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quickhacked · 1 year

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Chapter >> 15 [x] Characters >> Cato Wu (oc), Matvey Dobrynin (oc), Mikhail Koshechkin (oc), Vincent Mayer (oc), Vitali Dobrynin (oc), a long list of side characters Total >> 10.7k words Warnings >> Alcohol, blood, brainwashing mention, chess mention :/, death, descriptions of suffocation, descriptions of throwing up, dissociation (sort of), drugs mention, gore, injuries, violence

It was August.

Summer had been relentless in Night City thus far; its citizens plagued by a combination of heatwaves, drought and extreme weather, regular sandstorms sweeping in from the Badlands and covering the streets in a thin layer of sand and dust.

It made sense most people tried to seek shelter from the sweltering heat as much as they could. Anyone who had the ability to move their business to the nightly hours gladly took this opportunity- which meant the already bustling streets came to life even more than usual after midnight and those looking for some peace and quiet were better off leaving town until fall.

As to be expected, most corporations cared very little about the hot temperatures in broad daylight and gladly continued to torture their employees with regular nine to five workdays, if not longer-

Most of the time, then, at least.

That day was an exception for anyone working for Arasaka. A paid day off, for once; followed by a grand event later that night at the corporation’s latest addition to their citywide facilities, with several news channels broadcasting live on location and rich and famous guests flying in from all over the world.

‘Everyone inside?’

‘Affirmative. How are we looking?’

‘Logging into their systems as we speak, jefe. Stand by.’

The entrance hall of the building was large and crowded. The central area bustled with people, who were holding conversations around round standing tables or on benches lined up against various big planters. Many had resorted to the two upper floors of the hall, their balconies overlooking the ground level; and bright neon holograms danced around on the high ceiling, bathing the facility’s interior in a soft, golden glow.

Vitali stood on the side of the hall, leaning with his shoulder against the wall and his head turned toward the large darkened glass window overlooking the facility’s courtyard. He was simply dressed in a black suit that evening; anything else would have drawn too much attention to him in the crowd of bland and boring corpo cunts, which was the exact opposite of what he wanted.

The lower half of his face was hidden behind a mask- a solid layer of armor, matte black with a few golden touches to signal to anyone whose gaze lingered on him for longer than necessary it was merely for aesthetic purposes. He knew very well the accessory could raise significant suspicion but with his face still present in Arasaka’s databases, walking into the lion’s den without some sort of covering would have been the equivalent of waltzing into a high security Militech base through the front door with a huge target taped to the forehead.

‘Clifford Thompson,’ Vincent suddenly said out loud, reading the name from the little name tag affixed to Vitali’s jacket. He reached up to the collar of Vitali’s shirt and fixed it for him, carefully undoing the top button as if not used to Vitali’s sudden, stiff demeanor. ‘Lovely name. Pick it yourself?’

‘Hm- Mikhail helped me with it,’ Vitali softly answered, a hint of a smile on his face behind the mask as he subconsciously brought the glass of champagne- given to him by a waiter who had obviously not looked him in the eye when they’d handed it to him- to his lips; before realizing he was very much unable to take a swig and he lowered it again, hoping nobody had seen it happen.

‘You have always looked like a Cliff to me,’ Mikhail said through their earpieces. ‘But- all jokes aside. Where is our good American friend right now?’

‘Stuffed in a closet.’ Vitali glanced into the direction of the people nearest to the two of them, and he gently pulled Vincent a little closer to him by his waist. ‘Should…not be a problem anymore.’

‘Just for now or permanently?’

A loud POP nearby caused Vitali to flinch lightly and he took a step toward Vincent, who instantly noticed his discomfort and reached up to soothingly run his fingers through Vitali’s hair. Some laughter followed- someone had simply opened yet another bottle of overly expensive alcohol and now demonstratively began pouring it into a new batch of empty glasses, the small crowd around them applauding for seemingly no reason at all.

‘It’s alright, baby,’ Vincent mumbled, standing up on his tiptoes to give Vitali a kiss on his cheekbone. ‘Just rich people doin’ their rich people stuff.’

Of course Vitali had not been invited to this event. Quite the opposite; him showing up there could prove disastrous for the corporation, considering what they were about to unveil alongside their newest facility.

Though he was not even there for any of that. It mattered very little to him- the announcement of the brainwashing program that had been tested on him dressed up as some overglorified renewed Secure Your Soul program was the very least of his worries at that moment, knowing what else was going on behind the scenes.

‘Eyes up, boss.’

Vitali glanced up at the ceiling, eyes slowly trailing the holograms before moving to the balconies. His gaze immediately caught those of two familiar faces on the first floor- Mikhail and Cato, both dressed up in Arasaka combat gear and leaning on the balustrade, the latter smiling and briefly waving at him before redirecting her attention to the rest of the ground floor below.

‘We’re nearing the security station,’ Huxley said over comms. ‘Five minutes until we’re set.’

‘Good. Lauren?’

‘I’m in. Two active runners in the building, dealing with ‘em as we speak. Hux, Shiro- wait for my signal.’

The entire operation was about as risky as they could make it. Not only Vitali, but Mikhail and Shiro too- all ex-Arasaka surrounded by nothing but Arasaka once more and on top of that considering how involved Vincent, Cato and Huxley had been with the corporation in the past, none of them should have even been there to begin with.

But who else could Vitali have sent? No one understood Arasaka Security better than Shiro and Mikhail, and he knew better than to try and separate Cato from her best friend on a gig. Trusted no one more than Huxley to escort Shiro and he needed Vincent by his side were he to come face to face with his father again.

Because yes, of course- Matvey would be there, too.

‘Vitali? You might want to come take a look at this.’

Some time had passed, after they had let Ravager go. Perhaps a foolish decision- taken by Vitali himself on impulse after he had found the merc in the midst of an intimate moment with Nadya. His own feelings had gotten in the way of his rational thinking; though without severe consequences thus far, considering Ravager had not shown his face anymore since.

‘Building blueprints?’ Vitali adjusted his reading glasses as he leaned forward, to take a closer look at Lauren’s screen. ‘Of what?’

‘The new Arasaka facility in Charter Hill,’ Lauren quietly answered. ‘They’re unveiling the location at the end of next week. Whole event planned around it. But this isn’t from Arasaka- I intercepted this from your father’s mercs.’

Vitali slowly let his gaze wander through the hall again, actively searching for anything out of the ordinary; security on the move, perhaps, or people’s eyes staring in his direction. His heart was rapidly beating in his chest and his breathing had become a little shallow- and the more time went by, the more nervous he became.

