Yogan was crouched behind the bar, curled up tightly, only daring to peek out with one eye to observe the situation outside. For an ordinary young man who had grown up in peaceful times and had never even killed a chicken, what he was witnessing now was far too intense.
The Scavenger on the chair spat out a lot of blood in his final moments. It pooled into a shallow puddle on the floor, staining the area around him into a messy, bloody scene.
V didn't escape unscathed either. As the Scavenger died screaming, blood splattered everywhere. Her face, hands, and the front of her clothes were covered in crimson stains.
But V didn't care. Even with blood sprayed all over her face, she didn't try to wipe it off. She just held the dying Scavenger by the collar and watched him go limp.
She let go. The dead Scavenger collapsed back into the chair. To Yogan's surprise, V's eyes weren't filled with violence or rage as he had expected—only confusion and helplessness.
Her katana, Nue, fell into the blood with a heavy thud. V stared silently at her blood-soaked hands, dazed. Then she started sobbing, her body crumpling to the ground as if all her strength had left her. Her shoulders trembled as she knelt, burying her face in her hands. Tears slipped through her fingers.
Yogan considered leaving. He wanted to comfort V, but given the rampant cyberpsychosis in Night City and his own fragile life—plus the pendant V had entrusted to him—he decided to slip away quietly.
Just then, a man swaggered in, shouldering a Copperhead rifle and wearing a signature Scavenger mask. He stopped in his tracks when he saw V kneeling on the floor, sobbing.
He froze for a second, then swung the rifle into his hands.
> [Hostile unit detected]
[Enhanced perception activated]
[Targeting receptor inhibition engaged]
"System, please save my sorry ass," Yogan muttered as he stood and fired a shot at the Scavenger using the "Needle" gun he had picked up earlier.
The Scavenger clearly didn't expect someone to be hiding behind the bar. With a thunderous bang, the right side of his body was blown off, the blast sending the rest of him flying in an arc before slamming into the opposite wall and slumping to the ground.
> [System update detected]
[New system module loading]
The shotgun in Yogan's hands—only superficially resembling the "Needle" gun—kicked back so hard that his head slammed into the floor.
Ironically, that kick saved his life. At that moment, bullets and curses from other Scavengers in the hallway rained in. Bottles and glasses on the bar exploded into sparkling shards. If Yogan had still been standing, the top half of his body might've turned into a bloody mist.
As the Scavengers opened fire into the room, V snapped back to her senses, grabbed her fallen pistol, and slid behind the bar. That's when she saw Yogan calmly reloading his fake "Needle" gun.
"…Wait, you're still here?"
"You said, 'Hide when you see familiar faces.'"
"I also told you to run if things went to shit!"
"Well, things hadn't gone to shit back then. Now they have. Too late to run."
Yogan looked at her red, tear-swollen eyes. "Sorry."
"…Huh? Are you okay?" V shot him a weird look, like he'd gone nuts.
Thanks to the system's influence, Yogan's voice was calm and flat.
"I'm guessing the one who got killed by the Scavengers… that was your 'Old Amuetto,' right? From how hard you were crying, I figure he meant a lot to you. So… I'm sorry to hear that."
V said nothing, her face darkening. Then she frowned. "Wait, how do you—"
"My situation's… unique. I know you probably have a lot of questions. Out of curiosity, so do I. But right now, shouldn't we be focusing on how to deal with those fireworks-loving bastards outside?"
"Uhh…" V hadn't expected this change in him. Still, she nodded.
The gunfire paused. Yogan kipped up and blasted the head off a Scavenger peeking through the doorway.
> [System update detected]
[New system module loading]
He was starting to realize more uses for his system.
As he ducked back behind the bar, bullets and curses resumed.
"Hey, kid…"
"Yogan."
V blinked. "Oh. Right. Yogan. So, what now?"
"I figured you had more experience."
"I thought so too. But seeing you now… I'm reconsidering."
"Then we wait."
"Wait?"
"Exactly."
Yogan noticed a few grenades left carelessly on the bar's shelf by a careless Scavenger.
"Hey, hey, boy~~"
"What did you find?"
"A magical miracle tool that might just get us outta here."
V recognized the gadget. "Damn. Laser-cutting grenades? Those things aren't cheap."
"Let's hope it earns its price."
When the shooting stopped again, Yogan pulled the pin and lobbed one out the door.
The Scavengers outside didn't recognize the object at first. By the time one of them realized what it was, he barely got out a "Shit—" before the grenade released a deadly laser beam.
The two hunkered down behind the bar a bit longer. Silence.
V lifted her upper body. "Did we get them all?"
Yogan sat up. "One on the left, one on the right. I'll go first, you cover me." He checked his ammo and darted into the hallway.
The place was wrecked. A burnt smell stung his nose. The Scavengers' bodies were sliced to bits.
The one on the right had a missing arm and a massive, scorched chest wound. He'd passed out.
The one on the left had better luck—only one eye burned out. As Yogan moved to check the right side, the left one tried to aim his gun.
His damaged optic made him slow. Yogan reacted just in time, spinning and firing two rounds into the Scavenger's chest. The body slid across the floor and stopped moving.
Then Yogan heard a cybernetic whir.
"Shit!" His gun was empty.
V, just stepping out, saw it too. She kicked Yogan to the ground and emptied her mag into the Scavenger who had just regained consciousness.
As she fired, Yogan heard a pop like a cork and saw something fly to the corridor's end before exploding.
"Goddamn (in Spanish)," V cursed. "That organ-stealing bastard had a grenade launcher installed. If that thing had hit…"
Yogan stood up, seeing the would-be attacker riddled with bullets.
> [Environmental change detected]
[System rebooting]
Excitement from firing, the disgust of killing, relief at surviving, and lingering fear all surged through him. He exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself and reduce the system's side effects.
"You okay? Need a hand?" V asked, seeing him barely able to stand.
He waved. "Just need a rest. Didn't you need to find something? Go."
She nodded and dashed back into the Scavengers' base. Soon, she returned with the massive backpack Yogan had seen earlier. Looked like the corpo dog she was after had been turned into spare parts.
She hefted Yogan up onto her shoulder.
"I'm good! I can walk!"
"Yeah right. In your condition, if another wave comes, you'd be toast."
"…Fine. Wait, where are we going?"
"Elevator."
"Take the stairs. Stairs."
"Twenty-something floors? You serious?"
"If we take the elevator and they're waiting for us… we're screwed."
---
———
V, carrying the heavy remains of the corpo, managed to haul Yogan to her car. She'd never run that fast in her life.
"Dammit, next time you take the stairs."
Yogan had stumbled down over 20 floors, fighting system side effects. In his past life, he hadn't exercised much and had no cyberware. Now he was dog-tired, every cell in his body protesting.
V tossed the leftover bits of the corpo into the trunk, then climbed into the driver's seat.
"You should've parked closer. That last kilometer almost killed me."
V waved it off. "Told you. This mission…"
"Had to stay secret," Yogan finished for her.
They both burst out laughing.
As the laughter faded, V slumped over the steering wheel, sobbing. "It's all my fault. If not for me… Amuetto wouldn't have died…"
Yogan gently placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed.