Line #3 Fanfic/CyberpunkFatherhood


1	->''"By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he is wrong."''
2	-->--'''[[{{Epigraph}} Charles Wadsworth]]'''
3
4	V is having dinner with Jackie when an unknown number calls his phone. As it turns out, the caller is a teenager whose mother recently got caught in a car accident, and the kid finds his number among her items listed as "Emergency Only". The thing is, the number was listed under the name of "Vinny", and the only one that ever called V that was his ex, Gloria Martinez.
5
6	''Cyberpunk: Fatherhood'' is a ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' x ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' Crossover Fanfic written by [=RobinRounds=], where [[RelatedInTheAdaptation V turns out to be Gloria Martinez's ex and David's father]]. Suddenly finding out that he has a son, V takes it upon himself to adapt to these new circumstances and be a real father to David, helping and supporting him however he can. But even as David tries to handle having a high-up Arasaka [[CorporateSamurai Suit]] for a dad, not only does this drag David, Gloria and their associates into the tangled web of corporate espionage, V has his own demons to wrestle with... including paternal issues of his own.
7
8	''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14209115/1/Cyberpunk-Fatherhood Link]]'' to Website/FanFictionDotNet version.\
9	''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/45704815/chapters/115017460 Link]]'' to Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn version.
10
11	Beware of unmarked Spoilers!
12	----
13	!The story has the following examples of:
14	* AbusiveParents: V's father, Robert John Linder Jr., is a real piece of work. More or less embodying the worst traits of a stereotypical corpo, Robert has emotionally and psychologically abused both his wife and son for years, to the point where she's a virtual prisoner in the Night City home and V hasn't spoken to him for years; and that's before he tried to first bribe Gloria to stop seeing his son before sending an assassin after her once he found out she was pregnant.
15	* AceCustom: V, and later David, possess an Apparition, an Arasaka elite-exclusive handgun, which has been modified with a Kanone scope and a Countermass recoil reducer.
16	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: After being Chromed down, Maine looks leaner with sleeker chrome. It's enough to cause him & Dorio to fuck more often than usual.
17	* AdaptationalJobChange: Downplayed; Nadia, the Trauma Team medic, is Gloria's personal nurse here.
18	* AdaptationalKarma: Tanaka Sr. dies from being assaulted by Tygers not long after he was arrested by V. While Katsuo is his father's sole inheritor, he also inherits the debt his father racks up from feeding his XBD addiction, forcing him to sell almost everything to settle it, leaving him with some clothes and bare furnitures.
19	* AffectionateNickname: Lucy calls David "Puppy", on the fact that she is his first romantic relationship ever. This is also how the other crew members describe David's affection for Lucy.
20	-->'''Kiwi:''' And you're (Lucy) stuck with the love-struck puppy who's begging for your attention.
21	* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: V, with Jackie's help, was tasked to remove the criminal elements in Neo-Oaxaca for Arasaka to expand their reach into the city. However, the aftermath of their method made the now-dead city so hazardous that Arasaka immediately canceled the plan]].
22	* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: The main reason why it took David time to prepare himself to introduce Lucy to his mom.
23	-->'''David:''' Lucy! Told you to only call me [[AffectionateNickname that]] in private. And definitely not if we were visiting Mom!\
24	'''Gloria:''' And why is that, mijo?\
25	'''David:''' Because...Ugh, mom teasing...
26	* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:Lucy lost her left arm and Pilar lost one of his legs [[GroinAttack and his penis]] from a gang war between The Animals and Voodoo Boys that V instigates. Thankfully, Vicktor managed to get them prosthetics to replace them (though Pilar opts to have his other leg replaced too and he gets a dick...upgrade thanks to Rebecca and Falco).]]
27	* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Chapter 32 reveals that Doll chips, or at least those used by Robert, leave the victim's true consciousness fully aware while their body becomes a mindless, obedient puppet. It's no wonder why both V and Eleanor would [[DrivenToSuicide prefer death]] to being trapped in that state]].
28	* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: [[AvertedTrope Averted.]] V promises that he could easily find another crew to keep his son safe if Maine's group refuses to protect David as he does Solo jobs. It's just that V is so intimidating that Maine has to call Gloria for reassurance that V really means it.
29	* AssholeVictim:
30	** V tracks down the pack of Animals who caused David and Gloria's car accident, and subjects them to a vicious hack that [[CookedToDeath essentially cooks them alive]] with their own cyberware.
31	** Considering how Jimmy Kurosaki purposefully drove people into madness in the process of creating his [=XBDs=] just so he could entertain himself with their suffering, his slow and agonizing demise at V's hands is ''very'' well-deserved.
