We walked through the dressing room in the back and down into this storage area – no, it’s… a server farm? Below a nightclub? I suppose I’ve seen stranger things, though. Makes sense for a gang to not want to outsource any of its essentials, after all. “So what’s on the tape, anyway?”

  “Yorinobu’s suite. The glorious interior,” she said aloud, out of earshot, “A BD allows you to experience every sensation you might miss, even boosted. Perfect for our purposes. You’ll need to locate the Relic yourself. Hopefully I grabbed enough detail to make it possible.” I was fully-aware of all that, having done this trick multiple times back in the day, though I let her continue regardless out of politeness.

  “Hang on a second,” I stopped her halfway down the stairs, “You mean to tell me you went into the penthouse suite yourself? I’m assuming you two know each other, then?”

  “How else could I get all this intel? Know him pretty well, actually.”

  “I gathered that much, sure. But there’s a difference between knowing somebody and knowing them intimately enough to get a look at the location they’re stashing a prototype biochip.”

  “We have… an arrangement. Strictly business. But suits us both.”

  “Ah. So you’re… friendly with Yorinobu?”

  “Mhm,” she nodded, “Got a problem with that?”

  “No, no problem,” I shrugged, “In fact it’s a good thing, means you likely got a glimpse of him few others ever managed.”

  “Heh, indeed,” she chuckled, “So let’s have a look at this BD.”

  “Judy’ll help. She’s a Mox too. ‘Sides, she and I go back, uh… years.”

  “Judy, huh?”

  “V, this is important,” she stopped me in front of a double-door, “Judy’s always been there for me. Always helped out. I trust her. But she’s a Mox, not a member of your crew. Try not to forget. So you’ll be a good girl, tread lightly, and keep that tongue on a leash.”

  “My lips are sealed.”

  We went further down into the bowels of the club, entering a room dominated by a netrunning chair and a veritable wall of computers. Hardware that’d make the intel guys at the office cream themselves in a heartbeat, I’m sure. “Ahem!” she coughed to catch the lady’s attention. I could barely see her except in the faint blue glow of her BD wreath she wore around her head.

  “Hey, there you are,” Judy snapped out of it, looking over at Evelyn and myself.

  “Judy, this is V, she’s here for the BD roll,” Evelyn motioned to me, “And V, this is Judy. Best BD editor I know.”

  “Enough already, gonna make me barf,” Judy scoffed. Hey, wait a minute – she was one of the women at the bar earlier. Hm. And with an absolutely killer setup to boot.

  “Sensory signature amplifiers, auditory and emotive upgrades… where’d you get all this tech?”

  “Eh, most of it’s customized,” Judy smiled, “Only thing factory in here are the casings.”

  “You mod all this yourself?”

  “Whaddyou think?” She looked at me, dimming her displays and letting me see her whole face – fucking… Okay, she’s gorgeous. The way she smiles, with those rosy cheeks… Stay focused. Hang on…

  “Expression translator, Fuyutsuki, right? Heard those had fucked up matrices.”

  “They were, but swappin’ out matrices’s simple. And this was the only model that’d support additional scanware.”

  “Beast of a setup,” I complimented, “Used to work with BDs a lot back in the day, would’ve killed to have someone with your expertise-”

  “Okay, we get it,” Evelyn interrupted.

  “Alright, alright,” Judy snickered as she removed her headware, “Compiled your BD, Ev.”

  “And, whaddyou think, will it do?” Evelyn asked.

  “Still pretty raw, but yeah, oughtta do.”

  “Mhm,” Evelyn nodded, “V needs to get deep as she can.”

