One hour earlier.
[INCOMING CALL: Cole]
V pulled the Cloudburst chip from the port at the back of her neck. The caller's info flickered in her optics.
"What is it?"
The voice on the other end explained the situation. V immediately fell into thought.
"You know what this costs? Arasaka personnel—every operation gets logged and audited."
"..."
"Biotechnica people? You're not even Arasaka yet. You don't have that kind of clearance..."
"..."
"Mm-hm... Fine. Don't disappoint me."
She hung up. V stood and drafted an operation permit through Arasaka's security department on her terminal.
Leaving her office, she walked to Arasaka Tower's elevator, rode it down to the underground parking garage. Arasaka operatives were already waiting by the vehicles.
The lead agent extended his hand. "Please provide your operation permit."
"Chip's here... Counter-Intelligence. V. Authorization code's been transmitted."
"の意味がわかる." (Understood.)
Light flickered in the operative's optic as he read the chip. Confirmed, he opened the car door.
Everyone boarded. Two Arasaka vehicles burned rubber, tearing out of the garage at high speed, racing toward Pacifica.
"I've contacted a ripperdoc here in Pacifica. You should all get checked out—make sure Biotechnica didn't plant any weird daemons in your heads."
V directed the operatives behind her to help the crew members.
Ethan helped Maine up, confirming with a glance that the big man was okay.
His eyes lit up.
"Ten thousand eddies per person for treatment. This... boss has already covered it."
Maine wanted to say something, but Dorio's look stopped him. Rebecca kept glancing between V and Ethan. "What about you?"
"I'm fine. Got some things to discuss with her. I'll meet you at the ripperdoc later."
Ethan watched the Arasaka operatives load the crew into the car. Behind him, V observed silently.
"Not bad. I didn't expect you'd have the balls to use our name to take corporate jobs in Dogtown."
"What, you actually pulled off becoming a big-shot fixer?"
Hearing V's words, a bitter smile crossed Ethan's face. "It's not easy. Today's mess—Hands almost played me again. You know I'm short on people. If you hadn't shown up, the crew would've scattered. Their loyalty was shaky to begin with."
"Oh, I don't mind at all. Having a future Dogtown fixer who works for Arasaka? That's a tempting arrangement." V didn't mince words—she went straight to discussing payment.
"That's why I called you to back me up. Your terms—I accept."
Ethan made his choice. And paid the price for today's first job.
"During the Fourth Corporate War, Biotechnica stayed neutral. Right now, the corps in Night City HQ are playing nice on the surface—except Militech. But look what happened—we just pissed off Biotechnica. Can't rule out other complications."
"Biotech, pharmaceuticals, cyberware, CHOOH2... I need to consider the fallout from today."
Ethan shook his head. "You were more straightforward the first time we met. Just tell me what you want."
Dead silence.
V asked, "You're sure about this?"
Seemingly surprised that Ethan wasn't negotiating, V sighed. "I—or Arasaka—will have you do other things. Of course, that braindance lead takes top priority if it turns up anything."
"From now on, you're Arasaka. Your file's been uploaded to Operations. My superior can pull it anytime."
"These 'other things' you mentioned—does that include handling problems for the company?" Ethan was calculating the cost.
V continued: "Not limited to that. Your entire person—you're selling yourself to Arasaka."
Ethan listened to V's demands. He understood now.
V's conditions were extensive. In short: beyond investigating the Dogtown lead, he'd be doing whatever else V needed.
"All your cyberware has to be connected to Arasaka's subnet. And your personal assets—accounts, property, everything..."
From now on, Ethan's entire being—and everything he owned—was in Arasaka's grip.
V wasn't exaggerating. He'd sold himself to the company.
Which meant: if there was personnel turnover, or if someone lost a corporate power struggle—like when V got kicked out of Arasaka—Ethan's accounts, no matter how much money or prestige he'd accumulated, would be seized.
His cyberware would be deactivated too. He'd have to visit a ripperdoc to swap in secondhand or off-brand replacements.
That was the good outcome. Getting "handled" by corporate agents wasn't out of the question either.
No choice. Everyone has to make decisions.
Surviving in Night City meant leveraging every available resource, keeping your ass planted as firmly as possible. No shortcuts.
Ethan didn't want to end up bleeding out on some street corner as another unlucky stiff.
Going solo was never in his plans. To carve a path through a city this complex, corporations were an unavoidable step.
As for taking down Arasaka, taking down NUSA, taking down the system—that wasn't something to think about now.
Being alive to earn money, lying down without a catheter—that's good enough.
"Fine. I agree."
"But I have one condition. When I need you to step in, you help me."
Ethan knew making deals with tigers wasn't ideal. The situation would only get more complicated.
"If we're backing you, naturally there'll be investment—funds, clearance, everything." V said.
At this point, the deal between V and Ethan was sealed.
"By the way, judging by that doctor's reaction, the Securicine story is real? If so, we could feed it to the media." V remembered this angle. Corporate dirty laundry was common knowledge among the corps—it just depended on whose media machine was stronger. Mutual mudslinging happened daily.
Counter-Intelligence loved this kind of thing.
"You mean WNS News? That's Arasaka-controlled media, right? As for Securicine—that's classified."
Ethan waved off further questions. V casually plugged a datacord into his neural port. A flood of programs began loading into his system.
Click. Ethan lit a cigarette.
V's expression was flat. "Smoking has zero benefits besides looking cool. And it stinks."
Ethan was puzzled. This body's previous owner had the habit. Besides, today had been a bloodbath with Scavengers and a standoff with corpos—his hands were still shaking. One cigarette wasn't a big deal.
Then he froze. If he remembered correctly, Johnny Silverhand got the exact same line from V. A strange sense of destiny washed over him.
"How did Hands track me down?"
Ethan wanted to know the extent of Hands' capabilities.
V watched the programs load while answering. "The Dogtown hacker? Not sure exactly. Didn't dig up much anyway—our netrunners aren't sitting on their hands."
Suddenly, Ethan felt a wave of nausea, like a brick lodged in his throat.
"Deep breaths. This is normal. When your clearance gets revoked, it'll feel worse than this... Anyway, best pray that day never comes."
He could barely hear what V was saying. Ears ringing, stomach churning uncontrollably.
Ethan's vision went dark. He slowly slid down against the car, crouching on the ground...
The price of this deal... is fucking steep. But not unacceptable. In return, Arasaka would solidify his "Cole" identity—drive him into Dogtown like a nail.
By the time Ethan's body recovered, V had gotten into her car.
Watching the young man standing outside the window, V rested her chin on her hand, seemingly lost in thought.
A sigh, so faint it was barely perceptible.
Her eyes lit up.
"Done. The Dogtown nail is in place... Mm-hm. Besides the Night City HQ investigation, he's available anytime..."
[WNS News]: Reportedly an Arasaka-backed media outlet.
Note: N54 News is also a corporate puppet media organization.