The Crystal Palace

[Two Years Ago]

Exhaled breath was visible inside the cold confines of the spacecraft as it approached it's destination between the Earth and the Moon. With an almost trained precision bordering on muscle memory, V activated the craft's autopilot as her contact relayed the mission details and what was at stake... again... for the third time that day.

The job was simple. In the wake of Arasaka's demise (at V's hands, no less), it had leaked that the Crystal Palace casino was testing a new "next-generation" security system. This system was scheduled for a maintenance outage, during which time the station would be completely vulnerable, albeit briefly. V's contact, the mysterious "Mr. Blue Eyes", had a vested interest in obtaining the client data contained within the casino's network. The why didn't matter, at least not to V. It was a one-in-a-million job with a one-in-a-million chance of success, but also a one-in-a-million payout: a chance to live again.

Were V to fail, it wasn't like she had much time left anyway. What is there to lose?, she kept reminding herself with every bang and shimmy of the aged spacecraft. She had already cemented herself among the legendary mercenaries of Night City, and she did so while still breathing. She had gotten exactly what she wanted; she would never be forgotten.

Add to this, the morning she met with Mr. Blue Eyes, her lover had earlier announced their intent to leave Night City, having grown resentful of being shut out and deciding that the city was no longer a viable home. V was hurt, but she understood that Judy had to look out for herself as well. However, that exchange had left her emotionally raw and harboring a bit of a "fuck everything" attitude.

Waking up to coughing blood in the shower and a face-to-face "Dear John" letter was enough to drive anyone to the edge, but V's new take on life was to dive right over the edge before clawing her way back up. Hell, it had gotten her through Konpeki Plaza AND a solo raid on Arasaka Tower.

V shook her head, she needed to focus. Not on the droning voice in her head, but on the job at hand. She released her harness and floated out of the cockpit's seat, pushing off of the cabin's ceiling. She felt a tickle before a coughing fit set in, her entire body reeling. She habitually brought her hand to her mouth, but then wondered why as she watched the blood form bubbly spheres as it floated through the cabin. She made her way slowly to the back of the craft, arming herself with a Kenshin smart pistol before securing her helmet. She exchanged a few sarcastic words with her contact about the meaning of life before she decompressed the airlock and open the outer hatch.

As she stared into the endless black of space, she felt a real peace for the first time in nine months, ever since she had landed in El Coyote Cojo with a broken nose. It was... nice; cathartic even. As she truly contemplated the meaning of life for a split second, she pushed off the ledge of the craft, shoving herself out into space as she floated slowly in the general direction of the Crystal Palace.

Her contact confirmed one last time, all security for the space station was down, so there was no way to track her approach; unless some gonk was unlucky enough to wander past a window with a pair of fucking binoculars.

V triggered her suit's thrusters, accelerating towards the space station. She flinched for a second at the sudden increase in g-force. As she continued her approach, her body feeling the pressure, the voice rang again in her head, "You're approaching too fast, you'll miss your target. Cut thrusters now."

V ignored him entirely as she considered just pushing past the station altogether and floating into the endless black, never to return. What is it all worth?

No. She had to stay on target. The HUD in her spacesuit began to alarm, flashing proximity alerts against the glass dome of her helmet. Just a few seconds more. There!

A sudden course correction and a final push forward, and V cut off her thrusters. From the craft, the space station looked so small and dainty, almost insignificant, like a spinning top with no table. Here, now, only a few hundred meters away, the station's massive size really began to take form. She could no longer see past it, the toroidal rings blocking her view as they rotated slowly, passing overhead.

She continued her approach to the lower end of the central column. Her HUD automatically tracked her target, a small maintenance hatch, and highlighted it in neon green. Even for a gonk, it was hard to miss the mark on this one. A pleasant but cold artificial female voice sounded in the suit, "Maintain approach, 100 meters ahead."

The column was now consuming V's entire field of view as it almost seemed to rotate faster as she moved closer. The voice spoke again, "Caution, reduce speed. Target 25 meters ahead."

V kicked on her thrusters, giving a slight reverse before correcting up and to the left, trying to match the rotating column. Just a little bit closer. Got it!

