#secure your soul: a cyberpunk 2077 fanfiction

[corpocyborg]

my favorite high-functioning alcholic Director Valerie "V" Locke, Arasaka Counter Intel (from Secure Your Soul on AO3)

[corpocyborg]

Secure Your Soul: A Cyberpunk 2077 Fanfiction

This fic was previously published under the title “Before the Event Horizon.”

Summary: Six months ago, V’s boss at Arasaka ordered her to assassinate his rival. Instead, with the reluctant but invaluable help of her old friend Jackie Welles, she pushed them both off their thrones and claimed one for herself. Now the new Director of Arasaka Counter Intel has a problem. She’s uncovered information that indicates that Yorinobu Arasaka, the heir apparent to the Arasaka dynasty, is a traitor. But without solid proof, she’s forced to take matters into her own hands.

An AU in which Corpo!V never leaves Arasaka.

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE BEGINNING IS THE END IS THE BEGINNING

[read on ao3]

SIX MONTHS LATER

"Johnny Silverhand?" Frank Nostra repeated, incredulous. “The old-school rockerboy?”

"That's correct," V confirmed. "His engram, anyway. On one of our Secure Your Soul relics. My source doesn’t know why NetWatch wants it, but he’s sure that’s what they’re purchasing."

Nostra furrowed his brow, his gaze shifting distractedly to the holographic koi fish circling outside the windows of V's office.

V rapped her knuckles quietly against the surface of her desk as she waited for him to speak. She respected Nostra, and their quarterly reviews proved they worked together far more harmoniously than their predecessors had, but the burning knowledge of this particular piece of intel would not allow her to remain inactive for long.

"And you're sure—one hundred percent sure—that the seller is who you think it is?"

"Yorinobu Arasaka," V enunciated the name clearly. "You can say it, you know. My office isn't bugged."

"You'd better hope it's not," Nostra retorted sharply. "That's the emperor's son you're accusing. The heir apparent. If you're wrong—"

"And if I'm right," V interrupted him, "then there's a crack in the very foundation of Arasaka's legacy. If a splinter like that is allowed to spread—"

"Okay, okay," Nostra interrupted her in turn, "Let me think for a minute."

"All right, Frank. I understand your caution completely. But we're on a sensitive time table here."

"So you've mentioned. This source of yours at NetWatch—what did you say his name was?"

"I didn't." V frowned. "And I won't now, either. He’s risking his life by bringing me that intel."

"I'm sure he is, V, but without proof, I don't see how we can go any further up the rungs with this."

"We are, respectively, the Directors of Counter Intel and Spec Ops, and you're telling me there's nothing we can do about intel that indicates that Saburo Arasaka's son is a traitor?"

Nostra winced, and despite her earlier claims of security, V felt a slight twitch in her neck. She had to restrain herself from turning her head to check that they weren't being overheard. 

"I didn't say that," he clarified. "I said we need more proof."

"Nostra, I told you, the deal's supposed to go down tonight."

"Yes. At Konpeki Plaza. I understand." 

“Then you understand why we can’t afford to wait.”

“I’m not telling you to wait, V.” Nostra’s face was thoroughly neutral. “I’m telling you that you need more proof.”

V was silent. Her heart began to beat more rapidly. She realized what he was implying. He wouldn’t officially recommend that she obtain proof on her own, but he was letting her know that that’s what was necessary. It was a risky endeavor, and she wasn’t entirely sure yet how she’d accomplish it. But the idea filled her with eager anticipation. 

“Okay,” she told him, folding her arms neatly on the surface of her desk. “Understood.” 

Nostra nodded. “I hope so.” He stood. “Keep me updated, Director Locke.” He left the room with one last backward glance at V. 

His use of her official title was deliberate, she was sure. Almost everyone she knew at NCHQ called her V. The single letter alias had been assigned to her during her first year at Arasaka Academy as part of a particularly challenging group project—a simulated undercover operation. V’s plan had led her team to victory, and she’d spent a blissful two weeks of fame at the top of the student leaderboard before someone knocked her off it again. Since then, the nickname had just stuck, even though it was an atypical form of address between coworkers. By using her title instead, Nostra reminded her of her position and her responsibility to look out for Arasaka’s best interests.

V swiveled her chair slightly to the right so she had more room to comfortably cross her legs. She leaned back into the cool, supple leather. As always at the start of a new mission, V began by considering what she already knew about her enemy—Yorinobu Arasaka, Saburo Arasaka’s second-born son and presumed heir, since the death of his first-born son way back in the 2020s.

She knew his sordid history, a rebellious youth messing around with Japanese gangs. By all accounts, however, he'd been brought back into the fold since then, becoming leader of the Taka Faction and the most likely of Saburo’s potential heirs to actually take control one day. 

Even as a Department Head, V was far too low-ranking for her viewpoint on the issue to truly matter, but she privately thought that all of Saburo’s potential heirs fell short of him in various ways. His daughter, Hanako Arasaka, was reclusive and cautious—she was unlikely to be able to command respect to the degree that her father could, and her preference for playing the waiting game could result in missed opportunities. On the other hand, Michiko Arasaka—Saburo’s granddaughter via his first-born son—was well-loved by the public, but not so much by high-ranking executives in Arasaka, and the reform policies her faction lobbied for were too restrictive for V’s taste. And Yorinobu himself…

His faction’s namesake was the hawk for a reason: Taka was the most militant faction, and they were also globalist in scope and innovative in approach. All this, V appreciated. Yorinobu himself struck her as quick-tempered and headstrong, qualities that he shared with his father, but overall he seemed to have more passion and less restraint. That was a useful insight, at least. Emotional people were always easier to predict and manipulate.

All right then. That was the gist of what she knew about her enemy, little though it may be. Now onto her goals. Step one: getting into Konpeki Plaza. 

Luckily, as Director of Counter Intel, there were myriad possible excuses she could come up with for her presence at a place like that. She had several upcoming meetings in the pipeline that she could easily reschedule to tonight. What could be more natural than to apologize for the abrupt scheduling change by choosing a highly comfortable meeting venue, like say… Konpeki Plaza, for instance?

But then she'd have to figure out how to sneak into Yorinobu Arasaka’s suite while working around the schedule of the meeting, which might not leave her with sufficient time. And sending a delegate to replace her at the meeting would be suspicious at worst and extremely rude at best, considering she’d be the one who’d demanded the meeting occur on such short notice in the first place. No, that wouldn’t do. She needed an excuse that explained her presence at the hotel, but didn't draw anyone's attention to her specifically. 

Time for another approach. 

She used the optics display on her Kiroshi to pull up a calendar of events at Konpeki Plaza. She scanned through the conferences scheduled for tonight. If she could find one that could function as a realistic cover story, she could purchase a ticket and use it to get into the hotel. Her early exit from a large, crowded event was unlikely to be noted. And, better still, the conference rooms were on the ninety-eighth floor of the Plaza. Yorinobu was almost certainly on the hundredth floor—the penthouse suite. Anything less would be unseemly. She'd only have to find a way to go two extra floors higher.  

She scanned the possibilities. She was hoping to find a talk on something related to her work to buff up her cover story, but no such luck. One event did stand out to her, however. At 8pm in the Sapphire Conference Room, Hideyoshi Oshima, the famous braindance producer, was hosting a conference on the implementation of multifaceted emotional states in next-gen BDs. The timing was perfect, though the content of the meeting was ill-fitting with the type of events V typically attended. It certainly didn’t have much to do with her career. Still, she could plausibly claim a personal interest in the topic. 

She pulled up the event’s seating details and purchased a ticket. They were pricey, but what was the point of that ample Arasaka paycheck if not to spend it? She checked the time. She had about twenty minutes to change into a fresher suit and get to Konpeki Plaza, if she wanted her timing to seem realistic for the event. This called for her fastest ride. 

—

Fifteen minutes later, her Rayfield Excalibur touched down near the Arasaka waterfront, just outside Konpeki Plaza. She exited and was immediately greeted by a young, gold-skinned valet. Literally gold-skinned. One of the requirements of a job at Konpeki Plaza was a uniform you could never take off—you had to replace your natural skin with a shiny coating of metallic, gold Realskinn. V appreciated that level of dedication. 

“Hello, Director Locke,” the valet said. “Welcome to Konpeki Plaza. I’ll take care of your AV for you.”

She didn’t miss the excitement in the kid’s eyes. He may have been accustomed to luxury vehicles, but the Excalibur was the best of the best. V understood his enthusiasm. It was the fastest street-legal vehicle in the world, not to mention safe, comfortable, reliable, and absolutely gorgeous. V’s was off-black in color, exterior embellished with the Arasaka logo, and so polished that it gleamed even in the low lighting of the parking area. She smiled at the valet, waving her right hand in the signal that transferred a generous tip from one of her bank accounts to his. “Take good care of it."

“Of course, Director.” He nodded deferentially.

V made her way through the front doors of Konpeki Plaza, breezed through the security scanners, and walked up to the check-in desk. The receptionist recognized her on sight. “Director Locke,” she said. “Welcome back. Here for another meeting?” 

“Not this time, ” V answered, already placing her hand on the scanner to verify her SID chip. “I’ll be attending a conference tonight.”

