Cyberpunk 2077 - The Ballad of Lost Souls

V opens the door of a restaurant resembling a 1950s dinner. It's lunchtime, and among the tables in the crowded restaurant, there's one where a familiar face is sitting.

Takemura: Sit.

V throws himself on a red couch, sinking onto the cushioning. In front of him, there is Takemura, sipping coffee from a plastic cup.

Takemura: You do not look so bad. Then, In the car, I doubted you would survive.

V: What do you actually want from me?

Takemura: To begin, you must tell me where to find Evelyn Parker.

V stares sarcastically at Takemura.

V: Evelyn… What's she to you?

Takemura rests the cup on the wooden table, then begins to answer V, in his thick Japanese accent.

Takemura: She and Yorinobu Arasaka had intimate relations… She knows how to get to him.

V: Been thinkin' I ought have a word with her myself. She promised to help me get rid of the chip.

Takemura: I would not count on that. She's likely gone, very far away.

V: Why you figure she skipped town?

Takemura: I tried to locate her but had no success. I suspect she covered her tracks… 

Takemura starts looking at V with a sarcastic expression.

Takemura: … You said Parker could help you remove the Relic… Does she work for a corporation?

V: .. Don't think so, no.

Takemura: Can you expand?

V: Don't matter how much perfume a corpo sprays on mornings, by lunch that's replaced by the stench of skullduggery… Only thing I caught from Evelyn was determination.

Takemura does not flinch, but V can read a note of resentment in his eyes.

Takemura: And, I too, stink of "skulduggery"?

V: Nope, you're starting to stink, period.

V stands up.

V: Sorry I couldn't be of any help, but I've got a life to save, so…

Takemura blocks him, resting a hand on V's shoulder.

Takemura: V, wait, I need you…

V sits back down.

Takemura: Yorinobu Arasaka must answer for the crime of patricide.

V: Pfff…Lookin' for justice? In Night City?!

Takemura: I seek revenge. Much more feasible here. I have allies prepared to bring Yorinobu to his knees. The only thing I need is proof.

V: And you think they'll trust the word of a merc? 

Takemura: I have nothing better now. Also, I know no one here, I am a fugitive, I am hunted.

V: So lemme get this straight. We stroll into Arasaka HQ and we announce that Yorinobu's a killer? That he murdered Saburo?

Takemura: We'll get a hearing before reasoning people, in a neutral location. Certain… procedures will be used to establish the truth.

V: Such as? A lie detector?

Takemura: You are dying. And you don't know how to save yourself. The Relic is the culprit, technology made by Arasaka, technology they alone know… This corporation can save you as easily as they can make you disappear. It's merely about getting the right people on your side. Politics.

V: Ya mean people like Anders Hellman? Relic is his design, his creation.

Takemura starts shaking his head.

Takemura: He's merely a pawn. I was thinking of one much more powerful. Besides, Anders Hellman escaped Arasaka, betrayed it.

Takemura suddenly turns to a television hanging above the counter, where the news shows an interview where Hanako Harasaka appears.

Before the host can ask any question, the clerk behind the counter suddenly changes channel.

Clerk: Fuckin' Saka scum's everywhere! 

Takemura: Hey! I was listening to that!

Clerk: Shut up! Nobody 'except you want to watch that shit about that corpo cunt.

Takemura gets up from the couch, running menacingly toward the counter.

Takemura: What did you say?!

V: Let it go Takemura…

Takemura turns toward V, then starts walking slowly backward toward the counter, continuing to stare at the clerk behind the counter.

Clerk: Hmm. At least one of you's got some fuckin' sense.

Takemura sits back down across from V, staring at the table. After a while, V breaks the silence.

V: Thanks for the offer. Need to think about it, get back to you.

Takemura looks up at V.

Takemura: I need… Time. To plan, to organize. You stand to gain much if you help me. All I ask is that you do not leave the city.

V: Leave? Why should I leave? With a bit of luck I'll track down Evelyn.

Takemura: If she could not help you before, she will not manage to now.

V: Honor Among Thieves… Ever heard of it?

Takemura: Yes, I thought it ironic. Thieves have none. There is just honor, I believe.

Takemura stands up and gets near V.

Takemura: If you find her or Hellman, please let me know. We have some… Unfinished business.

Takemura walks away, disappearing into the crowd outside Dinner, while V remains seated at the table.

Sunset lights shine through the cracks in the walls of the elevator that takes V to the walkways and balconies that connect the tall buildings of downtown Night City. When the doors open, V spots Takemura, sitting on a stool in front of a small Japanese food stand. V walks up to him.

Takemura: Sit. I have not eaten since yesterday.

V sits on the stool next to Takemura, while a displeased Johnny appears on the other side of the table.

Takemura: Give me the best on the menu.

Clerk: I highly recommend the yakitori today.

Takemura: Anything that isn't local, please.

A small puff of smoke rises from the grill behind the counter, enveloping both V and Takemura.

Johnny: Can't believe I'm saying this, but this 'Saka scum might actually prove useful. He's a well trained dog… Needs order, that's all. And when he outlives his purpose we'll flatline him.

V: Chill, Johnny. He is Saka's scum to you, I know that. But Takemura isn't a bad guy.