The feeling of Vincent’s hand on his cheek pulled him out of his thoughts and he turned to look at his boyfriend, who slowly positioned himself right in front of him and reached for Vitali’s hearing aid; he switched off the communication channel and did the same for his own earpiece, a soft, reassuring smile lingering on his face.

When Vitali had last seen his father, he had lost himself a little bit.

He’d gotten emotional- to the point he could now barely remember what had exactly happened that day. The sight of his old mercenaries, everything Dusty had said to him; his father’s almost mockingly calm demeanor, how he had bluntly told Vitali it had been Nadya’s decision alone to cut ties with him after he had left home-

‘What if we can’t stop him?’ Vitali quietly asked, allowing Vincent to release the clip of his mask and carefully pull it down, just enough to be able to see the lower half of his face. ‘What if we’re too late?’

‘Nothing’s happened yet,’ Vincent hummed in response and leaned in to press a soft kiss on the corner of Vitali’s mouth. ‘We’ll stop him, okay? I’ll make sure of it.’

Another soft touch of Vincent’s hand on his cheek and it nearly moved Vitali to tears. Men had come and gone throughout the years, yet none of them had ever been as gentle with him as Vincent was every single second they spent together.

His gaze slowly moved over Vincent’s features- the suit he wore, similar in fashion as Vitali’s- his buzz cut, with the little scar on the side of his head cutting into his hair- and his bright, hazel green eyes worriedly looking back up at him- and Vitali closed his eyes and turned to kiss Vincent’s fingertips, and for a brief moment it was just the two of them alone in that void, instead of in a large Arasaka hall.

For a brief moment, he felt safe.

‘Ladies and gentlemen- Attention, please!’

Vincent quickly clipped Vitali’s mask back in place, his hand lingering on his face just a little longer before he switched both their comms back on and turned to see who had spoken up. People had moved away from the large window wall overlooking the courtyard and a woman had taken position in front of it; she wore a deep red dress with black accents and the feigned smile on her face was just a little too broad for Vitali’s liking.

Silence washed over the hall and the woman began talking again- an introductory speech in Japanese, and Vitali was only partially listening. His gaze slowly trailed the hall once more; kept a close eye on their surroundings now that things were being set in motion, his jaw tightly clenched underneath his mask.

‘The event- Can you get us in?’

‘I can try.’ Lauren paused, a nervous sigh leaving her lips as she rapidly clicked through more of the intercepted information. ‘It’s all very high profile; might have to take the back door for this.’

And how they had.

They had needed to hijack an escort to enter via the garage- all except Vitali and Vincent dressed as Arasaka Security by the time they’d reached their destination, and they had needed to climb their way up an abandoned elevator shaft to get to ground level without needing to access the main network for the elevator codes.

One way in, no way out. Part of why it was such a risky operation; all the entrances were heavily guarded and even the garage itself would not be a quick escape were they to get caught.

A risk, yet an opportunity at the same time.

Applause rose up from the crowds in the hall and on the balconies and Vitali’s gaze was drawn back to the woman. She had stepped aside now- the creepy smile once again plastered on her face- and a tall, skinny man with an equally as creepy smile had taken her place instead-

Grant Armitage.

Some seemingly random Arasaka exec with “his greasy little fingers stuck right up Yorinobu’s golden ass”, as Vincent had described him a few days prior. Just another guy who had been put in a position he was barely ready for but wanted more than anything in his life- irrelevant in the bigger picture, but not to Vitali.

‘Covert operation,’ Mikhail said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and leaning back against the wall. ‘We cannot take many people and nearest backup will be at least ten minutes away with NCPD road blocks.’

‘You’re right.’ Vitali paused and licked his lips, a dangerous sparkle in his eyes as he looked from Lauren to Mikhail and back.

‘We cannot take many people. And neither can Matvey.’

‘Thank you all so much for being here with us this fine evening,’ Armitage began his speech, chuckling when more applause erupted from the crowd and he raised his hands in an attempt to get people to settle down. ‘Please, please- It truly is an honor to be standing here right now.’

Vitali was barely listening to the man- who rambled on endlessly, thanking all his superiors for this opportunity and talking about Arasaka’s reorganization following the events of the year before- and instead merely stared at him, eyes fixed on his forehead as if he was expecting a red dot to appear right in the center of it-

‘This facility is- It’s a beacon of hope.’

Armitage briefly paused, clasping his hands together in front of his chest as he took a few steps back. ‘A new chapter in the history of Arasaka- in the future of Arasaka, one that opens up many new pathways for us to explore. Because, ladies and gentlemen- what I am about to show you is guaranteed to blow new life into this entire corporation.’

‘Very excited to hear where this is going,’ Cato said. ‘Wonder how they’ll make brainwashing sound like a good thing. “Hey, wanna get your precious memories wiped? Join our new program now!” Fuckin’ weirdos.’

‘They will rebrand it as a medical tool,’ Vitali plainly answered, while Armitage talked about the shortcomings of the Secure Your Soul program and how they had decided to change its purpose, use the technology for something new.

‘Effectively deal with trauma by simply taking it away. Undesirable trait removal can be used by NCPD, Militech- and learning a new skill within seconds can be marketed as anything. If you could become a master at playing the piano by installing a single, Arasaka-run program to your brain, would you not do that?’

‘Hm, can’t say I’m a fan. You?’

‘Absolutely not. But there are people out there who would kill for it.’

Silence fell over their communication line as Armitage continued his speech- a carefully crafted introduction of Arasaka’s APEX program, met with soft gasps and murmuring from the crowd, and Vitali’s chest tightened when the man began listing essentially everything he himself had just said; as if he had read his notes beforehand, as if he had known.

Of course that was not true. He’d had no way of knowing what the man would say- had simply just worked for Arasaka himself long enough to know exactly how they operated and to know exactly what they would use their new technology for.

But everyone on the line stayed quiet. Vitali could feel Vincent’s eyes on him.

Vitali felt a soft tap on his shoulder and blinked a few times, slowly returning to the large hall he was stood in. He had zoned out; and Mikhail was trying to get his attention, only his hands and lips moving as he spoke and no actual sound leaving his mouth.

‘Wonder how long we will have to stand here,’ he said, visibly cringing when the Arasaka exec holding their speech made a horrible joke which was met with what Vitali sincerely hoped was nothing but fake laughter.

