Chapter 26: The_Konpeki_Connection.rlf

Yorinobu starts clapping with joy, approaching them while Panam and V stare at him with an icy stare.

Yorinobu: Vincent! Our employee of the century! It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance.

Yorinobu stops clapping and puts his hands behind his back.

Yorinobu: And you Ms. Palmer. An outstanding performance, truly outstanding, as always.

Vincent draws his Malorian, aiming it at Yorinobu, while Takemura pulls his katana from his holster, using his thumb.

Yorinobu: Vincent, you have done so much. The tower, my sister, Nix... I think the time has come for payback….彼らを連れて行け[Take them].

Suddenly an Arasaka assault team appears from the elevator while more soldiers appear behind Panam and Vincent. V tries to shoot, but the soldiers are faster than him, managing to block them both. 

Yorinobu slowly approaches Panam, who is being held back by two soldiers. He begins to caress her face while she moves her head away, looking at him, disgusted.

V: YOU SON OF A BITCH! LEAVE HER! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, BASTARD!

Yorinobu turns to Vincent, smiling mockingly at him.

Yorinobu: What would you like to do, Vincent?! You have no implants, no weapons, you have nothing....You're as clean as a virgin.

Yorinobu turns back to Panam, pulling a pair of metal glasses from his robe, V begins to panic.

V: NOOOO! I MADE HER DO IT! TAKE ME, PLEASE!

Yorinobu: Screaming won't help, Vincent.

Yorinobu approaches Panam, smiling at her while she stares at him, angry. After a moment of silence, Panam spits blood on his face. Yorinubo steps back and lifts his glasses, looking at them.

Yorinubo: This does not really suit a lady...Takemura, you do it.

Yorinubo hands the metal glasses to Takemura. He gets closer to Panam, pulling out a container containing a blue liquid.

V: TAKEMURA YOU OWE ME! I SAVED YOUR LIFE! LOOK AT ME! FUCKING LOOK AT ME! NOOOOO!

Takemura injects the blue liquid into Panam's neck, then puts the glasses on her face. Just before doing so, she looks at V one last time, afraid, as if she is saying goodbye to him with her eyes. V bursts into tears while Yorinubo calmly wipes his glasses.

V: Please…no…

The glasses emit a bright white light, illuminating Panam's face, she faints while being held up by the soldiers. She lowers her head as a small cloud of white smoke comes out of the glasses.

V: Panam…

V wakes up from shock and tries to free himself from the guards, screaming and crying.

V: YOU BASTARD!...I'LL KILL YOU!...I'LL RIP YOUR HEART OUT! SON OF A BITCH!

Yorinobu slowly approaches Panam grabbing the metallic glasses.

V: NO! YOU DON'T TOUCH HER! YOU DON'T TOUCH HER!

Yorinobu lifts the glasses from Panam's face. She slowly begins to move her right hand. V freezes and looks at her, in disbelief.

V: … Panam?!

Panam slowly lifts his head, looking at V, with a beautiful pair of brown eyes. V stops sobbing and crying.

V: What the…

The guards let Panam go, she runs toward the railing, slamming her back against it. Yorinobu approaches, grabbing her wrists, making her wince, then clutching, he breaks the handcuffs, throwing what remains of them to the ground. Finally he reaches out his hand toward Panam's chest.

Yorinobu: May I?

Yorinobu grabs the bandages Panam has on her chest, tearing them off. She looks down and notices that she no longer has a single injury, even the scar on her side is gone. She touches her face and notices that his nose is straight again, as is her lip. Finally she looks at his left arm, which is completely smooth.

Yorinobu: You must be freezing to death, Ms. Palmer.

Yorinobu takes off his robe and places it on Panam's shoulders, then stretches out his arm, pointing to V.

Yorinobu: Please.

Panam begins to back toward V. The guards let him go, and he immediately runs toward her, hugging her.

V: PANAM! Are you all right?!

Panam: I have...never felt…better.

Yorinobu looks at V, smiling.