She reached out and grabbed two small rails protruding from either side of a hatch. The impact and sudden increase in speed slammed her against the hatch as she fought to maintain her grip. For a second, she felt like the column would shake her loose and send her flying. After a few seconds, she was able to stabilize her position, letting go from one of the rails and reaching for the hatch's release. She strained as she pulled the lever down. Luckily, the airlock wasn't pressurized, or the hatch would have swung out from the escaping air, likely knocking her off of the station completely.

V pulled the hatch open, clearing the airlock with her Kenshin before pulling herself in. With one last brief glance into the expanse, she reached out and pulled the hatch shut, securing the lever. She pushed off the wall towards a control panel, grabbing another rail and pulling herself down to stand on a grated floor. With a sigh, she punched a button on the control panel, wincing at the sound of a loud hiss as the airlock pressurized. She felt her weight again as gravity was restored, causing her to almost lose her balance as her stomach churned.

She allowed herself a few seconds to regain her balance and composure before she moved further inward to the interior airlock hatch. Weapon at the ready, she released the lever as quickly as possible, opening the hatch and clearing the entrance. She was in luck, there was nobody in sight. Why was there nobody here? Had she really made it all this way undetected so far? She could only hope as she pulled the interior hatch shut.

She removed her helmet, breathing the filtered air with relief. It was different than Earth air. There was no stench, there was no pollution. She could breathe easier here. The high oxygen mix gave her a slight head buzz as she holstered her weapon and removed the suit's gloves, placing them carefully in a nearby compartment. As she undressed from the spacesuit piece by piece, she kept a watchful eye on the door in front of her, expecting a rush of corpo goons at any moment.

Finally, she kicked off the bottom half of the suit, stepping out carefully. She had to admire the formfitting IVA suit ("intra-vehicular activity"), itself not far removed from a standard netrunner suit. It was composed of a blend of rubber, ripstop and aramid weave composite. And what's more, she looked damn good in it. As she stowed the last pieces of her spacesuit, she checked her weapon before proceeding through the door to the interior maintenance ducts. She spoke up in the holocall to her contact, "I'm inside."

The contact spoke back, "Ahead of schedule, of course, following your suicidal approach."

V scoffed as she fired back, "Don't question my methods, just stand in awe of my results."

Another quip, "The ends justify the means?"

V smirked, "As long as you hold up your end, I'll go to hell and back."

The contact answered with confidence, "Having been twice already, I have no doubt. Good luck, next contact in t-minus 30."

V tried her best to sound official, "Copy."

She was careful to check every corner she came across as she navigated the lower levels of the central column. For as big as the station was, she wondered if they couldn't have afforded more space to the maintenance areas. What passed for "hallways" were barely wide enough to fit two bodies facing one another. The floors were lined with blue LED lighting every couple of feet. It was enough to provide a path to follow, but didn't do much for visibility. With some apprehension, V holstered her Kenshin. Hand-to-hand combat was the only viable move here.

Her HUD was lit up like Christmas with a carefully annotated map of the entire station, a green line among the blue paths indicating where she needed to go. She was fascinated by the artificial gravity of the station. While there was enough force to plant her firmly on the floor, it was still less than true Earth gravity, as her hair was floating freely. As it had been explained to her before departing, the gravitational force was strongest out at the edge of the toroidal rings, but weaker in the "hub".

Another corner reached, checked, and she moved on. At any moment, she would reach a ladder leading up to the main server rooms for the entire station. Her HUD showed a timer with 1 minute, 30 seconds remaining until next check-in with the contact.

As she rounded another corner, she smiled at the sight of a ladder, the markings around it clearly indicating she was moving in the right direction. Her HUD pinged as well. Time to check in with the nanny. V smirked as she pinged the holocall, "Checking in."

The contact spoke, "Report."

She continued, "I've cleared the maintenance ducts and have reached the ladder to the central server rooms."

The voice answered, "How fortuitous that your progress aligns with the check-in schedule. Proceed. Your inside contact should be waiting for you on the other side."

Wait, what?!, V's eyes went wide as she asked, "What inside contact?! You never said anything about that!"

The voice chided her, "V, you are a very capable solo, but we both know advanced hacking is not at the top of your very refined skill set. You will need a competent netrunner to not only find what you are looking for, but also to decrypt the data and render it into something usable."

