「 女教皇 」

the lighter she’s turning over in her hands isn’t the proverbial olive branch that n54 had claimed she’d arrived with. gabriel bore a horn upon him - but the sainted lady is no angel, and this is not yet judgment day; though it very well could be, if she allowed things to continue on the path both titans had been walking. she remembers donald lundee and his temper, that rage that burned him up inside. will militech not act? act for its country, its people? will it not act? act! she remembers the strike upon their own offices; the way the dust had settled and the quiet that smothered them after. she remembers the retaliation; the blood, the casualties almost in the millions. the circle had to be broken, it had to stop somewhere; or they’d eat up the world before it could ever know peace. 

she’s been here before, all too often. she knows she has. the settings and faces may change, but the habit remains. in many ways, our lady thinks of herself and hanako as two sides of the same coin: damage control; providing empathy for a megacorp that had never had a soul. and yet, there is a difference; small as it may be, but still keenly felt all the same. militech may be a mess of employees and chairmen all fighting for control, but arasaka? the heart of an entire family - fail to defend it, and it would splinter and crack; never to be repaired again. how poetic, she thinks. how dangerous. and where does hanako fit in all of this? it is not lost on her that it took all this for them to meet face to face. all this, and a few dozen armed guards at the door - for insurance, she’d been told. never know who might try what in night city - from within or without. 

arasaka is a wolf crying in pain,  a wounded predator bleeding on the snow whose wails echo through the forest,  loud & piercing past wind & trees it begs to be heard .  it cares for its prey no longer,  small creatures that now scurry into the underbrush,  lucky to be alive & lost to the night .  no,  it cares only for survival,  a hurting anger that clings to life though it has been dealt a mortal blow .  whatever it takes,  whoever comes to its rescue,  raw instinct is all that makes it drag itself forward,  snarling,  growling,  toward a hand offering help & the cost to their pride has long vanished from hanako’s consideration .

the cybernetics underneath her eyes whirl,  they spring to life anew an ocean of light blue & she is once more the heart of her family,  a beating organ inside their exposed rib-cage .

under different circumstances she would not entertain militech for longer than her vague smile & soft tone could extend their uncertain truce,  peace from a conflict lasting decades & a war she had viewed from afar .  the comfort of her prison in tokyo,  the familiar sting of an active cyberdeck letting her float in a sea of information & gaze past the bars of her cell,  lined with gold .  she watched her half-brother take his own life in shame & did not weep,  she felt her father’s life snuffed from its shell & it was the same,  it seemed arasakas are destined to die in night city .  on her many days of travel she wondered how her end would come,  if militech would break arasaka’s trust,  if the turrets & targeting systems beneath the kujira would suddenly fail & they would be left to mercy of the monsters at sea .  

Prompts from the main quest of Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red:

❝ Do I look like a priest that runs a charity to you? ❞

❝ I’m a man of my word, you know that. ❞

❝ You know this town. It has strong roots - ever watered by the same blood. ❞

❝ I don’t know you, which means you’re worth shit around here and capable of even less. ❞

❝ I’m pleased to see you have not forgotten your roots. ❞

❝ So many of the little shits left around here… their spines go soft when they look down a barrel. ❞

❝ Listen, only one of two ways to do this friendly or fucked up. Either way, the ending’s the same. ❞

❝ I suggest you toss them in the sea. Cuffed legs broken so this trash doesn’t float. ❞

❝ I’m always never not nice! ❞

❝ Would you rather live in peace as Mr. Nobody, die dipe, old and smellin’ slightly of urine? Or go down for all times in a blaze of glory, smellin’ near like posies, ‘thout seein’ your thirtieth? ❞

