The surroundings shake for a second before I feel the familiar sensation of my heart dropping from the loss of altitude when the Surveyor hits some turbulence. Hellman, who's sitting next to me, flinches and tenses up. His body relaxes slightly when the flight smooths out again, but his left leg resumes anxious shaking soon after.

Across from me in the spacious cabin that was once for transporting passengers but has been converted for mostly cargo since then were three more people. V was sitting in the middle, with Evelyn to her left. The former doll wore a surprisingly muted black dress that reached just below her knees. Her attire and unmodified natural black hair gave her a surprisingly professional look.

Takemura was sitting on the other side of V. The Japanese former Arasaka bodyguard/operative was quietly stewing, clearly mulling over something in his mind. The game made him out to be a surprisingly naive character, always trusting that if he was allowed to explain himself, everyone would turn on Yorinobu. But even he seemed unsure of what we were about to do.

"Are you sure we can trust Michiko? The information you have brought to our attention makes her allegiances seem... questionable. I still think we should go directly to Hanako Sama."

At this point, I've slept on the whole Michiko situation and I've come to the conclusion that it was the best way forward. Of course, I understood where Takemura was coming from, but I couldn't let him do that. Going straight to Hanako without first figuring out a way to get rid of Saburo once and for all wasn't going to work in my favor. Hanako is too filial to not go against her father, and Takemura is too loyal to betray his employer, hence why I haven't told anyone that Saburo is still alive yet. That information leaking can make people do rash things. Takemura might jump ship once I try to remove the emperor, and Yorinobu might resort to even more extreme actions.

"She's still an Arasaka at the end of the day. And don't see this as falling into a potential trap, but an great chance to weaken the N.U.S.A. and Militech. And don't forget, we know her secret now as well. That's a hell of a bargaining chip if we ever need it."

I tried to play into Takemura's sensibilities as a loyal Saka operative by bringing in the fact that Michiko is still an Arasaka. The mention of weakening Militech at the same time seemed to be the final push that the Japanese man needed to get on board.

"Ok. But we do our own investigations to see just how deep the rabbit hole goes."

Sensible enough. I was probably going to do that anyways. As we finished our conversation, I felt the Surveyor slow down, and a voice came over the intercom.

"NS479, this is Konpeki Air Traffic Control. You are entering our air space; please confirm your intent."

Cassidy, the only Vet with experience flying in the Unification War, responded with his familiar southern draw.

"Konpeki ATC, this is NS479. We have a scheduled meeting with Michiko Arasaka on floor 72, conference hall 208. Sending identification now."

Cassidy then hit a few buttons and flipped a switch on the instrument panel. After a dozen or so seconds, the Konpeki ATC came back over the radio.

"NS479, we've confirmed your information and have informed Mrs. Arasaka of your arrival. Please maintain airspeed of below 40 knots. Landing pad 1-03, located on the North Eastern side, has been made available for your landing. Route has been sent to your AV."

"Route received, Konpeki ATC. Airspeed below 40 knots and approaching Landing pad 1-03."

The Surveyor gradually lost altitude before making a bank to the right before another to the left. The AV then slowed down even more before eventually coming to a crawl and landing. Cassidy then walked out of the cockpit and into the cargo bay.

"Remember your masks and scramblers. I'll be here when you're done. Good luck and Godspeed."

I nodded silently at him before unbuckling and standing up from my seat. I then pulled a black mask out of a pocket and put it on before grabbing the sunglasses that hung from the crevice in my dress shirt and donning it. I then clicked a small button on the side and heard a quiet beep. Looking around, I saw everyone else also wearing their sunglasses and masks. Evelyn was the only one who stood out, with her gold mask and heart-shaped and red-tinted shades. This was unlike mine, V's, and Takemura's, which were square and tinted black.

