2077: V really knows how awesome he is

Johnny saw a male cleaner making a phone call.

"Yeah, it's overtime. I've told you so many times, aren't you annoying! Don't call me if there's nothing wrong, or the boss will dock my pay again! Okay, I'll come see you next weekend. Remember to take the medicine I bought you. It's really not expensive. Stop nagging, I'm hanging up!"

"Are you still lying to your mother, saying you found a job in the factory?" A female cleaner next to him offered her a cigarette.

“What else?” The male cleaner took a deep drag and handed the cigarette back. “Should I tell her that her son is a kidney harvester who makes money by harvesting human organs and using prosthetics, and that the medicine she takes is bought with that money? That old woman would probably kill me.”

The female cleaner took the cigarette and put it in her mouth without any disgust: "Haha, that's right. What have you been up to lately? Where does all the money come from? My deadbeat father asks me the same thing every day."

The male cleaner asked, "How much longer can you keep this a secret?"

"It won't be a secret for long; the old man has already started to suspect something. Fortunately, Arasaka called."

"Yes, Arasaka is attacking. If we just die here, we'll never have to lie again."

"Tell me, are we good people for protecting Night City?"

"Nonsense, you've forgotten how many people's kidneys you've harvested."

"It's a pity that if we were good people, we could actually go to work in the factory."

"We can't change the past, but thankfully we can choose the future. After the war starts, we must kill a few Arasaka dogs. In recognition of this achievement, your dad and my mom can get some compensation."

"Don't worry, we've already bought medical insurance for those two old guys. I heard there will be universal social security, pensions, and welfare homes in the future. Those two old folks have a long way to go."

"Yes, there are still many good days ahead. I really want to see the future."

The two stopped talking and took turns smoking their cigarettes, one after the other.

They noticed Johnny's gaze and immediately gave him the middle finger, saying menacingly, "Fuck you, what are you looking at? Get the hell home, you stupid old bastard!"

Normally, Johnny would have retorted, but now he simply walked up and handed his cigarette and lighter to the two of them.

"Damn, who's this old man?"

"Who cares? I've never smoked such good cigarettes in my life. Give me one."

“Hiss, so cool!”

The two scavengers groaned and laughed simultaneously. They had no choice in the past because of their many crimes, but now they could finally choose the future they wanted.

Johnny drove his Porsche 911 to another old friend's house.

Johnny smashed the villa's gate with his car, ignoring the aiming of security robots and armed artillery, and yelled, "Kerry Orodien, your dad's here!"

A cool old man wearing sunglasses walked onto the balcony, holding a gun in his hand, and most noticeably, a golden throat implant around his neck.

"Damn it, who the hell are you!" Kerry Orodien asked in a slightly hoarse baritone voice.

Johnny didn't answer, but instead honked the car horn a few times, creating a specific rhythm.

Kerry Orodien's eyes widened instantly: "Holy crap, Johnny?!"

Johnny laughed and took off his mask. With a shout of "Holy shit! Saburo Arasaka!", Kerry Orodien fell from the second-floor balcony into the bushes on the first floor.

Rock Kid: "..."

Ten minutes later, in the living room on the first floor, Johnny and Kerry Orodien sat facing each other on the sofa.

"I see. Your consciousness was stored in a chip, and then inserted into Saburo Arasaka's head, and you came back to life using his body. That's fucking cool!" Kerry Orodien, having figured out what was going on, was filled with excitement, as if he couldn't stand watching a good show.

"Cool my ass! This old man is the person I hate most in my life. Can you imagine how I felt when I woke up? It felt like someone smashed a guitar into my head!" Johnny complained angrily. "I'm not picky. I don't care who I'm stuck in, even if it's a fired and shot corporate dog, even if that corporate dog is a woman, I'll accept it. But Saburo Arasaka... Screw him!"

"What? You can accept being turned into a woman?" Kerry Orodien straightened his back in a lewd pose and grinned wickedly, "Wouldn't it be nice if you became a woman and gave your brother some pleasure?"

"Damn, I told you you were lusting after my body, and you wouldn't admit it!" Johnny grinned wickedly. "Fine, I'll go to any lengths for you, brother. If I become a woman, you can use any part of my body as you please!"

