Cyberpunk 2077: V

Chapter 77: The Great Escape

The elevator doors opened to glowing neon red and slashes of painful LED blue. A small walkway led from the elevator to a concrete planter with an intricate red maple bonsai tree illuminated with red lights. To the direct right of the doors flashed an Arasaka vehicle ad, casting V and Jackie in a soft fuzzy glow. V once again got into a defensive position, shielding Jackie with her body, one hand reaching out to keep the doors open.

They waited. 

No yelling or sound of pounding feet. Seemed what Jackie had said was true; no one knew they were down there.

Not yet, at least...

V focused. Listened. Licked her lips.

Concrete, CHOOH2, oil. Faintest taste of ballistic weave. The scuffle of rubber treads on synthcrete. A soft crackle of a radio.

There were Arasaka special forces down here... but how many?

"Follow me," V whispered, gesturing for Jackie to step forward. He grunted softly and followed her out of the elevator, struggling to stand upright and keep from dragging his feet loudly over the rough floor. V moved up to the base of the red maple bonsai, using the thick concrete base as cover. She looped around the right side a little, seeing that the overall area opened up into the parking garage proper.

For a split moment V was distracted. There were a LOT of high-end cars down here. Some were even brands that she'd never heard of. There were plenty of Rayfields, Caliburns, Herreras, and all sorts of others out the wazoo though. All glimmering, all shiny and expensive. V had to physically drag her focus back into place to cut off her Nomad ogling and get back to work.

To her right, the garage was empty of people, just parking spaces here and there dotted with expensive high-end vehicles. To the left area, however, she saw that there were at least six Arasaka soldiers. They were all standing towards the back corner of the garage in a semicircle. One of them, presumably whoever was in charge of the squad, was pointing to a large projection of something on the wall coming from his wrist.

And of course, directly across and a couple of parking spaces down from the squad, sat Delamain.

V swallowed. The soldiers had a relatively clear line of sight from their spot to Delamain, which didn't help V or Jackie at all. How could she get them there?

She quickly pulled up Delamain's contact info and hit call.

After a single ring, Delamain's affable face appeared on her HUD.

"Greetings, V. I see that you and Mr. Welles are now in the parking area. Shall we head out on our way?" he greeted.

"Don't make any sudden moves, Del," V interjected quickly, voice barely a whisper. "We're in trouble. Arasaka's super soldiers don't know that we're here, yet. Can you just unlock the doors, then the instant we jump in, gun it and get us out of here?"

"I most certainly can," Delamain replied immediately. "When I sense you approaching I shall unlock them, and swiftly secure them in case of any conflict."

"Thanks, Del," V breathed, meaning it. "We'll make our way over to you. Might take a hot minute since we have to be careful."

"Excellent, I await your cue," Delamain replied cheerfully before disconnecting and disappearing from sight.

V turned to Jackie. "Called Del, he's ready for us. We can get to him but there's a bunch of Arasaka soldiers over to one side and they could be a problem. We need to be careful, sneak between a few cars and keep them from noticing us. They have a lot of big guns and we are no match for them right now."

"Aight," Jackie gasped, breath rough. "Lead the way, chica."

V nodded, swallowing her fear. Why did he look so pale?