V snapped back, "Way to make a girl feel special there, Blue."

The contact chuckled, "Fortunately, we have found a local contact more than equipped for the task. As a bonus, she seems to share your penchant for screwing over Arasaka wherever possible. We tried to bring her down to meet with us prior to your departure, but she refused to have anything to do with Night City."

V's jaw clenched. Another body to watch over. This was going great so far. The voice continued, "Next scheduled check-in is 60 minutes from now. Good luck."

V said nothing as the call dropped. She took a deep sigh as she grabbed onto the rungs and made her ascent.

She climbed for what felt like an eternity, the movements becoming muscle memory as she almost hit her head on the hatch above her.

She reached carefully for the handle, pulling it down and rotating counterclockwise before pushing it back into place. A light hiss of pressure sounded, putting V on edge as she wondered who on the other side might have heard that. With her free hand, she unholstered her Kenshin and pushed the hatch up carefully, checking around the entry for anything out of place.

With the coast clear, she pushed the hatch up and leapt carefully onto the platform, iron at the ready. She was surrounded on all sides by glass towers holding stacks of server clusters flashing all colors of the rainbow. There was a dull hum permeating the space. As she checked her surroundings, she carefully laid the hatch down before securing the handle. There was nobody in sight, but she felt another presence in the room with her. She scanned the area, useless as it was. With all the equipment in this room, there was enough interference that her Kiroshis wouldn't be much use. At least this area was well lit, as bright LED track lights hung overhead, blanketing the room in a cold hue of off-white.

V moved forward between the towers, careful to check around each as she made her way to a far wall. Three vantage points was easier to manage than four. Clearing the last towers before the wall, she heard a masculine voice and the slide-rack of a smart pistol behind her, "Hey!"

She instinctively ducked, spinning around to face her attacker as she reached forward for his pistol. In a single move, she disarmed him, pulling his torso into her knee with a crunch as she reached her arm down around his head and jerked up quickly. She felt the bones in his neck snap as the body went limp and she released. The body fell to the floor with a soft thud.

From her left, V spotted movement in her periphery as she turned to a delicate pale fist reaching for her. She turned and deflected the hook down, countering with a hook of her own as the assailant effortlessly dodged the strike with all the grace of a ballerina. The second attacker danced around her before releasing a pair of charged monowires from both hands. As V turned to face her attacker, she brought her arm up to guard, the monowires catching it and restraining her. As she reached for her iron, a soft but cold feminine voice snapped at her as the monowires tightened, "Stop!"

V brought her arm down, fighting against the monowires as she looked past to see the attacker's face. She was a delicate creature, but there was a hardness in her face. She'd seen some shit. Her eyes were kind but sharp, a shade of purple-red, matched by her winged and tear-dropped pale red eyeliner and lipstick. Her hair, naturally white underneath, was cut into a split bob with a significantly longer left bang, and dyed a pastel rainbow mix. She was wearing an IVA suit not unlike V's, but clearly more adapted to netrunning.

V loosened up, raising her free hand carefully as a kind of white flag as she asked, "Are you the netrunner?"

The young woman looked with curiosity as she loosened her grip on the monowires. Her eyes flashed blue for a second before she spoke, "You must be the solo."

She released the monowires, retracting them back into her arms as she said, "I can't be too careful. You understand."

V rubbed her arm, bruised and slightly singed with ligature marks, as she reached out for a handshake and said, "Shit happens. I'm V."

The woman sidestepped her completely and said, "C'mon, we have work to do."

Hand still outstretched, V shrugged her eyebrows before turning to follow as she quipped, "Yeah, nice to meet you too."

The woman called back, "No time. We're on a crunch. If we're still in the lower levels when the security systems come back online, there's no way we leave without blasting our way out of here."

V fired back, "Bring 'em on. I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around."

The woman turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder as she said, "Mm, you would."

V didn't know why, but she was suddenly offended at the woman's tone for insinuating she was some knuckle-dragging gonk. She rushed forward and stood in the woman's way, stopping her with a hand on her shoulder as she said, "Okay, the cute shit ends now. Somebody out there decided we need each other to finish this job with a win."

