Chapter Text
*Tick Tock* goes the clock. Audrey’s nails tap tap tap restlessly on a cold, spotless metal table. The metallic silver sheen on the surface gave her tatted forearms a blurred mirror reflection. Her mind is racing with calculations… having reverted back to her training... high pressure situations… her resiliency in them… its what she was made for. However... being back in a place like this drudges up past memories she couldn’t possibly prepare for mentally. Her people were headed into something dangerous and uncertain… something she can only torture her imagination with now. A flash of Zaunya laying motionless in her cocoon enters her mind briefly… making her even more antsy.
With everything going on…. all she can do is sit down.
Her third hour alone in silence just ticked over… they’ve got her on ice… not a good sign. A single LED light constantly beaming above has her wondering what time it even is. Most PetroChem question and interrogation ‘pods’ are dead zones… no cameras, no chrome, no bullshit. In an environment where everything is on film or on file… this is the last place you wanna be. She stares down at an unopened pack of Death Styx brand cigarettes rested beside an unused, pristine glass ashtray. The sandblasted PetroChem logo in the center of it stares back up at her… the only branding present in the room. Its as if they’ve gone an extra step to disassociate the company with whatever goes on down here… placing only the subtlest reminder.
She hears a sudden metal creak as the entrance to her room slides open.
A well dressed man walks in escorted by no one. He pauses for a second before approaching the chair sat across from her table.. giving her a good look at him under the light. His frame was thin and unassuming… casual dress shirt… clean shaven and short, slicked back hair that reminded her of Brian’s. Something about his appearance feels off to her though… he wasn’t wearing PetroChem tailored business attire… no formalized EMP threading… no regulated chrome leads... it was neutral. Even his energy and demeanor was informal unlike his appearance.
He grabs the seat across from her.. swiping his hand across it’s clean surface a couple times as if something were there before sitting down.
They exchange a brief look in the eyes with each other before the man glances down at the pack of smokes next to Audrey… causing her eyes to follow.
He quickly reaches over and tears the seal off the pack and lights one. He rests his back comfortably against his chair making himself at home as he puffs away on his smoke. He kicks his loafered feet up onto the table… resting comfortably in the awkward silence... in the presence of a complete stranger.
After a couple puffs and some more silence he glances at her again as if doing so for the first time… like he’s re-realizing that shes even there.
He finally speaks… a voice so vanilla, you couldn’t pick it out of a lineup.
“Sup?” He asks promptly. Completely throwing her off.
“Sup…?” She repeats mocking with aggravated disbelief. “What the hell do you guys-”
“-Y’know… doing this is something I never thought I’d even be good at. Can’t even quite remember how I fell into this gig. As time goes on … heh… seems like that history just blurs and blurs.”
He pauses.
“What’s your name?” He asks straightly.
“What the ff- what’s my name?!-”
“-I don’t just stroll into these things with all the deets... ruins the process. Honestly prefer it this way.”
He takes another puff before resting the lit cig in the brand new glass ashtray… dirtying it for the first time. He folds his hands in his lap casually before continuing.
“...From what I’m being told, you were picked... up… at your clinic-” He says fluttering his single page of paper he brought in, trying to piece things together. Glancing at the front and back of it briefly. “-that you weren’t supposed to be at.” He drops the page onto the desk and sits back. Looking up at the ceiling. The idle smoke of his cig slowly dissipating.
“Now, I for one, tend to lean on the side of reason… faulty probe, family emergency… y’know… the usuals that’d lead to a discrepancy like this.”
“Yeah..” Audrey says chiming in. “I havent had any check ins in ages. Its your tech… I mean... if a chips faulty... you guys’d know better than me-”
“-You see, that’s the thing though.” He whispers yanking his loafers off the table and quickly leaning in with a light chuckle. “It wasn’t faulty.”
The pair share a silence... looking each other in the eyes briefly… completely unwavering.
He breaks eye contact… leaning back into the chair again and looking up at the ceiling.
“Y’know…. bringing someone like me in for just a missplaced geo-sat..? Pretty expensive. Can really only be for so many reasons… with common protocol we thought you to be kidnapped… maybe even held for ransom? Tortured..? Killed..? Raped..? Though fair, this model is indeed very much outdated…. you know that we very much care for our assets. There was several-”
“-I’m Audrey.” She interrupts, stopping him in his tracks as he looks at her directly. Feeling progress.
“Audrey.” He repeats… his tone sentimental with a nod and smirk... receiving the information as though it were a significant gift.
