Cyberpunk: Night City Shop - Chapter 9: Misty's Esoterica (Patreon)

After exchanging contact details with Falco and Daniels, John left El Capitan's garage. Instead of returning to Megabuilding H4 in Arroyo, however, he climbed into his Columbus van and headed north.

He passed through Charter Hill, where Night City's middle class clustered, and then Japantown, where Tyger Claws were everywhere. After crossing the bridge from Westbrook into Watson, he drove through Kabuki and arrived near Megabuilding H10 in Little China.

The familiar building stirred a strange mix of feelings. In Cyberpunk 2077, V's first apartment had been here. John had even kept an iguana and a hairless cat in the place while playing. Yet in this real version of the city, whether V existed at all or not, there was no way he'd already be living in that apartment in 2074.

John hadn't come halfway across town merely to reminisce. He followed Bradbury and Buran Streets until he reached a narrow alley, parked at its entrance, and walked toward a small storefront.

[Misty's Esoterica]

He looked up at the sign before entering, moved by a feeling he couldn't quite name.

Apart from a single fluorescent tube casting a cold white light, the shop glowed with the warm reddish-orange light of candles and little flames. Shelves, a counter, and occult decorations filled the cramped space. Old books, crystals, lucky cats, amulets, and mysterious spiritual trinkets lay scattered together in a disorder that somehow made sense. Incense scented the air. Candlelight cast strange shadows across the floor, lending the place a dreamlike, secretive atmosphere.

“Welcome, traveler from far away.”

The soothing voice belonged to Misty, the woman behind the counter. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“I... I don't know.”

For the first time since arriving in Night City, John felt genuinely lost. He'd come to Little China to ask the city's best Ripperdoc about cyberware, yet now he had the sudden urge to sit down and talk openly with this woman he already knew, though she didn't know him.

“Ah. You haven't been in Night City very long, have you?” Misty rose from her chair and came over. “I can tell. Every newcomer I've met has had that same look in their eyes. I'm Misty. And you are?”

“Yes. It's my first time here. I'm John Lee. You can call me John, or just Lee.”

His gaze settled on a skull atop a wooden cabinet. Darkness filled its empty eye sockets.

“John Lee...”

Misty spoke so softly that her words almost disappeared into the flickering candlelight.

“You look very lonely. And lost.”

John said nothing, but gave the slightest nod.

He'd left few attachments behind in his old world, so being transported somewhere else hadn't been unbearable. That didn't mean he wasn't lonely. There were people all over Night City whom he felt he'd known for years, but to every one of them he was a stranger. Misty was no exception.

And while he was ambitious and wanted to accomplish something here, he also knew what kind of world he'd landed in. He knew there weren't going to be any heroes in Night City who could change everything.

“Let me give you a tarot reading.”

Misty led him to a seat at the counter and took out a deck of cards. “Think about what's happened to you lately, and what you're hoping for in the future.”

John studied the strange illustrations. “Can a reading actually predict what's going to happen to me?”

“Some people believe that, but I wouldn't call it predicting the future.”

She shook her head and laid six cards facedown on the counter. “I'd call it... a glimpse of fate.”

“All right.”

John turned over the first card without much enthusiasm. He'd never put much faith in the occult. Still, if the game was anything to go by, the woman sitting across from him might genuinely possess some supernatural ability.

“The Fool, upright. Don't worry, it doesn't mean you're an idiot.” Misty smiled at the first card. “It represents someone setting out on a journey, leaving the world they know and traveling toward an unfamiliar place. You don't know what's waiting ahead or where you'll end up, but you'll keep going. Every traveler has a journey to complete.”

She glanced at his face. “You don't look like a tourist. You've come from somewhere very far away, haven't you?”

“Maybe I'm an alien from another nebula.”

John meant it as a joke, though it wasn't entirely wrong. Another world was even farther away than another nebula.

“I wouldn't rule it out.” Misty smiled gently and turned over the next card.

“The Magician, upright. I like this one. Every magician has their magic and waves their wand, but the important part isn't the magic itself. It's the will of the person wielding it.”

She traced a finger over the card. “Your will won't let you accept being controlled by other people or depend on their mercy. That same will feeds your ambition. You want to achieve something. Some people use ambition as their strength, while others are consumed by it. For now, at least, you still have the power to choose.”

John stared at the figure of the Magician, his lips barely moving. “Everybody has ambitions. Mine might just be a little bigger than most.”

“All right. Next... the Hermit, upright.”

Misty turned the third card and frowned slightly. “Hmm. This one speaks of loneliness and looking inward. But your loneliness is different. It's almost as if nobody in this entire world could truly understand what you're feeling. In time, though, that isolation may help you discover which way to go. I'm starting to think you really could be an alien traveler from another nebula.”

“Nobody could truly understand...”

A tightness formed in John's chest. This was uncomfortably close to the truth. Who could ever fully understand someone from another world? No matter what he did, that fact would remind him he didn't really belong here.

“Next comes the Wheel of Fortune. Now, this is interesting.”