"Hehehehe!" "Hehehehe!"

Both men simultaneously revealed lewd and disgusting smiles.

But this lewdness and disgust are also proof that friendship never fades.

The two old men picked up their bottles, clinked them together, and gulped down the liquor.

Johnny was the first to give in, and began coughing violently.

"You still need to work on this new body, it's more tender than a virgin!" Kerry Orodien put down his bottle and tossed Johnny a cigarette: "What are your plans after this, to put on a suit and go work in Arasaka?"

"Fuck you, I hate the company the most!"

"Oh right, you also blew up Arasaka Tower." Kerry shrugged. "In that case, I'm going to hold a concert, how about you come along?"

"Where? When?" Johnny asked, intrigued.

"It's the Night City, the open-air performance at Memorial Square. No tickets are sold, it's purely for fun. The dates are around these few days."

Johnny frowned: "Kerry, Night City is going to be at war, are you serious?"

“Of course I’m serious!” Kerry Orodien’s voice rose. “Three girls are challenging me, and I have to fight back. Look at this!”

As the holographic television turned on, a news report was broadcast.

"The globally popular band Fierce arrived in Night City by plane at 4:20 PM today. They will be bringing a 15-day special performance to their fans, which WNS will broadcast live worldwide..."

Johnny frowned: "Holding a concert at this time? This is clearly an attempt to use their popularity to make Arasaka headquarters hesitant to act."

“I don’t understand politics, all I know is that I’ve been challenged.” Kerry Orodien said very seriously, “Some people say rock and roll is dead, and that’s right, rock and roll was killed by these flashy young people! Night City is my home turf, and it’s not up to outsiders to protect it. So I’m going to put on a concert myself and let people understand what real rock and roll is all about again! Johnny, come on over, and I’ll also call Nancy, Dani, Henry, Jean…”

Before he could finish speaking, Johnny had already refused.

"Don't be crazy, Kerry. I'll say it again, Night City is about to go to war. What you should be doing now is packing your bags and running away, not throwing a fucking concert!"

Kerry Orodien was clearly stunned: "You want me to run? Are you sure? This isn't like Johnny Silverhand. Are you out of your mind? Uh, I mean, do you want to do a self-check and get an eraser to clean the gold fingers on your chip?"

"I'm perfectly normal!"

"You're telling me to run away when you're doing this normally?" Kerry Orodien was even more puzzled. "Back then, when you were going to blow up the abandoned tower, I tried to stop you and you almost killed me. Now I want to follow your example, to use music to awaken the people and protect this city, and you're telling me to run away?"

"If Night City can't be defended, you'll die!"

"You knew you were going to die back then, but you still flew to Arasaka Tower."

"I……"

"Okay, Johnny, I know what you're trying to say. I know you want to protect me, but I really don't need to. I won't force you if you don't want to. You can go now; I need to contact other people."

Here we go again?

A fire ignited in Johnny's heart. He kicked over the coffee table in front of him and yelled hysterically, "Kerry, you're a fucking idiot! You think you're a hero, a savior? Bullshit! You're just a stinking street performer! Oh, I know, you must have thought your album would sell like hotcakes if you died, right!"

"Fuck you!" Kerry Orodien roared. "I don't know about me, but you died for nothing. Nobody in Night City remembers the Warriors anymore!"

These words were like a sharp knife, piercing Johnny's chest. He seemed to transform into an enraged bear, punching his former friend in the face.

boom!

Blood splattered from the nose.

Kerry Orodien staggered a few steps to regain his footing, then swung his fist back and punched Johnny in the face again.

The same nosebleed splattered.

The two old men started fighting, hurling insults and kicking each other, grabbing each other's hair and groin. They wrestled from the living room to the kitchen, and from the kitchen to the garden. In the end, Kerry Orodien, whose body was more cybernetic, gained the upper hand. He straddled Johnny's stomach, raised his fist, and shouted, "Johnny, you're a fucking idiot! I can live just fine without you, and the world can too!"

Just as the fist was about to hit, Johnny quickly raised his hand to protect his head.

But the fist never came down.