“I’m Allan.”
Audrey grabs the pack of Death Styx and pops one in her mouth… maintaining direct eye contact. She lights it and takes a steady puff.
Heavy time passes into the conversation… a verbal chess match where every word just hangs like a volatile detonator. A while in and Allan sounds more like a friend at a coffee date than an interrogator. She makes no mistake about it though... his tone is all business.
“Y’know... contractors are quite the interesting bunch huh? Existing in this... coporational ‘grey area’ if you will. Where policy sort of… drifts around or quietly evaporates. One minute you’re doing this… the next minute they’ve got ya doing that. No questions asked right? Heh... I mean, most of this page here is… a fuckin’ combat record! Hah! I tell ya, I’m used to getting… espionage write ups… y’know?…. executive Sally stole executive Lucy’s office stapler- that sort of thing. But with you? Haha” He leans back in his seat and puts his hands up in mock surrender, raising his eyebrows. “I don’t want any trouble.” He smirks.
She takes another steady drag of her smoke, saying nothing… not breaking eye contact. Shes locked in.
Allan feels his probing isn’t getting him anywhere... he switches tone and strategies. His pauses becoming longer.
“Audrey…” He folds his hands, resting his forearms on the table, leaning forward. “That level of combat service… is not something I take lightly.. and I wanna personally thank you for it.” He says with a nod of convinction.
Audrey tap ashes her cig. “Seen much combat.” She asks challenging in a monotone… staring daggers while taking another drag.
He maintains eye contact without a response and a shit eating grin… after a pause, he finally answers... deflecting.
“…….Wasn’t all alone though was it…. All that… service.” He says breaking eye contact. Her attention perks up at the words. He continues.
“I mean, a combat record like this…” He shakes his head lightly. “These are the types of numbers you see company battalions put up. Hah… not just… two people……... even then… someone running specialty support doesn’t usually get their hands quite so dirty. Must’ve…….. made you two pretty close huh.” He says returning her dead stare.
She doesn’t respond.
“Combatware diagnostics and maintenance on the fly? While still being able to run n’ gun- haha- I mean… that’s quite the valuable asset… to any corp I’d imagine.”
Audrey doesn’t respond... The long, stale ash resting at the tip of her cig’s cherry in her fingers begging to be tapped. The ash is as tense as she’s getting.
“…….Couldnt’ve……... made the end………. any easier huh.” He says in a monotone.
Audrey clinches her fists tightly... the subtle cracks of her knuckles barely audible. She feels the heat on her tensing shoulders and back of her ears... her breaths quickening.
He takes the brief pause to soak in her tense energy as it washes over his body. He continues.
“Now... I’m no ripperdoc. Haha- I honestly would have absolutely no stomach for it y’know. All that anatomy… all that... mess... ugh.. its just… fuckin’ gross y’know? Ugly. That’s a level of play with the human body that just turns the stomach. Haha. I mean… there’s a bunch of different aspects to the craft that’re fine.. practical even... but…. I really draw the line at… rip and recycle.”
A series of quick flashing memories hit Audrey hard... her unzipping Zayta’s body bag… the marks on her lifeless face and neck… her blood curdling screams of terror and panic… the light headed sensation of the very air in her lungs being yanked out as she lost her balance.
His plain voice chimes in as he feeds her mind… causing a rush of buried memories of the past.
“To be able to gut….”
Under her surgery lights... Audrey stands hunched over Zayta’s corpse… her intestines being slowly pulled out and cradled with tender care. Her eyes flowing with tears… Zayta’s body twitching subtly.
“Rip….”
Under her surgery lights… Audrey slowly peels back Zayta’s skin around her arm, revealing the high end chrome underneath. Her hands shaking uncontrollably in a panic as she struggles to complete her job… letting go constantly while in a frantic… broken emotional state. Falling to her knees and vomiting.
“-And slice with such a steady hand..? Heh… shit…. Now THAT’S service. No wonder they’ve just… just left you be huh.”
Audrey’s mind shows a young adolescent Zaunya in her arms crying hysterically in the aftermath of Zayta’s death… she hears Zayta’s voice whisper in pain at the same time. “Promise me Audrey….. please.”
The flashing memories abruptly end… the tension in Audrey’s body vibrates her… with reddening eyes and tears, she looks up into Allan’s unsympathetic gaze still staring right at her.
“Tell me Audrey…
tell me about this……... Zayta Ga-”
“-ffuck you.” She whispers under her shaky breath gritting her teeth… a lone teardrop escapes. Her adrenaline surging through her feral emotions… unable to find any other words.
