Brian screeches the Butte to a halt on gravel and dirt. They find themselves on the outskirts of Night City in the Badlands... He hops out of the car and walks in front of it gazing out at the distant, silent glow of NC... with feint green plumes of aftermath smoke off in the far distance. With his adrenaline rushing he hears Zaunya's passenger door open. He looks back directly at her before B-Lining it up to her pissed off, her shout stops him in his tracks right in front of her as he irately listens.
"WE GOT WHAT WE CAME FOR..." She yells in a raised defensive tone. "This was the-"
"What THE FUCK was going through your head back there!? That was a fuckin Petrochem warehouse buried in the FUCKIN GROUND!!"
"We just needed the data to the!-"
Brian leans in close lowering his voice and looking directly into her eyes instinctually making her step back intimidated. He grits his teeth... a tone of anger and disbelief. "Petrochem's a fucking MEGACORP!! They're gonna have eyes all over this shit! Corpos don't give a fuck about the first strike... they make sure they take the last one... and for WHAT!?" He pauses briefly.
"You're not a merc, you're a fuckin' terrorist." He whispers to himself as he steps away and turns his back to her.
The pair separate and share a long pause... allowing the ambient sounds of the baron badlands to take over briefly. Zaunya finally speaks in a softened, forthcoming tone... narrating her own recollections.
"I was born in Night City... not really how most people are though... there wasn't much in the way of a childhood where i come from..." Zaunya's boots kick rocks and scrape gravel as she walks toward the edge of the cliff... looking out into silent glow of Night City. She continues.
"I come from a legacy family of security... Protectors of some of the most high-value assets in the city. My grandfather was once sworn shield to the PetroChem CEO himself. His abilities were second to none... Heightened sense of awareness, sharp reflexes... but most importantly... unwavering loyalty to the corp. These gifts... abilities... permeated throughout the family... raising our status and value overtime beyond that of even some of the most valued corpos in the city. Fear and success... kept us safe... gave us access to a life lived by few and desired by all..."
"My mom was shield to a PetroChem board executive... one of the highest ranking members of the company... born into it of course. They uhm... they didn't give us names." Zaunya says shakily as a flashback begins:
Zaunya's mom is seen engaged in high intensity combat training in different scenarios against various opponents. Skillfully stopping or immobilizing each one after the other with brutal technique while using her cyberware augmentations to maximum efficiency. Petrochem executives and developers whisper amongst each other as they watch her showcase her capabilities with the latest in chrome and tactical training PetroChem had to offer. As if they were looking at the latest Rayfield super-sport model being showcased... she was just another product. Everything from Robot R MK 2s to slabs of concrete and granite are effortlessly cut down by her speed and power. The discretion of her implants was paramount as well... needing to maintain a professional look when with the appropriate clientele.
"Training was life. The only driving motivation we had was... to do everything in our power to keep PetroChem HVTs safe."
Zaunya's mother is next seen at a high level corpo meeting taking place in a neon soaked bar deep in Night City, stood behind an executive she's assigned to. An assassin resembling that of someone gone cyberpsycho crashes in through a nearby window at break neck speed. Several other security are decapitated through the psycho's sheer forward momentum charging toward his target before he lunges for her executive. Zaunya's mom quickly steps in between the two of them causing her to be impaled by the assassin's mantis blade through the gut. The impact of the strike sends her blood flying directly into the face of her executive before he's yanked out of the way to safety by another suit. She instinctually shrieks in pain before gripping on tightly and shoving the mantis blade deeper into her own gut... pulling the psycho in closer allowing her to grab his head. Before he can swing his other blade, she squeezes with all of her strength... blood seeps out of her mouth with an intense look on her face as she crushes his skull into an explosion of brains and metal that covers her face. She falls facedown motionless on top of the headless corpse as her executive scrambles away in fear now surrounded by a small army.
"Sacrifice... was our purpose of living."
Several other PetroChem bodyguards swarm the area in the aftermath around Zaunya's mom rushing to her aid, rolling her over, and securing the perimeter around her and the executive.
"Always figured they didn't name us because... we needed to be expendable. Nothing more than a write-off... if anything were to happen to us... It was like we never existed. How we were viewed to the corp in public was nothing like how we were viewed in private... even amongst those of status and absolute power. Being the weapon in a room full of targets often put you at the top of this weird... social hierarchy. Such a contrast... fucked with our heads."
You next hear Zaunya's mother's high-heels tapping across a marble floor in a pristine executive office... shes wearing a thin gold slip accentuating her curves and highlighting her long legs. She opens a concealed door on the wall toward the back of the office, leading into a hidden room.
The room housed a bed with bright neon pink lights surrounding it... flooding the room with vibrancy... pink silk sheets that shined in the dim light with various mirrors surrounding the room all focused on the bed. The Petro executive, leaned back on the bed with no shirt on watches her enter the room with fire and lust in his eyes. He looks her up and down... slowly gazing at her face all the way down her body to her feet. Zaunya's mom slides the door closed.
"After things started to settle down... Petro execs needed less protection and more... service."
