On the rooftop of the apartment building, V and Veena were preparing their rappelling gear.
V's movements were rough. Thankfully, the equipment was durable enough—only a few scratches marked the outer casing of the devices.
Both of them were focused on what they were doing, not saying a word.
After a while, V finally muttered, "Sorry. For dragging you into this."
Veena shrugged. "It's fine. Life forces you into things all the time. It's not just you—I've had my fair share too. Besides, that person isn't so bad. At least better than most corporate types I've dealt with."
V sneered at the remark. "Her? Please."
"Do you remember why I came to Night City?" Veena looked at V, who still seemed to be sulking.
"Something about a corporation?"
"That's right."
Veena began telling the story of her past.
"Back in Southern California, my family used to work odd jobs in nearby cities during the farming off-season. It was a common thing. This time, I went with a relative to a city gig—repairing a swimming pool."
"The client was a biotech executive—you've probably heard of the company. Our job was to fix his home pool. Nothing fancy. Straightforward job, everything went smoothly."
"But after we finished and drove off, I realized I had left behind a set of expensive tools. I debated letting it go, but I wanted to save some money for the family. So I decided to go back and get them."
Veena gave a bitter laugh. "I rang the doorbell, but no one answered. So I took a chance and hopped the fence into the backyard."
"What I saw there changed my life."
"That bastard was high as hell on 'Shiny'. He was in the pool, assaulting a young girl. I mean really assaulting her—grabbing, biting. Blood was everywhere. She couldn't even scream, she was choking on water."
"I yelled at him: 'Let her go! Can't you see she's drowning?'"
"The bastard looked up at me. His face was smeared with blood. He had the girl's nose and upper lip clenched between his teeth."
"He stood up like some monster from a horror story, and then charged at me—limping but fast."
"I was terrified. I pulled my pistol and shouted for him to stay back. I yelled at him again and again. But he was too far gone on the drugs. He lunged at me and knocked me down."
"Then the gun went off."
"I shot him. He stumbled back, holding his side. I didn't wait—I ran. Just before I left, I looked back. The girl had already sunk to the bottom of the pool. She was gone."
Veena took a long breath. "You know what happened next. The bastard threatened to sue my family. Since he was a high-ranking exec, he had the power to shut down our farm's business partners. I couldn't drag my family down with me. So I disappeared. Told the world they'd disowned me."
"Then I took a delivery job. Drove from Southern California to Night City."
V asked, "So why do you still think so highly of that person? She works for a corp too—Arasaka of all places, the worst of them."
"A person's worth isn't based on their title, but their actions," Veena replied. "Like you said—if 'Ms. V' were as bad as you make her out to be, she wouldn't give a damn about us. She didn't have to buy you that Trauma Team Platinum Plan for a whole year, but she did, didn't she?"
"That's just business," V replied coldly.
"There's good business and bad business. Good deals are fair. Bad ones screw people over. Has she screwed you over?"
V didn't answer.
"So why do you hate corporations so much?" Veena asked.
V hesitated, fingers tightening around the gear before slowly relaxing.
He walked over to the rooftop railing, looking out at the city skyline. "Because Arasaka killed my father."
"My dad was a police captain in the NCPD. During an investigation, he uncovered evidence of Arasaka conducting illegal human experiments. They were bribing city council members to cover it up."
"My father was a man who couldn't turn a blind eye. He kept pushing forward, even when the department tried to stop him."
"My mom and I supported him. But he gave it up for our sake. Burned the files in front of his boss and an Arasaka rep. Said he wouldn't touch the case again."
"But Arasaka didn't let it go. Not long after, someone in the department accused my dad of taking bribes and selling intel to street gangs."
"He was fired and put on trial."
"At the trial, there was no solid evidence. Nothing that could hold up. Still, the judge convicted him. He was sent to prison. A few months later, he died in his cell under mysterious circumstances."
"After that, everyone vanished. Old friends, fellow officers—no one stood by us. Only Uncle Amuedo believed in him. He kept fighting to clear my dad's name."
"After Dad died, Uncle Amuedo was fired too. For helping him."
"My mom couldn't take the grief. A few years later, she passed away too."
"I dropped out of school. Lost everything."
V's voice cracked slightly, but he continued, "Uncle Amuedo took me in. Introduced me to the mercenary life. Gave me a way to survive. But just a few days ago, because of another Arasaka job, he was killed. All that's left is his daughter."
"I still don't know how to tell Tracey what happened."
Veena stayed quiet, standing beside V. Gently, V leaned his head on her shoulder and sobbed softly.
Suddenly, gunfire echoed from downstairs.
V wiped his eyes and steadied himself. "Alright. Memory time is over. We've got a job to finish."
They double-checked their equipment and then jumped off the rooftop.
The ropes pulled taut, stopping them in midair right in front of the target apartment's window.
Crash! Glass shattered.
V and Veena burst into the room and swiftly neutralized the military-tech agents inside. Those who survived surrendered immediately.
One of them, looking like the intel chief, said, "I should've known. I can't believe I didn't realize you two were Arasaka agents."
V couldn't help but laugh bitterly. Just hours ago, he was a street punk who hated corps. Now, he was doing their dirty work, funded by their blood money.
"Yeah," he said. "I'm surprised too."