#aka arasaka

[vayneoc]

PL Stuff

I just look at So Mi and understand that Vayne's "I side with a treacherous sly asian babygirl, who did nothing bad, and if she did I support all her rights... and wrongs" gets out of control...

Still on 1.61, but you can count on her letting the lovely songbird fly 🥺

(esp cus new ending kills Hanako as well 😩)

[byberbunk2069]

w/ @gibson-girlboss's OCs, Valerie and Anna

[merge-conflict]

imago

cyberhanami day 6 - "Focus on Sound"

content warnings: emotional distress, dysmorphia + body horror

Goro/Valentine

Big thank you to @another-corpo-rat for prompting this for me!!

summary: One day they woke her up she she could live forever.

<Is there some part of you stuck in limbo forever while they peel off copies to put in shards?>

<Jesus, V.> Johnny’s sudden hostility made her look up, to find him pacing behind the couch. <Got no fucking idea. Why’d you have to ask?>

<Sorry.> She redressed with some difficulty, trying to avoid aggravating the wound. <Morbid curiosity. A few weeks ago I would have said it was impossible to digitize someone so faithfully, but I was wrong. Wish I understood how it works.>

- excerpt from the damn things overlap

At night, V liked to stretch her legs. She had several, now, on nearly every floor of Arasaka tower– drones which were suitable for maintenance and simple tasks. In the past, when she had seen them skittering through the halls early in the morning, she had never given much thought to who controlled them. She had assumed they were autonomous, like the ones that had occasionally roamed the halls of her apartment building. In reality, they had been driven by the runners who kept the tower secure and systems running smoothly. Now nearly all of them were hers, if she chose to use them.

She had long since mapped the length and breadth of her body– with the exception of a handful of floors where even she was not permitted to be. Luckily the jungle was not one of these. When it was not in use it was where she spent her evening break.

The trees were not the only living things in the expansive space, although they were the most eye-catching. While the cicada chorus played all year round, there were a few months of the year was sung by the actual insects themselves, freshly molted and enjoying both the fresh air and freedom to do everything a cicada was meant to do, safe from the dangers of the outside world or any natural predators. They were culled periodically, of course, to keep the population in check. Their keeper– a woman who spoke only Japanese and then only about her plant and animal charges, had no qualms discussing her carefully controlled ecosystem in every detail– even if it was to the unblinking, expressionless eye of a drone.

It was summer now, and as V drove the drone over the tiled floor, the air above was almost deafeningly loud with cicada cries. She stopped the drone once it had climbed upon the imposing conference table at the heart of the jungle, neatly tucking its legs underneath it. She did not have eyes to close (and by the same measure had too many eyes to close all at once), but she could become still, and feel the vibrations on the surface of the drone’s carapace, which traveled all the way down to what passed for her heart.

They weren’t her cicadas, of course, not like the symbol she had set for her terminal banner, or the icon she used for the software that fed her support and maintenance requests. These cicadas lived and died within the span of a single year– all the moments of their lives spent living rather than over a decade and a half of building anticipation. She had witnessed generations pass in their entirety. Whenever she was haunted by the past, their songs and the songs of their ancestors always brought her back.

Tonight, her moment of contemplation was cut short by the arrival of a very particular AV in one of her hangars– one that belonged to Hanako Arasaka herself. She had been coming more and more frequently in the past year, and her presence always stirred up an interesting sort of commotion. V often followed her in her transition from physical to virtual, and if she was certain that Hanako knew of her curiosity, she never did anything about it. The more things V learned the less she believed they’d ever let her go, but still she couldn’t seem to help it. Data was all she had, and puzzling over which pieces to put together was as close as she got to a hobby.

The AV hangar cameras were some of the few that were continuously monitored by human eyes as well as software, and she was far from the only person lining up to gawk at royalty. If she cared to track them, she would find any number of tunneled streams leading to dozens of interfaces in the building. She’d first seen Saburo on a visit to Night City the very same way.

Oda came first, as always, his brief contemptuous sweep of the bay making all the guards straighten another inch. Hanako came after, elegantly and flawlessly imperious. And then, to V’s cold shock, Goro stepped out behind her.

She no longer possessed an endocrine system, or any sort of true adrenal response, but an engram was only as good as its level of fidelity– and somewhere deep inside her the strength of her response throttled several of her cores. Without hands there was nothing to ground her but the strength of the cicada song against the drone. If she flooded her levels too long her handlers had the unbearable habit of insinuating themselves into her attention. She ran her suppression scripts, relaxing as the world around her become flat and unreal.

While Oda accompanied Hanako to the executive level, Goro split off, descending into the tower. V watched him through the elevator camera, unable to stop herself from continuously tracing the lines of his face. He looked just as she remembered. She could still read the tense set of his shoulders, and the brief restlessness he allowed himself just before the car came to a stop. The ID tag on his interface had some unfamiliar title, based in some city she did not know. She could have looked it up, but she could not bear to divide herself. To tear away her attention.

After what she’d done to Hellman’s office, she was not permitted to move freely around the network which interfaced with Mikoshi as she did others. Indeed, she was not even permitted in drone form on the floor where he and his department operated. She’d honored that restriction faithfully for years, but she broke it as soon as Goro stepped off the elevator, tracking him as he walked. It took her handlers a few minutes to notice her transgression, and then another few to determine which of them would confront her about it. She ignored their messages and sent them one of her own– a livestream of the cicada cries straight into their audio channels.

They’d been with her long enough to know what that meant, and their desire to ensure Hanako’s visit went smoothly was overridden by their desire not to make her angry. V was half-fond of them– they were, after all, her primary source of human contact– but if she fried them all in their chairs she would be given replacements. After all, they weren’t the ones responsible for the year over year upward trend of operational efficiency at NC tower.

