V. Vaughn finally motions at the chair and she sits, he sits in front of her “Are you familiar with the Secure Your Soul program from Arasaka?” she nods “Only what they show on those shows, something to do with keeping in communication with dead people, one more thing only the super-rich can afford” Vaughn nods “There’s a contract, in which it’s agreed that Arasaka can digitize a copy of someone’s personality and conscience into a shard, or a chip” he starts explaining “The idea is that whenever you want to speak with your loved one, you slot in a shard, you’re taken to a virtual environment and you can interact with them. It’s a compilation of mannerisms, speech patterns, and even facial expressions turned into data. The future public update will get rid of that virtual environment and allow you to interact with your loved one in real-time, with the use of Augmented Reality. You’ll be able to see, hear, and even speak to them, even though no one else will. There are even talks of allowing for contact and transference, so you can actually touch them too, but that’s still some time away” The new toy of the super-rich sounded as enticing as everything else the super-rich had, and she was still trying to connect the dots.

“What does that have to do with this chip? Is it the same technology?” V could tell Vaughn was trying to find the words to give her an answer, it wasn’t an easy topic “Yes, and no… The base technology is the same, a special kind of shard that stores a digitized copy of someone’s personality, but unlike the public releases of Secure Your Soul, this chip has more features… Secure Your Soul has limited interactions, you ask a question the construct replies. You ask them to say something and they comply. It basically follows your lead. This chip codenamed The Relic, is a more faithful copy of someone’s personality, it doesn’t follow your lead, but it can interact with you as much as you can interact with it, that’s the main reason why it’s a prototype, it’s groundbreaking, and there’s nothing else like it in the world” On one hand, she didn’t understand why the sense of urgency into retrieving the Relic, even if someone had it, no one else had the technology to work around it, let alone upload a construct to it, but then it hit her “Johnny Silverhand” she says as she looks at Vaughn “Back with the NetWatch agent, he said—” Vaughn nods “Now you understand, the Johnny Silverhand construct is loaded into the Relic, and it’s active, I’m still trying to understand why the Voodoo Boys had an interest in acquiring the Relic, or if they even knew what it really is, I understand why Evelyn Parker set up this heist too, she got close to Yorinobu Arasaka, probably went through his confidential documents while she seduced him. The other unknown variable is Yorinobu Arasaka wanting to sell the chip too, it makes no sense”.

“What’s so special about Johnny Silverhand? I know he was a terrorist, but why is his construct in the Relic?” Vaughn looked at V and then shook his head “Your guess is as good as mine, we know that NetWatch wanted evidence that the chip was the real Relic, so either Yorinobu had a plan and decided to load that construct deliberately, or it was just pure luck” while she was learning more about this mess Arasaka had gotten her into, there was still something in the air she didn’t fully understand “If I understand correctly, only Arasaka has the technology to work with the Relic, right?” Vaughn nods, waiting to see where V was going “Why is there a sense of urgency in recovering it? Wouldn’t it be better to wait and see for these people show themselves and retrieve the Relic that way? Surely moving people looking into this thing will make others suspicious” Vaughn knew what V mean, and he knew she had a point, and while he was unsure if revealing further information was wise, he decided he would be as open as he could “The risk is slotting the chip” he explains “Slotting the shard allows full interactivity with the construct, and since there are no safety measures active and the construct is not subservient to the host, there are real dangers with the Relic, the host becomes increasingly suggestible and impressionable by the construct”.

“But why would they want to slot the Relic in?” she presses “If there’s any buyer out there, surely they will object to a Relic that’s not… Dunno, in mint condition as it were?” and that had been the core of his own question, why? “I don’t have a direct answer” Vaughn says “Silverhand had a following, his anti corpo message resonated with an entire generation, there’s even a booster gang here in Night City who calls themselves the Silverhands, they dress like him, talk like him, and if rumors are to be believed, smell like him too… Imagine if someone got their hands on the Relic, thinking they would get to have the ultimate backstage experience, and instead, becomes a drone to the construct” V fell silent as if she had just remembered something “We could have another terrorist, potentially speaking, in the making. Someone with hatred for all corporations, especially for Arasaka. In 2023 he was part of a strike team that blew up Arasaka Tower as you know. Thousands died as an indirect result of that attack. History could repeat itself” V looks at Vaughn again “So what you’re saying is… If someone slotted in the chip, they would be taken over by the construct?” Vaughn nods “Silverhand rebelled against corporations, and encouraged others to do the same, his entire career was built around an anti-authority message, he wouldn’t let an opportunity to strike back at Arasaka just pass him by, so the host would eventually have a shift in personality and behavior, and those mannerisms would reflect those of the construct, of Silverhand” V was liking what she heard less and less “Is there any feasible reason why the merc would want to slot in the shard and not keep it in the container?” Vaughn thinks for a moment “Couple of reasons come to mind… One, if they don’t want to bring any attention to them, the case container is, after all, a big one… And the other one…” he stops in his tracks as if he had realized something “... If the container was damaged”.

Vaughn decided to call it a day and offered to drive V back to her apartment. He was silent the entire way to Megabuilding H10. Once at the entrance, he turns to V “I need to compile more information, thank you for your help today, without you, I’d have missed a few details… Keep close to your holo, you might hear from me soon” V nods and leaves the car, as she was about to say goodbye to Vaughn, he sped up and left in just a few seconds. She sighs as she turns around and gets ready to head home when her holo goes off “V? It’s so good you picked up! Can you talk?” V blinked, as Panam was calling her “Y-yeah, hey. Sorry just came back from a gig, how’s it going Panam?” Panam looked serious, which only made V anxious “You remember where our camp is right?” V blinks again “Yeah I do, not too far from Red Peaks, Panam what is this about?” Panam simply shakes her head “Can you come? Please? I’ve tried calling Jackie all morning but he’s not picking up, and I’m running out of people I can call” V finally nods “Alright Panam, I’ll grab my bike and I’ll make my way there” Panam breathes out in relief “Oof… Thank you V! Please hurry”.

Instead of proceeding further to the building, she instead walked out and headed to the parking garage. Getting on her bike, she starts the engine, just wondering what Panam had gotten herself into this time. As the engine of the Brennan roars, she speeds her way through the city and heads into the Badlands.
- 31
- 32
- 33
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

From Badlands To Good Times A Cyberpunk 2077 Tale