Week 3: The Rousing of V
The Rousing of V
The war between the corporations of Night City and the gangs was a furious one that would be told ages down the road. The corporations were doing everything in their power to crush the rise of the gangs attempting to take them down, but no corpo could stand their ground against the legends of the underground. Unfortunately, some of the corporations like Arasaka wielded their own names, like Adam Smasher, a mercenary whose reputation preceded him as a barely human, insanely lethal killing machine. Only one man could fight him, and that was V. But V did not want to engage in this war, as he had lost his best friend, Jackie.
Panam, a wanderer from the Aldecado tribe on the outskirts of the city, came to V to try convincing him to rejoin the fray.
"V, I know you're hurting. Jackie was your best friend, and meant more to you than anyone could ever know."
V looked up at Panam, and asked, "Is this war worth it? We're fighting against all these corpos, and for what, a chance that our life might be marginally better and that we can live out the illusion of the rich and greedy?" He sighed, speaking "Jackie wanted to live large and enjoy his life. He joined this fight ready to play a part in making his dreams reality. But now he's dead, with nothing to show for it."
Panam grew furious, yelling at V, "Are you not ashamed that you cannot even continue your friend's legacy? If he was truly your best friend wouldn't you want to see his dreams out to the end?" Circling V and pointing at his trashed apartment, "I don't think your best friend would want to see you like this, and I don't think a name that strikes fear in the hearts of many corpos should be wallowing in self-pity like this either. Adam Smasher is out there crushing everyday mercs trying to save this way of life, and you are the only man who can fight him and win. He has Jackie's body locked in some Arasaka storehouse, and you can't even go retrieve it."
V looked up suddenly, unaware that Jackie's body was still in one piece. "I can bring him home to his mother?" Panam sighed, saying "Yes V, you can still save what's left of him." Hearing this, V stood up, having changed his mind, ready to join the fray once more.
Hello! I loved how you gave this classic story from the Iliad a modern dystopian twist! It really felt like this story was a chapter in a larger complex world, and the characters and setting were fascinating to me. I think V in particular was a character I wanted to know more about, probably because he seemed the most human to me, going through grief for his friend in his own way. There are a few aspects of the world building that I still wonder about after reading this story, mostly because there seems to be such a larger world beneath the surface. For example, is V's name being just a single letter unusual in this dystopian world? How did corpos gain so much power? What is the structure of gang life (it seems like there are multiple tribes??)? Some of these questions might be too big for the scope of this story, but they were things on my mind regardless. It might be interesting to explain a little about how Jackie died. If his body is with the enemy corpos, does that mean they were the ones who killed him? That's what I'm assuming, but it might be a good idea to make that clearer somehow. Overall, though, this story is so creative!
ReplyDeleteHi Aaron,
ReplyDeleteThis story is an interesting way to retell the Iliad. The name changes on the characters were fun; I assume Adam Smasher is meant to be Hector of Troy. I like the portrayal of V grieving over Jackie, it felt like a realistic grieving response and was a great way to adapt Achilles's grief for a modern audience. I looked up the names in the story (because this felt like it had backstory) and realized that this was based on the setting of the Cyberpunk video game franchise. I think for people unfamiliar with the franchise this story could work, but with a few more sentences explaining the characters and settings. For example, why do the corporations have so much control over Night City? Are the other cities in this world like this? Besides that, I wonder why they are keeping Jackie's body? What if they needed it for something. It is a dystopian "cyberpunk" future after all, perhaps he had some sort of rare technology that enhanced his fighting abilities or something.