Bab 258: Punked up
"There's no way, right?"
"Rumours are rumours, but I doubt that guy can get his head cut off and keep going."
"Says the ghost in a biochip." she retorts.
"Yeah, and as a ghost, I can tell you that gettin' your brains blown out ain't something you come back from. Relax, you're not gonna have some terminator asshole after you unless you somehow pissed off Smasher."
...
"You didn't, right?" he lowers his sunglasses and blinks idly at her.
"I mean, I shot the guy in the face after we ran him over in a car..."
...
"Pfft, hahahaha! Hahaha! Now that's a story! And you're still alive and kickin'? I knew there was something to you!" he slaps the table and laughs, holding his gut like he'd heard the funniest joke on earth.
"Excuse me miss, are you gonna order anything? Or continue talking to yourself?" the waitress of the diner questions after walking to the side of the table.
"Uh, sorry, I'm on a call... I'll have a double Irish coffee if you do those? Kinda a rough night..." she sheepishly says.
The woman shrugs, "Gotta keep that hangover ahead of you somehow, sure, that all?"
"Yeah, thanks..."
She looks back to Johnny who was wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye, "Alright, can you buzz off now?"
He sniffs, "Only thing buzzin' around here is that stick in your ass, you're corpo buddy's here B-T-W." he says before vanishing.
V turns and spots the Japanese man tentatively standing outside the diner, warily looking through the windows as if he'd never been outside the Corpo Plaza before. He lets out a breath of relief as he spots her, stepping inside and sliding into the booth opposite.
"I must admit, I am less familiar with these streets and street dwellers. They are like-, mazes with no objective... City planning should be ashamed of themselves." he states shaking his head before focusing on her, "I see you are well? I did not think you would survive, given the severity of your wounds."
"I guess I've got to thank you for that, saving my life. I don't think I could have crawled my way to a Ripperdoc before my body gave out... But, free meals aren't a thing, what do you want from me?"
...
"You were there, when Saburo Arasaka died. I need to know what happened."
She tilts her head, "You don't know? Yorinobu strangled his ass." she bluntly says.
He wets his lips, "I suspected, but they would not allow me to investigate. I was not allowed to find the poison he supposedly ingested, not allowed to look over his body. Even asking questions, I felt like, as you say, a pariah?" he states.
"So what now? You've heard my piece, not much else to tell."
"I... Have found myself in a dreadful position. My resources have been seized, my job removed, allies turned enemies, false allegations... I have recently learned that I have been framed in aiding you to murder Saburo. I-If I was someone else, I would believe it given my former role as his bodyguard, but as myself, I know it to be untrue. As strange as it seems, you are the only person I can now trust."
"Me?" she scoffs, "You're fucked."
He chuckles lightly, "Probably, you are right. But we are in this, mess, together, you might not be at fault for the murder, but you were a criminal even before this."
"I'd argue you ass holes in Arasaka are the same." she says and blinks as she hears distant clapping in the back of her head. "So what's the plan then? 'Cuz from way I say it, we're a selfie away from getting MaxTac dropped on us."
"First, you must tell me where Evelyn Parker is... Your client in this, no? For the theft of the biochip."
"What biochip?" she asks, feigning ignorance.
"The once irreparably lodged in your data slot... I hear it would be most fatal if it should be removed." he shrugs.
"Vik's been talkin' then." she sighs, hoping the corpo hadn't forced the intel outta him.
"Do not blame him, he had enough work stopping you from dying. He could not completely deflect my questions during your operation. Now, tell me what you know about Evelyn."
V sighs and rests her face on her hand after accepting her coffee from the waitress, "The mouthpiece for our actual client, don't know much except she's a bitch."
Takamura nods, "I was investigating her before I was finally ousted from Arasaka. She was intimate with Yorinobu, had logged many trips to his hotel room. I assume this is partly how you got inside?"
"Yeah, had BD tech up and running during her meetups, I'm just lucky it didn't go far enough to 'experience' it all. Yorinobu must be making up for other areas if he usually acts like a huge dick."
"The status of his genitalia does not interest me, I only wish to know where she is."
"I'd tell you if I knew, I've got questions for her myself. But the things with Fixers and clients, everything's confidential. What are you even hoping for? Revenge? Against Evelyn and whoever hired her? Against Yorinobu?"
"Truth." he simply says, "Evidence. It is not simply I who believe Yorinobu to be obfuscating things. Hanako Arasaka, I have spoken to her through an old student, but until I have proof of his crimes, we cannot act."
"Hate to break it to you, Takamura, but even if you saved my life I'm not willing to work with you for free." she points a thumb at the biochip in her data slot, "I've got an expiry date, and if I can't fix it I'm not wasting what time I got left running around for you."
"Do not mistake, I was not asking for charity. The biochip that is killing you was made by, and for, Arasaka. If they can create it, they can destroy it... They are your best chance for survival, if you help reveal Yorinobu's crimes, you will have powerful allies."
...
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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