Chapter 77: Blindsided

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

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So Mi gets blindsided.

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As the door up above slides open and feet begin to hit the stairs leading down into the space where So Mi is currently working, she stiffens up for only a brief moment before focusing on finishing her preparations. Any lapse in concentration right now could be disastrous given the dangerous technology she's working with.

Not to mention, she was already dealing with a distraction all things considered. Kurt Hansen was dead… and it had been easy. Too easy, So Mi wanted to say, but she really wasn't in a position to complain. Still, all it had taken was a call to Hansen from one of his top guys and he'd stopped berating her for making him 'look bad' long enough to drag her along so he could see what was going on.

The moment they were alone in a private area, Hansen was zeroed. A combination of Quickhacks shutting down his chrome and two bullets to the head had taken him out like he was nothing despite being one of the most powerful men in the region by far. From there, So Mi had watched as V took care of the remains and then revealed he'd had a Behavioral Imprint-synced Faceplate installed, allowing him to disguise himself as Kurt.

Of course, just because he looked like Kurt didn't mean he suddenly WAS Kurt. To properly impersonate the leader of Barghest, V would have needed all of the information that Kurt had access to. But then, apparently he had that because while hanging off of his arm, So Mi had watched V walk circles around the men and women who should have known Kurt Hansen best. In all fairness to them, he did have all the proper credentials as well. Codes and passkeys and all that stuff that no impersonator should have had access to.

Then again, So Mi already knew V and his crew had access to Barghest's systems from the day before when he'd appeared in front of her without tripping any alarms. So really, she couldn't be that surprised.

In no time at all, V had set things up so they could start working on the neural matrix early. So Mi had been reintroduced to Alex, who V unceremoniously assigned to guard So Mi while he went and retrieved the Cassel Twins so they could help her with her work.

And now, judging by the number of footsteps, they were finally here. Although… four sets of footsteps? She's surprised that Alex would join them down here…

But when So Mi chances a glance up at the observation deck, she's startled to see Alex still up there, arms crossed over her chest looking down through the glass. Which means she's not one of the four people now in the room with So Mi.

Furrowing her brow, So Mi finishes her preparations and then rises from her place next to the neural matrix, turning to regard just who is walking up behind her. Reaching the bottom of the stairs first is V, a smile on his face. After him are the Cassels, Aurore and Aymeric, with both of them looking… terrified.

So Mi might have spent more time wondering at why V has apparently decided to reveal his true self to them, but before she can think too hard on that front, her eyes land upon the fourth person and she stops in her tracks.

There's an Alt Cunningham Poser coming down the stairs behind the Cassel Twins. Except… she has to be one of the best posers So Mi has ever seen, really. Oh wait, she's wearing a Gemini FBC, that would explain it. A Full Body Conversion can look as good as the original if it's done properly.

That… doesn't explain her presence though. This must be a member of V's crew and part of So Mi doesn't want to rock the boat. But at the same time, she can't just let it go.

"Who's this, V? I don't like surprises."

V's smile becomes an amused smirk, even as the Cassel Twins both jolt. The more expressive, the female one, glances between So Mi and the poser frantically and incredulously, an interesting reaction that So Mi catalogues for later.

"This? This is Alt. She's my partner and the reason I was able to get in touch with you yesterday. She's also the reason we're in complete control of the Black Sapphire at this point in time."

Alt? So Mi has… so many questions. She doesn't think V is the type of person who would force someone else to completely recreate Johnny Silverhand's lost lover and give up their old life in the process. But then what was this? Someone who was taking advantage of V's increasing psychosis, perhaps?

Only, So Mi could count the number of Netrunners who could take control of a place like this under the nose of Barghest's Netrunners on one hand. She could maybe do it herself if she had the time, resources, and nobody watching her for a good long while, but it would also likely force her to draw too much on the Blackwall to make it worthwhile.

In fact, when Myers had asked her after Hansen's defection seven years ago what they could do, that was exactly what So Mi had told her. That the cost would be too high to be worth it.

So then who the fuck was this bitch who had somehow done the unthinkable with less time and less resources? Sure, she had anonymity going for her, but that was about it. And So Mi should know if there was a Netrunner of this skill level running around with Alt Cunningham's face. She should have heard about them by now…

Really, the only thing So Mi could think of that made sense was the fate of the real Alt Cunningham. Unlike most Netrunners, So Mi knew the 'legend' about Alt's survival on the Net wasn't really a legend at all. However, she also knew that at this point, whatever was left of the digitized version of Alteria Cunningham was beyond the Blackwall and should have little to no ability to interact with the Net, no matter how powerful of an AI she was.

… Except when she regards the Cassel Twins and their reactions to this 'Alt Cunningham' again, alongside V's amused smirk and the poser's casual confidence… So Mi's heart begins to thud much harder in her chest.

"… Alt, you say."

Rather than V responding to her faint words, Alt herself strides forward, smirking as well now as she walks right up to the neural matrix and then turns to regard her.

"That's right. I must say, you're a credit to your generation, So Mi. I'm just sorry that you've had to sacrifice so much for that bitch Myers."

She doesn't believe it… until she reaches out with a Ping. And then… well, they used to say 'seeing was believing' back in the old days before fakes became too good for even eyesight to be trusted. However, in this case its not so much 'seeing' through her normal eyes as it is sensing like a Netrunner senses. And that sense… that sense, So Mi trusts.

So when her Ping returns a certain feeling of vast inferiority to her Netrunner senses, So Mi freezes in place. This is indeed Altiera Cunningham… or rather, this is the AI who ate Altiera Cunningham. And somehow she's on this side of the Blackwall, free and in the clear.

