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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
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V didn’t wait long until she heard the roaring engine, and a few seconds later, Vaughn arrived, opening the passenger’s door for her “Get in, we got quite a bit to cover” V simply nodded, and as soon as the door closed, Vaughn took off.

“I’m sorry if I interrupted earlier” he starts by saying, V was curious “I didn’t take you for the caring kind, I’m under contract to you people, you only want results whenever you make a call” Vaughn shrugs “This might be difficult to believe, but I do care about the people I work with” V smirks, “I think you mean people who work for you” Vaughn shakes his head “No, people I work with, even if we’re on opposite sides on this, your input is as valuable as mine, I depend on you to see this thing through” V glanced at the man, he was still a corpo, and hearing a corpo admitting they needed anyone, and what’s more, needed someone outside their own corp? That had to be a play. “Whatever you say choom, so, Evelyn Parker, wanna start or want me to?” Vaughn produces a shard and presents it to V as he keeps driving “Slot it in”.

The shard contained still images and video from security cameras, which all showed Evelyn Parker. The further V looked, the more disheveled Parker looked, the footage may have been compiled from different files spawning days “Those were all taken in Corpo Plaza” Vaughn says “Parker seemed disoriented, and she seems to be looking for something. Most people are just taking her for a lowly joytoy, so they don’t pay her any mind” V nodded, listening to him “Are we going to Corpo Plaza?” Vaughn glances at V, then looks at the road again “We are, Parker may be under the influence of something… Or someone, and she should have some answers for us” V ejects the shard Vaughn gave her “I think you might find something bigger than you think if we find her” Vaughn raises his eyebrow “You found something out… Alright, your turn to share”.

V nods as she starts her tale “Lizzie’s Bar is one of the joints I go to from time to time, you know the place?” Vaughn nods still looking ahead “Yeah, the BD joint, I think all of Night City knows it, what about it?” V thinks carefully about how to word what she was going to say next, but perhaps honesty was the best policy “I befriended their BD techie, Judy. Turns out she’s friends with Parker” Vaughn finally turns to look at V, but he let her continue “She’s aware that Parker commissioned the heist and got in touch with Dex, but that happened only after days of her trying to reach mercs personally, which wasn’t gonna fly. The day of the heist, once it was all over the news, she tried to reach out to Dex, but he stopped returning her calls or even taking them” Vaughn remained silent, just taking in everything V had to say “Judy said that a couple of hours after things went down, she got a call, she wouldn’t say who it was, but she told Judy it was important, and that she’d return later” Vaughn was waiting for V to get to the point as she finally continues “Judy says that Evelyn stopped showing up to work, she didn’t go to her apartment anymore either, and she didn’t visit Judy too, not like she used to. Judy would see her on the street, but she was acting off. And finally, she saw her last night, during the sandstorm scare, Parker was outside Lizzie’s”.

Vaughn makes a sharp turn, speeding as the powerful engine of the Quadra roars “Judy said she was dirty, in a similar shape to what you just showed me. And she was wearing aviators” Vaughn raises his eyebrow, confused “Aviators? What does that have to—” he stopped himself, almost as if remembering something “Judy said Evelyn hated aviators, yet there she was, wearing them at night. Black rim, red tint. Judy tried to take her home but Evelyn acted hostile, she went as far as drawing a gun and shooting her, and she grazed Judy on the shoulder” Vaughn frowns, still listening to V “According to Judy, Evelyn said she had a job to do and left” Vaughn felt silent, still cruising through the city as they were approaching Corpo Plaza “What you said before… About the chip” V was now looking at Vaughn “That it could take over the host, you know, make them suggestible to their influence… This sounds like the third merc made their escape from Konpeki, managed to contact Evelyn, delivered the Relic, and maybe the container was damaged and Evelyn slotted in the chip, and now the construct is taking over. What do you think?” Vaughn remained silent for a couple of minutes until they hit a red light “It’s possible” he finally says “But that means the degradation is happening too fast… I don’t know much about the Relic, and if I ask questions they will simply tell me I don’t need to know. So I have no way of verifying if what you’re saying is possible. I do remember an engineer working with the development of the Relic, but he’s no longer on the board, he’s hiding with Kang Tao”.