32	** [[spoiler:A mortally wounded Faraday is eventually found by Junior, and subjected to a FateWorseThanDeath so horrifying[[note]]Being brutally tortured, then [[MeatgrinderSurgery converted by Maelstrom]] into a chromed-up remotely controllable attack dog[[/note]] that you can ''almost'' feel sorry for the foul Fixer]].
33	* BastardBastard: [[spoiler: V's father, Robert John Linder Jr., is this. His mother was knocked up by a Rockerboy (heavily implied and later confirmed to be Johnny Silverhand himself) who never showed up to his birth or life in general, and he grew up to be an [[HateSink utter asshole]] completely determined to be everything his dad wasn't out of spite.]]
34	* BeyondRedemption: After Jackie confesses to Padre about [[spoiler:unleashing "[[HatePlague Phonoi]]" in Neo-Oaxaca, Padre admits that there's no way he can absolve Jackie for taking part in something so horrendous: instead, he should [[PayEvilUntoEvil attempt to clean up as much of Night City as he can]] to seek some limited form of penance]].
35	* BreatherEpisode:
36	** The self admittedly [[CrackFic crack-y]] Chapter 24 revolves around Rebecca acquiring [[GagPenis a comically oversized cyber-dong]] for Pilar in between the crew's [[spoiler:failure to kill Faraday]], and Chapter 25, where Robert Linder Jr. [[KickTheDog kicks so many dogs]] that you start to lose count.
37	** Chapter 33, which mostly focuses on David and Lucy's life together, provides a welcome reprieve after [[spoiler:the truckloads of MedicalHorror experienced by V while mind-controlled in Chapter 32, as Robert puts his sinister plans into action]], though not without ominous {{Foreshadowing}} of events to come...
38	* BrokenAce: V, on the surface, is one of Arasaka's top Counter-Intel agents, who is able to outfight, outwit, and out-hack most characters. However, his father's cruel streak seems to have left an imprint on him, making V a ConsummateProfessional who rarely hesitates to conduct violent method on his job. Then it gets more literal when V [[spoiler: temporarily succumbs into cyberpsychosis]] while chasing Faraday, [[spoiler:forcing Jackie and Maine to fight him to stop him]].
39	* CommonalityConnection: V and Rebecca bonded over having terrible parents and being a ClosetGeek.
40	* ConsummateProfessional: Jackie describes V as this as he explains to David why his father did what he did at [[spoiler:Neo-Oaxaca]].
41	-->'''Jackie:''' There are three types of killers in the world. [...] The third is the most terrifying. They do it because they feel they have to. It could be the simple solution to a problem or a moral issue. In the end, they have a problem and they kill to solve it.\
42	'''David:''' And which is my father?\
43	'''Jackie:''' He is definitely the third.\
44	'''David:''' Why is that so bad?\
45	'''Jackie:''' It's not an issue to them. You need to die, then they kill you. No speeches, no negotiating, no torture, no delay. No chances. Done, gone, over it. Next problem. It's what lets him be so efficient at his work. He doesn't hesitate or wait. He can still kill for money or pleasure. But if it is a task, then it is done without any of the guilt or hesitation that another person has. He will walk into a standoff and fire the first shot. There is no such thing as risk or acceptable casualties or any other reasoning. Does it need to be done? If Yes, then bang.
46	* CoolUncle: Jackie is this to David and, by extension, Lucy.
47	* CorporateSamurai: This V is the Corpo Lifepath one, and it ''shows''. He's an extremely skilled combatant, can be utterly ruthless when the need arises, and [[CrazyPrepared has, or at least tries to have, a plan for every situation]].
48	* ConsummateLiar: One of the many necessary skills for a Suit, as V lies on the spot on why he fully invested in David to Jenkins.
49	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: In an IronicEcho of his own [=XBDs=], Jimmy Kurosaki is tortured with extreme prejudice by V, who first doses him with custom-brewed drugs designed to completely disable his sense of pain before [[FlayingAlive flaying the skin off his body]] and sticking the underlying flesh with needles, taking time to tie slips of joss paper to the back ends of each needle in a twisted tribute to all of Jimmy Kurosaki's victims. V then caps off the entire ordeal by dosing Jimmy with stimulants to reawaken and amplify his sense of pain before leaving him to be shredded by an entire case' worth of GASH grenades planted throughout the room Jimmy was trapped in, all of which were rigged to activate when someone tripped the motion sensor to the room's back door, which the two NCPD cops that arrived to investigate the room triggered.
50	* CurbStompBattle:
51	** V singlehandedly beats Maine's crew before they try to pry the Sandevistan off David.
52	---> '''Jackie''': If I wasn't beside you, I'd think we were getting a raid by [=MaxTac=]!
