Cyberpunk 2077 - The Ballad of Lost Souls

V sits near his desk, leaning both arms on it. He is holding his head with his right arm while playing with the cigarette holder with the other. Panam walks in his tent, holding his jacket.

Panam: We are serving dinner. Want to come over?

V:..

Panam walks behind V leaning the Aldecaldo's jacket on his bed.

Panam: I…washed it. 

Panam turns back to V, who is still sitting on the chair. A small amount of blood comes down from his nose, he quickly cleans it up. Panam tries to stretch her arms to him.

Panam: I…

V suddenly stops playing with the cigarette holder.

V: What do you want to say, Pan? That you're sorry? You want to make amend? Ask Mitch. He'll tell you where to look for.

Panam closes her eyes, along with her hand and walks away, outside the tent. V waits some time then gets out of the tent too. As soon as he gets out he runs into Goodwill.

V: Doc! Still around here?

Goodwill: Yeah. Finished just now to patch everybody up, tired as hell. I'm starting to get quite old for this, you know?!

V: Want to eat something?

Goodwill: Sure as hell! Then I'm planning to get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow morning I will come back to the clinic.

V puts the hand on Goodwill's shoulder.

V: Good, thanks again for what you have done.

Goodwill: Already told you, just did my job.

V: No, that's not true.

V starts to walk away.

Goodwill: Wait V, don't you want to come over?

V: No. Not hungry.

Goodwill: V, come back here. I want to tell you something.

V turns back.

Goodwill: Son, I've already seen that face. Everybody had it at least once… if I may, I want to give a piece of advice to you… just give her some time.

V: I don't have any time left, doc.

Goodwill: Good then! Another reason to let it go. Do you want to spend the little time you've got left like that? That's the memory you want to leave her with?

V: Doc, she didn't even see me. I'm not even myself anymore.

Goodwill smiles then get closer to V.

Goodwill: Damn, do you think that she fell in love just for your face alone?! In a world where we can change it like you change clothes, do you think is that important? 

Goodwill points at V's chest.

Goodwill: What really matters is what you have here, no implant in the world can change that. 

V smiles.

V: Just thought It would be…

Goodwill: Different? Easier? V, I've been married for like fourty years by now. There is always something to argue over, something to hold a grudge for. Damn, you slammed me on my thirty thousand eddies chair and I'm still here.

V laughs.

V: There you go, have a laugh. You know what?! Don't come. I'm going to eat your portion too.

Eric: Holy Shit! Is that you?!

Goodwill: Indeed.Nice to meet you again.

Eric hugs Goodwill.

Goodwill: Still trying to put me out of business?

Eric: Yeah. Can't live without doing my science thing.

Goodwill: C'mon, you are no scientist. You are just an engineer.

Eric laughs.

Eric: You're an asshole, as usual.

Goodwill: Don't get me wrong I have nothing against you. It's just that you all think that you know everything about the world when really you don't.

Goodwill gets serious.

Goodwill: How is Max doing?

Eric: After all this, I hope he will feel better.

Goodwill: Good to hear that! Good luck then, to both of you. You will need it.

Eric turn to V.

Eric: Do you know where Panam is?

V: No, sorry Eric.

Eric: Can you find it out?

Goodwill: She's probably eating. I'm going to call her.

Eric: Good. We are heading to the helicopter, tell her.

Eric and V walk to Mitch's tent where the Basilisk and the helicopter are parked. Faith sits on a chair with her eyes closed, a cable is connected from the side of their head to the helicopter.

Carol seats near her, monitoring the situation on a terminal. On the corner of the tent lies the corpse of the burnt pilot on a table.

V: How are we doing here?

Carol: She's good indeed. Went through the first layers of security like butter.

Goodwill and Panam arrive at the tent. V looks at her, but she doesn't look at him back.

Panam: Did you want to see me?

Eric grabs a plastic chair.

Eric: Sit, Panam. We're going to do something for that eye.

Eric gets out a small light from the pocket on his shirt and starts looking at Panam's eye.

Eric: Your right eye seems… tired. Probably it's compensating the left one, hold on.

Eric walks inside the tent ,toward the burnt corpse on the table, then he proceeds to extract a cyber eye from the dead body and walks back to Panam and the others.

Panam: No… Eric I've already told Goodwill I don't like implants… especially second hand ones. I would rather keep the eye my parents gave me, thank you very much.

Eric: Can you give me your patch, Panam?

Goodwill: What's wrong? Don't you like my work, Eric?

Eric: Could be better.

Panam removes the patch and hands it over to Eric, revealing a big bruise on her left closed eye. V looks away from her in sadness, while Eric takes out a small solder from the toolbox in his pocket. Using it on the cyber eye, he proceeds to disassemble it and extracts a small plastic net, he then attaches it to the back of the eye patch.

Eric: Carol, what do you have there?

Carol: Whiskey.

Eric: Can you hand it over?

Carol throws the bottle to Eric. He catches and opens it and starts washing his hand along with the patch with the inside. Eric slowly approaches Panam, who starts looking at Goodwill concerned, while he puts his hand on her shoulder.

Eric: Not gonna lie… It will hurt a bit.

Eric gets closer to Panam and carefully opens her left eye. She closes both of her hands, holding the chair arms tight. V get closer to Eric, but Goodwill stops him, shaking his head. Finally Eric gently lays down the patch on Panam's eye.

Eric: How does it feel?

Panam: …

Eric: You got just a basic visual matrix there, but no neural coprocessor to interface with. So forget about biometrics or aim compensation… Better than nothing, I suppose.

Panam: Thanks.

Eric: Hey, Hey! Hold on there, don't touch it. The patch is connected directly to your cornea. Do you want to lose your sight for good?! The itch is going to pass by its own.

Panam stands up, V smiles. Suddenly Mitch and Garrison appear running behind the group.

Garrison: Fuck! Here you are, Pan!

Panam: Garry, Mitch?! What's happening?!

Bob: They…They are coming! Our scouts spotted a Militech convo in the desert. Ten vehicles at least. One of them is huge, God only knows what it's carrying.

Goodwill: Damn. You can't even have a proper meal here.

Panam: SHIT! Start packing our things ok?! Split everyone into two groups: the children on the first one. I want maximum security on it. You are going with them, Garry.

Garrison: But Panam…

Panam: Listen to me! Get my Torton and go south, deep into the valley. It's full of caves there. 

Panam turns to Mitch.

Panam: Mitch you're coming with us, choose somebody from the old crew. I'm going to take the Basilisk while you take the van, put Faith, Eric and the kid on it and protect them at all costs.

Faith: No that's not going to happen.

Faith wakes up, unplugging herself from the helicopter.

Eric: I'm not going to risk my wife or Max's life again. We are not going to be a fucking moving target for Militech like in Nix.

V: Eric, there is no time left! We are all going to die if we don't move.

Panam: Eric I swear, we are going to give you all the protection we can.

Eric smiles.

Eric: "All the protection we can"…

Eric quickly draws a gun from his pocket and aims it directly at Panam while V quickly moves in front of her. Faith gets her knife out, Carol, Mitch and Garrison all draw their guns, aiming them at Faith and Eric.

Mitch: WHAT THE FUCK YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!

Goodwill: Eric… no.

Eric: Shut up! You talk about protection but you can't even protect yourself. Can I ask you a question, V? When that moment will come… That split second between life and death, who is going to have the finger on the trigger? You or Johnny?

V turns his head and looks at Panam while both Mitch and Garrison look back at him, still aiming the guns at Faith and Eric.

Panam: What is he talking about?! You still have that psychopath in your head?!

Mitch: Fuck! He is the one that punched me in the desert, right?!

Garrison: Yeah, mee to.

V: No Garry, that was me.

V walks slowly toward Eric until he gun is pressed on his chest.

V: I can assure Eric, I'm in control.

Carol: Enough of this! Mitch, Garry, let's shoot these motherfuckers!

Eric: Go ahead, shoot me. You don't have jack shit V, you need me. What are you going to do without me?! Are you going to complete the process all by yourself?

V smiles.

V: The process… I've already completed my mission, Eric.

V takes out the old photo that he took from Faith's pocket and hands it over to Eric.

V: You said yourself Eric. I'm a ghost, I'm already dead. You're the one with something to lose here.

V quickly disarms Eric and aims the gun at him. Faith quickly aims the knife at V, scared.

V: You are just a rat that hid in a hole for years, while your wife covered your ass. You are no killer, no hero, no nothing.

V puts the gun down. Everybody does the same.

V: You want your fucking access codes?! Fine. Give me the BD equipment and I will get them for you.

Eric turns to Faith and nods, she hands V the BD glasses.

V: Faith! Bring the pilot's body over here and connect his interface to the terminal.

Carol: V, I know what you are trying to do here, but I don't have the equipment to edit a BD scan. Besides, he's dead.

V: He's got implants and a link with memory capacity, we must try. Can you stream the data?

Carol: Yeah but they'll be raw. Can't do anything with it.

V: Know somebody who can.

V turns back at Mitch, Bob and Panam.

V: Garry, Mitch, start packing things up. Panam go to the Basilisk and start the engines.

Garrison: How long is it going to take?!

V: Don't know.

Garrison: Don't know is not enough. If they find us It will be a fucking massacre.

Goodwill: You know what?! It's too hot here for me. I think I'm going to get back to Nix. Mitch, can you lend me your car one more time? I like how it takes corners. Be sure to put a pot of stew on the passenger's seat.

Mitch: Fuck Doc, you are going to ruin all the car interiors.

Goodwill: I just said I like how it takes corners, it's no Quadra, you know?

V grabs Goodwill's arm, stopping him.

V: Doc that's really a fuckin' stupid idea. You'll come with the rest of us on the convoy heading south.

Goodwill: V… I made an oath, you know? I have to protect my patiences. Besides, what are they going to do to me? I'm just an old man.

Goodwill frees himself and walks away. Panam gets closer to V, crossing her arms.

Panam: What are you going to do?

V: A holo call.