Cyberpunk 2077: V

Chapter 36: Ticket to the Major Leagues

V wished Regina had called about another easy gig, like the implant recovery she did yesterday. Instead, it was another cyberpsycho gig.

Or maybe it was a cyberpsycho gig.

When Regina called V, she hadn't seemed super hurried or rushed like she had with the very first psycho. Instead she said:

"Hey V, could you investigate somethin' for me? Caught wind of a scuffle at the docks. Could be junkies, but somethin's off...this thing smells like a cyberpsycho flare-up to me. And I wanna know if drugs played any part. And remember, no killing. Cold body's no good to check, so keep whoever it is alive."

The map ping Regina sent took V all the way down to the docks near the Arasaka spaceport. And now V found herself walking down some broad steps that led to the water, the ever-present drone of the city a little quieter now that she wasn't in its heart. At the bottom of the steps, V stopped to take stock of the area.

Large concrete walkways with steps that led into the water along with cafes and little street marts under stairs that led to upper levels with small shops sat to V's right. To her left, a long metal walkway sat over the water, leading to what looked like dock heliport. Small helipads dotted the edges of the docks in the city, quick places where supplies for the surrounding shops or residentials could be offloaded. The graffiti and random piles of cardboard and junk told V that this wasn't one of the nicer helipads. Her ping glowed bright cherry red in the direction of the pad though, so V turned and began slowly walking towards it. She stepped lightly, trying to keep her combat boots from making noise on the rusted blue metal. About ten steps in, she got a text from Regina.

One more thing—the security in these places is always beefed up, so keep an eye out. Our guy might be one of the heavy hitters.

V sent a thumbs-up back, then reached into her pocket and pulled out her white yokai mask. She slipped it on, made sure it fit all right, then continued towards the helipad.

She managed to get a glimpse of a thick concrete wall topped with razor wire and twin blue fuel silos before she noticed something that didn't belong there. Two legs were lying in the cut-out entryway to the cargo pad. Two unmoving legs.

V immediately crouched, her senses on alert. She couldn't hear anything except the lap of the water against the walkway and the city noise. Scanning the area, she saw she had only one way into the helipad: through that main entrance directly in front of her. The highway bridge above was waaay too high to jump from, and she didn't feel like getting torn up by razor wire today.

Creeping forward, V used her "fox-stepping" that she learned in her early years to move closer with utter silence as her ears pricked for any noise. She scanned the body in the entryway as she got closer, the read-out telling her that the man was deceased; and that almost every bone in his body was broken. Seemed this Kang Tao security guard was one of the first to go.

No sound but the waves. V slipped up to the edge of the concrete opening, seeing that the walkway ended at the two fuel silos before turning directly right and disappearing into piles and piles of boxes, metal crates, and dock equipment. She slid around the corner, coming to a pause just next to the edge of the last fuel silo when she heard something.

A frustrated shout devolved into a feral screeching sound that made her skin crawl. It was followed by what might have been someone banging their fists into a metal sheet. She leapt back as a box full of tools suddenly came flying from around the corner of the silo, crumpling against the concrete wall and nearly hitting her with a loose wrench.

"Fuck!" V gasped. She waited until the sounds and screams stopped, then moved up closer. There was a large tire rotation machine just past the silos, big enough to hide V's form as she tried to peer into the main cargo area. What she was able to see between cracks of crates and boxes was blood. A lot of blood. Bits of flesh, too. It reminded her of the blood-soaked scene she'd found Mower in, and she shivered. This wasn't a false alarm - someone must have gone psycho.