Chapter Text
Grey blue eyes stare out of the plane’s window absentmindedly as everyone aboard was waiting for the clearance of their descent in Tokyo’s military airport. Japan... To think that he would actually get to see this place with his very own eyes, it still felt unreal to Valentine. Despite having made his choice in forming a business contract with Arasaka, it was still a battle to get the rest of his family to agree with the idea, seeing Joachim saw more benefits in allying with Kang Tao while Sirius thought it was better to stick close to home with Militech. It took months of long arguments and detailed planning before both his father and brother finally agreed to go along with his choice. Afterwards, it was assigning the members who would be leaving with Joachim and Valentine while the rest would remain to support Sirius and continue their daily operation in base. In the end, Squad Alpha had been given the task to accompany them and Valentine had personally picked Shun to be their engineer, the rest of the staff they brought would be on maintenance or guard duty.
Perhaps Valentine should be more amazed by how his father managed to get a military grade aircraft carrier for them, seeing if they went through the usual public transport options, they couldn’t bring even half of their cargo with them. Of course, Joachim’s reply was that it was classified, which made his son questioned if he had some kind of ties with Militech or, worse, the government, though a scan on their transport showed a clean ID and records of decommission. Not that it was a pressing matter, seeing this old rust bucket got them to Japan without any malfunction or hiccups along the way. Most of their cargos were prototypes they were going to present to the weapon department of Arasaka, along with his and Shun’s personal projects if their prototypes didn’t manage to catch any interest, while the remaining space was converted to a resting area for everyone.
The young Belmont tore his gaze away from the window as he turned his attention back to studying the information they had on the Arasaka representative they would meet. Koichi Kendo, 43, had worked for Arasaka since 15, had graduated from the company’s own academy and was immediately assigned within the weapon development department, and then he had just climbed all the way to his current position. However, from what their Netrunners had managed to dig up, this guy was more a guard hound than anything, no actual real power aside from making sure that trashes did not get leak into Arasaka. The damn corporation could word it as poetic and professional as they wanted during the initial greeting, but the Belmont Clan was not a welcomed guest in their house and they fully intended to chew them up and spit them out by the end of the presentation.
We’ll see who’s the one chewing and spitting in the end. V thought as he flicked the data out of his sight, not wanting to spend any more time thinking ahead. His father had already set the game plan, a risky move that would probably bring more trouble than anything, but if they managed to get through it, then it would be game on for everyone. After all, they were, in essence, edgerunners. Their uniform only offered the illusion of safety, seeing their job would still throw them into dangerous and deranged shit at anytime and anywhere. Taking risks was often a must and handling unexpected changes was a requirement.
‘Bocchama,’ Shun called out softly from her seat beside him, fingers dancing over the holographic display in front of her, the blueprints and data they had on different weapon models. ‘Boss-sama asked that we double-check the equipments we are taking with us tomorrow when we landed and hand out the data on them to the squad as soon as possible so that they know what they are working with.’
‘Got it,’ Valentine replied as he straightened in his seat and flicked the data Shun had opened onto his side. He had learned in his previous lifetime that Arasaka’s scanners allowed them to get a general blueprint of whatever product that went through them, which made it easy for their own research team to reverse-engineer the products while kicking the disposable foreigners back home, which would be troublesome for their company as their goal was to sale-pitch their products as much as their service. To counter this peculiar problem, Valentine had ensured their containers were protected by a program that would scramble the scanners slightly, allowing them to get a general idea of what was inside, but no details could be gathered. Of course, their presentation would inevitably have their equipments scanned thoroughly, to cover this part, Joachim had ordered that he picked prototypes that had peculiar flaws but still operational for their squad to use in a combat simulation. This request was easily taken care, seeing Valentine and Shun had created enough prototypes that were the very definition of operational but questionable to use. It was just a question of which prototype went with which unit of the squad for the show and if they could handle the handicap from their equipment. In theory, so long that nothing too unexpected popped up, they should be all green. Famous last words, yeah, sue him.
As the young Belmont moved displays from one end to another and watched the changes on the statistic panel, a part of him sighed in nostalgia and a lonely thought lingered in his mind. I’m finally in Japan, Goro... Like we’ve planned... But where are you now?
The next day...
Okay, maybe V really should have learned to not be hopeful in any kind of manner, though who could blame him here? He had never learned to abandon hope in his last life and this new one had yet to really crush him. Still, how would any of them know that they would apparently meet Koichi on a bad day? The Arasaka employee didn’t even spare a glance at the datapad on their main products when they met and had just ordered them to get the squad ready for the combat simulation. It was obvious that he just wanted to watch them squirm like helpless bugs to get off of it. It was annoying, but...
Well... They might as well as made the guy’s day worse by making sure they won in aces.
Initially, his father did not want him to join the squad in the simulation, but with the short time frame they got, it was better that V joined the team to keep the bugs of their equipment at a minimum during demonstration. The younger Belmont had already given the squad members a rundown of their equipment, though knowing how a gear operated in theory and how to use it in action were two different things, especially when one knew the demerits of using them. He would be acting as the tech support for the team, so light gears for him. Shun would be keeping an eye out from the outside, making sure that Arasaka wouldn’t be able to fry them when it became obvious they were the victors.
Everyone was giving their weapons one final check before putting them into the scanner that would register and recreate them within the simulation, beside one member who would be going in with their mechanical armour linked to the system. Shun gave him a thumb-up after she finished the final check on the connectors before he put on the wreath and stepped into his own pod while the rest of the team was already tucked in. Absentmindedly listening to the countdown of their dive, he spared a glance at the tinted figure of his father, catching the older man’s piercing gaze that seemed to speak of one singular order. Succeed.
Then reality melted away as codes overtook everything.
Shifting from one reality to another often felt like a freefall, where you fell towards an unknown darkness until the program caught enough of your data to materialize you. Early models often only constructed fragmented corporal forms, blocky and nowhere near human. From that basic skeletal structure, Netrunners slowly added more and more data bits to create a better avatar to host them until the slow development managed to recreate realism within the cyber world, and later, the progress of mimicking everything in reality and imprinting them into the codes became an end goal for entertainment as much as technological development. Many saw Netrunning as a skill that would allow one to become a god of their own right in the cyberworld, but to experienced Netrunners, there was only one truth. They were nothing more than intruders, invaders, thieves who were trespassing in a world that did not welcome them, taking and claiming data that would never belong to them.
To V, whenever he stepped into a digital world, even one that was created within the safety of a digital fortress or its visual and sensation aspects were polished to perfection, a sense of wrongness lingered in the back of his mind. That sense had long turned into a steady beating pulse that continued to brush against that special empty space in his mind where another being had once been carved into.