Hellman's staff were prepared for Goro’s visit. She followed him all the way up until the point where he jacked into the Mikoshi interface, when she was consumed by the sudden need to be as far away as possible. Thankfully she had a new distraction– the tiny pip of a connection request, coming from one of the executive floors, where she had no eyes. She accepted it and was almost immediately granted access to an unfamiliar drone.

V moved her attention into it immediately, guessing correctly that this was an official summons. Oda stepped back from the drone as she assumed control and repositioned herself so she was facing Hanako. The drone had the most advanced suite of software V had seen, with a wide array of sensory data that felt like settling into a feast after years of starvation. She tapped one of the drone’s feet against the stool it had been placed on, and savored the texture of the touch, and the minute vibrations which quietly shivered up the frame. Around her she could once again feel the buzz of the radio spectrum like the soft ripples of waves against her skin– and if she was sure that she would grow tired of the overstimulation, in the moment it felt like sinking back into a warm bath.

“Hanako-sama,” V said in greeting, loathing the sound of her digitized voice. “It’s a pleasure to have you visit, as always.”

“I detest this city,” Hanako replied, with a side glance to the city outside the window behind her. “But I am pleased to see the progress being made here.”

It was easy, within digital confines, to disguise emotion– especially anger. All V had to do was stand idle. They could open her up, of course, watch the data flowing through her heart and her soul. They could do that and come to all sorts of conclusions. But that was no different than the way they had once tracked the rise and fall of her hormones, and at least now she knew when someone was looking.

“A suitable body for your engram has been recovered,” Hanako continued, oblivious to her non-response. “It will be ready for implantation soon. There will be a chance of rejection, of course, but Dr. Hellman has told me that it is much lower than with previous matches.”

This time she waited, and it was some time before V could bring herself to respond. “That is good to hear.”

This was, she supposed, the moment where she might beg for favor. For understanding. For mercy. This was, she supposed, the moment that haunted her every thought, every preparation, every early dawn hour. The very moment which she worked so tirelessly never to think about at all.

She had read her contract so many times it had ceased to contain meaning. It was a brand, a warning, a reminder. It was a simple text file sitting in her root directory that was as much a part of her as her digital neural network. If she might beg for leniency on the application of some of its sections, there were too many for her to ever get what she wanted. Divergence might be a term with enough ambiguity for her to argue with, but even in her wildest fantasies she could not imagine the contract duration itself to be subject to discussion. It all had to be paid for by someone, after all. And until now that someone had been her.

A hundred and fifty floors below, Goro was holding a conversation with someone who was not herself.

“Hanako-sama,” V said, with utter neutrality. “I hope you will not tell her about me.”

Hanako tilted her head slightly, the light in her eye suggesting she had already anticipated this request. “As you wish. Takemura requested to be present, so that he might assist with reintegration.”

Of course.

“I have no right to ask for your favor, but if I may?” V waited for Hanako’s mute gesture to continue. “When it is done…please do not bring him here again.”

Hanako’s lack of reaction she had expected, but the frown Oda’s face was a surprise. Yet, for once V found she had no interest in whatever fucked up web of politics he was in, or what opinion he held of her, or Goro, or his own mistress.

“I will make no such promise,” Hanako replied, which confirmed that V was being shown both the carrot and the stick. “But when the process is complete, he will return to Japan.”

There were too many questions that V could not bring herself to ask. In her heart, one of her runners played for her the sound of rainfall. In the jungle, her drone slammed one of its feet down repeatedly on the table, just audible over the screaming of the cicadas.

Johnny had been right about the leash. Johnny had been right about a lot of things, but he was dead. He was dead, because she had killed him. And she had never asked what ghosts still lingered in the prison she had left behind.

“He does not know of your presence here,” Hanako told her. “The improvements you have made here have shown promise, but it is of course still an early trial.”

Early for a woman who was nearly a century old. But she had lived a long portion time out of the view of others, and V could admire her subtleties. It was too late to listen to a dead man, but there were other options.

“Of course,” V said. “I understand.”

Hanako lowered her chin slightly, locking eyes with the drone. “You may tell him, if you wish.”

It was a double-edged sword, but V found herself clinging to it all the same. In the jungle she folded the drone’s legs underneath itself again. There was a brief blip of a notification in her peripheral– a minor malfunction in one of the mechanisms that moved inventory between floors. But it was gone almost as soon as it arrived, the job taken by another one of her runners.

“This drone is a gift,” Hanako continued, when V did not reply. “I hope to continue to receive good reports.”

“Thank you, Hanako-sama. I am at your service.”

Her answering nod was also a dismissal, and V carefully piloted the unfamiliar drone off the stool and out of the office. She returned to the cameras around Mikoshi, keeping watch over Goro’s body. It occurred to her that she might pull the recording of the conversation, as she easily as she had insinuated herself into the network, but the very idea made her nerves itch, even under the influence of her script. They hadn’t put up any barriers here. Another test.

Just looking at him made her want to touch him again, to be close enough to smell the sweat on his skin and feel every breath he took. Those memories were as vivid as they always had been, even though the gray in his hair had long since spread beyond his temples. There were new lines around the corners of his eyes, the mark of all their time spent apart. Much, much longer than the frantic span of a few weeks at the end of a single summer.

She hated him so fiercely and so abruptly she thought she might burn through her hardware, seized in the throes of anger she hadn’t felt since they’d first woken her up. But it passed as the minutes ticked on, and left her scoured clean. By the time he opened his eyes again she felt nothing at all, just the steady sound of the jungle, and distant rainfall. Her new drone, now tucked away safely into her heart, paced through the server racks in steady, soothing rhythm.

When he left, she stopped his elevator car in the jungle, instead of his true destination. Goro exited the car when it did not respond to his controls, and after a moment of indecision, stepped out into the room. Watching him, she could almost feel the change of humidity on his skin, the sudden scream of a nearby cicada that drew his attention upwards to the trees. The warmth of the artificial sunlight, dappling through the leaves onto his face. He walked down the steps to the conference table, where her drone sat quiet and unmoving.

V fled within herself, retreating to the sanctity of her internal subnet until one of her runners dropped a ticket into her work queue, marked specifically for her attention. It wasn’t urgent, but the last ticket he’d sent in a similar manner had been diverting, and she was of mind to reward the behavior. Maybe it was time to invest in this newest batch.

So long as she made certain they could never be taken away.

[elf-trash]

SilverV and Solavellan Fic Recs

It's been a minute, so I wanted to make a new sticky post where I link my own writing and also recommend some of my all-time favorite multi-chapter SilverV and Solavellan fics.

Highly recommend checking all of these out, as well these authors' other work! I swear to god, both of these ships attract the most insanely talented writers on the planet. I am constantly so impressed with and in awe of the stuff I've read!

First off, here are my two main long fics:

SilverV:

The Rebel Path - elf_trash Follows the story of Johnny and V's extremely messy relationship through the game and beyond. It stays close to canon but includes a rewrite of the endings and a fix-it, and also features a Kerry/V romance arc. Very angsty, you've been warned!

Solavellan:

Wildest Dreams - elf_trash A retelling of Veilguard with Lavellan as the protagonist (aka Lavellan IS Rook) that focuses on her complicated relationship with Solas. Starts near the end of Inquisition and continues through Veilguard and slightly beyond. Uses a lot of scrapped ideas from Joplin.

And here are some of my current and all-time favorites from each fandom! I limited myself to three for each ship (so this list is in no way exhaustive), and have listed them below in no particular order.

SilverV:

cut loose (before it gets late) - cherrykiss Literally cannot recommend this one highly enough!!!! Set post-game, Johnny has his body back, but V is still dying. It's about Johnny and V getting together and is wonderfully painful and incredibly fun. Read this one, you will NOT regret it.

Smoke and Retribution - madelinek Another one of my absolute favorites. This one is an AU where V is a popular musician during the same years as Samurai, and she enlists Johnny's help in getting out of her record deal with Arasaka. Fun, heartbreaking, and spicy!

Can You Feel The Sun? - heartofsnark This one follows the story of the game and features a V named Aidan, the author's deaf OC. Top tier Johnny banter and dialogue in this one, and it features a super unique and fleshed out OC if that's your thing!

Solavellan:

Requited - cursedhag A beautifully written, pitch perfect Inquisition rewrite that fully checks all the boxes! Features a lot of excellent Solas' POV that incorporates all the new lore reveals we learned in Veilguard. Do yourself a favor and read this!!!!

miles below the surface of the dawn - thefirstaidkit This fic is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read, period. On its face it's just 6 chapters of "there was only one bed" Inquisition-era Solavellan smut, but I stg the writer was channeling the spirit of Solas Dragon Age himself because it is the most perfect Solavellan smut I can imagine. Read this one, just trust me.

Martyr - existential_naptime If you like Solavellan angst, this one delivers in spades!!! It's set during Veilguard and explores what would happen if the Evanuris kidnapped the Inquisitor (and more specifically, how Solas would react). It is DELICIOUS and also extremely painful but well worth it!

Do yourself a favor and read these you won't regret it!!!

[scaryanneee]

VEILPUNK 9:52 ⚡️

Narrative parallels between [and MAJOR SPOILERS for] Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Cyberpunk 2077

Wake up, Samurai, we have a Thedas to burn. Let’s play a game:

Meet [V]/[Rook]. She is living her life as a [nomad/streetkid/corpo]/[Dragon/Crow/Lord/Watcher/Warden] when circumstances (aka, some kind of fuck-up) lead her to begin a new adventure with her friend [Jackie Welles]/[Varric Tethras]. 

The pair embark on a mission that involves a history lesson about a mercurial and rebellious [rockerboy]/[ancient elven mage] who made a questionable choice [50]/[8000] years ago when he [detonated a nuclear bomb]/[created the Veil]. That decision had dire consequences, but was done with good intentions: to take down a corrupt and powerful group – the [Arasakas]/[Evanuris]. 

Anyway, the job that [V]/[Rook] is on goes really, really bad: needless to say, we won't be working with [Jackie]/[Varric] anymore. [V]/[Rook] finds herself injured but alive… and the previously mentioned grumpy old [rockerboy]/[elven god] is now living in her head, somehow?! 

[Jackie]/[Varric]’s fate is not the only consequence of [V]/[Rook]’s actions. In fact, the clock is ticking: if [V]/[Rook] does not find a way to fix her mistake soon, she faces certain death. Not to mention, she promised [Jackie]/[Varric] that she would take care of the [biochip]/[team] for him. 

As she works to undo what she has done, [V]/[Rook] either bonds with the [Johnny Silverhand]/[Solas] living in her head, or hates him, or something in between. There’s lots of snarky jabs traded between mind-resident and host, but also moments of genuine understanding that build over time. 

It is kind of weird walking around the world, though, because you see symbols of [Johnny]/[Solas]’s legacy in the form of [Samurai memorabilia]/[Fen’Harel statues] pretty much everywhere... anyway.

