Neon Cogs: Interlude 2 (Patreon)

Interlude 2

A Day in Night City

Life in Night City wasn’t like what it used to be. It was different, radically so, but in a good way for most. This was the reality that John woke up within in his clean spacious apartment located right inside Watson. Even after all the times he’d peered out of his apartment window while he prepared for the day, he still couldn't believe the change that had happened in the city.

There before him was the same vibrant city that he grew up with; with its neon colored advertisements beaming up to the sky and the never ending stream of vehicles that clogged its streets, but there was a different air to it. Gone were the brutalist buildings of old as the sharp and angular buildings on the Arasaka’s and other corporations dominated the skyline. Some would say that it was the same old Night City with a newer coat of paint, but he digressed.  

For a brief second, he closed his eyes as he tried to hear the bark of gunfire in the distance but all he heard was the soft music in his apartment and the whistling of his water kettle. He jumped from his seat as he grabbed the cord of the half forgotten appliance. He really should stop believing this was all just a dream.

“Really John? Still going with that habit?” His roommate chuckled as they grabbed a glass of water and filled it up at the faucet. The big burly man looked more like he’d be at home at an Animal bloodpit with all the scars, but he was far from a roided out junkie, not with how well groomed his beard remained even after a night's sleep. Far too refined, that man is.

“Old habits die hard, Mel, and hey, it helps the environment,” He joked as Arasaka's catchy jingle played in the background. He shook his head as he opened up a cup of instant noodles, added a bit of seaweed along with some freeze dried shrimp. He was still weirded out by the symbol of Arasaka on anything other than weapons.

“Yeah yeah. Arasaka provides free electricity, free water, and free fares at certain times. It’s so weird man. I don’t like it. Why are they giving so much free stuff?” The man waved him off as he grabbed a vendo meal. He scooted a bit away from his roommate and friend as he chomped down on the meaty and saucy Slaughter Jerky.

“I don’t know Mel, I’m just loving all of it,” He replied as he dug in on his own food as well. He had a long day at the office today and he’d rather not go there with an empty fuel tank.

“Aren’t you a bit scared?” Mel then asked as he looked up from his meal. John rolled his eyes at the man, the worrywart. Still, some would say that Arasaka’s just trying to butter people up but this was just too much work for that. Not when it took serious eddies to fund everything.

“Eh, I’ll deal with the consequences once they come. For now, I’ll enjoy what I can get.” He shrugged as he savored the salt taste of the rehydrated seaweed, “Let’s meet up in the soup kitchen like usual? I heard they’re using guinea pig in it today,” he then asked as he opened up the tv to catch the bit of news before he went to work.

He smiled while he ate as images of the slaughtered 6th Street gangers could be seen being wiped off the street. To think that it was Arasaka that’s fixing this city of all things. Arasaka had changed and it all started around 10 years ago? All he knows is ever since the old building got torn down and the new cathedral, he refused to call it anything other than that due to how it looked, was built they became the good guys. He was starting to root for them, especially after that story about who planted the god damn bombed surfaced, fucking Militech.

“I’d love to, but I need to do some overtime. I really want to buy that ticket for the game,” Mel apologized as he wiped juices off his lips. John rolled his eyes as he gazed towards the large poster of Hana Song plastered across a sizable part of the wall of their shared living space.

“You and your Esports,” He shook his head in amusement as he lifted up his ramen cup and downed the flavorful broth. As he cleaned up his side of the table, he glanced up to his room and reminded him, “Don’t burn yourself out, ok? It’d suck if you got injured or something,” Mel was a close friend but he really didn’t want to take care of him if he accidentally broke his leg or had his legs broken.

“Hey, it’s part of the job of being a Combat Cab driver,” The man replied simply. Sometimes, he wished he had the nonchalant attitude Mel had with life and work.

With their breakfast done, They soon parted ways and he headed for work while Mel watched more TV while he waited for his shift. He hurriedly passed by the cleaner bot deployed by Arasaka but not before grabbing some of the acorns dropped by the trees lining the road. Catching the metro was no easy task when he had to fight against the tide of humanity.

Still, he welcomed the struggle as it broke up the monotony that was his life. He absorbed every sight and sound as he headed for the one place that sucked out the joy in his life. As soon as he got to work, he strapped himself to his work station and went into the Net to troubleshoot for the customers.