Since our group of five had four people on Arasaka's most-wanted list, we had to think of a way to get in without our identities leaking. The first part of that was not going through the main entrance. Too many eyes, too many cameras, too many things that can go wrong. Thankfully, taking the Surveyor to one of the landing pads was the perfect solution. Of course, that still left the problem of being identified by employees and security, which is where the glasses and masks came in.

The masks were simply there to cover half our faces, while the sunglasses were dual-purpose. Obviously, they hid the eyes, hiding most of the face's identifying features with the mask. What isn't obvious are the small electronics hidden inside that emitted a jamming signal that scrambled our faces on cameras.

But the fact that we were wearing so much visually obscuring clothing alone was also suspicious, so our meeting was arranged with the fabricated story that me, V, and Takemura were the bodyguards for a celebrity, Evelyn, who secretively wanted a meeting with Arasaka to break free from her management company. We didn't trust Hellman to play the part, so he's supposed to be Evelyn's manager. Celebrities meeting with corpos and hashing out secret deals were not unheard of in Night City, so the meeting, with the help of a favor from the dad of the girl I saved from the Shivs, was pushed through.

As we lined up near the sizeable swinging door, with me in the front and V and Takemura standing in front of Hellman and Evelyn, I hoped everything would go well since my entire plan hinged on getting Michiko's support. The side opened, showing a group of five on the landing pad waiting for us, two of whom wore suits, while the other three were armed with rifles and wearing vests.

When we disembarked from the Surveyor, one of the men in suits walked up to greet us. When he got closer, I was able to realize that the symbol on his uniform was that of the Konpeki's and not Arasaka's 

"Hello, Mr...?"

"Rogers is fine."

I decided to give them my real last name, well, at least the one this body had before I took over. It seems best to have at least one of us be honest, especially since I should be the least well-known of our bunch and come up as clean if they ever decided to dig any further.

"I would like to thank you and your employer for visiting Konpeki Plaza, Mr. Rogers. We understand that your client wants to stay anonymous, but due to recent events, we must insist on confirming everyone's identity and conducting a search."

That... was not something I wanted to hear. Despite being unable to see behind me, I could already feel everybody tensing and Hellman nearly shitting his pants.

"No. Exposing her identity is absolutely off the table."

In the game, it seemed like the only people after my four compadres were Arasaka, so if this was anywhere else, I might have considered it. The problem was that Arasaka basically owned Konpeki and that the 'recent events', aka V causing a shit storm, happened here, and therefore the staff had a much higher chance of knowing who she was. There was no way I would let them take a look behind our cover, so I was hoping that coming out the gate firm would either make them back down or get them to settle with only seeing me.

The man who asked if they could confirm our identities frowned slightly before turning his head and looking back at the three armed guards. They said nothing, and only one responded by simply shaking their head. The man who greeted us then turned back around with a smile. It's one of those fake smiles where the person tries to seem friendly, but everyone knows it's just for show.

"I'm sorry, but we won't be able to accommodate your client's request. We must insist on confirming everyone's identity before letting you in."

Just as I was about to offer them to confirm my identity as a compromise, all three guards raised a finger to an earpiece hidden inside their ears. It didn't take a genius to figure something was off as their body language tightened, and they began stealing looks at V. After whatever message they received finished, the one who shook his head started walking towards us. At the same time, I could see the other two shift their hands to grip their rifles in a loose ready stance.

Fuck.

Did they realize who V was? Looking around, I noticed a few cameras. Did the security team inside monitoring the landing pad recognize the merc somehow? We changed her hairstyle and had her grow out the shaved side of her head. Maybe the cameras' technology countered the scrambling and the face recognition gave a ping? 

As my brain was racing, trying to piece together what was happening, the security guard pushed past the two regular employees, cut off our conversation, and pointed at V.

"You. Please take off your mask right now."

Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!

Trying to recover from the situation, I stood before the guard's finger and tried to look indignified while glaring at the guard.

"We will do no such thing."

I then looked past the guard at the employee I was talking to.

"Is this how Konpeki Plaza treats its guests? This is unacceptably rude behavior."