V groans softly, there were answers out there, but of course, the ones on top of the ladder didn’t think those below them deserved to know “So we’re in the dark then… What do we do?” the green light flashes as the Quadra makes its way through “Our job, we find Evelyn, we take her out” V then remembers Judy’s pleas, taking a breath, she turns to Vaughn “Do we have to kill her?” Vaughn turns to look at her, and looked at her for a few seconds as if studying her face “What did you promise this… Judy?” he suddenly asks “What?” Vaughn presses further “I thought one rule you mercs had was not to get invested, you started describing this person as the BD techie from Lizzie’s, then you kept using her name, suggesting familiarity, and you got her to disclose information about Parker as well, information that could take us to her location and take us to neutralize her, then you ask if we have to kill her” Vaughn makes another sharp turn, causing a few cars to honk, and he pulls over “What did you promise her, V?”.

V cursed that cognitive booster/corpo S-Keef which Vaughn likely took before meeting her, she finally sighs “I didn’t promise anything, but you have to understand, Evelyn is her friend, and Judy cares a great deal about her, she knows I’m under contract with Arasaka, and she assumes that Evelyn will end up dead… She doesn’t want Evelyn to die, but it’s not my call” Vaughn breathes out, looking at V “You’re right about that, it’s not your call, it’s not even my call. If we find Parker, I’ll report it, and I’ll receive the order, we either neutralize her or simply subdue her. But V, you have to ask yourself, even if we take her in alive, what do you think it’s going to happen? It’s not like she’s going to be taken to MedCenter, placed on a bed, and have friends and family coming over to visit her” V simply fell silent, somehow she knew this would happen, but she had to at least try. Vaughn insists “Are we going to have a problem, V? Can you still play your part or not?” V was somehow taken aback when she looked at Vaughn, he had a severe expression on his face “No… No problem at all, and I can still do my part” Vaughn nods and drives, as they arrive at Corpo Plaza. They find a designated parking space, which Vaughn has authorization for. As she exits the car, V breathes out.

Corpo Plaza was always something that both impressed and intimidated most people. Arasaka Tower dominated the skyline with the massive structure reaching 620 meters in height, it was probably the tallest building in all of Night City, and despite Militech having their own offices in front of the Tower, it seemed like they were just part of its shadow. Next to Arasaka Tower was the Arasaka Memorial, a reminder of the terrorist attack led by a team of mercs and solos, one of which was Johnny Silverhand himself. Corpo Plaza was also the place with most corpo suits walking around, or at least wannabe corpo suits. And of course, she was now on Vaughn’s turf, or the corporate equivalent of turf.

“What makes you think we’ll find her here?” she finally asks as Vaughn “Before you shared that information with me, I only had speculation, but now, I am certain we can find her here” V nods, catching up to Vaughn and walking next to him “Because of the construct?” she asks, as Vaughn nods “You’ve seen the Arasaka Memorial, right? As well as Memorial Park? Thousands lost their lives when the nuke went off, some immediately, some over time. This place was a smoking ruin. But after more than fifty years, Arasaka Tower stands tall, I don’t think Silverhand can resist an opportunity to mess with the corp again… Besides…” he points at the Militech building, V didn’t see an initial connection, so Vaughn continues “It was unconfirmed, but Arasaka sustains that Militech funded the operation to led to the detonation of a nuclear device. Among the edgerunners who took part in that operation, there was one Morgan Blackhand, he’s a known Militech asset” V winces, there was the legendary solo’s name again, confirming what everybody else already knew “Other than him, no one else in that crew had enough resources to procure a nuclear device, and we know that the device was of Militech manufacture” he then turns to V “Sometimes a coincidence is not just a coincidence, and you have to go by what your instinct tells you”.

