Chapter 37: Michiko Arasaka

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V and Alt continue to be fun to write from other POVs.

-x-X-x-

Michiko Arasaka lets out a sigh as she settles in behind her desk in her office. After a long day of meetings and more bullshit than she could imagine, she was ready to just take a load off and relax. Alas, she couldn’t do that just yet because now that she was done with her official workload for the day, it was time to turn her attention to her ‘unofficial’ workload.

Specifically, to the job that her Aunt Hanako had given her some time ago. This… V character was an interesting individual, to say the least. Following him around Night City in a limited capacity hadn’t really given Puma Squad much information outside of that he was something of a consummate professional… and he had a relationship with the luxury car service Delamain.

But then, that second one made sense since they’d been able to uncover that it had been a Delamain that V had taken to and from Konpeki Plaza the night that everything had gone down. It wasn’t all that surprising that he might have unfinished business with Night City’s barely tolerated AI car service.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t been able to find out anything about Hanako’s shard from following around V or investigating his apartment. And as Puma Squad had told her in a previous briefing, things surrounding V via the Net were… messy to say the least. It was honestly the biggest sign that V was really the dangerous solo that people said he was, because the rest of what their investigation had turned up wasn’t quite adding up.

Sure, he took a lot of gigs and was making in roads with Night City’s Fixers day after day… but that was just it. He was basically acting like he needed to make a name for himself still, not like some hot shot who could do whatever the fuck he wanted and could pick and choose the gigs he did.

The man was a contradiction to say the least, and worst of all, even the ‘sure thing’ had turned out to be something of a crap shoot. Upon discovering V’s preferred ripperdoc was man called Viktor Vektor and that he had a friendship with both him and the woman that ran a small new-age type business above Viktor’s clinic, Michiko had Puma Squad move their operation away from an empty apartment in V’s building and over to near the ripperdoc’s clinic.

The plan was simple, but unfortunately it relied on one major component… V coming in to see his ripperdoc for regular checkups and cyberware upgrades. To be fair, it had only been two weeks since they’d posted up and started watching Viktor Vektor and Misty Olszewski, but it was still frustrating to have nothing to show for it after all this time. Michiko was beginning to wonder if V was going to another ripperdoc entirely or something.

She fully intended to bring that possibility up today with Puma Squad. Pressing a button on her desk, Michiko sends her entire office into lockdown, both physically and via the Net. Her eyes glow for a moment as she sets up her best ICE to make sure nothing is getting in or out that she doesn’t know about.

This is just simple precautions, really… even if Hanako had revealed her hand and told Michiko that she knew Danger Gal still existed, that didn’t mean her Aunt knew everything. Michiko certainly wasn’t going to be the one who risked leaking Puma Squad’s continued existence to anyone at Arasaka, least of all her family members.

Hence making sure she was as secure as possible before finally reaching out to Puma Squad’s secure line and placing a call. There’s a ring for a second before the video call connects. Michiko expects to see either Lynx or Tigress on the other end. Puma Squad technically doesn’t have a squad leader, in fact SHE is the nominal leader of Puma Squad… but both Lynx and Tigress are happy to be front facing when need be, and are usually the ones to report in.

Instead… she gets nothing. The call connected and she can see the safehouse that Puma Squad has set up in on the other end of the video connection, but she doesn’t see any of them. Furrowing her brow, Michiko leans forward.

“Hello? Puma Squad? Are you there?”

Only too late does Michiko finally make out muffled noises. Right as her ears are picking up on stifled screams and struggling… the last person she expected or wanted to see steps into view. V looks at her from the other end of the video call with a smile on his face that doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Hello, Michiko Arasaka. I heard you were looking into me. Well, here I am.”

Michiko’s blood turns to ice in her veins. This was a worst case scenario type of situation. Not only had Puma Squad been unveiled, but she’d been caught interfacing with them. Part of her wants to end the call immediately and go full damage control mode… but she can’t quite bring herself to do it.

It would be the cold, analytical move. The logical and rational move. End the call, cut all ties, disavow Puma Squad completely and just wash her hands of the whole situation. It’s what a true member of the Arasaka Family would do.

… But it’s not what her father would have done. Nor her husband. And even if they’re both gone, Michiko can’t bring herself to do it either. She can’t bring herself to abandon her women like that. Not when the noises she’s hearing tell her that they might still be saved.

“V. I would say it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, but I think we both know that would be a lie. What is the current status of my people?”

V’s smile only grows at her clipped tone. After a moment, the camera shifts and Michiko inhales sharply as the state of Puma Squad is revealed to her. The entirety of the five woman squad has been captured, bound, and gagged. Lynx, Tigress, Mouse, Pantera, and even Doc Mittens. All five women are on a long couch, struggling and glaring daggers at the camera… no, they’re glaring daggers at V.

Thankfully, Michiko sees no signs of the male mercenary taking liberties with his hostages. All five women are dressed beneath the ropes that bind them, and while they’re obviously very unhappy, none look to be in poor health. Of course, the fact that there’s not even a black eye between them means V managed to take them all down without so much as breaking a sweat nor needing to actually hurt them. And that… that was rather terrifying.

These weren’t just some pampered poster girls to be clear, no matter what anybody might have thought of them back when Danger Gal was still in the public eye and at the top of its corporate arc. These were the best she had, women that Michiko and Danger Gal had spent boatloads of eddies training and gearing up and helping body sculpt into the best femme fatales they could be. And time and time again, they’d proven themselves worthy of that investment.

The camera swings back around, showing V again. Michiko doesn’t fail to notice that there’s nobody else in the room with him and Puma Squad. Did he seriously expect her to think he took them all down alone? There was just no way. And yet, the fact that he was so confident he was willing to stay in the room alone with five highly trained operatives… well, that said something itself, didn’t it?

