Chapter 4: Evelyn Parker

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

In which we get a different POV for a little while~

-x-X-x-

“… fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck…”

Normally, watching Evelyn pace back and forth across the floor of her private little basement underneath Lizzie’s would have irritated Judy to no end. She would have kicked the Doll out ages ago and told her to go fret somewhere else if this shit wasn’t all so very serious. Unfortunately… it fucking was.

It’s all over the news at this point. Konpeki Plaza is on fire. Sabura Arasaka is dead. Yorinobu Arasaka is now CEO of Arasaka Industries.

Now, Judy knows more than most what was supposed to go down at Konpeki Plaza tonight. She wished she didn’t, to be honest. That knowledge might wind up getting her killed. Unfortunately for Judy, Evelyn had her wrapped around her little finger, and so the braindance techie had been conned into helping some newbie named V scroll a virtu that Ev had put together of Yorinobu-fucking-Arasaka’s penthouse.

She regretted it now, obviously. And not just because it might bring Arasaka down on all of their heads. V had been so wet behind his ears and green to all of this that it wasn’t even funny. Oh sure, he’d put on a brave face, but the young mercenary’s lack of experience had been blatantly, almost laughably obvious.

And now he was probably dead. Him and his whole crew, more than likely. And if they weren’t careful, Ev and Judy would be next. She opens her mouth to say as much, but before she can, Evelyn suddenly stiffens and looks to the doors of Judy’s little hideout.

“V?!”

Shock of shocks, the man himself walks through the door a moment later, looking grim. Judy can’t help but eye him up and down. He looks… beat up, but not as bad as she would have thought. Not even limping, no holding his side… did he even get shot one escaping Konpeki Plaza? Judy stiffens at that thought. What if he didn’t escape? What if this was a trap?

V gives her a single look and a nod before focusing his attention on Evelyn. Evelyn, bless her soul, doesn’t even stop to consider what V’s presence here might mean.

“V! What the fuck happened tonight?!”

The young mercenary shakes his head.

“It all went to shit, that’s what happened. Everyone is dead except us. Even DeShawn.”

Judy can’t help but let out a low whistle at that. At the same time, her mind is racing. If even Dexter DeShawn has kicked the bucket… how the fuck is V still standing? How is he still in one piece? There’s no way that someone like him would have escaped Konpeki Plaza unscathed, right? News reports said that even Adam fucking Smasher was there tonight!

“What about the mission, V? The Relic?”

Damn Ev, cold. Not that Judy can really bring herself to judge the Doll for being uncaring in the face of Dexter’s demise. She was one of the few people who knew Evelyn’s plans to betray the Fixer and cut him out of the big score. It wouldn’t have mattered if everything had worked the way it was supposed to, after all.

This was supposed to be Evelyn’s big score… the last payday she’d ever need. With the money she was going to make off of selling the Relic, she was going to be able to get her Doll Chip removed and leave town.

Unfortunately, Evelyn’s desperate question is met with a shake of the head from V.

“It’s gone, Evelyn. Didn’t survive the trip. After containment failed and we called you, Jackie slotted the chip into his head… but he died. And the chip died with him. I took it out of course, but it was already gone. Crushed it and left the fragments to join the other refuse outside the No Tell Motel.”

Well damn. Judy eyes V a little bit more closely as he speaks. Her initial fears of him being turned by Arasaka are starting to fade if she’s being honest. He’s just not twitchy enough for it. That said… he’s not twitchy at all and that’s kind of weird. The more he talks, the more he feels like a different person from the young mercenary she’d helped with the virtu just a few days ago.

They say that traumatic experiences can make or break people. That you either come out of the crucible of adversity shattered into a million pieces, or forged into something better than you were before. Judy herself personally subscribed to that sort of belief, especially with some of the things she’d been through in her life.

… But she’d never heard of someone coming out the other side this fast. Of course, she’d never heard of someone who’d maybe killed Saburo Arasaka either.

As though reading her mind, V lets out a sigh and runs a hand along his scalp.

“Yorinobu killed Saburo. So you probably don’t really have to worry about him coming after you any time soon, Evelynn. He didn’t ever really care about the Relic anyways… he just wanted to hurt his dad. Now he’ll have the chance to do so by tearing down everything Saburo built from the inside.”