‘These kind of people love to hear themselves talk,’ Vitali simply replied, a sharp edge to the movements of his hands. ‘If we’re lucky we will be allowed to leave sometime tomorrow morning.’

‘Think about it!’ Armitage clapped his hands loudly and unexpectedly and Vitali’s heart skipped a beat- he could feel himself starting to become a little light-headed and quickly balled his fist, digging his nails into the palm of his hand in a desperate attempt to stay calm.

‘Just one datashard away from fluently speaking another language- just one datashard away from excelling at any sports, just one datashard away from becoming an engineer, or a surgeon, or a world famous musician!’

‘I don’t like this,’ Mikhail suddenly quietly said, the slightly miserable tone clearly audible to Vitali. ‘Some people have studied years for that. Does that just mean nothing anymore, now?’

‘It is faulty technology, anyway,’ Vitali softly responded. ‘Being good at sports because of a datashard does not suddenly mean your body is ready to handle such intense exercise. You can download any sort of textbook knowledge to your brain but that does not mean you have the feel for a job- you will never have the muscle memory necessary to get tasks to become routine work, and you will never be able to improvise on the spot if a situation calls for it.’

Vitali allowed his gaze to wander through the room, scanning the faces of the people- his co-workers- standing around him. Sometimes he truly wondered how many of them were actually happy to be there and how many of them were pretending, like he himself at that point.

He had been happy there, once. He still was not sure how or why.

‘This technology is the first step toward allowing human beings to use the full capacity of their brains,’ Armitage continued, his voice steadily climbing in volume and exuberance, like an orchestra working towards its crescendo. ‘Imagine what we could do- what we could achieve- when we no longer have to worry about our shortcomings, and possible failures!’

Vitali was starting to feel sick.

He often wondered how it would be to leave. It would not be easy, he knew that much; his loyalty pledge still had a good amount of years to it and attempting to leave any time before that would probably cost him his head- and most likely quite literally so.

The hall seemed to spin before his eyes and he accidentally bit his tongue, the familiar taste of iron spilling into his mouth. The gravity of the situation had suddenly kicked in- what he had thought to be the least of his worries now screaming for attention right in front of him- and he could not help but think about all the people that would be turned into braindead, fully compliant soldiers by corporations once the program would be released to the public-

The Arasaka exec finally finished talking.

‘Last speech I am ever listening to,’ Mikhail said, rubbing the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.

‘Me too.’ Vitali paused, checking his watch and clenching his jaw. ‘About fucking time it ended. I have to meet Jenkins before leaving the office- something about the European Space Agency. Don’t wait up, yes? I’ll see you tomorrow.’

And with that, Armitage’s speech ended.

Another round of applause, louder now, and it lasted longer- Vitali’s head was thrumming and heavy and the noise around him swallowed him whole, ripping him away from reality as he exhaled sharply and sank into the wall.

Vincent said something to him, but he could barely hear his voice; his vision was blurry, dark spots dancing in front of his eyes as every muscle in his torso tightened and yelled at him to sit down, to sink to the floor and curl up into a little ball and disappear, wash away into the sea of people surrounding him and drown in all the noise-

He is going to kill Armitage.

Vitali managed to suck in a deep breath and he straightened his back, regaining his composure within mere seconds. A sudden clarity washed over him- his fear of what his father was planning to do instantly shutting down the building panic attack.

He could not afford to lose focus now; he had things to do.

‘I’m okay,’ he managed to say, only now realizing Vincent was still trying to get his attention, and he quickly placed his glass on a nearby table. ‘Sorry- I got a little overwhelmed for a second.’

Technically not a lie. Realization after realization kicking in for him to the point he had been sure for a second he was going to pass out- but he knew very well if anything like that were to happen, none of them would make it out of the facility alive.

Whatever Arasaka was planning to do with their new program, was a problem for later. Hanako was still alive; hiding, for the time being, recovering from the very same technology Vitali and Rogue had been under the influence of- the very same technology presented by Grant Armitage that evening.

She could put a stop to it, easily. Cancel the program, kick Yorinobu out; the lesser of two evils, if you asked Vitali, but considering the limited amount of options to his disposal and the fact he was simply just a man against one of the world’s largest megacorporations- Hanako really wasn’t that bad.

Vitali inhaled sharply and instinctively reached to the wall to grab his cane; only to remember he had not taken it with him that night. Both that and the large, exoskeleton-like leg brace would have- you guessed it- drawn too much attention to him.

So instead he took Vincent’s arm, making brief eye-contact and hoping that the soft, grateful smile behind his mask was visible in his eyes.

Now that Armitage’s speech was over, people had turned back to their conversations and were moving through the hall again, laughter and chatter and the clinking of glasses filling Vitali’s ears. The man himself was in conversation with a few other corpos; he had walked away from the window a little bit, and lingered on the side of the hall close to one of the doors leading into the rest of the facility.

Vitali kept a close eye on the target as he allowed Vincent to guide him away from the wall and into the sea of people, trusting his boyfriend to find them a different strategic position in the hall. The noises around him made it difficult for him to make out anything of importance- but it did not matter all that much. It’s exactly why he hadn’t gone alone.

‘Nothing on cams yet,’ Lauren said. ‘Shiro?’

‘All clear. Their netrunners were operating from a subnet, it seems; I am decrypting it now, you will have access in a few.’

A relief, to finally have someone older and much, much wiser than Vitali on the team. Shiro’s expertise, everlasting patience and calm demeanor even in the most stressful of situations never failed to make him feel at ease, even if only a little bit due to the rest of the circumstances they found themselves in.

‘Vitali? I see him.’

Mikhail’s voice had changed tone from earlier, in a way Vitali could not quite place. His chest tightened immediately and he instinctively glanced up at the balcony, his heart once more beating rapidly in his chest-

As if he had known exactly where Matvey stood.

Dressed in a similar suit as Vitali and Vincent, simply to blend in with the rest of the crowd; he leaned on the balustrade and his eyes were fixed directly on Armitage, his fingers rhythmically tapping on the metal of the railing. Vitali was able to imagine the sound of his ring clinking against it.

He is going to kill Armitage.

And he is going to frame me for it.

He was still not sure how his father was planning on getting it done.

It did not matter all that much, either- killing Armitage couldn’t be difficult and frankly the only reason Vitali cared any of it was because of the consequences for him were he to be framed for the murder.

Perhaps Matvey had purposely dropped his own security measures to make sure Lauren would stumble upon the plan exchanges; perhaps he had purposely lured Vitali there. Perhaps his plan would not have worked if Vitali had simply decided to stay away.

