Cyberpunk 2077: V

Chapter 2: Never Goes As Planned

"The owner of the vehicle in the inspection area will report for further questioning."

V sighed. This was typical sometimes. Depending on the day, she'd get scanned, nod to one of the guys, and then she'd be on her way. Sometimes, however, there were more steps, so she'd have to leave her Galena and wander inside for a quick chat. Usually sliding a credit chip with some eddies across the table got her moving pretty quickly. V took a deep breath and neatly folded the manifest into a tight rectangle. She felt Jackie's entire body tense up next to her.

"Ah...chingada madre...what now?"

"Relax; it's all in line with procedures. All a part of the plan," she said in a soothing voice, hoping the guards didn't notice Jackie's fidgeting shaking the whole car. 

Jackie gave her a tight side look and sat up straight in his seat, staring out the windshield.

"Hey...I guess you know what you're doin', huh?"

V sighed lightly and moved to get out of the car while holding up a hand.

"If we want the customs officer to turn a blind eye to our dubious docs, we'll need a sweetener. Do you have the credit chip with the bribe?"

Jackie glanced over at her with a small flicker of surprise before a sheepish grin pulled at his lips. 

"Oh! Oh yeah...forgot about that."

V gave him a look before taking the chip.

"Riiiiiiiight, you forgot."

With that, V got out of the car, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. She slammed the car door, and just as she was about to step forward, she heard Jackie whisper loudly, "I'll keep the engine running! Just in case of a cock up."

V muttered, "Do that..." before turning and nonchalantly walking towards the border security building. She kept her body language relaxed yet confident, with a bored, resigned look on her face meant to tell the guards that she was just a normal person, annoyed at being held up. The guard standing towards one of the turrets recognized her. He gave her an imperceptible nod, which V returned with a shadow of a smile. She'd run a little border hop gig for him a few months back. An expensive synth-diamond ring imported from South California for his girlfriend. He was cool.

As V walked through the sliding doors, a blast of tepid air hit her in the face, the aging AC system fighting for its life trying to cool the place down. To her left hung a map of what had once been the United States, now carved up like a roast. On benches around the walls sat hot, tired  people, most of them smoking a cigarettes and looking like they'd been waiting for awhile. A TV that was blistered and burned like it had taken a direct hit from an RPG blared out a news report; something about China and India. She took another scan of the waiting people and bit her lip.

Damn...I hope we aren't going to be here for hours...V thought.

"If you're armed, place your weapons here," a gravely, bored voice called out to V's right. She turned towards a caged-off office to see Officer Chang leaning on the table by the window, a tired expression on his face. A flicker of recognition ran through his eyes, but otherwise he didn't react. His head tilted then and all V could see was his dark sunglasses. She gave him a small smile and sauntered over, reaching for the holster barely covered by her threadbare jacket. V pulled Freddy's revolver out and set it smartly on the counter. Chang slowly reached out and slid the revolver to his side of the glass and moved it to his left. Since he didn't set it in one of the bins or boxes, V took it as a good sign that she and Jackie wouldn't be waiting there forever after all.

"Report to room number two," Chang said loudly above the noise of the air conditioning fans. V nodded in reply, then turned and made her way down the short, dirty hallway that led to some interrogation rooms.