‘Valentine, focus,’ a familiar voice called out, snapping V out of his pensive period, as he would call the lagging that occurred as his sense of self took time to settle into the virtual reality. He knew that it was a bad sign, this constant disassociation that occurred in between transitions, but he was thankful that JIN would always be there to stabilize him.
‘Copy that,’ Valentine murmured as he refocused on his surround and studied the area they were sent to. It looked like Koichi had picked a forest area with a lone tower in the distance. He turned his gaze on his gathering teammates: Leticia, the squad captain; Vector, the sniper; Edmundo, the armoured operator; and Nadl33h, the Netrunner.
Leticia wore a grey skin-tight suit with faded orange and white highlights along the limbs, a black sleeveless jacket with the same dual-colours highlights covered a thin rigid backpack attached on the upper back of the suit, a belt holster packed an SMG and a handgun and two knives were sheathed on the side of her tights. The squad captain had her black dreadlocks tied in a ponytail and an armoured ocuset covered her left eye, which was linked to a modified earpiece for her feline ears. The Exotic always shed away the laxness her stance usually carried, exuding only the feeling of a black panther readied to pounce on an unsuspecting prey.
Vector was one of their oldest operatives. The sniper’s hooded uniform was mainly dark grey with his face covered in a black gasmask with green tinted glasses. With an optical camo function on his gear, he can easily hide in any sniping spot for a long period, though it was not as effective if he was attempting to escape pursuit. His main weapon was a heavily customized sniper rifle, carrying only different bombs and a pistol for close quarter protection. The Scottish sniper had been with the company since its founding, a quiet man who rarely spoke and preferred to observe people from a distance, no one really knew his story and he never once shared anything that was not job related. Valentine did hear something about him being old friends with his father but he had never managed to get much out of either of them. Besides, he never shared his little reincarnation secret, so why should he harassed an old man about his past.
Edmundo was one of V’s favourite employees, reminding him fondly of Jackie with his big heart, though smaller in size and slightly more hard-headed than his old friend. Unfortunately, due to an incident in his youth, the man lost the function of his two legs and his family lacked the money for proper chromes. It never stopped the Heywood boy from aiming for a better life with his disability, Belmont Clan had given him that chance when they had first hired him as an engineer and later he got promoted as an armoured operative when he displayed great skill in operating armoured exoskeleton. Edmundo never thought he would ever get the chance to go beyond his district, but it was thanks to his own skill that he could travel beyond Night City with their convoys. Most of the mobile armours he used spot bright colours to attract enemies’ attention as he was the squad’s first line of defence and covered in thick armour plates in every angle. The mobile armours the Belmont Clan built were far more humanoid looking than what could be found on the streets of Night City, literally the present days’ mechanical knights. The armour his friend was currently operating was coloured in bright orange, it carried missile shoulderpacks, equipped with a minigun on his right arm and several weapon packs strapped to the side of its remaining limbs as well as on its back, focusing more on offensive firepower than defensive capability.
Nadl33h was in their usual black Netrunner suit with red hexagon-shaped highlights covering their forearms and thighs, a thick poncho with similar design and metallic shoulder guards covered their top. They shared the same weapons as the squad captain minus the knives. The lower half of their face remained hidden by the high collar, but the metal of their gas mask would peek out slightly at each breath. The red-haired Netrunner’s attention remained on the wrist-computer strapped to their left arm, fingers dancing over the holographic keyboard as codes jumped from one line to the next. Never too careful in making sure they weren’t being played.
Between all of them, the blandest member was Valentine, seeing he was never assigned as a field operative and his job as one of the head researchers kept him in the base, so he didn’t get his own stylized gears like the rest of the team. His overall getup was the standard grey-coloured uniform of the company; a thick bullet-proof jacket with a tight black shirt underneath, cargo pants paired with steel-toed boots. Besides the generic gears, he had his own wrist-computer that came with a personal link, seeing his current body was still as natural as a baby, and the wreath he wore served as a replacement for his old Kiroshi eyes.
All Belmont Clan members looked up as a horn blared and the simulation’s mission popped up in bold letter. How nice of them to provide it in English.
ELIMINATE OPPOSITE FLAG UNIT
A tiny ring sounded as an Arasaka emblem materialized in between them with a ticking five-minute timer. The mission’s parameter was pretty obvious: a member in each team would become the target the other opposite team needed to eliminate. While his squadmates were glancing at each other and weighting their options, Valentine didn’t even hesitate as he grabbed the item, shocking some of his teammates. He gave them a confused look as he questioned, ‘What? If someone has to carry a bullseye on their back, it’s better if it’s me.’
Nadl33h and Edmundo were readied to argue on that, but they were instantly interrupted by Leticia. ‘Valentine is right. Him being our flag is a far better option. Edmundo, you are basically our tank, so you are never even part of the selection to start with. Nadl33h, as a Netrunner, you will inevitably attract our enemies towards you, no matter how careful you are. As for me, my skills pit me too close to enemies, so the flag won’t be safe with me. Valentine and Vector are the best options, but out of the two of them, only one isn’t saddled with a heavy gun.’
‘Deadweight,’ Vector corrected as he readjusted his grip on his heavy sniper rifle, showing his obvious displeasure about the modified weapon’s extra weight.
‘Only because you haven’t activated its sub-functions yet,’ Valentine retorted lightly, smirking when the masked face turned towards him, the annoyance was palpable through the faceless mask. He did not know why, but he just loved messing with the old man. There was just something invigorating in breaking a supposedly indestructible mask, like striking gold in a manner of speaking.
The squad captain shook her head in slight exasperation as she continued, ‘Also, Valentine can be sneaky when he wanted to be. If worse comes to worse, he just needs to remain under their radar long enough for us to find their flag and it’s a win for us.’
‘Shouldn’t be a problem for hermano here,’ Edmundo remarked with a chuckle while Valentine responded with a light shrug and an amused smile on his lips.
The only good things about his reincarnation were the knowledge he still possessed and the ingrained muscle reactions, though the latter took a while to readjust properly due to difference in body mass and muscle development. Nevertheless, the difference between training at a young age in stealth and getting said training later in life had very apparent differences. No wonder Arasaka plucked kids up from the slums.
Valentine quickly pushed away the unwanted thought as he refocused on the matter at hand, which was using the remaining time they had to form a game plan. The whole squad would be moving towards the tower, where the Arasaka team would probably be waiting for them, seeing it provided both high-ground and hiding spots. Vector would fall behind the team midway to find a good sniping spot to hunker down and keep an eye on their back until the rest reached the building safely. Nadl33h would be their support, scanning the area for enemies and setting up decoys to draw attention. The rest of the team would be charging straight for their destination, basically going on search and destroy mode. Once they were inside the tower, they would secure the ground floor and check for traps. Afterwards, the team would regroup for a full sweep while the flag holder would hunker down in a safe spot until the end of the match. The plan was overall basic but workable.
