Cyberpunk 2077 - The Ballad of Lost Souls

V is sitting in the passenger seat of a black van, staring at his reflection in the window glass. It is the middle of the night and the streets of Night City's industrial district are shrouded in darkness, broken only by billboards. Driving the van is Judy, who parks in front of a large industrial complex.

Judy: Here we are.

V: We goin' in?

Judy: Find us a way inside. I'll hang back, scan the subnet… See if there's any blueprints of the complex lyin' around. Join you as soon as I find somethin'. Let's link a holo 'till then.

V opens the van's door, heading toward the complex. After crossing the road, V sneaks toward a door that interrupts a long fence. After fumbling a bit with the padlock, V manages to open it, finding himself in a large clearing filled with old automobile wreckage.

There are three men guarding the entrance to the shed, while two cameras patrol the area. V approaches stealthily, using his optics to first disable the cameras and then to set off the alarms of the old cars in the clearing. Taking advantage of this moment of distraction, V manages to neutralize the guards with three gunshots, entering the building with ease.

Judy(Holo): Got the blueprint… bet there in a sec. Try to find a way to the lower levels.

V(Holo): Sure, just… 

A sudden stream of bullets comes in V's direction, catching him by surprise. V manages to throw himself behind a crate, avoiding most of it, but still being hit on the shoulder.

Suddenly the bullets stop. V emerges from behind the crate, shooting the two men in front of him, who slam into a metal gate behind them. V lowers his gaze to his left shoulder as he holds the gun, still smoking in his left hand. A trickle of blood trickles down his shoulder, staining his suit.

Another group of men runs toward the metal gate. V finds shelter near a door, hiding behind another crate. The men begin to search the room as V follows them with his eyes, inhaling a MaxDoc.

Judy(Holo): V! I heard gunshots, what's going on?!

V(Holo): I'm ok, keep searchin'!

V uses all his strength to open the door to his left, breaking it down. He finds himself in a gray-walled hallway. After opening a door to his right, V gets out on the other side of the gate, behind the thugs.

Thug: C'mon we know you're here! Get out and I'll be quick, I swear!

V walks away from the three men, unnoticed, climbing over a stack of crates and slipping into a metal duct. After a while he emerges on the other side, in front of a staircase leading to the basement, illuminated by an orange light. 

V(Holo): Find a way down. See my position?

Judy(Holo): Yep, be there in a sec. Wait for me.

V walks through a door marked "No Entry" and finds himself in a dungeon full of rusty bars, barely illuminated by old flashing neon lights. Suddenly, V hears footsteps behind him. He turns quickly, pointing his gun at the black silhouette behind his back, meeting Judy's face, who stares at him, smiling.

Judy: Wanna shoot me?

V raises the gun in the air, returning the smile.

Judy: C'mon, we need to get level minus two. Bet's where they keep her.

V turns toward a door in the bars to his left, kicking it in, opening his way to the underground levels.

V and Judy continue to move through the dark corridors of the warehouse basement until they come to a room filled with green garbage buckets, completely covered in blood, all around are clothes, shoes and bags, stacked in large piles that almost touch the ceiling. V notices one outfit in particular.

V: You think that Evelyn's shirt?

Judy crouches next to V, becoming serious.

Judy: Without a doubt.

V and Judy open a door to their right, walking into a room filled with metal tables covered in blood, all separated by clear plastic curtains.

Judy: Looks like snuff're are only the tip of the iceberg.

V puts a hand on Judy's shoulder, signaling to her two shadows moving behind the transparent curtains. V raises his gun, firing two shots, staining the curtains with a large spray of blood.

Judy stares at V, nodding in agreement as he uses his optics to disable the cameras near the exit door.

After opening the door, V and Judy find themselves in a large warehouse full of crates lit by orange neon lights. In the center of the room is a large furnace whose heat gives the room a hellish appearance.

Another group of henchmen runs toward V and Judy, bombarding them with bullets. V tries to hold her to him, but she dodges, firing three gunshots at two men, who fall to the ground in a cloud of blood.

Judy: Get him, quick!

One last man, more than two meters tall, separates V and Judy from the last room in the basement. After turning the large military machine gun he wields in his hands, the man empties an entire magazine toward V, who quickly starts running between the crates. 