In an optional questline, [V]/[Rook] can watch some of [Johnny]/[Solas]’s memories. She learns that his [nuclear bomb]/[creating the Veil] was about more than just fighting [corpo]/[godly] corruption. It was also about avenging the death of a woman he cared for deeply: [Alt]/[Mythal], who was killed by the [Arasakas]/[Evanuris]. [Alt]/[Mythal] and [Johnny]/[Solas] may have had a complicated and at times turbulent relationship, but there was no doubt he loved her. There’s also no doubt that [Johnny]/[Solas] feels, in part, personally responsible for her death.

[V]/[Rook] also gets to meet some of [Johnny]/[Solas]’s old friends: [Kerry]/[Dorian] and [Nancy]/[Morrigan], who both worked alongside him in [Samurai]/[the Inquisition], and [Rogue]/[Inquisitor Lavellan], a highly competent woman who [Johnny]/[Solas] had a romantic relationship with at one point (and who [Johnny]/[Solas] regrets not having treated better). [V]/[Rook] also meets some of [Johnny]/[Solas]’s greatest enemies from his past – like [Adam Smasher]/[Elgar’nan] – and gets to make [Johnny]/[Solas] proud by kicking their asses on his behalf. 

Finally, at the very end of the game, [V]/[Rook] can choose to either redeem [Johnny]/[Solas] or condemn him. They can even get help from a version of [Alt]/[Mythal] to do so!

Roll credits.

This is all to say: I love both of these franchises very much and, so it is very delightful to find all of these parallels between them. To be very clear, this is not an accusation of stealing or anything – stories echo, history rhymes, etc. – just an affectionate observation.

BUT.

It also highlights, for me at least, a few things Cyberpunk did well that Veilguard would have benefitted from incorporating. Namely:

A prologue based on character origin, where Rook meets/bonds with Varric, like V does with Jackie

More interaction between Protagonist and Guy Living in the Protagonist’s Head

Deeper engagement with the universe’s lore, particularly the setting and its impact on our protagonist. Night City feels like another character in Cyberpunk in a way that Veilguard's Thedas really does not.

The protagonist having a smaller scale, more personal investment in the outcome of events – V’s race against the biochip is instantly understandable, and her tenacity and strong will to survive make her very easy to relate to and like. I never quite felt the same level of investment in Rook, and I think that’s in part because her fight against the gods is so enormous in scale that it feels quite impersonal at times. 

Story parallels aside, these two games are also both examples of games that were rushed through development and suffered for it. For Cyberpunk, that meant infamous technical failures; for Veilguard, that apparently means writing that is inconsistent at best and baffling at worst.

Fortunately, CD Projekt Red was able to add tons of post-release updates (and the excellent Phantom Liberty DLC) to Cyberpunk, that really helped it ultimately evolve into the game it was intended to be. 

Unfortunately, I think it is extremely unlikely that EA/Bioware will ever give Veilguard the same treatment.

But if I’m looking for something to hope for about this franchise (despite the long odds)... I think that would be it. 

Anyway, if you read this far: thanks, [chooms]/[lethallen]! 🖤

[amgenesis]

From Corpo Rat to Night City Boogeyman

FIA FILES #10191

Bio: 24, V Arima, Night City

Threat level: Omega

Former Arasaka Counter-intel turned Merc who's name strikes fear into the Gangoons and Corporations of Night City alike.

V aka The Oni (demon in Japanese folklore) is classified as Omega for

- Main cause of reduction in crime and cyberpsycho cases in Night City

- Orbital Air massacre of NUSA Spec Ops soldiers

- Single-handedly destroyed Arasaka (Night City) by waltzing through the front door

- Killing Adam Smasher

Languages spoken: English, Japanese

Born in Oct 12th 2053 to a Japanese father and Russian mother, V Arima grew up in a life of wealth. Sato Arima, V’s father is a high-ranking Arasaka executive and was sent to Night City from Tokyo to [REDACTED]. The family resided in Charter Hill from 2056 - 2075.

About V’s early life, his records from Arasaka academy suggests that V was a 4th Dan in Kendo and was really passionate for the sport explaining his natural gravitation towards the use of Katanas. His grades however wasn't the best, V was struggling in his academic achievements and was almost expelled from Arasaka academy if not for his father’s connections. V graduated Arasaka academy in 2071.

V is employed with Arasaka as a Counter-intelligence officer for 6 years until a sudden termination in 2077 under the orders of Susan Abernathy (Director of Special Operations for Arasaka American HQ Division). The reason for the termination was a suspected assassination attempt on Susan Abernathy by Arthur Jenkins, V’s direct superior and V himself.

V did not go back to his family after losing his place in Arasaka, presumably not being accepted back by his father, Sato. V began his career as a mercenary not long after with a partner named Jackie Welles an ex Valentino gang member. The two was acquainted back when V was conducting an operation for Arasaka in South America.

6 months after, V and Jackie caught the attention of Dexter Deshawn, renowned fixer of the Afterlife [Read file #8644 for more info on The Afterlife] which begins a series of events that leads to the heist on Konpeki Plaza and death of Saburo Arasaka [Read file #11 for more info on Saburo Arasaka]

[vole-mon-amour]

"Kerry had a crush on Johnny"

I'm sorry but Kerry tried to leave the band twice but came back because of Johnny.

Kerry waited fifty years for Johnny to get back even though it was semi of a common knowledge of Johnny dying at Arasaka tower. Even if it wasn't released to the public (I remember that some citizens doubted that Johnny actually stormed Arasaka & the story became somewhat of a myth), Kerry and Rogue were really good friends. Do you want me to believe that Rogue told Kerry that she has no idea what happened? She probably did and wanted Kerry to move on, but Kerry kept waiting.

