V suddenly lost interest and casually pulled the trigger.
For a mont, everything around her went silent.
Arthur watched with a puzzled look.
“What’s this?
The company princess thought she’d caught so big-ti outlaw, only to find it’s just a couple of petty thieves? What, feeling let down already?”
V was used to Arthur’s sarcasm. She just shrugged.
“It’s strange... neighbors I’ve lived beside for nearly ten years suddenly... turning out like this...”
“People are like that,” Arthur muttered.
“Yesterday they wouldn’t even step on an ant. Today they’ll kill a dozen people for a bit of cash.”
“But I’m not like that.”
V frowned at the two corpses at her feet, her voice uncertain.
“Maybe... without even realizing it, I’ve beco an executioner too.”
She was clearly referring to her jobs out in the Badlands.
“Hey, girl, if you dragged out here just to talk about this, don’t you think that’s a bit much?”
Arthur changed the subject.
“I an, after seeing what I can do, you brought along to deal with small-ti crooks like these?”
“Of course not!”
V flashed her trademark confident smile.
“I’ve got gifts for all of you.
You, Jackie, even Rebecca—everyone gets sothing.
Picked them up in Europe, black-market treasures straight out of the Crystal Palace. You’ll be blown away.”
“The Crystal Palace? That floating hunk of iron up in the sky?”
Arthur knew about it. The ads plastered all over the TV called it the height of luxury.
“A bunch of fools who couldn’t make it down here on the ground. What could they possibly co up with that’s worth a damn?”
Being a cowboy through and through, Arthur had an instinctive dislike of cramped, closed-in spaces.
“Guess you’re a stubborn traditionalist. Doesn’t matter.
What matters are the gifts I’m bringing. Cyberware, by the way.
Give an address and I’ll drop them off this afternoon.”
Arthur hesitated, eyeing her confident smile, but finally gave her Vik’s clinic.
“Look forward to it, Arthur. This is the kind of high-grade tech folks on the ground will never see in their lives.”
...
When Arthur entered the clinic, Vik was hunched over a machine, fully absorbed in his work. He didn’t notice Arthur until a cough snapped him out of it.
“Busy as always, Vik.”
Hearing Arthur’s voice, Vik sighed wearily.
“All because of your little brother.”
He rubbed the back of his neck and added,
“That dicine you brought back... complicated stuff. Took ages to break it down.”
“How’s it looking?”
Arthur leaned in.
“This is top-of-the-line company product.”
“All macromolecules...” Vik stopped mid-sentence, glanced at Arthur, and cut himself off with a scowl.
“You wouldn’t understand anyway. So why ask?
Co on, what’s your real reason for being here? You never show up without one.”
“Soone’s giving cyberware. Supposedly primo stuff from the Crystal Palace. Thought I’d let you have a look.”
Arthur chuckled.
“Have a look, huh? Sounds more like you want to do the work.”
Vik shot him a glare, then went back to his machine.
Arthur had known him longer than anyone, and he could never bring himself to speak harshly to him.
...
Following the address, V pulled up to the clinic. This ti she’d brought a larger ride. When she popped the trunk, three silver-white cases rested inside.
“I was working jobs in Europe.
But things went sideways, and Arasaka said Night City had bigger priorities. So they yanked us back, just like that.
I wasn’t supposed to keep this gear, but they gave it to as compensation.”
Arthur frowned.
“Bigger priorities? That damned CHOOH2 plant?”
“Exactly. One of the technologies there is critical for Arasaka’s top research. No idea how the higher-ups caught wind of it.”
Arthur’s thoughts drifted to the slaughterhouse he and Jackie had taken down. The Blue Matter intel had been wiped, but the rest of the research data was still sitting there.
V snapped him out of it.
“Well? Go call the others to pick up their gifts.”
She lifted a smaller case.
“You carry the other two.”
The cases were heavier than they looked. One almost made Arthur stumble.
“What the hell’s in here?”
“That one’s yours...”
...
Rebecca arrived first. Living in Watson, she got Arthur’s ssage and hurried over.
“You damn woman! What are you doing here!”
The mont she saw V, her cheeks puffed up.
“I’m here to deliver gifts.”
As usual, V used her height advantage to plant a hand on Rebecca’s head.
“I don’t want them!”
Arms crossed, Rebecca sneaked a few glances at the cases on the table, then turned away.
“I don’t want it.”
“A pair of military-grade cyberarms from Militech’s Crystal Palace lab.
Gorilla Arms, I think. You seriously don’t want them?”
V grinned down at the short girl beneath her hand. Rebecca always amused her.
“If you really insist on giving them to ...”
...
“...not that it’s what I wanted.”
Rebecca’s voice wavered, and she didn’t even bother pushing V’s hand away.
She had always wanted more firepower. The little pistol she carried wasn’t enough anymore.
But the shotgun she loved had too much recoil—her small fra just couldn’t handle it.
V’s smile never faded. She picked up the outer case and gave it a shake.
“If you don’t want it, I could sell this for a fortune.”
Before she even finished speaking, Rebecca lunged forward, snatched the case, and hugged it tight to her chest.
“How could you sell a gift? You damn woman!”
Inside lay a cybernetic arm. Beneath its synthetic skin was a dense web of black chanical parts.
It had an intelligent threshold built in for recoil control—otherwise it might knock its own user flat.
The design was clever, reducing strain without sacrificing much performance.
It also carried the standard features of cybernetic hands, like ballistic coordination support.
“Well?”
Rebecca hugged the case so tightly that only half her face showed from behind it.
“I’ll... I’ll...
Your gift is... really nice.”
She was so thrilled with the gift she forgot her usual stubbornness.
...
Jackie arrived not long after. Whenever he had free ti, he’d ride his beat-up bike around Night City, sotis bringing along Vik’s nurse.
Parking his flashy red Nazare, he strolled in.
“Hey! What’s up, chooms?”
His grin said it all—the only thing that ever made him this happy was making progress with Misty.
“By the way, now that you’re back, my mom keeps saying she wants to see you.”
He was talking to V, of course. An orphan raised in Heywood, she had ties to many people there.
“The job went well, so I’ve got so ti off. I’ll stop by and visit Mrs. Wells soon.”
V lifted another case.
“Your gift, Jackie. For you.”
He hurried over, inspecting it from all sides.
“What is it? Looks solid.”
“It’s a complete ergency cyberware kit.
Includes a Second Heart, auxiliary circulation system, biomonitor—the works.
All top-grade gear from the Crystal Palace.
It’ll save your life and give you a boost of strength. Perfect for you.
So? What do you think?”
Jackie ran his hand over the case and thought for a mont.
“Chica!
With gear this good, you should be keeping a set for yourself.
Corpo life ain’t easy, V. You’re way more at risk than .”
“Cut it out, Jackie.
This is black-market cyberware—stuff that just drops off the grid. The best kind.
But I’m with Arasaka. Every implant I have has to be logged with the company. That’s just legalized confiscation. Installing this would be a waste.”
---
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