That shouldn't be possible. Moreover, they were all in incredible danger. Not just everyone in this room, not just everyone in the skyscraper… not even just everyone in Dogtown. No, this was a city-scale threat standing less than a foot away from her. If the AI wanted to, she could bring the entirety of Night City to its knees.

… But she hadn't yet.

"What… what is this? What are you doing here? What are your goals?"

Out of the corner of her eye, the Cassel Twins both fidget, though the sister is far more expressive than the brother. So Mi gets the impression that Aurore Cassel would rather she not be interrogating the dangerous AI in their midst. But that's the funny thing about dying… desperation eventually reaches a point where you couldn't care less about what happens to you anymore.

Either she was coming out the other side of this encounter alive… or she wasn't. There was no longer any other options and when the calculus became that simple, it was much easier to just… bluntly demand an AI tell you exactly what they were here to do and what their goals were.

"V already told you, So Mi. I'm his partner… his right hand woman, if you will. As for my goals… they're the same as yours and his. We're here to help you, just like we've always intended."

So Mi's mouth opens and closes. No… she was lying. She had to be. That was such a ridiculous lie to try and make too. Help her? Like they'd always intended? Ridiculous…

"Stop and think about things logically for a moment, So Mi."

V cuts back in then. So Mi doesn't take her eyes off of Alt, but she does turn slightly, angling herself to make it clear she's listening to the mercenary.

"First, Johnny isn't in my head. The Relic isn't killing me and I'm not dying. So if I really didn't want to help you out, I would have told you to fuck off or demanded an actual amount of eddies from you for my services."

That… So Mi shivers. If that was true, then from the very beginning V had been playing her like a fool, hadn't he? She thought she had him in a position of desperation, that she could use his fear of death to turn him into a tool to save her own sorry, dying ass.

On the other hand, if this WAS true… then he wasn't dying. And that meant her solution… she didn't need to betray him just because her solution would only work for one person. And that, quite frankly, sounded way too good to be true.

"You… you want the contents of the neural matrix for yourselves, don't you? You're just using me to get the AI out so you can use it for your own purposes."

V sighs and shakes his head. Alt lets out a throaty chuckle, glancing to the Militech/Cynosure tech right beside them. After a moment, the AI shakes her head and gives So Mi a toothy, almost feral grin.

"Do you really think we would have needed you for the extraction, So Mi?"

Sweeping her gaze back over to the Cassels, both of whom who freeze up like prey animals, Alt shakes her head again.

"At most, we could have picked up these two the moment they arrived in town and had them help us. But even then, I doubt I would have required the assistance. Really, all we would have needed to do is sneak in here and steal this out from under Hansen's nose. Something we could have done at any point in the weeks since he unearthed this thing with your help. But we didn't, we went through all of this instead."

… Alt wasn't wrong about that. Any of it, really. Based on everything that had happened so far, they could have easily accomplished all of their goals without her. From infiltrating Dogtown and the Black Sapphire, to taking the neural matrix… even killing Hansen hadn't required her assistance in any way.

In the end, there was only one real reason they'd gone this route.

"Me. You wanted me. Why? For my connection to the Blackwall?"

V steps in again with a sigh.

"No. Like Alt said, we're here to help you. We've always been here to help you."

Right. If Alt is here on this side of the Blackwall, then they probably wouldn't need So Mi's connection to it, would they? On the other hand, that connection might be her only saving grace at this point.

Most people, even most Netrunners, didn't even know that the Blackwall was an AI crafted by dozens of NetWatch Netrunners to keep out all of the other AI. They thought it was just a firewall, but in fact… no. It could be contacted. It could be harnessed. And it HATED rogue AIs.

There's not a doubt in So Mi's mind that if she reached out to it now and showed it Altiera Cunningham, it would go crazy in trying to destroy the AI. Of course, that would in turn lead to So Mi's death, probably. And the deaths of everyone in this room, in this skyscraper, maybe even in Dogtown depending on how big the fight got.

But it would save Night City and the rest of the world from whatever Alt was up to. The only question was… did So Mi want to make that sacrifice? Was she selfless enough to pull that trigger?

… No, she wasn't. That was the sad, sorry truth. She didn't want to die. She wanted to live, she always had. And now these two, whatever the fuck V really was, were seemingly offering her everything she wanted on a silver platter.

It felt too good to be true, and yet… what else could So Mi do but hope and pray? Letting out a long breath, her shoulders slumping in defeat, So Mi closes her eyes.

"What… what now then?"

V's voice hits her ears a moment later.

"Well, that's up to you, in the end. There are two paths forward. Either we stay the course and go with your method of saving your life… or we go the other route."

So Mi opens her eyes and finally stares at V directly.

"The other route. What exactly does that entail?"

V doesn't mince words.

"Your body is fucked up beyond belief at this point. You're basically mostly cyberware and life support systems. I believe that your plan to go to the Moon for specialized treatment would work in the long run… but it would be a long, long recovery. And it would likely come with consequences too. So the other option is a Full Body Conversion. Transfer your mind into a reinforced replacement body, one that the Blackwall hasn't destroyed… one that it can't destroy, at least not so easily."

Ah. Huh… that was an option, So Mi supposed. Not one she'd ever considered before, but V was right… she was more cyberware and life support than human at this point already. Even still, it was a lot of trust to be putting in them. She would be putting herself in their hands even more than she already was…

If she said she wanted to still go with her original plan, it would be a good way of testing whether they were being honest about actually wanting to help her or not… but V wasn't wrong. The recovery would take months at least.

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The Vote:

[ ] So Mi wants to stick with her original plan - 10%[X] So Mi is intrigued by the Gemini Option - 90%

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Hell of a Show (DxD AU/Multi)

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