Yorinobu: Vincent, my father was one hundred and fifty eight years old when I killed him. How do you think he got there? Healthy diet and exercise?!

V continues to caress and hold Panam as he cries. Yorinubo turns toward Takemura.

Yorinobu: 彼と話がしたいんだ.[Go, I want to talk with him.]

Takemura looks at him in disbelief.

Takemura: しかし…しかしです![But…But sir!]

Yorinobu: マックスウェルズに行って,あれが…あれが…あそこにあるのを確認してくれ.[Go to the Maxwells and make sure that...thing...is in there.]

Takemura along with the soldiers begin running down the stairs while Yorinobu leans on the railing.

Yorinobu: You know Vincent, it's a shame to meet in such a dreary place. After your last visit I renovated my office…I chose white. Everything is so bright now.

Yorinobu turns toward V and Panam.

Yorinobu: But it's only fair that we should meet at the end. After all, it started with me, didn't it?!

V, frightened and watery eyed, raises the Malorian and aims it at Yorinobu.

Yorinobu: Come on Vincent, put it away. We've seen enough violence for one day, haven't we?!

V slowly lowers the gun, looking alternately at Panam and Yorinobu.

V: W…Why?!

Yorinobu: Well Vincent, because we both share a similar fate.I had to die to absolve my father's sins and you…Yours.

Yorinobu lowers his eyes, becoming sad.

Yorinobu: But if you're looking for a precise answer all you have to do is go through your pockets…

V begins to search through his jacket and pulls out the silver cigarette holder. He looks at it in disbelief, staring at his reflection, and then looks at Yorinobu.

V: E..Evelyn?! But she…

Yorinobu: Screwed me, Vincent?! True…Or Maybe I just wanted to know if it would work.

Yorinobu begins to get emotional.

Yorinobu: Evelyn carried something far more valuable than a few corporate secrets.

V petrifies, opening his mouth wide, letting go of the cigarette case on the floor.

Yorinobu: I didn't care who she was. I loved her, Vincent. I sent her to monitor the Vodoo Boys and then had her set up the heist... She... She didn't understand the value of what I was trying to do and ran away in fear. She was just looking for a way out of Night City, like everyone else…Unfortunately, she found herself back on the chessboard, instead.

V puts his hands between his hair, sobbing. Panam looks at him puzzled.

Yorinobu: Neither you nor Ms. Alvarez could have done anything for her. But you avenged her, Vincent. And that's enough for me.

V: No…No…The Konpeki score…

Yorinobu: Vincent, don't you find it miraculous that two low level mercenaries manage to get into the safest hotel in Night City, steal a valuable corporate chip, all while escaping one of the most dangerous mercenaries who ever lived?

V: Bu…Bullshit…We…

Yorinobu smiles.

Yorinobu: Of all the engrams that could have been on the chip, just the one of Johnny Silverhand you had to find there. The man who had succeeded in destroying Arasaka. Amazing, don't you think?!

V stares at Yorinobu with a look that is a mixture of anger and pain.

V: Son of a bitch. You... You did this to me…

Yorinobu: No, Vincent. I didn't force you to take the hit, you did. And I hadn't chosen you anyway. I had chosen the big guy, what's his name….

V aims the gun at Yorinobu again. He raises his hands, as if to calm him down.

V: JACKIE!

Yorinobu: Jackie… Jackie… Sorry, Vincent.

V slowly lowers the Malorian.

Yorinobu: I had chosen him because let's face it, he knew his way around the business better than you did. But mostly because he had a family, a mother. You had nothing Vincent, no one would mourn you.

V begins to stare into the void, gasping.

Yorinobu: Everything was going according to plan, he was dying, and the chip would be activated. Suddenly, however, something unexpected happened. He took the chip off and gave it to you, so you became my bishop.

V begins to sob, again, while Panam tightens his hand.

V: You…You are just…

Yorinobu: I sent a team to take back his body. I would bring him back to the Mikoshi and then give him a new one, like you. Thought you were going to send him to your doctor…Viktor, right?! But you didn't. You sent him home, Vincent. Interesting move for a heartless mercenary…I didn't feel like depriving a mother of the right to mourn her child.

V stops sobbing and becomes angry. He clenches his fists, drawing his teeth, like a rabid dog.

V: You...You're just a fuckin' psychopath, moving people around, sitting in your fucking office, drinking tea…

Yorinobu: BULLSHIT, VINCENT! I don't force anyone to play, NO ONE! You have chosen this life for yourselves! You could have been anything but you chose to be a murderer.

V: What about you?! What are you? A coward. I know what I am, but every single person I killed brought me here, along with my willpower.

Yorinobu: Your… Your... WILLPOWER?! Vincent, all the choices you made or could have made would have only brought you six feet under or worse. 

Yorinobu points the finger at Panam.

Yorinobu: HER strength of will. SHE dragged you all the way here to save your soul, to hell and back...I can understand her, Vincent, but what were you doing it for?! A huge apartment?! A sports car?! A pool full of naked women?! To become a legend?! YOU WERE IN THE DARK, VINCENT! You needed a star...and I sent it to you.

V closes his eyes, defeated.

V: So Rogue…

Yorinobu: Of course Vincent, that's natural. Providential that all of The Atlantis is burned to the ground and only she survives. Do you remember why you contacted her? Hellman, our top engineer. Who, however, had decided to change teams. You thought you were working to save your life, but you were working for me...Everyone actually works for me in one way or another. The poetic thing is that she even managed to extort money from you...A wonderful case of an employee paying to work.

Panam looks at Yorinobu, disgusted. Suddenly he lets V go and grabs Yorinobu by the jacket, yelling at him.

Panam: YOU SLIMY SON OF A BITCH! YOU THINK YOU KNOW US, HUH?! Well I'll tell you a truth about your beloved little family…When that asshole burned your fucking tower to the ground along with half the city, you know who dug through the rubbles to save people? WE. The nomads. IF NIGHT CITY STILL EXISTS TODAY IT'S BECAUSE OF US, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?! And how did you thank us?! You spat us back into the desert like chewed bones.

Panam begins to get moved.

Panam: I saw the recordings...You had them digging with their bare hands in the middle of the radiation...There are people who started to melt while they were still alive, YOU ASSHOLE!

Panam squeezes Yorinobu's jacket even tighter, while he looks at her unmoved.

Panam: You are just a spoiled brat, born and raised in unbridled luxury. You know nothing about life, not a fucking thing. You don't even have a clue what it's like to have to fight for a meal or to survive.

Yorinobu lowers his head.

Yorinobu: I have never...ignored the true nature of my throne. That's why I left. But we cannot run away from our guilts forever, can we, Miss Palmer?! And anyway, you too could choose to do anything in Night City, even an honest job. Unfortunately, you chose the easy way and decided to enter our little play.

Panam lowers her eyes as Yorinobu becomes moved, almost teary.

Yorinobu: It broke my heart what happened to you and I mean it. So I decided to go against the rules and sent Takemura, to save you. Luckily, our Vincent was back in the game and he was able to get to checkers before me.

Panam lets Yorinobu go.

V: How...How did you convince Takemura to…

Yorinobu: My father had infected everybody, including Takemura and Hanako. He had taken away from him the most important thing of all: free will, Vincent. It took me an enormous amount of persuading. It's not easy to convince a man that his whole life has been a lie…When my men found him he was sleeping in the street and the city was pissing on his head. I freed him from vengeance and shame, giving him back a purpose. 

V: What about Hanako instead?! She didn't deserve to be saved, did she?! She was just a problem to be eliminated….

Yorinobu assumes an angry expression for a moment, then calms down and stares at V.

Yorinobu: My sister had become the life insurance policy on my father, Vincent. He only brought me back to the company so that I would sit on his right side and then, when the time came, I would have to gift my body so that my father's engram could reside there. I moved first, though, and rejected my fate

Yorinobu smiles sarcastically at V.

