Brian screeches the Butte to a halt on gravel and dirt. They find themselves on the outskirts of Night City in the Badlands. He hops out of the car and storms to the front of it... gazing out at the distant, silent glow of NC... feint green plumes of aftermath smoke wafting in the far distance.
His adrenaline surging.. he hears Zaunya's passenger door open. He looks back... beelining it up to her pissed off... her shout stopping him in his tracks right in front of her.
"WE GOT WHAT WE CAME FOR..." Her voice raises guilty. "This was the-"
"-What THE FUCK was going through your head back there!? That was a fuckin Petrochem warehouse buried in the FUCKIN GROUND!!"
"We just needed the data to the!-"
Brian leans in close with a lowered voice... looking directly into her eyes instinctually making her step back intimidated. He grits his teeth. "Petrochem's a fucking MEGACORP!! They're gonna have eyes all over this shit! Huscle! Mercs! Contract killers! Fuckin SPECIAL AGENTS!! Corpos don't give a fuck about the first strike... they make sure they take the last one... and for WHAT!?"
He steps away sharply with his back turned... whispering to himself.
"You're not a merc, you're a fuckin' terrorist."
The pair separate, sharing a long pause... allowing the ambient sounds of the baron badlands to take over briefly.
Zaunya finally speaks... her tone soft.
"I... I was born in Night City... not really how most people are though... there uhm... there wasn't much in the way of a childhood where i come from."
She slowly walks to the edge of the cliff, her boots kick rocks and crunch dirt... looking out into silent glow of Night City.
"I come from a legacy family of security... protectors of... some of the most high-value assets in the city. My grandfather was once sworn shield to the PetroChem CEO himself. His abilities were second to none... heightened sense of awareness, disciplined, sharp reflexes... but most importantly... unwavering loyalty to the corp. These gifts... abilities... permeated throughout the family... raising our status... our value overtime beyond that of even some of the most valued corpos in the city. Fear and success... kept us safe... gave us access to a life lived by few and desired by all..."
She slowly paces back and forth.. the strong breeze fluttering her heavy leather.
"My mom was... shield to a PetroChem board executive. One of the highest ranking members of the company... born into it of course. They uhm... they didn't give us names." Her voice shakes... a flashback begins:
Zaunya's mom engaged in high intensity combat training runs different complex scenarios against various opponents in realtime. Skillfully navigating protection priorities... stopping or immobilizing each threat one after the other with brutal technique, using her cyberware augmentations to maximum efficiency. Petrochem executives and state of the art cyberware developers whisper amongst each other... watching her showcase her capabilities with the latest in chrome and tactical training PetroChem had to offer. As if they were looking at the latest Rayfield super-sport model being showcased... she was just another product. Everything from Robot R MK twos to slabs of concrete and granite are effortlessly crushed by her speed and power. The discretion of her implants was paramount as well... needing to maintain a professional and more than presentable look when with the appropriate clientele.
"Training was life. The only driving motivation we had was... to do everything in our power to keep PetroChem HVTs safe."
Zaunya's mother on active duty stands behind her assigned executive at a high level corpo meeting taking place... a neon soaked bar deep in Night City. A smoky explosion plumes at the entrance sending patrons scattering. A series of LEDs on a faceless assassin crashes in through a nearby window at break neck speed. Several security attempting to intercept are decapitated through the skinny borg's sheer forward momentum charging toward his target and lunging for her executive. With no time to react, she quickly steps in the line of fire... impaled by the assassin's mantis blade through the gut. The impact of the strike sends her blood flying directly into her executive's face before he's yanked out of the way to safety by another suit. She shrieks in pain as the assassin struggles to free his blade... gripping tightly, she shoves the mantis blade deeper into her own gut... pulling the flailing psycho in closer allowing her to grab his head. Before he can swing his other blade, she squeezes with all of her strength... blood seeps out of her mouth with an intense look on her face as she gradually crushes his skull into an explosion of brains and metal that covers her face. She falls facedown motionless on top of the headless corpse as her executive scrambles away mortified... now surrounded by a small army.
"Sacrifice... was our purpose of living."
Countless PetroChem huscle swarm the area in the aftermath around Zaunya's mom rushing to her aid. They roll her over, securing the perimeter around her and the executive.
"Always figured they didn't name us because... we needed to be expendable. Nothing more than a write-off... if anything were to happen to us... It was like we never existed. How we were viewed to the corp in public was nothing like how we were viewed in private... even amongst those of status and absolute power. Being the weapon in a room full of targets often put you at the top of this weird... social hierarchy. Such a contrast... fucked with our heads."
Zaunya's mother's high-heels tap across a marble floor in a pristine executive office... she's wearing a thin gold slip accentuating her curves and highlighting her long legs. She opens a concealed door on the wall toward the back of the office, leading into a hidden room.
The room housed a bed with warm neon pink lights surrounding it... flooding the room with vibrancy... pink silk sheets that shined in the dim light with various mirrors surrounding the room all focused on the bed. The Petro executive, leaned back on the bed with no shirt on watches her enter the room with fire and lust in his eyes. He looks her up and down... slowly gazing at her face all the way down her body to her bare feet. Zaunya's mom slides the door closed.
