READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 2: Prologue
Cyberpunk
/ˈsaɪ.bɚ.pʌŋk/ noun
A subgenre characterized by countercultural antiheroes trapped in a dehumanized, high-tech future.
Aldecaldo's camp base in the Arizona desert, three months after the Arasaka's tower raid. An olive-skinned woman, squeezed into a red racing suit, stares intensely at a man with pale, hollowed-out skin, huddled inside a suit similar to the woman's. The two are leaning on the hood of a large off-road vehicle, sipping a beer in front of the sunset.
Panam: So, how is your new nomad life?
V: Exciting, yeah. In three months we've seen so many places I've stopped countin'.
Panam: Well... You have seen nothing yet.
V: Really?! So you're not plannin' to settle down any time soon?
Panam: And why should we? After we've done selling all of the Arasaka's stuff, we'll have enough eddies to travel all around the world... forever.
V: A place is just that... What counts to me are the people I'm sharing it with.
V puts an arm around Panam's shoulder, looking at her in the eyes
Panam: Well, well well mr V! I know what you're planning to do, but tomorrow you'll wait for your turn for the shower like everybody else.
V: Oh c'mon, I thought being the boss's lover had some benefits.
Panam: So you like me just for that?! Careful V, you're playing with fire here...
V: So let me ignite it, then.
V kisses Panam with love, caressing her hips. She does the same, caressing V's cheek.
Panam: V, your nose.
V: Damn.
V quickly cleans his nose from the blood.
Panam: V we'll find a solution, I swear to god.
V: It's f.. fin..eee.
V abruptly faints, hitting the ground.
Panam: Vee!
Some time pass, V slowly wakes up, lying down on a bed inside a small tent along with Panam and an old man in his sixties with gray hair, a cyber implant on his left eyes and a medical coat that is carefully visiting him.
Panam: Doc please, tell me something.
Goodwill: I have a lot to tell you, but I'm afraid there is no good news.
Panam: But you are Nix's best ripper, you can't just give up like that!
Goodwill: V, we have to be real here. Your kidneys are failing, along with your liver and god knows what else...I don't have the proper equipment here, so I encourage you to come to the city with me.
Panam, visibly frustrated, gets her arms together.
Panam: Doc, we can't...and you know that.
Goodwill: Yeah I know... V look, I can buy you some time. Maybe a couple of months with regular dialysis... I'll come back here once a week to check on you. In the meantime take these for your liver.
The man hands out to V an orange plastic pillbox, containing some white pills.
V: Here we go again...
Panam: Thanks Doc, here's some eddies for the trouble.
Goodwill: Oh no, can't accept them. You need them more than me. Stay close to him, I'll wait outside for my ride.
Panam: Ask Mitch, he will escort you back to Nix.
Goodwill: See you soon guys and V... take care of yourself.
Doc Goodwill gets out of the tent. Panam sits next to V, grabbing his hand.
Panam: That's just his opinion V, you know?! Nix is full of rippers, we can find another.
V: Vincent.
Panam: What?!
V: My name is Vincent.
Panam chuckles.
Panam: Well, now I know why you went with V, instead. Vincent doesn't sound too menacing.
Panam stands up and slowly walks toward the tent entrance.
Panam: Take some rest now, Vincent.
Three months later, V is sitting on a wheel chair with some tubes attached to his arms, piercing his pale, dried-up skin. His Aldecaldos blue jacket is several sizes bigger than him, covering him like a blanket,
Panam: Hey, V! How are you doin' today?
V: It's some kind... of a joke question?
Panam: Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?
V stares into the void, silently.
Panam: Whatever. Today is doctor's day, remember?
V: Don't wanna see him.
Panam: What?!
V: You heard me.
Panam: I don't understand what happened to you today but you are acting strange.
V: I'm acting strange... strange. Are you in denial or...or what?
Panam: So what do you want to do?! Just...surrender? Now that you are making progress?!
V: Progresses...yeah.
Panam sits on a chair and reaches for V's hand.