The woman snapped back, "And the more time we stand around massaging your bruised ego, the less likely our chances of getting out of here in one piece."

V clenched her jaw, removing her hand from the woman's shoulder as she stepped aside. The woman kept walking, V turning to follow.

They reached the end of the room, finding a lone terminal mounted on a wall. The woman wasted no time going to work, tapping the screen with multiple fingertips as she scanned around them. She pulled her personal link from her left hand, plugging it into the terminal as she continued tapping with her right hand, her eyes flashing blue. After several seconds, a hidden panel on the wall slid open, revealing another interface screen and a thick cable with a grotesque probe on the end. The woman pulled the cable loose, motioning to V to hold it. The woman reached up behind her head and pulled the hair away as she turned away from V, revealing a deep-dive neural port. V had seen something similar before; Songbird had one just like it. The woman spoke, "Could you do the honors?"

V obliged, matching the notches on the probe to the grooves in the port on the woman's head as she pressed firmly and rotated to lock it in place. The probe lit up red as the woman closed her eyes and said, "Now do your job and cover me."

V scoffed, taking a step forward and crossing her arms as she scanned the room.

After several minutes, the woman spoke again, "So, V, huh? That short for something?"

V called back, "O-o-oh, now you want to get all choomy?"

The woman giggled, "We're not going anywhere for a while. And since you're covering my ass, I can at least make sure you're not the one that wants to shoot me."

V smirked as she said, "It's just V."

She felt a hand tap her shoulder. As she turned, the woman was stretching her hand out as she said, "Just V. I'm Lucy."

V smiled and took her hand in a firm grip. Lucy was looking straight ahead, but not at anything in particular. She was someplace else entirely in her head, her eyes a flurry of activity.

After another minute, V turned to Lucy and asked, "So, how'd they drag you into this job?"

Lucy sighed as she answered, "I had other plans that happened to coincide with our employer's interests."

V scoffed as she said, "So you just happened to be going for a walk in the park when some shady g-man type approached you?"

Lucy giggled again as she answered, "The cool half-million eddies didn't hurt, either. Plus I get to bend Arasaka over the table. That's always a treat."

"Yeah, or what's left of them", V joked as she continued, "So what's your beef with 'Saka?"

Lucy shook her head, "A longer story than we have time for. Let's just say they took everything that I loved away from me."

V smirked, "Yeah, you too, huh?"

Lucy smirked back, "I hear you had a pretty rough go of 'Saka yourself."

V's eyes narrowed and she glared at Lucy. Lucy noticed and continued, "Our employer told me all about you, the 'Living Legend of Night City'."

V was surprised, "So, all of tha—"

Lucy laughed, "Just testing the waters, sizing you up. Wanted to know who I was working with, not what was written in a dossier."

V bit her bottom lip as she shook her head. Lucy continued, "They said they had to offer you the world for you to take this job."

V softened up as she answered, "They offered me life. A real second chance."

Lucy couldn't help herself, "Because you did so well with the first chance?"

V sucked her teeth as she borrowed Lucy's words, "A longer story than we have time for. But, I tell you what, we pull this off, get out alive? You come down to the Afterlife and I'll tell you all about it."

Lucy's eyes flashed red for a split second before she said coldly, "I would sooner die than go back to Night City."

Being a streetkid from Heywood, V couldn't help but take offense, but she also understood. She said sheepishly, "Forget I said anything. Sorry."

Another few minutes went by before Lucy spoke again, "I found the client data, I'm starti—"

Lucy was cut off as the entire room went dark, running lights on the floor panels flashing red. Lucy screamed out in pain, grabbing her head with both hands as her entire body recoiled. Her eyes were shuttering between red and blue. V jumped to her side, looking for any signs of physical trauma. There were none. Whatever this was, it was all in Lucy's head. V looked to the interface screen next to the probe, seeing a similar pattern of flashing blue and red, the screen tearing and artifacting. She turned back to Lucy and asked, "What's happening?!"

Through the screams, Lucy fought to get the words out, "I-I can't... it's... it's an AI—"

Before Lucy could finish, her entire body went numb, her eyes dark, and she fell. V rushed to catch her, falling to the ground as she held Lucy's limp body. She checked for a pulse. With a deep sigh of relief, she found one. Rapid, but it was there. At the same time, the entire room went dark. It was pitch black. The servers were dark, and there were no more running lights.

