Cyberpunk 2077: V

Chapter 18: Monster Hunter

"Fiiiiiiiiiinnaaally," Jackie sighed, rolling his shoulders back into his jacket. "Feels like years since we were on a gig. This is so much better than playing Mother Hen over at All Foods listenin' to chrome-heads chew each other's circuits."

He grinned at V as he leaned against the stained wall of the alley.

"All right chica, we set?"

V nodded, playing with the end of her Bakker braid.

"Yep, all set. Go in there and make those Hollywood hacks look like amateurs, ya big lug."

Jackie winked and patted his two hand cannons. "You know it - here's hopin' they won't need to see my 'explosive' encore. Now, let's get this sonofabitch."

They started an audio link between the two of them, and Jackie turned the corner to make his way towards the Ho-Oh, whistling like he didn't have a care in the world. V waited where she was, casually leaned against the alley wall, looking all the world like she was just some random gonk waiting for their pal to walk up before they headed into a braindance bar.

It would be  a couple of minutes before V needed to act, so she pulled up her phone and opened up the gig description she got from Regina one more time, scrolling down to the last section.

"The Mox are different. Mox netrunners connected a few dots and tracked down Jotaro's bloody studio, Ho-Oh. Quaint little club in Kabuki. This area's a no-go for Moxes, which is why they need a helping hand. Enter you.

Find this fucker Jotaro and tell him his days in the entertainment biz are done."

V stared at the message, biting at the edge of her lip. She couldn't help but think of Maria and Lia, the girls she'd helped yesterday; and how they'd said that the Mox didn't give a shit about them. The Mox went out of their way to track down this Jotaro dickhead, even though half of his victims weren't even Mox themselves. They clearly helped out those who weren't their own; so why not Lia and Maria?

Jackie was saying something, he must have made it to the bar. V dismissed her text screen and focused on what was happening.

The plan was simple. Jackie would be the face of the op; go in, ask some questions, be the friendly two-ton bull that he was, see if the barkeep had anything useful to say. Then he'd sit, drink, play a few games, and keep an eye on the lobby. Take note of security cameras, guards; any indication that V's shenanigans had been noticed. 

V would do her Nomad Ninja thing. With Jackie installed as backup, she would sneak around the Kabuki joint, find a way in, find Jotaro...and make a decision.

Jackie was all for zeroing Jotaro, especially after some of the evidence that Regina had sent them. The screams from the girls... It made V's blood burn in her veins.

But V wasn't an executioner. Or at least, that's what she told herself. 

Even though there was still blood staining her boots from the Tyger Claws she killed yesterday.

"What can I get you?"

V pushed off the alleyway wall and shuffled forward, turning right instead of left when she came to the alley opening. She followed a line of vending machines until she reached the far one at the end, a wall blocking off the street to her left with just enough space for a maintenance box between the wall and the vending machine. This area was a "pocket"; an alley that emptied into a closed off courtyard with just enough space for people to mill around in front of whatever business. In this case, the courtyard in front of the Ho-Oh was decent sized, with a bench smothered in cigarette ash and discarded drug cartons showing that it may have been where a lot of workers took their breaks. As V hid herself in the shadow of the vending machine, she listened in on Jackie's conversation.