Chapter Text
Doom Dance
NIGHT CITY
01/01/2075 - JAPANTOWN APARTMENT 9:00PM
Beep beep. Beep beep.
The glowing red numbers flickered along to the beat of the alarm. Fingers, then a hand, crawled out underneath a blanket to hit the snooze button on the device. Fuck. Another day, thought V drearily. Laying in her bed, collecting the courage to start the day, V heard the noises of the busy streets coming through the windows of her Japantown apartment. Living in Westbrook had been a little kinder to her than Heywood, and the route to her job was generally safe. She groaned and turned over in her bed. Her job: a doll at Clouds, she dreaded her next shift. V wasn’t ready for another day of unknown hands groping and using her. The memory wipes were a blessing in this line of work, but nothing could delete the bruises on her body, the dull, aching soreness on her abused thighs. Nobody ever said the life of a doll was an easy one , she smiled sourly as the thought raced through her mind.
Jackie was the first to warn her. She met Jackie when she was sixteen, he was twenty-three. He helped her steal some food from a local 24/7 store: she hadn’t eaten in weeks, so she stole twelve packages of donuts. Jackie spotted her from the get-go and covered for her, afterward he took her out for food at his place. V remembered the fear she felt, Jackie looked like the typical Valentino gangster. She had met one or two before and quickly figured out they didn’t like the word ‘no’. So she accepted the invite, unsure what she was getting herself into. And as Jackie had led her to his apartment, it was a surprise to find a concerned mother behind the door. After the Mama Welles had berated Jackie for coming home so late, she embraced V like a daughter. Through Mama Welles and Jackie, V knew what family meant.
Beep beep. Beep beep.
“Fuck,” V groaned, she got out of bed. She looked at the red letters of her alarm clock, secretly wishing this day to be over without her noticing a thing. Ten seconds of staring did not help, so she got up and got dressed. A deafening mantra repeated over and over in her head. I need to get the fuck out of this situation. I need a big break. I need a big break. I need a big break. I need a big break.
THREE YEARS LATER
05/03/2077 – CLOUDS – 4:32AM
Woodman was in a fucking mood. All that V did was ask for a simple raise. Just a little more extra pay, it wasn’t as if she didn’t deserve it. In her downtime at Clouds, she spends her time fixing up fellow dolls because Woodman sends them a shitty ripperdoc. She runs diagnostics, fixes up little tears in their firewalls, and sometimes installs some extra soft that helps them keep safe from malicious intent. She made sure they were able to work. V made sure that he made money.
“What the fuck, Woodman!” V yelled, unable to control her emotions any longer. Oswald Forrester raised his eyebrows so high, it was almost the start of a new hairline.
“Sit the fuck down, you little fuck puppet,” Oswald barked. “You know the drill, I don’t make these decisions. I don’t know what Maiko has been telling you, but even if I could, I wouldn’t be doing it anyway. I pay you more out of pocket, how would that look for the other dolls?”
“I talked to Maiko, and the dolls – they wouldn’t mind! They even said that-”
“I absolutely do not give a fuck what they said! Now get the fuck out of my office.” The conversation was over, V knew that. She sprang up from the chair she was sitting in and stormed out of his office with fury. Fucking useless piece of shit boss, V thought as she stalked to the dressing room. The door of the dolls' communal dressing room opened with a hiss, a fellow doll with short blue hair turned around in her chair, welcoming V.
“So, how did it go?” she asked, but upon seeing V’s face, said, “Oh. I take it didn’t go well?”
V sat down on a chair and took off her boots and socks, she took a moment to observe herself in the mirror. Her 30-inch-long jet black hair looked slightly wild and winded, probably the cause of her outburst towards Woodman. “He said it would look wrong to the other dolls.” She stood up, taking off her jeans and threw them over the chair.
“Asshole,” Evelyn replied sounding disgusted. “Did you say that we said that you-”
“Yep.” V cut her off. “I did, it didn’t matter.” Evelyn knew exactly what kind of shitbag Woodman was. V rummaged around for other clothes, deciding what to wear.