But of course he had not been able to let this opportunity pass by. And he knew very well that Matvey was aware of that.

‘He’s leaving,’ Vincent quietly said, leaning in a little closer to be able to talk directly into Vitali’s ear. Vitali turned- Armitage had said his goodbyes and had made his way toward one of the doors, and he scanned a keycard to open it before vanishing through.

Vitali glanced up at the balcony again; Matvey was no longer there.

He slowly began moving back toward the door Armitage had left the hall through, holding on tightly to Vincent’s arm. He made sure to walk resolutely, but not too eager; radiating confidence without raising suspicion, to keep any unwanted, curious glances into their direction away.

His heart was racing in his chest again, palms of his hands a little sweaty and a cold shiver running up and down his spine. Far from the first dangerous gig he had been on in his time, but not at any point had he ever been more nervous than he was right then and there, chasing after his father and the man he was going to kill.

Vitali to blame- and then what? The Council would put him through the meat grinder for starting a war with Arasaka of all corporations.

The two of them passed a security guard in conversation with some guests on their way there and Vincent snatched their dangling keycard off their belt without batting an eye. Handed it to Vitali, briefly glanced around as they ascended the steps- and with a swipe, a beep and a click the door opened a second time and granted them access to the rest of the facility’s interior.

‘See you on cams, jefe. Turn left, staircase. He’s still in there.’

This was it.

Vitali knew they wouldn’t have a lot of time, well aware his father was not going to simply stand around and wait for him to show up. A frightening thought, as he and Vincent began ascending the stairs; but he did not let it get to him, using the moment to finally take off his mask and suit’s jacket and toss them aside before he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

‘Where’s Matvey?’ Vincent asked, following Vitali’s lead- and mimicking his actions, taking off his jacket and exposing his forearms, readying himself for whatever situation they were venturing into.

‘Unsure, can’t see him yet. Possibly still making his way to some stairs- or an elevator. Heads up, Armitage just arrived on the fifth floor.’

Vitali instinctively increased his pace and reached into the back of his pants to take out his gun; had spared himself a lecture on gun safety by putting it there when he’d been out of Mikhail’s line of sight earlier that evening.

Three, four, five-

Deep breaths, stay calm. Through another door, enter the fifth floor; an empty hallway at first glance, signature matte black walls with red details covering the surface, hardwood floorboards below his feet.

‘Turn right.’

Their footfalls, no matter how light and careful, echoed through the hallway, bouncing between the walls and effectively announcing their presence to anyone possibly nearby; but Vitali cared very little about that now. Anyone who would show would be dealt with, any security footage would be wiped before Arasaka could get their hands on it- and even if they would find out someone had been there, there’d be no way they could tie it back to him as long as Matvey would remain unseen as well and as long as Armitage wouldn’t die.

‘Matvey is on the fourth right now, making his way up. Think there’s some mercs dressed as security- Mish, Cato?’

‘On it. Shiro, do you have eyes on us?’

‘Affirmative. Security measures have been taken care of, I am unlocking doors for you now.’

‘Still ahead of ‘im,’ Vincent said, quickly jogging up to Vitali to catch up. ‘How do you wanna play this, boss?’

They turned a corner and before Vitali could answer, he noticed movement- instantly grabbed Vincent’s arm and dragged him back, pressing his own back against the wall and catching his boyfriend the second he tripped over his own feet and fell forward. He was met with a puzzled look- and in return simply placed his gun against his lips, signaling for Vincent to stay quiet.

‘Three guards, Vito,’ Lauren said. ‘Looks like regular security to me. V- Can you hack ‘em from there?’

Vitali kept his eyes on Vincent, unblinking as he watched him take in Lauren’s words and slowly nod to himself before carefully peeking into the hallway. Another glance at Vitali- a quick get ready signed and mouthed at him- and his irises lit up bright green as he unleashed a quickhack on the guards.

Contagion, probably. Signature move.

Of course Vitali was right.

The silence was broken by a yelp in pain from one of the guards, followed by audible confusion from the others; a few seconds passed before they themselves did the exact same, Vincent’s quickhack rapidly burning through their skulls.

Vitali handled quickly; pushed his gun in Vincent’s hands and yanked a small combat knife from his belt instead while slipping past him into the hallway and charging at his enemies to close the distance as fast as he could-

Blink.

Silence.

A sharp, sudden exhale left Vitali’s chest and he nearly choked on his own shallow breaths, stumbling back while trying to catch himself and regain his balance. The knife was still in his hand, like before- though drenched in blood now, like the front of his shirt, like his forearms, like the floor and the armor and clothes of the dead Arasaka security guards at his feet.

‘Good job,’ Lauren casually said over comms, her voice causing him to jump. ‘Think that was all. Hurry- Matvey’s closing in on Armitage. Get to the offices.’

Vitali was barely paying attention to her, his eyes still focused on the carnage around him. His stomach was doing somersaults in his body- he tried to take a step back and nearly fell again, the floor below his feet slippery because of the amount of-

Surely three small stab wounds couldn’t do that. How many times had he-?

‘Hey.’

Vincent’s voice was soft. Gentle, still, despite-

What happened?

Vitali winced when Vincent took his hand and tugged on it, carefully guiding him away from the bodies. His foot almost got caught behind someone’s arm and he nearly fell a second time; but Vincent caught him with ease and gave him a reassuring kiss on his cheek.

When he pulled back, Vitali was no longer holding the knife.

His head felt heavy, his confusion like a thick cloud weighing down on him as he watched Vincent wipe the knife on his pants and stick it in his own belt afterwards. Another glance over his shoulder; his gaze lingered on the bodies again causing his head to spin, and he quickly redirected his attention to the hallway in front of them.

Nearly there. It’s nearly over.

‘Got a situation over here,’ Cato suddenly said, her voice sharp in Vitali’s earpiece. ‘Don’t think we’ll make it there in time. V, you got this?’

‘All good,’ Vincent replied, glancing at Vitali as he spoke- it was easy to tell he was becoming nervous, his shoulders tense and his thumb repeatedly moving over the side of his index finger. ‘Be careful.’

‘“Careful” is my middle name, et cetera, and so on. Hey, Shiro- little help?’

‘I have locked the squad in for now. They’re going around the other way- buys you approximately three more minutes before they get to your position. Turn left at the end of the hallway, get to weapon storage.’

