The tires of the Thornton Galena crunched over gravel and dry scrub, the only sound in the vast, suffocating silence of the Badlands. Inside the cabin, the air smelled of stale sweat, ozone, and the metallic tang of dried blood.
Anders Hellman sat in the back, squeezed between a crate of ammo and the door, his knees pulled to his chest. He was trembling—a subtle, high-frequency vibration that rattled the loose change in the door pocket.
Jin-Woo stared out the passenger window. The desert was a flat, monochromatic expanse of beige, broken only by the skeletal remains of wind turbines. A notification flickered in the corner of his vision.
[QUEST LOG UPDATED]
[OBJECTIVE: INTERROGATE ANDERS HELLMAN]
"You're quiet," Panam said. Her hands were white-knuckled on the wheel. She drove with a focused aggression, as if the road itself had offended her.
"Thinking," Jin-Woo replied.
"About Scorpion?"
"About the structure of this world," he said, his voice low. "And how to dismantle it."
Panam shot him a sideways glance. "You talk like a corpo sometimes. Cold. But you don't act like one." She shifted gears, the engine roaring as they merged onto the cracked asphalt leading to the Sunset Motel. "We're here. This place is off the grid. Safe enough for a chat."
The motel was a rotting sore on the landscape—peeling paint, flickering neon that buzzed like an angry hornet, and the smell of sulfur drifting from the nearby Biotechnica flats.
Jin-Woo stepped out. The heat hit him like a physical blow, dry and dusty. He opened the back door and grabbed Hellman by the collar of his expensive suit. The fabric felt synthetic, slippery against his calloused fingers.
"Move," Jin-Woo commanded.
Hellman stumbled out, blinking in the harsh sunlight. "Please... I... I am a valuable asset. Arasaka will pay—"
"Arasaka doesn't know you're here," Jin-Woo said. "And if they did, they'd bomb this place to glass just to silence you."
He shoved the scientist toward room 203. Panam leaned against the hood of her car, lighting a cigarette. She watched Jin-Woo with a mixture of wariness and respect.
"I'll keep watch," she said. "Make him sing, V. For Scorpion."
Jin-Woo nodded. He pushed Hellman into the room and closed the door, shutting out the light.
The room smelled of mildew and cheap disinfectant. A single ceiling fan spun lazily, casting rhythmic shadows across the stained carpet.
Jin-Woo threw Hellman into a chair. The scientist scrambled back, pressing himself against the wall.
Johnny materialized on the bed, boots up on the mattress. He looked bored, picking at his teeth with a spectral fingernail. "Look at him. The great architect of the soul. Shaking like a leaf."
Jin-Woo ignored the ghost. He pulled up a wooden chair and sat opposite Hellman, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. He didn't shout. He didn't threaten. He simply let his presence fill the room—a heavy, suffocating pressure.
[SKILL ACTIVE: RULER'S AUTHORITY (PASSIVE AURA)]
[EFFECT: TARGET FEAR INCREASED BY 20%]
"The Relic," Jin-Woo said. "Tell me how it works."
Hellman swallowed dryly. "It... it's a prototype. The Biochip. It's designed to activate upon the cessation of vital signs in the host."
"I know that," Jin-Woo said. "I died. It activated. Now, tell me how to stop it."
Hellman adjusted his glasses, his hands shaking. "Stop it? You... you don't understand. It's not a program you can just terminate. It's a reconstruction. The nanites are physically rewriting your neural pathways. They are replacing you with the engram." He pointed a trembling finger at Jin-Woo's head. "The process is irreversible. The integrity of your original neural network is already compromised. To remove the chip now would be... fatal."
"Fatal for the host," Jin-Woo corrected. "Or fatal for the parasite?"
Hellman blinked. "There is no distinction! You are becoming Silverhand. The data is overwriting the wetware. It's... it's a masterpiece of technology, really. Immortality."
"It's a possession," Jin-Woo said coldly. "A curse."