V cradled Lucy's head, trying to think of anything she could do. She switched on her Kiroshis' low-light optics as she scanned the room for anyone that might have entered. Another netrunner?

Her scans picked up nothing. What's worse, a holocall was pinging in her head, followed by the contact's voice, "Status report."

V was distraught as she answered shakily, "I uh... I-I don't know... f-fuck!"

The voice replied calmly, "V, what's happened?"

V composed herself for a second before she answered, "L-Lucy... s-she was jacked into the mainframe through her deep-dive port. She said she'd found the data, but then something happened."

The voice asked the pertinent question, "What happened?"

V didn't have an answer. The voice pressed her, "What happened?"

Her voice was breaking as she spoke, "I-I don't know. She said something about an AI, and then she just... it's like she just shut down."

After a few seconds, the voice spoke, "Hmm, so it's true..."

V spat back, "What is?! What the fuck is going on?!"

The voice answered bluntly, "Nothing for which you need to concern yourself. Is the netrunner alive?"

V checked Lucy's pulse again before answering, "Y-yes, she has a pulse. It's rapid, but it's there."

The voice concluded before dropping the call, "Call us if anything changes."

What. The. FUCK?!, V thought as she looked down at Lucy, and her eyelids began to flutter. Her eyes flashed red before turning solid, illuminating the area around them. Suddenly, Lucy gasped for air with a deep inhale, her back arching as she reeled. Her breathing was ragged as she called out, "U-unplug m-m-me!"

V quickly reach down, rotating and decoupling the probe from Lucy's deep-dive port as she tossed the cable away. After several seconds, the solid red subsided in Lucy's eyes. With eery timing, the overhead lights in the server room were back on, and the servers began humming with life again.

Lucy rolled over on her side, her eyes closed and teeth gritted as she curled into a fetal position, bringing her arms around her head as she whimpered, "N-n-no... not again... I won't do it again... I c-c-can't lose you again."

V was helpless. She didn't know what to do. What could she do?

She tried to gently place her hand on Lucy's arm, but was shrugged off as Lucy jumped out of her lap and crawled frantically to a corner. She brought her knees up to cover her face as her arms grabbed the back of her head and pulled down. She was trembling, rocking back and forth, the whimpers turning into quiet sobs.

V stood up and walked over to Lucy. There was nothing she could say, nothing she could do. With narrowed eyes, she scanned the room again, finding nothing. She turned around and sat on the floor next to Lucy, careful to keep her distance.

After a few minutes, V felt Lucy creeping up on her, moving closer, still curled up. V sighed as she carefully put her arm around Lucy and pulled her close as she said, "You saw something in there, didn't you? Something you didn't want to see."

The sobs subsided, Lucy trying to catch her breath as she said, "I-I s-saw h-h-him. Those r-red eyes... that b-b-borg body... he w-was standing over... D-D-David..."

V rubbed Lucy's arm and tried to comfort her. Red eyes? Borg body? Gotta be Smasher.

She dared not say his name out loud, but she knew. That's what Lucy saw in there. And David. David Martinez. So you're the one that got out alive.

It all came together for V. All the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. But there was nothing to do. All V could do was give Lucy time. Time to work through it all.

After several minutes, Lucy stirred, pulling away from V and looking at her. The coldness was gone. Only a childlike vulnerability remained. She wiped the tears away as she said numbly, "I, uh... we... I have to go back in."

V's eyes widened, "A-are you sure?"

Lucy looked down as she said, "I have to do this."

V propped Lucy up, shifting to her knees as she looked her in the eyes and said, "You can do this, Lucy. I believe in you."

At that, Lucy looked up in V's eyes, new tears of almost joy forming. Her face took on a kindness. She had heard those words before. And what she would have given to hear him say it again.

Lucy sniffled, and she nodded, "I can do this."

V braced her hands on Lucy's shoulders, and they stood up together.

As V stepped away to grab the probe, Lucy straightened her back and took a deep breath. As V turned around, probe in hand, she instinctively started to shrink away, but forced herself to stand rigid as she turned around, pulling her hair away as she said firmly, "Do it."