Allen nods… he opens his mouth to respond but she cuts him off.
“FUCK YOU!!!!!” She screams at the top of her lungs, cracking her voice... causing Allen to jolt.
Audrey dives over the metal table… landing on top of Allan as the pair slam to the cold concrete and his chair scrapes across the floor. She begins to rain down punches on his face… her feral screams vibrating the very walls around them. A wide eyed intensity washes over her with gritted teeth... blood flys as thumping sounds of knuckles on flesh repeat over and over. The heavy metal door to the room scrape slides open letting the sounds of the beating out into the halls as PetroChem security storms in.
“AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!” Audrey screams continuing to smash Allan’s face… shes grabbed from behind by both of her arms and yanked to her feet. “AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!” She screams toward the ceiling with eyes closed tight… struggling with all of her strength to break free as shes yanked out of the room by two shadowy strongmen.
Allan on his back... bloody and barely conscious, spit coughs up blood. His bloodshot, battered and bruised eye socket and lacerated face stares up at the ceiling with a bloody toothed smile.
“f-...ffigured as m-much….. hah.. g-….g-good start.” He whispers to himself in the silent room... unable to roll over on his side and get up as Audrey’s feral screams fade away down the hall.
The mellow rumbling of a Chevilon Emperor’s engine is in a hurry as it slowly fades in. Molly and Manny licking their wounds take inventory of their damage after their scrap with Maelstrom. Wiping blood… looking over lacerations and gunshot wounds… RealSkinn scraped right off the chrome from metal on metal impacts. They crack the windows allowing purged smoke from excessive implant use to seep out into the open air. The thick rubber tires rolling on asphalt creates a hum amongst the adrenaline fueled back and forth taking place in the cab.
“Can’t believe that FUCKER got away.. you almost had em.” Manny grunts in pain, fueled by adrenaline… his voice shaky with heavy breaths.
“Doesn’t matter… got em made now. Time to hand this shit off to the big guns n’ be done with it. Sick of this neon trash heap…. time to quit this town.”
“Ffuck man… think I got hit in the head with a… fuckin flashbang… ears are ringing like a motherfucker...”
“-Shake it off chrome jock… need you back at a hundred percent for this meeting. Never been late to a field sync. Especially with the higher ups-”
“-Shit… Santo crew keeps lighting up my burner…”
She pauses while gazing out the window... feeling the weight of her experiences deep in the gutters of Night City… the sleepless nights on the edge. The intimate embracing of a world understood by very few.
She hears Marcus’ voice… his words slung at her like some back alley clairvoyant. “Corpos are always of the mind of order over chaos. Yet here you stand... with a heart for us of all people."
“The culture you barely understand workin' its way deep into your bones.”
“From one native to an outsider... the more you resist..... the more it wants you.”
She hears the homeless man’s voice that she gave creds to echo. “Knew I saw good in you… God bless.”
The many faces she engaged with over her time in Santo Domingo… highs… lows… culture shock... inexplainable emotions lingering deep within her… changing her very being against her will.
“….Mine too…” She mutters gently… emotion bleeding though.
The pair continue with their adrenaline fueled bickering as they sort through deets… completely ignoring the subtle groans of pain coming from the backseat.
A blood covered yellow hoodie in the back of the SUV comes into focus... as Netty lay there motionless.
The emperor’s doors slam closed at the Wellsprings docks. Molly and Manny’s boots thump alongside the gentle ocean current nearly invisible in the darkness. As they near their building destination, a small dock warehouse, they see their corpo contact.. a direct handler for the board of directors that they recognize… stood alone and waving them over.
Even with Molly’s mind in such an adrenaline dumped, emotional haze her intuition is triggered like a muscle reflex. She peeps the scene. Its dead quiet… areas been long cleared of bystanders as is protocol but… “where the hell is everyone? Handlers..? Overwatch..?” She thinks to herself. I mean, when it comes to the board of directors… discretion always takes priority over visibility but… she feels weird… so it feels weird.
She shrugs it off… increasing her walking pace toward their contact.. causing Manny to do the same... the core of her being anxiously ready to just be done with this ordeal.
“Molly.. Manny.. r-right this way.” Their contact says as they stand before him. Molly gets an up close read of the suit.. her intuition springing back to the forefront of her mind instinctually. He lacks eye contact… he’s antsy with the slightest shake in his voice. A first for him in her presence… she immediately picks up on it. “Not good.” Her mind says during the short walk over to the building along the ocean docks. She looks over and up at Manny… with no time to even say anything to him, his energy is clear to her.