Zaunya pauses and takes a deep breath, struggling to find the words she wants to say next. Brian continues to listen from the hood of the Butte, watching her stare off into the city from behind her. The silhouette of her long black hair lightly blowing in the wind along with the tail flaps of her modified kuomori trench coat. She continues.
"I was late to cleaning the execs office one evening at the end of the day... hadn't seen my mom around for quite some time at that point. I just... pressed up against the wall lightly by accident and the door slid open... scared the shit out of me."
Young Zaunya walks into the hidden room where she is met with a neon pink ambient glow and a spotless bedroom setup. It grabs ahold of her curiosity and draws her in.. The door slides closed behind her as she slowly walks throughout the room covering herself in neon pink ambient lighting and slowly taking it all in with her mouth agape... wondering what the hell all this is... it was as if she had stepped into another world. It was warm... the marbled floors were heated... and the mirrors were spotless. Even though dead silent... the room carried intensity... an energy she couldn't possibly describe but certainly felt.
Zaunya hears the front door to the executive office beep and slide open causing her to gasp and turn around. She then hears the sound of a man talking loudly with a slurred speech and a woman giggling alongside him as the sounds of their steps grow closer. She recognizes her mother's giggle and instinctually dives under the bed to hide... her heart begins to race as the tandem steps of dress shoes and high heels on the marble floor grow closer toward the hidden door. Before she can even think, the door slides open and the pair bring their outting energy into the bedroom. Zaunya sees only her mother's feet in high heels next to a pair of dress shoes as she giggles while being pushed onto the bed... the exectuive quickly follows behind her.
The combined weight of the two slams onto the bed forcing it down slightly on top of Zaunya's back making her jump and opening her eyes wide. She forces her hands over her mouth before she hears her mom speak.
"You've had too much. I can tell." She says to the executive while giggling.
"Ahh... too much- Never! hahahaha!... Never too much of you!" He responds before starting to make out with her on the bed.
As the action progresses and the movement on the bed increases in intensity... Zaunya hears the sounds of moaning in ecstasy turn to fear and turmoil.
As the executives tempo increases.. so do his grunts of pleasure... as do Zaunya's mom's grunts of pain. The bed continues to give under their combined weight lightly pressing down on Zaunya's back.
"S-slow down! What are you d-doing!? S-STOP!" Zaunya's mom struggles to say... he grabs her by the throat tightly with one hand and pins her arm down to the bed with the other... with all of his strength continuing to pump harder and harder.
"S-STOP!! PLEASE!!!" Zaunya's mother struggles to yell through her teeth as she shrieks with her breath being taken away... the executive continues to grunt even louder. Zaunya's mom goes silent as the executive continues holding her down by her neck and pumping as hard as he can.
Zaunya under the bed covers her ears with her arms as the bed presses down on top of her repeatedly.
Zaunya takes another drag of her smoke before closing her eyes tight, forcing tears down the side of her cheeks as she turns her head to the side. The distant neon glow of the Night Cityscape catches a slight reflection off of her tears. She continues to recall the past after taking a moment to gather herself:
Several days later, young Zaunya is now seen sat at the opposite end of the executives desk subtly staring at the hidden door in a trance. She's now surrounded by a bunch of nameless suits who have gathered around her for a meeting at the executive's desk without him in attendance. His new assistant speaks to her in a softened, feminine tone feinting excitement.
"Good morning Zaunya! I hope you're having a good day. We just wanted to come together to share some great news with you!" Zaunya looks up at the woman... staring at her manufactured smile.
"Y-Your mother has been assigned to PetroChem Abroad! This is one of the highest honors to be sure! She'll be responsible for overseeing all of the most important protection and safety initiatives of the entire company! She will even have her own personal team under her leadership!"
Little Zaunya, intimidated by the imposing suits around her, is forced to sit and listen to the woman. As the sound of the woman's voice fades into the background... Zaunya looks back over at the hidden door as tension begins to course through her body... rendering her unable to breath as she begins to hyperventilate.
The sound of the woman repeatedly calling her name snaps her out of it, causing her to quickly look up at her.
"Zaunya...? Zaunya? Your mother even took the time to leave you a message that we have for you right here." Zaunya, confused in disbelief quickly sits up in her seat and focuses in on the laptop in front of her... her eyes begin to well-up.
She sees her mom sat at a blank brown desk with a muted black background behind her in a pre-recorded video. Her mom gathers herself on video slightly before speaking.
"Uhm... H-Hi Zaunya! Sorry I couldn't see you... before I left." She pauses and glances at several of the people off camera.
"I've... i've been told that my services are in high demand throughout the companies' various locations and... they'll be needing me far outside of Night City." She pauses again, at a loss for words... struggling to find the next ones before continuing.
"I'm... i'm not sure when i'll be back sweetie..." She says now staring into the camera as if talking to her daughter in person with no one else around.
"Please... please take care of yourself... my... my sweet baby girl." She says half smiling and half crying.
She pauses even longer as her and Zaunya stare each other deep in the eyes through the screen... the world around them fades to black.
"...I love you honey." She whispers cracking her voice.
The video cuts. Leaving nothing behind but a blank screensaver and text that reads: 'PETROCHEM'