Panam: Vincent... Why are you doin' this to me?!
V: ME?! AND WHAT ABOUT YOU?! Just... Look at me. I'm a fucking corpse! The great V that flatlined half of the 'Saka in one night... Now I can't clean my own shit.
Panam closes her eyes, in pain.
Panam: Vincent...just...please, you know I don't care.
V stops looking at Panam, angry.
V: You're right. You don't.
Panam leaves V's scrawny hand and stands up, hurt.
Goodwill: Am I interrupting something ?
Panam: No.. ehm... Nothing doc, I just... Need to get some fresh air.
Panam walks out of the tent.
Goodwill: So, how are you doing V?
V: Today... You're all fucking comedians.
Goodwill: Humor is a good sign, don't underestimate the power of good laugh.
V: There's nothing to laugh about.
Goodwill quickly changes expression, lowering his gaze.
Goodwill: V, I want to be serious here. I'm the resilient type myself, but we should start you know... Thinking about alleviating the pain.
V: I've been thinking about it every day since I woke up in the morning. I'm feeling trapped in my own body. Pan just doesn't want to let me go.
Goodwill finishes visiting V, then he begins to scratch his head, reflecting.
Goodwill: Well maybe ... Damn... Maybe there is one hope after all.
V: Whatever it is doc, trust me I've tried everything. I'm just tired.
Goodwill: Do you know the company, Biotechnica?
V: Doc, please...Really, no.
Goodwill: Used to work there, fresh out of college. They had this program... For cloning humans. They were able to replicate a whole human body except for the most important part: the mind. They spent billions of eddies and they ended up with complicated meat sacks. They tried to put some kind of low level AI inside them but they were too stupid for even the most basic tasks.
V: So?!
Goodwill: Don't you get it, V?! If the story of the Relic and all is true, you are an AI yourself! Theoretically it could be possible to put your mind inside one of the Biotechnica's empty bodies.
Panam suddenly bursts into the tent.
Panam: So there is hope then.
V: Pan...
Panam rushes to Goodwill grabbing by the neck, full of rage.
Panam: WHY THE FUCK YOU DIDN'T TELL IT BEFORE?!
Goodwill: Why?! Because it's a fucking SUICIDE that's why!
Goodwill pushes Panam away.
Goodwill: Let's say they are still producing the bodies and you can somehow infiltrate inside one of the Biotechnica's facilities... You don't even know the procedure or if it will succeed at all!
Panam looks at Goodwill straight into his eyes, devastated.
Goodwill: Need I remind you that the two of you are the most wanted people of all the USA? I'm risking my ass every time I come here and you want to make an armed assault on a corporate building?! As I said... a fucking suicide.
Panam looks down in anger, while Goodwill walks to the entrance of the tent.
Goodwill: I can give just one name. Eric Maxwell. He was the chief engineer of the project twenty five years ago when I worked at Biotechnica. Last I heard from him he left the company...He was working for Santiago Sanchez, a real son of bitch.
Panam: Who is this guy?!
Goodwill: The biggest scum of all Nix, that's who. They call him "El Loco", drugs, prostitution, cyberware theft, human trafficking... Quite a resume.
Panam: Thanks doc.
Goodwill: No problem. I can't do anything more, quite literally.
Goodwill walks away and exits the tent. Panam rushes back to V, grabbing his hand.
Panam: V! Did you hear it?! We have hope!
V: No.
Panam: What... What does it mean?!
V: GOD DAMN PANAM! HAVEN'T YOU REALIZED ALREADY?!
V pulls his hand away from Panam's, who tries to hold it.
V: it will end up in blood... and death. Like everything we've tried before. It was all a mistake since the beginning.
Panam looks at him, moved.
Panam: What are you talking about?!
V: Scorpion, Saul, everybody else that died at Arasaka Tower... Don't you realize it Pan?! I've destroyed your life since I've stepped foot in it... It was all a mistake. I should have never called you that night. I should have died on that rooftop but I wasn't man enough to do it.
Panam slaps V violently, looking at him in pain, with watering eyes.
