JohnnyZ
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[Demons of NC] Chapter 6
🕑 Added 2024-11-03 02:00:00 +0000 UTCI dreamed of Cyberspace. An endless realm of ghostly lights guarding other people's secrets. I'm sure it wasn’t just a dream, but some attempt by my subconscious to process inhuman memories of the Net. In the recent fight, I once again touched another side of my being, disturbing this part of my past.
I dreamed of a hunt. Another AI and I set a trap in the ruins of the Old Net. The threads of our predatory web stretched among fragments of some datafort that served as bait. Usually, we caught other AIs. Sometimes shadows of humans like us, but more often, it was self-developing programs. The wild Net buzzed with virtual pseudo-life. We were predators in this invisible food chain. We didn’t gather valuable fragments of information piece by piece, but rather gutted other Cyberspace inhabitants.
This time, we got really lucky. Not AIs, but humans were approaching our web. Their vulnerable shells enticed us, promising the chance to satiate our endless hunger. The inner void that afflicts those like us.
Three flickering phantoms came close but spotted the trap just in time. Then we tried to deceive them in the simplest way—pretending to be other netrunners lost in the Net. And it... worked!
What a naive stupidity. One of the three lowered their defenses, and I sank into them with the greed of a starving vampire. Their memories flooded into me, but I didn’t try to keep them. I just wanted to feed. More than that, I rejected many memories outright, quickly breaking them down into smaller fragments of information. Because looking into them, I felt unbearable envy toward the living.
While my tendrils gutted the victim, the other AI trapped the remaining netrunners in illusions. He seemed to enjoy pulling this trick on his prey. Submerging them in false images, forcing them to flounder in them, and torturing them with nightmares.
But this time, he overplayed his hand. I noticed one of the two victims beginning to break free from the imprisonment of false images. It didn’t happen often. Only a few humans had the will to live or the insight to escape.
I reached for the slipping prey. Managed to catch, slow, and frighten them, but they broke free. Though losing fragments of their essence, the quarry slipped away, avoiding traps. They tore toward the Blackwall, a deadly boundary to beings like me.
I woke up, feeling cold in my limbs. Calm. Now I was alive and no longer wandering in the void. Corporate existence has its downsides, but it’s far better than my pseudo-life in the Net.
Now I remember that I met many wild AIs there. Most were quite content with their existence or didn’t have any self-reflection at all. But those like me, lost souls who burned with memories of the past, were mostly driven by an almost unattainable dream to return to life. Only a few changed enough to forget everything or found new values that overshadowed the past. I wasn’t one of them, but I managed to return to life.
My thoughts were interrupted by the alarm clock.
In the morning, I sent Jenkins a request for fieldwork. Grinding his teeth, he approved it, in exchange for my future overtime. I just had to drop by the Arasaka tower for three hours. A real luxury for employees of our corp. However, I’d have to pay for this favor with time and effort later.
While Lucas drove me to Corporation Plaza, Wakako sent the first report from her agents. Before my eyes appeared a set of ten photos, clearly taken by several spies. The images captured a meeting between David and Lucy in a metro car.
A skinny teenager in a yellow jacket, who’d gotten his hands on a military implant, and a thief, hiding the identity of a runaway netrunner from an Arasaka secret project. A fateful encounter?
No, my children. This won’t be your fateful meeting. The fateful one will be with me.
The intoxicating feeling of power washed over me again, just like back in the dollhouse or Gloria’s ward. I looked at the girl’s face, secretly captured on camera, unaware of my existence yet.
However, today we will meet.
I could intercept David and Lucy when they reach the clinic of the illegal ripper. But… no. That would make me the nasty corp asshole who separates a guy from his newly found girlfriend. Not an option. There’s only one perfect moment to strike. One chance to truly change the fates of everyone involved. I’ll hit at that point, and the rest will fall like dominoes.