We will adapt as we go, just like always. The brunet brought his fist against his chest at the old motto from his Nomad mother. It was a prayer to him whenever he had a big job ahead of him, something he could draw strength from.
The horn blared once more and each member sprinted into action. Vector and Nadl33h detached from the group and went in opposite direction. Leticia jumped onto a nearby tree and started moving from branch to branch, displaying her animalistic agility while hidden by the green foliage. Valentine climbed onto Edmundo’s back, his boots snapped onto the magnetic extensions on the armour’s back and his hands held onto the handle located on the back of the neck, as his friend activated the thrusters, propelling them forward in high speed. The brunet kept his head low and his form as small as possible while partially squished between two weapon casings as Edmundo charged onward, nicking trees left and right.
‘Hermano, you really need to update this thing’s mobile system,’ Edmundo complained as he tried to avoid damaging the armour further or losing one of his weapon caches from bashing too hard against a tree trunk before they even encountered an enemy.
‘Need to write a whole new system for it. Until I have time, it’s stuck with the basic,’ the brunet responded cheerfully. He had written the system for the armour, though he had forgotten to install it and run it through tests, so it got stuck in the prototype phase.
‘You really need to pay more attention at-WORK!’ The last part was shouted loudly as the mobile armour swerved sharply to the left to avoid the first shower of bullets from a Smart weapon, while Valentine immediately ducked his head to avoid a sniper bullet aimed for him, punching the weapon casing on his right. The black casing fractured and fell off, revealing the heavy rifle within. The brunet quickly readjusted his position, putting slightly more weight on the side and leaving him with only one foot and one hand still firmly on the armour, as he rested the gun over Edumundo’s shoulder. ‘That thing better not screw up my screen, Val!’
‘No promise!’ Valentine replied as he took aim while JIN was already running calculation in the background and projecting them through the wreath. His eyes locked onto the broken window of the building, where the initial attacks came from, he fired a few test shots, frowning as the bullets missed their marks despite being propelled with an electromagnetic charge. He was forced to duck his head once more from the sniper as Edmundo increased his speed to avoid another hail of bullets from the enemy’s Smart weapon. At the moment, both sides were on a stalemate. Bullets fired from a Smart weapon could still be avoided at this distance, seeing the guidance system could only send out specific direction at a limited distance. While Tech weapon’s already low accuracy was further affected by the instability caused by movement and the target’s location was still outside its effective range. Nevertheless, the shots he fired were not for nothing.
Several loud bangs sounded. Valentine smirked, knowing that Vector was currently holding off the enemy sniper and Nadl33h provided extra cover for him, they could just focus on the closest enemy. ‘Enemy at two o’clock!’
‘Got it!’ the pilot responded as he slid to face the indicated direction, launching all the missiles from his right shoulder pack, which immediately detached itself when emptied. The missiles were shot down by guided bullets as the Arasaka unit who had been attacking them ran. ‘Add better targeting system to the list too!’
‘Just drive!’ the brunet barked out as he took aim with the rifle while Edmundo gave chase and started firing with his minigun to clear up obstacles. Even with all the debris flying in the air and the Arasaka grunt zigzagging around thick trees and tall bushes, the grey blue eyes never lost sight of their target. One breath, one shot, one body.
The system declared the first kill for the Belmont Clan, prompting a smirk on Valentine’s face, though the victory was short-lived as something slammed against the mobile armour’s side and threw him off. Instinctively, Valentine curled up as he tucked and rolled on the rough ground, grunting as he came to a stop. It had been a while since he got into a hit-and-run, but damn, he didn’t recall it being this painful. He dismissed the body information that JIN was compiling on his injuries, he could walk it off, same as before.
‘Back off!’ Edmundo yelled, drawing the young man’s attention back to the fight at hand. The pilot was now wrestling against a heavily-modified Minotaur. It didn’t look like the usual mechanical models he had encountered in his mercenary days, this one’s armour was thicker and its build focused on battering down enemies over utilizing the heavy artillery its series usually carried. Still those Smart variant machine guns could still take down the pilot if it fired everything towards his head.
Valentine quickly pulled out his sidearm and destroyed one of the mech’s gun-arms, giving his partner an opening as the armoured operative immediately grabbed the broken side of the Minotaur and roughly slammed it to the ground. The machine might be downed, but its weapon was still hot and it fired its volley of target-seeking bullets, which all slammed onto Edmundo’s helmet in deadly precision.
Edmundo cried in shock as he lost his balance at the sudden onslaught to his head. Valentine emptied his remaining magazine on the remaining gun-arm before he reloaded his weapon, keeping a watchful eye on the machine that continued its struggle to get back on its feet like an overturned turtle. Once he was certain that thing was not going to be able to do any further harm, he rushed to mobile armour’s side, wincing at the sight of the heavily dented helmet as he unsheathed his blade and carefully wedged it to the thin slit located underneath the chin that was designed for rescuers to pry open the helmet manually. A cough greeted him once the face plate was removed, revealing the battered and cut face of the pilot, a scan from JIN reassured Valentine that the other’s injuries were not grave and it was just the pressure from the dented helmet causing him further pain.
‘Add extra padding to the list,’ Edmundo coughed before he let a wet chuckle as the younger man worked to remove the rest of the helmet.
A loud clank was heard, followed by a faint zapping noise before an ear-breaking explosion sounded behind them, forcing Valentine forward as he subconsciously covered his partner’s head. Both of them turned to face the wreck that was once the Minotaur and the angry feline woman on top of its smoking carcass.
‘Always make sure your enemy is flatlined before you do anything else, Belmont,’ the Haitian woman said sternly as she shook off some stray sparks on her hands. Usually, both men would have shivered in fear at the stern glare from the feline captain, though they currently had more difficulties in keeping a smile from breaking out and a laugh from spilling out. Oh yeah, he forgot how unstable the EMP charge the suit produced was, because Letitia’s fur was scruffy as fuck from all the static.
At the displeased hiss from the Exotic, Valentine quickly cleared his throat and gave the woman a quick acknowledgement as he moved to finish the removal task. Once the headgear had been removed, Edmundo sighed in relief as he carefully moved his head, checking his neck’s movement range, before the technician put the wreath over his head. The young brunet quickly connected it to the armour’s system, he could fight without the gear, but the armour operative needed a visual display to properly control the armour.
‘You’re good to go,’ Valentine announced once the system check was all green on his wrist-computer and backed away to allow the mobile operative to get back up.
‘System’s all good and damage minimal,’ Edmundo added as the wreath displayed his suit’s condition.
‘Alright, move out,’ Letitia ordered. All three of them continued towards the building while Vector and Nadl33h provided them with cover from the enemy sniper.
