Borrowed Power

"This perfect life, if the tower falls, we can build it again..."

Lier woke to hear V humming "Fuck the Jamaican." Apparently, the song had gotten stuck in her head.

It was a clear, sunny day in the Badlands. Sunlight beat down on the barren earth, bright enough to make anyone's eyes ache.

Of course, that didn't affect the people inside the vehicle, especially Lier-he was still lying down.

His whole body hurt. He was sore and weak. Moving around like an ordinary person wasn't a problem, but fighting like a maniac was another matter.

Under the influence of the [Heart of Evolution], however, his thinking remained almost unaffected.

"Where are we?"

"You're awake?" V snorted. "We're already in Washington. We'll be meeting the president in a bit."

"The president, huh? You're quite the comedian. Trust me, you definitely don't want to meet the president."

"Says who? I'm counting on the president to give me a big job so I can live comfortably for the rest of my life."

"Heh."

Lier found that joke hilarious. If the V from a few years later in the original timeline heard it, she'd probably smack her present self to death.

V switched on the news radio. "We've still got a little way to go before the Border Checkpoint. We need to figure out how to get through."

Normally, there shouldn't have been any reception out here.

But the Behemoth Armored Vehicle came with a small signal booster and receiver. It could just about pick up radio broadcasts, though the sound kept cutting out.

Atlanta probably hadn't expected anyone to listen to city news at the border.

As it happened, the story being broadcast concerned the two of them:

"A violent attack recently took place in Atlanta. Militech forces reported coming under attack by Kang Tao Corporation in the Badlands. The attackers were Kang Tao Corporation supply chain management specialists Zhu Shen and Cai Pin.

Both are now deceased. Kang Tao has stated that it had no knowledge of the incident and denied any connection between their actions and the company. APD is continuing its investigation.

Anyone with information should submit it to APD. Rewards will be issued for verified leads."

Just as Lier had expected, Militech was rather baffled. But having Kang Tao take the blame was an unexpected bonus.

After all, that would send the investigation in a very different direction.

"Thinking back on it, we were seriously gutsy." V laughed after hearing the report. "Every cop in Atlanta was looking for us, along with Militech and Kang Tao...

And they don't even know the guy who played them was a bald bastard-oh, not anymore."

Lier didn't think they were completely out of danger yet. "Actually, they haven't missed their last chance."

"Fair point. So hurry up and figure out how we're going to play them a second time."

They still had to get through a wall-a six-meter-high border barrier.

During the Unification War, Southern and Northern California had fought tooth and nail and severed all ties. To make that separation clear, and to keep northern nomads and other parasites from threatening the south, the southerners had undertaken a massive construction project and erected this wall.

Southern California belonged to New America. Crossing that towering wall would bring them into Northern California-

In other words, Night City's territory.

Like every border barrier, this place offered no warning before opening fire. The only way across was to go obediently through the Border Checkpoint.

The checkpoint would scan your face and register your vehicle. Fully armed drones would track you and transmit your coordinates to the rapid-response system in orbit.

Getting through the border wall was very, very troublesome, especially for Lier-

Because the company that had secured the Border Checkpoint contract was none other than Militech.

Once you entered the checkpoint, Militech would constantly remind you that the place could become a battlefield at any moment.

That was the wall.

Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack... clack.

The vehicle was making strange noises again.

"Fuck, this thing has never run properly."

"We need repairs." Lier thought for a moment. "Find a town and stop. Let's ask around."

"There's only one town left before the checkpoint. I was going to stop there for a break anyway-I've had enough of all this sand.

I bet if I stood on my head and shook myself a couple of times, I could dump out a couple of pounds of it."

"Then you'd better get shaking." Lier struggled to sit upright. "Because we need to look like professionals now."

"What kind of professionals?"

"Militech corporate suits."

V had never imagined that one day she'd have to pretend to be a corpo.

The good news was that Lier said she didn't actually have to wear a suit. She just needed to straighten up her clothes, her zippers, her bags, and so on.

Corpos might be filthy, but they always tried to keep their clothes neat.

And finally, she had to act arrogant.

"Arrogant? Put it that way, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. Still feels weird, though... We're going to see the sheriff?

What for? Can't we just go straight to a bar? Talk business over drinks, and give him a few good whacks if we can't reach an agreement."

V shook her hair, and sand really did fall out.

The vehicle rolled into a little town called Dry Creek. It probably didn't even have thirty permanent residents.

There was an abandoned oil well nearby. Once, plenty of laborers had worked here, but after the financial crisis and CHOOH2's replacement of oil as an energy source, many smaller oil wells had been abandoned.

When the well shut down, the town declined with it. The environmental damage from oil extraction remained permanently. The water supply had been cut off, and farmers could no longer grow crops.

Now, there was only a gas station and a vending-machine store. Most people barely scraped by, providing a few services for passing travelers to earn a living.

Perhaps, sooner or later, the place would be abandoned entirely.

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The harsh conditions out west really made one miss how nice Atlanta was, even if that was only a facade.

"Ever watched an old Western? Forget it, you definitely haven't-anyway, out here in the Badlands, they still follow traditions from the old America of over a century ago.