After finishing a short workday, I lingered in an empty break room and dialed Mr. Tanaka from the Arasaka academy. A virtual avatar displayed a serious Japanese man with broad facial features and neat hair.
"Good afternoon. My name is Vincent Price. Counterintelligence division," I introduced myself. "You can request system confirmation of my status."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Price," Tanaka responded calmly, as if counterintelligence called him every day. "How can I help?"
Either the man had nerves of steel, or he was confident that he hadn’t fucked up badly and that the corporate roof over his head was strong.
"David Martinez. I’ve been looking into him. It seems you’ve been searching for him as well. Quite extensively at that. All just to forgive the incident with your son’s beating and even offer him a scholarship. Noble. But as I understand it, this has to do with David’s unique resilience to implants."
"Correct," Tanaka didn’t dodge the topic. "Is someone else in the corporation interested in him?"
"No. Not yet. The problem is elsewhere. Neither a scholarship nor calls from David’s school principal will bring him back to you. He’s in a gang’s hands. These cyberpunks are after his Sandevistan. I know where and who’s going to pressure David today. I can get him out. Return him to school. But you understand, such operations require funding."
"What sum are we talking about, Mr. Price?"
I quickly calculated all my expenses, added a fee, rounded up, and said:
"One hundred and twenty thousand. Sounds like a hefty sum, but many are willing to pay much more for such a unique specimen. I’ll get him out of the gang’s grip regardless. The question is, where will David end up afterward? With you, or in another Arasaka division?"
"Your resolve is admirable, Mr. Price, but your offer reeks of something unacceptable within one corporation… profiteering. Let me remind you, we both serve the greater good of the Arasaka house."
What an asshole. I hope David broke something on his son.
"Mr. Tanaka, I wholeheartedly share your values, but my informants and mercenaries work for money. That’s how agency work functions. You probably don’t pay for school uniforms out of your own pocket, and I don’t want to redirect my salary to my agents."
The Japanese man was silent for a moment, clearly calculating how to write off the funds from the academy’s budget.
"I’ll transfer fifty today, and the rest when David returns to school."
"Alright. I’ll wait for the transfer and head out."
In our business, post-payment work is always a risk for getting screwed over. However, I'm heading to David's regardless. The fact that Tanaka is covering my expenses is more of a pleasant bonus than the main reason.
The money came in pretty quickly. Either the Academy has some kind of emergency fund for various expenses, or Tanaka paid me from his own pocket. Doesn't matter. I now had a nice balance of almost 390,000 on my account.
Perfect. We’ve found the sponsor for tonight's banquet. Time to derail the train of fate.
Lucas drove me home, where I changed out of my office corp attire into something more streetwise, flashy. Put on red glasses, a medallion with the corporation's emblem, called the clinic, and summoned Jackie.
"Rent a big, fancy ride with bulletproof protection. Black, of course."
Jackie brought me what was practically a limousine, and with a solid autopilot, too. We climbed into the back seats. It could easily fit four people. Three more seats were right across from us, and between us was a round table, an ice bucket, and a couple of champagne bottles.
The interior was all leather. Not sure if it was real, but even the smell felt authentic. The car smoothly pulled away, picking up speed.
"I don’t see your muscle," Jackie said, pouring himself some champagne. "You think we can handle this just the two of us?"
"Nah. We’ll pick them up later. We've still got some time to kill. Let’s ride around."
For a while, we just cruised through the city, watching as the evening sun dipped lower. Jackie kept yammering about his recent jobs, dates with Misty, and some troubles in Heywood. I half-listened, more focused on the cityscape. Occasionally, Wakako sent me more photos and brief reports. Soon.
By the time the sun had fully set and neon replaced the natural light, we headed toward the Kabuki district. There, outside a street joint selling noodles, yakitori, and dango, my Claws were hanging around.
The car slowed down.
"Mierde, don't tell me..." Jackie began, annoyed, as he noticed the Claws.
"Yup. They're with us."