He’s none the wiser.
The sensation of being alone kicks into her psyche… re-sparking her adrenaline… her eyes grow wider… her breath shortens.
They enter their designated building… again… quiet… with the sparse light dimmed. She looks about the place on high alert… ignoring her contact casually droning on about the crazy nature of her operation. Before she can read the space and get her mind thinking, her contact grabs ahold of her attention.
“Board's right through here.” He says matter of factly, continuing to walk toward one of the lit up rooms toward the back of the building. Manny promptly follows the contact while Molly’s body hesitates before moving forward. Her body just… stops. The footsteps of each of their brisk walking grabs a hold of her… her mouth dries out as she gulps. What the hell is this?
Molly quickly steps past Manny to catch up with the contact as they near the door to this sizeable backroom. She glances over the contact’s shoulder… seeing the stray light behind the frosted looking glass window leading to the silent room impossible to see through.
As they near the door… Molly steps forward and shoves her contact in the back hard… he shrieks as the shove sends him flying through the open door and into the room.
The collection of sounds that follow explode like a land mine.
The corpo contacts muffled cries of pain combine with the quick, violent sounds of hard thumps, stabs and suppressed gunshots.
The level of unseen brutality and scuffling causes her and Manny to jolt and gasp… forcing their eyes and mouths wide open as they both instincutally step back and closer to each other. Stiffened by fear.
As their contact goes silent… six operators come racing out of the backroom with weapons drawn and stand before Molly and Manny. They see suppressed revolvers.. mantis blades.. shotguns.. cybernetically augmented faces that are masked… the type of unmarked solos PetroChem keeps in house and never operate in public.
Their sharp Kiroshis deathstare the couple down… no words are exchanged as the solos charge forward without hesitation.
A still shot of the warehouse front entrance door is focused on…. as chaos erupts inside… the muffled scrap behind the closed door catches the attention of a familiar homeless man sat nested some fifty yards away.
Static shock and explosions boom as blades and gunshots ring out in concentrated violence. Molly lets out a sharp, primal scream of fear filled with pain as frantic scuffling vibrates the entire building. A sudden neon pink hue of light emits through the cracks of the entrance door as various dying humans squeal in muffled bouts of primal fights for survival. The sounds of slicing flesh and crushing bone escape through the walls… necks snap… final shots are taken alongside muffled panic.
The struggle ends as quickly as it began...
The entrance door suddenly blasts open as one of the operators comes flying out onto the dock.. landing on his head.
Molly slowly stumbles out of the warehouse after him… barely alive. Bruising and deep lacerations cover her face and body alongside bleeding bullet holes. Blackened singe spots burn the fair RealSkinn melting off her arms… as smoke and static purge out of her body from overclocking implants. Her breathing is labored and sporadic as her adrenaline continues to surge with her shredded clothes covered in blood.
She hears a strained cough filled with wheezing pain causing her to turn around.
She sees Manny… slowly dragging himself out to the dock after her… barely able to move. Her eyes open wide in a panic as she frantically stumbles over to him and falls to her knees. His wounds are unsightly… he squirt coughs up volumes of blood as he struggles to breathe. She cradles him in her arms… frantically trying to check vitals and stop the bleeding.
“M-MANNY!! Manny!!! St-Stay with me!! Stay with me!! No!!!” She grunts through her teeth frantically... Desperately trying to help him.
Manny looks up into Molly eyes during an impossible moment… he reaches up with his bloody hand and gently caresses her cheek as best as he can….
With the last of his strength… he mumbles through a mouth full of blood.
“I…… I…….. lo-….. lov-…. l-love…. love you.”
A final whimper….. and his life is gone.
Molly’s mind shatters….. her bottom lip quivers as Manny gently fades away in her arms. Her entire body shakes with tension. Several quick flashes of their time together race through her mind… the laughs they shared… the adversity… the chemistry… the time... the bond….. now gone.
She breaks down… tears flowing down her face with heavy breathing. She screams in a frantic panic.
“MANNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! M-MANNY!!!!!!!!!! No!!!! PLEASE!!!!! MANNY!!!!!!!!!!”
“Manny!” She whimpers to herself struggling with all her strength to move her friend… alone and vulnerable.
She hears a cough… a groan of pain that grabs her attention.
She looks over to see the solo streak dragging blood behind him as he slowly crawls away.
The sound shifts her raging emotions in the moment…. she gently lays Manny’s head to rest as it slowly turns with lifeless eyes.