"After things started to settle down... Petro execs needed less protection and more... service."
Zaunya pauses, taking a deep breath, struggling to find the words she wants to say next.
Brian listening from the hood of the Butte watches her stare off into the city from behind. The silhouette of her long black hair lightly blowing in the wind with the tail flaps of her modified kuomori trench coat.
"I was late to cleaning his office one evening at the end of the day... hadn't seen my mom around for quite some time at that point. I just... pressed up against the wall lightly by accident and the door slid open... scared the shit out of me."
Young Zaunya walks into the hidden room where she's met with a neon pink ambient glow and a spotless bedroom setup. It grabs hold of her curiosity drawing her in. The door slides closed behind her as she slowly walks throughout the room covering herself in neon pink ambient lighting... slowly taking it all in with her mouth agape. Wondering what the hell all this is... it was as if she'd stepped into another world. It's warm... the marbled floors are heated... and the mirrors were spotless. Even though dead silent... the room carried intensity... an energy she couldn't possibly describe but certainly felt.
She suddenly hears the front door to the executive office beep and slide open... she gasps turning around.
The sound of a man talking loud with a slurred speech accompanies a woman giggling alongside him... the sounds of their steps grow closer.
She recognizes her mother's laugh... instinctually diving under the bed to hide... her heart begins to race as the tandem steps of dress shoes and high heels on marble floor grow closer and closer to the hidden door. Before she can even think, the door slides open... the pair bringing their outting energy into the bedroom. Zaunya sees only her mother's feet in high heels, next to a pair of dress shoes as she giggles while being pushed onto the bed... the executive quickly follows after her.
The combined weight of the two slams to the bed.. forcing it down slightly on top of Zaunya's back... she jolts... opening her eyes wide. She forces her hands over her mouth... hearing her mom speak.
"You've had too much. I can tell." She giggles.
"Ahh... too much- Never! hahahaha!... Never too much of you!" He responds pulling his clothes off.
As the action progresses, the movement on the bed increases in intensity... Zaunya hears the sounds of moaning in ecstasy gradually turn to fear and turmoil.
As the executives tempo increases.. so do his grunts of pleasure... and Zaunya's mom's grunts of pain. The bed continues to give under their combined weight lightly pressing down on Zaunya's back.
"S-slow down! What are you d-doing!? S-STOP!" Zaunya's mom struggles... he grabs her by the throat tightly with one hand.. pinning her arm down to the bed with the other... with all of his strength continuing to pump harder and harder.
"S-STOP!! PLEASE!!!" Zaunya's mother struggles to yell through her teeth... she shrieks with her breath being taken away... the executive continuing to grunt even louder.
She goes silent... the executive holding her down by her neck and pumping as hard as he can.
Zaunya under the bed covers her ears with her arms... the bed pressing down on top of her repeatedly.
Zaunya takes another drag of her smoke... closing her eyes tight, forcing tears down the side of her cheeks as she rakes her back. The distant neon glow of the Night Cityscape catching a reflection off of her tears. Taking a moment to gather herself.
Several days later, little Zaunya is sat at the opposite end of the executives desk... subtly staring at that hidden door in a trance.
She's now surrounded by a bunch of nameless suits who have gathered around her for a meeting at the executive's desk without him in attendance. His new assistant speaks to her in a softened tone... feinting excitement.
"Good morning Zaunya! I hope you're having a good day. We just wanted to come together to share some great news with you!"
Zaunya looks up at the woman... staring at her manufactured smile.
"Y-Your mother has been assigned to PetroChem Abroad! This is one of the highest honors to be sure! She'll be responsible for overseeing all of the most important protection and safety initiatives of the entire company! She will even have her own personal team under her leadership!"
Little Zaunya, intimidated by the imposing suits around her... forced to sit and listen to the woman. As the the woman's voice explaining fades into the background... Zaunya looks back over at that hidden door... inexplainable tension coursing through her body... rendering her unable to breath.. she begins to hyperventilate... a ringing in her ears.
The woman repeatedly calling her name snaps her out of it, she quickly looks up at her.
"Zaunya...? Zaunya? Your mother took the time to leave you a message that we have for you right here."
Zaunya, confused in disbelief quickly sits up in her seat.. focusing in on the laptop in front of her... her eyes well-up.
She sees her mom sat at a blank brown desk with a muted black background behind her... a pre-recorded video. Her mom gathers herself on video slightly before speaking.
"Uhm... H-Hi Zaunya! Sorry I couldn't see you... before I left."
She pauses... glancing at several people off camera.
"I've... i've been told that my services are in high demand throughout the companies' various locations and... they'll be needing me far outside of Night City."
She pauses again, at a loss for words... struggling to find the next ones.
"I'm... i'm not sure when i'll be back sweetie." She stares into the camera... as if talking to her daughter in person with no one else around.
"Please... please take care of yourself... my... my sweet baby girl." She whimpers half smiling... half crying.
She pauses even longer as her and Zaunya stare each other deep in the eyes through the screen... the world around them fading to black.
With a whisper.. her voice cracks.
"...I love you honey."
The video cuts. Leaving nothing behind but a blank screensaver... and the Petrochem logo.