“So, what do you think Parker is doing here?” V asks, still walking with Vaughn, realizing they were entering Memorial Park “Probably trying to procure some weapons, trying to convince someone they are the ghost of a rockerboy who got neutralized some fifty years ago so they can procure another nuclear device, I don’t expect anyone to even entertain the thought of listening to them” they continued to move forward, Vaughn motioned to V to be cautious of the semi-permanent Militech security patrolling the area “We need to go below” he whispers to V “There’s a Maglev Station, I’ll distract them, you go in first, I’ll join you soon” V simply nods, activating her camouflage, Vaughn loads a quickhack, affecting the cameras in the vicinity. The guards are alerted as the cameras make strange noises, so much so that Vaughn proceeds below unseen.

From what V remembered, the Maglev was destroyed decades ago, and there were always talks of revitalizing it. In fact, it was said that NightCorp was the one leading the charge, drilling new tunnels. But for the most part, Maglev stations were abandoned, most used as homeless camps. That was another crisis waiting to hit the city. The place was poorly lit, she disengaged her camouflage so Vaughn wouldn’t have trouble finding her, and she waited.

Strange movement caught her eye, in spite of the area looking abandoned, maybe Vaughn had the right idea. The ruins of a forgotten past were lit by flickering lights desperately trying to stabilize themselves. She unholstered her gun and tried not to make any noise.

Going through the twisted structures, as well as broken vending machines made her uneasy, the shadows danced around her, and she felt she should have waited for Vaughn, but if he was right and Parker was in the area, then they only had one shot to capture her. She kept sneaking past the structure, the train cars were still in the same position as when the station was destroyed so long ago. She winces when she feels movement behind her, aiming her gun at the dark she sees nothing but the dancing shadows that were slowly surrounding her. A gunshot echoes through the dark tunnel and she feels it impacting just above her head, she rolls on the floor, looking for cover.

“Are you here to finish the job, corposcum!?” a strange voice echoed through the tunnels “If Smasher couldn’t do it, what makes you think that a two-bit would be solo can?” V tried to calm her breathing and focus on what she was hearing. Triggering her Active Camouflage again, she slowly moved. “Fifty years in that prison! Fifty years and Arasaka is still here! It’s like everything we did was for nothing, for fucking nothing!” Another gunshot is heard, and V slowly moves further “Corporations still sucking dry the soul of every poor gonk tryin’ to make it big! No… No! I can’t… But I have to!” the voice sounded strange, as if a man and a woman were talking at the same time, and there was a unique harmonization involved. She heard the voice struggle as she tried to move forward, trying to locate the source “You will not stop me, fucktoy! I only need your body to do what has to be done and then nothing else will ever matter again! I will finish the job, you hear me corposcum!? Please… Please help me! I can’t take it anymore…! No! Shut up! I will do this with or without you!”

As V moves closer to the source, she finally sees Evelyn Parker, her blue hair is wild, her dress is torn, and she was barefoot, and while she was wearing those aviators Judy told V about, it looked like she could see just fine in dimly lit conditions. She was wielding a Liberty pistol, from Constitutional Arms, in her right hand, meanwhile, her left hand was on her head, pulling her hair “Hello!? Can you hear me!? Please help me! I can’t shut him up! I can’t get him out of my head!” V aimed her gun and fired once against Evelyn’s shoulder, and while she hit her mark, it was enough for Evelyn to be alerted, through the Kiroshi optics, she could see the trajectory and determine where the bullet came from, Evelyn emptied the clip, hitting V several times on her right leg, the multiple impacts breaching her. The pain was so intense that she couldn’t keep her camouflage active. She fell on the floor, unable to stand “Gotcha, you corpo whore!” Evelyn snarled as she approached V and kicked her gun to the side. V struggled to get away, but she couldn’t. Evelyn walked to her, aiming her gun at V’s head “If you’re not gonna do what’s right, then you need to fuck off. I’ll make things right, I’m the only one those Arasaka fuckers truly fear, and when you get to whatever hell you’re goin’ to, tell ‘em Johnny Silverhand sent you”.