Whoa. Wait, what? Judy blinks, even as Evelyn slowly nods at that. Seriously?! That was news to Judy! Not just the fact that Yorinobu Arasaka committed patricide, but the whole tearing down Arasaka from the inside thing! Evelyn doesn’t look even a little surprised though, so it must be true. She’s maybe a little shocked that Yorinobu killed his father, but everything else… fuck, Judy is way in over her head here.

“That doesn’t make you safe though, Ev.”

Both of the women in the basement jerk at V’s suddenly sharp and slightly over-familiar tone. Ev? Did anyone call Evelyn that but Judy? Where exactly did V think he got off? And yet, he bulldozes right over them both before either can provide censure.

“You need to stay here, with Judy, for as long as possible. You also need to get that doll chip removed yesterday.”

Evelyn blinks rapidly.

“What… what are you talking about?”

The look that V gives her, despite his youthful appearance, is almost condescending in a way. Like she’s someone he has to look after, because he knows she can’t be trusted to look after herself. Judy only really recognizes it because… well, because it’s a look she’s found herself giving Ev more than a couple times as well.

“Nowhere else but here is safe for you, Evelyn. And so long as you have that doll chip, you’re practically inviting people in to do whatever they want with you.”

The Doll flushes at that and gets a little angry, her hands curling into tight fists at her sides.

“That’s kind of the point, V. And what do you mean, nowhere else is safe for me?”

V gestures around them.

“Lizzie’s has better security than Clouds, Evelyn. Go back there and I can’t guarantee your safety. Keep the doll chip and I can’t guarantee your safety. So stay put, stay with Judy, and lie low. I’ll be in touch soon.”

With that, V gives Judy a simple nod, as though they’re great chooms or something… and then turns on his heel and is gone a moment later. Judy finds herself struck speechless by the little bastard’s audacity. Evelyn isn’t much better from the look of things. Only belatedly does the Doll find her voice.

“Wait, V!”

As she hurries after him, Judy purses her lips and places a quick call, only having to wait a beat for Rita Wheeler to pick up. The front door guard appears in a little box in the corner of Judy’s field of vision, tilting her head to the side.

“Judy. Sup?”

“Rita. Would appreciate a little warning the next time we have a visitor, yeah?”

V’s appearance at Lizzie’s should have reached Judy and Evelyn in the basement long before V himself did. That it hadn’t… was a little unacceptable. Only, the minor rebuke only seems to confuse Rita, who furrows her brow in response.

“A visitor? What’re you talking about, exactly?”

A shiver goes down Judy’s back.

“V. The mercenary. Just stopped by for a chat. You telling me you didn’t see him?”

Rita shakes her head, suddenly looking a lot more concerned. She glances off to the side for a moment, clearly checking in with the rest of Lizzie’s security, before glancing back at Judy.

“… Nope. Nobody saw him. And you say he got down to the basement, Judy?”

Fuck. That was… Judy just nods.

“Yeah but it’s… fine. Just a social visit. Sorry to bother you.”

“Judy-!”

But Judy is already ending the call with Rita, just in time for Evelyn to come back into the room looking a little lost.

“… He was already gone.”

That made sense. If he could manage to evade every last bit of Lizzie’s formidable security, then ghosting one single Doll would be child’s play for V. Still, Judy couldn’t help but be a little baffled. The newbie mercenary she’d taught how to scroll a virtu just a few days ago definitely couldn’t infiltrate Lizzie’s without a single alarm being raised. Not unless V had been holding back all this time and hiding his true abilities.

But then, if he’d meant them harm… he’d had ample opportunity. Judy’s gun was a few yards away on a table and Evelyn wasn’t even armed. Nobody had even known he was down here either, so nothing had been stopping him from doing whatever he wanted to them. That he’d let them live was one thing… but the fact that he’d seemed intent on keeping them alive…

“I think you should listen to him, Ev. Stay at Lizzie’s for a while, until this has all blown over. And… I could help you remove the chip, if you wanted.”