His mind felt like it was melting as soon as he serviced the first customer, and the fact that he had to troubleshoot Militech made software only made it more annoying. With his boss riding on his shoulder, he had to be thorough and on script. It was mind numbing work as he helped them along, yet the pay was good so he did not complain. He merely endured it as he waited for the clock to tick down to the end of the day.

The shift seemed to stretch out for what felt like an eternity but, eventually, he was released from his prison. He practically ran out of the building as he headed straight for the metro once more so he could get to the soup kitchens near his apartment. There were other soup kitchens in the city, and he passed by one near his work, but he liked the one near his home better.

As he waited in the line to the kitchen, he looked up as he watched the large screen attached to the Arasaka owned building near his apartment. While there were tons of advertisements flashing across the screen, he was rewarded with a glimpse of the news.

“With the push of Arasaka forces inside Pacifica, the war against the Voodoo Boys will soon be over,” The newscaster announced as Arasaka forces rounded up the unarmed along with those that surrendered and shepherded them up buses that transported them to internment camps built out near the border walls.

“Good riddance,” A female voice said, making him nod. Seeing a gang brought low was quite the good news to hear.

“You can say that- Holy fucking hell!” He cursed out as he turned around and went face to face with the heavily armored and heavily armed visage of the Anti-Cyberpsycho Squad of the city. He reached out for his hips out of habit only to find an empty holster. He forgot his gun.

“... What?” The unmasked woman before him asked as she glared at him. He gulped as he raised his hands in surrender. He did not want to pick a fight with her, and not just because he was unarmed.

“N-nothing. Just surprised, that's all. Not everyday you get to see someone from MaxTac,” He explained as he kept his eyes on her. He wasn’t quite sure on what to make of her but given that he wasn’t chunky salsa, he was still doing well. Still, it was weird to see one behind him in the soup kitchen lines.

“Fair enough,” The woman huffed as she turned away and continued watching the news. Arasaka was announcing the grand opening of an aviary with the main feature being a Dodo? What the hell was a Dodo? Couldn’t they have featured a Pidgeon or something?

Slowly the line moved and an uncomfortable silence soon grew. He tapped his feet as he peered out and took a peek on what’s happening in the front of the line. They were also giving out bread. Talk about bread and circuses, cause his situation felt like a comedy. A citizen and a maxtac officer walked up to a soup kitchen…

“Slow day I assume?” He asked as he attempted to make small talk. He could have just opened up a show in his ocular implants or just shut up but he felt like talking right now. Hell, he could have talked to the oddly calm and definitely maelstrom gang member with his arachnid eye implant in front of him but he chose to talk to her.

“Yeah… There's really nothing to do in this part of town,” The woman replied wistfully as she kept her attention at the screen above. Now that he wasn’t afraid, he finally got to appreciate how she looked. Without her visor, he could actually see she was quite beautiful with her sharp symmetrical features and electric blue eyes.

“I get ya. Watson isn’t really a place where much excitement happens. Sure you have Kabuki Town and Lizzie's Bar but that’s about it,” He replied with a shrug. Aside from some muggings and clashes between Tyger Claws and the Moxx, it was a pretty chill part of the city. He then prodded, “Speaking of this place, what brings you to this part of town?”

With how there seemed to be almost no cyberpsychos around Watson, it was rare to see their hunters around here. The incredulous look she gave him made him pause as she answered, “I live here?” He felt heat rise up his cheek as he tried to respond but she cut him off, “But if you're asking why I’m here, I need to eat,”

He scratched the back of his head as he looked up to her sheepishly. “That was dumb of me to ask,” he admitted before he apologized to her, “I’m really sorry about that. It was insensitive of me.”

The woman merely sighed as she waved it off, “It’s fine. I’m used to it,” He winced at the bitterness and sadness that tinged the woman's voice. He really dun goofed on this one. He should really give her more than an apology and he just knows exactly what he could offer.

“Say, why don’t I treat you to a few rounds at Lizzie’s? My treat,” He offered. A couple of cold ones there wouldn’t break the bank. Yeah, the place wasn’t exactly the place you bring people over to, but it was a nice place; it had a nice atmosphere all around.

The woman stared at him in surprise and he started to sweat as he wondered what he just said wrong. He merely offered to buy her some booze, nothing more right? “Are… are you asking me out on a date?” The woman asked, making him blink as the cogs inside his head started to grind against each other. Almost immediately, he regretted ever opening his mouth as he realized what he just did.

