Cyberpunk 2077: You Shall Never Have To Forgive Me Again

Ch. 8 Little Lies

The ride back to Judy's was incredibly uncomfortable.

It took about thirty minutes with traffic and had V regretting not driving her own car to the dam — also her back hurts, that couch far less comfortable than V originally thought it would be. But they had already been hanging out and the beta had invited her to go diving for help with an experimental BD project she was working on, and V didn't see any harm in it.

In hindsight, she thinks she should've paid more attention to the clues.

V wasn't entirely oblivious to Judy's feelings for her. Had seen the looks thrown at her back when her and Jackie had started working with Evelyn, had even briefly considered it... until Konpeki happened, and then Evelyn...

V had liked Evelyn, admired the fellow omega for her tenacity, even made her a little envious. Evelyn and Alt, probably even other omegas she's never heard of, people who were brave enough to not hide, who didn't cower but instead wore their presentation like a badge of honor, with pride, used it to work in their favor. Unlike V, who now had her scent chrome switched to Beta to continue her deception with Judy.

Evelyn did everything she could think of to fight the system and look what happened to her. Look what happened to Alt. And now Judy, even Johnny, was struggling with the kind of loss that some people never recover from.

By herself, maybe it would've been easier. But she wasn't alone anymore. She had Panam now and she wasn't willing to risk losing the alpha for anything.

If only her own system would work with her. God, she could still feel the sting of shame from yesterday morning. Fucking embarrassing.

And speaking, or thinking, of Panam, now Judy knew about them and... she was pissed. Livid. Hurt. All of the above, probably.

But V didn't think Judy had any real right to be angry with her. After Evelyn and everything, V had shut down the flirting and innuendos with the beta. Not that there was a lot of begin with, but still. Judy had cared for Evelyn, loved her, even, that much was obvious, and V doesn't know if they were official, if they were open or what. Either way, it was never going to happen between them. Maybe in another life, Judy had plenty of good qualities and was a good person at heart, but no. Too much had happened, to both of them, and V made her decision with Panam.

V had tried to let Judy down easy. She liked the BD editor and knew she was going through a lot, Evelyn's death and Clouds falling apart still so recent for her. Judy didn't deserve all the shit life was throwing at her and if V could help make her feel better, she would. But V wasn't going to compromise her own boundaries in doing so. And last night that looked like V turning down Judy's kiss.

Now, the next morning, Judy was still fuming, deciding that it was somehow best to not play the radio, so the two sat in awkward silence. Well, for V it was awkward, she wasn't sure about Judy. The beta seemed intensely focused on the road, fingers tapping on the steering wheel, and not once did she look at her passenger or speak a single word.

'You weren't kiddin' about always causin' trouble.'

Hey, this time it wasn't my fault.

Johnny popped up, sitting in the backseat. V didn't look back at him, remaining neutral with her elbow on the car window, looking outside as they neared Judy's apartment.

'Maybe. Maybe not. Either way I don't think I've seen anyone be so bad with chicks. Even Kerry.'

Kerry Eurodyne?

'Mhmm.'

Why do you say that?

'Cuz he's gay.'