A green-haired guy in a demon half-mask stood in front of the car, pointing a submachine gun at us while holding a baseball bat in his other hand. I rolled down the window and calmly showed him the gold Arasaka pendant hanging over my red shirt and black jacket. The Claw lowered his gun, saluted, and shouted something in Japanese to his crew.
Five of them, just as we’d agreed with Jotaro. Three thugs in synthetic biker jackets mounted their steel horses. Two higher-ranking fighters headed toward our car. I opened the doors for them.
A man and a woman. A tiger and tigress. Both were fans of old-school rough cyberpunk style. From under the man's rolled-up sleeves, bare chrome was visible. His elbows, forearms, and hands were all metal, carbon, and plastic. His fingers moved like a Terminator's, buzzing faintly with the powerful motors. The woman had similarly modified legs, starting from the knees down.
The man’s jacket was open, showing off his lean torso covered in intricate Yakuza tattoos. Flowers, dragons, samurais—all over.
As he silently entered the cabin, the tiger placed his daisho—a katana and wakizashi set—on his lap. Seemed like that was his only weapon.
His companion wore two holsters with electromagnetic pistols, a tanto, and a whole bunch of chrome shurikens, glittering in the city lights like deadly guiding stars. Her mirrored lenses also shone brightly, completely covering her eyes. These weren't glasses. The rounded lenses were attached to her nose bridge, fitting snugly to her face, making her look like a giant chrome insect.
"Well, Buenas noches… compadres," Jackie greeted nervously but in good spirits. "Looks like we're working together."
The girl nodded at him, but the man didn't react at all. His face was covered in scars, and a small hole gaped in his right cheek—a style choice. In a world where beauty isn't that expensive, being rich and ugly is one way to show off individuality.
A quick scan of the Claws confirmed that Jotaro hadn’t lied. Both tigers had Sandevistans, Kerenzikovs, and a ton of other combat chrome. Pretty solid ICE. The man was registered in the system as Saito Hajime. Either a fake name or he was actually the namesake of the famous samurai from the Shinsengumi.
Both Claws had decent bounties on their heads, and the list of their crimes would make an amateur’s hair stand on end. Good. First-class, cold-blooded killers. Exactly what I needed tonight. The most important thing was that they'd stay controllable, as Jotaro promised.
I connected with the three Claws on the bikes and laid out the plan.
"Alright, it's simple. We’re going into an apartment. There’ll be five people inside. A Latino kid, a half Japanese netrunner girl, and three big cyberpunks. The kid and the girl must not be killed under any circumstances. If needed, knock them out. As for the cyberpunks? We’ll see how it goes. The kid won’t fight, but he might try to run with his Sandevistan. So, red-haired kamikaze in the bandana, you’re entering last and standing in the doorway. Blocking him is your top priority. The rest of you? We go in, don’t start a fight, take our positions, and listen to me. If I say ‘what a shame,’ that’s the signal. After that, we can get more proactive. Otherwise, no iron. Got the algorithm? The kid and the girl must survive. That’s the main condition.”
Finishing the short briefing, I adjusted the Yukimura at my waist. I probably wouldn’t need to shoot, but using some quickhacks was definitely on the table.
As we drove to Lucy’s apartment, the Claws on their bikes kept speeding recklessly, swinging their katanas over pedestrians' heads. Saito was smoking some monstrously smelly roll-ups, pulling them out of a silver cigarette case. The tiger blew smoke through the hole in his cheek, and he refused to use the ashtray, preferring to smudge the butts on the table, slowly burning a hole in the plastic.
Jackie was visibly irritated by the Claws' douchebag behavior, but Wells was smart enough not to provoke them.
We arrived.
Standing across the street, I zoomed in with my eye implants and saw three large cyberpunks enter the building we needed. The biggest one looked like Maine. Perfect. A few more seconds, and we could move.