Most likely, Kerry just couldn't get over Johnny and move on with his life. His feelings for Johnny and Johnny himself probably haunted him in a way. Even when Kerry kisses V for the first time, knowing that Johnny is in his head, he asks, "Is Johnny..?" aka "Is Johnny with you? Is Johnny watching?"

The devs literally erased Kerry's bisexuality because Kerry still loves Johnny so much, he chooses male V because it reminds him of Johnny more. His voice, his body type. He doesn't want V, not really. He still wants Johnny. He probably fucks V and thinks of Johnny and what they once had.

You call that a crush? A crush is something that comes and goes. Maybe it stays for a while, but it is still a crush. It's not really serious. These two? They've been friends for years. Toxic, weird, but they truly cared and still care for each other.

What Kerry feels for Johnny is a full on obsession. Love, in a way, too. But definitely not as simple as a crush where Johnny changes his hair or whatever and its suddenly gone.

Kerry was the only person in the band and within Johnny's friends circle that truly cared. The others would see Johnny high as fuck and numb and be, "Yeah, of course you are." They'd given up on Johnny. Kerry? He couldn't stand the sight of it because he cared. At the same time he couldn't be mad with Johnny for long because he also loved and wanted him.

Back in the day, Kerry was full on in love and smitten. Then it turned into a mix of grief and obsession for what could've been but wasn't. In this essay, I will—

[xhollowfaerie]

cyberpunk drabbles - corpo v & jackie #1

aka when he rescues Corpo V in Mexico.

a/n: omg I'm so excited to post this! I love delving into my Corpo V's past. For context, her full name is Valerie Lovett and she has a full-body bioplastic film implant that makes her skin look porcelain-like. Arthur Jenkins is your superior as Corpo V, who she is unfortunately dating on and off. The Militech mole is just some shit I made up, it's like 3 am and I work in like six hours so don't think too much about the plotholes pls. also my Corpo V is a bitch

warnings: sexism, verbal abuse, violence, blood, mention of substance abuse, malnutrition/eating disorder, abusive relationship/domestic violence, abusive family and work power dynamics

- Killshot.

“Sorry, Lovett! Would’ve fucked that pretty face of yours, but I heard Jenkins already has. Well, better get back to him with this precious cargo. Too bad you won’t get to see me leading Counter Intel, you would’ve made an excellent trophy wife.”

“You - fucking degenerate, I’ll crush you like a bug, if you think for a second you can defy ME-”

“Nothing personal, bitch!”

Click.

Valerie’s vision blurred, ears ringing with the noise of the explosion that she had barely just dodged, thanks to her enhanced tendons. Groaning, she grabbed her head, lost in a daze before the sharp pain in her left thigh pooled into her consciousness. 

The growl that escaped her throat was primal - agony, of course, from the sharp piece of metal newly protruding from her leg, but also from the fucking audacity of this FUCKING Militech rat bastard-

“COME BACK HERE! I’LL STAB THESE HEELS RIGHT THROUGH YOUR DENSE FUCKING SKULL!” Valerie roared against the deafness in her ears, struggling to get herself up throughout the smoke and confusion.

She felt a large pair of hands snake underneath her arms from behind and lift her up, prompting her to elbow them in the stomach. The stranger coughed and restrained her arms behind her back, effortlessly picking her weight up and throwing her over their shoulder. Her eyes widened in horror, heart hammering in her chest; no, she’d rather fucking die on this mission than fall into their hands. 

Fucking Jenkins. She knew this was a test - no, it was a suicide mission, and he’d sent her off with that cold expression on his face she hated to love so much. He… really didn’t give a fuck, did he?

But his sweet talk, the promise of a nice vacation after, just the two of them… the pressure from her parents, her entire family - if she just got through this stupid fucking deal in Mexico, she’d finally become a candidate to be his second in command. She just had to take out the little Militech cockroach in her path, along with any of his lackeys. Nothing new.

Valerie’s eyes narrowed dangerously. With all her strength, she twisted herself in the stranger’s grip, turning her thigh against his chest quickly enough that the sharp, jagged edge of the metal embedded in her leg would injure him, loosening his hold;

She pushed herself against his body with her knees and flipped backwards, sliding across the dirt in her ripped stockings. Her reinforced steel heels steadied her against the rocky surface, allowing her enough time to quickhack the gun he reached for; it sent a current of electricity through his hands, making him drop it and curse in Spanish before addressing her.

“Mierda, chica, estás fuckin’ loca perdida?! (Shit, girl, are you completely fucking insane?!) I’m tryna’ help you get away from these Militech pendejos before we both die here!”

A red, triple hollyhock dangled from each ear as she scanned him. He looked… less like Militech or Arasaka and more like dirt off the bottom of her Jinguji shoes. She seemingly lessened the threat in her stance, watching intently for his guard to falter; when it did, she launched herself at him, rotating her body on one leg as the other kicked high, slicing his cheek open with the sharp edge of her heels; he moved fast for his heavy build, faster than she had anticipated, taking her by surprise. The man grabbed her ankle and twisted it with a wince, as if it physically hurt him too - she yelped in pain, but not before smacking the bridge of his nose with the tip of her shoes, making him fall back and grab his face, blood dripping in between his fingers.

“Pinche (fucking) corpo…! Will you chill the fuck out? You’re like a Tasmanian devil with rabies!”

