"Are you familiar with Pacifica?" Placide asked as he led V through the chaotic streets.
"First time here," V replied honestly. "This place doesn't have the best reputation. And neither do you."
"This place was once meant to be luxurious," Placide said, waving his hand toward the towering structures around them. "Night City's entertainment hub. A haven for the rich. Every tall building you see—corporations built them. Especially that one."
He pointed to a massive, fortress-like structure gleaming in the distance.
"That's the Grand Imperial Mall. It was supposed to be ours."
"What happened?"
"It's occupied by the Animals now," Placide said flatly.
With that, they arrived at their base—the Batty Hotel.
The lobby had been transformed into a mini-market. Clothes, cyberware, ammo, food, and drinks were on display. Even a few old slot machines blinked erratically in the corner.
"Placide! Thanks for what you did for my son!" a woman called out.
"Drink with us tonight!" shouted another.
V watched as people greeted Placide with familiarity and even gratitude.
"You're more popular than I expected," she muttered.
"People only believe what they're told," Placide said. "They don't bother to look deeper. We're not so hard to deal with."
Johnny Silverhand's voice buzzed in V's mind. "Heh. If those weren't his own people, I might actually believe that. First the mall, now the Animals. He's going to ask you to fight them."
V narrowed her eyes. Placide gestured for her to sit at a computer.
"Sit down and connect your neural interface," he instructed.
"You think I'd just—"
Click! Click!
Several armed guards stepped forward, weapons raised.
"This is not a request."
V clenched her teeth, sat, and reluctantly connected. "You'd better not do anything stupid."
Placide ignored her warning. His fingers moved across the keyboard, calling up her cyberware profile.
"Ripperdoc Viktor. Militech hands and legs. Biotech skeleton. Xinglu Division ocular implants. Hmm…"
"Why can't your system read it?"
"The original OS fried. This one's secondhand," V replied coolly.
Placide raised an eyebrow. "It's not good to lie. Aren't you here because of the malfunction in your head?"
"I've already done something about it."
"That was for him," Placide said, clearly referring to Johnny. "Now do something for us. Solve our problem, and Brigitte will help solve yours. What do you say?"
V sighed. "Send me the job."
"We're going to install a temporary Poseidon interface into your neural net," he explained. "So I can see what you see. Make sure you don't screw around."
Johnny chuckled. "One head. Three people. Sounds like a party."
Once the implant was loaded, Placide nodded. "Go through the lobby. My men will let you through."
V stood up with a bitter smile. Am I walking into my own funeral?
---
The mission was simple: a high-end hacker vehicle had been detected inside the Animals' territory, within the Grand Imperial Mall. V was to sneak in and investigate.
Before she left the hotel, Placide contacted her again. "Talk to our lookout near the mall. He'll give you the layout."
V hopped on her beat-up motorcycle and sped off toward the mall.
She found the Voodoo Boys' scout waiting at the edge of a collapsed building.
"No movement. You can slip in from the ruins out back."
"Of course it's the ruins," V muttered.
She approached the indicated area and saw remnants of old warning lights and half-standing sentry towers.
"A few Animals standing guard on the edge. Pretty tight security for just a mall," she said. "Better to wait for nightfall."
As the sun disappeared, a cold wind blew through Pacifica.
V moved through shadows, evading patrols and slipping through narrow service corridors. She finally found the hacker's car, tucked into a half-collapsed garage.
Connecting her interface, a surge of encrypted data burst forward. Layers of information flooded her vision.
"Is this all... Pacifica data?" she muttered.
"They're trying to find us. Trying to breach the Poseidon network!" Placide yelled into her mind.
"What?!"
"They've found us!"
ALERT! ALERT!
A high-pitched alarm rang out in V's ears.
"Do NOT interfere!" a cold electronic voice echoed in her mind.
"That hacker is near the mall!" Placide barked. "Find him! Kill him!"
"Can I not die first?!" V shot back.
Animals gang members flooded into the building. V bolted, dodging bullets and shoving through debris.
---
"Can you handle it?" River asked urgently, staring at the blue-glowing interface pulsing across DedSec's monitors. His voice trembled.
"We've got it," Josh replied, cracking his knuckles. "Compared to what we've broken before, Poseidon's manageable."
The monitor lit up with chaotic data.
"Pacifica?" Ethan Cross muttered as he stared at the imagery—scorched bodies, wrecked gear, fire still burning.
"V? V, can you hear us?" River asked again.
"Haa… yeah, I'm alive," V's voice finally came through. She sat against a wall, bruised and bloodied. "Barely."
Johnny had taken over when she was cornered. He'd pulled her through the fight, but left her injured in the process. If not for him, she'd be dead.
She popped a stim and wiped blood from her mouth.
Reinforcements arrived at last—DedSec.
Josh examined the system again. "This… this is Netwatch code."
"Netwatch?" Marcus asked from behind. "You're saying V just stumbled into Netwatch?"
"She didn't stumble," Josh muttered. "She walked right into their mess."
V, hearing this, was stunned. She knew the hacker car had a shady background—but Netwatch?
"Damn those Voodoo Boys," she hissed.
"They planted surveillance, intercepts... even a neural virus," Josh said gravely.
River's expression hardened. "They're trying to kill her."
"Bastards," Marcus spat. "They're not just immoral—they're inhuman."
"Can we remove the virus?" River asked.
Josh shook his head. "Not remotely. We need access to her local drive."
"Then find that Netwatch hacker," Marcus said. "He must have the key."
"V, you copy?"
"Yeah," V answered, slowly getting to her feet. "Loud and clear."
She looked around. If there was one place in this mall where a hacker might be hiding, it'd be the cinema—full of terminals and isolated from ground traffic.
She limped toward the stairwell, blade in hand.
Ãdvåñçé 60 çhàptêr àvàilàble óñ pàtreøn (Gk31)