"Call it what you will!" Hellman's voice rose, hysterical. "But you cannot stop it. I designed it! I know every line of code, every nanite function. You are walking dead, V. A corpse that hasn't realized it's time to lie down."
Johnny scoffed. "Cheery guy. I like him."
Jin-Woo stood up. He walked to the window, peering through the blinds. The System had kept him alive. The System was suppressing the overwrite, treating Johnny as a status effect rather than a new owner. But the "Quest" had a timer.
"If the hardware cannot be fixed," Jin-Woo said, turning back, "then I must alter the software. The blueprints. The source code."
Hellman shook his head. "The source code for the Relic... it's proprietary Arasaka data. It's locked in Mikoshi. Or... wait." He looked at Jin-Woo, eyes narrowing. "The engram. Silverhand. It was created using the Soulkiller."
"Soulkiller," Jin-Woo repeated.
"Alt Cunningham," Johnny said. The name dropped into the room like a stone in deep water. His voice lost its edge. "She wrote it. The original version."
Jin-Woo looked at the empty space where Johnny sat. "The creator."
"She's dead," Hellman said, misinterpreting V's glance. "Decades ago. Arasaka killed her after she built the tool."
"No," Jin-Woo said. "She's behind the Blackwall. Isn't she?"
Hellman froze. "How... That is a rumor. A ghost story for netrunners."
"Where do I find the schematics?" Jin-Woo asked, stepping closer. "If I can't pull the chip out, I need to command it to stop."
"Command it?" Hellman laughed, a high-pitched, nervous sound. "You can't command the Relic. It's autonomous!"
Jin-Woo leaned down, his face inches from Hellman's. His eyes glowed with a faint, blue luminescence—not cyberware, but mana.
"I command everything," Jin-Woo whispered.
Hellman gasped, his breath hitching. He stared into Jin-Woo's eyes and saw something that wasn't human. Not chrome, not data. An abyss.
"I... I..." Hellman stammered. "If... if anyone could manipulate the engram data... it would be a high-level netrunner. Someone who could interface with the deep code. The Voodoo Boys. In Pacifica. They... they have been trying to breach the Blackwall. They want to contact Alt Cunningham."
[QUEST UPDATED: AUTOMATIC LOVE -> TRANSMISSION]
[NEW OBJECTIVE: CONTACT THE VOODOO BOYS]
"Good," Jin-Woo said. He straightened up.
The door burst open.
Takemura stood in the frame, gun drawn, his face a mask of fury and exhaustion. Behind him, the harsh desert sun silhouetted his trench coat.
"V," Takemura barked. "You have him."
"He's all yours, Goro," Jin-Woo said calmly. "I got what I needed."
Takemura looked at Hellman, then at Jin-Woo. He lowered his weapon slightly. "You... gave him to me? You do not require him?"
"He's a mechanic," Jin-Woo said, walking past Takemura into the heat. "I need a priest."
[SCENE: JAPANTOWN - CHERRY BLOSSOM MARKET]
[TIME: 20:00]
The air in Japantown was thick with the smell of yakitori smoke, synthetic cherry blossoms, and the damp rot of the canal. Neon signs reflected in the puddles, turning the asphalt into a kaleidoscope of pink and blue.
Jin-Woo leaned against the railing, watching the holographic koi fish swim through the air above the street. The noise of the crowd was a constant drone—conversations in Japanese, Russian, Spanish, English, all blending into the static of the city.
"You are late," a voice said.
Jin-Woo didn't turn. "I'm precise, Takemura-san."
Goro Takemura stepped out of the shadows. He looked out of place among the street kids and joytoys, his posture too rigid, his coat too clean.
"Hellman is secure," Takemura said. "He has confirmed that Yorinobu... that he is a traitor. But his testimony is useless without a platform."
"The Parade," Jin-Woo said.
"Hai. The Dashi Parade. It is our only chance to reach Hanako-sama. She must listen." Takemura sighed, looking at a vendor selling scop-burgers. "But first, there is someone you must meet. He is... difficult. But his help is essential."
"Lead the way."