She panted and quietly snarled at him, upper lip quivering with aggression. Valerie could barely stand; the large gash in her leg was bleeding profusely, joined by additional beads of shrapnel sprinkled across her skin,  and now she couldn’t put any weight on her other leg. She sucked air in sharply, trying to breathe through the shooting pain as her eyes remained trained on him, watching him tilt his head back to try to stop his own bleeding. “This is what I get for trying to be the good guy…”

As the dust began settling and sounds became comprehensible, the corporate woman heard the screech of tires behind them, eyes widening. Fuck, there was no way she could react in time to duck the bullets she heard rearing towards them from the machine gun atop the Militech van.

The man’s voice rang out as she squeezed her eyes shut, feeling her body collapse into the dirt.

-

“Chingada madre” Jackie muttered as he carried the corpo’s unconscious body into an abandoned trailer, setting her down on the couch. His hands rubbed the top of his head before letting out a long sigh.

He knelt down to examine her condition, face twisting with empathy. Her pristine, porcelain-doll skin was scratched and even… cracked? in places, fancy black blazer and asymmetrical pencil skirt both ripped to fucking hell and back. His eyes picked up the scratch right across the metallic crimson shape forming the Arasaka logo.  She looked mostly ‘ganic, but he could tell she had some top-shelf chrome. He’d never seen such subtle, elegant cyberware on someone’s body before. Her hair was platinum blonde, worn like one of ‘em vintage… whatchamacallit girls on old posters he’d seen once or twice - even wore that classy eyeliner, too. Her lipstick must’ve been expensive; the vibrant shade of carmine had somehow stayed put, despite everything; that, or either a tattoo, replaceable mouth, what have you. Corpos had money for quite literally whatever the fuck they wanted.

She was skinny - way too skinny, for his mother’s standards, at the very least; the lack of weight almost looked out of place on her body, looking so frail despite the air of authority demanded by her clothes and her attitude - he’d never seen her before on TV or anything, but she looked, sounded and behaved like she could’ve been one of the higher-ups at ‘Saka. Then again, every ‘Saka motherfucker always acted like they were hot shit. He couldn’t tell which applied to her. 

“Probably both” the merc mumbled to himself.

He finally relaxed the tension in his shoulders, taking a seat on the floor next to her to gather his thoughts, lightly pushing the heavy case that he had hauled together with the unconscious woman. Jackie never seemed like the sharpest tool in the shed, but he liked giving that impression. Truth was, that ‘Saka lady was a cunning, conniving little fox, duping that dumbass motherfucker with a fake case. Thanking Heaven up above that he had managed to notice her scheme in the nick of time, snag it and her, he wondered how long it’d take before Militech also came to that realization and rained a nuke down on their heads.

“Fuckin’ nova.”

-

Valerie felt a strange sensation in her thigh, awakening to the dim lights of a bug zapper resting on the floor of the RV. A cold shudder ran through her, reflexively reaching to rub her own arms before noticing the heavy jacket draped over the front of her body.

“Ah, look who’s awake! Mornin’, sleeping loca.  Actually, it’s just about midnight...”

The woman heard noises shuffling around her before the stranger from earlier came into view. Her instincts prompted her to reach for a weapon and jump at him before he caught onto her, but the moment she attempted to tense a single muscle, she cried out in pain, whining through gritted teeth.

“Hey, hey! Eaaasy! Fuck’s sake, chica, I just saved your ass! If I was gonna kill you, dontcha think I woulda done it by now?”

She cleared her throat in an attempt to mask her weakness, shifting slightly underneath his jacket. The feline shape of her eyes showed no signs of lessening, draping him in a distrustful gaze. 

“Agent V” she corrected him, voice hoarse. Her ocular implants didn’t have much to say on him, other than his name and previous affiliation with the Valentinos. A wannabe merc from Heywood, Night City with zero reputation, trying to leverage her life for the case. She had really reached a low point, even for her. At least it wasn’t in the hands of that traitorous little dickwad. “What’s that cargo to you, Welles?”

Jackie let out a low whistle, nodding in amazement. “Jackie, por favor. Preem, I knew you had that good shit! Kiroshis? That the latest model?”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Please. Unreleased prototype, custom integration with neural reactivity. You’ll never hear of it; limited internal circulation only. I don’t taint myself with that industrial garbage.”

He let out a rumbling chuckle and slapped his leg, pulling his fold-up chair closer. “My boys ain’t gonna believe this shit!” Shrugging, Jackie leaned back, relaxing his posture as he propped a foot up on the case. “Well, where I’m from, you share a bit about your soul before you talk biz, eh? It’s kinda like a custom. Or just good manners, y’know?”

She glanced down underneath the leather of his coat, ignoring his pleasantries. “You… bandaged me” her voice appeared to lack emotion, but he still hoped she felt at least the smallest bit of gratitude. After all, she was his only way out of this fucking mess, and he’d saved her life.

“Look, we both got fucked over with this cargo, aight? Way I heard it, some gonk lost this thing, another gonk found it, was gonna pass it on to me, I’d drop it off across the border. I show up, except nobody fuckin’ told me I’d wind up in the middle of a corpo standoff in the heart of México. So, here I am, eyes on the crate, when I see this ‘Saka lady about to get blown to bits like a pinata on Cinco de Mayo, and my body acts without thinkin’, ‘cause I’m a gentleman, no? ‘Go, Jack! You gotta save the princess!’ Next thing I know, I’m tryna pull her away to safety and she elbows my burger right outta my stomach. Ahhh, mi mamá siempre me dijo que tuviera cuidado con una mujer fatal…” (My mom always told me to watch out for femme-fatales…)

Giving no signs of warming up, Valerie listened motionlessly, using her optics to scan every detail in the room around them. She observed the wounds previously inflicted on him blooming into bruises and scabs. If she had permission to feel, she might’ve been sorry. As his voice hammered against her eardrums, a familiar nausea rose through her, culminating with an erratic heartbeat. 