‘Breaching!’ Valentine announced in their comm before Edmundo rammed down the doors. ‘Building breached.’
He got affirmation from the two members as the team made a quick sweep of the floor.
‘Alright. Edmundo and I will begin sweeping all floors. Nadl33h, make your approach and scan the building’s system. Vector, do a thermal sweep and stay as backup. Valentine.’ Letitia turned to the youngest member before she continued. ‘Stay one floor behind us.’
‘Copy that,’ Valentine responded, barely holding back his sigh, though nostalgia did crept up suddenly. An old memory of when he was a rookie Nomad who still needed to learn the harshness of the open road. Okay, pretend to be a barely capable welp and let the pros handle it. Easy.
The young brunet crouched by the reception desk as Edmundo and Letitia both split up to tackle the second floors from both side. At least, he wouldn’t have to wait too long and unless Arasaka decided to bomb the whole building to Hell and back, they should be done in a snap. He was about to check his wrist-computer to track the pair’s progress, but a strange noise sounded in the supposed empty floor.
Valentine looked up in confusion and carefully scanned his surroundings for the source of the strange noise. When it sounded again, his grey blue eyes instantly located it.
‘Nibbles?’
The furless cat meowed once in response before it dashed off towards the emergency staircase.
The teen hesitantly got up and moved to the staircase when he heard another meow. His head snapped towards the other side and found Nibbles there again, meowing once more before it ran off to the emergency staircase at the other end. How did-Soon confusion was drained from the pale face and realization hit him like a bullet to the head.
‘DÉJÀ VU! WE GOT A DÉJÀ VU!’ Valentine shouted urgently into his comm. ‘CAP! EDMUNDO! WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE! NAD!’
‘Running scans and interferences now!’ the Netrunner exclaimed. ‘I can-OH SHIT! GET OUT NOW!’
‘RUN HERMANO!’ Edmundo’s yell could be heard from the second floor and in his own communicator.
Valentine rushed towards the front doors, but the floor beneath his feet broke and he was swiftly swallowed by darkness.
Grey blue eyes blinked in surprise as he stared up at the digital sakura petals dancing in the air, his hand unconsciously reached out to catch one, watching the holographic petal disappeared before it even landed on his palm. As he lowered his hand, V looked around the heavy crowd he stood amongst, his thoughts felt odd and his head was lead-heavy. Like... he was just waking up from a Johnny episode...
‘Johnny?’ V whispered, eyes darting amongst the shadowed figures for the tell-tale pixel glitches that marked the digital-ghost’s presence. The Rockerboy did not respond.
Frowning, the Nomad quickly moved away from sea of people as he headed towards that one spot with warning signs. High ground. He needed to move to higher grounds.
With practiced ease, V slipped into the shadow and moved with careful precision as he climbed up, moving to a quieter spot and away from the festive cacophony below. As he knelt on a nearby rooftop, his eyes scanned the area, trying to recall what led him here. Yet the more he tried to reach out for a reason, the harder it was to grasp his situation. His mind told him that he was here for a very important reason while his heart was telling him that something was amiss.
For important reason, he could only think of two things: Gigs and a chance to save himself from the Relic. For things that were amiss, V had a list. Johnny was never truly quiet, he would have made some snide remarks about his nervousness by now, but he did not. Something was wrong with his body too, he did not recall being this lightweight before. And... he was sure that there was someone else who should be here... Who? Judy? No, no, not right, she left NC already. Panam? Nah, she belonged with her family in the Badlands. River? Similar vibe, but not correct either. Kerry? Maybe? But if it concerned him, Johnny would have been buzzing around like a damn fly, so no as well. Who else?
...
‘Goro?’ V called out uncertainly.
Like a spirit summoned by his name, the deep voice of the Japanese reached his ears, though the tone and speech pattern were not right, he could still hear the worry in it.
‘V! Hold still for a moment, I am still running diagnostics on your current condition.’ Goro told him urgently and his vision glitched slightly as screens popped up and vanished in quick succession, not giving him time to even see what they were.
Wait... Goro did not have access to his personal link... What?
‘AUGH!’ V barely bit back his shout of pain as he felt a shock rocked through his skull and turned his brain to mush. He could barely hear Goro’s voice as the pain and nausea increased. Was the Relic acting up again? So soon? He quickly covered his mouth with one hand, not wanting to leave a bloody mess, and planted the other firmly on the gravel to keep himself from kissing the rooftop, fighting through his episode of Relic sickness once more. No... Not Relic sickness.
When the pain ceased and his mind was clear, he could remember where he was. Who he was. Not V, the dying Nomad. Valentine Belmont, the Corpo brat.
‘JIN, report,’ Valentine ordered softly as he moved to sit on the rooftop, taking in steady breath as he let himself settled back down.
His digital butler materialized beside him in Johnny’s avatar, a concern look over his face as he gave him a quick rundown of what had happened. Pretty much your usual bullshit from Corpos, if you couldn’t win fairly, then pull the damn plug. Unfortunately, Arasaka made it its policy to always have contingency plans, so all Koichi did was resetting the system partially with his gonk move. The Belmont team was probably still in the original simulation while he was unfortunate enough to get jacked into a new one. Who knew which one he was unlucky enough to be stuck with. At least, he wasn’t sent into the Net. THAT would have been Hell in his current condition.
The brunet sighed as he glanced down at himself, finding it odd to see himself in his old gear. His fingertips lightly trace the faint outlines of his Netrunner suit underneath his wolf shirt, though he grimaced at the Arasaka emblem that was on him, indicating that he was still a target, even in this simulation. He gave his cheeks a light slap before he stood up. No use to moan and mope around in enemy territory. This situation might spell trouble for Valentine Belmont, but V knew how to survive another day and keep going even when the chips were stack against him. Besides, he wasn’t alone.
‘Alright, JIN, Cyberdeck Backup Unit,’ V ordered as his AI companion responded with a nod, disappearing in a flicker of data codes as he resettled within the empty corner of his host’s mind. While V did not have his own Cyberdeck per se, the shard that held his digital partner had gone through enough modifications and stacked with several internal upgrades that it would rival his old Cyberdeck. Shame that he could not pop in and out of his view like Johnny often did during some fights. He checked his gears, just a handgun and a knife, how unfortunate that this system didn’t replicate his old weapons, but they would do. Hmm... Now that he thought about it...
‘JIN, why am I in this form? And... why are we at the Parade?’ V questioned as he started moving towards the familiar walkway where Takemura had once guided him towards to eliminate the snipers.
‘Unknown,’ the AI responded. ‘I suspect that the simulation was running on a specific memory from a host, but with the emergency reset...’
