Pitch black...
The world was nothing but rows of crimson static and faint light specks—dull and lifeless. It all looked like some cheap video game, cruder than pixel blocks.
V rubbed her head hard, forcing herself through the skull-splitting pain. Struggling up from the ground, she stared blankly at the strange scenery around her.
Everything was dark. Her vision swept the surroundings, but the pain was so intense she couldn’t even think straight...
Staggering, she pressed forward, stubbornly—like just walking ahead would get her out of this cursed place. Until... she froze, staring straight ahead.
By a railing formed of scarlet static leaned a figure—utterly out of place, yet vivid, sharp, almost human.
V stumbled closer...
This didn’t feel like a nightmare. It was too real, more like some bizarre experience.
A suffocating sense of drowning weighed on her, as though her very self was being erased—leaving her lost, stripped of identity.
Her whole body felt forced underwater, consciousness slipping away, pain overwhelming...
Fragments of hatred and bloody vengeance surged through her mind. Until...
...
“Where... am I?”
V woke far sooner than anyone expected. When her eyes fluttered open, blurry at first, she saw the cluttered yet clean interior of Vik’s clinic—and her heart finally settled.
“Uh... Vik.” Weakly propping herself up, she caught sight of him. Relief washed over her, and she let herself fall back onto the bed. “Guess... I got lucky... Would’ve been pretty pathetic to die without even knowing why...”
“Mhm.” Vik answered quietly, his eyes on the monitor glowing with her vitals. Its light reflected across his face.
...
A heavy silence lingered before V turned toward him, suspicion in her eyes. “Don’t give me that look, Vik... What is it? Did something happen to someone?”
“Kid...” After confirming her condition, Vik finally lifted his head to meet her gaze. There was no hiding it. “I need to tell you... some bad news.
It’s about you.”
“Me?” V flexed her limbs, incredulous. Then she forced a crooked smile and shook her head. “Come on... you’re joking, right? Look at me, I’m fine. Just... a little weak. I’m really fine.”
Vik dropped his gaze, sighing heavily, and explained her state in detail.
Slowly... V went quiet. Her expression dimmed as she stared at the clinic ceiling. “So... I don’t have long left... You... really can’t fix this?”
“I’m sorry, V...” Vik’s voice carried both worry and helplessness. “I can’t help you right now. But... you’re not alone. We’ll find a way.”
“Everyone else... they’re okay?” V cut him off, weary, steering the topic away.
Vik nodded. “They’re fine...
And you—get some rest, V. It’s far too early to despair.”
...
Vik contacted Arthur, who had been staying in the Megabuilding—practically V’s neighbor.
“Hey... Arthur...” V’s voice was heavy with exhaustion as she sat slumped in a wheelchair, words barely above a whisper. “I’m dying...”
A fear weighed on her chest—so deep she barely realized it herself.
“Don’t worry... we’ll fix this.” Arthur’s hoarse voice was flat, almost casual, but V felt oddly reassured. He spoke of the future like it was a certainty.
“...Turns out... I really am afraid of dying...” V murmured. Her dazed eyes lingered on the bustling streets outside—the neon lights, the billboards, cars rushing by, crowds with their brightly dyed hair...
The elevator rose. When the apartment door slid open, Arthur pushed her inside.
The layouts of these apartments were all similar, but V’s place was far cleaner than his. It looked almost bare, as if she owned nothing at all.
Arthur helped her onto the bed, then pulled out the meds Misty had given him. Pointing at the blue bottle, he said, “This one’s an inhibitor. It’ll ease your symptoms... and keep that thing in your head quiet.
As for this...” He pointed at the red bottle, brow furrowing. “Uh... this one doesn’t seem to do much.”
He shoved it back into his pocket. “Get some rest. When the sun comes up, we’ll start looking for a cure.”
...
In Arthur’s vision, the flickering glitches at the edges had vanished completely. It seemed... ever since V woke, everything had gone back to normal for him.
Not wanting to burden her with more, he turned to leave...
“Wait...” V reached out, stopping him. “Stay and talk for a while. I’ve been asleep for days...”
“Talk?” He turned back, a faint crease forming at the corner of his eyes. Not many people sought him out for conversation—it was rare.
“Alright then.” He pulled the wheelchair over to her bed and sat himself down heavily. “If you’re planning to cry, go ahead. I won’t tell a soul.”
V gave a faint, resigned smile and brought up what had happened. “So... what exactly went down?”
“It was that guy... what’s his name... Adam Smasher.” Arthur thought back to the firefight two days ago—not much worth remembering. “He fired a grenade at us... and worse yet, a piece of shrapnel lodged in your head.”
“That chip saved me... though now it wants to kill me.” V forced a bitter grin, but there was no joy in it.
Arthur shook his head. “If it weren’t for that chip, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“You know what’s inside that chip?” V’s voice trembled slightly as she recalled the nightmare during her coma. “I saw... myself... nuking Arasaka Tower.”
After waking, she knew without doubt who the chip belonged to. “Hah... Turns out I’ve got a lunatic—some crazy bastard—living in my head. Fucking unbelievable.”
Her self-mocking words barely left her lips when, all of a sudden, flickering light spots appeared before her eyes. After a moment of distortion... she seemed to see someone.