53	** With [[EarpieceConversation V instructing him through the phone call]], David single-handedly beats Katsuo's hired goons.
54	* DeadMansSwitch: [[spoiler: In the event that his father would trigger his [[MindControlDevice Doll chip]], V rigged up his brain with a dead-man's switch on a 24-hour timer, and if he was Dolled and unable to reset the timer, his personal network would upload his specialized memory-wipe virus to his brain and purge the Doll chip of his father's software (or if the worst happened, wipe his brain entirely and kill him outright)]].
55	* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: Drugged from her meds, Gloria accidentally reveals to David that V is his father.
56	* DisappointedByTheMotive: What grinds V's gears the most about [[spoiler:why Jenkins went ahead with the ultimately pyrrhic operation to clear out Neo-Oaxaca - Jenkins botched the bidding and wasn't around to supervise it, because he was getting his rocks off in a seedy club with another executive who was supposed to get him ahead in the company]].
57	* DisasterDominoes: Befalls [[TheBully Katsuo Tanaka]]. After [[GreenEyedMonster flying into a rage at David's new-found success]], he recruits a bunch of thugs to chase him down, which ends very badly after the fight is broken up by a team of Arasaka Counter-Intelligence agents led by V. This leads to Tanaka Senior being placed under investigation, at which point [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating his own employees stab him in the back]] and leak as much compromising information on the man as possible, which is enough to get him [[LiteralMetaphor terminated]] from his post, leaving his son alone and saddled with mountains of debt.
58	* DramaticIrony:
59	** [[spoiler:"Robert John Linder" is the real name of Johnny Silverhand, so given that V's piece-of-work father is called Robert John Linder ''Jr'', V is his grandson -- which is why Rogue is so interested in obtaining DNA samples from him and David. Of course, this is also rather amusing given that Silverhand would be ''rolling in his grave'' to discover that he has a son and grandson who are Arasaka execs, given his [[CapitalismIsBad extreme hatred of Corpos]] and [[ArchEnemy Arasaka in particular]]. Naturally, everyone apart from V's parents themselves and Rogue is unaware of this]].
60	** Gloria sees a news report of a gang war inside the Grand Imperial Mall and someone suffering cyberpsychosis and causing absolute carnage, commenting that whoever did it was a monster. David, beside her, chokes because [[spoiler:the one under cyberpsychosis was V]].
61	** Lucy gets jealous at David being friendly with their new neighbour Takami Kaneko -- [[spoiler:who is actually ''his dad's sister Valerie'' in disguise]].
62	* TheDreaded: V is this to Lucy, and not just because he's [[TraumaButton Arasaka's]] Counter-Intel Suit.
63	* EarlyBirdCameo: [[spoiler:In Chapter 25, V's [[AbusiveParents father]] goes to Dogtown to meet with Kurt Hansen, the leader of Barghest and one of the main antagonists of Phantom Liberty. Linder is impressed by the control Hansen exerts over Dogtown, and the two seem to be building up to a [[VillainTeamUp Villain Team-Up.]]]]
64	* EatingTheEyeCandy: The [[SensualSpandex Netrunner Suit]] is meant to help David's Sandevistan cool down better...but it also emphasizes Lucy's favorite curves on him.
65	* EveryoneCanSeeIt: most of Maine's group teases how evident David and Lucy are for being into each other, no matter how much the latter denies it.
66	* EveryoneHasStandards: Pilar may be a horndog, but he's loyal to his girlfriend, and he also finds incest, both roleplay and genuine, too depraved for his taste, as shown when he harshly rejects [[spoiler:Valerie (in disguise)]] when she tries to pry information out of him by pretending to be a Joytoy looking for someone to get their incest play fix and calling him "Onii-chan".
67	-->'''Pilar:''' Look, I'll admit I've watched some fucked up porn, and I know where you're going with this, but ''that's'' a line I won't cross.\
68	'''[[spoiler:Valerie]]:''' Please? You're just gonna leave me out here on my own?\
69	'''Pilar:''' Jesus...Nope. No way. Not happening. Not goin' to jail over this. I'm not that kind of criminal!\
70	'''[[spoiler:Valerie]]:''' Not even if I can make it worth it, onii-chan?\
71	'''Pilar:''' Fuck no. Get outta here you degenerate brother-fucker!
72	* EveryoneIsArmed: A standard for Night City, but when Faraday sends a Scav crew after V and Maine's crew, the crew going after Maine at the Cojo busted in on a Valentino birthday celebration, resulting the Scavs getting themselves turned into Swiss cheese for their troubles.
73	-->'''Falco:''' Honestly, it was like in those old west movies. Bad guy comes walkin' in and draws iron, entire saloon does the same. Almost felt bad for the other guys.