Yorinobu: I was just trying to make your choice easier. That's what would have awaited if you had followed my sister. You would have disappeared who knows where, strait-jacketed and frothing from the mouth. I couldn't let my precious investment go down the drain, and I won't deny you that when you were there on that roof I was very afraid…

V: The fuck is that supposed to mean?!

Yorinobu: I told you Vincent, free will. The choice was always yours alone, I watched in silence. Myers may be the owner of the house…But I own the telecommunications, the technology and the infrastructure. I own the land Vincent.

Yorinobu threateningly approaches V.

Yorinobu: And when you grabbed that gun on that balcony, I won't hide from you that I thought it was over…Why didn't you pull the trigger, Vincent?

Yorinobu stares at V, unmoved as he begins to move his lips, increasingly agitated. Panam stares at V, increasingly in pain.

Yorinobu: SAY IT!

V closes his eyes, again.

V: For her.

Panam begins to cry, while holding V's hand. Yorinobu smiles joyfully by placing his hands on V's shoulders.

Yorinobu: Of course Vincent! Do you understand the beauty of this?! My father ruled for more than a century with fear. But you can't just use fear alone, sooner or later someone will rebel. But with the right conditions the pieces…They move on their own.

V, with watery eyes, pushes Yorinobu away.

V: Fuck you…

Panam: If…If you wanted to destroy the Arasaka…Why Smasher?!

Yorinobu: Well, Ms. Palmer, it's not like I could just give you the keys to the house. In the eyes of the board it had to look like a full scale assault. You guys didn't show up alone, did you?! I'm not talking about Saul, I'm talking about that hideous digital creature. I only wanted to destroy the company, not all of humanity!

V: Your fucking plan…Do you have any idea how many people have died because of ALT?!

Yorinobu: What the hell do you want from me, Vincent?! You let her in, not me. You're the one who bought into her lies

Yorinobu turns away from V and leans on the railing, crossing his arms.

Yorinobu: But unfortunately, the assault on the Mikoshi was not enough. I still needed you, Vincent, but it was really hard to find you. None of you ever had much confidence in Ms. Palmer, but she knew exactly what she was doing. 

V: You were chasing us…

Yorinobu: No, Myers was after you. I wanted you back to finish what you started with Relic. I mean why have half the recipe when I could have all of it, don't you think? That's why when I found the smuggler I had to, you know…

Yorinobu moves two fingers back and forth, close to his neck, as if was mimicking beheading…

Yorinobu: Cut the loose ends.

Panam: You bastard.

Yorinobu: No, the words you were looking for is "thank you" I couldn't let Militech get to checkmate before me. They have much less refined methods than I do…Don't they Ms. Palmer?!

V turns toward Panam as she lowers her eyes.

Yorinobu: And so we come to the final stage of our game. As I was scrambling to find you, quite providentially two other players positioned themselves on my board. Eric was very confident, he even thought he had me, and I made him believe it.

V slowly lifts his eyes, angry, staring at Yorinobu straight in the face.

V: You did not stop even in front of a sick child. Fuckin' asshole…

Yorinobu: HE WAS NEVER ON MY TABLE, VINCENT! But his parents, yes! Do you think Eric did it because of that? For his son?! HE SOLD YOU OUT, VINCENT! For a fistful of eddies and to get his old life back.

V lowers back his eyes, hurt.

Yorinobu: This time, however, I didn't want any problems. I didn't want any setbacks. Takemura had to make sure to get the Maxwells, get you and Panam, and close this story as quickly as possible.

V: And you expect me to believe this load of crap?! He tried to tear me apart with his fuckin' Katana!

Yorinobu: Oh please Vincent, the body wasn't even yours. I told him not to hit you in the head, that's it. You may not believe me, I don't care. At this point there would be no point in lying to you.

V begins to rub his eyes in pure shock.

V: All this...It could have been avoided…

Yorinobu rests his hand on V's shoulder, looking at him sadly.