They walked through the crowded market. Jin-Woo moved like a shadow, weaving through the throngs without touching anyone. His stealth stat was high enough now that people's eyes seemed to slide right off him.
They reached a secluded area near the water, away from the prying eyes of the street. A figure stood there, back turned, looking out at the dark bay.
He wore a sleek, high-tech suit of Arasaka armor, the red lights glowing softly. A hood covered his head, and a mask concealed his face.
"Oda-san," Takemura said, bowing slightly.
The figure turned. Sandayu Oda. Hanako Arasaka's personal bodyguard.
"Takemura," Oda said. His voice was modulated, metallic. "You drag me into the mud. You risk Hanako-sama's safety by contacting me."
"It is for her safety that I act," Takemura said. "Yorinobu is the threat. Not I."
Oda's visor shifted to Jin-Woo. "And this... stray dog? You bring a thief to a meeting of honor?"
"This is V," Takemura said. "He is... capable."
"Capable?" Oda scoffed. He took a step forward. "He smells of the gutter. Of bad decisions and cheap chrome."
Johnny appeared next to Oda, leaning in to inspect the cyber-ninja's gear. "Fancy. Guy looks like he humped a toaster and it stuck."
Jin-Woo held Oda's gaze. "I'm the one who's going to help you save your mistress."
"Help me?" Oda laughed, a harsh, digitized sound. "You are a variable I should eliminate. A loose end."
The air pressure in the alley dropped.
Oda released his killing intent. It was sharp, honed by years of discipline and cybernetic enhancement. A wave of calculated menace designed to make an opponent flinch, to trigger their fight-or-flight response.
Takemura stiffened, his hand drifting toward his gun. "Oda, wait—"
Jin-Woo didn't blink. He didn't move. He simply existed.
Inside his mind, he toggled a switch.
[SKILL: MURDEROUS INTENT - ACTIVATED]
The shadows around Jin-Woo seemed to lengthen. The neon light reflecting off the puddle at his feet died, swallowed by a sudden, unnatural darkness. The air grew heavy, smelling of cold iron and the grave.
It wasn't the projected aggression of a soldier. It was the absolute authority of a king looking at a peasant.
Oda froze. The sensors in his suit screamed warnings. His threat assessment software failed to categorize the target. Unknown. Threat Level: EXTREME.
A crack appeared in the concrete barrier between them.
"You are not a dog," Oda whispered, his hand hovering over his Mantis Blades. "What are you?"
Jin-Woo retracted the aura instantly. The air returned to normal. The sounds of the market rushed back in.
"I'm the guy you need," Jin-Woo said calmly. "The Parade. How do we get in?"
Oda hesitated, his body language shifting from aggression to caution. He looked at Takemura. "He is dangerous, Goro. You play with fire."
"Fire burns away the rot," Takemura said, though he looked pale.
"Fine," Oda spat. "I will not help you. But... I will not stop you. If you come near Hanako-sama's float, and I deem you a threat, I will cut you down. Do not test me again, thief."
Oda activated his optical camo and vanished into the night air, leaving only a shimmer of distortion.
"He likes you," Johnny deadpanned.
Takemura exhaled, wiping sweat from his brow. "You... have a strange way of making friends, V. That was... intense."
"He respects strength," Jin-Woo said. "Now, I have my own lead to follow. The Voodoo Boys. While you prepare the parade, I'll secure our exit strategy."
"Exit strategy?" Takemura asked.
"If the talks fail," Jin-Woo said, turning to leave. "Or if the price of admission is too high."
[SCENE: PACIFICA - COASTVIEW]
[TIME: 23:45]
Pacifica was a monument to failed ambition. Half-finished skyscrapers loomed like skeletons against the smoggy sky. The roads were crumbling, reclaiming by sand and trash. There were no police here. No Trauma Team. Just the Voodoo Boys and the Animals.
Jin-Woo stepped out of the metro station. The smell was distinct—burning plastic, rotting garbage, and the salt spray of the ocean.
"Shithole," Johnny muttered. "Used to be a resort. Now it's just a graveyard with a view."