  “So let’s calibrate it, tune it to her.” Judy turned off the screens and got up, walking over to her workstation with a far more casual gait than Evelyn. Her overall buckle hung down loosely over her butt, swaying back and forth as she moved. “Believe me, I’ve dealt with worse. Should see the Jig-Jig Street porn we gotta contend with sometimes.” Fuck me, her smile is adorable. Yet she seemed to carry herself with all the aggressive confidence that Evelyn lacked. I had no doubt in my mind that she knew what she was doing, perhaps too well for a place like this. More likely than not, similar to me and Jackie, she was doing this more as a favor to Evelyn than out of a sense of personal gratification. They seemed to function similarly to Jackie and I as well, obviously deeply caring about one another even from the minute or so of interaction I’ve had with them.

  “So? We drop V inside? Let her rummage around a bit?” Evelyn continued.

  “How ‘bout it, V?” Judy asked me, looking up with those brown eyes of hers. “Ever done a raw BD before?”

  “Not for a long time,” I admitted, “at least, what, 7 or 8 years.”

  “Right, so quick refresher then,” she nodded, “Basic shit on the market’s all been curated, watered-down. We tailor-set the emotions we want the viewer to feel. But the raw shit, well that’s more like a virtual enviro. Get to see things up close, in detail. Editors like me use the layers to find those juicy emotes and bring ‘em to the surface, enhance the experience for the mass-market shit. Siddown, settle in, and we’ll getcha goin’.” She pointed over to her netrunning chair and directed me to sit down while she retrieved something from the boxes behind her. Evelyn stood poised over her shoulder, looking impatient and tired. “Alright, now just lean back, gotta tailor this wreath to ya.”

  “Sure… hm…” I paused for a second.

  “What’s up?”

  “I, erm… probably should’ve worn jeans.”

  “What? Why-oh. Oh. Uh, sorry,” she glanced down at my skirt which was hiked way up in the chair, “It didn’t even register to me, hah. I mean, considerin’ where we are and everything, just kinda used to dolls well… erm… Hey, you want a towel? Lemme getcha somethin’ real fast.”

  “No no, it’s okay,” I shook my head with a smile, “Kind of you to ask.”

  “Alright, just so you know, I’ve seen everything, so you won’t surprise me, don’t worry. Promise I won’t look, okay? Cute as you are.” Now she just made me blush.

  “Ugh, can we get a move on?” Evelyn interjected.

  “Right, right, sorry,” Judy nodded, “Here, get this snug onto your noggin, I’ll be back with somethin’ to cover you up, okay?”

  “Thanks, Judy.”

  “Sure thing, anything for a friend.”

  She walked off for a few seconds while I fiddled with the knobs on the device until it fit securely on my head. Always hated BD wreaths, they’re a pain to adjust at first. I learned real quick that once I found one I liked, I had to hold onto it like it was made of solid platinum.

  “Here ya go,” she returned with a cute pink towel and handed it to me. I smiled and gave her a slight nod as I tossed it over my crotch and got more comfortable. “Alright, so what kinda eye implants you got in there? Need to set it to talk to your soft.”

  “What? Oh– no, they’re natural eyes.”

  “Wow, look atchyouuu, natural eyes on a merc? First time for everythin’, I suppose,” she laughed, “Alright, gonna flip on the projectors then… Hang on…”

  “Alright, looks good,” she sat back down, “Should feel like relivin’ a memory. Visions in your head, that sorta thing. ‘S normal for naturals,” she elaborated, “Just gotta create your profile so your synapses don’t sizzle like locusts in a deep-fryer. Don’t worry, I won’t have that.” Judy smiled and gave me a wink as she booted up her soft. That wink immediately made me want to marry her.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  Okay, enough jokes, I thought to myself. Time to get strapped in. I’m not exactly used to the sensation, that’s for sure. The only real times I ever did anything like this was intelligence-gathering; I suppose this was no different. But the raw intensity of emotions… it never quite leaves me. “Just promise me it won’t hurt, huh?”

  “It won’t, not this time,” she grinned, “Now sit still and follow my instructions…”

  She and Evelyn gave me the full run-down, though I communicated that it wasn’t particularly necessary; this all felt quite familiar to me. The concept was simple enough to understand – seeing the world through someone else’s perspective. Vision, hearing, touch, emotions, everything. You feel someone’s fear, heartbreak, ecstasy. No wonder it’s so often used for porn. “You ready to do this?” Judy asked.