Yorinobu: No, Vincent. Not all of it. It wouldn't have worked because you would have stayed the same. You might as well have chosen the rebel path and broken into the tower on your own. You might have even got her, but you wouldn't have realized what you had and sooner or later… You would have lost her.

V explodes in howls of pure rage, pointing the Malorian at Yorinobu's head.

V: ENOUGH! YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT ME AND YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT HER! You think you're invincible?! You think you can beat a bullet to the head?! Uhm, ASSHOLE?!

Yorinobu smiles.

Yorinobu: V, don't you understand?! Arasaka, Militech, the NUSA....They are all sides of the same coin. You two have lived your whole lives under the illusion that you can do as you please, knocking down every obstacle with bullets, never changing. But that is not what life is all about, we all adapt and change. The only choice we have is to change for the worse or for the better, and that's it. You can even shoot me, take her and do one of your usual massacres…And then what?! The throne cannot remain vacant. Someone will come along, who will see you as a loose end to be closed and not as two employees to be retired.

V: And you expect me to believe that you're just going to let us go…Just like that?! Why?!

Yorinobu stares at V seriously, putting his arms back behind his back.

Yorinobu: Because you apologized, that's why. I am almost eighty-three years old, Vincent. I've never heard anybody apologize. Everyone finds excuses. Not you, you get it.

Vincent stares at Yorinobu for a while and then lowers his Malorian. He bursts into a loud, fat laugh.

V: Look, you almost had me with your fucking white jumpsuit and sandals, I mean it. You've been rambling for hours so now I'll tell you mine. You're just an asshole, like your father. You're afraid of dying too, just like him...That's what you came here for. There's no deep meaning or metaphor, you just want power and eddies, that's all.

V smiles as he looks at Yorinobu.

V: Do you know what it's like to kill someone?! And I'm not talking about a paralytic old shit. I mean to feel your heart exploding in your chest as you try not to die because you want to see the people you love again. No you don't, you're not cut out for it. That's why you quit the street life and came home with your tail between your legs, sucking daddy's dick. And you finally carved out this role as a mystical prophet who manipulates people into doing your dirty work. You are like that loser down there. No, actually worse, because you even have the nerve to judge people after destroying their lives…I'm not surprised at all that you offered him a job.

V stares at Yorinobu, looking for a reaction but he remains unmoved. Eventually Yorinobu smiles.

Yorinobu: Well Vincent, you got me. But I told you in truth, I really intend to use the technology we have here to do some good. I have already made a deal with the CEO of Biotechnica that is...Satisfactory to both sides.

V: Bullshit! Those who have eddies will live forever while the poor will have to say goodbye to the people they love, slowly watching them die. Those who resist will be forcibly stuffed into the Mikoshi, screaming in the dark for eternity. Not a fucking thing will change…

Yorinobu: Vincent, the Mikoshi no longer exists. I freed what few souls were still trapped there, and I will do the same for Alt and Johnny. They will be free to go to hell or heaven, but I will not be the one to decide. Besides, as I have already told you I have tried to destroy the Arasaka, but it is useless. My father built a machine that branches all the way into the bowels of the earth, it's pointless to try to pull the plug. But you can try to use it for a better purpose, don't you think? Unfortunately like all businesses it needs money to breathe. Don't blame me, that's capitalism, Vincent.

V stores the gun in the back of his pants, then he turns to Panam.

V: Whatever. I have everything I need and I don't want to buy anything, anymore.

V and Panam turn around walking slowly toward the elevator.

Yorinobu: What are you going to do, Vincent?

V stops and then turns back toward Yorinobu.

V: You said it yourself, we are retired. We are leaving.

Yorinobu: I am afraid it's more complicated than that. When Myers will discover the technology we have, she will do the only thing she is capable of doing: raging war…on a global scale. There is nowhere to hide.

V slowly turns and gets inside the elevator, along with Panam as Yorinobu stares at them, delighted.

Yorinobu: Oh and as for me, don't worry…I'll always know how to find you.

The elevator doors close, forever dividing Yorinobu from Vincent and Panam.