❝ Call me ol’ fashioned, but I like to look anyone I do biz within the eye. ❞

❝ Sneeze in this city and a blossom drops from a cherry tree in Tokyo. ❞

❝ Sit your ass down ‘fore I plant a bullet in your skull. ❞

❝ No offense, but I’m gonna burn any and all bridges - need a clean break. ❞

❝ I see no reason why you should be using expletives. ❞

❝ The greatest crimes issue from a desire for excess and not from necessity. ❞

❝ You’d be surprised what people’re willin’ to give up to feel secure. ❞

❝ Why do I need to care about some bougie prick and his street-kid fantasies? ❞

❝ I’m ____. Would you like to join my gang? ❞

❝ Got bored of bein’ rich, an’ then got bored of playin’ tough. ❞

❝ I thought I told you not to meddle in my affairs. ❞

❝ Did you think I wouldn’t know it was taken from me? ❞

❝ Actually, I don’t think of you at all. Ever. ❞

❝ You think the world revolves around you. Arrogant. ❞

❝ Why did you came? To humiliate me? To personally see to it that I know my place? ❞

❝ The nail that protrudes from the wall gets hammered… ❞

❝ You’ve only ever cared about yourself… and your sick schemes. ❞

❝ There is much for which I could forgive you, but for treason - no. ❞

❝ I’m just glad your mother didn’t live to see this. The heart should break but once. ❞

❝ You shall never have to forgive me for anything again. ❞

❝ Anyone with so much as a pinky toe dipped in this mess is as good as dead! ❞

❝ Seems I’ve chosen the quiet life, after all. No blaze o’ glory for me. ❞

❝ What crawled up your ass? ❞

❝ I have found that people lie, most often deceiving themselves. ❞

❝ The dead are so very, very loud. And yet, lying is not in their nature. ❞

❝ Don’t you dare faint again. Keep your eyes open. ❞

❝ Sleep’s a small hint of death, the inevitable. ❞

❝ It’ll be terrifying. It’ll be painful. But it doesn’t have to be. ❞

❝ As long as you’re alive, there’s hope. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. ❞

❝ Life is so beautifully powerful, so much more powerful than death. ❞

❝ I’ll kill anyone who gets in my way. You included. ❞

❝ Need a smoke. Where’d you stash yours? ❞

❝ I can feel it… our minds… touching… I’m like mold on fruit… creepin’ into you… nothing I can do about it. You hear me?! I’d puke if I fuckin’ could! ❞

❝ I am the one who saved your life. ❞

❝ If you intend to live, you must reenter the ring. The bell has already tolled. ❞

❝ I needed you to live. That hasn’t changed. ❞

❝ ____, wait. I need you. ❞

❝ I seek revenge. Much more feasible here. ❞

❝ Honor among thieves - ever heard of it? ❞

❝ Rats’ll squeal when hangin’ by their tails. ❞

❝ You know you got some nerve. First you’re out to kill me, now you wanna be my pal?! ❞

❝ Trust me. Don’t trust me. I don’t give a fuck. It’s the least of our worries anyway. ❞

❝ You’re the ghost of Christmas past, asshole. Any Friends you had’re either dead or so old their memory’s gone. ❞

❝ I died a legend. Nobody forgets that. ❞

❝ There is no “us.” ❞

❝ Funerals are for the living, not the dead. ❞

❝ I’m bulletproof. Nothing bad’ll ever happen to me. ❞

❝ Make your best friends among the fighters that’ll knock you out cold. ❞

❝ Days like this even the meanest motherfuckers pay their respects. ❞

❝ I’m here to say goodbye to a good man. ❞

❝ You will bring death to your door. ❞

❝ My one concern is to keep you safe in this city forgotten by the Gods. ❞

❝ Unlike you, I have not failed to keep my oath to fulfil my duty. ❞

❝ You’re an engram in a fading mind. Nothing should surprise you anymore. ❞

❝ Little something called intuition. Ever heard of it? ❞

❝ Fuck the menu, let’s ditch this waitress and take our special order to the chef, point-blank. ❞

❝ I’m here to fulfill your deepest, most hidden desire. ❞

❝ When true desires go unfulfilled, they turn into needs. ❞

❝ Death’s’ absurdity, the futile struggle before these terrify you. ❞

❝ What you really fear is becoming someone else that you don’t recognise in the least. ❞

