R.O.B. 37

The whine of the AV's engines held steady, rising into the upper atmosphere. Below, the lights of Night City melted into a distant blur. No one spoke at first.

Vik sat in the pilot's seat, hands on the controls, eyes locked forward. The hacked AV didn't need much guidance. Once Meyers' chip was rewritten, the route flew itself.

Misty sat near Bo, tarot cards in her lap. She shuffled once, twice, then stopped. Her fingers hovered over the top card, then dropped it back into the deck.

"Change. Risk. Rebirth," she said quietly. "That was the spread. I thought it meant leaving the city. Not... all of that."

Bo leaned back, legs stretched out. She pressed one hand lightly to a graze on her arm, eyes on the ceiling. Whatever she was thinking, it didn't show.

"So. Magic," she said, voice flat. "That doesn't exactly match the chrome and gunmetal aesthetic."

Kensi knelt nearby, practically vibrating.

"Oh my god. That was a wand. That was a real wand."

She looked at V, eyes wide.

"You used magic. Not tech. Not implants. Not some future weapon from some kinda hidden government vault. That was a straight-up spell."

She blinked hard, trying to process.

"Wait. Wait. Are you from a world where Harry Potter is real? Are the people the same? Is Hogwarts an actual place? Do they let visitors in? Are there dragons?"

Bo raised her hand like she was hitting a pause button.

"Kens. Breathe."

Kensi nodded, but didn't look away.

Bo, continued, "You saved us with actual magic. I thought we were done. And then you just stood up and... that."

V opened one eye, then the other. He looked at Kensi, then at the others. A slow smile crept in, tired but real.

Vik didn't look back.

"I've said a lot of tech feels like magic. Neural jacks. Synthetic organs. Monowire. But this?"

He shook his head slowly.

"This ain't that. Not even close."

His gaze slid to V.

"You said something about an opportunity. You gonna start explaining now?"

V sat near the back of the cabin, head against the wall, legs outstretched. He looked calm, but the stillness didn't feel relaxed. It felt like the weight of everything had landed at once.

Beside him, the wand rested on the bench. No glow. No smoke. Just banded silver and wood. Ordinary, unless you knew what you'd seen.

"Yeah. I did."

....

V shifted slightly, pushing himself up against the wall. His eyes met Vik's first, then swept the others in the cabin.

"I'm going to be straight with you," he said, voice steady but low. "The man they knew," he said, nodding toward Vik and Misty, "and the one you all call V... he both is and isn't the person sitting here now."

Bo blinked, skeptical. "That sounds like a complicated story. Care to start it?"

V gave a tired smile. "Six months ago, the V they knew went on a job with his best choom, Jackie Wells. The job was for one Dexter Deshawn, some big-shot fixer."

Kensi leaned forward, eyes sharp. "Yeah? What happened?"

V glanced at Vik, then back at the group. "They got the merchandise, but Arasaka showed up. Saburo Arasaka himself, head of the entire empire, was there to confront his son, Yorinobu. There was a fight. Yorinobu killed his father. Jackie and V saw it all."

Misty's fingers drummed silently against her tarot cards.

"Jackie had the relic chip with him. "During the escape, the chip's carry case was damaged. Jackie slotted it into his own head to keep it safe. He took a hit from a drone not long after."

Bo frowned. "Sounds like a hot mess."

V nodded. "It was. Before he bled out in the back of that Delamain, Jackie transferred the relic to V. Then he was gone."

Kensi's mouth twitched. "So that's when everything went even more sideways?"

"Yeah," V said. "V went to Deshawn to finish the job. Deshawn didn't even ask what happened. His bodyguard knocked V out, and then Deshawn dumped him outside the city and shot him in the head."

There was a long pause.

"But the relic worked. It kept him alive, just long enough to get to Vik's clinic with some help from Saburo's bodyguard. Johnny Silverhand's engram was on that chip. Started loading into V's... My head. It was him or me."

Bo's eyes narrowed. "Johnny Silverhand? That name's new. Why does it sound like he matters?"

V cracked a small grin. "Because he does. Rebel with a cause. Guy who dropped a nuke on Arasaka Tower back in '23. He had the drive, the means, and the nerve to see it through... but once he picked a target, he never let go."

He looked around at the group. "Anyway, that's how I ended up on the edge of death again. The relic was rewriting my brain for Johnny. Every day was a fight."

