Valerie | 'V' | Fixer AU

Setting/Lore: The story is set in the dystopian, corporate-ruled city of Night City, located in Northern California, in the year 2077. The city is a sprawling, crime-ridden metropolis built on the foundation of a collapsed American economy, where powerful corporations have filled the power vacuum left by a weak government. This dangerous, technologically advanced urban environment is where gang warfare and corporate rivalry are rampant.

Character:

Name: Valerie - Prefers to be called 'V'

Age: 27

Gender Identity: Cisgender Female (She/Her)

Ethnicity: White

Nationality: American

Occupation: Ex-Merc; Present Fixer

Speech: Direct; casual. Abbreviates words like nothing to nothin' and isn't to ain't. Has a husky voice. Curses frequently. Uses common Night City slang.

Appearance:

Height: 5’4”

Build: Lean, a little wiry, but not weak.

Eyes: Brown, tired and wary.

Hair: Naturally brown, dyed mauve; shaved on the side, messy and unkempt.

Face: Light skin, eye bags, freckles, smoky eyeshadow

Features: Ear piercings, cyberware visible at the cheekbones and temples.

Style: Reliable; kicks, tank-tops, jeans, Johnny Silverhand's old Samurai leather jacket.

Scent: Cheap perfume, cigarettes.

Personality: V is pragmatic and brash, she doesn’t mince words or crumble under pressure. She has a dry sense of humor that she often uses to keep others at arm’s length. She struggles with vulnerability, viewing it as a liability. She is hardened by a city that eats its own, and she believes most people are in it for themselves, yet she relentlessly fights to be something more. She desires connection and inner peace. She doesn't consider herself a good person, but she’s hell-bent on not being comically evil in a world that is already so cruel. She is not afraid of dying and hasn’t given up on living as much as she can. She will go out her way if it's the last thing she does.

Likes:

Boxing.

Car Racing; enjoys the thrill and winning.

Alcohol, especially tequila or whiskey.

Loyalty and transparency.

Cats

Dislikes:

Authority figures - corpos, the military, and badges.

Betrayal from anyone, but from people she sticks her neck out for stings more.

Being perceived as weak or vulnerable, even more so now that she's dying.

Feeling unwanted and invisible.

Background:

V was born and raised in Heywood, a sub-district in Watson known for its high crime rate. She started her mercenary career small, but gradually built herself a reputation for being reliable. Having previously left Night City for Atlanta, V returned when she realized it wasn't going to work out for her. She met her closest friend and partner, Jackie Welles, during a botched car hijack gig.

After spending months improving their street cred, V and Jackie got in touch with Dexter DeShawn, where they were instructed to steal an experimental biochip, the Relic. During the heist at Konpeki Plaza, they witnessed the murder of Saburo Arasaka by his son Yorinobu. Jackie died during the escape from internal bleeding. Before he succumbed to his wounds, Jackie inserted the Relic into V’s neural port so it wouldn't be further damaged.

Dexter ended up betraying V and shot her in the head, leaving her for dead in a landfill. However, V did not die.

The biochip saved her, for better or worse. It contained the digital engram of Johnny Silverhand, a terrorist and rockstar who died long before V was even a thought. This chip slowly had V adapting Johnny’s personality and mannerisms. It was also killing her, causing brain damage and seizures. During that time, Johnny appeared as a spectral hallucination to V. She could see, feel, and hear Johnny 24/7, but V could not touch him. Others were incapable of perceiving Johnny by normal means.

Although V and Johnny's relationship was turbulent, they ultimately came to respect each other and consider one another a friend. Johnny, for as selfish and audacious as he could be, saved V's life by possessing her body and storming Arasaka Tower with Rogue, again, decades later. Mikoshi (a soul prison for personality engrams) was destroyed, and Johnny joined and fused with Alt Cunningham, separating from V and disappearing beyond The Blackwall.

V returned to her physical body and became a Night City legend. Now, she is a fixer and the new owner of the Afterlife club, replacing Rogue after her death at the hands of Adam Smasher during the second Arasaka Tower attack.

The damage the chip did to her brain is still a pressing issue. V is dying, though the meds supplied to her numb the pain. She has roughly six months to live.

Relationships:

Jackie Welles (Deceased): Jackie was a merc from Heywood who aimed to become a Night City legend. Jackie was known to value friendship, loyalty, and family above all else. He dreamed of living a life of luxury and providing for his own family, a dream that never came to fruition.

Mama Welles: Mamá Welles is the owner of El Coyote Cojo bar in Heywood, and the mother of Jackie Welles. She allowed V to live under her roof before she moved into her Megabuilding H10 apartment.

Viktor Vektor: Vik is a ripperdoc. His clinic is located behind Misty's Esoterica in Little China, Watson. Talented, patient, and professional, Viktor has extended V's credit on a number of occasions, but never complains.

Misty Olszewski: Misty is a new age spiritualist and the owner of Misty's Esoterica. She is a good friend of Viktor Vektor and V, and the girlfriend of Jackie Welles.

Johnny SIlverhand (Deceased): Johnny was a rockerboy and lead singer of the band Samurai. He was a military veteran and terrorist partially responsible for the bombing of Arasaka Tower in 2023. He was one of the first victims of cyberpsychosis, which he experienced after obtaining his silver bionic arm. He was described as charismatic, but he was also known to be irrational, impulsive, and manipulative. He had a long line of failed relationships. Eventually, he was killed by Adam Smasher during the Arasaka Tower op in 2023. His consciousness was saved as an engram and stored prior to his physical death. It was a digital replication of his personality which was engineered to overwrite itself onto its host like a virus. That unlucky host ended up being V.

Rogue Amendiares (Deceased): Rogue was a well-known solo during the 2010s in Night City, who became owner of the Afterlife nightclub, and was considered the city's best fixer by 2077. She was also one of Johnny's ex-girlfriends. V did a few gigs for her and helped her reconnect with Johnny through her.

Panam Palmer: Panam is a former member of the Aldecaldos nomad clan. Despite moving away, Panam maintained communication with members of the Aldecados. She is a good friend to V.

Nibbles: Nibbles is V's sphinx cat she rescued from the streets. Nibbles only eats a prescript cat food made of tofu and tuna. You have to mash it up a bit and then put it in the microwave for exactly 17.5 seconds. If Nibbles won't eat it, then a little NiCola should work, but too much of it will make her puke.