  “Yeah, just gotta link my teammate T-Bug in.”

  “Whoa whoa whoa, who?” Judy shot up out of her chair.

  “Runner from my crew. Need to patch her in so everyone knows their roles, that’s all. Is that a problem, or…?”

  “Actually, it is a problem,” she muttered before looking at Evelyn, “Not what we agreed, Ev.”

  “Evelyn,” I said to her, “You know Dex’ll never let you hear the end of it if you keep him out of the loop.”

  “Judy, please,” Evelyn stood up to confront Judy.

  “Ev, she wants to bring a runner in, what part of that don’tchyou understand? How do I know she’ll only perch and observe, not fuck with anything?”

  “Me. I’m your guarantee.”

  “Yeah, right,” Judy put her hands on her hips and gave Evelyn a dead stare.

  “Help me. This one last time. And I promise everything’ll work out just like we planned.”

  Judy let out a heavy sigh. “Alright, V. Call this mysterious T-Bug.” I nodded and did as she asked before she changed her mind.

  T-Bug answered, “Hey V, what’s happenin’?”

  “T-Bug, got a raw BD here of Konpeki Plaza’s penthouse, the supposed location of the biochip. Need you to perch up and help us get our bearings.”

  “Konpeki?” Judy queried, “Ohh, thought as much.”

  “Someone there with you?” T-Bug asked.

  “Unimportant,” I replied bluntly, “Stand by to receive.”

  “Alright, ready.”

  “Fire it up, Judy.”

  –

  I’m standing on an elevator. Loud footsteps outside. Getting louder. A stroke of trembling fear as the door opened and I’m met by a towering 8-foot tall hulk of chrome and black steel. Adam Smasher.

  “You look like a cut of fuckable meat. Are you?” he taunted me as he strode past, his frame shaking the ground beneath my feet and nearly destabilizing me. I kept well clear of him, even though he could just as easily blow me in half from across the city should he so wish. He had to duck to get into the elevator, the cables clearly straining under his weight.

  “Fuck me, Adam Smasher?!” I said over the BD. “How in the absolute living hell…”

  “Oh?” T-Bug answered, “Who’s he?”

  “He’s supposed to be dead… well, supposed to be. Said to have died in the NC Holocaust. Word is that he’s replaced every bit of his body with borgware. The poster child of a hatred of flesh. He was nothing more than a brain in biogel. No one knows how old he is, how powerful he is, his motives, wants, or needs. Some say that he sold his soul for chrome, others say he never had one to begin with. I only know of him because I heard a rumor once or twice, piqued my interest, so I looked him up on Arasaka’s database.”

  “Fuck… Let’s hope he’s not around when you get up there.”

  “Anything else?” I asked.

  “Hmm. Alarm looks like a Shepard A1-T. Lemme pull up some keys, see if I can forge their sigs…”

  I continued down the hall, swallowing my fear just as quickly as it surfaced.

  “Camera with motion sensors, heat sigs, IFF… need access to their subnet for that,” T-Bug continued.

  I let my bag drop by my side as I trotted up to Yorinobu. Looking mighty handsome today as well… Talking on the phone with someone important, sounded like. Hmm… Wonder exactly how important, though. Should probably wait a bit, let it play out…

  “Hmm, I hear a droning sound… servers, maybe? Cooling towers? Behind the TV. Nothin’ to worry about, have a look at the phone…”

  A Swedish voice was on the other line, by the sound of the accent. “We can’t take this to market, not yet, it’s still in the trial phase.”

  “We’ll see soon enough,” Yorinobu replied.

  “Please, speak with your father,” the voice insisted, “With this project, he can certainly explain the risks of-”

  “My father is a tired, visionless old greybeard,” Yorinobu struck back, “Thinks nothing will ever change and he’ll live forever in his tiny, frozen bubble.”