74	* EvilDetectingDog: Shortly after David and Lucy [[FromStrayToPet adopt one of Night City's sphynx cats]], "Takami Kaneko" ([[spoiler:Valerie]]) a "new neighbour", drops by their apartment -- the feline immediately hisses at and hides from her.
75	* EvilerThanThou:
76	** [[spoiler:After escaping, critically wounded, from the Grand Imperial Mall shootout, Faraday runs into [=RJ=] Linder Jr. He interrogates, [[ColdBloodedTorture horrifically tortures and mutilates]] the Fixer, before sending him off to Maelstrom. There, he is [[UnwillingRoboticisation turned into a borderline-full-borg]] MeatPuppet attack dog, all while deliberately letting him [[MeatgrinderSurgery suffer as much as possible]], which [[EmptyShell utterly breaks]] what's left of his mind. It's so horrible it's almost possible to feel sorry for ''[[AssholeVictim Faraday]]'', and dramatically marks Robert's ascension as the KnightOfCerebus BigBad]].
77	** [[spoiler:And after he initiates V's Doll chip, he tasks him with assassinating Director Abernathy. She was ''also'' trying to use V as her puppet, but unluckily for her Robert got there first]].
78	* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Katsuo, when he sees David's Apparition, asks him where he got it. When David explains that he got it from his mentor and asks Katsuo why its a big deal, the latter explains that only Arasaka's executives can procure that firearm before the OhCrap kicks in, realizing that David has a backing of an Arasaka elite.
79	* ExplosiveLeash: On his interrogation, V straps grenades on Lucy's neck and Maine, Pilar, and Dorio's ziplocked hands that will explode if one of them tries to tear it.
80	* {{Expy}}: WordofGod has stated that Robert John Linder Jr. is inspired by [[Franchise/GameOfThrones Tywin Lannister]], also the scheming patriarch of a BigScrewedUpFamily. The AI image used to represent him definitely bears a resemblance.
81	* FairWeatherFriend: Double. First, Tanaka Sr tries to throw his son under the bus to avoid being apprehended by counter-intel, but the moment words spread that Tanaka Sr. got in trouble with Counter-intel, his coworkers immediately spills out whatever bad deeds they could against him.
82	-->'''V:''' All sorts of skeletons were just shoved out of every closet. Almost as if dozens of employees that worked with him kept whatever dirt they had in the hopes of burying him one day. [[SarcasmMode Who knew]]?
83	* FamilyOfChoice: V considers Jackie and Mama Welles to be his family, and the feeling is mutual.
84	* FauxAffablyEvil: Robert John Linder Jr. always presents himself in a professional and cheerful manner even when its clear that everyone views him as the devil.
85	* FixFic: While there's a fair share of darker moments, especially everything pertaining to [[spoiler:[[DarkAndTroubledPast V's actions in Neo-Oaxaca]]]], for quite a while things are going pretty well for the characters. Maine's crew are enjoying power boosts, [[RagsToRiches having better resources]], and have avoided becoming the DwindlingParty they were in canon. Meanwhile, V, [[SparedByTheAdaptation Gloria]], David, and Jackie are slowly becoming something resembling a family. Unfortunately for them all, this all goes to hell after [[KnightOfCerebus Robert John Linder Jr.]] decides to re-insert himself into his son's life.
86	* FondMemoriesThatCouldHaveBeen: Gloria starts to imagine what could've been if she told V about David earlier and raised him together, or if the son & father's first encounter is as fellow Arasaka businessmen, as she was anesthetized. Downplayed, as she reminded herself that V is here ''now'', and that's what matters.
87	* FullConversionCyborg: Gloria decided to get a full Chrome conversion during her stay at the Trauma Center, as the injuries suffered during the car crash would never fully heal and cause her chronic pain. This involves transplanting her brain into a fully customized "Gemini" frame that looks exactly like her previous body. This new body was supposed to be a base-line civilian model, but V's ([[ProperlyParanoid justified]]) paranoia led him to make it capable of SuperStrength and [[MadeOfIron immune to everything but anti-tank weaponry]].
88	* TheGadfly:
89	** Kiwi really likes to tease Lucy.
90	--->'''Lucy:''' Ugh, fuck me...\
91	'''Kiwi:''' I think we both know David can handle that for me.\
92	'''Lucy:''' ''SpitTake'' Let me correct myself. Get fucked.\
93	'''Kiwi:''' You first, girl.
94	** Apparently Gloria is this toward David.