Johnny: Not a bad guy?! He was Saburo fuckin' Arasaka's bodyguard! Think his pretty eyes landed him that gig?

The attendant places two plates on the counter, Takemura picks up a skewer and bites into it, voraciously. After chewing on it for a while he throws it back into the plate, disgusted.

Takemura: What is this?!

Clerk: Yakitori!

Takemura turns to V, wiping his hands.

Takemura: Ok, I have laid the plan. One: we break into Arasaka industrial park, then we hack Hanko-Sama's float. Two, during the parade, with my help, you'll eliminate the snipers. Three, I get into the float. Four I convince Hanko-Sama of the truth. 

V takes a bite from his skewer, then puts it back on the plate.

V: Well, sounds like a suicide run, but done dumber shit than this, soo…

Johnny throws his arms up, in disbelief and annoyance.

Takemura: Dumber than stealing from Arasaka?

V: None dumber yet, no. Set the bar pretty high with that one…

Takemura: By the way, reconnaissance is required…

V: You are a stranger in a strange land. Goin' with you.

Takemura: Hmm, true. And you with your hands, skills, mind of a thief… Agreed.

Both are interrupted by a transmission from a small television set above the kiosk. From a stage full of microphones, Yorinobu Arasaka speaks while staring at the camera, as if he were speaking to V himself.

Takemura: Yorinobu.

V: In the flesh.

V climbs the dark stairs of an old apartment building. The smell of mold and garbage assails him as he reaches the door of a small apartment. After looking around, V knocks on the door exactly three times. 

The door opens, revealing Takemura holding a rifle. After dragging V inside the apartment, Takemura closes the door behind him. 

Takemura: Quick, get inside! I feared they had caught you.

V: Now you are gonna tell me WHAT THE FUCK YOU WERE THINKINKG?!

Takemura: I used a sedative. She tried to enable her tracker.

V turns around. At the end of a dark room lined with a series of windows, barred by wooden boards,there is a Japanese woman, sitting on a chair.

Takemura: I offered her a cup of tea…

V: You kidnapped Hanako Arasaka and offered her a cup of fuckin' tea?!

Takemura: Yes… She respectfully declined. Tell her the truth about Yorinobu, no embellishment. And state your terms clearly.

V slowly approaches toward the woman, who stares at the city lights trying to enter the room between the wooden boards. V sits down in front of her, while Takemura remains still behind her.

Takemura: 花子様 この人が私が話した人です.[Hanako-Sama... This is the man I spoke of.]

V: I was there that night at Kompeki Plaza. I saw Saburo Arasaka die.

Hanako continues to stare out the window, ignoring V.

V: He wasn't poisoned. That's a lie your brother made up and spread. Yorinobu is the murder.

Hanako turns toward V.

Hanako: You must be mad to think that I will listen to such nonsense.

V: I have nothing to lose. The Relic your brother tried to hawk off to Netwatch is in my head. Right Now… 

Takemura turns toward Hanako.

V: Took a bullet to the brain, but the tech on the chip saved me. Now it's slowly killing me, one of the personality constructs, an engram, is overwriting my psyche. I know you got the means to help me.

Takemura: Hanako-sama! V is the living proof of the terrible crime your brother committed! We can confirm every word he speaks if only you will help with the Relic.

A sudden noise interrupts the conversation, as all three turn toward the door.

Takemura: Did you hear that?

V gets up from his chair and walks slowly toward the door. After opening it and inspecting the corridor outside the apartment, he turns back toward Takemura. 

V: There's noth…

A burst of bullets floods the apartment, filling the air with shattered glass and wood. Takemura throws himself toward Hanako, throwing her to the ground and shielding her with his body.

Takemura: ARASAKA! THEY'VE FOUND US!

A grenade explodes near V, blinding him. A platoon of soldiers invades the apartment, dragging Hanako toward a vehicle hovering near a wall shattered by the explosion. V tries to get up, but the floor collapses beneath him, along with a couple of soldiers.

Johnny: V?!

V slowly begins to move through the crumbled concrete. From deep within the sea of errors surrounding his interface, Johnny's ghost appears before him.

Johnny: Last chance to get the fuck out of here!

V: Takemura! Can't leave him back there!

Johnny: Forget him, guy's toast! 'Less you wanna end up like him!

V gets up, dragging himself up the walls, toward the end of the hallway where he landed. After a moment's hesitation, V chooses to climb a flight of stairs, returning to the front of the apartment.

V pulls out his Mallorian and with a sharp dash, bursts into the apartment again, killing with three shots the remaining soldiers.

Takemura: HA-HA!

Takemura runs toward V and together they begin to escape through the corridors of the building, killing all the soldiers in their path. They finally make it to the entrance, where double doors separate them from lights of the street.

V: Sh-shiiittt…

Suddenly V collapses on the floor, as the Relic makes its presence felt. Takemura lifts him by the shoulders, dragging him to the street and laying him on the sidewalk, while behind them, the building is devoured in flames.

Takemura: We must go different ways! Alone we have a better chance!

V tries to get up, pushing Takemura away.

V: You think so?!

Takemura: GO, NOW!

Takemura disappears into the streets of Night City, leaving V sitting near the sidewalk.