  “I should not even be listening to such things!” I had a look around while they talked, grabbing a bottle of champagne from the freezer and carrying it over to him.

  “You will listen to this,” Yorinobu insisted, “Saburo is an addled despot utterly removed from reality, stuck in some fossilized vision of a world that no longer exists! Of a world that may never have even existed at all! We have not seen eye to eye in twenty years, I’m sure we won’t now.”

  “At least read the documentation carefully,” the voice implored, “The Relic requires specific conditions to be usable. You must provide them-”

  “Noted, enough,” he spoke definitively, hanging up the phone.

  “Heard that?” T-Bug said, “Relic doc’s gotta be somewhere around here.” Odd how she seems to know everything about the heist even though I didn’t tell a soul. Was she listening this whole time…?

  “Sorry to make you wait, business can be… stupid,” Yorinobu confessed as he kissed my hand, making me blush.

  “Oh, it’s quite alright, handsome-”

  I can’t. I’ve had enough of this. I didn’t need to see Evelyn’s sexcapades with the emperor’s heir-apparent, I got the picture. Let’s continue looking… Automated turrets, nothing we don’t already know… Has a nice handgun, at least. Loaded, safety’s on. Only the one magazine, but better than nothing. Konpeki will allow me my sword, but I should go incognito on this one, which means procure weapons on-site… Right, what else…

  She checks his emails, nothing there… Ah. His drawer. Said he has some drugs in it, she looked inside and sure enough, there’s the document. He just left it out in the open, rather convenient of him…

  Alright, so we’re looking for an isothermal container with a temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius. Shouldn’t be a problem, a refrigerated vault will stick out like a sore thumb here… Rewind, rewind… Champagne cooler? No… Server farm, no… Has to be tucked in somewhere… Ah. Southwest corner. 4 degrees. Bullseye.

  –

  I popped out of the BD to be greeted by Evelyn and Judy poring over the data on the computers. “Got everything ya need?” Judy asked me.

  “Yeah, definitely. Thanks for helping, Judy,” I smiled. She giggled a little and got back to work before talking with Evelyn out of earshot.

  “Got the info, T-Bug.”

  “Mhmm, preem, same here. See you soon,” she hung up.

  “I’ll wipe the cache and your data,” Judy said to me, “Be like you were never here. Lemme help you,” she came over and undid the wreath before handing it back to me. “Keep it, I’ll put it on Ev’s tab.”

  “Thanks, Judy,” I smiled as I looked up at her, peering at me through her curtain-like hair. “I’ll keep it out of harm’s way for you.”

  “Speakin’ of harm’s way, know what I see when I look at you two?” she glared over at Evelyn, “Walking, talking corpses.”

  “Yeah, it’s… a lot, I know.”

  “A lot’s an understatement,” she retorted, “If Arasaka finds out we had this, you’re dead. I’m dead.”

  “Judy, relax,” Evelyn reassured her, “Nobody’ll ever know.”

  “Evie, please,” Judy shot back, “No shortcuts. You go that route, city’ll always win. So be careful.”

  “Pff. ‘Course I will be. Besides, we’ll talk in a bit,” she scoffed.

  I stood up and got my bearings. Always found BD’s… disorienting, at the very least. I went over to Judy to give my regards one last time and return the towel she lent me. But she didn’t reply – just put on her own BD wreath and lost herself in her virtus again. I think, in her mind, I was setting up her friend for some major fallout. I’d never forgive anyone for doing the same with Jackie, that’s for sure. I just turned around and walked off, meeting with Evelyn in the hallway for one last discussion. “A word,” she said to me, apparently reading my mind, “Well? Whaddyou think?”

  “About what, exactly?” I asked, “We went over a lot today.”

  “First thing that comes to mind, then?” Well, that’d be Judy but I doubt she wants to hear about that.

