Post by Admin on Aug 11, 2022 22:29:32 GMT
“I haven’t felt this free in… years.”
Meghan Strader, for the first time in months, felt good. Victoria had taken her to Dr. Viktor Vektor, a top-of-the-line Ripperdoc, and he replaced all her diseased organs with synthetic ones. She never felt so alive, but she knew it was only here, in this strange, desolate yet colourful world, that she could live cancer-free but knew she had to return to the suffering she was destined to endure.
“You ready, mom?” Victoria asked over the Holo-Call connected to them. Mom looks to her left at Victoria driving beside her in the Quadra Type-S she seemed to love so much.
“As ready as I’ll ever be. I still don’t know what this Relic is going to do.”
“Immortality, mom. Disease and sickness free. My friend Goro Takemura is waiting for us at Arasaka HQ,” she replies as she punches the accelerator. “Try to keep up, mamabear.”
Victoria can see the Strader sneer through the rearview mirror on her mother as the Cowgirl From Hell cranks the throttle, keeping on her oldest’s tail. The neon lights passing overhead light them up following the curve of the road in the metropolis of Night City. Meghan has been taken back by Victoria’s confidence in the alternate dimension they have found themselves in. Meghan knows it has become home for Victoria, where she doesn’t have to hide anything about herself.
The neon lights of JAPANTOWN light up the highway exit to the city centre, towards the Arasaka HQ building. Victoria, inside her Quadra, pulls up a mini tablet attached to the centre of the dashboard and taps away on it. “ACCESS GRANTED” flashes on the screen, and a smile comes across her face as she checks on her mom.
“Still there, mom?”
“Yeah, I’m here, speed demon.”
“Ha, you should see me on that ARCH. Goro will be waiting at the underground garage for us. Anders Hellman is waiting for us down in R&D; he's the man that is going to perform the procedure.”
“I don’t think I have ever been this nervous. Not since I had Victoria and Cara.”
Victoria couldn’t help but notice her mom’s look of wonderment at the technology this world has to offer. All the high-tech equipment piqued her curiosity, and she will end up asking many questions that Victoria would answer happily. Victoria spots Anders waiting outside his lab and leads her mom to a new possible future.
Later that evening
“Want to join me on this job, mom?”
Meghan looked over her left shoulder as she had been watching the hustle and bustle on the streets of Night City.
“I won’t get in your way?”
“No, not at all. This gig Rogue setup requires a getaway driver anyway, and I know you can handle that. Comfortable driving my Quadra?” Meghan nods as she watches Victoria sling a Carnage brand Shotgun, The Vox, over her shoulder. It was a gift from a Brain-Dance/virtue redhead artist Victoria had become close with. “Ok, grab that hand cannon over there,” she says, pointing over to the table in front of the black synth-leather couch, “and we’ll hit the road. We are going to Pacifica District, so just keep your head down and if any Haitian Frenchmen approach you, get the hell out of there.”
“You got it, ma’am,” Victoria chuckles, being called that by her mother of all people.
A little while later…
Victoria idles up on the GIM (Grand Imperial Mall) in her dark green Quadra S-Type, Meghan in the passenger seat, looking up at the three-quarter-built shopping centre. She stares out the window, scanning the area around it.
“What happened here? Looks like they just stopped construction.”
“Well, the whole district was built for the rich people of Night City and to attract tourists. But of course, greed set in, the money ran out, and they abandoned ship. Now the Voodoo Boys gang runs the district. Normally I will deal with Mr. Hands for any gigs here, but Rogue had an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
“So what’s the job then?”
“Well, NetWatch is set up inside, and Rogue needs to know what is going on. NetWatch usually doesn’t make themselves visible; they hide in the NET holding up the Black Wall that separates a legion of Rogue A.I.’s from coming over and wreaking havoc.”
Mom looks over at her oldest a sense of pride. Victoria notices, and her nose crinkles with embarrassment.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m just… so proud of you, Vee. I mean, I see how people have been looking at you, the respect they show you. I get the sense in this place, this dimension, wherever we are, that has to be earned, not bought.”
“Yeah, no… you are right. My status here? I have earned it. It’s why I am allowed to pass back and forth without needing that stupid Porta-Potty.”
Victoria, through her high-tech Kiroshi Optics, scans the area as her vision turns red and black, highlighting a NetWatch agent in the distance standing guard. Meghan sees the glasz eyes of The Raven flicker blue and white.
“What are you doing?”
“I have special optics installed behind my retinas,” she answers, still scanning the area, “and with the Night City Police Department add-on, I can see who someone is and if they have a bounty or not. It also shows me access points to the NET. Just as valuable as my Vox shotgun, if not more at times.”
Victoria sneers, the family trademark, when she sees her goal. She points through the windshield over to the right, 500m ahead.
“See that truck over there, just peeking out from the side of the back delivery area?”
“Yeah, I see it.”
“I am gonna go jack into the computer my scanner revealed in the back. Should be able to download the needed information and get it to Rogue.”
Meghan nods.
“Ok, what do you need mamabear to do for you?”
“Let’s connect on our holos, and when I say “Samurai,” I want you to floor it towards me and grab me quickly, and we’ll get out of here. Ok?”