The employee raised his hands, trying to de-escalate.

"I'm incredibly sorry if we come off as rude, but we promise that everything we do is to meet the highest standard of safety expected of us. It is just a routine check, and I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."

Routine check my ass. The guard literally singled out V and demanded she identify herself. Seeing the state of affairs quickly souring, I decided it was time to go.

"Demanding a specific member of our client's bodyguard to expose her identity is not standard practice. We are incredibly disappointed with the lack of professionalism shown and will be leaving."

Our group, who heard the entire conversation, turned around to make our way back into the Surveyor. But before I could even get a few steps away, I was stopped by a hand grabbing my shoulder.

"Your group can not leave before we check that person. Do not attempt to move any further."

The tone clearly marked this as a demand, not a request. I could feel the tension quickly building and was now teetering upon the edge of panic. I could even see Takemura and V, the experienced solos, begin to get visibly uncomfortable.

Whipping around in mock fury, I pushed the hand off my shoulder before jabbing my finger into the guard's chest.

"You have no power to do give any such orders. We WILL leave immediately, and you will be reported to the relevant authorities for attempted false imprisonment."

As I watched the other two guards blatantly shift their bodies and guns into low ready, anticipating a fight break out, my mind was going a mile a minute. As every awkward moment of silence went by, violence seemed more and more likely like the only option. Right as I felt we were reaching the tipping point, the door behind all the Konpeki employees slid open, and an old Asian man walked out.

"When I was asked to find out why the honored guests Michiko Sama was expecting to see were taking so long, I wasn't expecting to see them on the verge of a gunfight. Can someone please explain to me why Konpeki is antagonizing our guests?"

A mane of grey hair matched the bushy white beard, which framed a face betraying its age through the collection of wrinkles. The man was unassuming, of average build and height, wearing an old green jacket over a blue suit and white shirt. A stern frown adorned his face, clearly unhappy at what he witnessed so far. Hearing what the older man said, one of the business suit Konpeki workers rushed over and tried to appease him.

"Zaburo San! I assure you that everything is under control, and the slight delay is due to a routine security check."

I didn't know who this Zaburo person was, but he was affiliated with Michiko somehow and considered very important by the Konpeki workers. Deciding that this was the opportunity I sought, I played the victim.

"Routine security check? You demanded my client reveal her identity despite our expressed desire to keep it a secret. You then ordered one of our guards to remove her mask and glasses, and when we rejected such rudeness, you denied our right to leave the premises. Are routines at Konpeki always so unreasonable? Or is it just for Michiko Arasaka's guests?"

I hoped that reasserting that we were here on behalf of Michiko Arasaka would put extra pressure on the Konepki employees, which seemed to have worked. After hearing my recounting what happened, Zaburo looked back at the worker and raised an eyebrow.

"That sure doesn't sound routine to me. Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

The poor employee's mouth opened and shut before he stuttered out a response.

"W-while what Mr. Rogers said might have happened, the seriousness is exaggerated, and I'm sure everything is just a misunderstanding and miscommu-!"

"Enough!"

Zaburo apparently has heard enough at this point and raised his hand to stop the employee mid-sentence.

"We will not tolerate any further delays. Their details have been cleared ahead of time. They will come with me, and their identities will be kept a secret. Am I understood?"

"But, Zaburo San, I'm sure one such as yourself understands that security is a top concern, especially after the rece-!"

"Am I Understood?"

"I... Of course, Zaburo San, I understand. We are deeply sorry for any inconvenience we have caused."

"Good. Now, please come with me. Michiko Sama is this way."

Zaburo turned around before opening and holding the door, clearly expecting us to follow him. Looking behind me, I saw the uncertain expression on everybody's face, which I was sure I also shared. Surprisingly, the usually stoic Takemura was the one who looked the most uncertain right now. Deciding that if this were a trap, they would have already sprung it, I decided to proceed.

Hopefully, I wasn't jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.