‘It has locked onto mine as new data input,’ V hissed venomously under his breath as he took a detour to reach the next level, without his reinforced tendons, he couldn’t jump up to certain spots with ease. Not wanting to risk his words being recorded, he didn’t voice out his remaining thoughts. Fuck Arasaka and their damn brain prodding. At least, they didn’t replicate everything.
‘That is because your memory of this event is focused on the paths you have taken, there are several elements within this simulation that have been extrapolated from other records to fill in the blanks,’ JIN informed his charge.
Okay, so is my goal the same as back then? Eliminate the snipers, take care of the Netrunner and... deal with a ‘Saka ninja... V grimaced at the memory of his fight with Oda. He really, really did not want to deal with someone of that calibre when his body had no chrome of whatsoever and his physical weapons were nowhere near the tip-top shape they had been during this gig. Rest in pieces, beloved Black Widow, the sniper rifle which Oda had mercilessly slice-and-diced.
‘There is not enough data to confirm this,’ JIN answered after a minute, probably checking the system’s directives.
Fine, keep an eye out for me. For now, let’s see what kind of cockroaches we’re dealing with. V sighed as he flickered out a Ping, watching the strings of data covered the area and finding his targets. One, two, three. Three targets in the nearby area and they were ironically located right where the snipers had once positioned, except they were all Arasaka Ninjas. What the fuck? At least none of them were Oda. Honestly, V got the impression that only Takemura and Oda had better training than the rest, because his solo attack on Arasaka Tower had them sending in their infamous Ninjas left and right in the lower levels, but they were just extra nuisances at most instead of a dangerous challenge. Then again, Takemura and Oda were personally handpicked and specifically trained to protect Arasaka family members, so they were definitely not cut from the same cloth.
Nevertheless, these Ninjas were easy targets and his pick-up spots. One thing that he loved about Arasaka, it was that they always carried heavy loads, so it was easy to pick up stashes of weapons, ammunitions and eddies. Pretty sure it was Silverhand’s anti-Arasaka acting up, but he wouldn’t deny the glee and satisfaction he felt whenever he took down anyone and anything from Arasaka, from a simple grunt to the heaviest mech, and stripped them all of valuables. Besides, he was low on everything in here. Might as well as steal their stuff while he was at it.
Of course, it demanded more physical labour than usual, V hadn’t realized how much he had been relying on some of his chromes to reach the ledge of these high places, but his body was in better shape now, it just took a few extra turns and a little rough climb to get somewhere. With his first target in sight, he kept his body low as he inched forward slowly, letting his old training took over each muscle and the old wisdom from experienced fighters whispered in his mind.
Back in his Nomad days, while he had been training to be a capable Netrunner for the Bakkers, V still had to earn his keeps, so he had learned to be stealthy, to be able to hide himself from danger and retrieve packages without sounding a single alert. That quality attracted the attention of an old sniper in the family who had taught him how to control his breathing to keep his aim steadier and how to blend with the elements of his surroundings. Goro had sharpened his skills further when he had given him a crash-course on ‘Saka ninja trainings. While silence played a huge part in stealth, it was not what made an assassin deadly. It was to know when to make a sound and what sound their target must hear. Complete silence raised a person’s anxiousness more than a sound that should be present in the environment. This teaching had certainly made many of his gigs easier. All these experiences had shaped him into a dangerous Netrunner, eliminating his targets through quickhacks without a single sound or taking a shot from a distance and spreading fears amongst his enemies. An infamous Reaper who no one could spot until it claimed their life.
When V was close enough to his unsuspecting target, he carefully unsheathed his knife and pounced on the person’s back, pushing them both forward with his momentum, his hand moved with practiced precision to shove the knife deep into the weak spot below the chin guard. It was something he had found by accident when he had to do a quick patch on Goro’s neck cyberware that got damage during a gig. The ex-bodyguard’s chromes might be different from the mass-produced products of the underlings, but they still shared the same basic blueprint.
When they both hit the billboard’s platform, the blade wedged in deeper, still not enough to kill but the ninja couldn’t speak as the weapon prevented his jaw from opening. V did not hesitate as he took out his gun and fired three consecutive shots to the side of the guy’s head, ignoring the blood and debris that hit his face and watching as red tainted the ninja’s white outfit. The gunfire was muffled by the sounds of fireworks. ‘Target down.’
As his hands patted the corpse, rummaging for magazines and pulling out useful items, V felt... settled. Liberating even, like a beast inside him had been waiting to be unleashed for this. Sure, being a researcher and building things he had only dreamed of creating was quite satisfying, but... it did not fill the hole that sought bigger accomplishment, the part that wanted to scream out that he had made a fucking difference that mattered. Being able to see firsthand the consequences of his actions, it satisfied this hunger that had been starving in the shadow of his silver cage.
‘V... Focus,’ Goro’s voice sounded in his ear, snapping the Nomad out of his bloodthirsty trance.
‘Ah... Sorry, I...’
‘No, it is fine, but dangerous,’ came the AI’s concerned response.
I guess I was caged for too long. Hmm, maybe that’s why Johnny wanted to revel so much in the chaos. V remarked offhandedly in his mind as he finished picking the corpse clean. He pocketed his findings into his heavy cargo pants and took the dead man’s pistol and knife, they would do for backups. It made us feel... alive.
‘You are still alive, V. And you will be for many more years, far more than before,’ JIN reassured him.
A chuckle escaped V’s lips, ah it was so easy to think it was Goro telling him that, as the ex-bodyguard had done several times when his illness was at its worst points, but... that man was no longer a part of his life and never would be. Yeah, I do, don’t I? Years to do whatever I want...
‘So long that you reach for them, fight for them, correct?’
V let out a short laugh as his mood settled down with a gentle smile. Thank you JIN, for keeping me sane.
‘I was created to help you in any way and on any matters, remember?’ the AI responded back seriously, though V could feel the faint tickle of a tease in the digital being’s words.
Maybe, but you are first and foremost my partner. V said as he carefully made his way out of this building’s hallway, heading for his next target. So let’s ruin their day further. Shall we, partner?
JIN might not be in his vision, but V could feel a phantom smile on his own lips. Huh, so this must be the second-hand sensory that Johnny had felt from me... Does that mean he also... No. No. No. Bad thoughts. Not going there. Ever.
‘Noted,’ was his digital partner’s teasing response.
The Nomad had to quickly duck behind some cover as a drone flew by, its scanner sweeping its path. Damn, he had forgotten the drones patrolling the walkways during the parade. With a silent command, JIN instantly hacked into the drone, stealing data from it before completely overloading its system. V grimaced at the loud noise it made before it dropped into the streets below. He doubled his speed, knowing that its destruction would attract several others and probably alerted whoever was keeping an eye through the network.
