章 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."
...
クリエイターの想い 
Niggross
Niggross Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
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章 259: History Lessons
V sighs down at her empty Irish coffee, with Takamura gone she had a lot to think about, whether or not to trust her new ex-Arasaka friend especially. The last thing they'd ended up discussing was the man who'd created the Biochip itself, Anders Hellman.
Apparently, he was her best lead on surviving whatever the Relic was doing to her, and since Takamura also had some 'questions' for him he encouraged her to find him. He'd rushed off not long after due to his face being plastered everything by Arasaka, at least she hadn't gone through that...
The biggest problem she had right now was figuring out who to trust. She had many contacts who might be able to point her in the right direction of Hellman, but she sincerely doubted they'd pass up the substantial bounty on her head, even with the little goodwill she had with them.
"You done brooding?" Johnny asks, appearing where Takamura had been sat, "'Cuz I think I've got some ideas to fix this."
"I'm not buying what you're sellin', if I remove the chip you're fucked, and I doubt the 'great Johnny Silverhand' would allow that."
Johnny shakes his head, "Just listen to me for a minute before you start mouthing off. Get Rogue, top-bitch in the Afterlife, me and her go way back. She'll listen if she knows who's talking."
"Yeah and how'd you expect that to go down? 'Hey, I know we know jack shit about each other but I can see Silverhand's ghost, he wants to talk with you.' But hey, knowing you now, anyone you were friends with must've been fuckin' stupid."
"Quit acting like you got other options, do it or you can count me outta helping whatever dogshit plan you come up with." he retorts before disappearing.
The worst part about that asshole is the fact that he's right. She literally had no one else to turn to, no one who wouldn't instantly rat her out anyway.
"Fine, have it your way."
---------------------------
Johnny appears leaning against one of the graffitied walls outside the Afterlife, "Sheesh, woulda thought someone would've cleaned this place up by now. Hell, it's worse than before!"
V walks past and ignores him, bypassing the bouncer and sitting at the bar where some random dude was serving drinks. "Hey, know where Rogue is? I've got something for her?"
He glances as her as he makes a cocktail, "Yeah, I've heard that before, followed by gunfire and screaming. You got a mark on Rogue I suggest you forget about it, for your sake."
V shakes her head, "I'm no assassin, do I look like I could take everyone in this place alone? Nah, I got something personal for her."
"She's in her room, good luck convincing the guards to let you see her." he gestures over at a door in the corner of the room, one manned by two Animal-looking goons.
Shrugging, she heads over and approaches them, "Need to talk with Rogue, she free?"
"Not for you."
Johnny appears next to the guard, looking him over like he was an interesting specimen at the zoo, "Tell him to ask her if she ever got that Samurai tat on her ass removed."
...
V holds her instinctual retort at that, she was pretty sure it'd only piss Rogue off, but she was kinda in a rush... Somehow, it worked though, the goons allowing her into the room where Rogue was chilling on a large couch.
"The fuck are you? Who'd you torture to get that?" Rogue angrily asks, tapping a pistol on her leg. "Few people know what I look like without clothes, so speak up and speak fast."
"Shit, she's older than I thought... Crazy to see her like this, lookin' like someone's granny." Johnny snickers to himself.
Again, V ignores the ghost and focuses on the angry Fixer Queen, "This is gonna sound crazy but I need you to keep an open mind for a sec... I got Johnny Silverhand in my head from a Biochip that's slowly killing me, and he says your someone could help me out."
"Your mincing my words worse than fucking Arasaka. You really gonna ruin a dead man's image?" Johnny mockingly asks.
"You already ruined it with your mere existence." V growls back, causing Rogue to raise a brow.
"So, you're either crazy, or the world is... The fact you know about my tattoo says otherwise, unless you got a cam in my shower." she sighs, "Alright, I'll bite. Tell me something only dear Johnny would know."
V glances at Johnny, "Well?"
"Hm," he rubs his chin dramatically, "How about that time she sucked me off in a stall at Juan's Burrito House? Or that time I took her backstage in Vista Del Ray and fucked her brains out-"
"Does everything have to be about sex with you?" V frowns, "You could give me anything, about the names of her parents or pet or some shit and you talk about that?"
Johnny shrugs, "Fact is, I never asked her about any of that shit. We were fuck-buddies at best, shitty friends at worst."
Rogue audibly sighs drawing their attention to her, "If you knew Johnny, you'd know he didn't give a shit... About anything." she shakes her head, "How about this, ask him what I told him when we first met. If he doesn't remember that then even if he is here, he can piss off."
"That's an easy one." Johnny grins, "She told me she was my biggest fan and asked me to sign her copy of 'SINS of Your brothers'. This was before she turned into an ice-bitch." he states, shrugging his shoulders.
Rogue's expression relaxes as V relays that, a small smile quirking her lips. "So he did remember..." she lets out another sigh and straightens her posture, "What do you want then? I'm guessing this isn't a social call?"
"Anders Hellman, Arasaka Bioengineer, I need to know where he is."
クリエイターの想い
Niggross
Niggross
It always annoyed me how you couldn't just come out with it in the game that Johnny was in your head. Even if Rogue wouldn't outwardly react, she would help. Forcing the player to pay for her services is just to lengthen game time...
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
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