Before Goro Takemura could indulge any further in thoughts of restoring his position within Arasaka, the company's agents were already on him.
Black vehicles closed in from both sides of the highway.
Gunfire lit up the night.
Without the support of his Arasaka-grade cyberware, Takemura was no longer the terrifying bodyguard who once stood beside Saburo Arasaka. Stripped of his implants and resources, he was little more than a wounded man with a gun and sheer willpower.
Against more than a dozen agents, that was nowhere near enough.
Left with no choice, he forcibly roused the half-conscious V.
"We need your help."
What followed was a desperate chase through the outskirts near the Colorado Ranch.
The convertible was slammed from both sides, scraped against guardrails, and nearly overturned more than once. Metal shrieked, glass shattered, and sparks sprayed across the road.
By the time they broke free, the sports car was barely holding together.
Even so, V—despite hovering at death's door—managed to hold herself together through sheer instinct and her old counter-intelligence training.
When the last pursuer finally crashed into the roadside barrier, Takemura exhaled sharply.
"We need treatment," he said, blood running down his sleeve. "Do you know a ripperdoc in Night City you can trust?"
V blinked weakly, forcing herself to focus on his face.
"I remember you… you were beside Saburo Arasaka…"
Takemura's voice turned urgent.
"We need a doctor. Now."
V's vision blurred.
With Jackie presumed dead, only one name came to mind.
"Victor…"
Takemura immediately helped her out of the ruined car.
"We need extraction. Call for help. Anyone."
V nodded faintly and pulled up the Delamain interface.
The line had barely connected when a familiar voice came through—
"V! Holy shit, V! Are you okay?"
Her heart nearly stopped.
That voice…
No.
Impossible.
Her eyes widened as she looked up.
A large figure was running toward them from the far end of the street.
Jackie Welles.
Alive.
For a moment, V genuinely thought she was hallucinating.
"Jackie…?"
Jackie skidded to a stop in front of her, staring at the horrifying wound in her head.
"What the hell happened to you?" he blurted out. "How are you still alive?"
There was a clean hole through the side of her skull.
Even cyber-enhanced fighters weren't supposed to survive that.
V stared at him in disbelief.
"You're alive?"
Jackie gave a rough laugh.
"Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing."
The tension snapped.
V actually laughed, despite the pain.
"Damn it… I thought you were dead."
"I almost was."
Jackie helped her into Falco's vehicle while Rebecca immediately moved in with medical supplies.
She began applying emergency sealant and rapid-heal foam, but when she saw the cranial wound, even she hesitated.
"Jesus…" Rebecca muttered. "Part of your brain should be gone. How are you even conscious?"
V leaned back against the seat.
"The Relic."
Everyone turned toward her.
"Arasaka's immortality tech."
As former counter-intelligence, V knew enough to connect the dots.
Saburo Arasaka had chased this chip all the way from Japan to Night City.
That alone proved how important it was.
Now the reason was obvious.
The Relic had kept her alive.
Understanding dawned across everyone's faces.
In a city where the Mechanicus Cult already blurred the line between life and death, the idea of immortality tech was shocking—but not impossible.
Still, fascination could wait.
Right now, survival came first.
They moved through Night City carefully, avoiding NCPD scans and Arasaka patrol routes, eventually slipping into the back entrance behind Misty's Esoterica.
Victor Vector was waiting.
The moment he saw V, his expression froze.
Then he leaned in for a closer look.
"Well," he said dryly, "you really know how to make my night difficult."
His eyes lingered on the wound.
"A bullet through the skull, partial brain trauma, and somehow you're still talking."
He shook his head in disbelief.
"At this point, even the Pope would probably want to meet you."
Despite the sarcasm, Victor's gaze was sharp and focused.
He wasn't panicking.
That alone steadied everyone.
V forced out a faint smile.
"Come on, Vic. If anyone can fix this, it's you."
Victor gave a slow nod.
"Lie down."
His tone softened.
"Go to sleep, kid. When you wake up, we'll sort out the rest."
The anesthetic hissed into V's neck.
Her eyes slowly closed.
The last thing she saw was Victor reaching for the surgical rig.
Then darkness took her.
The operation began immediately.
Outside the clinic, Sasha's comm suddenly chimed.
A payment notification.
200,000 eurodollars.
Transferred instantly.
Xiao's message followed a second later.
Nice work. Job complete.
Sasha grinned.
"Now that," Dorio said with a laugh, patting her shoulder, "was easy money."
For once, nobody disagreed.
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