“Ah, yes,” she responded. Her eyes lit up momentarily as she received the upload of V’s data. “Hideyoshi Oshima’s talk. He’s very good.” Her eyes faded back to their normal color and focused on V again. “Are you interested in braindance advancements, Director?”

“I am,” V responded, smiling warmly at the receptionist despite the irritation she felt at the question. She always strove to be courteous to the help—they were perfectly placed to overhear a treasure trove of gossip. Besides, she’d rehearsed a point of view on the topic during the AV ride. “I think Oshima has an interesting premise, but I maintain that experiencing a heightened sense of passion is actually a major selling point of BDs, and that therefore complicating that would actually counterintuitively cheapen the experience. His ideas, in my opinion, might not apply as well to the medium as he expects.”

The receptionist nodded earnestly. “I hadn’t thought of it that way. You may be right, Director.”

“Well, we’ll see if his speech impresses me,” V said, leaning towards her over the countertop with a conspiratorial look. “If you see me leaving early, then you’ll know I haven’t changed my initial assessment.”

The receptionist laughed. “Come down to the bar if he bores you. No sense in wasting the evening.”  

“None indeed,” V agreed. “Perhaps I’ll take you up on that offer.” She threw one last smile her way, then turned to leave. “Have a good evening.”

“You as well, Director,” the receptionist responded cheerfully. 

V heard her voice from a distance. She was already halfway towards the elevator. But as she passed the bar, a snippet of conversation caught her ear. 

“You wanna know what a bearer of bad news looks like?” A drunken businessman was gesturing wildly at a disinterested bartender and shouting loud enough for half the bar to overhear. His speech was slurred, and he occasionally interrupted himself with a hiccup. “What’s four hundred yards long, weighs a hundred thousand tons, and is nuclear powered? The answer’s docked in the bay. Hanako Arasaka decided to take a little vacation!”  

Hanako Arasaka was in Night City? V slowed down, her mind reeling. Her source at NetWatch hadn’t mentioned anything about that. It was possible he was unaware of her presence, but the odds of it being merely a coincidence were not great. 

V adjusted her course, heading towards the bar. By now the drunk had calmed down a bit and was staring morosely into a glass of golden liquid the bartender had handed him. V slid up next to him but faced the bartender, who turned his attention to her as well. “Evenin’,” he said. “What can I get you, baby?” 

That was the second time tonight she’d been addressed casually. No wonder the Night City Konpeki Plaza ranked below so many of the others in quality of customer service. “Evenin’,” she responded, mirroring his tone. “A glass of Centzon, please.” 

“Of course,” he said, pulling the appropriate bottle and a lowball glass from the shelf behind him. He poured the tequila and handed it to her. “Enjoy.” 

V took a small sip, savoring the taste. It was her favorite drink, but she wanted her mind to remain clear tonight. She watched the drunk from out of the corner of her eye and plotted her opening line. 

“A word of advice, if I may,” she spoke to him quietly, without turning her head. “Be careful what you broadcast for all the world to hear.”

He jumped slightly, no doubt pulled suddenly out of some private train of thought. A splash of his drink flew towards the floor. He stared at the stain for a moment, then looked up at her with wide, uncomprehending eyes. “What d’ya mean?”

“Your speech earlier, about Hanako Arasaka’s visit,” she reminded him. When he startled again, V explained herself. “You were loud enough that I could hear you from the other side of the room.”

“Was I?” he asked, momentarily abashed. Then a flush of anger returned to face. “Well, good! ‘Cause this affects us all. It’ll slap everyone in the face!”

“I get it,” V said. She propped her elbow up on the bar and placed her hand on the side of her neck, turning her full attention to him. “You’re pissed off. That’s fair. But you’re not gonna fix anything by mouthing off in a bar. You’re just gonna make things worse for yourself.”

At first, he looked angrier, and V feared she’d taken the wrong approach, but then all at once, the anger drained out of him, and he just looked tired. He took a swig from his nearly empty glass. “Why do you care, anyway?” he demanded, his voice a desperate whisper. 

V shrugged. “I guess because I’m in the same boat. I’m a tech specialist with Arasaka Counter Intel. I know how this shit can get.”

“Yeah,” he admitted, a trickle of relief creeping into his tone. “You would, wouldn’t you?” He scratched his head, a thoughtful gleam lighting up his slightly more lucid eyes. “Didn’t you have a big crisis a few months ago? Some psychobitch director shooting up the competition?”

“Something like that, yes.” V looked away from him, fixing her gaze on a point in the distance and letting her eyes glaze over like she’d seen Carter’s do when he’d spoken to her about finding the bodies. “It was terrible. If you’d have seen it… all that blood…”

“Hey, now,” he said, adopting a soothing tone. “You can’t go getting worked up over a little blood. You’re gonna see way worse things if you stay in Counter Intel. You need to be prepared.”

V analyzed his demeanor, checking if he noticed the irony of their role reversal. But he seemed too pleased to care. If only she knew how to cry on command. She took a deep, shaky breath instead. “How do you cope with it?” she asked him. “Is it always like this for you?”

“No, not always,” he reassured her. “I mean, I’m a liaison. That’s a sort of go-between from one branch of Arasaka to another. I represent the Night City branch in negotiations with the Tokyo branch. It can get stressful, but situations that get me this stressed aren’t usual.”

“I feel like things like this happen all the time.” 

“Nah, of course not. I mean, there’s no way something like this happens all the time.”

She looked at him doubtfully.

“No, really,” he insisted. “I mean, Hanako just had to follow her father…” 

He broke off his sentence hastily. V struggled to maintain her composure while she waited for him to resume it. Saburo Arasaka was in Night City??? Did he know about Yorinobu’s plan? Was he trying to stop him? Was he in the building right now? 

But there were some dangers so great that even intoxication and a pretty girl couldn’t make a man walk into them. When he began stuttering and trying to take a sip out of his empty glass, V knew she’d lost him.

“Look,” he said, finally putting his glass off to the side. “I should really get back to my room. It’s getting kinda late, and I’m probably gonna have a killer headache tomorrow.”  

V was far too shaken to try to convince him to stay. “All right,” she said simply. “Be careful.”

He looked at her strangely. It wasn’t until after he’d walked off that V registered why that must have been. Unlike everything else she’d said tonight, that warning had been genuine.

[corpocyborg]

Last Six Lines

Was tagged by @illusivesoul! (Thank you!!)

Tagging @merge-conflict, @luvwich, @another-corpo-rat, and @ghostoffuturespast!

Rules: Share the last 6 lines of any of your WIPs.

---

Major spoilers for future chapters of Secure Your Soul. This is actually quite far in the future from where the main story line is in the published story thus far, so be warned if you dislike spoilers. It's also quite a bit more than six lines, but I felt any less context than this wouldn't quite make sense. Also the rules don't apply to me because I'm an invisible robot.

---

"All right," Mosley finally said. He straightened his back and held his hand out to [V] with a nearly imperceptible smile. "Help us get to Cunningham, and you'll have what you need for your coup."

In the back of V's mind, Johnny's presence was getting louder. She couldn't make out any words, but there was no mistaking the source of that incessant subvocal noise. The omega-blockers shouldn't have been wearing off so soon, but he was always stronger when he was emotional. She'd expected he'd resurface at some point. Counted on it, in fact. She needed him awake for this.

She shook Mosley's hand. "It's a deal."

"Good, V. Good." He nodded briefly, then turned to leave. "I'll start the preparations."

"No," Johnny's voice breached her conscious awareness. It was barely above a whisper. "Fuck no."

The voice faded. Perhaps that was all he could manage?

She crossed her arms as she waited for Mosley to return. A cold draft had begun to seep into the room. That was good. Even the most penniless anarchist activists knew the importance of keeping cool while netrunning. If they couldn't afford the proper gear, they used a bathtub full of ice. At home and at the office, V had a special setup for the task, but naturally NetWatch was better equipped than she was. Evidentially, the whole room was designed to create the perfect environment. "FUCK. NO." After his mediocre earlier efforts, the sudden surge of sound and the accompanying rush of sensation caught her off guard. Suddenly, the cold of the room was biting instead of reassuring. She shivered uncontrollably as she heard him go on. "I'm not making contact with Alt just so you can sell her to NetWatch."

A hollow rage burst into being in the pit of her stomach. Johnny's rage. By now, she knew it as intimately as her own. She could read the curves and nuances like a digital lock could read a fingerprint. His anger reeked of desperation. She was still shivering, but she smiled. "It's cute how you think you have a choice."

[corpocyborg]

WIP WHENEVER

Starting another one! Tagging @merge-conflict, @fereldanwench, @luvwich, and @ghostoffuturespast.

---

Note: Except is from Secure Your Soul, from a future chapter. Leia the holographic cat is from the mod Apartment Cats - Corpo Plaza by deceptious. I love her so much that I've decided she's canon in my world. She was just already in the apartment when V moved in because the former owner of the apartment had had her digitized, and V decided to keep her because she takes no effort to care for and V's too busy for a living animal.