❝ The people I’ve lost live on in my thoughts. And that’s where I’ll be - a memory. ❞

❝ You don’t see death as a destruction, the end, but as change. ❞

❝ I’m afraid of becoming someone else, forgetting who I am. ❞

❝ You’re already becoming someone else, every second of every day. ❞

❝ You’ve never backed down from anything in your life, even when you maybe should’ve. You go through this city knowing a stray bullet could end you while hailing a cab. But that’s never stopped you from taking action, and it won’t stop you now.  ❞

❝ You’ve made an impact. ❞

❝ Not a single thing in this world isn’t in the process of becoming something else. Likewise you. ❞

❝ Never look back. If you gotta kill, kill. If you gotta burn it all to the ground, then let it burn. ❞

❝ Everything has its end. ❞

❝ What gave me away? It’s the hair, isn’t it. ❞

❝ Couldn’t meet somewhere else? Not big on funerals. ❞

❝ No details, no names. No one knows a thing. ❞

❝ Got a feeling we’re not gonna become best friends. No chemistry. ❞

❝ Is that at all relevant? Or just a cheap scare tactic? ❞

❝ We have our own versions of all. We do not use anything from the city. ❞

❝ Technology advances, it cannot be stopped. And now catastrophe, come again. This is sure. And soon. The corporations, they do not see de danger. But we - we will be ready. ❞

❝ To piss Arasaka off enough so they’ll give you a case of deep-muscle lead poisoning? ❞

❝ It’s not YOUR band. You’re no solo act. Gonna crash and pull all of us down, too. ❞

❝ I’m the only one with a vision. So unless you got a better one, like I said - Go Fuck. Your. Self. ❞

❝ Said you weren’t coming tonight. Not If I can help it. ❞

❝ Always gotta shit all over it, don’t you? Any moment that might actually feel good. ❞

❝ What, smoking after sex not Zen enough for you? We gotta rewrite “The Art of War,” too? ❞

❝ You can be such a bastard sometimes. ❞

❝ How is it subtlety goes so for over your head? Weird for an artist. ❞

❝ It’s all a lie. All of it. A ginormous fiction. You’re not a rockerboy. Face it. Oughta join the wired wackos on the corners, frothing at the mouth as they scream “Death to Arasaka!” ❞

❝ Think you’ve seen through me, do you? ❞

❝ We came here to fuck each other’s brains out, not analyze mine. ❞

❝ Not another goddamn word, OK? Just shut up. For once. ❞

❝ You don’t know fuck all about me. This is all we have, all we are. ❞

❝ God, I hate this fucking town. Hate these slimy fucking fixers. Hate this fucking bar. ❞

❝ Where would you rather be now? I could take you away, out to the lands where my clan roams. There aren’t too many jobs out there, but… we’d find some other useful ways to kill time. ❞

❝ Gotta say, that famed charm of yours - overhyped. Or maybe just dulling with age. ❞

❝ Were you going for Dickwipe of the Year? ❞

❝ You’re pushin’ bullshit. Heard more than my share of tales 'bout runners who ran off to Never-Never Netland. Just never thought you’d be the next to tell me one. ❞

❝ Do you see me as a demon who requires a pact signed in blood? ❞

❝ Your death was of your own making. ❞

❝ This should be obvious to you as you were responsible for her death. ❞

❝ You lack the cred, you lack the gusto - that’s your problem. ❞

❝ It’s the part where I say I despise petty merc-thiefs who think they’re hot shit rebels after settin foot in the Afterlife. Might think you took on Arasaka, but you’re just a bug they scraped off the sole of their boot and tossed in the trash. ❞

❝ Been tryin’ to learn how you’re wired this whole time. To know who I’m dealin’ with. Thought you were just unlucky to hirst. But I kept watchin’ and finally realized what your problem is. You’re dirt from Heywood who found the guts to walk a few extra blocks from home. But turned out the best you can do is chase scavs for ennies. ❞