Vitali only half listened to the chatter on comms, a heavy thrumming filling his head as they moved through the facility as quickly as they could. The further he walked, the longer the hallway seemed to become- as if it was growing in size along with him, actively stopping him from getting there in time, actively stopping him from preventing Armitage’s death-

‘FUCK!’

Loud static overtook the line and Vincent and Vitali winced at the same time, stopping in the midst of their tracks and reaching for their ear- but as sudden as the noise had started it ended again and several seconds of dead silence followed.

Vitali’s gaze found Vincent’s and a rush of panic made the hairs on his arms stand up straight, a heavy weight pressing down on his chest as he realized what was happening. Cato called out Lauren’s name, her voice barely audible over the line- but Vitali could hear the panic spilling from her lips.

‘Lauren? Baby-? Talk to me!’

They couldn’t stop now.

He took some hesitant steps forward, hand still lingering in the air near his ear and eyes still fixed on Vincent who followed suit. Every second they spent waiting would be a second wasted and despite his heart nearly beating out of his chest from fear, he couldn’t stand around any longer.

‘Lauren! Please say something-’

‘Lauren? Your signal has dropped. What’s going on?’

‘Talk to me, baby, please-!’

‘I’m here, I’m here-! I’m okay.’

A wave of relief washed over Vitali, his eyes fluttering shut as he momentarily slowed his pace. Not dead- but something was definitely still wrong.

Her voice sounded distant. Distorted.

‘Someone’s in the systems,’ Lauren continued, ‘trying to block me out- can’t reach the main servers anymore- there’s- I’ve lost visual- no way that I-’

Silence.

‘Another runner is active,’ Shiro suddenly said, an unexpected questioning undertone to his voice. ‘A source outside the facility- Matvey’s, perhaps? I cannot reconnect with Lauren but she seems to be attempting to distract them.’

‘Can’t catch a fuckin’ break, can we?’ Vincent mumbled and the both of them began running now, closing the distance between themselves and the offices in the other section of the building. Nothing else they could do for Lauren- but Vitali just hoped she was alright.

He did not know where exactly they had to be- but it wasn’t necessary to search anyway. The light was on in only one of the rooms- Armitage’s very own office no less- and the slightly ajar door already told him enough. He reached out to Vincent and took the gun from him, then shouldered his way inside the office-

‘Vitali! Right on time.’

Vitali raised the gun and held it steady in his hand, a deep exhale leaving his chest as he slowly moved aside to allow Vincent access to the office as well. His eyes rapidly moved over the scenario playing out in front of him- Armitage to his right, standing behind his desk with his hands up, his face pale and his mouth half open as if he had been mid-speaking- and he kept his weapon solidly aimed at Matvey, stood right in front of him with his own gun pointed at Armitage’s head.

‘Put the gun down,’ Vitali said, still trying to catch his breath and his gaze briefly moving over the second exit of the room- a door behind Armitage, slightly ajar- before redirecting his attention to his father. ‘I won’t say it again.’

A brief silence washed over the room and Vitali’s attention was drawn back to his communication line; he had not switched channels nor had he turned it off, yet it was surprisingly quiet as if Cato and Mikhail were too preoccupied with fighting Matvey’s mercenaries and as if Shiro and Huxley had been completely cut off, like Lauren before them.

Matvey tilted his head to the side, a hint of a smile lingering on his lips. He appeared entirely unbothered by Vitali’s gun; as if he knew his son would be unable to pull the trigger either way and he turned back to his target without saying a single word.

'Why are you doing this?’ Vitali blurted out, steadying his aim with his other hand and straightening his back, a futile attempt at intimidation as the quiver of his lower lip already gave him away. ‘If anything this will simply prove to the Council I am no longer with Arasaka-’

'Is that so?’

Bingo.

One thing Vitali had learned from previous encounters is that Matvey loved to talk; and with that secondary exit nearly within reach for Armitage and how Vitali could tell from the corner of his eye that the man was trying to make his escape, it was exactly what they needed.

‘As far as they’re concerned, you still have ties to Arasaka,’ Matvey continued, eyes slowly moving between Vitali and Armitage. ‘As far as they're concerned, you are the Broker- out for their blood.’

Vitali’s initial relief when his father’s monologuing had started was washed away instantly by another wave of anxiety, his teeth clacking together and jaw involuntarily clenching the more his father spoke.

‘You see, Vitali- you would not be the first power-hungry corpo whose jealousy leads them down a path of in-fighting with murder as grand finale.’ Matvey paused, the corner of his mouth slightly twitching as he gestured with the gun in his hand. ‘Your precious “Council” will either fall for the narrative I am serving them on a plate, or they will simply believe you have gone mad and are trying to start a war with Arasaka.’

Somehow, his father knew exactly which buttons to press; knew exactly what to say to throw Vitali off, to make him lose focus- and his heart skipped a beat as he finally realized Matvey had already been several steps ahead of him long before they had stumbled upon his plans to attack the new Arasaka facility.

If he had simply stayed away, none of this would have happened.

‘Either way, they will not be on your side.’ Matvey briefly paused, eyes moving over Vincent- who had not moved since the second he had positioned himself next to Vitali- and then back to Vitali. ‘Not to mention Arasaka is still looking for you. They know you're on the Council; they will want to get rid of everyone on it. And I win.'

I win.

Matvey’s plans to deal with the system of fixers and mercenaries in Night City- getting his revenge on Vitali for supposedly taking everything away from him- and getting his revenge on Arasaka for firing him in the first place- all neatly coming together right in the middle.

The leaked plans, an open invitation for Vitali to walk right into the trap.

And he had taken the bait without hesitation.

'That's all this is to you?’ Vitali quietly asked, slowly lowering his gun. ‘A game?'

'I suppose it is.’ Another small smile appeared on Matvey’s face- pure triumph dripping from his expression, already shamelessly celebrating his victory.

‘And you have made for a lousy opponent.'

Checkmate.

Vitali couldn’t do it.

‘Vitali?’

He stopped in the midst of his tracks, the flashlight of his phone illuminating the dark hallway- and Matvey stood on the other side, already dressed in his working attire, reading glasses on his nose.

‘Party lasted a little longer than I had thought,’ Vitali instantly blurted out, well aware it was nearly five in the morning- well aware he had school in only a few hours, and well aware he had not even been allowed to go in the first place.

Of course he couldn’t do it- from the moment he had realized what options he had left, he had known he would not be able to kill his father, if it were to come down to that.