Johnny took the opportunity to throw Kerry Orodien away.

The two old men were lying on the ground.

"Damn, this reminds me of the old days, when we'd have to fight before every performance," Johnny remarked.

“Really? I’ve almost forgotten.” Kerry Orodien sang in a “too” shape.

"You can forget this? Are you getting dementia?"

“No, the record company portrayed me as having ‘depression,’” Kerry Orodien said calmly. “The reason I’ve forgotten the past is probably because I’ve learned to look forward to the future.”

If the future is better, why dwell on the past?

Johnny understood.

He stood up and turned away once again like a stray dog.

“Johnny!” Kerry shouted, “Night City is truly different now!”

Johnny ignored him, started the car, and drove off without looking back.

The Porsche 911 drove aimlessly through the city, eventually crashing into a roadside fence, its front end completely dented. Johnny kicked open the car door, climbed out, and sat on the curb to light a cigarette, only to realize he had already given his cigarette and lighter to some thugs on the street.

"Hold."

Johnny suddenly felt like a complete failure, both in the past and now.

A commotion arose from across the street, and Johnny looked up and saw a school.

Inside the playground, young children are listening attentively to the teacher's explanation, making various movements such as curling up or covering their heads, learning how to protect themselves in war.

This is undoubtedly another thing V came up with.

Johnny read it with a critical eye, and soon a cold smile appeared on his face.

The teachers' explanations were unprofessional; they were clearly just starting out. The school uses AI in teaching across all subjects; if they truly care about the poor, why not use it?

It's probably because educational chips are too expensive; they're just a superficial way to win people over, so they're not really needed.

V must have embezzled a lot of money while in school!

Johnny already knew everything.

School was letting out, and a little boy walked past Johnny, who grabbed him.

What were you learning just now?

"A guide to evacuation. This knowledge can save our lives if we are bombed," the little boy repeated what his teacher had told him.

"Why not use educational AI? Wouldn't that make learning faster?" Johnny asked again.

“Because there isn’t one,” the little boy replied. “There are many kinds of educational AI, covering all kinds of subjects, but there’s no evacuation guide. The teacher said that schools used to be the privilege of the rich, and the rich never needed to evacuate or go into air-raid shelters, so no one ever made this kind of educational AI. It was President V who had people collect data and organize techniques, which is why we learned what we just learned.”

Johnny was stunned; he never expected that the reason for not teaching the AI ​​would be this.

But he didn't give up.

"You brat, you think you can survive like this? Let me tell you, the company's missiles can penetrate tens of meters of steel plates. This mere shelter won't stop them at all. You'll just watch it fall right in front of you, and then, bang, you'll be dead!"

"No, Uncle and Aunt will protect us. President V will definitely defeat Arasaka!"

"Don't be silly. The V president you mentioned is also one of Arasaka's people. Even if she fails, she won't die, but you're all doomed."

The little boy wavered for a second, but quickly became resolute again: "It's okay, there are many shelters. If we die, there are others."

Johnny scoffed, "What good would it do for a bunch of kids to survive?"

The little boy gave a serious answer: "We will inherit the will of those who protected us, and launch another counterattack when we grow up!"

Johnny frowned: "These words... were taught to you by your teacher?"

"No, it's my own idea. The uncles and aunts are all good people, so I want to be a good person in the future, to fight against injustice like them, and to protect all those who need protection!"

Johnny didn't know what to say, because he suddenly discovered a secret: V wasn't protecting Night City; she was protecting a belief, a hope, a seed.

So even though she knew Night City's chances of winning were slim, she still wanted to fight. Even if she lost and Night City in reality was destroyed, Night City in a person's heart would rise again.

"Uncle," the little boy called out.

"What?" Johnny snapped back to reality.

The little boy clenched his fists and said very seriously, "Thank you for protecting us."

"I fucking didn't..."

Before he could finish speaking, another little girl ran over.

"Johnny!"

The name made the rock star turn his head in surprise, but the little boy answered instead.

"Ultraman!"

The rock kid was surprised again.

The little boy, Johnny, took the hand of the little girl, Ultraman.

Ott said, "Johnny, I'm scared."