Does Victoria Dream of Electric Afflictions? Ch. I (MNM RP)

[Veronica Strader]

Vee & Ronnie’s Apartment
The Glen, Night City
April 6th, 2077
(offcam)

“Well, that was a hell of a job.”

Victoria stands at her sink, naked and pulling her hair back into her signature ponytail. She brings her hand up to her face and traces the line of the cybernetics that have been installed in her head. She steps away and steps into her shower, turning the water almost unbearably hot. The sanitizing and multiple filtration water systems fire up. The hot water begins to wash the blood off of her. She checks herself for cuts, but none of the blood belongs to her; it was all from her clients' abductors.

“Hope Ronnie is alright; she didn’t seem great after finding the client.”

Earlier in the day…

“So that’s the gig?”

“Rescue, Ronnie-San. Miss Davis has gone missing, and your job is to find her and make sure she hasn’t left this earthly plane,” the petite Japanese lady says to the twins sitting across from her in the office of local Fixer Wakako Okada.

“Any idea who has her? Where to begin looking?” Vee asks, who has brought up a notepad through her optic implants and is taking notes.

“Miss Davies is a successful netrunner with top-of-the-line chrome installed in her. The Raffen Shivs or any other band of Wraiths, Victoria-San. Now, are we done with the questions? I am a very busy lady,” Wakako replies coldly, as she always seems to do; the twins had noticed since taking jobs from her.

“That’s enough to go on, I think. Come on, Vee, let's get out of Wakako’s hair.”

Vee responds as she rises, closing her optic notes.

“Yes, of course. Thank you, Miss Okada-San.”

“Do not disappoint me, ladies,” she responds without looking up from her desk.

Vee and Ronnie take a few steps out onto Jig-Jig Street, the hub of the seedier types of adventure for the perverse and dirty of mind. Male and female Joy-Toy’s are scattered amongst the XXX Stores, a conveniently placed weapons shop just down the street if you are the type to kill your hooker after. Plenty of dumpsters. Vee watches her breath crystalize as she leans against the rail, looking out at the blue and pink neon lights illuminating the marketplace of sex and depravity. She knew this wouldn’t be the easiest job they had taken since arriving after the match in Dublin.

“What a lovely neighbourhood, MWAH!”

While Vee leans forward, Ronnie leans her back against the rail and looks behind quickly before settling onto her elbows. She pulls out a cigarette case, motioning towards Vee, but she holds her hand up to decline. After a click of the lighter and drag of her cigarette, she looks over at Vee and taps her on the forearm.

“Hey, you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I was just scanning the city map. It looks the client could be in one of two places: Charter Hill, east of the city or the unfinished tunnel that connects Westbrook to Charter Hill,” she replies, her pupils moving around setting markers. Ronnie can see the map close in her eyes from the reflection on her irises, making her own notes. Vee nods at Ronnie, making their way out onto the street, cars driving by well over the speed limit, but this wasn’t unusual. Vee brings up her left wrist and taps the LED screen on a black synth leather band around it.

“Ride is on her way.”

“Ya know, I think that might be my favourite thing about this place,” she says, and no sooner do the words leave her mouth…

HONK HONK!

Victoria’s hunter green Quadra Type-66 640-S rolls up in front of them. Ronnie slides across the front of the hood, and Vee shakes her head.

“You scratch the paint, and I'll stuff your ARCH’s tailpipe with a banana,” she says as she puts the car in gear when Ronnie is in.

“Synth-Banana, you mean. Man, no one is going to believe us… ya know, where we have been,” and Vee can hear the cosmic hilarity in Ronnie’s voice. All she can do is smile and hit the accelerator.

“Yeah, I know, but people still believe “australia” is a real place, so what they say is invalid. It’s not like we crash-landed off the coast of some island and doing Massacres every week in the wild.”

“Yeah, that would never happen.”



Mysterious Island
South Pacific, Possibly “australia”
April 9th, 2022
(On Cam, somehow)

“From a concrete jungle to an actual one, how fitting.”

The fire in front of her burned low, but it was hot; a pot of stew was simmering in a pot hanging above it for Tamika because Meghan thought it was funny. Her mom stood beside it, stirring away, whistling “Spin Me Right Round”. Auntie Tee was right; something animalistic but motherly had overcome Meghan. She worked in tandem with the OCW Champion as he hunted down the animals for Meghan to butcher and cook for everyone.

“Wild times.”

Standing, she looks around to see if Ronnie had returned from Outcast’s tent, but she was nowhere to be seen. Meghan was busy cooking away, but she would catch her mom’s glances and smiles at her from time to time, that she would happily return as Meghan headed over to a “prep” area she had set up. From out of nowhere, Tamika plops down on her left on the ground, instantly leaning back against the log Vee sits on. Our Craze Champion wraps her arms around her calf, leaning into Victoria’s knee with a hug.

“Oh, it’s so good to have you back, kiddo. Your mom was lost without you.”

“I was lost without all of you, but, if I am being honest?” she says, sliding down to the ground beside her. “I have been lost a long time. But I have found myself again.”

“Well, in this family, the only time we aren’t lost is when we have each other. When we are together, we are stronger. Look at you and me, for example,” she motions to the Craze title around her waist and the Trans Atlantic strap laid over the sitting log. “You got that Kelson kid again but with a racist this time.”

Victoria raises her brow while she tilts her head and nods. She stands up, grabs the championship and throws it over her shoulder. Her back is to Tamika, but she quickly turns around, her right index finger waving slightly in the air. Tamika props herself up on the log, and suddenly she wishes she had popcorn.