Panam: You're right, V. You're a selfish son of a bitch.
Panam walks slowly toward the tent entrance, leaving V on his wheelchair.
Some hours pass, it's night. V stands up from his wheelchair and slowly walks outside the tent, limping. There is a big crowd, filled with people talking to each other.
V slowly walks toward the center of the crowd, pushing some people away. A big beard man with a scar on his face stands next to a table where Panam in her red jacket stands along with the rest of crew.
Garrison: Panam... Don't you get it?! Saul had the contacts, we don't! After the Arasaka shit, they wouldn't touch us with gloves.
Panam: FUCK 'EM, THEN! IF THEY DON'T WANT TO HELP WE ARE GOING TO BREAK IN!
Garrison: No Panam. That won't happen.
Panam: Think that your word is worth something here?
Garrison angrily hits the table with his fist.
Garrison: Yes It does, because I've already lost a brother. All of the others are too scared or too stupid to talk, but I am not.
Panam walks near Garrison, looking at him menacingly.
Panam: Be careful with your words now.
Garrison: Somebody has to tell you the truth, even if you're too blind to see it. We're stuck here in Arizona's desert with no eddies, no resources and almost out of food... We can't sell the 'Saka shit because It's too hot and on top of that, you're wasting the little resources we have to keep alive that corpse in that tent!
Panam violently hits Garrison with a punch, he falls on the ground as she puts her boot on his throat, drawing her gun. The others look at her in disbelief, concerned.
Panam: You forgot what this family is all about? What V has done for all of us? You don't like this life Garrison?! Fine. You are free to go fuck yourself whenever you want.
Panam lifts the boot from Garrison's throat and looks back at the crowd while he starts coughing.
Panam: So do you want to hear the plan or does somebody else have something to say?!
V: Panam... Nobody wants to hear the plan...
A man with a black bionic arm, wearing a blue mechanic's suit, turns around. Recognizing a familiar voice.
Mitch: Veee!
Mitch runs toward V and hugs him.
Mitch: What are you doing outside the tent?
V: Garrison... He's right... Nobody has to die, not anymore.
The crowd stares in silence looking at Panam. She looks back at V, shocked while Garrison quickly stands up.
Panam: You know what, V?! Fuck you. And you too Garrison. I'm going to find this "El Loco" by myself.
Panam rushes to her modified pickup truck, starts the engine, and runs away. Everybody looks in disbelief, including V.
Mitch: let's go V. Let's get back to the tent.
V leans on Mitch's shoulder, helping him to drag himself into his tent.
Mitch: Here you go, take rest.
V: Thank...You...
Several days pass. V lays down on his bed, it's afternoon. Mitch rushes inside his tent.
Mitch: V! Are you awake? It's about Pan, we lost contact with her...
V is curled up on the side of the bed, covered in blood stained bandages, surrounded by a cloud of flies. Mitch looks at him in shock.
Mitch: Jesus, V...
V: ... Pa..nam...
Mitch: We... We lost contact with her two days ago, I...
V: ... Pan..am...
Mitch looks away and starts sobbing, putting both of his hands on his head.
Mitch: Fuck!
V: I want.. to see... the sun..set.
Mitch grabs V's hand, almost crying.
Mitch: Sure my friend.
Mitch gently grabs him, holding him on his shoulders. V drags himself around, looking into the void with a dull look, waving around his left arm lifelessly. Finally they both arrive at Mitch's car, he lays him inside it, then starts the engine and drives into the desert. Eventually stopping on the top of a hill.
V: ... Pa..nam
Mitch: I told you V, she is...
V reclines his head on the right side of the passenger's seat, as if he were letting go. Mitch looks at him astonished, opening his mouth slightly, trying to say something.
Mitch: She will be here soon.
Mitch grabs V's hand, holding it tight.
V: I... wrong...
Mitch: please V, just...
The sunlight begins to fill the interior of the car. V slowly closes his eyes looking at the sunset while Mitch starts crying, looking at him, holding his hand.