---

V sat at one end of her dining room table, clutching her mug of peppermint tea. Eleven empty chairs were arranged around her. She’d always thought it was a bit awkward how large her table was. It’s not like she held dinner parties in her own home. Truthfully, she almost never used the table herself, prone as she was to eating on the go or in the office. But she’d figured that Goro would prefer a proper sit-down meal.

As he sliced the fish, she watched him. He was as adept with a kitchen knife as he was with a tactical blade. His movements looked effortless, but every cut was quick, clean, and precise. She’d considered ordering prepared food from her favorite restaurant, but she’d guessed Goro would actually rather make it himself, so instead she’d just gotten him the highest-quality organic ingredients she could track down. She’d guessed right. When she showed him the neat lines of salmon, cod, and tuna—she didn’t know his favorite, so she’d just gotten a little of everything—he’d been so pleased, he’d rushed to start cooking right away. V smiled softly. He was pretty adorable when he got excited. 

“I can feel you ovulating,” Johnny said dryly, emerging from whatever dusty corner of her brain he sulked off to when he left her. “Do we have time for you two to fuckin’ play house?”

V didn’t answer immediately. As usual, she had to calm her nerves first before she could bring herself to take a tactful route with Johnny. She took a sip of her tea but found it was still too hot for comfort. That didn’t help with the irritation. She set it down and blew on it. 

“We’re going to discuss our plan,” she reminded him. “This isn’t a social visit.”

“Uh-huh.” He manifested into the chair across from her, sunglasses on his face even though they were indoors, and it was night outside. She wondered how much control he had over how he appeared to her. Some, surely, that much was evident from the changes he sometimes displayed. But was it a choice or a subconscious adjustment? She wasn’t sure how to tell the difference, but she could learn a lot from either. She’d already noticed some patterns. When he took the glasses off, it meant he was being vulnerable. They were on now. He watched her cooly from behind covered eyes. “And what plan would that be?” 

“Our plan to convince Hanako Arasaka to side with us against her brother,” she said slowly, in much the same tone that a schoolteacher would use if she were trying to patiently teach a lesson to a particularly dense child. It wasn’t the tone she’d been going for. It was much harder to control your tone in your own thoughts. At least, they used to be her own thoughts.  

“Uh-huh,” he repeated. If it were possible, he actually sounded less convinced. “Think I actually preferred it when you were drooling over him.”

He dematerialized from the chair, leaving her with the potent taste of dissatisfaction in her mouth. She picked up the tea again and took another sip. Now that it’d cooled off, it was perfect. The mint even soothed the burned tongue her haste had earned her earlier. Maybe it wasn’t hard to control her tone in her own mind, she thought as she felt her muscles start to relax. Maybe it was just him.  

“Oh,” Goro exclaimed suddenly. V turned her head towards the kitchen. Leia had jumped onto the countertop and was attempting to steal a piece of salmon. When it didn’t budge, she flicked her paw at it and meowed angrily. Goro watched her with uncertainty. 

“It’s all right,” V said. “She can’t actually touch it. She’s a hologram.”

“Could you not turn it off?” Goro asked.

“That's unnecessary. She can't hurt anything. Anyway, if she's bothering you, I can fix it.” V stood up and headed to the kitchen. She got Leia’s attention with a little chittering noise and guided her off the counter and towards one of her favorite spots under V’s desk. “See, there you go."

Goro nodded and returned to his task.

“Yet you don’t think twice about turnin' me off,” Johnny pointed out. His apparition popped up by the fridge, leaning against it with his arms crossed. 

“You’re here now, aren’t you?” V snapped at him. “I’ve still got plenty of omega blockers left, you know. If I wanted you gone, you’d be gone.”

“You wish.” He vanished again. 

She took a deep breath and turned her attention back to Goro. He was placing the onigiri onto a pair of bright red porcelain plates. They looked perfect. Of course they did. 

“Here we go,” he said, as he carried the plates back over to the table. “Sit down.”

---

Note #2: I'm not sure whether Goro would really respond that way to Leia. He clearly likes cats, but I think the idea of an engram cat would kinda freak him out. Like, digitizing consenting humans or not-so-consenting terrorists is one thing, but I think the idea of someone doing that to a helpless animal that can't say no would bother him. But I also think he wouldn't fully admit to himself that it bothers him because there's a level of guilt there and he's the original Mr. Denial, so I was thinking that maybe he'd mostly just be uncomfortable around her. Still, I'm not sure if he'd respond in a way where he'd want her to be temporarily turned off when he's there. It seems kinda cruel in a way, even though it wouldn't hurt her and she wouldn't actually know any time had passed. Anyway, I'm not 100% set on that reaction, but I suppose that's what makes it a WIP. 😁

[corpocyborg]

Johnny: Can I ask you something? V: No, but I'm sure you will anyway. Johnny: You got some kinda personal vendetta against chairs or does 'Saka just pay you better if you've got lower back pain? V: Standing helps me concentrate. What, does it bother you? Big revolutionary afraid of a little discomfort? What a surprise.

Director Valerie "V" Locke, Arasaka Counter Intel (from Secure Your Soul on AO3)

[corpocyborg]

"Damn, V, it's a good thing you brought your AV." "Are you kidding? I love my Excalibur almost as much as I love myself."

---

A photo set I've been working on for Chapter Five of Secure Your Soul, which is my AU fic in which Corpo V never gets fired from Arasaka and, in fact, becomes the Director of Arasaka Counter Intel.

Chapter Five is called "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" and tells the story of how Director Valerie Locke, due to a tip off from a source at NetWatch, begins to suspect that Yorinobu Arasaka may be a traitor. Due to a lack of concrete evidence, she decides to sneak into Konpeki Plaza and try to catch him in the act of selling the Relic to NetWatch. But she gets more than she bargained for when she runs into her old friend Jackie Welles, who's trying to steal the Relic, and things get even worse when Yorinobu murders his father right in front of them.

Jackie pointedly reminds her that she owes him. After all, he's the reason she was able to keep her job at Arasaka the time she almost got fired. Reluctantly, V agrees that he's right and allows him to escape with her in her company AV. They're both alive and they've got their hands on the Relic, but they each want to use it for very different purposes.

Some things never change... but some things do.

[corpocyborg]

WIP Whenever

Tagged by @illusivesoul. (Thank you!)

I'm going to share a bit from a future chapter of Secure Your Soul, which is my AU where Corpo!V never leaves Arasaka. I have previously posted this bit on tumblr, but it's been edited since then and it's been a while and unfortunately I don't have a lot of new content... so here it is again. 😅

--

CHAPTER TBD: FEED THE DEMON

V wasn't sure how much time had passed, but as she started to regain lucidity, she became gradually aware of Johnny's voice in her head.

"I mean, for fuck's sake, V," Johnny was saying. "I've seen your memories. The things you've done for 'Saka. You've killed. Blackmailed. Ruined lives. And for what? Corporate rep? Profit margins? How do you fuckin’ live with yourself?"

V stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn't remember how she'd gotten here. The alley she was in was abandoned. Litter lined the sidewalk, and the street lamps were barely flickering. In a dark corner nearby, a stray dog was busy devouring a rat.

For a few seconds, V just watched it. Homeless dogs were a rare sight in Night City. This one was dark gray and half its left ear was missing. It looked lean and muscular, and it tore off chunks of its prize with a ferocity that domestic dogs almost never displayed.

"You see that?" she asked Johnny.

Johnny's physical image materialized in the alley. He leaned against the wall—appeared to lean, she reminded herself—and gazed at the dog. "See everything you see," he replied.

"You're looking. You're not seeing."

"That so? And what'm I supposed to be seeing?"

"The evolutionarily synchronized relationship between predator and prey."

Johnny looked up from the dog and stared at her. She could see the anger on his face, but she could also feel him manifesting that same anger inside her body. No matter. She'd make it hers. Anger was an emotion she could work with.

"You see one dog eating one rat," V continued, allowing some of Johnny's anger to seep into her voice, directing it back at him. "In your interpretation, there's one winner and one loser. It's accurate, in a way. The dog wins. Look at him. He's a survivor. Even you should be able to recognize that."

Johnny didn't answer. His image was looking away from her, eyes locked on the warring animals. But she could still feel him fuming. Only now it was hard to tell where his anger ended and hers began. She continued speaking.

"You don't see the bigger picture. For every dog having dinner tonight, dozens starve. For every rat providing the main meal, dozens get away. They're fast enough or clever enough to escape.

"Only the best dogs feed, only the best rats live. And because of this, over generations, both species improve. In the end, the prey species benefits just as much as the predator species does. And the world gets better."

"The world." Johnny repeated the phrase slowly. She tasted his revulsion on her tongue. "This world?" he asked. He gestured at the trash-strewn alleyway. The dog had finished its meal and had settled to sleep in a blanket likely left there before by a homeless person. "This is your brave new world?"

"No, Johnny," she responded, her voice echoing the revulsion he'd forced her to feel. "These are just the rats that got caught."

---

And, now for my tags...

@merge-conflict, @gamerkitten, @luvwich, @fereldanwench and @another-corpo-rat

No pressure of course as always.

[corpocyborg]

Secure Your Soul: A Cyberpunk 2077 Fanfiction

This fic was previously published under the title “Before the Event Horizon.”