V’s run dropped to a walk as the section he entered was different from his memory. Right... He wasn’t the only live brain in this sim. While the general area was extracted from his own memory of the Parade incident, JIN did say that missing parts were filled by other records.
‘What do you mean Narukami was taken out?’ someone demanded harshly in Japanese. V was honestly proud of himself for having learned Japanese with JIN’s help. He could now speak and understand the language fluently enough that he did not require a translator software for it. Just do not ask him to write or read stuff, those were still work in progress to him.
Wariness heightened, V crouched down and advanced with careful steps and weapons at ready, not liking the unknown territory he had entered and the enemy that had been stationed here. Another Arasaka Ninja, this one was in grey. V wondered what the colour represented, a grading system? He hid behind a stack of crates as he listened in.
‘Yes, yes, I hear you. Our objective is still eliminating the terrorist, but is it even safe for us to continue? Who knows what kind of virus got infiltrated into the system, it could easily affect us,’ the cyberninja pointed out in a whisper. ‘Just because everything is green, it doesn’t mean we are not in danger of dying from an overload, Ishida. Shut up Tsuji! You are just sitting in your safe room. Not running around like the rest of us.’
Silence filled the room for a few minutes, probably whoever was speaking on the other of the line had quite an opinion to voice, because this guy ended up scoffing before he replied sarcastically, ‘Of course, oh wise leader. We don’t accept failure. Mori out.’
‘Yaro... I hope you die next,’ the ninja, Mori, muttered as he readied his smart submachine gun.
Hmm... It sounded like the group was not as united as he thought. The brunet smirked slightly at that, because this meant that they would not communicate fully with each other and it seemed like they were all moving individually, so he just needed to eliminate them one by one. Still... there might be three other units beside Mori. He had already eliminated that Narukami fellow a few floors below, Mori here possibly represented the second sniper in his memory, Ishida could be the third one and by their discussion that Tsuji character was the Netrunner. There is still that oh-wise-leader person Mori was speaking to, it might just be an observer of the simulation, but knowing his luck, that unknown operative was probably the boss fight replacement. Alright, one fight at time, V. Don’t think too much ahead now. Now what’s our play here?
At his questioning thought, JIN instantly projected screens from nearby camera feeds into his sight, three in total, all covering the area Mori was in. This could be troublesome. He couldn’t assassinate the guy like he did with the last one nor could he start a fight when a possible observer could alert the rest. Grey blue eyes carefully peeked around the corner, taking notes of the covers available to him and the locked exit of the room. Might be safer to ignore this gonk and see if he had a better chance with the next one. Keep an eye out for me JIN.
‘Understood,’ the virtual butler responded as V made his move, silently rushing from one cover to the next while keeping track of enemy’s movements and cameras’ angle. With his back against a container, his eyes darted to the automatic door in front of him that JIN set to hack the lock, listening for Mori’s footsteps as they neared his hiding spot. He kept his breathing short and his body small as he waited, watching as the progress bar on the lock filled up. Both human and artificial being froze when the automatic door let out a loud beep and opened on its own, drawing the ‘Saka ninja’s attention instantly and a hail of bullets raining down on the doorway.
Fucking hell! Are they trained to be this hair-triggered?! V thought with a grimace as he held his breath tightly. The shooting stopped when the magazine was emptied, followed by a mild curse from the enemy who approached the doorway as he was reloading. The teen’s eyes narrowed at the opportunity presented to him. Gripping his gun tightly, he rushed forward. JIN! LOCK THE DOOR!
V tackled Mori through the doorway as the AI sealed the door behind them. The cyberninja had better footing than he expected and, using his own momentum against him, he flipped him over his shoulder. Ignoring the shock of the impact on his back and the burn in his lungs, V unloaded everything in his gun at the man’s head, forcing the other to raise his free arm to block the shots and let go of him. With his handgun emptied, he threw it at the ninja, using the temporary distraction to get back up and pull out the backup. The Arasaka ninja knocked the thrown object away as he charged forward with his Mantis Blade out from his weaponless arm. V dodged to the right, evading the swipe of the blade, and delivered a rush kick to the man’s stomach. The kick was quickly followed by precise shots aimed for the head. The Nomad kept pushing forward, sticking close to the other’s body as Takemura had once taught him when facing an enemy with Mantis Blades. The bladed cyberware was quite dangerous in close-quarter, but only at a specific range, if someone was pressed against the body of the attacker, the attacker’s limited movement range would leave them vulnerable. He needed to make every shot count in this brief window. Pressing his gun’s muzzle against the ninja’s neck, he fired his remaining clip into the neck guard and finished with his knife shoved into the opening his gun made. V twisted the blade hard as Mori’s back hit the sealed door, his eyes glaring into the shock ones behind the cracked helmet as their owner started to choke on his own blood. V watched until every ounce of the man’s life was bled out of him before he removed his bloodied weapon, letting the body fell onto the floor.
Taking in deep breathes to steady his jumping heart, V tried to ignore the burn running through his body and the vertigo that made his vision tilted oddly. The Nomad pressed his hands against his bended knees to keep himself upright. What the fuck was wrong with him? He was an experienced veteran! He shouldn’t be this affected!
‘V, slow, deep breathes,’ JIN said softly.
‘JIN... I...’
‘Slow. Deep. Breathes,’ the AI repeated in a commanding tone. ‘In. And out.’
Bit by bit, V followed the given instructions until he stopped feeling like he needed to empty his stomach or pass out. He was not sure why he was acting like a rookie all of a sudden, he had killed many before and he wasn’t even affected when he had killed that Narukami guy, why did this one left him sick to the gills?
‘It’s not his death that disturbs you, V,’ JIN said calmly. ‘It’s your brush with Death that has left you reeling.’
Death? What the fuck are you talking about JIN? I’m not... V took another deep breath as he tried not to overreact, not while he was probably under some form of surveillance. Okay, okay. Let the thought sink in. Let the thought sink in. He knew very well that his partner was right. Since his reincarnation, he had never been in danger and Death had completely left him alone these years. Sure, he had seen mutilated corpses and gory injuries that would leave many squeamish and sickly green, they were common sights in Night City, but danger hadn’t come to him directly, not like this.
‘Fuck, I really need to get out more,’ V muttered under his breath as he straightened himself.
‘I’ll file your request for field activities to Master Belmont and Dr. Ye Ting for approval.’
‘Ha, ha, ha,’ the Nomad intoned sardonically at the AI’s formal sarcasm while he was stripping the cooling body of all useful items. At least, he got something with stronger firepower. How unfortunate that he did not have a smart-targeting module, not that he was used to this type of weapon either, he always found it a hassle to not aim at his target directly when he was firing. V sighed as he lightly rubbed his forearm, tracing for a silly heart tattoo that was no longer there. While the tattoo Johnny had gotten for him was made under heavy doses of drugs and alcohols, and probably for shits and giggles, it did end up having some sentimental values once the Rockerboy construct was gone from his mind.