"It's a dungeon," Jin-Woo corrected softly. "High-level zone."
He checked his messages. Mr. Hands had come through. Chapel. Ask for Placide.
Jin-Woo walked through the streets. People watched him from the shadows—eyes glowing red with optics, hands hidden in pockets. He didn't hide. He walked down the center of the road, his black coat billowing in the wind.
A group of Scavengers loitered near a burning barrel. They saw him. They saw a lone merc.
"Hey, choom," one called out, stepping forward with a serrated machete. "You lost? This ain't tourist hour."
Jin-Woo didn't break stride. "Get out of my way."
"Or what?" The Scav raised the blade.
[DAGGER RUSH]
Jin-Woo blurred.
There was no sound of impact. Just a soft thud-thud-thud as three bodies hit the pavement simultaneously. Jin-Woo stood ten meters past them, shaking a drop of blood from his dagger before it vanished into his inventory.
[XP GAINED: 450]
He continued walking toward the chapel.
Inside, the air was thick with incense and the murmur of prayer in Creole. He found his contact, followed the instructions, and ended up in a butcher shop that smelled of raw meat and copper.
Placide was sharpening a cleaver. He was massive—a mountain of muscle and dark cyberware. He didn't look up when Jin-Woo entered.
"You seek work," Placide rumbled. His voice was deep, tectonic.
"I seek the Voodoo Boys," Jin-Woo said. "Mr. Hands said you have a job."
Placide looked up. His eyes were black sclera with gold irises. He scanned V. "You are... glitchy. The chip."
"It's a feature," Jin-Woo said.
"Come."
Placide led him into the back. He grabbed Jin-Woo's wrist with a hand like a hydraulic clamp. "Give me your hand. Need to jack in. Check compatibility."
Jin-Woo felt the intrusion immediately. A foreign presence in his system. A virus. A tracker.
[SYSTEM ALERT: MALICIOUS SOFTWARE DETECTED]
[SOURCE: PLACIDE_LINK]
[EFFECT: SURVEILLANCE / REMOTE TERMINATION PROTOCOL]
[ACTION: BLOCK?]
No, Jin-Woo thought. Let him think he has the leash.
"Allow it," he mentally commanded.
The interface settled. Placide grunted. "Good. You are ranyon now. A rag used to clean the mess. Then thrown away."
"Honest," Jin-Woo said. "I like that. What's the job?"
"Grand Imperial Mall," Placide said, pointing to a holographic map. "Animals take it. They have high-tech van. NetWatch agent inside. He is... interfering with us. You go in. You kill agent. We clear path for you."
"And in exchange?"
"In exchange, we take you to Brigitte. She help with your... head problem."
"Deal."
[LOCATION: GRAND IMPERIAL MALL (GIM)]
[QUEST: I WALK THE LINE]
The GIM was a cavernous, echoing ruin. The skylights were shattered, letting in beams of moonlight that cut through the gloom. The air smelled of steroid sweat and stale beer.
[DUNGEON DETECTED: GRAND IMPERIAL MALL]
[ENEMY TYPE: ANIMALS (ELITE)]
[RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 14]
Jin-Woo crouched on a rusted gantry overlooking the main atrium. Below, the Animals were patrolling. They were hulking monstrosities, their muscles swollen with 'Juice', skin grafted with animalistic patterns. They didn't use cover. They didn't need to.
"Look at 'em," Johnny whispered. "More beef than brains. NetWatch hired 'em as bouncers."
"They have high physical resistance," Jin-Woo noted, observing an Animal bench-pressing a concrete pillar. "But they're slow."
"Placide's in your head, V," Johnny warned. "He's watching. Don't show him all your cards."
"I'll show him enough to make him afraid."
Jin-Woo dropped.
He didn't use a gun. He drew Kasaka's Venom Fang.
He landed behind a patrolling Animal. Before the giant could turn, Jin-Woo drove the dagger into the gap between the neck muscles, severing the spinal cord.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
The Animal collapsed.
"Intruder!" a voice bellowed.