Summary: Six months ago, V’s boss at Arasaka ordered her to assassinate his rival. Instead, with the reluctant but invaluable help of her old friend Jackie Welles, she pushed them both off their thrones and claimed one for herself. Now the new Director of Arasaka Counter Intel has a problem. She’s uncovered information that indicates that Yorinobu Arasaka, the heir apparent to the Arasaka dynasty, is a traitor. But without solid proof, she’s forced to take matters into her own hands.

An AU in which Corpo!V never leaves Arasaka.

CHAPTER SIX: LIKE A MILITARY COUP

[read on ao3]

PRESENT DAY

“Get up, you backstabbing bitch.”

V’s mind crossed the threshold into consciousness, and she jolted awake. Her neck ached from sleeping at a desk, but it was a familiar ache. She’d pulled all-nighters at a desk her whole life, staring at a pile of paperwork or a computer monitor until the lead she needed jumped out at her. She looked up at Abernathy. “Morning, m’am. Do you have more questions for me?”

Abernathy slammed her head into the desk. 

“Fuck,” V muttered. She had cranial armor implants, but they’d been taking a serious beating lately. Abernathy must have gotten the same holiday bonus that she had. No one without gorilla arms could exert that much force so effortlessly. “That's the second time in 24 hours someone’s done that to me.”

“It won't be the last,” Abernathy promised. She lifted V’s head and slammed it back down again. Then she lifted it once more, but this time she held it so that V’s eyes were looking into her own. “What did you say to him to get him to squeal?”

“I've been locked in here for hours,” V said through clenched teeth. Despite the armor implants, her head was pounding viciously. “I haven't had any communication with anyone since you were last here. You can check your surveillance footage if you don't believe me.”

“Then you planned it together.”

“Jenkins and I? What would be the point of that? Just to fuck with you?” V’s words were muffled by Abernathy’s hold on her face. “I came to you because I was trying to switch sides. I wanted to work for someone more level-headed. Although this display is making me doubt whether I was right about you.” 

“How dare you?” Abernathy spat, but V was pleased to hear a slight catch in her voice. She’d guessed that line would work on Abernathy primarily because it would have worked on her.

“Look,” V began, wincing as Abernathy squeezed her head. “You can waste your time here, tormenting someone who isn’t even in on Jenkins’ plans, or you can go after your actual enemy. One option is far more productive than the other.” 

Abernathy paused, her grip never lessening, for a few seconds that felt much longer to V. Her vision was just starting to swim when Abernathy abruptly released her head. Inertia slammed it back into the desk one final time. When V looked up again, Abernathy was gone. 

She crossed her arms on the desk and rested her head on them, struggling for air at first, then progressively slowing and deepening her breaths. It was a technique she’d learned from her life coach at Quantified Satori. It helped, but only to a degree. The pounding in her head had not subsided, and V wasn’t sure how long it would be before she’d have the strength to lift her head again. She supposed there’d be no point to now, anyway. Whatever happened next was outside her control. And, despite their differences, she trusted Jackie. He’d know what he had to do. 

Continuing to breathe deeply, she began a new neuromotor relaxation exercise—one targeted at releasing tension in various muscle groups, one at a time, in a particular pattern. It seemed like a good choice because it occupied her mind as well as her body. With this welcome distraction to guide her, V gradually found her way back into unconsciousness.

—

When she woke up again, a different coworker was standing over her.

“Nostra,” she said groggily, “Abernathy sent you?”

“No, V,” Nostra replied. “Abernathy’s offed herself.”

That snapped her awake. Ever since Jenkins had first given her the order to go after Abernathy, V had been anticipating every potential resolution to the situation that she could come up with. She thought she’d become especially effective at predicting Abernathy’s reactions, largely because she so often reacted the same way that V herself would have. But she hadn’t seen this coming.

“You look so shocked,” Nostra commented. There was a slight twitch at the right corner of his mouth. “Weren’t expecting it, huh?”

“Were you?” 

Nostra sighed quietly. “In a manner of speaking. She wasn’t depressed, if that’s what you’re assuming. Wasn’t a quitter either. Hell, I’ve seen the woman dodge shit thrown at her from every angle and still walk away clean. She wasn’t weak, V.”

He paused, looking directly at her. Gauging her reaction, V knew. She didn’t try to hide her confusion. A poker face was a decent enough tactic for certain types of lies, but generally the superior strategy was to react the way you would have reacted if you were innocent. 

“Then why-” she began.

“Why did she kill herself?” Nostara finished her sentence for her. “Because she didn’t have any interest in life after Arasaka.” 

A sudden sense of understanding dawned in V’s mind. Nostra nodded at her. “Now you get it,” he said. “Anyway, that’s the internal factors. As for the external factors, your man Jenkins got too trigger-happy. He was blackmailing her, as you know. Hadn’t released anything, was just making demands at first… then, suddenly, he uploads it all, every bit of dirt he’s got on her, to Arasaka’s intranet.” 

Well done, Jackie, V thought instinctively. She forced that thought into the back of her mind. Her face showed nothing but doubt. “But why?” she demanded. “And how do you know it was him?”

“Fair question. He deleted any metadata or other digital trails that could lead to him. He tried to, anyway. It was a tech specialist from your department who caught him, actually. Carter Smith. I believe you know him.”

“I do,” V replied cautiously. She was unsure how Smith factored into the situation and that made her nervous. He knew about her deal with Jackie, but he didn’t know exactly what was on the datashard she’d left him, and he certainly didn’t know about the dirt she’d added to it over the past six years. But it was hardly an impossible intuitive leap. If he'd connected the dots… “We’ve worked together in the past.”

“Apparently, he’d been keeping an eye on Jenkins since he overheard him telling you to ‘make sure Abernathy won’t be a problem anymore.’”

“Jenkins did tell me that. And as you know, I didn’t listen.” 

“Didn’t you?” Nostra asked. “Abernathy won’t be a problem for Jenkins anymore, will she?” Before V could say anything in her defense, Nostra added, “Of course, Jenkins will hardly be able to benefit from that, seeing as he’s dead.”

“Jenkins is dead?” V was intrigued to find that she was actually a little sad about that. She’d barely known Abernathy, but Jenkins had been a constant presence in her life for several years. She wouldn’t have called him a friend, but then she spent more time with her coworkers than she did with her friends.

“Yes. Apparently, Smith didn’t like the sound of Jenkins’ plan either. Went directly to Abernathy and reported everything he’d heard. Then offered to keep an eye out for her regarding any further developments. Interestingly enough, he said he didn’t think you’d go through with it. He seems to like you.”

V looked down at the table, smiling slightly. Well, well. You never did know which allies could turn out to be valuable in the long run. “That’s kind of him,” she mused, momentarily lost in the private joke. “But you still haven’t told me how Jenkins ended up dead.”

“Smith kept his word. He was monitoring Jenkins’ online presence. After the blackmail data leaked, he was able to trace a pattern of suspicious activity that indicated that Jenkins was the source. Abernathy had just gotten back from your last interrogation. He showed her what he’d found. She decided if she was going down anyway, Jenkins was coming with her.”

“So she killed him?”

“Yes. Personally, in fact. A first for her.”

V didn’t miss the implication. Abernathy had killed coworkers before, but never by her own hand. V knew that, of course. It made up the bulk of the info that “Jenkins” had revealed. Still, it was interesting that Nostra was comfortable speaking about it so openly. She wondered how much of that reveal had not actually been a surprise to him.   

“What about his security team?” she asked.

“He had one, of course. But they primarily look out for threats in disguise, assassination attempts. Not a known coworker who simply walks directly into his office with a weapon. That’s the danger of an enemy with nothing left to lose.”

V stayed silent for a moment, allowing her mind to mull over this new information. It was hard to be certain how much of this story Nostra actually believed, but she suspected it wasn’t all of it. “So what happens now?” she asked finally.

“Now Arasaka has two high-ranking positions to fill on rather short notice. I’m acting Director of Spec Ops, naturally. The acting Director of Counter Intel, by the typical order of succession, should be you.”

V looked up at Nostra. A deep and familiar hunger roared to life in the center of her chest.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Nostra warned her. “It’s temporary. A full investigation of the incident is pending, then Arasaka will decide if you can keep the position. But, yes. It’s you. For now.”

V released a deep breath. She inhaled another one, held it for four counts, then released that one too. “Okay,” she said. “Then I’m free to go?”

In answer, Nostra walked over to the door and opened it. 

—

V sat behind the desk in her new office. For the last eleven hours, she'd been suppressing her sense of awe in order to allow herself to focus on the seemingly endless stream of meetings and holoconferences she'd been hosting. There had been much to do. The Frankfurt incident had still needed resolving. As soon as she'd gotten to the office, she'd put her extensive collection of international contacts to work, trading favors and information in exchange for influence over the appointments of the new heads of the European Space Council. 

By now, she felt secure that she'd managed to position a majority of figureheads who would either be loyal to or manipulatable by Arasaka. It had been easier than she'd expected. The job wasn't desirable lately, and she could offer a level of protection and security that had skyrocketed in value. She mentally thanked Jenkins for that. 

Jenkins… 

Now that she had a second to breathe, it hit her again. She was sitting in Jenkins' chair. Behind Jenkins’ desk. In Jenkins' office.