V didn’t see her life flash before her eyes, nor did she reach any epiphanies, nor did she unveil any hidden secrets of the universe. She was just there, looking up at the barrel of a gun trained on her, that was it, another merc meeting their end in the dirt like so many others. As Evelyn was about to pull the trigger, she starts to twitch, she groans as she tries to rub her eyes “What the fuck…!?” before she couldn’t say anything else, two shots rang true, hitting her on the legs. As Evelyn falls to the floor, V sees Vaughn approaching her, kicking the gun off Evelyn’s hand “Fuckin’ corposlave! Get the fuck away from me! You’re not gonna get in my way! You—” Vaughn finally pistol whipped Evelyn, rendering her unconscious, he then turns to V “Are you okay? Where were you hit?” V felt a mix of relief, adrenaline rush, and maybe a bit of anger as it looked like Vaughn used her to lure Evelyn out, but for now, she was just happy to be alive “The leg” she finally says, breathing in relief as Vaughn produces an injector, stabilizing her “What the fuck took you so long!?” she finally yelled “You ran off on your own” Vaughn replied calmly, she was angry, but she knew he was right “Fuck!” she feels a stinging pain on her leg “Did we get her? Is she…?” Vaughn shakes his head “Alive… I called in for instructions, they want her alive” V breathes out, relieved, she looked at the unconscious Evelyn, the way her voice sounded, how she was acting, and she couldn’t help but feel pity for her. “Come on” Vaughn says as he helps her up “We need to get out of here, a retrieval team is on the way, and the cover is ready”.

An hour later, V was sitting at a parked Trauma Team AV. Vaughn had called them and paid for V’s attention on-site. Fortunately, the bullet didn’t hit the bone, and they had dealt with the bleeding. V could stand on her own now, she felt occasional spasms and she was recommended not to run or exert herself, she was given a couple of inhalers to deal with any discomfort, and in a record time of three minutes, the examination was concluded. As the AV took off, she saw an Arasaka team carrying an unconscious Evelyn Parker on a stretcher and into a transport, she was restrained, probably more than she should have, but V wouldn’t question it. Vaughn was finishing his debrief on the holo, and once he was done, he approached V.

“What happens now?” she asks as he joins her “They’ll take Parker to an Arasaka facility, maybe here in the city, maybe somewhere else… They will look into the degradation too, and finally, they will look into removing the Relic from her head” V sighs, rubbing her eyes “Is that possible? You saw the construct and its influence” Vaughn remained motionless for a moment “I… Don’t know” V scoffs, shaking her head. She understood corpos were always like this, only told what others thought they should know, she looked at him “Well… What do you know?” Vaughn looked at her momentarily, thinking “I know this wasn’t supposed to happen, none of this. I know that the Relic hadn’t been tested on a host before, and by that logic, removing the Relic hasn’t been attempted either. I know that there’s a real possibility Evelyn won’t survive the procedure, and if she does… Well, she still acted against Arasaka” V nods quietly, seeing some Medias already swarming the area “And… What’s the official story here?” she asks turning from the Medias to Vaughn “Won’t this get any bad press to Arasaka?” he shook his head “A dangerous terrorist plotting to blow up Night City from the abandoned Maglev tunnels was stopped by an Arasaka team, plenty of ordnance and weapons were found below” V scoffs in disbelief, turning a corpo fuck up into a victory while parading someone else as a terrorist “... And of course, the terrorist’s identity will be kept hidden while the investigation continues, in collaboration with NightCorp of course” V smiles lightly, nodding to Vaughn “Thank you” he simply shrugs “Least I could do… This won’t give Judy her friend back, but at least her name is kept away from all of this”.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Vaughn finally asks “What are your plans now?” V blinks for a moment, then looks up, breathing out “I guess I’ll keep workin’ for you chooms until you decide my contract is fulfilled, whenever the fuck that is” this time, it was Vaughn scoffing “Your contract is technically fulfilled, it just needs to be officialized, you’ll get a call from Jenkins tomorrow and he’ll ask you to meet with him. You’ll debrief him, and he’ll declare the contract fulfilled, and you’ll be paid in full” V felt like a huge weight had been removed from her shoulders “Thank fuck” she says, looking at the Arasaka teams still in the area “Then I guess I’ll return to my normal life, pick up contracts in the Afterlife, mend fences with Jackie too… Why do you ask?” Vaughn folds his arms on his chest “I’d like for us to work together, we make a good team” V chuckles, shaking her head “No offense choom, but I think I’m done with corpo work for a while, a long while” Vaughn nods “It doesn’t have to be right away, V… There are plans in motion, and I will need you” V raised her eyebrow, she was intrigued and she looked at him, waiting for his explanation “It might not look like it, V, but what you did for Arasaka today is huge, you’ve returned stolen corporate property, you’ve managed to keep things quiet, and you stopped a potential terrorist looking for a chance to take more lives… This is a huge victory for Counterintelligence too. Jenkins will likely get a promotion, transferred to Europe probably, somewhere in Asia if he’s lucky, and transferred to Japan if he’s very lucky, usually a Director’s second in command is considered to take the vacant seat, and he’s willing to vouch for me, so…” V smirks “So you’ll be the new Jenkins… Congratulations” Vaughn smiles slightly “It’s not official, not yet, and it’s not wise to consider something done, in the corporate world nothing is certain until it’s on paper, and signed all over… But I appreciate it, I couldn’t have done this without your help” V thinks for a moment “Listen choom if this is you just trying to do me a favor and throw some extra eds my way with a few jobs… It’s alright, I don’t need pity”.