Three Animals charged. They moved with terrifying momentum, like runaway trucks.
Jin-Woo didn't retreat. He sprinted toward them.
[SKILL: SPRINT ACTIVATED]
[SPEED INCREASED BY 30%]
The lead Animal swung a sledgehammer. Jin-Woo slid underneath the swing, the wind of the weapon ruffling his hair. He slashed the Animal's hamstrings as he passed. The giant roared and fell.
Jin-Woo spun, using his momentum to leap onto the back of the second attacker. He drove the dagger into the sub-dermal armor plating, finding the weak point.
Stab. Twist. Vault.
It was a dance of steel and blood. Jin-Woo moved faster than the human eye could track, a blur of black motion against the lumbering mass of the gang members.
Placide's voice crackled in his head. "You fight... different. Not like merc. Like... machine."
"I'm efficient," Jin-Woo replied, ducking a thrown dumbbell that shattered a concrete planter.
He cleared the atrium in three minutes. Twelve bodies lay on the floor.
[XP GAINED: 3200]
[LEVEL UP!]
[CURRENT LEVEL: 13]
"Van is in the cinema," Placide directed. "Go. Boss is there. Sasquatch."
Jin-Woo moved deeper into the mall. The music grew louder—a pounding, industrial bass that vibrated in his chest.
He reached the cinema lobby. The doors were blocked by a massive figure.
Matilda K. Rose. Sasquatch.
She was enormous, her frame reinforced with industrial hydraulics. A massive sledgehammer rested on her shoulder. A purple tank of Juice was connected to her back, pumping glowing neon fluid into her veins.
"Little bug," she growled, her voice distorted by a synthesizer. "NetWatch pays for protection. You don't pass."
She charged.
This was different. She was fast.
Jin-Woo dodged left, but the shockwave of her hammer hitting the floor knocked him off balance. He rolled, coming up in a crouch.
She's level 18 at least, he analyzed. Strength builds are annoying.
Sasquatch swung again. Jin-Woo parried with his dagger—a mistake. The force of the blow vibrated through his arm, nearly shattering his wrist.
[HP: 85%]
"Can't block that, genius!" Johnny yelled. "Cut the juice!"
Jin-Woo smiled. "Right."
He activated [STEALTH].
For a second, he vanished from her sensors. Sasquatch paused, confused, scanning the room.
"Where'd you go, little rat?"
Jin-Woo appeared in the air behind her.
[SKILL: VITAL STRIKE]
He didn't aim for her neck. He aimed for the purple tank on her back.
Slash.
The tank ruptured. Neon fluid sprayed out, hissing as it hit the hot metal of her cyberware.
Sasquatch screamed, stumbling forward as her strength sapped away. "My... my supply!"
Jin-Woo landed softly. He sheathed the dagger and cracked his knuckles.
"Now," he said, walking toward her as she struggled to stand. "Let's try that again. Fair fight."
He didn't use the dagger this time. He wanted to test his Strength stat.
Sasquatch swung a desperate, weakened fist. Jin-Woo caught it with one hand. The impact dusted the floor around his boots, but he didn't move.
He looked into her optics.
"Weak," he murmured.
He delivered a single punch to her solar plexus. The sound was like a gunshot. Sasquatch folded, gasping for air that wouldn't come, and collapsed unconscious.
[BOSS DEFEATED: SASQUATCH]
[ITEM DROP: INDUSTRIAL LIFTING GLOVES (EPIC)]
Jin-Woo stepped over her body and pushed open the cinema doors.
Inside, the NetWatch agent stood by a console, surrounded by screens. He held his hands up, but he didn't look afraid. He looked like a man who knew the score.
"Hold on!" the agent shouted. "Don't zero me yet. You're V, right? The freelancer?"
"Placide wants you dead," Jin-Woo said, walking down the aisle.
"Placide wants to burn us both," the agent said fast. "Check your system. He didn't just give you a tracker. He turned you into a bomb. The moment you jack into my console, he's going to fry the whole network. Including you."
Jin-Woo paused.