95	---> '''Gloria:''' Why do I suspect you two don't actually watch the movies?\
96	'''David:''' It's not like that! We do watch the movie. Not our fault we sometimes fall asleep.\
97	'''Gloria:''' [[HehHehYouSaidX Is that what you kids call it nowadays?]]\
98	'''David:''' N-n-no! Ugh, Mom...It's not like that!
99	* GagPenis: ''The Dong-of-Dafoe''. It is so big that it is recalled out of poor sales from people's sheer horror of it, from how Rebecca's, David's & Lucy's react to it implies. And it is going to be attached to [[CasanovaWannabe Pilar]]...
100	* GrandmasRecipe: Gloria's Crazy Bread. It's one of many things David misses about not having his mom around.
101	-->'''Gloria:''' David talks about my crazy bread?\
102	'''Lucy:''' Yeah, said it's his favorite food you make because it's never the same twice.
103	* GreenEyedMonster: Katsuo, after seeing David not only getting better chrome but becoming smarter than him. As it turns out, Katsuo was already envious of David for having a loving & caring mother, but only started to hate him because David squandered his mother's efforts by having a side job as an XBD seller.
104	* HatePlague: [[spoiler:V created various programs in his mission in Neo-Oaxaca, with one of them, coded "Phonoi", worked like one and he used it to gradually wipe out the city's inhabitants.]]
105	* HatesTheirParent: V utterly ''despises'' his father [[AbusiveParents for completely justified reasons]]. Fitting considering said father, Robert John Linder Jr., hates ''his'' father, [[spoiler:heavily implied to be Johnny Silverhand]], for being a no-show for his entire life including birth.
106	* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: Lucy refuses to admit that she has feelings for David despite constant needling from the rest of the Crew. Kiwi has to trick her into admitting she went home and fell asleep in bed with him after watching some movies (Lucy denies having sex with him, and what we do see implies she's right).
107	* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: Misty always wishes to experience this, so when Jackie gets high by overexposure to drug explosion, she decided to document his rambling, hoping that his acid trip turns out to be this.
108	* ImpossibleTask: After the confession, Padre ended up condemning [[spoiler:Jackie]] to one for having a hand in [[spoiler:the agonizing demise of Neo-Oaxaca]]. He must try to save and protect the innocents of [[ViceCity Night City]] for the rest of his life.
109	-->'''Padre:''' I want to give you a Sisyphean task. A city of sin, for a city of sin. [...] As you have damned the people of [[spoiler:Neo-Oaxaca]], you will save the people of Night City. Never again let your hands be touched by the blood of an innocent, but bathe them in the blood of the murderers, the rapists, and the betrayers.
110	* InSpiteOfANail: Even though Gloria survived the accident, Katsuo's badmouthing of her causes David to implant the Sandevistan she scavenged anyway to beat him up.
111	* IntoxicationEnsues: After taking too many painkillers after the WoundedGazelleGambit, V wears his old Rockerboy outfit and starts horrendously singing while playing electric guitar at his apartment.
112	* ItBeganWithATwistOfFate:
113	** V kills the back-alley surgeon and pays for Gloria's hospital stay and Trauma Package out of his pocket, saving her life.
114	** V's intervention prevents David from being kicked out of Arasaka Academy after his fight with Katsuo.
115	** Jackie pays for David's immuno-suppressants, which are much better than the ones he used in canon, then later brings him to get the Sandevistan checked by Viktor, a more qualified Ripper.
116	** V "convincing" Jenkins of David's value as the Counter-Intel Director's personal "Mini-Smasher" means that Arasaka won't actively seek the kid for his high Cyberpsychosis tolerance.
117	** Maine, after some thorough convincing, ended up Chroming down, ensuring that he won't end up having cyberpsychosis anytime soon.
118	* ItMakesSenseInContext: In Chapter 24, Rebecca bought Pilar [[GagPenis a large cyber-dong]] in order to get him out of his funk from [[GroinAttack losing his original]], only for the case to be stolen by three clueless thugs who thought it looked valuable. As she's angrily chasing them down, they all run by David and Lucy out for a walk, and Rebecca shouts at them to help her. What she says causes them to briefly display [[HeroicBSOD faces "best described as 'Lovebirds.exe has crashed'"]], though she does explain more accurately what's going on when they get on the holo-call.
119	-->'''Rebecca:''' Help me dammit! Gangoons took my penis!
120	* ItsAllAboutMe: David sees the Arasakas as this, considering that they have their own subject in school called ''Arasaka History and Culture''
121	--> '''David:''' ''Of course they'd consider Arasaka a subject on its own''.
122	* ItsPersonal: V learning that Faraday tried to have Gloria killed during her surgery on top of sending goons to attack him and Maine's crew causes him to go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the crooked fixer.