He stood frozen to the ground as Matvey walked over to him, trying to think of anything else to say; something that would hopefully soften the blow, a half-assed insincere apology as always, feeling more guilty about having been caught than having disobeyed his parents in the first place-

But his father merely reached out for him and plucked what appeared to be a half smoked cigarette out of his hair.

‘Drink some water, then go to bed,’ he said. ‘I will leave a note for your mother saying that you threw up and will be staying home. Just- try to help her out a little today, yes? For me.’

Vitali let his arm fall limp past his body, gun slightly swaying as he glanced from Armitage back to his father. His heart had settled down, every previous worry he’d had slowly washed away until he was left with nothing but emptiness in his chest; and a soft scoff left his lips before he spoke again-

'Good thing I've never liked chess anyway.'

Everything happened very quickly.

Matvey’s gun was still pointed in Armitage’s direction, though the second he redirected his attention to his target the triumphant smile vanished from his face causing Vitali to turn his head as well- right in time to see the door open and someone walk up to the target from behind and slit his throat with a knife.

‘Shit-!’ Vincent yelled and Vitali winced when blood splattered on the desk and on his shirt and face, and he took a defensive step back as he instantly raised his weapon again in the direction of the newcomer.

Armitage tried to gasp for air, visibly tried to speak- but the only sound leaving his throat was that of blood bubbling up in his windpipe and desperate gags and whimpers as he fell forward, head hitting the edge of his desk on his way to the floor.

Silence.

'Junior and Senior in the same room together- what a pleasant surprise!’

Ravager stepped into the light of the office, a wide shark-like grin on his face as he twirled the bloodied knife between his cybernetic fingers. Vitali took another step back, ignoring his father’s cursing in Russian and ignoring the quiet noises that were still leaving Armitage’s throat from behind the desk, backing away until his shoulder found Vincent’s and he positioned himself in front of him.

‘Wow.’ The cyborg paused and slightly tilted his head, his eyes moving between Matvey and Vitali a few times and he clicked his tongue. ‘You really are a child of your father, huh.’

‘What the fuck-!’ Vincent interrupted the moment, slightly pushing Vitali aside as he wildly gestured at Ravager, disbelief and pure shock spilling from his expression as he pulled out Vitali’s knife and steadied it in his hand.

‘What?’ the man yelled back with equal force. ‘He’s dead, right? Isn’t that why we’re all gathered here tonight?’

‘Not like this!’ Matvey sneered, in sync with Vitali’s exasperated, ‘No!’ They both turned their heads to look at each other- and for a split second, Vitali swore he could see wild panic in his father’s eyes.

A sudden, short alarm blared through the room, followed by an announcement in Japanese, then repeated in English- though Vitali was not paying attention to either versions, his attention still on the situation playing out in front of him- and the deafening silence on comms.

‘You two have your fuckin’ issues, you know that?’ Ravager scoffed and kicked against Armitage’s body. ‘The man is dead. You are welcome.’

Vitali’s brain was struggling to keep up. He had accepted defeat- had accepted what was going to happen and had accepted the consequences, and now none of it seemed to matter anymore and none of it made sense to him.

‘Now…’

Ravager slowly walked around the desk, grin spreading again as he pointed the tip of his knife at Matvey. ‘Where is my reward? My eddies? All of them, for that matter- you’re a bit behind on payment, Dobrynin.’

‘I assumed you were dead,’ Matvey coldly replied, still holding his gun but for some reason making no effort to get Ravager to stop walking.

‘So you did, huh.’

Ravager briefly glanced in Vitali’s direction- and he once more regretted not killing the man when he’d had the chance. He should’ve dealt with him after Dupoint had been killed, should’ve gotten rid of him before anything else could go wrong-

But he had been unable to do so, for some reason. Perhaps he had wanted to prove to his friends that he was not like his father.

Well, surprise, old man- I am as alive as I’ve ever been!’ Ravager gestured at Vitali, and a snicker left his throat. ‘Managed to leave his office in more shambles than you’ve managed to do, thus far. Maybe it’s time to pass the torch to someone else, don’t you think?’

‘Sir, there is security on the way. Get ready!’

Shiro’s voice had the same distortion as Lauren’s had had earlier and Vitali clenched his jaw tightly, instinctively taking a step back as his gaze was drawn toward the two exits of the room- and right as he looked, the door behind Ravager swung open and several guards barged in.

Vitali sank through his knees and ducked out of the way, finding cover behind the open door next to him to dodge incoming gunfire. Vincent followed his lead and vanished into the hallway- but Vitali lingered in the doorway, attention for some reason still on his father-

He was kneeling behind a desk. Ravager was fighting the guards by himself.

Matvey turned his head, and their gazes found each other in the middle-

Vitali was yanked out of the room by Vincent by his arm and he nearly lost his balance as he rose to his feet, stumbling after the other man as they darted into a different hallway together than before to try and shake off more incoming guards. A disorienting move, for some reason; Vitali was dizzy and could barely see straight anymore, vision fading and thick and heavy clouds rolling in from the back of his mind-

Blink.

‘What if it can be activated, Vitya? I don’t want to end up in their control again.’

Vitali sat on Viktor’s surgery chair, legs pulled up to his chest and chin placed miserably on his knees. Viktor wheeled himself through the shop on his chair back toward him and shook his head, reaching out and giving him a reassuring pat on his arm.

‘The effects will wear off soon enough,’ he said. ‘As long as you try to keep your stress levels low and don’t think about any of the memories too much, you should be just fine.’

Vitali scoffed. ‘Easier said than done.’

‘I know, kid. Keep the topic in the back of your mind for now. No need to bring any of it up- no need to think about Arasaka, either. We will work through all that once you feel like you’re in control of your own head again, alright?’

Coming there was a mistake.

A shaky exhale left Vitali’s lips as he took another sudden step forward, only just able to catch himself before he would fall face first on the ground. He did not recognize the room he was in- simply another office with the same dull walls and desks as the rest of the building, but whether it was on the sixth floor or the fourth or perhaps the thirtieth and how much time had passed in the meantime-

He had no idea.

‘V? Where are you?’ he shakily asked, though realized the second the words left his lips he only heard static on the line- had lost connection with everyone else and he did not even know why, or how, or when it had happened.

Of course going back would cause everything to resurface- memories from his time working there, memories from his time in their captivity, memories that Viktor had warned him for- and now Vitali found himself slipping again, the dissociative states he had thought to no longer have to deal with forcing their way back into his system and taking away his agency.

He indecisively wandered into the hallway, trying to piece together where he was- where everyone else was- and he was pushed out of the way by people running by in a wild panic, yelling at each other at the top of their lungs as some sought shelter in one of the rooms while others continued through the hallway to get to a staircase or an elevator.