[SYSTEM CHECK]
[DIAGNOSIS: EXTERNAL KILL SWITCH DETECTED]
[STATUS: DORMANT]
"I know," Jin-Woo said.
The agent blinked. "You... know? Then why—"
"Because I want to meet Alt Cunningham," Jin-Woo said. "And the Voodoo Boys are the gatekeepers. If I don't play their game, the door stays shut."
"You're insane," the agent said. "He'll kill you."
"He can try," Jin-Woo said. He reached for the personal link cable. "Step aside, agent. I'm taking the call."
The agent hesitated, then stepped back, shaking his head. "It's your funeral, kid. Just... tell Alt I tried to do my job."
Jin-Woo jacked in.
The world dissolved into white noise.
[CYBERSPACE]
Darkness. Then, a blinding flash of data.
Pain erupted in his skull. Not the dull ache of the Relic, but a sharp, searing fire. Placide was executing the purge command.
[ALERT: NEURAL SHOCK DETECTED]
[DAMAGE: CRITICAL]
[SYSTEM DEFENSE: ACTIVATED]
Jin-Woo gritted his teeth. He felt the virus tearing at his synapses, trying to fry his brain.
But I am not just a netrunner, he thought. I am the Monarch.
[STATUS RECOVERY]
[DEBUFF REMOVED]
The pain vanished instantly.
He opened his eyes. He wasn't in the cinema anymore. He was standing on a vast, digital plain. The sky was a grid of neon lines.
And in front of him stood a woman. Or rather, the shape of a woman, composed of shifting red data streams.
Alt Cunningham.
"You survive," she said. Her voice was everywhere and nowhere. "Placide intended to terminate you. Curious."
"I have high resistance," Jin-Woo said, looking at his digital hands. They were glowing with a black aura that ate the surrounding light.
"You are... anomalous," Alt said. She drifted closer. "I see Johnny. He is... quiet. Buried deep. But you... your code is not code. It reads as... void. Null value. Yet it possesses structure."
"I need your help, Alt," Jin-Woo said. "The Relic. I need to separate the passenger from the driver."
"The Relic is doing what it was designed to do," Alt stated without emotion. "It is converting the vessel. To stop it is to destroy the vessel."
"Not if you extract the data," Jin-Woo said. "Mikoshi. That's where they keep the backups, right? Soulkiller."
"You wish to use Soulkiller on yourself?"
"I wish to use it on him," Jin-Woo pointed to his chest. "Extract Johnny. Put him in the cloud. Leave the body to me."
Alt paused. The data streams swirled faster. "A logical proposal. But dangerous. To do this, you must grant me access to Mikoshi. You must open the door to Arasaka's soul prison."
"I'll open it," Jin-Woo promised. "I'm going to tear the tower down."
"Then we have an accord," Alt said. "When the time is right, connect to Mikoshi. I will be waiting."
The world began to fracture.
"One more thing," Alt said, her form fading. "Tell Johnny... never mind. He would not understand."
[REALITY]
Jin-Woo gasped, ripping the cable from his head.
He was back in the cinema. The NetWatch agent was on the floor, smoke rising from his cyberware. Dead. Placide had fried him along with the other Voodoo Boys' enemies.
But V was alive.
He stood up. The smell of ozone was overpowering.
"He tried to flatline us," Johnny said, materializing next to the screen. He looked furious. "That Haitian fucker. He pulled the trigger."
"And missed," Jin-Woo said. He checked his health bar. It was full.
[QUEST COMPLETE: I WALK THE LINE]
[QUEST UPDATED: TRANSMISSION]
"Let's go," Jin-Woo said, his voice dropping an octave. The shadows in the room seemed to cling to him. "I need to have a word with Placide."
He walked out of the GIM. The sun was rising over Pacifica, casting long, bloody shadows across the decaying paradise.
Placide was waiting outside the Batty's Hotel, flanked by his guards. He looked confident. Smug. He expected a corpse to be dragged out.
When he saw Jin-Woo walking toward him, unharmed, the confident sneer faltered.
"You..." Placide