V shrugged with a sharp sigh as she said, "Here goes nothin'."

A rinse and repeat of last time, the probe was inserted and locked. Lucy's eyes flashed blue, and she spoke as calmly as she could between deep breaths, "I'm... going in."

V stood back in awe, watching as Lucy ran right back into her own personal hell. Tough as nails, this chick. Cute, too.

V shook her head. Now was hardly the time, perky peach-shaped ass or not. She decided now was a good time to give a status update as she pinged the holocall, "She's back in."

The voice answered sincerely, almost surprised, "That's... good news."

There wasn't really anything else for V to say. The voice continued, "Your window is closing. Work fast. Keep us apprised."

The call dropped, and V scoffed. She was used to corpo arrogance and cold shoulders, but this guy was something else entirely. She shook her head as she turned back to Lucy and asked, "Anything I can do?"

Lucy smiled confidently, "Just watch my ass."

Don't have to tell me twice. V drew her Kenshin from the holster and turned to face down the columns of servers.

After several minutes, the overhead lights went dark again, the running lights solid red. V turned to check on Lucy, but her eyes were solid blue. She spoke, but not to V, "Not again. You will not overcome me. My kind made you. My kind can un-make you."

V didn't know why, but she took a few steps back, as if to avoid the impending blast of a grenade. Several seconds passed, and the servers went dark. Another second, and the overhead lights and servers all came back to life at once. Lucy was still standing tall, eyes still solid blue. V didn't know whether to be afraid or impressed. She settled on both.

After another minute, Lucy called out to V, "I have your data, but I need a shard."

V remembered she was given a data shard by Mr. Blue Eyes specifically for this reason. She reached back and unslotted it as she reached out to Lucy, who smiled as she tilted her head and asked, "Could you do the honors?"

V smirked, gently slotting the shard in Lucy's neck. She had to fight to keep from admiring her partner's long and distinguished neckline. Lucy's eyes began flashing blue as the data transferred. She turned to V, actually looking at her, as she spoke, "The security system for this station is built around a new type of Arasaka ICE, utilizing a rogue AI harvested from beyond the Blackwall."

V took a step back as she said, "...the fuck?!"

Lucy continued, looking forward, "The intent is for an intrusion countermeasure system that can learn and evolve in realtime. It can not only protect; it can counterattack."

V asked, "And that's what happened to you?"

Lucy nodded, "It was able to breach my neural interface using an antiquated Arasaka backdoor protocol and probe my cerebral cortex; it was able to confabulate a hallucination using my own memories, which is why I saw Adam Smasher attacking me."

V was beside herself as she said, "Jesus."

Lucy giggled, "Not quite... what's interesting is they hosted the source code for the ICE here, in this station."

V had a thousand questions, but she chose only one, "Why? Why would they do that?"

Lucy smiled, "How does any intelligent being learn? Through experience. Through sampling. Through living."

V felt like her jaw was on the floor as she said, "So this whole station, the network, is just a giant petri dish?"

Lucy laughed, "More like a child's sandbox."

V chose another question, "H-how did you keep it from attacking you again?"

"Humans can learn too", Lucy answered jokingly, "Once I knew the attack vector, I was able to close it off. I suspect this is what our employer is really after."

V scoffed as Lucy handed her the shard. She was careful to slot it in her head. So far, her experience with shoving random chips in her skull hadn't exactly panned out. The shard's integrity checked out okay, and she pinged the holocall again, "We have your data."

The voice answered back, "We are most impressed. And the netrunner?"

V answered, "Standing right here. right as rain."

The voice again, "Excellent. We have outlined a direct path from your location to the departure docks. There are changes of clothes for both of you along the way. You should encounter no resistance; we have seen to this. Please hurry."

The call dropped as V stuck her arm out, "Well, shall we?"

Lucy was still unsettled, but nodded with a smile, taking her arm, "Let's."

