Chapter Text
“Ah shit,” V said after setting his nose back in place, motherfucking cunt-bag who decided to punch him out.
“You alright V, what happened to your nose?” Jackie Welles asked him. V raised his eyebrow at the chipper merc and showed off bruised knuckles. Jackie and V were well acquainted, from different neighbourhoods but crossed paths in the Coyote many times, had even done the odd job together.
“Some scav tried to mug me, I took care of it, what about you, how you’d your job go?” V asked him.
“Eh, did the thing and got the eddies, Padre was looking for you by the way, said he’s got a new job for you, he’s outside,” Jackie said to him.
“Sure, order me some Centzan will ya?” V replied and got up from his seat.
“Sure thing, Pepe, two tequila’s and keep V’s on ice for him,” Jackie said to Pepe as V walked out of the Coyote.
Outside Padre was waiting at his car.
“V, good to see you, how are things?” he asked V.
“Pretty good Padre, Jackie said you had a job for me,” V answered. Padre nodded and handed him a photo.
“See this man,” Padre said pointing to a dark-haired thinly haired man with a slimy looking grin.
“Wait…I know this guy,” V’s brow furrowed at the photo. “Fucking Gaston Slayton, obsessed with Samurai and Kerry Eurodyne, he tried to steal my Second Conflict jacket after I refused to sell it to him.”
“Then you might appreciate this job, I have a client, you might know who, he needs you to recover an item that is in Gaston’s apartment, Kerry Eurodyne’s guitar, the job pays well and when you have the guitar, you need to return it direct to Mr Eurodyne at his residence in North Oak, you know the one, yes?” Padre asked. V nodded.
“Yeah, the one with the gold-plated Samurai, sure, I can get Kerry his guitar, just one thing…how did Gaston obtain the guitar from Kerry’s place, heard he has wicked security?” he asked.
“Mr Slayton hired a couple thieves to steal it for him, from what I gather, they were successful in the robbery, but did not make it back alive, the apartment in question is just down the road, seventeenth floor, apartment 1702, get that guitar and you get your eddies,” Padre explained.
“Alright Padre, just down the road, I can get it done,” V agreed. Stealing a priceless guitar and a chance to meet Kerry Eurodyne, he was going to need his bike.
V went back inside the Coyote and saw Jackie was still waiting with his tequila.
“Well, I’m about to meet a rock star, so I need my bike, it still in the garage?” V asked Jackie and downed his tequila.
“Sure thing, I fixed up the engine a little so it purrs like a kitten now, plus I gave it a little shine and cleared up some scuffs,” Jackie replied.
“Thanks Jack, alright I’m going to get it, what are your plans?”
“Date with my girl Misty, she also says you’re due for a tarot reading,” Jackie replied.
“Tell her I’ll drop by after my job, also take my wheels, I’m not using it tonight,” V said and handed Jackie the key to his car. He headed out the back of the Coyote and towards the garages on Republic where Jackie kept their bikes. He unlocked the door with his spare key and grabbed his bike out, the blue was really shining today, V noticed. Jackie must have used his special wax.
V started his bike, climbing on and riding the short distance to Slayton’s apartment. He walked inside, gun in his holster.
“Jesus, that Slayton fuck is playing his music at full blast again, why haven’t they evicted him?” one of Slayton’s neighbours whined in the lobby.
“Slayton’s not in today is he?” V inquired to the neighbour.
“No he decided to fuck off to some auction today and keep his music playing full blast,” the neighbour answered.
“Alright, well I can go and turn it off for you, just don’t tell anyone it was me,” V said with a wink. The neighbour nodded in agreement as V went to the lift and pushed the screen for the seventeenth floor. V glanced up at the camera and back at the door. Stealing Kerry Eurodyne’s guitar, a dream job for him, maybe if he was feeling a little sneaky he could grab a few more trinkets from Gaston’s apartment. The lift opened up on the seventeenth floor and he walked to the door of the apartment. He scanned the door with his optics, bypassing the lock and quickly slipping inside. His mouth dropped at the sight of the apartment, a temple to Samurai.
“Fuck and I thought I was a nerd because I own some Samurai bootlegs,” V said to himself as he turned off the music. He searched the apartment, heading up the stairs into Gaston’s bedroom. More posters, and a photograph of Gaston with Kerry, a good decade old, he could tell. V took the photo out of the frame and smirked at it, Gaston really was a slime ball, he thought to himself and ripped the photo in half, he put the Kerry half into his pocket letting the Gaston half fall to the floor. That was for trying to take his jacket, was it petty, absolutely, but he was also committing theft, so morals were out the window here. He turned to the computer and started to hack in. V could admit he was a bit of a Samurai fanboy, had some old bootlegs, a 2020 shirt, and a Kerry Eurodyne Second Conflict jacket, all sold to him by the old geezer in the Cherry Blossom market near Jig-Jig street, he even had a couple old tour posters, but he also listened to other music and he had to admit that Pon-Pon Shit despite being literal Bubblegum vomit was catchy and he could tolerate it. The hack worked, and Gaston’s PC was unlocked.
“Alright, where do you keep that guitar,” V muttered as he looked through the emails. “Shit, he was willing to pay to look like Kerry himself,” V said jacking his neural interface back into the computer and downloading copies of the emails. A bit of blackmail perhaps, could be useful stuff, V thought as he checked the files. Nothing to suggest a passcode, but there was a door with remote access to the computer. He pressed to unlock the door and heard the whoosh of a door opening. Cautious, V kept his hand on his holster as he went through the other door leading into the bedroom and saw an open door leading into a room filled with musical equipment and Kerry’s guitar.
“Preem,” V whispered, in awe of the guitar, he walked over and picked it up from the display. He put the strap over his shoulder, delicately caressing the neck, stroking the strings softly. He wanted to pluck a tune, the need was great.
“No V, you got your own axe, let’s get you home buddy,” V said to the guitar and let the guitar hang from his back. As he went back into the bedroom to set everything back, he spotted an open suitcase and a pair of leather pants, he picked them up, no way were they Gaston’s too small, but for V, they were a good fit for himself. V looked at the name tag and saw a J.S scribbled in and faded.
“J S, no,” V said not believing it, and put the pants into his bag. He reset the computer, logging out and quickly headed for the door.
Locking the apartment behind him, V got back into the elevator and called Padre.
“I have secured the item,” V confirmed.
“Excellent, I will inform Mr Eurodyne that you are to be expected,” Padre answered and hung up. The lift door opened as V walked into the lobby, the neighbour was no longer there but Gaston was at the desk arguing with the concierge.
“What the fuck do you mean that the music was turned off?” he shouted to her.
“Please Mr Slayton,” she began as V quickly high-tailed it to the door before Gaston could turn around. As he reached the door, he head it.
“Who the fuck was allowed access to my apartment!” Gaston shouted again as V started to run, his bike was right there, shining blue and ready to go.
“Oh I hate that guy,” V muttered to himself as he jumped onto the bike, started ignition and kicked off. The bike revved angrily as V rode out of the building’s parking lot and down through Heywood. Time to ride to North Oak.