The Doll Chip. Judy wants nothing more than to remove it from her friend. She hates the thing with the passion of a thousand burning suns. In fact, Evelyn telling her that she would get it removed finally if they just got this one last big score had been part of what had convinced Judy to help her. Even if they didn’t manage to sell the Relic, if she could convince Evelyn to let her remove it now, Judy would consider that a pretty big win.

… Alas, Evelyn just huffs, crossing her arms over her chest defensively and scowling.

“I can stay a little while, sure. But with the heist a bust, I can’t risk removing my chip, Judy. I’ve got bills to pay, same as you.”

Yeah, the difference was just in how they earned their money. Judy purses her lips together before trying again.

“You heard V. He knew about Clouds. He said it outright, if you go back there, he can’t guarantee your safety. And neither can I.”

Evelyn Parker just scoffs and flicks her hair back as Judy is reminded of just how infuriating her friend can be.

“I don’t need anyone to guarantee my safety, Judy. I can take care of myself, you know that. As for Clouds… I won’t go back right now. I’ll wait for the dust to settle. It’ll be fine.”

It’ll be fine, she says. Judy could have almost made herself believe it if it wasn’t for that look on V’s face as he’d outlined the amount of danger Evelyn was currently in.

At the same time, Judy doesn’t really know what else to say to convince her. She’ll do her best to keep Evelyn at Lizzie’s as long as possible, even if it costs her some good will with the Mox. But in the end, Evelyn is right. There might come a point where the Doll doesn’t have a choice in the matter. Their big break had fizzled out, and now Ev is left to pick up the pieces.

-x-X-x-

“You know she’s not likely to listen to you, yes?”

V doesn’t turn his head to the side as he makes his way from Lizzie’s towards Vik’s. He could have gone in through the front door, could have gone through Rita, but he’d ultimately decided to sneak in via the roof and not let anyone see him as he made his way all the way to the basement. Why? Couple reasons, really. He didn’t want to risk Judy or Evelyn telling Rita he wasn’t allowed inside. Better to beg forgiveness then ask permission in that case. Second, he didn’t want to leave a trail if he could help it.

Now though, he’s out of Lizzie’s, having snuck out just like he snuck in, and has put the Mox Headquarters behind him. At the same time… Alt’s words ring in his ears, even if he doesn’t look at her.

“Yeah, I know. Keep an eye on her for me. Can you do that?”

His friendly resident AI scoffs at that.

“Can I do that? Of course I can. Want me to let you know the moment she leaves Lizzie’s then?”

V grimaces for a moment. He wasn’t Evelyn’s keeper. Wasn’t Judy’s either. But all the same… he didn’t want to let Evelyn Parker suffer the same fate she had in the previous timeline. He had a chance to do it all again without the threat of death looming over his head. Don’t get him wrong, he was going to do a lot of shit for himself. He was going to have fun with this second lease on life. But… there were people he wanted to save as well. It might be too late for Jackie and T-Bug, but Evelyn… Evelyn wasn’t dead yet.

Even still…

“No, not the moment she leaves. Let me know… the moment she hooks back into Cloud’s servers.”

“Of course, V.”

He chuckles softly at Alt’s easy-going attitude. It was nice to have at least one individual unequivocally in his corner. Looking back over that interaction with Judy and Ev, he realizes belatedly that he’d been way too familiar with the braindance techie. Judy Alvarez was an incredibly good friend in the future, but right now they’d only met twice. He shouldn’t have acted like they were chooms or mates or something.

Now though… there was one last thing he had to do tonight. Misty… Vik… they deserved to know. He’d sent Jackie’s body to his mother’s bar, so they might not know what happened yet. If they hadn’t heard from someone else, they deserved to hear it from him.

As he gets closer and closer to Vik’s however, V finds himself at a crossroads. There’s the gate that will lead him through the alley to Viktor’s stairs, bypassing Misty entirely… and then there’s the street that will lead him to Misty’s Esoterica. He hesitates briefly, not entirely sure which way to go. Misty was Jackie’s output. She deserved to know as soon as possible. But if V told Viktor first, they could share the load when it came to comforting her…

[X] Go through Misty's Esoterica and let her know first and privately - 71%

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