Jackie perched forward in his chair with worry. “Ay, you’re in real bad shape, V… You look like you’re in withdrawal. Got the shakes… and… foggin’ this bioplastic shit up, like you’re sweating. You, uh, you on anything? Only had one MaxDoc on me but it don’t seem like it helped much… Hold on, shouldn’t TT have swept in by now?”

Beneath the sheen of her pores struggling to regulate her rising temperature against the bioplastic sheet implant enveloping her skin, Valerie grunted, avoiding any of his interrogation.

“Agent V.”

She guessed either Arthur or her loving parents had suspended her Trauma Team membership again; it was one of their preferred methods of manipulation; maybe they thought she was already dead - or… maybe they were making sure she would be.

Anger boiled inside her, grabbing onto Jackie’s jacket with laboured breaths. He placed a hand over her forehead, as if he couldn’t already tell she was burning up.

“Chica? Hey, talk to me.”

“I don’t- need your help” she choked out, forcing herself to pull the leather off of her. Spite alone willed her to her feet, but the pace at which the room was spiraling around her promptly sent her back down, collapsing against Jackie’s shoulder.

“Shit. Hold on, I’m calling Vik!”

She hovered on the brink of unconsciousness again. He was so annoyingly well-intentioned. And who the fuck was Vik? 

-

“Nothing personal, bitch.”

Her finger squeezed the trigger with cold automation, watching the light fade out of the Militech agent’s eyes as she threw his gun onto his chest in disgust, the bullet hole in the middle of his forehead dripping its ichor across the chunk of metal below.

“Arasaka sends their regards” her spine-chilling voice echoed around the men groaning in pain on the floor, her heels clacking rhythmically as she strutted away.

Outside, Jackie was leaning against his bike, nervously checking his phone. His gaze bounced up to her when the glass doors slid open at her exit, letting out a long-held breath.

“Jesus, thought they’d-”

“Kill me?”

She huffed with offense and the tiniest hint of amusement, crossing her arms. “Why are you still here? I’ve already paid you.”

He shook his head and got on his bike, rearing the engine. “You corpos are really somethin’ else. I’ll be on my way, then, V. Catch you later?”

“It’s-” the engine roared louder, purposefully overpowering her voice, “Agent-”

“¡Ahí luego, V!”

V rolled her eyes, but her gaze lingered on his bike as it disappeared into traffic. 

“Hope I never see you again, Jackie Welles. For your sake…”

Her cheek under the bioplastic film still stung where Arthur had struck her before taking her to bed to ‘apologize.’ Her failure forced his hand, of course. Embarrassed all of Counter Intel. She was lucky he loved her so much, protecting her from their superiors, as long as she took care of the Militech mole. She hurriedly submerged the uncomfortable feeling attempting to rise inside her chest deeper, lighting a crimson, expensive cigarette with a flick of her finger, putting the small flame from the tip of her ‘organic’ digit out just as soon as she had sparked it. ‘Agent V’ took a deep breath, feeling the nicotine invade her lungs.

The Arasaka Tower’s heavy shadow draped over her across the intersection, further twisting the dagger of dread in her gut. 

[medtech-mara]

V3AH or Jago? Sometimes it's hard to tell whose at the wheel these days.

Been teasing it.... However, I will be taking my step into learning how to make NPV's because I'm ripping this game apart and changing it to fit the Cyberpunk Red: Legends of Night City and it's sister timelines.

The short description of the story follows:

Kang Tao reigns as the Apex of Night City with the help of Shin Chae-Rin joining the Engineering department. Gong-Ji and the Cheol Family have taken over after the construct of Jung Ho-Seok aka Jago (Jay-Go) was ripped out of him to prevent certain Terror on the city if reunited with his Wife, Panthera, who has been missing for nearly 10 years now.

The Night Jackie and V3AH break into Konpeki Tower and preform the Heist, instead of being greeted with Arasaka family, it's the Cheol patriarch being murdered by Gong-Ji.

You ask, why does Kang Tao have the relic? Because they stole it from Arasaka, deleting Johnny Silverhand's construct and replacing it with Ho-Seok's.

The rest you know until V3AH wakes up at Vik's.

[cyberneutral]

── Diogo aka Ghost ↳ Arasaka Secret Agent | Night City | Unkown Data ↳ Skills → Body: 20 | Technology: 20 | Cool: 20 ↳ Shapeshifter Tech | Gorilla Arms | Melee Combat

[gloryride]

War Machine

pants | poses i wanted to do a red camo pants for Isao since i did colors for the pants. I talked about it with camo master, aka chevvy, because his colors are black and red, like Arasaka. And would cool that a corpo can have tactical pants and camo stuff, more techwear stuff than hiding in environment. I didn't succeed the first time, but i let red camo in XL files, i promised to go back one day. And May was my savior ♥ she helped me and now Isao has his perfect pants !

[aggravateddurian]

ESTELLA 'STEL' OCAMPO-GONZALEZ | A new beginning...

Say hi to Val's sister, Estella. She's a medtech, who works with Rafael Perez, whom you've probably encountered in Santo Domingo's ripperdoc clinic.

Full bio below:

FULL NAME: OCAMPO-GONZALEZ, Estella Shaye DOB: 17 June 2056 (20 years old as of 1 May 2077, when the heist allegedly occurs, resulting in the death of Saburo Arasaka) Place of Birth: Santo Domingo, Night City Hair: Dark brown (shared with her mother and Val, dyed blonde at the tips) Eyes: Brown (shared with her mother and Val) Height: 5' 6" (170cm) Life Path: None (never becomes a merc) Sexuality: Unstated, possibly bisexual (commonality with her half-brother, Vincent (aka 'V') and her full sister, Val) Occupation: Nurse/Ripperdoc's Assistant (Medtech) Partner: None

Biography: Estella, who prefers to go by her nickname 'Stel', is the second, and youngest, daughter of Zanjoe Ocampo and Ariana Gonzalez. She is the half-sister of Vincent 'V' Gonzalez, and Valerie 'Val' Ocampo-Gonzalez.