❝ An arrogant asshole’s no small problem, but it ain’t my biggest. Dyin’ is. ❞

❝ Death by becoming someone else… You didn’t do anything to deserve that fate. ❞

❝ You afraid of death? ❞

❝ Worst thing you can do to a human - rip their identity out of 'em. That’s all I know. ❞

❝ Know what? Seems to me you need to have a nemesis, at all times. Ideally a crazy powerful one to feed your ego… and the’ve gotta be practically unbeatable - to justify a suicide run. ❞

❝ I’ll decide your fate, fuck all you can do. ❞

❝ I’ve declared war not 'cause capitalism’s a thorn in my side or outta nostalgia for an America gone by. This war’s a people’s war against a system that’s spiralled outta our control. It’s a war against the fuckin’ forces of entropy, understand?! ❞

❝ Do whatever it takes to stop 'em, defeat 'em, gut 'em. If I gotta kill, I’ll kill. ❞

❝ You still don’t see it. But you will one day. ❞

❝ Two-bit thief, ain’t I? Keep sayin’ so yourself. ❞

❝ Think his pretty eyes landed him that gig? ❞

❝ Far as I can see, you’re tryna get us killed. Really like to know why. ❞

❝ Well, sounds like a suicide run, but done dumber shit than this so… ❞

❝ To make the right decisions with imperfect knowledge… that is how you become the world’s most powerful man. ❞

❝ I sense that you judge me. And yet you have no right to. ❞

❝ There are no clean hands. But it is important how they become dirty. ❞

❝ They gave me what no one else could - values I could honor, live for. This was most important. You dirty your hands for money. I, in the name of principles. ❞

❝ Not everybody wants to change the world. ❞

❝ You oppose the corporations, their order, their world, in a mindless way, yet you offer no worthy alternative. ❞

❝ You show me filthy streets as if no other world exists, as if nothing else is possible. What of the millions who work for corporations and receive stability, safety? ❞

❝ People hate corps more than anything. Can’t blame 'em, elther. ❞

❝ Sometimes I wish to become a nomad. To leave this world, forget everything. ❞

❝ Nomads aren’t lone wolves with egos. Whether they’re blood or not - family comes first. ❞

❝ That day, we both have lost someone important. And we are not at peace with this, so we seek conflict, argue eagerly. ❞

❝ Don’t be smart, got no idea what I feel. ❞

❝ It is the duty of the living to atone for the dead. ❞

❝ You got fuck-all to lose! ❞

❝ You and your fuckin’ sick sense of honor… Today’s your lucky day, though. ❞

❝ Everyone has their role to play in this spectacle. ❞

❝ Think they make these motels especially for royal fuck-ups like us? ❞

❝ Decide to cross a corp, this is what happens. You think you just stepped in shit. Actually, you fell headfirst into a cesspit. ❞

❝ Doesn’t matter how good you are in Night City. On your own, you’re fucked. ❞

❝ My dead body’d make for a pretty lame-ass witness. ❞

❝ It is difficult to choose the right path when each step is a journey into the unknown. But never forget that you are not alone. ❞

❝ I saved your ass, got you outta harm’s way, and you’re still gonna doubt my intentions? ❞

❝ I think fear of death’s got you spewin’ misdirected anger. ❞

❝ Ordinary people always lose. ❞

❝ When the time comes, it’ll be my life for yours. ❞

❝ Hey, Satan kicked me outta hell, thought I’d swing by. ❞

❝ Decide whose truth matters to you more - yours or somebody else’s? ❞

❝ Only place you fall asleep thinkin’ you’re special, then wake up knowin’ you’re no one. ❞

❝ Night City is a city of shadows. Done everything I could to walk clear of 'em for years. ❞

❝ One chapter ends, another begins. ❞

❝ You knew abut didn’t do a thing about it? Why? Suddenly sprout a conscience just yesterday? ❞

❝ Everyone must take their place. ❞

❝ This is your last chance to take matters into your own hands. Understand? ❞

❝ Got a feeling you’re going to regret this decision. And the moment that dawns I won’t be there to help. ❞