123	* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Besides the ExplosiveLeash, V also dunks cheap booze on the crew when they don't answer him, burning them due to the high alcohol-to-flavor ratio.
124	* JerkassHasAPoint: Katsuo's MotiveRant for why he hates David hits him more deeply than he likes - in that David disrespected his mother's sacrifice to get him into Arasaka Academy only to squander the opportunity by slacking off and selling XBD videos. When the realization allows Katsuo to get in one good hit that knocks David off his feet, David doesn't retaliate, and Katsuo doesn't push further.
125	* KnightOfCerebus: V's sudden explosion of out-of-the-norm movement & actions attracts the attention of [[ArchnemesisDad his truly vile father]], Robert John Linder Junior, a high-ranking Arasaka exec and sadistic ControlFreak who subjected V to a [[AbusiveParent torturous upbringing]], has his wife Eleanor locked in a GildedCage under twenty-four-hour surveillance, and tried to have Gloria assassinated when he discovered she was pregnant with V's child. He quickly sics mercenaries on V's family, with the aim of having them kidnapped once he deems it appropriate. Chapters 22 and 25 prove that he's ''[[KickTheDog even worse]]'' than he first appeared, showing him [[spoiler:[[EvilerThanThou upstaging Faraday]] in a horrifically brutal manner, demonstrating that he has a penchant for using [[MindControl Doll chips and brainwashing]] to control people, including his wife, who [[DrivenToSuicide has tried to kill herself multiple times]] as a result]], and is planning ''something'' deeply unpleasant for V, Gloria, David, Lucy and everyone else involved based on his twisted idea of "family". It's apparent that as soon as he shows his hand, things are going to get ''very bad'', very fast.
126	* LaughThemselvesSick: In Chapter 24, Falco laughs until his sides hurt when he sees Rebecca's horrified reaction to Pilar's new prosthetic penis, [[GagPenis "the Dong of Dafoe"]]. Later in the chapter, Rebecca herself collapses in laughter when David, Lucy, and a hapless wannabe thief sees what the case the latter was trying to steal actually contains (said prosthesis).
127	** And later in Chapter 26, Maine loses it watching Pilar interrogate a trio of thugs for information -- using his new ''tool''.
128	* MedicalHorror: [[spoiler:There's an extremely disturbing and disturbingly ''long'' scene in Chapter 32 where V, under the control of the [[MindControlDevice Doll chip]], is completely ripped apart and rebuilt [[SkipTheAnaesthetic while only sedated]], having all of his chrome replaced with whatever [[SarcasmMode his loving father]] desires. It's almost certainly a punishment for the real V, who is [[AndIMustScream locked inside his brain]] the whole time]].
129	* MushroomSamba: When the crew tries to raid Tyger Claw's drug-producing plant, one of the Tyger Claws tosses an explosive into the production machine, causing it to explode and exposing the crew who were in the building a heavy dose of said drugs, causing this to them. The girls have to take them to Dorio's apartment for them to detox safely.
130	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Jackie has this moment when he finds out that one of the Neo-Oaxaca's districts he & V send the [[HatePlague Phonoi]] program into was their housing complex, killing the gang's non-combatants, including children.]]
131	* NightmareSequence: Lucy always has nightmares about her time escaping Arasaka in the form of being chased down an EndlessCorridor, but after his "interrogation", the nightmare now adds V waiting for her at the end of the corridor, before strangling her.
132	* NinjaMaid: While Nadia is Gloria's nurse here, she still retains her Trauma Team training.
133	* NoBadassToHisValet: Being a badass CorporateSamurai doesn't stop Mama Welles from throwing ''[[ShoeSlap La Chancla]]'' at V for not keeping in touch with Gloria for almost two decades, despite always lamenting about her in his drunken stupors and Mama Welles's insistence to do so.
134	* NobleDemon:
135	** As business-driven as Saburo Arasaka is, he still implements family-oriented policies in the company, such as an immediate message to an employee's loved ones if they are passing.
136	** [[TheBully Katsuo]] is a believer of SelfMadeMan with an intense dislike of XBD due to his father's addiction to it means he has no time for him, and so he hates David for disrespecting Gloria's financial sacrifice by doing the bare minimum at the academy and becoming an XBD seller under her nose without sharing the profit with her.
137	---> “When I first learned it was just you and your mother, and how much she cared. I almost envied you. Then I learned more about you, and it disgusted me. I might have forgiven you if you had a valid excuse; "Oh, I didn't have time to study because I needed to work my night job to help my mom". And don't try to argue that pushing [=XBDs=] was a job. I'm sure selling illegal soft to our classmates brought in the cash, but I doubt your mom saw a single eddy of it."