In the last few years, she’d spent more time in the Tower than she had in her own apartment, and as she'd risen through the ranks in Counter Intel, she'd spent more and more time in this office in particular. It was such a familiar place. 

Still, she gazed around, sponging in the sights as if she'd never seen them before. Memorizing every detail. The giant Arasaka logo on the floor. The couch in one corner with the liquor cabinet beside it, the full length dining table in the other. The plants displayed behind the glass built into the walls. And finally, the windows and the view outside. Her gaze lingered there the longest, her chair angled to face the window.

Someone knocked softly on her door. 

“Come in,” she called out. She swiveled her chair back towards the door. 

Carter Smith was poking his head through the crack. “Hey, V,” he said nervously. “Are you still busy? I didn't want to interrupt.”

“It's fine. You can come in.” 

He walked across the room and sat in the same seat she'd occupied yesterday. Had it been yesterday? It felt like a lifetime ago. She cleared some papers off her desk and closed her laptop. “What do you need, Carter?”

“I wanted to see how you're doing.”

“Well, we've made good progress in mitigating potential future issues with the Space Council. Our lunar base licenses—”

“No, V. I meant I wanted to see how you’re doing. Personally.”

V paused. “Oh.”

Carter’s cheeks turned a telling shade of pink. “I just… I know Abernathy had you locked up, and… after learning what she’s capable of, I wasn't sure…”

“I’m fine,” V reassured him quickly. “She didn't do anything to me that I can't recover from.” 

“Okay.” Carter looked relieved. “Good. I couldn't stand it if anyone else got hurt.” V had the sense that he wanted to say something more. He rubbed the back of his neck, then sighed. “Can you believe what happened? Abernathy… I wanted to protect her… I never thought…”

It was rather sad. Abernathy would've wiped him out without a thought if she'd deemed it necessary, and yet here he was, lamenting his part in her demise. Some people just refused to look out for their own best interests. “There’s no point in blaming yourself,” she said. “Abernathy made her own decision.”

“I know. I know that. But V… you didn't see it…” His eyes scanned the room warily, and V wondered if he was considering revealing some sort of secret information. 

“Didn't see what?” she pressed.

“This office. Afterwards.” For a moment, his eyes glazed over and V knew his mind was reliving the memory.

“Carter?” she said, trying to anchor him to the present. “It's all right. Just breathe.”

He took a deep breath. He shivered, but seemed to come back to himself. “Anyway,” he said, looking abashed again. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'm gonna go now. I've wasted enough of your time. Just needed someone to talk to, I guess.”

“That's fine,” V said cautiously. She didn't want to alienate Carter. He'd proven valuable lately. But she didn't have time to become his regular shoulder to cry on. “Maybe try focusing on your work?” she suggested. “I know you like working with tech.”

“Yeah,” Carter said. He smiled, but it was obviously forced. “Thanks, V. I'll try that.” He left the office.

Well, either he didn't suspect V’s involvement in Jenkins and Abernathy's downfall, or he was the absolute damn best liar she'd ever met. She almost hoped it was the latter. That would make him much more interesting. 

She rotated her chair back towards the window. The sun was setting, and the city was coming to life. It lived up to its name, she thought. Its neon colors looked more beautiful against a backdrop of black. And the sky in City Center was always a deep, pure black at night. Night City—the city so bright, it blotted out the stars.  

The clock on her optics started flashing, an indication that it was time for her to go home. She dismissed the alarm, but made no moves to leave. As acting Director of Arasaka Counter Intel, it was her right to sleep in her office if she deemed it necessary. She pulled a cigarette out of a desk drawer and lit it. It was Jenkins’, but he wouldn't be needing it anymore. She reclined her chair, took a deep drag from the cigarette, and exhaled slowly. 

Night City, she decided, looked its absolute best from out the windows of Arasaka Tower. 

[corpocyborg]

First meeting between Arasaka Counter Intel Director Valerie "V" Locke & engram Johnny Silverhand.

You could say it went poorly. You could also say a nuke is just a very large grenade.

[corpocyborg]

Secure Your Soul: A Cyberpunk 2077 Fanfiction

This fic was previously published under the title “Before the Event Horizon.”

Summary: Six months ago, V’s boss at Arasaka ordered her to assassinate his rival. Instead, with the reluctant but invaluable help of her old friend Jackie Welles, she pushed them both off their thrones and claimed one for herself. Now the new Director of Arasaka Counter Intel has a problem. She’s uncovered information that indicates that Yorinobu Arasaka, the heir apparent to the Arasaka dynasty, is a traitor. But without solid proof, she’s forced to take matters into her own hands.

An AU in which Corpo!V never leaves Arasaka.

CHAPTER FOUR: HALL OF MIRRORS

[read on ao3]

They left her in an interrogation room on one of the unlisted levels of Arasaka Tower. It would have been pointless for her to speculate where exactly in the building she was. At least four different floors of the Tower included sets of interrogation rooms, and those were just the ones she knew about. Besides, they all looked alike on the inside. 

The room was small, but so sparsely furnished that it seemed both cramped and barren at the same time. A single table stood in the center, flanked by two rigid chairs. One of these was occupied by V. The other was empty. The lights in the room were bright red, and they glinted off the metallic gray surfaces in a manner that made it hard for V to look at any one thing in the room for too long.   

She didn’t need to look. V was highly familiar with the features of an Arasaka interrogation room. She would know what was in it with her eyes closed. She was even aware of what couldn't be seen—the extensive surveillance system. Every inch of the room was covered with various sensors, and datasevers in an adjoining room were undoubtedly busy compiling detailed reports on her body language, skin temperature, heart rate, and vocal inflections. It’d almost be enough to unnerve her, if she didn’t know that they could already obtain all the same basic information from checking the logs on her cyberware. Besides, V had been trained to withstand interrogation. She could fool the sensors nine times out of ten. 

As she waited, V wiped the food stains off her face, pulled her hair back into shape, and resisted sinking into the shame and frustration that came along with having underestimated an enemy. 

A few minutes later, the door opened. Abernathy stepped in. As she settled into the chair on the other side of the table, V straightened her back attentively. Although they worked in associated departments, V had only met Abernathy face-to-face on a handful of separate occasions. This was a rare opportunity to compare what she’d learned about her from second-hand sources to the actual woman. 

Her style struck V as slightly incongruous, but immediately comprehensible. She wore a neatly-pressed black suit jacket, and her hair was in a tight, high ponytail similar to V’s own. On the other hand, she’d forgone the classic immono-cotton slacks that V tended to prefer in favor of a short pencil skirt, and her knee-high boots had heels even taller than V’s pumps did. She had followed the general Arasaka dress code but incorporated her own flair. Professional, but not demure. It was a delicate balance that V knew well, and Abernathy walked it proficiently.

Abernathy had neither spoken nor taken her eyes off V since she’d walked into the room, and V was sure a similar assessment was brewing in her mind, with V as the subject matter. Her legs were crossed and she was leaning back in the chair, one arm draped across its side. An open posture that was either meant to imply trust or lack of fear. V would venture to guess the latter.

In all probability, she was waiting for V to speak first and planning to let her lead the conversation. It made sense. The more V said, the more likely she was to slip up and reveal something she didn’t want Abernathy to know. At the same time, dominating the conversation inherently yielded the opportunity to control the narrative. If V could weave the proper story, she could influence Abernathy’s conception of events while letting Abernathy believe that her tactic was working. She’d bite. 

“What does he have on you?” V asked suddenly. She twitched forward in her chair as she said it, as if she simply couldn’t hold the question back any longer. 

“Excuse me?” Abernathy responded. She tilted her head in a gesture of confusion.  

“Jenkins,” V insisted. “Come on. You don’t believe I’m trying to frame him. So why all this, then?"

Abernathy didn't respond. She wouldn’t, not for a while anyway, if V’s assessment of her strategy was accurate, and she was quite certain it was. But V waited, counting the reasonable amount of seconds in her head, as if she expected an answer.   

"I have a theory," V continued. "I think that datashard wasn't everything he had on you. It did feel a bit lacking. Full of facts, but none of them substantial. Nothing I could actually use."

Abernathy remained silent. V waited again, but this time she decreased the length of her pause, imitating a loss in patience. 

"So it was a trap all along then, wasn't it?” She went on. “He suspected I was disloyal, and he knew for a fact you hated his guts, so he decided he'd take us both down in one fell swoop. Dig up dirt on you, then give me all of it except the parts that matter. If I manage to make it work anyway, he's rid of you and I'm bound to him via guilt. And if not, then he extorts you himself and forces you to let me take the blame. Either way leads to victory." 

Abernathy’s face finally betrayed a hint of emotion. She seemed as though she was slightly amused. "I used to think he lacked nuance."  

From that brief concession, V understood that Abernathy respected Jenkins more for having bested her than she did V for not having tried. In her place, she'd have felt exactly the same way. That was how she knew she had just one chance left to convince her she was siding with the wrong person. She gave Abernathy some honest advice. "If you let him get away with this, you'll never be free. Whatever it is you've done, you're better off just admitting to it. Get ahead of the story. Focus on spin control. Don’t let him hold this over you, or he'll own you forever."