V shook his head to be rid of the nostalgic thoughts. He needed to focus on the present, not the past. Not while he was in a hostile area. After reloading all his firearms and keeping one cleaned knife in hand, the teen continued onward with a determination to finish this stupid simulation as the victor. He had stormed Arasaka Tower one-man-army style. Like Hell he was going to allow himself to get flatline here. Mental breakdown and nostalgia could take a damn rain check.
He paused mid-step when he spotted something very familiar on the stairways and a rather devious idea was forming in his head. ‘JIN... Do you have enough voice samples from Mori?’
The artificial intelligence was quiet for a second before he questioned, ‘Call for help?’
A toothy grin stretched over his lips as he confirmed, ‘Call for help.’
With a bit of Nomad outside-the-box-thinking and lots of technical tinkering, V had his trap set up and rushed to hide in the next area. ‘All yours JIN.’
The Nomad could barely contained his laugh as he listened to JIN’s vocal imitation of Mori and the extra background gunfire noises certainly sold them the idea that the deceased ninja was requesting backup while fighting a tough opponent. The mirth vanished at the soft sounds of footsteps. V crawled out from his hiding spot and caught the vanishing shadow of a figure around the corner. Without a second glance back, V started running at full speed.
Within a minute a loud explosion sounded in the night, V didn’t pause as he rushed for the section of the building that was still under construction, only slowing down when he neared the glass doors of the room where the Netrunner was stationed. Taking a steady breath as he readied himself mentally, JIN wordlessly slipped into the network. The Nomad took a step into the open space, SMG at ready by his side, as he peeked around the corner to see the Netrunner in a thinner ninja getup linked up to a stack of panels, her back facing him. Just like in his memory...
‘Now, V! I have her attention! Pull out her link!’
‘Been on a while. Time for a break.’ V announced automatically as he pulled the plug out of the Netrunner’s head. A light flickered out of the corner of his eyes and his body’s instinct flared as he jumped back, dodging the spark-filled Mantis Blades that was aiming for his head. Wait... sparks?
His attacker’s optical camo decloaked and revealed a masked man in black gears with dark blue highlight. A sense of relief hit the teen’s back as well as a tinge of disappointment. The lack of black with red and crimson oni mask reassured him that this was not the tough opponent he had once fought against, though the fact also ignited something inside him.
Gritting his teeth behind closed lips, V raised the SMG as his feet dashed into action. A dance between blades and bullets began. His opponent was a flurry of slashes with Mantis Blades, but the Nomad evaded them with ease. Two steps forward, one jump ahead and then back one step. A twirl of five steps before you thrust forward. Grey blue eyes narrowed as they tracked the ninja’s movement like a hawk, waiting for the opening that he knew was approaching. Everything moved almost in slow-motion in his sight as his attacker was in mid-action of jumping back and he fired half of his clip with deadly accuracy. Half of his bullets were caught by the cyberware, but the rest got through and hit the chest. A stumble from the other rewarded him a hail of bullets aimed for his head. V was already running as he ejected the empty magazine, rushing to put distance between them.
An annoyed growl could be heard from the ninja, V didn’t even bother to look back as he slammed a clip into his SMG. Him and his twice-be-damned luck, that smart-tracking module would have been quite useful by now! The hair on his neck rose, sensing the encroaching danger behind him. He ducked and rolled out of the Mantis Blades’ slashes, firing at few shots out of reflex.
DISABLE THOSE LEGS OF HIS, JIN! V ordered as he dodged another swipe that would have severed his head clean.
Having a digital partner hacking through an enemy’s ICE was much faster than doing it himself with his quickhacks. Sparks ignited from the knees and ankles of the ninja as they stood inert and locked in position while their owner struggled to move. V quickly emptied another magazine at the man’s head as he backed away. As he was about to put in his last clip, the daemon’s hold on the ninja was no longer in effect. The Nomad cursed as he instinctively raised his weapon to block the strike and was served a PTSD sight of it being reduced to pieces without mercy. THAT’S IT!!! I HAVE IT UP TO HERE WITH ‘SAKA NINJAS AND THEM DESTROYING MY GUNS!!!
V ignored the almost-panic voice of his virtual butler as he went on total offense. Fighting close-quarter against electrical Mantis Blades meant it would hurt like Hell, he might not be covered in chromes but his body would still feel the damn shocks. The sudden change of tactics surprised his opponent who tried to readjust his form to counter whatever V was going to throw at him, but V caught his right arm in a dead grip. He stabbed his knife deep into the synaptic controllers of the cyberware and wedged it deeper with a twist, successfully severing the limb’s link before he jumped back. He managed to avoid the blade aimed for his neck, but his shoulder blade and arm got cut instead.
Swallowing the pained noises back into his throat, V ignored the flesh wounds as he pressed forward with his handgun, shooting with deadly precision at the head. The Arasaka Ninja tried to block the bullets with his remaining Mantis Blade while his broken one tangled useless at his side, but it soon failed him too as the bullets broke more parts, forcing him to put it away as he scrambled to reach for one of the grenades on him. Oh no, you are not pulling a damn ninjistu on me choom!
V tackled the ninja down and they both tumbled down on the floor, wrestling against one another. An unexpected punch to the face stunned the Nomad temporarily, the world spun and he was found pinned to the floor instead, his gun lost in the tumble. For a guy who only had one functioning arm, V had to admit this Arasaka grunt put up a better fight than the rest of his team did, but...
Both JIN and V acted at the same time, the AI launched a shock daemon into the ninja’s system just as the human stabbed his side with his backup knife, stunning the man with both cybernetic malfunction and physical pain. Rolling them over, V started pummelling the guy’s covered face, punch after punch without pause, ignoring the cuts on flesh and cracks in bones as his bloodied hands broke the helmet. He unsteadily got up, glaring down at his beaten opponent, before he went to pick up his discarded weapon a few steps away.
V grimaced between heavy breathes as he approached the downed man. The system still hadn’t declared him the victor, so... he needed to finish the deed. Staring down at the ninja who was cradling his head in pain, it reminded him of the aftermath of his victory against Oda. Only this time, he wasn’t given the choice to be merciful. V tilted his head to the side as he asked, ‘Do you hear anything?’
The defeated fallen turned his head to glare at him through cracks of his helmet as V shook his head and scoffed, ‘Nothing. I thought... Ah... Why would anyone beg for your life? You are nobody. Nobodies like us... die.’
BANG!
Grey blue eyes dully looked down at the blood pooled out under the head before they glanced up as the system declared the Arasaka had failed their mission and the emblem on him disappeared in a flash of pixels. The teen dropped the gun, waiting for the simulation to shut down.
