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She went ice cold. Fear taking hold.

His voice cut through it, holding her in place. A light touch on her hand, holding her, impelling her to continue listening.

‘I know you have every reason to end this call and prevent me from ever calling you again, but I hope you’ll allow me to explain.’

Valerie stood. Folding her arms. Thinking. Processing. A mental shift taking place.

Her silence and the fact that she hadn’t severed the connection prompted him to continue.

‘You should have recovered from the procedure to excise the effects of the engram within a month. Yet two years elapsed before you were woken from the induced coma. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?’

V shook her head.

‘The doc said there were complications, that’s why.’

‘Yes, there were "complications". However, they didn’t arise from any medical origin. Nor was the “damage” to your cortex as severe as you’ve been led to believe.’

‘What?!’

‘I’m afraid you’ve been lied to V. Were it not for Solomon Reed’s doggedness, and the fact that he still possessed sufficient honour to compel him to protect you, Rosalind Myers would have ended your life the moment the doctors had finished mapping the engram and extracting everything related to So Mi from your memory.’

Valerie, instead of exploding with rage and indignation as she would have previously, chuckled to herself wryly.

‘Well whaddya know. Color me impressed, and also surprised/not surprised.’

She could hear him smile as he laughed.

‘You really are remarkable V. Your ability to adapt, evolve, and endure is wonderful to behold.’

V smiled, perhaps Misty had rubbed off on her a little.

‘Well thanks, but you still haven’t told me why you called.’

‘Indeed, I haven’t. Allow me to remedy that oversight. Quite simply, I want to help you to do what you do best. That is, help others, and also perhaps rescue Johnny Silverhand, if you are so inclined.’

‘And how are you going to do that? If you don’t mind me asking. Especially considering that Vik confirmed what the FIA docs told me.’ A hint of saucy optimism and hope had crept into her voice, despite her skepticism.

‘Viktor was threatened V, he told you that to save your lives. Yours and Misty’s. It’s also why he was relocated to San Francisco. To prevent him from having a change of heart, and to further
weaken you in the hopes that it would break your spirit. You’re being watched by the FIA, on Myers’ orders. In fact, I’d be surprised if Solomon Reed doesn’t call you in the very near future to “catch up” as it were. I told Viktor that I’d protect all of you, however, his affection for both of you is what drove him to capitulate.’

V felt a surge of fierce affection and gratitude. Vik hadn’t sold out or betrayed them after all.

‘How do I know that you’re telling the truth? That you’re not FIA yourself? Or worse?’

‘Your suspicion and wariness are entirely understandable given the circumstances V. The one thing I have to offer you is complete honesty, whatever it may be worth to you. Will that suffice?’

‘Maybe. Let me think.’

‘Of course V. I assure you, I’ve no intention of going anywhere. Ask me anything that you can think of that would qualify as classified in the eyes of the FIA and Rosalind Myers herself. Would that suffice perhaps?’

V nodded to herself, still not convinced that she wasn’t being played yet again. ‘I’ve gotta stop doing that.’ she thought. It had always been her weakness. Made her easy to manipulate. Her innate tendency to trust, and ascribe to others the moral and ethical codes and characteristics that set her apart. 

‘OK. Spill.Give me something good.’

‘Dexter DeShawn embroiled you and Jackie Welles in the chaos that ensued from Saburo Arasaka’s death purely by chance due to his ties to T-Bug, Pacifica, and the Voodoo Boyz. The FIA, and consequently Rosalind Myers and the NUS, became aware of the fact that the Relic chip that Yorinobu had stolen, contained the Engram of Johnny Silverhand, through their informers and agents within the Vodoo Boyz. The NUS, like Netwatch, sought to use his Engram to entice the AI construct of Alt Cunningham to make contact with whomever assumed his identity once the chip had completed the process of re-configuring their neural architecture. The intention was to execute the operation in carefully controlled stages after Saburo Arasaka had retrieved the chip from his wayward son, and it had been liberated from him in turn. Yorinobu’s agreement with Netwatch to sell the chip to them, precipitated the Konpeki Plaza fiasco as you’re well aware.’

V chuckled, finally able to recall the sequence of events without suffering near unbearable agony. Something she found pretty damn incredible.

‘Yeah, it was a “fiasco” all right.’

Thybault continued.

‘Unbeknown to Saburo or Arasaka, one of the NUS agents within Arasaka was responsible for convincing Anders Hellman to confess his part in the crime and alert them to the theft. The NUS, or rather Rosalind Myers, couldn’t afford to lose the chip to Netwatch, who intended, just as she did, to lure Alt out of hiding and shackle her using Johnny Silverhand as bait. Needless to say, Netwatch was also deeply concerned by the Voodoo Boyz’ attempts to breach the Blackwall and make contact with Alt for their own purposes. Naturally they needed to put an end to such attempts. However, they also realised that they’d been presented with a unique opportunity. Lastly, after excising Silverhand from your grey matter, the FIA once again incarcerated him within a copy of the Relic that was made using stolen blueprints of the chip. Fortunately for the NUS, Anders Hellman’s predilections make him an easy target for blackmail. I hope that provides you with a little more clarity regarding the matter?’

V was shaking her head in wonder and disbelief at the scale of what she and Jackie had stumbled into, thanks to Dexter DeShawn’s arrogance and errors in judgement.

‘Fuck me!’

Thybault’s response was succinct and somewhat amused.

‘Quite.’