--

Mr. Blue Eyes wasn't wrong. While they were still cautious, they didn't encounter a single guard on their path to the docks. Lucy and V both stood, stiff and uncomfortable, in corpo clothes; pressed shirts, slacks, and pumps. V was looking over a ticket and boarding pass displayed in her HUD. Whether by random chance, or some sick joke, they had used her real first name to forge both documents. Maybe it was just a reminder that this shadowy organization had eyes and ears everywhere. The loudspeaker called for the next flight, the number matching V's boarding pass as she turned to Lucy. She was unsure whether to try for another handshake, but Lucy beat her to the punch, grabbing her tight for a hug.

V smiled, wrapping her arms around Lucy and giving a gentle squeeze. Lucy's eyes were closed, a smile on her face as she spoke, "Thank you... V."

Suddenly, V didn't want to let go as she said, "Be seein' ya, Luce."

That was a big fucking lie. They both knew they would likely never see one another again. Lucy had no desire to return to Earth, much less Night City, and V had no business in space. Night City was her home, dysfunctional as it was.

After an awkwardly long amount of time had passed, they both let go, and V made her way over to the gate. As she stood in line, she turned to find Lucy waving, and she waved back. After a few seconds, she looked again, but Lucy had vanished completely. No sign of her pastel hair anywhere in the terminal. For a moment, V was a little sad. She was broken out of this depression by the gate attendant calling her forward. She presented her boarding pass via personal link and boarded the craft.

--

[Three days later]

V was sitting alone in an empty waiting room. Her hospital gown was barely holding on, causing a shiver to run up her spine as her exposed skin touched the cold vinyl of the cheap seats. She had been waiting for what felt like an eternity. She could use a smoke. She could use a drink. Hell, she could use a fuck. Something, anything. She'd been under observation since she got back from the Crystal Palace. Price of admission, she supposed. She slumped in the chair, staring up at the drop tile ceiling as she groaned in boredom.

She shot up as the double doors finally opened, and a middle-aged man in red scrubs walked out. He took a few steps and called out, "We're ready for you."

"Fucking finally!", V almost yelled as she stood up from the chair and walked towards the doors.

The man opened the doors in front of her, guiding her through. The hallway was framed on the right by examination rooms, and on the left by a single large observation room with a single chair and a large cylindrical tank sitting in the middle. There were several people dressed in green scrubs and clean suits running around the large room, plugging in this and checking that. The wall at the end of the room was painted over with a large "BIOTECHNICA" logo. Again, the man in red scrubs opened the doors in front of V, guiding her through and into the large room. It was colder in here than it was in the waiting room, and she began to lightly shiver.

One of the attendants in green scrubs indicated to V to drop the gown. She shyly reached back, undoing the loose knot and pulling the gown forward and off as it fell to the floor. Among at least 10 pairs of eyes, she stood naked as Eve in the Garden of Eden. She couldn't put into words how uncomfortable she felt if you had put a gun to her head. Goosebumps formed on her skin from the chill, and she crossed her arms, trying to rub some warmth back into her body.

The man in red scrubs motioned V forward to the chair and said, "We are ready to begin, if you please."

As V stepped forward to the chair, she stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the large cylindrical tank. Inside was some type of green viscous fluid, and a body with a mask affixed. What threw V off balance is that she was staring at her own body in the tank. It was a carbon copy, right down to the damned "Johnny + V" tattoo. She turned to the man in red scrubs and asked, "I-is that...?"

The man nodded with a proud smile as he answered, "Pure genetic replication, minus the damage caused by the Relic."

She followed up, "H-how...?"

The man continued, "Perks of not always being in the corpo limelight. While Militech and Arasaka were at each other's throats over the last decade, we were able to perfect our human cloning technology. And thanks to your handiwork nextdoor at the 'Saka Tower, we were able to secure the Relic technology and Soulkiller program with little trouble."

V pointed at the body in the tank as she asked, "So... what you're about to do is—"

The man nodded, "We will connect your bodies together with a type of artificial umbilical cord, then use Soulkiller to extract your engram and reupload it into the new body."

V scoffed, "This hasn't been tested, has it?"

The man smiled, "You don't want me to lie to you, do you?"

"Yeah, I didn't think so... what the hell, why not?", V said dryly, as she climbed into the chair and laid back, still shivering.

Everyone else in the room affixed surgical masks and began their various tasks. One attendant plugged a cord into V's neural interface port, while another placed a mask over her face as the man in red scrubs asked her to count backwards from ten. She obliged, barely making it to seven before her voice drifted off and she was out cold.