“It’s nothing like that, V” he says “I will need a powerbase, while I deal with the corporate world, I’ll need someone on the outside, a team. And I’d like you to be part of that team” she frowns at the prospect “Why me? Surely there are veteran mercs out there who can be a better fit, hell, some of them are corpo mercs too” Vaughn nods in agreement “That’s true… But none like you. You already have an in with Militech, you have a mid-ranking Maelstromer on the holo, you also have Gustavo Orta, the underboss to the Valentinos in very good terms with you, you’re a known name in the Afterlife, and of course, you now have connections to the Aldecaldos as well as routes through the border. If I had to choose between you and a dozen well-seasoned mercs, I’d choose you” It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Vaughn knew so much about her, considering who he was and what he did, but she couldn’t help but wonder how much did he exactly know about her, or why people like Dum Dum and Gustavo Orta were in such good terms with her. “I don’t know…” Before she could say anything else, Vaughn simply nods “Tell you what, once this is all done and gone, I’ll give you a call one of these days, and you’ll give me your answer. The worst-case scenario is you say no, and nothing changes. Best case scenario you say yes and we change the shape of Night City, deal?” V finally sighs and nods “Deal” Vaughn smiled a bit more this time, maybe the Cognitive Booster was finally wearing off “Come on, I’ll drive you home”.

The trip back home was faster than she had anticipated, but she was grateful for it. Once she got out of the car, she saw Vaughn getting out too “Are you seriously gonna escort me all the way up?” he shrugs “I just want to make sure you make it there, I’ll get out of your hair soon I promise”. The elevator ride to her floor was quiet, and the second they got on her floor, she noticed the dirty look her neighbors gave Vaughn, they already knew he was a corpo, but he seemed not to be bothered by any of that.

Finally, at her door, she turns to look at Vaughn “Well, this is me” He nods “Indeed it is, I should get going… And thank you again, get some rest, you’ll get the call tomorrow” as he was about to leave, she reaches out and holds his arm “Wanna… Come in for a bit?” Vaughn looked at her, maybe he had missed it before, but it was unmistakable now, the action was one of V’s turn-ons, as good as a merc as she was, she was an even better thrill seeker. Part of him wanted to say yes and spend the rest of the afternoon with her, but… There were bigger and better things to prepare for “I’d like that… But I can’t” Before V could show him a face of disappointment, he continues “If you accept my offer though… It’ll happen” V smirks, looking at the man “That’s not fucking fair, you gonk” Vaughn shrugs “Nothing is fair in life V, nothing is fair”.

Vaughn had left and she was now in her apartment. She had been away most of the day, and as soon as she sat, the exhaustion settled in. The action of the day had finally taken a toll on her. She slowly got undressed, and she was so exhausted that she couldn’t bring herself to put anything on, with her eyes feeling heavier than ever before, she reaches her bed, and a few seconds after she closed her eyes, she slipped into unconsciousness.
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From Badlands To Good Times A Cyberpunk 2077 Tale