Mom nods. Understanding her task, she sinks into her seat a bit. Victoria hands her a pair of wrap-around visors as they would wear in Star Trek. Her vision turns into what her kid sees when her Kiroshi Optics are fired up. The scanner picks up Victoria on it as she squats and springs up eight feet; grabbing ahold of the ledge, she pulls herself up. Meghan’s jaw drops, shaking her head a little as her open jaw closes into a smirk.
“Whoa, look at her scurry across that roof,” a single ‘ha’ leaving her lips.
Victoria reaches the rooftop's edge; she kicks her legs out, quietly positions herself on her stomach, and looks down at the van with one guard. She sends a Ping off the truck and scans the area.
Nothing. Just the van and the solo NetWatch Agent.
“Only one… what’s going on here, Rogue?”
“Mom, get that engine ready.”
“Ready.”
The Original Vee sends a shockwave hack in the NetWatch Agent, who shakes violently as the electric pulses of his implants ravage his body. Vee hops off the ledge and sneaks up on the Agent as he tries to catch his breath, but she is on him like white on rice and lays him out with a sleeper-like-hold. Approaching the side panel on the passenger side of the van, she quickly scans the area.
It feels too easy.
She pulls out a neural-auxiliary cord from the palm of her right hand, plugging it into the jack on the computer.
“Ok, let's see what they are up to… oh my Arasaka….”
“What’s wrong?”
“What is cyberpsychosis?”
“In this world, you know how I have implants and an OS working alongside my brain?”
“Right, yeah…”
“Well, if a person doesn’t have a strong enough mind, the information overload can cause someone to snap and go on a murderous spree which there is no cure for… that we know of… yet. What I am seeing here is that NetWatch has multiple people they are waiting to pull the trigger on. I’m uploading to Rogue now. We need to get out of here, now. Samurai!”
The beefy Quadra S-Type engine roars down the parking lot toward Victoria. She hops in through the passenger window Dukes of Hazard style. Meghan peels out of the parking lot, heading towards the freeway back to The Glen in the Heywood sector.
“Did your fixer reply yet?”
“No… When we get back to the apartment, I’m gonna hop on my ARCH and head to the Afterlife. Find out exactly what Rogue had me dive into. Cause here’s the thing, mom… NetWatch knows I know now.”
The streetlights light up their faces as they pass under them, and Meghan, with her eyes on the road, asks the burning question.
“Are they connected to the Suit Men?”
A little while later…
Victoria sits on her ARCH motorcycle and looks out to the Night City Skyline. A small orb-shaped drone floats around her, recording her. Her thoughtful look turns into a sneer as she hits the throttle, the bike roaring down the road. Her voice fills our ears as we watch her ride through Night City.
Christian, Christian… how ya feeling, buddy? You got that big DQ win after I made sure your whore had to put that neck brace back on.
Don’t worry; she won’t need it anymore… when she is dead.
I do have to give you props, though. I mean, you have been back for nearly a month, and yet… you are still alive. The Suit Men, not for lack of trying or effort, haven’t gotten to you yet. Trust me, though; they will.
I know people support you. They support my “sister” as well. Why? It’s because they don’t know who you two truly are. The Devil and his whore damsel. I see it, though. The first time she slipped you a bottle of Oxy at the OCW Christmas party, I saw it. I saw it when she would approach you after defeating Maurako, defeating Plethora in the pyramid, and defeating that racist bigot Vargas (who seemingly doesn’t understand he has a Mexican-Spanish last name). I saw it when you put your filthy old man hands on her body… my body.
See that says everything, doesn’t it? You knew I was trapped like a prisoner in my own body. A young lesbian who had only ever been with two women in her life; Maxine “Mad Max” Riggs and Atara Themis. You knew all of this, but did you care? Did you hesitate? No… you didn’t. You let her drop to her knees so your eyes could roll into the back of your head.
It still makes me sick to my stomach, but that wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part is… I was actually happy for Veronica. Even though my disgust at how *I* was violated, I could tell she was happy—something I hadn’t truly seen in her.
Ever.
Fast forward past a successful TransAtlantic title defence, when she came out of the PORTAL POTTY, and I followed behind on Milftown Island, things seemed pretty bright. In our own bodies, we had an opportunity to live our own lives, free of the Rivers family affliction, but we had one last obligation to fulfill here, in this world so vastly different from ours.
Ronnie? She used the opportunity to leave me for dead, beyond the Black Wall, where the rogue A.I.’s roam freely, targeting individuals like me because I am deemed to be a threat. She saw the opportunity to take the spotlight, to take my rightful spot within the Strader family and OCW… all so she could be with you.
This Monday, Outcast? It’s not about winning or losing for me. It’s about making an example out of you and out of Ronnie. You two make me sick to my stomach, and the only cure is to crush the old man that “rebuilt” the house that is OCW.
I know you have felt the wrath of Veronica. I know it was because of me, trapping you within the reaches of the portal, causing you to violate so many regulations of time and dimension jumping… but I promise you, my strikes? Will leave marks. You will bruise. You will bleed. You will hurt.
When I am done with you, I am gonna finish what I started with Ronnie. Your time in earthly existence is approaching the finish line. And no matter how acts of contrition you do… God? He might forgive you.
I won’t.
See ya Monday, Outcast.
Victoria slows down as she turns into the parking lot, parking in front of a nightclub called The Afterlife. Our scene becomes static as she struts down the stairs to the old morgue turned Mercenary dive.