She bucks family tradition by not joining her sister and half-brother in becoming mercenaries, and instead becoming a nurse, becoming an assistant to Rafael Pérez, Santo Domingo's most trusted ripperdoc.

When off-shift at Rafael's clinic, she takes care of her ailing mother, and continues to life at home. Much like Val, she has a strained relationship with her half-brother, V. Val and Stel get along, though Stel disapproves of Val's relationship with Trey Marshall.

[byberbunk2069]

The atmosphere is so thick you could cut it with a knife

Alternate Hanako appearance by CyberVesna

[galdorcraeft]

“𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝? 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚟𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢? 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗 - 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝, 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚝, 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚋, 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕, 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚜 — 𝚊𝚗𝚍 “𝙻𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚑” 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 “𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎.𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚘𝚠” 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜.”

— 𝚁𝚒𝚛𝚒 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙳𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐

Thank you once again @jaw-bones for this wonderful piece of my Lilith aka the white.widow picturing my beloved Cyberpunk2077 Netrunner in her Arasaka spider lair.

This is how people passing her netrunning room @ アラサカ社 see her running - a spider dramatically lurking in her web behind milky glass 🤍

I love my spider queen so much 🤍

[elvenbeard]

Thinking very seriously about a model AU for him... aka everything is pretty much the same but he never becomes a merc after getting sacked by Arasaka. I'd still love for him to meet Judy, Panam, and River through weird coincidences. He definitely ends up meeting Kerry, but a few years later than he would have normally, but I wonder how different their dynamic would be, meeting at much more stable times in their lives...

[mojaves]

alone, fear and hunt for literally all four ocs u mentioned in the tags. aka alex, ryan, seb and andy hehe :3c

ik you asked for all four but that will kill me dead so i am doing this for alex and andy entirely bc of the loneliness question and i have too much to say about it

alone: How does your OC deal with loneliness? Have they ever been completely alone before? How do they act when there's no one around to see them?

the thing about Alex is he always craved isolation. didnt ever manage to figure out how to communicate his needs with people, not that anyone would have listened anyway. he Wanted to be alone. it wasn't fun. it was cold. sad. empty. but he much preferred that over being overwhelmed. and then he died alone. for a few days no one even knew he'd gone missing, and by then it was already too late. and now he's finally been granted isolation, he wants nothing more than to Live. to enjoy the life he denied himself. to surround himself with people he loves. he craves it SO bad. but he always pushes everything away!!!!! he's scared!!! the loneliness has become too comfortable!!!!! basically: he's not coping very well

for andy, he got thrown into arasaka when he turned 18, into a role too big for someone so inexperienced and so young. he had to leave his family and friends behind. now being a corpo, everyone's in it for themselves, anyone will stab you in the back for the most petty reason ever. you have to walk on eggshells around everyone. so his loneliness was a defence mechanism. and he hated it!!! but he had no choice!!! he couldn't quit. couldn't go back home. it drove him insane and he threw himself entirely into his work to push the feeling to the back of his mind. and jesus christ it ruined him alright.

fear: What is your OC's greatest fear? What do they do when confronted with it? Are they open with their fear, or do they hide it away?

alex is scared of forming relationships and bonding with people!!! he never got the opportunity when he was alive. avoided it by any means necessary. he never listened to anyone, so never learned how to be like. Respectful. Friendly. he built up a wall so high it probably reaches the moon at this point. he has to acknowledge this every damb day of his life, and somehow just. carry on. he doesnt talk about it, because he Has no one for that. he doesnt know anyone like that. so he keeps it all locked away. which makes him Worse!!!! neverending cycle.

andy is. scared of a Lot of things. people, relationships, falling hard back into old habits, his past coming to bite him in the ass, when the time comes where he has to face the consequences of his actions. what he's done has killed a lot of people, and he's definitely a huge target on a lot of lists. but there's not really anything he can do about that. he has to keep going, he's not gonna cower away from the world like his brother did,,, he just has to push forward. somehow. he hates every second of it... but he's finally getting the chance to Live now, which is not something he ever thought he'd have, and he doesnt want to compeltely ruin that for himself.

hunt: Who or what is your OC hunted by? A person, a feeling, a past mistake? Is your OC able to let their guard down, or are they constantly alert?

alex has been hunted all his life, in a way, by a distant family member who died decades before alex was ever born, and is one of the reasons why he died in the first place,,, she just wanted a son, and latched onto him at the earliest possible opportunity, which caused a Lot of problems for him growing up, and even after dying he cannot escape it. he's also followed by grief, everywhere he goes. that's basically his job, if i had to describe it in one word. all he ever sees is death. he also has to grieve the life he never had, every single day. he hasnt let his guard down in so long he's forgotten what it felt like

andy is always reminded of his past mistakes,,, nightmares, a LOT of nightmares. every single time he looks in the mirror, and goes to work, and sees the people who have been Directly affected by his actions. theyre still alive, doing their own thing, living it up as best they can... but that doesnt make what he did right. it doesnt make it excusable. he KNOWS!!! theyre not gonna forgive him. and they dont have to. he's not expecting that,,, it wont change what happened. all they can do is move forward in spite of it all. and also he's dating one of the ex test subjects AND an old co worker. So!!!!!!! he's doing something right.