Heavy footseps from boots slowly thump along the dock... approaching the crawling operator.
She collapses on top of the solo… turning him over and clutching his collar with both fists. Her frantic voice cracking in feral… grunting pain.
“..WH-… WHO!!!... WHO TH-THE FFUCK SENT YOU!!!!!! YOU FUCKING GONKED RAT!!! WHO!!!!!!”
She glances and sees a subtle, blinking light appear on an implant in his arm… it begins to rapidly beep.
She engages her mantis blade and swings up… immediately slicing his arm off causing him to shriek as it goes flying into the air. She gets up and quickly spin kicks it hard… sending it flying out and down into the ocean. As it lands in the water… a massive explosion sends volumes of rank sea water up into the air as Molly jolts at the smoky white water shooting up.
Her look of shock and fear transitions to bloodlust and anger as she plants her knee square in the center of his chest. The weight of her chromed body slowly sinks in as she snatches him by the throat.
“Wa-...was it VARGA!!!?? SOVOIL!!!?? The likes of you could NEVER!!! COOK SOMETHING LIKE THIS UP YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!! WHO GAVE THE ORDER!!!!!! WHO!!!!”
She screams in his face clutching his collar. She slowly punctures his thigh… driving her mantis blade in and twisting slightly.. causing him to squeal even harder in indescribable pain.
“Who..” She whispers gritting her teeth right in his face.
With the last of his strength… he whimpers through blood and pain… looking up into her eyes in complete fear.
“Th……. Th….. the………….the board.”
{Play Song now: Chainsmoking by Jacob Banks}
Molly immediately lets go of his throat… his head slams to the floor of the wooden dock.
A look of complete fear and disbelief washes over her face. The quiet, cold air of Night City bares down as she slowly rises to her feet. She takes some steps back... they gaze at each other scared to death. Her entire being… everything she’s done thats made her who she is... her perception of the world around her… shattered.
She looks up to see the Night Cityscape emotionlessly gazing down at her... no pity… no help.
In fear… she stumbles… she turns to run away.
She hops into the driver’s seat of the Emporer… she glances into the backseat; Empty. Nothing but a bloodstain.
With no time to be confused… she floors it.
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
The door slides open.
“Milaya?” Rachael says surprised as a blood covered Molly steps in past her with no words.
“M-Milaya what happened?” She asks scared.
Molly turns to face her speechless. Bloodied and battered. They lock eyes in an intense panic.
She falls to her knees hard… wrapping her arms around Rachael’s waist… soaking her thin nightgown in blood.
As tears run down her face… she screams into Rachael’s thigh. Broken.
She whispers as she gently begins removing Molly’s Petrochem formals... Molly weeps on her knees.
“You….y-you have to... t-take this off... Milaya… shh… I know baby- it’s ok. Shh... I know… I’m… I’m here.” Rachael whispers. Her voice shaky and nurturing. Gently pulling Molly’s tactical vest and jacket off over her head… slowly stripping her piece by piece.
Molly sits at the foot of the bed stripped down to her bra and panties… a thick black robe draped over her like a blanket. She stares at her hands covered in Manny’s blood as Rachael approaches.
Elevated onto the bed itself, she sits behind her… resting Molly between her legs. She leans in... raising Molly’s blade to her neck. Hovering it over Molly’s now exposed geo-tracker that’s been pulled out of her neck.
“Ready?” Her sweet voice whispers at the back of Molly’s ear.
She doesn’t respond.
Rachael slices the geo-tracker off it’s wires connected to Molly’s neck causing Molly to let out an empty shriek. Emotionless.
She places the outputs back in before kissing the back of Molly’s head and hugging her tight from behind. The emotions of the event getting the better of her as they briefly weep alone together.
A short time later… one by one… Rachael’s petite hand drops Molly’s Petrochem clothes into a barrel… along with her collection of datashards on the warehouse case. Piece after piece of intel gathered over spilled blood and human sacrifice. Her devotion to the corporation that built her… crushed beneath their boots with no remorse… no care for her legacy… her status in the hierarchy. The hunter becoming the hunted... stripped of everything she once held to heart.
Rachael stands on the balcony in front of the barrel filled with Molly’s past life… she looks down at it with a stoic expression difficult to read. Her thin night gown gently blowing in the quiet, elevated breeze.
She strikes a match… hovering it over the barrel briefly.
She tosses it in… setting Molly’s past ablaze before staring up at the glowing Night Cityscape… her face determined.