V tries to surprise the man by appearing to his left, while Judy covers him with short bursts of gunfire. With a quick snap, the man hits V in the face with the machine gun, throwing him to the ground.

V begins to crawl on the floor, hearing behind him the metallic sound of the machine gun, preparing to fill him with bullets. After turning onto his back, V uses his optics to activate CHOOH2 canisters behind the man, who explodes in a cloud of fire, falling to the ground, roasted.

Judy walks toward V, helping him getting up, as they both stare at the man's corpse, wrapped in fire.

Judy: Look at us now. Still standing. Who would have thought?

V and Judy walk through a long hallway, arriving in a small room with a plastic table in the center, behind which is a cell with rusty metal bunk beds. 

V: Think we're getting closer.

V cautiously walks in the cell, drawn by the writing daubing the worn brick wall in front of him, Johnny appears sitting on one of the bunk beds, smoking a cigarette mockingly.

Johnny: Cuffers. Classic. Can't go wrong.

V shakes his head, annoyed by Johnny's sarcasm, then heads out of the cell, toward a final corridor, marked with a white label "Level 2".

A few stairs separate V and Judy from a mysterious door lit by red neon. To their left is a room from where there is a faint metallic noise. Attracted by the blue light, V and Judy walk into it.

Judy: Think that's a maintenance room. See what I can stir up.

Judy approaches one of the monitors crowding the walls of the room as V slowly proceeds to the red-lit door and opens it.

In front of V is a small room with four metal tables filled with blood. In front of one of them is a man who is fiddling with a scalpel.

V slowly approaches the man, violently grabbing his head and slamming it on the table, knocking him unconscious. Lying on the table is the corpse of a woman with an open rib cage, emptied of all organs. V stares at it with disgust and sadness.

V: Fuckin' scav. No matter how many how many you stamp out, there always be more crawlin' around somewhere.

Johnny: Figured you made their acquaintance?

V: Fraid' so.

V stops staring at the body and focuses on the laptop resting on a shelf behind the table. V pulls the Link cable from his wrist and plugs into it, entering the dungeon security system with ease.

V starts scrolling through the different cameras in the system, while his optics glow in different colors every time a new camera shows up on his interface.

The last camera shows a half-empty room with a bed with filthy purple blankets in the center. Next to the bed lies the body of a half-naked woman, motionless. V uses the camera controls to zoom in on her face, recognizing Evelyn. After quickly disconnecting from the terminal, V begins to run through the basement corridors.

V(Holo): Found Evelyn! 

Judy(Holo): Really? Where are you?

V(Holo): Close to the studio, I think. Found anything useful?

Judy(Holo): Freed up the elevator. Should be easier to get out of here.

V frantically starts running through the corridors, killing in cold blood anyone in his way, until he comes to a sliding door with a red LED above it.

Judy(Holo): Shit. You don't fuck around, don't you? Wait a sec for me.

Before long, Judy reaches V in front of the door, making her way through the corpses lying in the corridors. After a brief nod, both enter the room, weapons in hand. Johnny's ghost appears in the center of the room, next to Evelyn.

V rushes toward Evelyn, lying next to the bed, covered in blood, with a large cord sticking out of her neck and lost in the twists and turns of the floor.

Judy: That's Evelyn, don't touch her!

V stares at Evelyn with a sorry look, overwhelmed with guilt, meanwhile, Judy runs to a terminal resting on a desk next to the bed.

Judy: If she's recording you'll scramble her brain. Wait until I cut her link. Grab her and tell me when you're gonna yank it. I'll break the link at my end at the same time.

V slowly kneels in front of Evelyn and grabs the end of the cord coming out of her neck.

V: Alright, let's do this.

Judy: Wait for my signal… Here it goes… Ready…

V: Now!

V firmly pulls the cord away from Evelyn's neck, she opens her mouth slightly, moving her eyes a few seconds, and then gently settles down on V's chest. Judy joins them, kneeling down next to Evelyn, without touching her.

Judy: Evelyn… Thank god… Can you hear me?

V lifts Evelyn off the ground, taking her in his arms.

V: We need to get her somewhere safe. 

Judy: Fast too.

V: Which way?

Judy: I've managed to seal the door and powered the elevator.

V: Elevator is, then.