"'Forever' is a tricky word, V. What goes up always comes down eventually." Abernathy gestured a rising and falling motion with her hand. "Assuming your little theory were true, I'd already have contingencies in place to erode the impact of any supposed blackmail. The longer Arthur waited to reveal his intel, the more he'd find his leverage shrinking in his hands until it was nothing. All I would need would be time."

V had the uncanny sensation that she was listening to a recording of herself. She held back a smile. Abernathy was so clever. Jenkins was greedy. It was one of his biggest weaknesses as an opponent. She’d first noticed it years ago. He didn’t just want to beat you; he wanted to beat you by as large a margin as possible. It often led him to postpone a win and allow his enemy a chance to recuperate.  

“I see,” V responded, with a slight hesitation that hinted that she didn’t. Then, cautiously, as if holding back her curiosity, “And what if you didn't have time?”

“Arthur’s greedy,” Abernathy said, unknowingly explaining V’s earlier thoughts to her. “Were he to find himself in a position like the one you outlined, he’d want to see how much he could milk out of me before he pulled the trigger.” 

“He could be spooked into firing prematurely,” V suggested. It was true. Jenkins was greedy, but also impulsive. The right surge of emotion could push him into an earlier strike.  

“He could,” Abernathy admitted, “but do you really think you'll have that chance?”

V let her face fall into an image of dashed hopes. “So what happens to me now?”

"I suppose you know what 'firing' means in your case? Considering your level of access to Arasaka intel.”

"Of course I do.” She said it defensively, like someone who was trying to compensate for the fact that she’d been beaten. 

Abernathy had an amused look on her face again. She leaned forward slightly. "I wonder… are you afraid?"

Was that a spark of pleasure she spotted in Abernathy? Interesting. Sadism had not been on her preconceived list of Abernathy’s traits. That could be a useful discovery. She decided to test how much of a difference it made to her. She jutted out her chin defiantly. "No one with a healthy fear of death makes it as far as I have."

"Hmm." The spark went out. Abernathy leaned back in her chair again. "Easy not to fear death when it feels like a theoretical. You might find that changes when the moment comes."

V stayed silent, projecting a sullen indifference.   

"Well, V, I think you've given me everything I need,” Abernathy concluded. “You'll hear our final decision by tomorrow morning.” She stood. “Have a lovely evening." 

She exited, leaving V alone in the nearly empty room.

So she was meant to spend the night here. That didn’t surprise her. It was a common interrogation tactic. Lack of sleep weakened the defenses of even the most vigilant of people. Someday, V thought, when Arasaka finally perfected the digital afterlife, she'd be the first in line to toss away the limitations of the flesh. Well, maybe second in line. She was willing to concede that Adam Smasher might beat her there. 

V crossed her arms on the surface of the table and laid her head on top of them as a makeshift pillow. Nothing to do now but wait for Jackie. Surely he’d understood what she expected him to do. It was time for him to hold up his end of their original deal. 

Jackie’s very own pacto con el diablo, she thought, smiling fondly. For all his moralist talk, when shit hit the fan, Jackie always did the smart thing in the end. If he didn't, she could never have tolerated him long enough for their arrangement to bear fruit, nevermind bloom into a genuine friendship. 

Strange to think the moment had finally arrived, though. It seemed so long ago that they'd come to terms. She readjusted her position and let her mind wander back to that day.

[corpocyborg]

Cyberpunk 2077 - Secure Your Soul on Netflix AO3

"Valerie 'V' Locke, Director of Counter Intelligence at all-powerful corporation Arasaka, must contended with sharing her brain with the digitized soul of dead rockerboy and anti-corpo terrorist Johnny Silverhand."

Netflix Template by @seungnm!

[corpocyborg]

WIP - Excerpt from "Secure Your Soul" (AU where Corpo V never leaves Arasaka)

From Chapter TBD - "Feed the Demon"

V wasn't sure how much time had passed, but as she started to regain lucidity, she became gradually aware of Johnny's voice in her head.

"I mean, for fuck's sake, V," Johnny was saying. "I've seen your memories. The things you've done for 'Saka. You've killed. Blackmailed. Ruined lives. And for what? Corporate rep? Profit margins? How do you live with yourself?"

V stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn't remember how she'd gotten here. The alley she was in was abandoned. Litter lined the sidewalk, and the street lamps were barely flickering. In a dark corner nearby, a stray dog was busy devouring a rat.

For a few seconds, V just watched it. Homeless dogs were a rare sight in Night City. This one was dark gray and half its left ear was missing. It looked lean and muscular, and it tore off chunks of its prize with a ferocity that domestic dogs almost never displayed.

"You see that?" She asked Johnny.

Johnny's physical image materialized in the alley. He leaned against the wall - appeared to lean, she reminded herself - and gazed at the dog. "See everything you see," he replied.

"You're looking. You're not seeing."

"That so? And what'm I supposed to be seeing?"

"The evolutionarily synchronized relationship between predator and prey."

Johnny looked up from the dog and stared at her. She could see the anger on his face, but she could also feel him manifesting that same anger inside her body. No matter. She'd make it hers. Anger was an emotion she could work with.

"You see one dog eating one rat," V continued, allowing some of Johnny's anger to seep into her voice, directing it back at him. "In your interpretation, there's one winner and one loser. It's accurate, in a way. The dog wins. Look at him. He's a survivor. Even you should be able to recognize that."

Johnny didn't answer. His image was looking away from her, eyes locked on the warring animals. But she could still feel him fuming. Only now it was hard to tell where his anger ended and hers began. She continued speaking.

"You don't see the bigger picture. For every dog having dinner tonight, dozens starve. For every rat providing the main meal, dozens get away. They're fast enough or clever enough to escape.

"Only the best dogs feed, only the best rats live. And because of this, over generations, both species improve. In the end, the prey species benefits just as much as the predator species does. And the world gets better."

"The world." Johnny repeated the phrase slowly. She tasted his revulsion on her tongue. "This world?" he asked. He gestured at the trash-strewn alleyway. The dog had finished its meal and had settled to sleep in a blanket likely left there before by a homeless person. "This is your brave new world?"

"No, Johnny," she responded, her voice echoing the revulsion he'd forced her to feel. "These are just the rats that got caught."

[corpocyborg]

Secure Your Soul: A Cyberpunk 2077 Fanfiction

This fic was previously published under the title “Before the Event Horizon.”

Summary: Six months ago, V’s boss at Arasaka ordered her to assassinate his rival. Instead, with the reluctant but invaluable help of her old friend Jackie Welles, she pushed them both off their thrones and claimed one for herself. Now the new Director of Arasaka Counter Intel has a problem. She’s uncovered information that indicates that Yorinobu Arasaka, the heir apparent to the Arasaka dynasty, is a traitor. But without solid proof, she’s forced to take matters into her own hands.

An AU in which Corpo!V never leaves Arasaka.

CHAPTER FIVE: THE MISSION

[read on ao3]

SIX YEARS EARLIER

V sat in a parked car and discreetly watched the windows of the hotel across the street through her Kiroshi. Assuming the rookie techie they’d partnered her with had done his job properly, this was the place where she’d find her mark. 

Not that V wasn’t technically a rookie herself. She’d only been working for Arasaka for a few months. But she came from a legacy family—both her parents had been Arasaka employees—and she’d attended Arasaka Academy for the last four years and transferred directly into Counter Intel post-graduation. The job fit her like it was made for her. Or, more accurately, it fit her because she had been made for it. 

On the other hand, Carter Smith, the techie in question… he was a smart guy, but too squeamish by far. V didn't understand reluctant corpos—if working for Arasaka hadn’t struck her as the best thing she could be doing with her life, she wouldn’t have done it.

But if he had successfully tracked the target, he was worth something. She’d give him the benefit of the doubt. For now. 

As she watched the hotel, V mentally reviewed the details of her case. Stephen Blackburn—a former Arasaka employee, pissed off that he hadn't been able to cut it in the corpo world—had made off with a datafile full of dirt on his former bosses. She knew the type. Jaded risk-takers with nothing left to lose. Dangerous because they were desperate, but predictable too. 

Blackburn wasn't her direct opponent here, though. She knew from Smith’s interception of his messages that he'd hired a merc to transport a laptop with the data on it for him. A merc whose identity was still unknown. V didn't like that. She planned better when she could analyze her enemy. So she waited outside the hotel, hoping to catch a glimpse of him long enough to ascertain his identity. 

Her patience paid off. Forty minutes into her stake-out, a curtain moved in the top floor window of the building—in exactly the room that Smith had claimed was occupied by her target. She quickly zoomed in that direction. There. A face glancing furtively out at the street. Gone almost as soon as she’d spotted it, but her optics had been fast enough to grab a scan. If he had an NCPD record… and, as it turned out, he did. The relevant file popped up in the side of her vision. A surprisingly short rap sheet, starting with a carjacking when he was fifteen. The record identified him as Jackie Welles.

Hmm. An interesting coincidence. She recognized the name. The associated image, too, though of course he was older now. After her parents had died in the line of duty, but before Arasaka had offered her a spot at the Academy, she’d been forced to spend a couple of miserable years at a public junior high. He’d been one of her classmates there.

She even recalled attending his birthday party in eighth grade. One of those patronizing "everyone is invited" affairs. Truthfully, she’d only shown up to observe her classmates. Ever since she’d first arrived at the junior high from her high-end private elementary school, the other kids had baffled her. They’d spent far more time focused on the latest braindances and lazrpop songs than on their grades or futures. She’d figured that couldn’t be all they cared about, and she’d made a point of attending every social event she could score an invitation to until she figured out what truly motivated them. 

She’d learned a lot of useful information. Most scrawny thirteen-year-olds in Heywood, with no cyberware but a pair of Kiroshi, had to worry about potential abuse leveled at them from their classmates. Not V. It was amusing how easily bullies could be managed when you knew all the dirty family secrets that drove them to pick on those they assumed were weaker than them.  

She’d even used her Kiroshi to record all those social events she’d attended. She still had the recordings in her personal archive. V was in the habit of never deleting any of her data, no matter how old. Her experiences, even the ones she’d loathed living through, had shaped her into who she was today. Those memories were hers, and she wanted them kept safe.  

So then… what could they help her recall about Jackie Welles? She pulled up her archive and set the date range to May of ‘63. She located the recording of the party on the 26th of that month and clicked play. Suddenly, she was thirteen again, looking out at the past through her own eyes.

She sat in a bright red plastic chair in the corner of a crowded living room. It was abuzz with the sounds of children—laughing, talking, shouting, and eating. She watched as teenage V zoomed her Kiroshi towards her priority targets and lingered there one by one. She waited until teenage V focused on Jackie. He’d never been a problem for her, but considering it was his party, she’d still taken the chance to learn what she could about him.

There he was, surrounded by his family—a deeply affectionate mother and more brothers than was reasonable. No father. He’d been admitted to the hospital the year prior and had never returned to the Welles household. V had suspected that either Jackie or one of his brothers were responsible for that. She hadn’t missed the improvement in the Welles boys’ temperament after their father was gone. She’d bet he probably deserved it. He’d been a Valentino of the old-school variant, the kind who believed his word was law when it came to his family. Say what you will about modern Valentinos, but at least they’d left that mentality behind for the most part. 

It occurred to V that she’d seen a mention of the Valentinos in Jackie’s NCPD file. Originally, he’d been known to take on solo mercenary work, but he’d recently been flagged for involvement in gang activities. Had he decided to follow in the old man’s footsteps? Odds were his mother was sick with worry. A weak point if she'd ever seen one. 

An idea began to formulate in her mind.

She pulled up her optics' phonebook through the appropriate series of eye flicks, and called her techie. "Hey, Carter," she said when she received an answer. "Can you create a vocal modulator for me? Want to imitate a particular voice." 

"Sure thing. As long as you've got a sufficient sample."

"Think I should…" V began, pulling up the birthday video in her personal archives again. She identified a portion featuring a brief speech by Jackie's mother. Should be just long enough for her purposes. She forwarded it to Smith. "Will that work?"

"That's perfect," he said. "Give me a minute…" The voice on the line shifted. “All right, Jackie, time to blow out the candles, mijo.”

“Not bad, not bad. You sound just like her. In fact…” V grinned conspiratorially. “Feel like doing some role-playing?”

—

Getting into the building wasn’t difficult. V simply walked in and booked a room for herself. She asked for a room on the top floor, citing fear of a break-in as her excuse, in case the elevator was programmed to only allow access to the floor a guest was actually staying on. 

As she stepped out of the elevator on the top floor, she spoke quietly to Smith, whom she’d kept on the call, “Almost there. You clear on the plan?”

“Yep. I call his personal line, use the vocal modulator, and distract him long enough for you to grab the data and get out. No bloodshed for once.”

“That's the idea,” V confirmed. “No need for this to get messy.”

V turned the corner into the hallway that contained Jackie’s room and scanned the area for security cameras. There was just one, and it was situated in an obvious position near the top of the wall. Her optics were able to trace its trajectory in mere milliseconds, and they lit up its field of view for her so that she could pass by without being caught on video. 

“Almost there,” she told Smith. “And remember—don’t be afraid to scare him. If he’s not scared enough to get out of our way, we’ll have to take him down the old-fashioned way.”

“Understood.” 

“Good. Make the call in three minutes. I’m going silent.”

She was just outside the room now. She set her Kiroshi to thermal mode and spotted Jackie almost at once. He appeared to be sitting in a chair on the far side of the room.

V crouched and activated her optical camo. Her body vanished from sight, though of course, she was very much still detectable through a myriad of alternative methods. The thermal scanning she was using to keep track of Jackie, for one. But she didn’t plan to rely solely on the camo. 

Exactly three minutes later, she heard Jackie’s anxious, slightly muffled voice from the other side of the door. He was speaking Spanish. Interesting. Either Smith knew Spanish, or he’d set up a program that could translate his speech fast enough to sound natural. Generally, it was easier to translate for the listener, so most translation software didn’t bother with the other way around. She was pleasantly surprised that he’d exceeded her expectations. 

“Okay, okay, mamá,” Jackie was saying, as V’s cyberware translated. “I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

While Jackie was talking, V unlocked the door. It wasn’t difficult. The defenses were woefully outdated, and Jackie was making enough noise that it was unlikely he could hear the lock click.   

“Please, you have to calm down.” Jackie stood up and moved to the right side of the room, away from the desk. That was exactly what V had been waiting for. While he continued his increasingly impassioned pleas, V quietly pushed open the door.  

She immediately spotted the laptop on the desk on the left side of the room. Jackie himself was near the window where V had seen him the first time. His back was to the door. Perfect. 

She dashed toward the desk and stopped before the laptop, gazing at the screen. She considered grabbing it and getting out, but she needed to confirm that it had the data she was looking for or she might miss her best opportunity. So, despite the increased risk, she took the time to breach the laptop’s defenses.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Jackie was explaining. “They wouldn’t do that. It must have been someone else.”

After a few agonizing seconds, V successfully accessed the data. It was all there. Everything she needed. Excellent.

Behind her, she heard the click of a trigger pressed partway down. An acidic voice filled the room. “What kinda sick fuck uses the sound of a man’s own mamá's voice against him?” 

V froze. Too slow. Bile-flavored dread rose in her throat, but she swallowed, pushing it down where it belonged. He hadn’t shot her yet. She still had a chance to talk her way out of this. She deactivated her optical camo. Slowly, she raised her hands in surrender. “Okay, you've got me,” she admitted. “Don't do anything rash. Let's talk. May I turn around?”

“Fine,” he growled softly.

Cautiously, avoiding any possible sign of aggression, V turned. The man she remembered as a constant optimist had clearly found some hidden stores of rage to draw from. He looked at her with open hatred, his gun pointed directly at the center of her forehead. 

“Now,” began Jackie Welles. “Do you have her? Do you have my mom?”

That explained the level of anger. For a second, V was torn. It could be useful to let him believe that, but it was likely more prudent to calm him down.

“I asked you a question, demoña.”

“No,” V stated clearly. “Nothing like that. I’m sure your mom is just fine. We don't have her. It’s just a vocal modulator.”

“You think I don’t fuckin’ know that?” He was nearly shouting now. “Can tell the difference between her and a stranger, even one that sounds just like her. But I know how that tech works. You need a voice sample to set one up. So how’d you know what she sounds like?” 

V felt a slight tremor of fear, mingled with excitement and appreciation. He'd been onto her all along. He was more astute that she’d given him credit for. This might actually be a fair match. “You and I, we went to middle school together. Eighth grade. I was at your thirteenth birthday party. Still happened to have the recording.”

“Eighth grade?” he said uncertainly. “I don't remember you.”

“That doesn't surprise me. I mostly kept to myself.”

“More like thought you were better than everyone else.”

“Ah.” V smiled slightly. “So you do remember me.”

“You trying to make me angry?” He moved slightly closer, still keeping his gun aimed steadily. A good sign. If he was trying to intimidate her, it was because her casual manner unnerved him. 

“No. The opposite, actually,” she said emphatically. “I’m trying to make you realize that we have a valuable and fleeting opportunity here.”

“There you go,” Jackie scoffed. “Always trying to make a deal. This isn't your office, demoña. I'm not your coworker.”

That much is obvious, V thought. She carried on regardless. “In about five minutes, my backup from Arasaka’s going to come through that door. Yes, you could kill me before then, but could you make it out in time? Could you hide the evidence that would allow them to find you again?”

“And what's your offer? Turn myself in? Surrender and maybe my punishment won't be that bad?”

“My offer is to let you go free.”

His shock made her smile again. No one could ever claim that she didn’t make reasonable deals.

“Let me go free? Just like that?”

“Indeed. With a guarantee of future protection from Arasaka’s wrath, assuming you don't antagonize us too badly. That's for letting me live.”

“A guarantee, huh?” He mocked her sales-pitch tone. “So I'm meant to, what, take your word for it?”

“No. I’d never ask anyone to take me on faith,” she explained. “That data you've got, it's very valuable. Could ruin any number of my superiors. I'll have to take it back to Arasaka, of course. However, I'm willing to let you hold on to a copy.”