“ Right , to him, we are just incompetent fuck dolls. I forgot.” Evelyn turned in her chair again, facing her make-up mirror. V caught Evelyn staring bitterly in the mirror for a second. Funny how we all want out of this, V thought. When they caught each other's gaze, Evelyn faked a smile, she was hiding her sorrow. “Oh, Cheri said you were booked last minute again by you-know-who. He’s on his way for a long session… Just giving you a heads-up.” V groaned, you-know-who was Ken Hara, a reputable employee of Arasaka. Employees from companies were not uncommon at Clouds, but these higher-ups were always more sadistic. V hated his guts. The perks of being a doll means that she can do this on autopilot. The downside is that you still live through it afterward.
LATER THAT DAY
V turned the corner into Urmland street, and while limping, paced as fast as she could to the shop entrance of Misty’s Esoterica. The right side of her face was bruised and swollen, causing blurry vision in her left eye. She held her arm tightly in place, careful not bump into anyone. The cogs in her shoulder whizzed and made popping sounds. As she entered the store, the bead curtain made a delicate ticking sound. Misty was sitting behind her counter, supporting her head in a lazy fashion whilst flipping through a magazine. Without looking up, she said: “Welcome to Misty’s Esoterica, please let me know if I can-”
“Misty, help,” V could manage through the whirring pain. Misty sprang up from her chair and rushed to V’s side. She just managed to catch her, before it all turned to black.
“I swear to you if I see this cabrón , I will…” V heard the familiar voice of her friend Jackie. “ I will fucking rip off his arms and shove ‘em right up his corpo ass .” she heard Jackie curse in Spanish, her software automatically translating for her.
“Sounds like a plan, Jack” V croaked, opening her eyes.
“Hey girly,” Jackie said as he was sitting next to her, his elbows lounging on the side of the bed V was laying on. His face only conveyed worry, V stirred and attempted to lift herself off the bed. “Take it easy, baby sis,” he said as he offered his hand to help her. V took it and adjusted herself to sit up. Viktor rolled in on his stool.
“There she is…” Viktor said, a hint of pride in his voice. “How are you doing, kid?”
“Fucking peachy, Vic,” V joked. Ken Hara liked ripping off body parts and re-attaching them in a shitty way, mutilating other regions in the process too. V’s face was the target this time. The worst part was that Ken Hara thought himself a genius doing this. Claiming to be the next tech-expert, talking about revolutionary changes. The downside is, the dolls get the short straw from these sessions. V and Angel had been his favorite recently, to pick and pull apart. Woodman knew what was up, even informed the dolls jokingly about what Ken Hara did in session and had been useless in their protection. Ken paid him ten times the eddies per session, so Woodman turned a blind eye. So what if a couple of dolls got broken in the process? Woodman could get ten more from the street. He rotated dolls every so often, but since then, V fixes the dolls that he broke. However, she wasn’t able to fix herself. The room was silent except for the beeps and silent humming of machines. “He got me good this time.” V spoke up, breaking the silence. “Think he had something to work out.” Viktor fussed over V for a second, checking her wounds and her arm. V felt heavy and tired, her body was in pain, but the worst had stopped.
After a while, Jackie turned to Viktor. “Hey, eh, Vik, can you give us a minute with?” He asked. Viktor acknowledged his request, and turned around, walking towards the stairs of the clinic. V knew what was coming: the big brother talk. Jackie did this every once in a while since she started working at Clouds. The volume of these talks had increased since Ken Hara’s appointments. Jackie would start with saying that he loved V with all his heart, and that it broke him to see her that way. Then he would suggest running jobs for Fixers, knowing full well that this was a delusional suggestion: V froze at any sight of a gun. He would propose using her netrunner abilities. It all circled back to those eddies not really making her rent. Clouds offered her a reasonably steady pay, but V couldn’t deny she was looking for an out. Afterward, they would daydream about that one big job . One that would get them out of this mess, and into the good life.
“Jackie, I know what you are going to say…” V started to defend herself. She loved Jackie, but the last thing she needed right now was another stern talk about her life.
“This isn’t about that, chica ,” Jackie cut her off. “I got us a job, the one we always talked about. One that's going to get you out of this shit and into a new life.”
Alright. Unexpected.
“Jackie, what?” Maybe it was the medicine in V’s system, but she felt loopy hearing the words. He had a wide smile plastered on his face. Was he for real?
“V, I am telling you. I met a fixer Dex, you know the one, DeShawn!” He continued, and even though he sounded so cool and calm, V could notice the rising excitement in his voice. He was rambling about what Dexter DeShawn said, about how he suggested a second for the mission and how Jackie suggested V. “So now he wants to meet you. Er, now.” Those words snapped V back into reality.
“Meet me now? Fuck Jackie!” V sat up on the ripper chair. Her body protesting in pain. Next thing she knew, she stepped into Dexter DeShawn’s car.
06/21/2077 – FRIDAY - EN ROUTE TO KONPEKI PLAZA – 5:00PM
The Delmain was certainly comfortable, the outfit Dex had provided, however, was not. The pants rode too high, and the fabric stretched over her inner thigh, cutting off some circulation. Jackie was feeling like a million eddies, tugging the ends of his sleeves and perking up his collar. “I look good, don't I?” he questioned, without really wanting an answer.
“Like a million eddies, Jack,” V smiled. She could only hope this mission would go off easily. Overall, everything had gone smoothly. They arranged the flathead, successfully scanned Evelyn's brain dance. At first, Evelyn was surprised to see V joining the operation. But overall, she was glad, even suggesting an even sweeter deal to V.
V still had not decided what she wanted to do, she will cross that bridge when she’s there. This is going all too smoothly, the voice in V’s head said as she stared out the window of the Delmain. The streets of Night City were busy, it was a Friday night, preem partying time.
The drive wasn't a long one, they soon drove up to the impressive hotel, checked in with T-Bug and then stepped out of the car. They had to divert a small situation at the front desk, but after that, smooth sailing once again. Tension rose a bit as Jackie and V took the elevator up to their room. V knew Jackie was nervous because she was.
A FEW MOMENTS LATER
“Yorinobu’s about to walk in – find cover!” T-Bug warned over the comms.
“Where?” V asked frustrated, she spun around as she had just unplugged herself from the safe’s interface.
“Fat pillar, try that!” T-Bug directed.
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Jackie’s voice was laced with agitation. Jackie and V shoved themselves in the small, narrow space of the media pillar. They heard the panel close behind them.
The silence was deafening, and they were both breathing so hard, V was sure it would betray their location. Either that or she would be betrayed by her heart pounding through her chest and through the glass. The lights of the apartment flickered on as Jackie and V watched two figures come out of the elevator. One person V knew was Yorinobu, she had seen news articles about him, the other was unknown to her. He was a frightening monstrosity, a hulking oversized man made of metal.
“Adam Smasher…” V heard Jackie say through gritted teeth.
“Ssh.” V silenced him. “We don't know if this thing is soundproof.” She hissed.
“Good point.” T-Bug said over comms. Jackie nodded at V, and they watched as Yorinobu sat down six feet away from them. He poured himself a drink.
“Are they here yet?” Yorinobu asked. The A.I. of his apartment responded: “ They approach from the landing pad. ”
Jackie and V exchanged looks. Two others walked in, down the stairs. One looked like a frail and old man. Even though his walk was slow, he walked with confidence and strength. A couple of steps ahead of him was another man, who instantly began inspecting the room.
“Saburo fucking Arasaka…” she heard T-Bug whisper on comms. V knew they were in deep hot shit, but everything else had gone smoothly, right? One little hiccup is nothing. Yorinobu and Saburo will talk, we’ll get some extra intel we can sell for eddies, they leave, and we’ll all go eat Mama Welles’ paella when this is over, V thought, hopeful.
“ I thought I told you not to meddle in my affairs,” V’s software translated the conversation for her, times like these she was glad she spent the extra eddies for the language pack upgrade.
As Saburo’s bodyguard neared the pillar, V felt white-hot heat creeping up her neck. The adrenaline that shot through her made her know exactly what her next move was going to be if he started scanning… She stared intently at the man, making sure to study every detail of his face, hoping one small hint would betray his next move. Then her interface popped up: WARNING UNAUTHORIZED SCANNING. He was scanning the pillar and them .
“ Leave us ,” Saburo said.
“ Arasaka-sama, I still haven’t done a full sweep, ” the bodyguard countered.
“ This is my son .” More words were exchanged between Saburo Arasaka and his bodyguard. The bodyguard did not want to defy his boss, so he bowed and left the room with the monstrosity called Adam Smasher. Not too long after, shit hit the fan before V and Jackie’s eyes.
Shit. Hit. The. Fan.