"Hi, Berry, what's wrong with you?" Misty, in the shop, saw Berry enter and walked out from behind the counter to greet her, only to see Berry hobbling in, holding her leg. She immediately asked curiously.
"I, I..." Berry struggled to sit on a leather chair in the shop. Hearing Misty's question, she blushed, not knowing how to explain.
"Hi, Misty, good morning!" Jackie and V walked in, subtly helping Berry out of her predicament.
"V, Jackie." Misty turned and waved at them. "Oh, V, Doctor Viktor can see you now."
"Okay, I'll go right away." V nodded.
"Then I'll wait for you here. I want to have a private chat with Misty." Jackie said this, but his gossipy heart was burning, his gaze darting back and forth between the awkward Berry and V, clearly enjoying the show.
"Want to come along?" V reached out as she passed Berry.
"Hmph." Berry turned her head away, ignoring V.
She was furious now, thinking that she would give V the silent treatment to let her know that she wasn't so easily manipulated.
Of course, for V, this was just her little girlfriend throwing a tantrum.
"Then I'll go by myself. You wait for me obediently here." She affectionately stroked Berry's head, then deftly slipped out the back door before Berry could react with an angry sound, leaving only her lingering voice echoing in the doorway.
Fuming, Berry could only reluctantly sit back down.
Covering her face, Berry could only sulk to herself.
She didn't know where V had learned all these flirtatious tricks.
Since that morning, V seemed like a different person, no longer hiding her intentions towards her, her gaze fixed on her, as if afraid others wouldn't notice.
What kind of person was she? She was a true hero, determined to become a legend of Night City, a strong, unyielding person who could even claim a seat at Liangshan Marsh. To be taken down by a mere cool Girl like V? Impossible, absolutely impossible.
Just thinking about it wasn't enough, Berry stomped her feet twice on the floor, pretending it was V's annoying face underneath.
Only after doing all this did Berry reluctantly compose herself.
It's so quiet. Didn't only V leave? Jackie? Misty? Why is no one talking?
At this moment, Berry realized something was wrong and looked up, her gaze perfectly meeting two pairs of hot, gossipy eyes.
Jackie and Misty were leaning against opposite sides of the counter, both looking at her with gossipy expressions, completely like spectators enjoying a show.
Damn, did those two see all her antics just now?
Eyes wide, Berry suddenly felt a surge of immense shame, her face flushing crimson.
"Cough, cough, haha, Berry, actually we didn't see anything, right, Misty?" Seeing Berry's reaction, how could they not understand that the Girl was shy? They quickly tried to smooth things over.
"Yes, yes, Jackie and I were just talking about, um, what were we talking about?" Misty also desperately tried to suppress the auntie smile on her lips.
"Oh, right, speaking of the most awesome fixer in Night City, Dexter DeShawn, he gave us a big job..."
Jackie and Misty were still clumsily performing, but Berry could no longer suppress the shame in her heart. Finally, after a moment of contemplation, she suddenly covered her face and pushed open the back door, hiding like a little Girl.
"I, I'm going to see how things are with Viktor."
Lowering her head and covering her face, she ran out in one smooth motion. Watching Berry's shy escape, Misty and Jackie exchanged smiles.
"By the way, shouldn't we remind Berry? She still has hickeys on her neck." Misty covered her small mouth, her eyes full of amusement.
"Nah, no need." Jackie waved his hand with a smile. "When we first got together, we played a lot more than this."
V and Berry, still playing their game of chase, didn't know that these two were the real heavyweights.
Viktor's clinic was in the basement of the alley behind Misty's shop, just a left turn out the door.
Stepping out, in the dilapidated alley, several gentlemen lay on the ground, smoking and getting high on 'leaves', while a few homeless old brothers, wearing cheap braindance gear, drooled and chuckled lewdly on tattered mats.
Night City was just like this, always able to ruin a hard-won good mood with its worst face.
However, looking at this familiar, decadent, rundown street scene, Berry actually felt a sense of calm.
That's right, she was a Mercenary making a living in this city, rotten to the core, a city troublemaker determined to become a legend, a heinous criminal in the eyes of the NCPD. In this city, she could do whatever she wanted with whomever she wanted, sleep with whomever she wanted.
How could she be taken down by a mere V? Ridiculous. Thinking this, Berry regained her masculine confidence from her profession and strode into Viktor's clinic.
Walking down the stairs, V and Viktor's conversation drifted up.
"...Dexter DeShawn, Jackie said he got a job from him, very mysterious, said he wanted to meet in person, I'll have to go later." This clear female voice, one could tell it was V.
"Oh? Dexter DeShawn. Hmm, quite famous, but I guess you haven't gotten paid yet." Viktor's voice was weathered and steady, like those middle-aged protagonists in American dramas with glorious pasts, his eyes full of stories.
"Oh, Viktor." As if hearing the sound behind her, V suddenly raised her voice. "I want to install some new gear, the real stuff. Enhance my vision, and replace an arm, preferably a fully mechanical one!"
Viktor raised an eyebrow at V, but didn't move a finger, because he knew V was just teasing.
Of course, he wasn't the one being teased, and he was happy to watch the show.
"You wouldn't dare!" Sure enough, before V's words had even finished, Berry's angry voice immediately followed.
Taking the stairs two steps at a time, the fuming Berry quickly reached the two of them.
"You promised me you wouldn't install any more cyberware on yourself!" Berry looked at V's teasing expression, baring her teeth like a furious kitten.
She had just calmed down three seconds ago, but this rogue V had broken her defenses again. She was so angry she wanted to bite her.
And looking at the flustered Berry, V hugged her arms and teased, "Oh, I thought you forgot."
Seeing V's roguish demeanor, Berry realized she had been tricked again.
Too angry for words, Berry, a man of 1.8 meters, was red-faced and thick-necked, pointing at V and stammering, too flustered to speak.
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, Berry, I was just kidding." Seeing that Berry was truly flustered, the 1.72-meter V quickly put an arm around Berry's shoulder, pulling her head into her embrace to comfort her.
This time, Berry didn't rush to push V away, but instead clutched V's clothes, filled with trepidation.
Although she had come to the Cyberpunk world, Berry had always disliked cyberware. She hadn't installed any cyberware on herself.
Because she always had this one worry.
Cutting off one's perfectly healthy organs and replacing them with cold machinery, it was as if a part of that person, or rather, a part of their soul, would leave the body along with the bloody flesh that was cut off, and the person would no longer be the original person.
If it was for treating an incurable disease and replacing one or two cyberware, that would be fine, but in this cyber world, replacing cyberware wasn't like a medical treatment, but rather like changing a phone case or a piece of clothing, a casual matter. People would happily go and replace a cyberware, destroying their original flesh and blood to pieces.
Such contempt, even disdain, for one's original flesh and blood, treating it like a plaything, was terrifying in Berry's eyes; she absolutely could not accept it.
Replacing an arm today, a leg tomorrow, some exaggerated cases like Adam Smasher, replacing everything until only half a skull was from their mother's womb. After all that, could that person still be said to be their original self?
And the thought that V might also do this made Berry feel unacceptable. For her, V's scent, warmth, and the touch of her skin were all part of who V was.
If V also replaced her entire body with cold machinery, even an embrace wouldn't convey the other's warmth, nor would she hear their heartbeat. Could she still look at such a V with the same eyes?
It was like, in the continuous modification surgeries, the original V would die off piece by piece, until in the end, only a cold machine with V's memories remained.
Just imagining this filled Berry's heart with immense fear.