He rested a hand on the Malorian at his thigh. "It was a crazy few weeks. My mind crumbling. The relic pulling me apart. Then Songbird dropped out of the sky with Meyers."

Bo grimaced. "So that's what all this has been about? Her chasing you with black-ops tech and enough firepower to take on a city block?"

"Yeah," V said, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Song Mi made me a hell of an offer. Rescue her and Meyers, and I'd get Johnny out of my head."

He smiled, a little bitter. "I should've listened to Johnny."

Kensi finally burst in, unable to hold her excitement. "And the magic?"

V's smile softened. "Yes, Kensi. As I previously stated, and shown, magic is real. Harry Potter is real. He's as real as you or me."

Bo gave a dry laugh. "And I'm just supposed to roll with that?"

"I don't expect anything," V said. "I came here on a mission. Rescue two very lost girls. Finish something I started, and give two of the best people I've ever known a chance to become something more than what this world allows."

Vik's voice was thoughtful. "So what's the offer?"

"Simple," V said. "An opportunity. To leave Night City, to leave this world, and join something bigger."

Kensi was already bouncing. "Does that mean we can go home?"

Bo shook her head slowly. "I want out too. But I'm not just gonna run. Not after what they've done. They came after us. They don't get to walk away from that."

V nodded. "Agreed. And there's one thing they all care about more than blood."

Vik's mouth tugged into a knowing smile. "Their bottom line."

"Exactly," V said. "We hit Biotechnica. Arasaka. Militech. Kang Tao. Take what they've hidden. All of it. All the data, the prototypes, the bleeding-edge tech and we make it public. All of it."

Bo looked at him, a sharp gleam in her eye. "Now, that sounds like a plan."

V stood slowly, rolling his shoulders. "It's a heist. The biggest one this city's ever seen."

Kensi cracked her knuckles. "I am so down."

....

V stood slowly, rolling his shoulders. "This isn't exactly going to be a walk in the park. After that fight, their going to be locked down tight."

Kensi cracked her knuckles, eyes blazing. She didn't say much, but the quiet fire in her stare spoke volumes. They're going to pay for what they did. Every last one.

Bo folded her arms, tilting her head. "Alright, V. Give me the rundown. Who are we hitting, and what's the score? I want details before I commit to playing Robin Hood."

Vik snorted softly. "Robin Hood? More like a gang of mercs with a grudge."

Kensi raised a brow and smirked but said nothing.

Bo smirked, testing the word like she'd just picked it up. "Alright then, chooms. If we're doing this, we do it right."

Kensi's eyes widened, a single brow lifting. Her look said it all: BoBo, you trippin'.

Bo caught the silent mockery and grinned. "Hey, don't act like you're not jealous I'm already one of the cool kids."

Vik's tone grew serious. "Like V said, it's going to be tough. Biotechnica's labs are locked down tighter than the Blackwall. Militech's security could make any corpo wet themselves. We gotta hit them fast and hit them smart if we wanna walk away alive."

Misty shuffled her tarot deck quietly. "Change is in the air. Risk and rebirth. I'm hoping these cards mean more than just chaos."

V nodded, eyes sharp. "Like i said, we're hitting Biotechnica, Militech, Arasaka, and Kang Tao. Prototypes, secret data, bleeding-edge tech. We grab everything and throw it all into the light."

Vik leaned forward. "Tech-wise, we'll need to overload Arasaka's firewalls. I think I can handle that if you keep the chaos down on the ground."

Misty closed her eyes briefly. "The cards say the odds are slim, but the will to fight is stronger. That's us, right?"

Everyone looked to V.

Kensi finally broke the silence. "Doesn't this make us like... a more competent Silverhand crew?"

V laughed like never before. "You're right. Suit up, Samurai. We've got a city to burn."

..............

[Static crackle, then a gravelly voice cuts in]

Samurai, this is Afterdark. You think you know chaos? Think again. The city's still smoldering from the ghost who outplayed the legends. V dropped the hammer harder than anyone thought possible. Arasaka's still bleeding and the corpos are scrambling.

[Short burst of static, faint sirens in the background]

Data's bleeding out all over the net. The suits are shaking in their boots. The name on every street corner is V. The man who broke the system and rewrote the rules.

[Low chuckle]

Keep your eyes open, chooms. The game just changed.

[Signal fades out with a distorted guitar riff and radio static]