A town has a mayor and a sheriff. For legitimate money-making business, you go to the mayor. For everything else, you go to the sheriff.

If we don't introduce ourselves, they'll think we're rude, or even that we have something to hide.

And right now... we're corporate suits."

Lier tugged at his clothes. His outfit was much more respectable: casual wear he'd bought in Atlanta, obviously designer stuff.

After straightening his clothes, Lier squared his shoulders, and his bearing instantly became more imposing.

Though, considering how sickly he looked, sinister was probably a better description-like a scheming villain in a TV show.

V glanced at Lier. "You really do look like a corporate suit. But you won't let me talk, and you want me to act arrogant. How am I supposed to pull that off?"

That really was a problem. V wasn't lacking in arrogance. The trouble was that, as long as the other person had any brains, she'd reveal her lack of education the moment she opened her mouth.

The biggest obstacle to having her pose as a corpo was that corpos were far too well educated.

Lier thought for a moment, then said, "Check your account."

With that, Lier knocked on the door of the Dry Creek police station. In reality, it was a rectangular residential unit built from coated steel panels and bricks.

"Come in-looks like you've got some manners. You know the first thing to do when you arrive in town is visit the sheriff."

The sheriff wore a broad-brimmed cowboy hat and orange sunglasses. His fingers had no skin covering, leaving his meticulously designed hand cyberware fully exposed.

Most hand cyberware was designed to improve shooting, and this set apparently was too.

Recoil grip pads, meant to reduce kickback. Clearly, this sheriff liked powerful firearms.

The sheriff sized up his visitors. The one in front showed little expression, only a smile-a thoroughly professional smile that gave him the creeps.

The one behind him...

V had just checked her account balance-500,000 eddies!

Who could possibly be richer than me?

Even if he's a sheriff, he's just the sheriff of some little border town.

Once I get back to Night City, I'm definitely spending a few nights at Konpeki Plaza. This broke bastard probably couldn't afford one night there in his entire life...

The more she thought about it, the prouder V became. Meeting the sheriff's appraising gaze, she rolled her eyes in contempt. Broke bastard!

Yeah, she's acting like she owns the world, the sheriff thought. These two are trouble.

At the border, he mostly dealt with nomads of all kinds. They were either fawning or wary. Even the arrogant ones were only putting on a brave front.

That attitude... the sheriff remembered the people he'd encountered on business trips to Atlanta. They'd looked at him exactly the same way.

That inexplicable contempt, and those smiles that never reached their eyes-the resemblance was uncanny.

It pissed him off, but he had to tread carefully.

"I'm Andrew Jones. Have a seat."

Hearing that name immediately stirred a strange feeling in Lier-

He knew that name.

In Cyberpunk 2077, players encountered this sheriff at the beginning of the nomad lifepath.

So Lier leisurely sat down across from Andrew. "Silverhand, right? You served in the special forces. A pleasure. I didn't expect to meet a former serviceman here."

Andrew's expression immediately brightened-

He always enjoyed boasting about his military career and his distinctive nickname.

Unfortunately, hardly anyone in this godforsaken place knew about either.

"That's me. May I ask who you two are?"

Lier smiled. "You can call me Dennis Burger King-you know how complicated things have been lately. I heard a nomad family around here recently joined the Snake Nation.

Changes like that usually leave a few idiots looking for side jobs-which makes things troublesome, because side jobs are hard to trace.

Anything in town worth paying attention to? Perhaps someone's planning to use those people to smuggle some... well, something we're interested in."

Andrew's expression shifted slightly.

He felt as though he was the one being questioned now. That reversal had come far too naturally.

He was torn. He wanted to ask for more information, but something about Lier's bearing told him he'd be better off not asking too much.

Come to think of it... at least he bothered to make up a name for me. That's pretty considerate of him.

"Well... that's not my business, but I'd suggest contacting someone called Willy McCoy. You know, he... has connections."

"A fixer, huh? Even these drifters have someone looking out for them. Honestly..." Lier shook his head. "One more thing. Our vehicle's having a little trouble, and we need a mechanic. Got anyone here who can repair armored vehicles?"

"An armored vehicle? I'm not sure he can fix it, but he's the only mechanic in town. His garage is on the edge of town. His name's Mike."

"Thank you for your assistance, Sheriff. Once I get back, I'll be sure to mention your helpful cooperation in my report.

But for now, I need to get back to official business."

Without waiting for Andrew to react, Lier stood and headed for the door.

Andrew felt there was something odd about the conversation. First of all, he was pleased that this man had recognized him.

But his duty should have required him to ask more questions, and now he couldn't bring himself to ask a single one.

Partly, he was nervous. Partly, he was quite willing to help the man-after all, he seemed to have an important background, and he'd shown Andrew respect, even if it might only have been superficial.

After thinking it over, Andrew finally said, "Uh... may I ask what model you're having repaired? I can give Mike a heads-up."

Lier opened the door, revealing the black armored vehicle outside, standing firm against the wind and blowing sand.

The lettering printed on its cargo compartment gleamed in the sunlight-

"Militech. Behemoth Armored Vehicle."

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