“You'd leave evidence behind? If your superiors find out, they'd kill you.” He emphasized the word ‘superiors’ with the same mocking tone.

“Exactly,” V stated proudly. 

He looked at her like she’d sprouted a second head. 

"If I try to betray you," V continued patiently, "all you need to do is leak enough data to make Arasaka realize I let you keep a copy. They'll zero me, but they'll come for you too. And if you betray me, I can initiate the same events in reverse order. Continued loyalty would be the safest, most logical choice for each of us."

"That your foundation for an alliance?" Jackie cried in exasperation, his gun never straying from its mark in the center of her forehead. "Mutually assured destruction?"

V kept her hands held up, but she dared to lift her chin. "Yes." She looked him steadily in the eyes. "Because it works.”

A loaded silence followed. 

“And that's for letting you live?”

“That's for letting me live,” V confirmed.

He was silent again. Then, slowly, he lowered his gun. “Okay. Deal.”

“Excellent.” V lowered her hands just as slowly. “I’ll copy the data right now.” 

She turned back to the laptop, plugged in one of her extra empty datashards, and began the duplication process. She noted Jackie watching her movements closely. She kept her hands open and within his field of view, so he’d know she wasn’t trying to sabotage anything. As the loading screen appeared, she said to him, “There's more we can offer each other, if you’re interested.” 

“More? This ain’t enough for you?” His initial answer came quickly. But after a second, he sighed and added, “Like what?”

“You’re new to the Valentinos, right? Got contacts there. Could pull some strings. Keep you safe, help you rise.”

“Valentinos wouldn't make deals with ‘Saka.”

“Are you sure about that?” 

“Yes,” he insisted. “Honor means something to 'em.”

“Honor means something to us too, Jackie.”

“Right.” His voice was heavy with sarcasm.

The loading screen reached a hundred percent. She unplugged the datashard and handed it to him, then closed the laptop and placed it under her arm. “Think about it,” she told him as she pulled out one of her business cards. “Here's my contact info.”

He took the datashard from her and plugged it into the port in his head, confirming that everything he needed was on it. Then he took her business card. “Okay. I'll think about it.” He started to turn away, but then he paused and asked her, “What about Blackburn?”

It took her a second to place the name. “The guy who hired you? He's a dead man. But you don't care about him.”

“How would you know?” 

She chuckled slightly. “If you did, you'd have brought him up way earlier.” 

Jackie scoffed. “Sheesh. Cinco minutos we’ve been talking and you think you know me already.”

V didn’t respond. He hadn’t denied it. 

“What would you want?” he asked bluntly, dropping the thread of the previous conversation. “For the protection?”

V smiled. She’d guessed he’d be interested in that offer. He was a man driven by competing goals—he wanted to stay safe for his mother, but he also wanted his chance at becoming a Night City legend. He’d probably agonized for years over which path to follow. And she’d just offered him a way to do both. “That’s easy. I’d want you to keep that data safe. In case I have a misunderstanding with a superior some day and need to settle the matter properly. But that’s an issue for the future. Right now, you should leave. They’ll be here soon. Go on. I’ll make sure they don’t come after you.”

He nodded at her and walked out. V let out a breath and leaned her back against the wall, allowing herself a brief moment of celebration. Nothing like a brush with death to make you remember you’re alive.

“That was kind of you, V,” said a soft voice in her ear. “Protecting him like that. Instead of solving all your problems with violence.”

“Carter—”

“Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me. Someone’s gotta keep our bosses on their toes, don’t you think? Over and out.” 

He disconnected the call. V smiled to herself in amusement. He’d called her kind. It was strange the way people's minds worked. But she didn't have time to dwell on that now. She gripped the laptop tightly and left the room, already planning what she'd say when she brought in the data but not the merc that should have gone with it. 

Letting him go hadn’t been her original plan, but she had to admit she’d wanted a copy of that data since she’d found out about it. It was far too dangerous to keep on her person, or leave unguarded in any of her safehouses, or entrust to any ally that could be traced back to her. But Jackie Welles… who would ever guess the two of them were working together? As long as she could keep him in line—and she believed she could—she could even send him updates as she collected new intel, growing his database of Arasaka’s dirty secrets but making sure they were used only when she wanted them used.

She smiled to herself again. This might be the start of a lucrative partnership.

[corpocyborg]

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @merge-conflict. (Thanks! ❤️)

Tagging @fereldanwench, @gamerkitten, and @illusivesoul!

Here's another bit from "Secure Your Soul" from Chapter 4 - Hall of Mirrors.

“Get up, you backstabbing bitch.” V’s mind crossed the threshold into consciousness, and she jolted awake. Her neck ached from sleeping at a desk, but it was a familiar ache. She’d pulled all-nighters at a desk her whole life, staring at a pile of paperwork or a computer monitor until the lead she needed jumped out at her. It was the ache of a rightful victory. She looked up at Abernathy. “Morning, m’am. Do you have more questions for me?” Abernathy slammed her head into the desk.  “Fuck,” V muttered. She had cranial armor implants, but they’d been taking a serious beating lately. Abernathy must have gotten the same holiday bonus that she had. No one without gorilla arms could exert that much force so effortlessly. “That's the second time in 24 hours someone’s done that to me.” “It won't be the last,” Abernathy promised. She lifted V’s head and slammed it back down again. Despite the armor, V was starting to feel a severe pounding in her skull. Abernathy lifted her head once more, but this time she held it so that V’s eyes were looking into her own. “What did you say to him to get him to squeal?” “I've been locked in here for hours,” V said through clenched teeth. “I haven't had any communication with anyone since you were last here. You can check your surveillance footage if you don't believe me.” Abernathy gripped V’s head with increased pressure. “Then you planned it together.” “Jenkins and I? What would be the point of that? Just to fuck with you?” V’s words were muffled by Abernathy’s hold on her face, but she maintained an even volume. “I came to you because I was trying to switch sides. I wanted to work for someone more level-headed. Although this display is making me doubt whether I was right about you.”  “How dare you?” Abernathy spat, but V was pleased to hear a slight catch in her voice. She’d guessed that line would work on Abernathy primarily because it would have worked on her. “Look,” V began, wincing as Abernathy squeezed her head yet again. “You can waste your time here, torturing someone who isn’t even in on Jenkins’ plans, or you can aim for your actual enemy. One option is far more productive than the other.”  Abernathy paused, her grip never lessening, for a few seconds that felt like much longer to V. Her vision was just starting to swim when Abernathy abruptly released her head. Inertia slammed it back into the desk one final time. When V looked up again, Abernathy was gone.

[corpocyborg]

WIP WEDNESDAY

Tagged by @merge-conflict! (Thank you!)

I'll share a bit of Chapter 4 that I don't think you've seen yet, @merge-conflict, since it's newer.

From Secure Your Soul Chapter 4 - Hall of Mirrors:

As the loading screen appeared, [V] said to [Jackie], “There's more we can offer each other, if you’re interested.” 

“More? This ain’t enough for you?” His initial answer came quickly. But after a second, he sighed and added, “Like what?”

“You’re new to the Valentinos, right? Got contacts there. Could pull some strings. Keep you safe, help you rise.”

“Valentinos wouldn't make deals with ‘Saka.”

“Are you sure about that?” 

“Yes,” he insisted. “Honor means something to 'em.”

“Honor means something to us too, Jackie.”

“Right.” His voice was heavy with sarcasm.

The loading screen reached a hundred percent. She unplugged the drive and handed it to him, then closed the laptop and placed it under her arm. “Think about it,” she told him as she pulled out one of her business cards. “Here's my contact info.”

He took the drive from her and plugged it into the port in his head, confirming that the data was on it. Then he took her business card. “Okay. I'll... think about it.” He started to turn away, but then he paused and asked her, “What about Blackburn?”

It took her a second to place the name. “The guy who hired you? He's a dead man. But you don't care about him.”

“How would you know?” 

She chuckled slightly. “If you did, you'd have brought him up way earlier.” 

Tagging: @illusivesoul @kirschewine @fereldanwench @luvwich @gamerkitten

No pressure! Only if you feel like sharing something!

[corpocyborg]

It's a day earlier, but whatever. YOLO.

Tagged by @merge-conflict.

Tagging @fereldanwench, @gamerkitten, @dataheights, and @milkywayes.

Once again from Secure Your Soul, same chapter but a little later.

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER SEVEN: THE BEGINNING IS THE END IS THE BEGINNING

V made her way through the front doors of Konpeki Plaza, breezed through the security scanners, and walked up to the check-in desk. The receptionist recognized her on sight. “Director Locke,” she said. “Welcome back. Here for another meeting?” 

“Not this time,” V answered, already placing her hand on the scanner to verify her SID chip. “I’ll be attending a conference tonight.”

“Ah, yes,” she responded. Her eyes lit up momentarily as she received the upload of V’s data. “Hideyoshi Oshima’s talk. He’s very good.” Her eyes faded back to their normal color and focused on V again. “Are you interested in braindance advancements, Director?”

“I am,” V responded, smiling warmly at the receptionist despite the irritation she felt at the question. She always strove to be courteous to the help. It was smart to get those types of people on your side. They were often perfectly placed to overhear a treasure trove of useful gossip.