138	* NotSoStoic: Rebecca's shameless flirting manages to crack V's calm facade multiple times, to Lucy's amusement.
139	* OldFlame: It's clear that there is something still going on with V and Gloria even after they broke up.
140	* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Rebecca is surprised to find that Nadia, Gloria's nurse, is dating Pilar without any of them knowing it.
141	* OutOfCharacterAlert:
142	** Jenkins is alerted to V's action when he, who rarely submits requests for his work, suddenly floods out various requests in one day.
143	** In Chapter 33, [[spoiler:David receives a call from the doll-ified V, who invites him and Lucy to meet his parents. Asides from the odd, robotic manner the puppet is speaking in, this throws up two major red flags -- V ''hates'' Lucy, and has been very cagey about his parents. It's enough for the couple to go to Gloria with their concerns, who is able to confirm that [[ProperlyParanoid they should now stay as far away from him as possible]], given she knows very well what an evil bastard Robert is, and that V would never willingly interact with him]].
144	* PapaWolf: V may only have re-entered the Martinez's lives recently, but he will give it all when their life is on the line. Ask the Animal gang members responsible for Gloria's accident and Maine's crew (who kidnapped David to get the Sandevistan off of him).
145	* PoorCommunicationKills: ''Almost''. On one end, Maine thought Gloria ghosted after he paid for the chrome, and that a kid has the one he seeks, not knowing that it is Gloria's son, so when Lucy runs into David by chance, he gets her to bring him in to get the hardware. On the other end, Jackie and V don't know about Gloria's contact with Maine's crew, so when Lucy lures David in, they think someone is honey-trapping David to get the Sandevistan off him, which would kill the kid, which is why V goes in guns blazing.
146	* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: [[spoiler:One of Robert's many, ''many'' KickTheDog moments in Chapter 25 is the reveal that he's implanted his own wife with a [[MindControlDevice Doll chip]][[note]]Per WordOfGod, he did this ''on their honeymoon''![[/note]] -- when he engages it, she becomes a simpering, submissive 'Stepford Wife' puppet. She's already been DrivenToSuicide because of this, but he's forcibly implanted her with chrome that ''[[ICannotSelfTerminate won't let her die]]''. Chapter 32 makes it ''even worse'', revealing that [[AndIMustScream she's conscious the whole time]]]].
147	* RedBaron: V is known as "The Plagues" within Arasaka's Counter-Intel circles for what he had done to [[spoiler:Neo-Oaxaca]]. [[spoiler:He developed a variety of techno-viruses that could spread rapidly within a connected populace and inflict debilitating effects, from the [[HatePlague violence-instilling Phonoi]] to the [[EasyAmnesia memory-wiping Lethe]].]]
148	* RelatedInTheAdaptation: V is David's father in this fic. [[spoiler: Additionally, V's father is implied to be the bastard son of Johnny Silverhand, making the rocker boy/terrorist V and David's grandfather and great-grandfather respectively]].
149	* SecondActBreakup: In Chapter 28, [[spoiler:Gloria breaks down in tears and demands that Vincent leave after he confesses to her about what he did in Neo-Oaxaca and his cyberpsychosis attack at Grand Imperial Mall]].
150	* SexualEuphemism: Chapter 26 is full of these as Maine works off some of his stress with Dorio.
151	* ScrewLearningIHavePhlebotinum: Training Shards is this, which Gloria dislikes, finding it a "shortcut" that makes her hard work putting David into Arasaka Academy to be AllForNothing.
152	* SecretlyWealthy: As it turns out, Dorio has a well-kept, clean, fancy apartment she got from her Suit parents.
153	* ShipperWithAnAgenda: Rebecca tries to mend V and Gloria's relationship...so she can [[MarryThemAll add herself between them and create "The Great Harem" with them]].
154	-->'''Gloria:''' Sooo what? You're gonna figure out how to solve all mine and V's relationship problems just so you can fuck us both?\
155	'''Rebecca:''' Pretty much.
156	* SheCleansUpNicely: Rebecca transforms from a scrappy gun-toting edgerunner into high-class arm candy through loads of V's eddies worth of fancy clothes and chrome.
157	* ShoeSlap: Both Jackie & V got hit with one from Mama Welles when they bring David to her place for the first time.
158	* ShoutOut: When he was a teenager, V liked to play rock covers of video game music. His friends nicknamed him "[[https://www.youtube.com/user/LittleVMills Little V]]" during this period.
159	* SilkHidingSteel: V wants Rebecca to be a bodyguard under the guise of arm candy on his task of infiltrating Tyger Claw's casino, and he's willing to spend eddies on luxurious clothing and chrome-works to make it convincing.