“Thank you. What do you want, V?”

Tilting his head to the side, V chuckles.

“What do I want? I should think it’s more about what YOU want, Arasaka.”

Michiko grimaces and shakes her head.

“Michiko, please.”

Maybe it’s a little too informal… but she hates the name Arasaka so damn much. Being Michiko Arasaka instead of Michiko Sanderson is already pretty bad, but being called just ‘Arasaka’ is a bridge too far for her.

To her surprise, V’s smile actually seems to become a little genuine at her request. For a moment she wonders if he actually thinks she’s trying to befriend him… but no.

“Heh makes sense. I wouldn’t want to be associated with the name either.”

A strong dislike for Arasaka made sense given what she knew about the mercenary, but Michiko nevertheless focuses on that… even latching onto it as she leans forward.

“Perhaps we need not be enemies, V. As you say, I don’t like Arasaka anymore than you do.”

V snorts derisively.

“And yet you took a job from Hanako against me anyways. Am I supposed to just ignore that?”

Tch, he even knows about that? Michiko doesn’t think for a second that anyone on Puma Squad told him. Not just because none of them have been visibly tortured, but also because none of them knew that this job had come from her Aunt in the first place. Which would be something Michiko would have to deal with after this if they could get out of the situation with their lives intact, because the women of Puma Squad weren’t likely to be very happy about what they’d just learned.

Still… eye on the prize. Focus on the matter at hand.

“… The gig was nothing too invasive. As I told Hanako back at the start, Danger Gal has never been in the business of assassinations or ‘asset retrieval’. Our job was nothing more than observation, to ascertain if you still possessed something that you would have acquired the night of the Konpeki Plaza Incident.”

Did Michiko feel bad for throwing her Aunt under the bus like this? Not in the slightest. It was becoming incredibly obvious that Hanako had all but thrown Michiko in the deep end here without giving her any indication of just how serious of a threat she was up against. Better to be honest with V than risk the lives of her subordinates any further.

Of course, given the way V cocks his head to the side at her words, Michiko suspects he already knows everything she just said. He’s suspiciously well informed.

“She wants to know what happened to the shard.”

It’s not a question, but a statement. Michiko nods all the same, before licking her lips and continuing.

“Obviously, the lives of Puma Squad are more valuable to me than any single gig, no matter who it comes from. I am willing to negotiate with you this.”

“Oh?”

Michiko freezes… because V’s lips didn’t move. That ‘Oh?’ didn’t come from him. After all… it was a woman’s voice and it didn’t come from a video call. Eyes wide, Michiko leans back in her chair slowly as the blade against her throat gently pushes her back. She can feel just how sharp it is and knows if she’s not careful, she’ll lose her life right then and there… in her office, where she was supposed to be the safest she could be.

“Negotiate? Is that right? That’s cute that you think this is a negotiation.”

Swallowing nervously and being very grateful for her gender and the absence of an Adam’s Apple in that moment, Michiko looks up as far as she can, staring into the faceless masked visage of the woman in all black looming over her. H-How? How had she gotten into Michiko’s office? She must have been there already, hidden before Michiko even arrived. That made sense, but it didn’t make sense that none of Michiko’s numerous layers of security had caught her presence. Even if she was invisible to most things, Michiko didn’t just stop with the basics… she went all out.

And yet here they were. Puma Squad captured, bound and gagged. Her in her office with a blade to her throat. Slowly, Michiko turns her attention back to the video call with V, where he looks quite amused.

“Apologies, but it seems my partner took umbrage with your words.”

From above her, the masked woman holding her at knifepoint lets out a dark, throaty chuckle that Michiko is embarrassed to admit does things for her. She’s always been bisexual but now was not the time to be finding out that she apparently had a thing for having her life threatened by a strange woman wearing a tightly fitted bodysuit.

“Well, it just didn’t seem right that she thought she could bargain from any sort of place of strength. Not when she should be begging for her and her pathetic subordinates lives.”

Michiko feels a surge of anger at that. Puma Squad was not pathetic and she was insulted on their behalf. Fortunately for all their sakes, her anger does not overcome her fear and trepidation. Not even slightly. Looking at V, Michiko stays very, very still as she speaks.

“What do you want from us exactly, V? What must I do to ensure the survival of Puma Squad?”

V lifts an eyebrow at that.

“Just Puma Squad? Not yourself as well?”

Michiko’s lips thin out at that.

“… If it is my life you want, then that is fine. Take it in exchange for their safe passage.”

It is not Michiko’s intention to score points or win V’s acknowledgment with her words. She means every last one. All the same, she sees something akin to respect in the man’s eyes, even as he hums.

“I appreciate the sentiment… but I don’t want you dead. I don’t even necessarily want Arasaka dismantled and destroyed.”

That’s too bad. She would probably have agreed to help with that too in exchange for saving Puma Squad. Michiko certainly wouldn’t shed any tears if Arasaka were to collapse tomorrow.

“What I want… is a chat with Hanako Arasaka.”

Michiko blinks. A chat? That…

“That could be arra-!”

The blade at her neck presses in a bit further and Michiko cuts herself off mid-word, even as V’s mysterious partner lets out another husky chuckle.

“Hush now. He wasn’t done.”

V chuckles too, shaking his head.

“Sorry about that, but she’s right, I wasn’t. I want a chat with Hanako Arasaka obviously… I’m just still trying to decide what form that chat should take.”

Michiko bites her tongue, not saying another word. Now she recognizes that V is contemplating things and considering his options… and she’d be willing to bet good eddies that he and his partner are silently communicating as well, discussing what their next step might be. In the end, all Michiko can do is sit there in wordless silence in her own office, waiting to find out what the final verdict is.

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