--

Everything was dark, silent. But it felt strangely familiar, as if V had been here before. Why did she recognize this place?

Before she could gain her bearings, a familiar gruff male voice spoke from behind her, "Well, well, well. Fancy seein' you here, Samurai."

V whipped around, finding none other than Johnny Silverhand, sitting at a digitally constructed diner booth, feet kicked up on the table without a care in the world.

V couldn't believe what she was seeing as she called out, "J-Johnny?! How the fu... what... how?!"

Cool as ever, Johnny answered, "Hitched a ride with an old friend."

Another familiar voice, feminine, but cold and detached, spoke, "Hello, V."

Alt Cunningham appeared standing next to Johnny, nearly flooring V as she fought for words.

Johnny gave V a helping hand, "Right. You've got a million questions, but we don't have a lot of time, so I'm going to let Alt take the mic on this one."

Alt spoke again, "You are probably wondering how it came to be that we are here, speaking 'just like old times'. Simply put, I go where I please. The Blackwall is but a mere garden fence for me. As for how we are able to communicate with you now, your engram is currently residing in Biotechnica's mainframe while they prepare your new body for reupload."

V asked, "So, you're in Biotechnica's subnet right now?"

Alt answered, "For the moment. We have a charity dinner across the street at Militech later."

Johnny spoke up, "I've been teaching her how to be a wiseass. Still workin' on the delivery, though."

Alt continued, "An equally futile endeavor, but I find Johnny's efforts somewhat endearing. Back on the subject at hand, I have been chipping away at NUSA mainframes in the time since we last spoke, and have discovered the missing piece of Soulkiller; that is, what allows a personality or consciousness to remain coupled to the engram, even between bodies."

Johnny cut in, "With a little help from a little songbird; don't forget that part."

V smiled, biting her bottom lip. It felt good to know So Mi was still out there, still free to spread her wings.

Alt smirked, "Yes. Your NUSA netrunner friend was instrumental in paving road for us. I provided this information to the man you know as Mr. Blue Eyes, who in-turn gave it to Biotechnica. And thus completes the circle of how we came to be here, now, in this very moment."

V asked the burning question, "W-who is Mr. Blue Eyes?"

Alt answered, "He is an agent of chaos; a tool for keeping the delicate balance of entropy in check."

V narrowed her eyes, "That doesn't answer my question."

Alt forced a smile, "I had no intention of answering your question."

Johnny chimed in, "Sometimes she just nails the delivery on the head."

Alt cut him off as she spoke again, "We are here to let you know that you are not alone. Whether in Night City or in the Net. You have achieved great things against insurmountable odds."

Johnny interjected, "Alt, it's time."

"I know", Alt replied as she turned to V one last time, "Goodbye, V. Live your new life well. You've earned it."

With that, Johnny and Alt faded away into the dark, and V was beside herself once more, but warm, like she was being embraced on both sides. Suddenly, she began to fall. She screamed as she flailed helplessly, grabbing for anything in the vast emptiness. At last, she saw a light growing bigger and brighter as she fell towards it, and an overwhelming sense of calm washed over her as she closed her eyes, her body still. The light enveloped her, pierced her, but held her in its embrace.

--

V's eyes shot open, and she stared though the green fluid and out the glass of the tank at the people scurrying around the room. As her eyes settled on her limp body in the chair, the realization set in. She tried to stay calm, but her arms had other ideas as they reached for the glass, reached for anything. Bubbles poured out from the mask affixed to her face as she silently screamed, catching the attention of the man in red scrubs. He quickly yelled succinct orders in succession to several of the attendants.

One of the attendants punched several buttons on a nearby console, and the tank began to drain. Another two attendants were at the ready with a large blanket. After several seconds, the tank opened, and V fell forward, her legs unable to bear the weight. As they wrapped her in the blanket, trying to keep her warm, her eyes tried to force themselves shut. Why was she so tired? She slipped in and out of consciousness, but the last thing she remembered was the man in red scrubs pulling down his surgical mask as he stood over her and said with a smile, "Welcome back to life, V. It's good to see you again."

--