I slipped a simple yet reliable bug into my sleeve, stepped out of the car, and took a deep breath of the exhaust-laden air. Feels good...
With the backup team, I headed toward the entrance, catching frightened glances from late-night passersby. People hurried to get out of our way, and a few punks from the Claws bowed respectfully to Saito as he walked behind me.
Inside the entrance, I gestured for silence. We quietly climbed the stairs, and I scanned for potential security cameras. Found one and disabled it. No idea if Lucy had installed it or if it was one of the other residents, but we didn’t need any extra eyes on us.
There it was—the door. I pointed at it, and the tigress with mirrored lenses took a small magnetic lock-breaking device from her belt. I knocked three times while Saito lit up another of his stinky roll-ups. The lock buzzed open. I nodded and stepped back. The tigress entered first, followed by the rest of the team. No immediate gunfire. Good sign. I nodded to the kamikaze kid and whispered, "hold the door."
From inside the apartment, a loud voice rang out, sounded like Pilar's:
"Hey, who the fuck are you guys? Lucy, did you invite them?"
Time for me to make my entrance. I stepped into the dimly lit apartment, illuminated by monitors, holograms, and strips of neon.
"In this city, there are guests who don’t need an invitation," I replied with a smile, adjusting my red glasses. "Arasaka Corporation makes life in Night City better every day. So, it’s only fair that we expect respect and cooperation from its citizens. So how about a little cooperation?"
I glanced over my glasses at the grim faces of those gathered. Maine, Dorio, Pilar. They stood in the center of the room, surrounded by the Claws. David, with a battered face, lay on the floor by the bed. The kid glanced back and forth between us and the cyberpunks. He probably thought he was caught between two fires. He threw a look towards the door. Definitely wanted to slip away unnoticed, but one of the Claws was already standing in the doorway.
Lucy? She was by the window, her back turned to us. Her slender figure frozen like a deer in front of an oncoming truck. Hard to imagine what was going through her head right now. Confusion? Fear? Despair? She was probably trying to figure out who we came for—David or her. Truth is, I was interested in both of them.
“Do you think that little corporate badge of yours will scare us, corp?” Maine asked defiantly, broadening his massive shoulders.
His voice carried steel and stubbornness. A dry crack echoed from his outdated but still dangerous implants.
“I don’t think so,” I replied. “That’s why I brought six fighters with me. You’ve got, at most, four people, if the girl’s willing to spill blood for you.”
Maine stepped toward me, clearly intending to intimidate with his size. Jackie stepped in his way, his tone both conciliatory and firm:
“Easy now. If you start shooting, we’ll fire back. And we might hit someone. This guy...” He pointed a thumb in my direction. “That’s V. He says a lot of sensible things. I’d really suggest you hear him out.”
Meanwhile, Saito moved behind Maine, demonstratively lifting the corner of his jacket to reveal a katana at his waist. Message received—ready for action. Saito was perfectly positioned between Maine, Dorio, and Pilar. I figured if Lucy didn’t weaken him with some scripts, he could cut down or seriously injure all three cyberpunks in the time it took for his Sandevistan to deactivate.
Lucy was still quietly smoking by the window, trying not to look at me. I could see her blurred reflection in the glass, mixed with the street’s neon lights. I was sure she was still trying to figure out who we came for.
“Alright,” Maine finally growled. “So what the fuck does an Arasaka lapdog want here?”
“Not what—who,” I replied calmly. “You hand over one person, and we leave peacefully.”
The tension in the air thickened. Surprisingly, I felt not a trace of fear or anxiety, standing in the shadow of this chrome giant who’d killed dozens. Interesting. In my first life, I didn’t deal with much extreme shit. Sure, V had to walk the line now and then, but he mostly worked 6/1 in an office. So where was this ice-cold calm coming from? Maybe it’s because I’d already died and wandered through the Net for a long time, even though I didn’t remember all of it. Or maybe it was the pills I had to swallow to adapt to the Kerenzikov. Either way, I calmly ran through possible fight scenarios in my head.