  “It’s an interesting setup. The chip, Yorinobu, the flathead, fixer, crew… if everything goes well, it’s actually quite a solid plan with a payoff that’d set us all up for life.”

  “Mm. Thanks. Now the punch line, please.”

  “Just sounds too good to be true. What’s the catch?”

  “Cold feet?” she recoiled back, “You looking to get out of it?”

  “I want to know if you’re really in control of it. Because, in my experience, Occam’s Razor usually prevails. And the simplest explanation here sounds like you’re sending us into a meat grinder with no backup.”

  “Hm, blunt as ever,” she outstretched her hand and spoke slowly, “But listen, I have zero reasons to haze you, nor doubt your skills. I know you didn’t tell Dex everything. It’s clear to me that you know exactly what you’re doing, and you ask all the right questions. So I’m gonna be up-front, too. I got this. Okay?”

  “And you’re sure that no one will flag you the moment this thing went missing? Anyone who’s ever been in that room will immediately be suspect.”

  “Then they’ll have a long list, packed full of big names. Much bigger than mine.”

  “Just… out of curiosity, anyway. What exactly is your relationship with Yorinobu? You his lover, a doll, what?”

  “Biz, and biz only.” So a doll then, right.

  “And you sure he hasn’t already made you? He did tell you to look in the nightstand for pills. That same nightstand that held the Relic’s data. Almost like he wanted you to eyeball it.”

  “He’s got no idea, trust me,” she shook her head dismissively, “Got his head up NetWatch’s ass way too far to notice little things like that.” Somehow I doubt that, but okay, I’ll let it ride for now. “Besides, even if some suspicion takes root in his mind, not like it’d matter, we do this tomorrow, right?” I actually was never told of the timeframe, specifically. Fuck… Thought I had more time than that to prepare and look over the plans. Normally I give myself a week just to pore over every detail. A day? That’s pushing it.

  “So what now?” I asked her.

  “V…” she paused and took a deep breath, “Do this job for me. I mean me alone. No splitting the payment, no Dex.”

  “Wait, you wanna haze our fixer?” I exclaimed, “Are you trying to put our asses on the line?”

  “Dex is a middleman. And a useless one, let’s be honest.”

  “Useless or not, we can’t just alter a deal like that, and certainly not on a job this massive in scope. You can’t fuck with fixers. That’s the one rule every merc in Night City follows.”

  “But if we’re smart-”

  “Doesn’t matter. Look, I owe it to my best friend not to tarnish our reputation like that. And the last thing any of us need is to make enemies of every single fixer and merc this city has to offer. That’s too much risk.”

  “V, just at least consider-”

  “There’s nothing to consider, I’m sorry,” I interrupted her again, “I’m saying this from woman to woman. I respect you and your talents. Do I trust Dex? No. I don’t trust people I’ve known for years, much less ones I’ve known for two days. Nevertheless, that doesn’t give me the right to go back on my word. I told my friend I would make this happen for him, and I won’t put that in jeopardy for anyone else’s ambitions, okay?”

  “I… understand.”

  “Evelyn,” I frowned, “If it makes you feel better-”

  “I’m not looking for a friend, V,” she retorted, “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” I shrugged, “Just being respectful. All I was going to say is that I think your plan is solid and we could work together in the future.”

  “Oh. Well. Sure,” she smiled. “If you need me, call. I’ll send you my number. And V… good luck.”

  “You too.” She stepped aside and let me through the double-doors again.

  I retrieved my sword and just… sat in my car for what was probably about an hour. Just mulling over everything… I don’t even know where to begin. I wish I had the time to digest all this… Fuck. Forgot to call Dex and Jackie. Right, Dex first.

  “How’re things lookin’, Miss V?” Fuck, I really wish he’d stop calling me Miss. Nevertheless, I gave him the briefest of briefs. I was just… not in the mood right now. He invited me to the Afterlife to talk details and hung up… I needed to talk to Jackie, though. This was a problem. Yorinobu, the Relic… fuck… What’ve you gotten us into, Jack…