Misty sat up a little straighter. “The Wheel's unpredictability represents change and opportunity, and those are two things you'll certainly encounter in Night City. This city of dreams and ambition is never short of chances. You might be a nobody today and become the talk of the city tomorrow.

“But it can work the other way too. You might think you've seized an opportunity, only to learn that you've stepped into the beginning of a whole lot of trouble. Still, change is a good thing, isn't it? You don't strike me as someone who'd be happy standing still.”

John smiled without contradicting her. “We've known each other for five minutes, and somehow you've seen straight through my entire life.”

“I've only caught a glimpse of one moment in your fate.”

As she turned the fifth card, the warmth faded from her expression.

“Upright... the Tower.”

A brief silence followed before John asked quietly, “Is that a bad one?”

“I don't like to treat it as a promise of disaster. A tower collapsing doesn't mean something will be destroyed tomorrow. It doesn't necessarily mean you'll lose everything.”

Misty set the card on the counter and considered her words.

“Your will and ambition may help you build a tower. But perhaps one day you'll realize you built it on the wrong foundation. You could end up with everything you thought you wanted and suddenly discover that none of it was what you truly wanted. Or that you don't even remember why you wanted it in the first place.

“To me, the Tower is more of a warning than a prediction of catastrophe.”

John didn't entirely understand, but he committed the warning to memory. “I'll keep it in mind. What about the last card?”

Misty revealed the sixth card, and at last her smile returned.

“The Star, upright. That's a very good card. The Sun shines on everything and seems to offer an answer to every question, but the Star is different.

“You only see stars at night. When darkness hides the road ahead and you can't tell where to go, a star reminds you that you haven't completely lost your way.”

She began gathering the cards. “It doesn't guarantee an ending. You might succeed or fail. You might meet wonderful people, and you might lose them. But somewhere along the way, you'll see that star. You'll have a direction to follow instead of wandering forever in the dark.”

“That sounds beautiful.”

John thought of the Star ending in Cyberpunk 2077. With only a few months left to live, V had left Night City with Panam and the Aldecaldos, heading into an unknown future beneath the stars. Perhaps V would eventually find a cure, perhaps not. But the possibility was there, waiting to be explored.

“Yes. But remember what I told you. Tarot isn't about predicting the future. It's only a glimpse of fate.”

Misty slipped the final card into the deck and put it away. “Fate won't make promises just because you drew a particular card. Even so, a glimpse can be like a star itself. When you're lost, it might show you which direction to take.”

John nodded. Maybe her reading had been real, or maybe he was just feeling the effects of all that incense. Either way, he was much calmer now.

“Good.” Misty leaned against the counter with her arms crossed and smiled again. “That'll be one hundred eurodollars, please.”

“Huh? Oh. Right, of course.”

He'd forgotten something important. He'd never paid for readings in the game because V was Jackie's friend, and Jackie and Misty were a couple. Naturally she wouldn't charge him. But John was a stranger, so of course he'd have to pay like any other customer. He fished out a green banknote and laid it on the counter.

“Cash? Very traditional. Thank you.” Misty put the bill in a drawer. “Anything else I can help you with, Lee?”

“Actually, I heard there's an excellent Ripperdoc here named Viktor. I wanted to ask him a few things about cyberware.”

“Oh, you're looking for Viktor.” She pointed toward the back door. “Go down the stairs there and you'll find his clinic.”

“Oh, and one other thing,” John added after a pause. “Do you know Jackie Welles? I've heard he's a very capable Solo.”

“Jackie? Of course. We've known each other for years and years.”

Her gaze seemed to drift into the distance. “But I haven't seen him in a few years now. If you're looking for him, try the Glen in Heywood. There's a bar there called El Coyote Cojo. His mother, Mama Welles, runs it.”

“And V? Have you ever known someone called V?” John asked one last time.

“V? No, I don't think I've heard that name.” Misty shook her head.

“Okay. Thanks anyway. You've been a huge help.”

He thanked her and went through the little shop's back door.

According to what he remembered from the game, Corpo V should have known Jackie for years. Jackie and Misty had been childhood friends, so if she had never met V or even heard that name, the Corpo background was almost certainly ruled out.

That left Streetkid and Nomad. Streetkid V would be relatively easy to find. That version of V spent two years in Atlanta before returning to Night City, which meant leaving in 2075. It was still 2074, so John had a chance to locate V here. With V's natural talent as a Solo, a few jobs from the right Fixer should be enough to help John build his career.

For a Night City Fixer, having V's number was practically holding a trump card. Granted, that trump card might turn a supposedly stealthy mission into a massive public disturbance, but that was a minor detail.

Nomad V would be more troublesome. At this point, that version of V should still belong to the Bakker family. They were a relatively small Nomad clan, and who knew where they might be traveling now?

John shook the tangled thoughts out of his head. Better to focus on the task in front of him.

He went downstairs, opened the clinic's metal door, and saw a familiar figure seated at a desk.

“Dr. Viktor!”