Still one of the lower floors, then. Perhaps. Perhaps not-?

Vitali moved along with the crowd, his hands empty- he had probably lost his gun somewhere- and Armitage’s blood still on his shirt and face, though it could very well simply be his own to anyone paying attention to him. He noticed a squad of Arasaka Security emerging from around the corner, and instantly vanished into another office again to hide.

An empty one, much to his relief.

Vitali closed the door behind him and a shaky sigh left his lips, hand restlessly running through his hair as he walked over to the windows on the other side of the office. It was still a significant way down to the roads below; climbing out and attempting to use the windowsills to navigate down would most likely not go well for him and he quickly pushed the idea out of his head.

Just get back to the garage, steal a car, and leave.

He would find his way back to the others later. He simply just had to get out.

‘There you are!’

Vitali turned around but before he could do anything his vision faded from a hard impact against his cheek and he fell, weightless for a split second before his body painfully hit the ground and his head collided with the wooden floorboards. He rolled on his side, setting his hand down on the floor to try and push himself up; though was kicked in his stomach and when he opened his eyes, Ravager sat down on top of him and tried to get a hold of his wrists.

‘You know, I was gonna let you walk,’ he said, fighting off Vitali’s struggling with ease and pinning his hands above his head as he leaned down, his rancid breath mixed with the strong smell of blood and liquor making him gag. ‘Was simply gonna leave you alone, but then I thought- why? Why the fuck would I?’

Another grin spread on Ravager’s face and he grabbed Vitali’s jaw with his free hand, forcing him to look him in the eyes. ‘You kept me in that fucking room for so long- d’you have any idea how boring it was in there?’

Vitali’s heart was nearly beating out of his chest and he tried once more to free his hands, but Ravager had him pinned to the ground with no way out. He spat in the man’s face and kicked his leg up, but missed his target- but it still caused Ravager to curse and briefly loosen his grip, giving Vitali the opportunity to push the man off himself.

He tried scrambling to his feet, but was pushed down again before he could do anything. Another rush of adrenaline surged through his system and he activated the mantis blade on his left arm, turning on his back and swinging it up in a desperate attempt to land a hit on Ravager- yet before he could even get close, the man reached out to him and grabbed the blade with his cybernetic hand and he-

There were different types of cybernetic enhancements to a person’s body.

Many residents of Night City settled for decorative cyberware- lines and shapes in all colors and sizes to enhance their appearance more than anything else, to show off status or wealth, or simply in the same sense as how one would get a tattoo or a piercing.

Though other cyberware was a lot more invasive. Think of prosthetics, of enhancements to the bones, to organs- medical cyberware, meant to keep someone alive, to relieve pain- or combat cyberware, set deep within one’s arms or legs.

Vitali’s mantis blades were a special model.

One of a kind, in fact, done by Viktor Vektor himself, seemingly invisible until activated- and a lot less invasive than most other models, the placement of the blade a lot more superficial to the point it had not been necessary to change anything about the anatomy of his arm.

A pleasant outcome. Vitali had always feared the consequences of having mantis blades installed- perhaps needing to have his forearms replaced with prosthetics from the start or, in case of installation within the anatomy of his own arms, the possibility of his hands going numb and then needing replacements anyway further down the line.

Yet at the same time it meant that the blades’ connection to his body was less secure than it was for others with different models. It meant that, with his nervous system still intact, he could still feel any and every sensation in his forearms. It meant that the slightest tug on the base of the cyberware could feel the same as a forceful tug on his arm.

And it meant that when Ravager grabbed the blade with his high-powered cybernetic prosthetic and violently pulled it toward him, he effectively ripped it off Vitali’s body, the bolts and plating in his arm yanked loose from the force and his skin and flesh breaking and tearing as the base of his cyberware came loose and left a gaping hole in his arm.

Vitali’s breath got caught in his throat, wide eyes fixed on his arm as dark red red blood rapidly began to well up from the open wound and spilled over his skin and shirt and dripped onto the floor. All the muscles in his upper body tensed up at once and he lost consciousness- though only for a split second and suddenly he was turned on his stomach and screaming his lungs out while clutching his arm to his body as the pain spread like a wildfire through his shoulder and neck and torso.

‘Come here, you little piece of shit-!’ Ravager yelled, grabbing Vitali’s collar as he dragged him up and tossed him against the wall. He straddled his lap again, hands wrapping tightly around Vitali’s neck- and Vitali’s cries of pain stopped as he tried to suck in a last, shallow breath and his vision began to fade.

He knew what dying felt like.

It had happened before. He had been shot- bleeding from the chest, staring up at the cloudy sky, raindrops gently falling on his cold skin- the sky crying with him, a lamenting “I’m sorry” in his final moments, and he’d had to watch Vincent cry and beg for him to tell him what to do, how to save him.

Had tried to grab his hands, had tried to speak- but oh, Vitali had not even been able to tell Vincent that he loved him before the light in his eyes had temporarily gone out.

He struggled in Ravager’s grip, tears rolling down his cheeks as his bloodied hands tried to unhook the man’s fingers from his throat. He could feel himself slipping again- eyes wandering off to the window on his left, finding the pitch black sky- but it took long, way longer than last time; a vicious “fuck you” in his final moments, the pain gnawing away on his bones and tearing through flesh and muscle and nerve and ripping him apart from the inside out-

BANG!

‘Okay, hold on. To summarize- you were caught coming home from a party in the early morning hours? While drunk AND stoned? And you’re trying to tell me your father let you walk away from that alive?’

Vitali scoffed and kicked Mikhail against his arm, tapping his cigarette on the edge of the ashtray as he slightly shifted position on the windowsill. Mikhail snickered and took a sip of his beer, stretching his own leg out over Vitali’s lap and he redirected his attention to the rainy scenery of the city outside.

‘Mother turned me into a housemaid for the day, but at least I didn’t have to go to school,’ Vitali mumbled, his gaze wandering back to the window as well. ‘Look- I’m just glad they didn’t ground me again.’

‘Good thing your father found you, then. And not Nadya.’

‘Yeah. Yeah, I suppose.’

Silence.

Vitali sat frozen on the floor, face covered in blood- partially his own, but mostly Ravager’s, whatever human aspect had been left of his face now blown into tiny little bits and sticking to Vitali’s skin and hair, the corpse heavy on his chest and the remnants of its head resting on his shoulder.

