Bang! Gunshot.
A sultry silhouette collapsed onto the filthy ground.
The large-caliber heavy bullet tore through her artificially sculpted beautiful features, exiting through the back of her skull. Metal bone fragments mixed with a spray of red and white brain matter scattered in a fan pattern, leaving only half a head with the jaw intact as her body fell backward from the momentum, crashing heavily to the ground.
The corpse lay limp on the floor, exposed and protruding damaged cybernetic components sparking intermittently, limbs twitching irregularly from time to time.
Crimson human blood and milky maintenance fluid flowed from the gaping head wound, staining the ground as it slowly spread across a pair of indigo eyes.
Tap, tap...
Vera emerged from the shadows, dressed in Arasaka's black combat uniform with red trim.
Setting down her RT-46 Storm electromagnetic revolver, Vera glanced sideways at the man who had been scared senseless, mouth agape, frozen in place with his mind gone completely blank, not even knowing to scream. Her impassive face showed she was in a foul mood.
"Ahhhhh—!"
Only then did the man, his face splattered with blood, chunks of flesh, and brain matter, finally let out a horrified wail.
Then, slap! Slap slap!
The heavily armored soldier behind Vera stepped forward and delivered several hard slaps, silencing him.
Bang bang bang—!
Around them, following Vera's gunshot signal, a series of gunshots rang out along with the resistance of those resisting arrest and the screams of passersby. Soon the sounds died down, and several Arasaka plainclothes agents and heavily armored soldiers escorting targets descended steadily from the rooftop.
"Boss, what do we do with this guy?"
Jimmy, Vera's trusted subordinate and acting captain of Special Assault Unit 6, stepped forward. After handing over the target—limbs twisted, face swollen, ICE countermeasure unit forcibly ripped out, cybernetics paralyzed by daemon virus implants, beaten beyond recognition—to the plainclothes agents, he spoke up.
Daemon, simply put, is a virus—something hackers upload during intrusion protocols, integrated scripted commands that let hackers influence users within the network, whether for quick cracking or causing cybernetic malfunctions, even frying someone's brain, depending on usage.
ICE, Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics—specialized defense programs specifically designed to counter daemon attacks.
"By the book."
Dropping that line, Vera turned and left.
"Yes..."
Jimmy nodded, then looked at the man who seemed to realize what was happening and was even more terrified, shrugging his shoulders.
"Idiot. Didn't even know he was being targeted as a breakthrough point by corporate spies. You think a doll [high-end sex android] with premium companion chips would normally go for you? Take a good look at yourself—the pocket change that falls through a sugar daddy's fingers at Cloud Top would cover your monthly salary."
After wiping the blood from his face, this guy in his little suit looked decent enough—just another corpo [corporate employee], through and through.
Oh right, he was a corpo, but not for much longer.
This counterintelligence case was pretty straightforward. Someone had targeted a new administrative clerk in the security department, planning to use his visits to doll establishments as an angle, arranging a "chance encounter" with a sex doll, then developing an intimate relationship to slowly plant a sleeper agent.
Arasaka didn't know when they'd activate him—maybe after the guy got promoted a few levels—but Arasaka caught wind of it early and dealt with it accordingly.
The person in question's file was currently with the security department. Counterintelligence notified security leadership, then deployed personnel. When they arrived, they caught them red-handed. The surrounding buildings indeed had hackers recording in real-time and secretly uploading daemons, probably for future blackmail.
Vera had witnessed the entire process—these two meeting, talking, groping in corners, then making out until they were practically drooling on each other.
"Handing him over to you guys."
Jimmy said to the plainclothes counterintelligence agents.
"Yamakawa Masato, you're suspected of violating company regulations. Come with us."
The Arasaka counterintelligence agents took away the devastated Yamakawa Masato along with the captured suspects and, oh, the dead sex doll's body.
---
Arasaka Security Department Armored AV [air vehicle].
"Jimmy, are there any backlogged Night City field assignments that need handling? Support requests from other company departments—you decide, but take on the reasonable ones too."
"Uh... boss, you really didn't need to show up in person."
As soon as he boarded the armored AV and saw his fully armed superior, Jimmy got a headache.
That custom high-strength polycarbonate form-fitting combat suit, the external nanofiber shell vest, the external electronic muscle enhancement arm bands, and the structurally reinforced full-finger molecular gloves...
"Is there a problem?"
Vera, who had been carefully maintaining her Nekomata electromagnetic sniper rifle, looked up and glanced at him.
"No problem."
Sitting directly across from Vera, Jimmy straightened up and answered.
As Vera's confidant, he was someone she had personally discovered and promoted from the field. He belonged to the type where if she rose, he rose, and if she fell from grace, he'd be marginalized and purged—a direct subordinate.
Jimmy was well aware of Vera's capabilities and position.
He knew exactly what kind of destructive power was contained within his cold, striking superior's exquisite body that required at least several hundred thousand euros annually to maintain. Sure, Vera spent most of her time commanding from the operations center, but that was due to her position and because it wasn't necessary—once she actually entered the field...
Calling her a cyber psycho would be putting it lightly.
Combined with Vera's "risk-averse" nature and the laboratory-grade specialized equipment she'd personally invested heavily in purchasing and custom-building, even the Trauma Team would seem less intimidating by comparison. In the words of Arasaka's top enforcer Adam Smasher, Vera was also "meat" [deadly].
Jimmy believed that if Vera's Body, Intelligence, Reflexes, and Cool stats could be quantified, they'd definitely be legendary tier.
He and the other Unit 6 soldiers who had served as Vera's sparring dummies for several months were absolutely convinced of this.
"Supervisor, Intelligence wants our Security Department to provide some support. They had several shipments for informants hijacked by Maelstrom fanatic cyborgs holed up in the northern industrial district."
A Unit 6 security specialist reported while operating the information processing terminal.
"Take it."
Grabbing her masterwork heated katana and the well-maintained Nekomata electromagnetic sniper rifle, Vera stood up.
"Jimmy, you handle Unit 6 Division A and continue processing the task handover with counterintelligence here. Order Unit 2 to proceed to the northern industrial district immediately."
Whether it was his imagination or not, Jimmy thought he saw Vera smile at that moment.
It was a bloodthirsty curve, as if she was about to unleash something.
With that, Vera jumped down from this armored AV and boarded another one.
Vroom... vroom...
The armored AV sped toward Night City's northern district.
"..."
"Jeez, boss, has Supervisor Vera been on her period lately? She's been so fired up... ow!" Bang!
After delivering a solid punch to shut up the loose-lipped squad machine gunner veteran, Jimmy scanned the area. "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask."
"Just pretend you're deaf and mute. Supervisor Vera is simply being hands-on and responsible in her new position. Got it?"
"Yes!" ×N
...
Unaware and uncaring about what her subordinates were thinking, Vera only knew one thing—she was extremely pissed off right now.
Massively so.
The kind that needed venting.
"Vermin," she thought bitterly. "How can these idiots claim to help the economy or keep America 'great' when all they do is get in the way?"