#lore talks

I posted it once as a response on Reddit, but I think I can post it here.

V and Jackie or why for such high profile job was hired 2 gonks?

My opinion is that these mercs are supposed to be flatlined anyway after. I believe the following is the possible scenario.

Job came from Dexter DeShawn, who is already a very shady fixer and wouldn’t be a first choice for any normal client. More over, instead of hiring pro mercs, Dex hired 2 gonks who doesn’t even have access or affiliate in Afterlife. Just try to pass the bodyguard, he won’t let V do it.

Also they are so low level that they don’t even realize Dex is shady. Jackie is literally hyping him up, talking about him like he’s some big legend. Most likely he just heard about him before he disappeared. If they actually knew he was gone for a while and fell off, they would probably think more before taking this job.

It’s quite possible that idea to steal the relic belongs to Yorinobu, who shared this info with Evelyn Parker and asked to hire a fixer to not involve himself, so in case of disaster nobody could track his involvement. Evelyn for sure knew that Dex is not a top fixer, that he was missing for a while, but hired him anyway. Why? Because she decided she can play with V and sell the relic herself. No other fixer with reputation would allow to do so. Underestimation that cost her life.

Why Yorinobu would do it? He knows the importance of the relic and it’s seen in Devil ending in Cyberpunk 2077 that he tried to destroy Arasaka from within. He tried to sell this specific relic to not let his father win. In Devil ending V literally helps Saburo to kill his son.

So back to the idea: to hire two unknown mercs craving for glory to go against Arasaka, knowing it’s Arasaka and still willing to try. Arrival of Saburo is not planned, but Yorinobu used the absence of Takemura and killed his father. I’m sure he did know about mercs that were hiding, so does Adam Smasher. Just take a look, he looked directly at their position when he entered. He can’t skip those by mistake, he knew and ignored it because that was the order.

Nah, it doesn't come off as rude at all. I do wanna say thank you so much for your kindness and for asking so politely. Also, thanks so much for showing such an interest in the story and for your compliments regarding the characterization.

In the spirit of Toph Beifong, I'll give the short answer first: Yes, I do have plans to update the fic soon.

Now, to lean more into Zuko's overthinking side - read below:

To be honest with you, part of the reason why I halted the development of further chapters is because I wasn't sure whether my characterization was true to their portrayals. I'm all for separation from canon but I also like the voice in which the original characters were portrayed, and wanted to build off of that. To hear someone liked how I portrayed them is so sweet!

I do plan to continue updating the chapter though, I actually have over 20 chapters mapped out - all I need to do is write them essentially. At the moment, though, I'm working on the development of my YT channel - so writing will be done in tandem with that.