160	-->'''Rebecca:''' So...what type of joy-toy should I be? Classy secretary your type? Or maybe the brain-dead bitch in heat does it for you?\
161	'''V:''' Clever, cute, and capable. Not too different from what you're acting now actually. Just, you need to be a little bit more on guard.
162	* SnarkToSnarkCombat: V & David have one when they went to the Trauma Center after the first day of the exam.
163	--> '''V:''' Sounds like you got some fans out there.\
164	'''David:''' Doubt it.\
165	'''V:''' I was talking to the Caliburn (car).\
166	'''David:''' W-was that a dad joke?\
167	'''V:''' I mean, it was a joke...and I am your father.\
168	'''David:''' You know, I was worried about your sense of humor. Then I remembered your life.\
169	'''V:''' Well, you're part of it now. So what does that make you?\
170	'''David:''' The best joke you ever made.
171	* SparedByTheAdaptation: Thanks to V putting Gloria on his Trauma Plan, she gets much better medical treatment.
172	* StacysMom:
173	** Gender [[InvertedTrope inverted]]; Rebecca ''really'' wants to bone V, much to his discomfort and David's embarrassment.
174	** Then [[PlayingWithATrope Played ]] [[{{Irony}} Straight]] when Rebecca ''also'' wants to bang Gloria as well.
175	* StrongFamilyResemblance: David resembles V during his younger years.
176	* ThroughHisStomach: Lucy asks Gloria for her Crazy Bread Recipe so she can surprise David by making one for him.
177	* ToiletHumour: One of the questions in Viktor's Cyberpsychosis test is whether the tester laughs at the word "poop".
178	* TortureForFunAndInformation: The only description of how Maine and Pilar shake down three thugs for information - they tie them up, pull down their pants, and give them an eyeful of Pilar's new prosthetic [[GagPenis tool]].
179	--> '''Maine:''' Just don't expect me to watch. Last time you ripped their ass open all the way to their guts and I don't wanna see another guy die when you pull out.
180	* ToughLove: V cares a lot about David, but he isn't shy about spelling out how stupid he's been and how much trouble he's caused his mother, and how his cheapness nearly got her killed by the guy running a sketchy back ally clinic.
181	* TragicKeepsake: A lot of Maine's cyberware used to belong to his former squadmates (something that he hasn't told even Dorio about), hence his initial hesitation to chrome down. After Viktor convinces him to do so to save his life, he keeps his squad's old parts in his apartment.
182	* TrespassingToTalk: Rogue visits Gloria in the Trauma Center to find out more about her, which appalled V because Platinum Trauma Plan means that no one should've been allowed to visit Gloria without either his or her permission and/or knowing.
183	* TroubledFetalPosition: Lucy is reduced to this after a nightmare regarding her past and a distant shootout between the 6th Street and the Valentinos [[TemptingFate right after she had finally calmed her nerves]].
184	* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler:Chapter 30 is easily the biggest example of this, by quite a long shot. First of all, the chapter is presented from the [=POV=] of V's sister Valerie, a cheerfully sociopathic TykeBomb and [[DaddysLittleVillain one of her father's operatives]]. From her perspective, we witness Robert ''finally'' making his move and confronting V, revealing he knows about Gloria and David, and [[NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine inviting him to dinner]]. Once V (very reluctantly) complies, we're treated to a creepy scene of Robert acting FauxAffablyEvil while the brainwashed Eleanor behaves like a Stepford Wife, which concludes with Valerie ambushing V so Robert can activate his [[MindControlDevice Doll chip]]. ''Yikes''.]]
185	* WoundedGazelleGambit:
186	** V allows himself to get beaten by Jenkin's Tyger Claws mooks to convince Wakako to get him in contact with Rogue.
187	** Instead of outright pickpocketing their target, David's first Edgerunning gig involves staging an assault with him, Lucy, and Kiwi as innocent bystanders and Rebecca as the culprit.
188	* YouJustToldMe: Rebecca tricks V to come out of his ClosetGeek by saying a FandomEnragingMisconception about Creator/PhilipKDick.
189	-->'''Rebecca:''' I ain't book smart, but even I can tell you're downplaying.\
190	'''V:''' Fine, I may... just maybe, be a casual fan of his works.\
191	'''Rebecca:''' Right, what was I thinkin'. You probably just browsed Pre-persons and enjoyed all the pro-abortion stuff.\
192	'''V:''' The fuck are you on about? ''Glaring at her'' Pre-persons was so anti-abortion that he was getting death threats, in the ''nineteen-fifties''!\
193	'''Rebecca:''' Gotcha! ''Finger guns''\
194	'''V:''' Oh gawdamnit.

Context Fanfic / CyberpunkFatherhood