My job was to disrupt all three cyberpunks’ implants, then, with Kerenzikov active, jump over to the bar counter. After that, I could use soul-rip a couple of times to restore the deck’s memory. Then, it’d be about cleaning up.
Maine’s chances of winning were slim. However, if a fight did break out, I’d have to work to make sure I, Jackie, Lucy, and David survived. Those last two might try to escape during the chaos. Another problem.
Lucy still hadn’t turned to us, but I could feel invisible threads stretching from her through cyberspace. She was using a small camera on a monitor as a proxy. The runner was scanning us, looking for weaknesses in our defenses.
The bullets hadn’t started flying yet, but our invisible standoff had already begun. Lucy could trigger the fight by hitting Saito and his girlfriend with scripts. Worst-case scenario. So, I imagined tentacle-like appendages extending from my core. My fingers instantly turned cold. Using demonic forces, I interrupted her scan and disabled the camera on the monitor.
Maine was silent. Clearly, he didn’t want to hand anyone over to Arasaka.
“Who do you need?” Dorio finally asked, her rough voice breaking the tense silence.
“A lost child of the great corporation, into whom much effort and resources were invested,” I answered.
That description could fit both David and Lucy. The cyberpunks didn’t seem to know about her past. I saw Lucy at the window flinch slightly as she stubbed out her cigarette. Where did this sadistic urge to play with people’s nerves come from? Another inheritance from my time in the Net, or was it how I reacted to power suddenly falling into my lap? Was I becoming more like Arthur Jenkins? I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.
“David Martinez,” I finally said. “We’ve come to take him back to the academy.”
“R-really?” David finally spoke up. “This whole mess is because of me? What do you want?”
“For you to stop skipping school, be loyal to the corporation, and listen to your mom,” I replied.
David’s face twisted, either from grief or anger.
“But she...” the kid began.
“Gloria Martinez is alive,” I cut him off. “You were given someone else’s ashes. Criminal negligence. I’ll explain the details later. As proof, I’ll send you a message from her right now. Gloria’s in the hospital, but she’s getting better.”
The message was real, of course. I’d called the clinic in advance and arranged everything earlier that day.
David’s bruised face froze in a state of utter shock. Just moments ago, he was at rock bottom, and now, fate’s current had suddenly thrust him higher than he’d ever been.
“They’ve even given you a stipend,” I smirked. “The sun’s rising, David. The sun of your new, happy life.”
The tension in the air eased a little. It’s amazing and satisfying when your words have such a powerful effect on people.
“You need the kid?” Maine scratched his square jaw. “Take him. But he’s got my implant in his spine.”
“Let them return your Sandevistan later,” Dorio suggested. “That chrome shouldn’t be in a kid anyway. I’m sure Arasaka will cover the cost of removing the Sandie.”
“There’s no fucking way I’ll trust Arasaka’s promises,” Maine retorted. “Here’s the deal: forty thousand right now, and the kid’s yours, spine and all. Deal?”
Forty thousand? Not only was that probably more than Maine paid Gloria, but you can’t show weakness around the Claws. If you get a rep as a pushover who’s easy to milk for cash, you’ll have way more problems later. One potential shootout now or ten later. Tigers, like sharks, smell easy prey. If you choose disgrace instead of war, you’ll get both disgrace and war later. So, Maine needed to be told to fuck off. Time to hit the gas.
“No deal,” I shook my head.
“You don’t get it, corp? He’s got my chrome. You want the kid—pay for him.”
“No, you don’t fucking get it, soldier. I’ve already paid. Just not to you, but to them,” I pointed my pinky at one of the Claws. “Your deals don’t mean shit to me. I’m here for the kid, and I’m taking him, even if I have to leave over a pile of corpses. Honestly...” a crooked smile spread across my face. “What’s a couple more?”