V ignored JIN’s droning in his mind as the AI was checking the connection and other software related issues to ensure his safe return to reality, for he felt too bone-tired and hollow out. The fight had ignited the fire that he had left dimmed for many years, but it also brought back a lot of memories that had been buried under thick dust. He glanced back at the fallen ninja, waiting for a familiar voice to start berating him for the unnecessary slaughter or curse him for his merciless nature, but there was only silence. V closed his eyes as tears ran down his cheeks and the virtual world vanished in a bright flash, taking him away from this distant and tainted memory.
Valentine was rubbing his temple gently, hoping his head would stop cracking in eggshell style. His return to reality was hectic to say the least, everyone was running around with their nerves fried and he couldn’t make head or tail of what had gotten their panties all twisted and wet. What he did know was that the whole squad made it out safely and his father was somewhere doing damage control with Arasaka higher-ups. He had swapped his top gears for a thick black hoodie, wanting something comfortable and that could provide a bit of shade for his sensitive eyes.
Ugh... Maybe he should have kept JIN in his head, but with how badly his brain was throbbing within his skull and the amount of high-speed processing the virtual butler had been doing to keep him alive in the simulation, they would end up with more a simple case of overheat. JIN had been put into the Freezer, a storage device designed to keep the chip in cool and stable temperature, while they were running diagnostic on it and the AI was put into rest mode. As for Valentine, he had to wear a half-face respiratory mask with filters that contained the meds Madam designed to relax the body and alleviate pain. The gas meds were made for gonks like him who could not lie still to rest properly, but the Clan had used them for temporary relief until they could provide proper medical care. Besides, he just wanted to grab a drink, it was supposed to be a short walk, which somehow ended with him lost in this maze-like building. He could have sworn he had seen a damn vending machine on their way to the simulation pod room. Oh well... the quiet was a nice change after all the action in the virtual world, though it would be better when he got a drink to go with it.
As if someone upstairs had finally heard his prayer, Valentine found a small resting area with the vending machines he was searching for. The teenager sighed in relief as he browsed with squinting eyes the drinks on display. Sheesh Goro. And you complain about NC’s weird drink selection...
There were LOTS of weird drinks in here, like ramen soda, that sounded like a soggy mess. Then there was miso, corn stew, minestrone, hot baked apple. Wait. They had canned cakes as well? While interesting, they did not all sound appetizing... Okay, okay, weird stuff aside, they did have something more normal in here. Goro had told him ramune was a staple drink to try out, but he did not feel up for carbonated stuff today. They had a variety of teas and some coffee. Oh! Oshiruko! Goro had that nostalgic look on his face when he had mentioned this drink. Curiosity piqued, Valentine decided to try the supposedly favourite drink of his friend.
When the brunet picked up his drink from the vending machine, he was honestly surprised to find it hot to the touch, though he welcomed such warmth after walking around these cold corridors for a while. Suddenly, his ears caught faint approaching footsteps that he chose to ignore in favour of warming his cool fingers with the heat of the cylindrical container. Some people sat down in the sofas of the resting area, whispering between themselves while one of them seemed to wish to vocalize their anger in a louder volume, Valentine tuned them all out as he took a tasting sip. It had an odd kind of sweetness and the texture felt sandy, he supposed that came from the red beans, which he had never tasted before. Another sip and then a light chew on the red beans, the teenager found that he might not like it but he did not abhor it either. He supposed this taste was one that might grow on him with time.
While taking more small sips, Valentine continued with his browsing and wondered if he should pick up some stuff for the crew as well, if he was careful, he could probably carried a dozen cans back, assuming that wouldn’t get lost on his way back. Which drink should he buy? Coffee or tea? Coffee did not sound like a good choice while everyone was stressed and tea was an acquired taste in the Belmont Clan. He supposed soda would be the safer bet, assuming that they let them rest. Or just hand everyone a bottle of water. Oh! Maybe he should just grab one of everything and let them pick at random! That sounded fun!
After finishing his oshiruko, Valentine readjusted the mask over the lower half of his face before he went to drop the can in the recycle bin. The clink-clank sound was loud to his ears and was apparently offensive to the group as well.
‘Who the fuck are you?’ a familiar voice demanded.
Oh no, you gotta be shitting me. Valentine glanced at the speaker under the shadow of his hood and mentally groaned at the sight of the four Arasaka Ninjas he had assassinated in the simulation. Not that he recognized their faces, but their outfits and the speaker had pretty much told him who they were.
‘A foreigner?’ the only female in the group murmured in surprise before her eyes sharpened while her male companions tensed up at that.
‘There is no transfer from other branches today,’ another associate remarked.
‘No, but there is a group that has been logged for a training session,’ the last man pointed out.
‘Right... Whose simulation infected ours,’ the first guy added. Almost in unison, they stood up and moved close to Valentine, looking like they were ready for a hostile takedown.
Valentine sighed softly, keeping his pose lax and his hands hovering in a placating gesture, as he feigned ignorance on the matter. ‘Hey, look, I do not know what you all want, but I am not looking for trouble here. I just want to pick some drinks for my friends and I’ll be on my way.’
The ninjas all shared a look of distain on their face, probably found it rude that he was speaking to them in English instead of Japanese. That... or they simply don’t know a single word in English and they were entirely reliant on their translator soft.
‘Mori, Tsuji, Ishida, Narukami. Stand down,’ a commanding voice called out, drawing the attention of the group. ‘He is one of the important guests.’
Valentine peered over the shoulders to study the newcomer, a frown settled between his brows. He assumed this was the last Arasaka Ninja he had fought in the simulation. He seemed slightly older than the rest of the group, skin a paler shade than everyone else in the room, his hair was tied in a proper topknot and brown eyes were cold and disregarding. Not sure why, but something about this man just rubbed him the wrong way.
‘Him?’ Mori jabbed a finger in Valentine’s direction. ‘An important guest? Since when do we have a drug addict for a guest?’
The brunet raised an eyebrow at the last comment, not entirely right, but it was true that he was still under the influence of Dr. Ye Ting’s meds. He supposed his current attire made him looked more like the type of person they were accusing him of than a tired grunt.
‘Yes. If you have any complaints, then you can speak with Takemura-sensei yourself,’ the newcomer replied coldly.
Takemura... sensei? Wait... Uh... Takemura is a common surname in Japan. There is probably more than one Takemura in Arasaka... Right... Yeah... That’s right. Coincidence.
‘You are nothing more than a dog, Sandayu,’ Mori spat out.
Sandayu? Wasn’t that...? Oh... Oh fuck... It finally clicked in Valentine’s sluggish brain and the surprise had instantly flushed out the relaxant effect of his meds. He actually had an encore with that Oda bastard without realizing it?!