❝ Some believe uncertainty is an evil that should be dispelled through divination. Others claim it’s change that is evil. But that isn’t true either. ❞

❝ Every minute of every day, we each be come someone new. ❞

❝ We shouldn’t fear change itself, but only who we might change into. ❞

❝ Betraying a friend - you can’t justify that. ❞

❝ Got no right to judge me. ❞

❝ This is why I have remained outside, uninvolved. So as no to have to make decisions such as these. ❞

❝ I believe has just begun. ❞

❝ Watch your tone or it will be you who will find it hard to walk. ❞

❝ Sometimes you have to look the truth right in the eye. ❞

❝ You have… a very honest look. ❞

❝ Symbols are more resilient than you think. ❞

❝ No matter what happens… you must trust me. ❞

❝ Either you let yourself be fooled like children, or you were guided by opportunism.  ❞

❝ Violent delights with violent ends. ❞

❝ He once told me anything of value is only a flag blowing in the wind. And wind is fear. ❞

❝ If planting bombs is not enough, what do you do? You become the bomb. ❞

❝ Fate is a fickle mistress, isn’t she? ❞

❝ You betrayed yourself. ❞

❝ We’re a tangled web, you and me. ❞

❝ What is perfect requires no change. ❞

❝ I did not come with empty hands. We must speak about your options. ❞

❝ Got no idea how sweet it is to be free. ❞

❝ To ash and dust. ❞

❝ As I see it, they braided this wip that’ll sting 'em. ❞

❝ Just like old times. ❞

❝ No idea how this is gonna end, but let me tell ya - it’ll be one loud morning. ❞

❝ We fought for beauty. Not knowin’ what was good or true, was only the beautiful that meant a damn thing to us. ❞

❝ Can’t turn back time ever - but, you can always start over. ❞

❝ Their generation - made of a different mettle. ❞

❝ Just promise me one thing, asshole. That you won’t forget me. ❞

❝ Self-confidence worthy of a legend. Or of someone risking it all. ❞

❝ I sense you know what it’s like to lose everything. To fight for one last breath. I see it in you. ❞

“Put a goldfish in the river, and what you get is a carp. They only stay beautiful in their bowl.“

❛  you  know  your  brother  gave  me  a  pretty  sweet  deal  to  join.   ❜  samara tilts her head, her eyes glowing gold for a moment.  ❛  thought  arasaka  was  a  united  front,  but,  given  that  you  wanna  meet  me  i’m  assuming…  not  so  much?  ❜

a deduction that does not sting as much as the knowledge her brother had already made his offer,  with his outranking her everything moved in slow motion & she was left at a disadvantage,  a position of striking unfamiliarity,  an unknown .  hanako remains stoic,  unflinching,  if one were to scan for each infinitesimal movement of her face perhaps her features might suggest a scowl,  a hint of displeasure that dug wrinkles across her forehead .

❛  but  you’re  the  one  who  came  to  me,  miss  arasaka.  ❜  it’s a bold fucking move, and at times like this samara wish she had alcohol to give her some kind of liquid courage. however, it’s a delicate game the upper echelon play; like chess before a crowd. one slip up, one slight and it is simply over. no going back. no safety net. it’s a game samara learned how to imitate with ease out of necessity. a street kid from pacifica would never have risen to her level in militech had she done anything else that would’ve shown her humble beginnings. she shifts, white eyes taking in the leader of the dove faction of arasaka, and she swallows.

there is a certain scorn disguised in how her head lowers ever slightly,  a subtle movement to the left as she responds,  a colourless,  odourless poison on her tongue,  “  stories of her life before the tragedy of death have painted her in high regard,  ”  a netrunner of such great skill she was equivalent to the woman who designed soulkiller,  one reason of many as to why rumours of mikoshi have spread across night city’s net & littered onto its streets .  

so causally brought up in conversation before an arasaka & wrestling vitriol from hanako’s pristine demeanour,  outwardly contained as light taps of her golden fingers on the tabletop,  a few notes from debussy’s reverie,  supposed to carry deceptive serenity whenever it is performed .