Chapter 27: The Price

One hour ago.
[Incoming Call: Rin]
V extracted the Cloud Sea Project chip from the back of her neck, messages from the contact flickering in her eyes.
"What is it?"
The voice on the other end spoke, and V immediately fell into deep thought.
"Do you know the price? Once Arasaka agents are deployed, their activity records can be audited."
"..."
"Biotechnica people? You’re not with Arasaka yet; you don't have that kind of clearance..."
"..."
"Unh-huh... Fine. Don't let me down."
The call ended. V stood up and drafted an operation permit for Arasaka’s security department on her terminal.
V exited her office, walked to the Arasaka Tower elevators, and descended to the underground parking garage. Arasaka agents were already waiting by their vehicles.
The leader reached out a hand. "Please hand over the operation permit."
"The chip is here... Counterintelligence, V. The authorization code has been transmitted."
"Rikai shimashita (Understood)..."
A light scanned from the agent's cybernetic eye. After confirmation, he opened the car door.
The team boarded, and the tires of the two Arasaka vehicles spun, kicking up blue smoke before roaring out of the parking garage at high speed, racing toward Pacifica.
...
"I’ve contacted a ripperdoc in Pacifica. You all go get checked out; don't let Biotechnica plant any weird daemons in your brains."
V directed the agents behind her to help the squad members.
Lin Yue helped Maine up, confirming with a glance that the big man was alright.
His eyes glowed.
"Ten thousand eurodollars for each of you. The medical expenses have already been paid by... this boss here."
Maine started to say something, but Dorio stopped him with a look. Rebecca kept scanning V and Lin Yue with her eyes. "What about you?"
"I'm fine. I have things to discuss with her. I'll meet you at the ripperdoc's later."
Watching the Arasaka agents transport the others, V stood silently behind Lin Yue.
"Not bad. I never thought you'd be bold enough to start taking corporate jobs in Dogtown using our name."
"What? Are you really turning yourself into a badass fixer?"
Hearing V's words, a bitter smile tugged at the corner of Lin Yue’s mouth. "It’s not easy. Today, I almost got played by Hands again. You know I’m short on personnel; if you hadn’t come, the squad probably would have fallen apart—the team wasn't exactly unified to begin with."
"Oh, I don't mind. A future, high-profile fixer in Dogtown working for Arasaka—that’s a tempting prospect." V didn't hold back, getting straight to the point regarding her compensation.

"That’s why I asked you to come and hold the line. I accept your terms."
Lin Yue made his choice, paying the price for his first job of the day.
"Biotechnica stayed neutral during the Fourth Corporate War. Right now, the corporations at the Night City headquarters are getting along on the surface, aside from Militech—but look at this, we’ve already offended Biotechnica. There’s no guarantee there won't be other hidden dangers."
"Biopharmaceuticals, cyberware, alcohol... I have to consider the consequences of today."
Lin Yue shook his head. "You’re not as straightforward as when I first met you. Just name your demands."
Dead silence.
V asked, "Are you sure you've thought this through?"
Seemingly not expecting Lin Yue to forgo bargaining, V sighed. "I, or rather Arasaka, will have you do other things. Of course, if that braindance yields any leads, that will be the top priority."
"You are now officially an Arasaka asset. The operations department files have been uploaded; my superiors can check them at any time."
"These 'other things' you mentioned—does that include cleaning up messes for the corporation?" Lin Yue was weighing the cost.
V continued, "Not limited to that. You, yourself, are now sold to Arasaka..."
After hearing V’s requirements, Lin Yue understood.
V’s conditions were extensive; in short, he was now to handle tasks for V outside of just hunting for clues in Dogtown.
"Your cyberware, your equipment—it all has to be integrated into the Arasaka sub-network. And your personal assets, including accounts, property, and so on..."
From now on, Lin Yue, along with everything he owned, was in Arasaka’s grip.
V was right. He had sold himself to the corporation.
Which meant if the company underwent personnel changes or if he was ousted in corporate infighting—just like when V was kicked out of Arasaka—all of Lin Yue’s accounts, regardless of how much money he had or how successful he seemed, would be seized by Arasaka.
His cyberware would be deactivated, forcing him to go to a ripperdoc to have them ripped out and replaced with second-hand or off-brand junk.
That would be the best-case scenario; being liquidated by agents was also a possibility.
There was no help for it. A person has to make choices.
In Night City, there are no shortcuts to survival other than utilizing every available resource to keep your seat as stable as possible.
Lin Yue didn't want to end up as some unlucky corpse bleeding out on the street after a skirmish.
A lone wolf was never an option for Lin Yue. If he wanted to carve a path through a complex city like Night City, the corporations were an unavoidable link in the chain.
As for tearing down Arasaka, or NUSA, or the system—that wasn't something to consider right now.
Staying alive, making money, and not ending up hooked to a catheter is a decent enough goal.
"Fine. I agree."
"But I have one condition: when I need you to step in, you have to help me."
Lin Yue knew that negotiating with a tiger was no easy feat; the situation ahead would only grow more complex.
"Since I'm backing you, there will naturally be an investment—funding, clearance, everything," V said.
With that, the deal between V and Lin Yue was struck.

"By the way, looking at that doctor, is the rumor about 'Safe-Spirit' true? If so, we could have the media report on it." V remembered this bit. Everyone knew the dirty laundry between corporations; it was just a matter of whose media was more effective. Smear campaigns were a daily occurrence.
The Counterintelligence department loved this kind of stuff.
"You mean WNS News? That’s a media outlet under your control, right? As for the Safe-Spirit thing, that’s a secret."
Lin Yue waved his hand, refusing to answer further. V casually plugged a data cable into Lin Yue’s neural interface, and a massive amount of code began loading into his body.
Click. Lin Yue lit a cigarette.
V remained expressionless. "Smoking has no benefits other than looking cool, and it smells terrible."
Lin Yue felt a bit puzzled. The previous owner of this body loved them, and besides, he’d been fighting Scavs and facing off against a corporation all day; his hands were still shaking. Smoking one wasn't a big deal.
But then he froze. If he recalled correctly, Johnny Silverhand had been scolded by V in exactly the same way. It felt like a fated, eerie sense of déjà vu.
"How did Hands track me?"
Lin Yue wanted to know the extent of Hands' capabilities.
V watched the progress bar load and replied, "Some hacker from Dogtown? I don't know much about him, but he didn't dig up anything. The hackers we keep on payroll aren't just eating for free."
Suddenly, Lin Yue felt a wave of nausea, as if a brick were lodged in his throat.
"Deep breaths. This is normal. When the clearance is revoked, it’ll be even worse than this... In any case, you'd better pray that day never comes."
He couldn't clearly hear what V was saying; his ears were ringing, accompanied by an uncontrollable churning in his gut.
Lin Yue’s vision went black, and he slowly crouched down against the car...
The price of this job... was damn high. But it wasn't unacceptable. In return, Arasaka would solidify his identity as "Rin," driving him into Dogtown like a nail.
Once Lin Yue’s body had mostly recovered, V finally climbed into the car.
Watching the young man standing outside the window, V rested her chin on her hand, seemingly deep in thought.
A faint, almost imperceptible sigh escaped her.
Her eyes glowed.
"Done. The nail in Dogtown is set... Unh-huh. Aside from the job at the Night City headquarters, he can be deployed at any time..."
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WNS News: Rumored to be a news outlet supported by Arasaka.
Note: Channel 54 News is also a puppet media outlet for the corporations.
Thanks to Dream-Weaving Fish for the 100-point reward.