He sucked in a shaky breath, struggling to push Ravager’s dead body off of him as his arms refused to cooperate. The man’s head rolled to the side, the gaping exit wound the bullet had left in his forehead right in front of Vitali’s face and a quiet whimper left his lips as he tried to crawl away from the body.

He was shaking all over- barely able to keep his hands still, his arm now mostly numb and bloodied to the point he wasn’t able to tell anymore how badly he was bleeding. Unable to drag his gaze away from the dead body limp against the wall, still feeling the man’s hands wrapped around his neck, still able to smell his rotten breath, still able to perfectly recall the memory of Ravager holding Nadya and kissing her-

Vitali finally looked up.

His father stood in the doorway. Gun in his hand, pointed at Vitali’s head.

The alarms in the building had stopped. Dead silence washed over the room- except for Vitali’s quiet, strangled sobs as he once more clutched his arm to his chest and tried to get back up on his feet.

His heart was beating wildly in his chest and he turned his head away, breathing becoming unstable as the pain once more overtook him. He tried to speak- the taste of blood strong on his tongue and he gagged and coughed and whatever fluids had been in his mouth and throat splattered down onto the floor and over the hand he was leaning on.

‘Please,’ he quietly cried, turning his head to look up at Matvey again- he had lowered his gun and still stood at the entrance of the office, unmoving-

Vitali’s vision was too blurred by tears for him to tell what exactly he was looking at.

He tried to speak again- could barely hear himself anymore over the loud buzzing and humming in his ears and head and his vision faded again until he could see nothing but pitch black darkness, swallowing him whole yet not nearly enough to cause him to lose consciousness again.

Please.

He was scared.

Of course he was; he had been from the very beginning.

From the moment he had realized someone was watching his every move, from the moment he had realized someone was targeting him and his mercenaries- Vitali had been terrified, and he had never felt as alone as in that very moment, sitting on his knees in a pool of his own blood and vomit, covered in the remnants of Ravager’s head and clutching a bleeding arm to his chest.

His gaze met Matvey’s again-

And for a second, he saw him hesitate.

Something changed.

In that split second, every year they had spent apart, every minute of it- and every single thing that had happened since the Broker had started attacking him- none of it mattered anymore. And Vitali found himself back in the dark hallway of his old home, staring right at his father at nearly five in the morning after coming home from a party while Matvey was already getting ready for work.

Something was different.

But then he simply turned away, readying himself to leave.

‘Wait-!’ Vitali cried out before he could stop himself. But Matvey listened- yet only lowered his head and shook it ever so slightly, mumbling something incoherently in Russian while lifting his gun and checking his ammo-

‘Dad-!’

He froze.

And suddenly, how many bullets he still had left did not matter half as much to him as it had before.

Matvey frowned, a heavy weight pressing down on his chest as he turned his head again. Vitali had still not moved; seemingly unable to do so, severely injured, crying- and now calling out for him.

Curious, how it made him feel; he could only barely keep his breathing stable as his gaze once more trailed the room, eyes moving from Vitali to the body of Ravager and then quickly moving back, as if for some reason he was unable to look at the corpse for too long.

But looking at Vitali was not easy, either.

It had gone fine for so long- what was different, now? Vitali would live; he had his mercenaries with him in the building, they would find him and bring him home. And besides, with Armitage and Ravager dead there was still a chance for Matvey’s plan to succeed.

It did not matter much anymore, though.

And neither did any of it feel like a victory.

Vitali sobbed again, a noise that caused Matvey’s chest to tighten as he watched him sink back down against the wall and pull his legs closer to his chest- making himself as small as he could as if he was trying to disappear. He tried to speak; but choked on his own sobs and none of the words attempting to leave his lips came out coherently.

And Matvey found himself hesitating again; wondered if he should- if he could-

‘Get up, мое солнышко,’ he simply said; had meant it as mockery, kicking Vitali while he was already down- though for some reason his voice came out a lot softer than he had meant for, and for some reason the sharp and stinging hatred burning inside him was nowhere to be found, a wildfire extinguished by simply the sight of son.

‘You’re falling behind.’

And with that, Matvey walked away.

Another sob left Vitali’s lips and he closed his eyes. He was exhausted, no longer able to feel half his body and his heart finally slowing down though for all the wrong reasons. Mistake, after mistake, after mistake-

And in the end it had all been for nothing.

What had he ever been so hopeful for?

‘VITO-!’

Someone sat down next to him, cradled his face- Vitali did not even have to open his eyes, he recognized Vincent by touch alone and a relieved sigh left his chest as he pushed himself away from the wall and into his boyfriend’s arms.

‘Jesus, you’re- I thought you- What happened-? Oh. Oh, fuck.’

Vitali finally opened his eyes and grabbed Vincent’s shoulders, using him as support to get himself back up on his feet. Vincent said nothing as he allowed Vitali to do so, his face pale and his wide eyes fixed on Vitali’s forearm-

He had a dark bruise on the side of his face. Vitali reached out a shaky hand and gently ran his fingers over it.

I’m sorry.

He could not speak, but the words sat comfortably on the tip of his tongue as any and every time before. And he knew that Vincent knew; his boyfriend could read it from his expression, perhaps, or see it in his eyes- but either way he simply shook his head and kissed Vitali’s fingertips, deep red blood staining his lips.

‘Come on,’ Vincent quietly said, averting his gaze- briefly glancing in Ravager’s direction, before lowering his eyes to the floor- and he carefully wrapped his arm around Vitali’s waist to support him as they walked.

‘Let’s get you out of here.’

‘The NCPD has released new details on the situation at the opening event of Arasaka’s latest facility and the announcement of their new APEX program. The body of ex-Maelstrom gang member Edward Keizer has been recovered from the premises, which has led MaxTac to believe he is responsible for the death of Grant Armitage according to MaxTac’s spokesman Officer Reid Bennett. Arasaka has yet to release a statement addressing the situation, but it is rumored they will delay the public release of their new technology to later this year.’

#nuclearwriting #rbs much appreciated :) <3 #ok so. listen. you're not allowed to kill me because you guys enabled me to put in the Very Mean Thing #you may hit me with hammers Once. and that's it. :]#ANYWAY. THE LONG AWAITED LAST CHAPTER OF PART 3 #very happy with this one tee and hee and now we're almost there >:^) four more chapters and it is DONE #things are happening. things are changing. perhaps everything wasn't as straightforward as initially planned after all #excited to see what you guys think of this one ehhehehee #ch:the broker

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