“That Kelson guy, he is something else. People called Ronnie and me the “Chosen One”, but here is a guy that in his first what, three, four matches, the main event slot in OCW? He gets a golden opportunity, especially after beating Bob Grenier, to ride his popularity to the top of the OCW mountain. Still, he ran into Ronnie and me.”

“Yeah, that’s a pretty cool advantage you had.”

“Yeah, but we didn’t always use it to our benefit. Shortly after that match, we started being a more cohesive unit. Anyway, I only took control long enough to ensure the Affliction didn’t use Ronnie to hurt him. The only match he’s won since Grenier dropped the ball all the back in Las Vegas is the battle royal for a Savage title shot, and that’s because no one showed up.”

“In all fairness, Brett Daniels showed up, just at the wrong bar, and Kelson got the pin last week’s main event but granted you hadn’t been spit out of the PORTAL SHITTER yet,” she says with a poorly hidden chuckle, as Victoria tilts her head with a “really” look plastered on her face.

“He’s just so annoying because he goes around pointing his finger, putting the blame on everyone else. Like he cried a solid two weeks about a low blow! A low blow! Like, Ronnie has it listed as a signature/trademark. Heck, I think I even did once. OCW isn’t for the weak of heart. Sure it’s the Florida Man of Promotions, where we have fun a lot of the time, but only the absolute best can find success in OCW. The ones who aren't afraid to get dirty or realize things aren’t black and white. There are many shades of gray.”

Vee looks over at Meghan, shaking her hips as she butchers another alligator up as she listens to some kind of music on Spotify. Meghan is very clearly in 2050 as she never leaves home without her solar-powered charging station. She looks back at her aunt while pointing at her mother.

“See? Look at my mom, truly strong and proud. The plane crash lands, and what does she do? Sets up camp, starts hunting alligators to feed the staff, and cooks up what Outcast can bring back. She doesn’t get kidnapped by a sasquatch. That’s not strong and proud. Expect the unexpected in OCW. This isn’t the Royal Family’s wrestling company, where all rules are followed, and sportsmanship is upheld to the highest levels. No, this is the place where once you step between those ropes, stand tall on a rooftop, or climb the pyramid, you do WHATEVER it takes to win and make a name for yourself.”

Tamika notices Meghan is watching and smiling at Victoria as she gets fired up. Looks like she learned a thing or two from her sister.

“Until that guy stops pointing fingers and takes some accountability, he’ll have wasted all the opportunities given to him by Marcus Welsh. I have shown what happens when you succeed with the ones he provides. Kelson is showing us what happens when you don’t. You might have stood a chance if it was just Bob, but things have turned to ‘Advantage Vee’ when they put me in this match.”

“When’s the last time it was you? You know, bell to bell?”

“When I squashed Bam Miller for the shot at the Trans-Atlantic title. It was me that emerged from the rubble in Detroit at ACCESS DENIED. It was me that kept taking the taser shots from The Stranger at LUCK OF THE VIOLENT. There were times when I was completely locked away, but I could always feel the connection to the squared circle. Ronnie’s love for it, I could feel it, experience it. It’s hard to explain. You know what else is hard to explain?”

“Grenier’s ridiculous contract?” she replies, venom dripping from her tongue and lips. Vee just points at her aunt and nods.

“I mean, this guy looks good on paper, ya know? Former Internet Champion (whatever that is), former OCW Champion, and former OCW Tag Team Champion with Chad Vargas, but see, that right there is what throws it all off. Many shitty people out there think that they should be higher up on the card or be given more than those of us who have earned our spotlight because of their viewpoints on the world and themselves. Like don’t get me wrong, Bob was good enough at one time to become the top dog here and was able to find his way into the Hall of Fame but look where he is now,” she says, pacing side to side and eventually looking up at the night sky from this mysterious island.

“He’s lost his damn mind. Forcing my mentor Marcus Welsh into signing a contract everyone knows you or mom won’t honour.”

“Damn right we won’t.”

“I mean, I legit have three people in my head, or rather, I did until the trip into the PORTAL POTTY, and I come off less insane than that guy does. Sure, he did something amazing and was able to kick a bad meth habit, but he just traded it in for garbage bags of weed and cases of Oreo cookies. Like, you all crash-landed into the water near the shoreline of wherever we are, and what does he do while the others start building huts, erecting tents, figuring out food sources? He decides he needs to start smoking wild plants on the island and starts seeing shit. That’s not professional, but it’s hard to be considered one when you lose to Dadbod.”

Victoria looks behind her, and in the distance, she sees Ronnie emerging from Outcast’s tent. She turns back to her aunt, the Strader sneer on her face.

“I am in this weirdo triple threat match involving coconuts with two men that lack accountability for the results they produce. I am being given a chance to show them what happens when you don’t make excuses and own your results. Outcast does that, meaning the OCW Champion and TransAtlantic Champion are the true measuring sticks in this company.”

“What about not having Ronnie in control and not being “with” you right now?”

“You know what I learned recently? Is that we are always connected, always a part of each other and while she was in control if they don’t think I was learning all the while… If they do think that, Auntie Teebag, they would be smart to remember: God forgives.”

“I don’t.”

Victoria wanders away towards where she saw Ronnie when Meghan walks over and sits down beside Tamika. She looks off in the direction her child went.

“She’s ok, ya know that, right? She’s one tough kid.”

“I know, Meeks, it’s just that… there are two of them now.”