He thought he was a dead man walking but then she started laughing, “You got balls, citizen,” She commented as she gave him an appraising look. He gulped as he found himself on the hot seat, so he did the only reasonable thing he could think of in that instant.

“Is that a yes?” He cautioned out as his mind screamed for him to stop.

“I would like that,” The woman replied and he almost whooped out in joy but the celebration of his continued existence was quite short as he was grabbed by the collar and pulled in close. He gulped as he found that he found his feet dangling beneath him while they were practically nose to nose with each other. She grinned at him before she challenged him, “I do have to warn you that you’re playing with fire. Think you can handle the heat?”

All he could now was nod and that was how he found himself on a date with a MaxTac elite. Maybe he should have thought things through instead of waiting for the consequence of his actions… but then this was more interesting than what he had been planning to do, so maybe it wasn’t all bad.

Militech Board Meeting.

While on paper Militech’s headquarters was located in Washington DC, the truth was far more complicated than that. The building that stood proudly and shone as a beacon for the dying city was merely a front, an entrance to the true building; for everything important was deep underground.

Deep beneath the earth, under a kilometer of hard bedrock, was the true headquarters. Once the bunker of the old government, it now served as the data fortress and main office of the prosperous Megacorp. A fitting place given how NUSA was Militech and Militech was NUSA. They were merely two sides of the same coin and in this new age, their purpose was one in the same.

Safe from possible attacks from even the most devastating conventional weapons of mass destruction, the board meeting discussing the direction of the country and the company was held. Not only was Lucas Harford, the current CEO of Militech present, but also Rosalina Myers as well. Everyone was present because, after all, the topic at hand was of great national and corporate interest.

“Which research facility exploded this time?” Harford suddenly asked, catching the head of the R&D off guard. His daughter laughed as she watched from the shadow with her guard. Sometimes, he felt like his hair would go whiter with her around.

“P-pardon?” The bespectacled man blabbered out as he blinked at him like a deer caught on a headlight. Harford’s brow twitched at how clueless the man was.

“You heard me. Which one?” He asked once more as he stood up from his seat. Spreading his arms wide and gesturing to his audience, he then said, “All of us here damn well know that every single time we meet to discuss about Arasaka, the board is informed of one of our black sites going up in smokes after one numbskull opens up a Lasgun battery so cough it up.” Maybe he was being hard on the man, as it was not his fault that the infernal and maybe even magical technology which allowed Arasaka to perform such physics breaking feats with their batteries, but he needed to vent.

“U-um well, we actually cracked open a battery without exploding? One of our interns figured it out,” The man replied as he pushed his glasses up. Everyone in the room turned to the man as he just announced what was once the impossible.

“Wait what?” He said in surprise before a smile stretched across his face. “Finally! Some god damn progress! Who’s the brilliant young mind that cracked it? I want him with a facility of his own. I want him to lead the team in reverse engineering that tech!” he cheerfully commanded. New like this was exactly what he wanted even if he needed to hear all the bad news attached to it.

“Er about that, he’s currently recovering in the country's best psychiatric facility after his nervous breakdown. He did not react well to seeing what was inside,” The man replied apologetically.

Hartford sucked in his breath before sighing out as he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Of course there’s more fuckery inside the demented battery. “Ok, ok, give him some time. Send him some fruit baskets and make sure to give him the good bananas, the Lakatan ones.” He replied as he wished the boy a speedy recovery.

“How’s our mole in this ‘Adeptus Mechanicus’?” He then asked as he desperately changed the subject. He’d have to go back to hearing about the misadventures of the Militech R&D department later.  

“They’re dead, sir. Even the Janitors we sent there are… reprocessed,” One of his staff answered him, making him grit his teeth. Sometimes, he wondered what cruelty one must possess to make such machines.

“Keep throwing something, we’ll crack it eventually. Also, make sure our contact in Night City is well funded. Getting to see their defenses is invaluable for our future operations.” He ordered. As painful as it was to send bodies straight into the meat grinder, having an eye inside the R&D department would be far more valuable than the lives of a thousand agents, especially when this lab was where that boy was doing his miracles. The fact that his men failed when a 3rd party contractor managed to slip through the Great Firewall made his blood boil. Then there were their eyes and ears in Night City and even those were getting hazy.

“Now, any other progress in the Fungal Program we have with Biotechnica?” He inquired, wondering if their little program with their allies was convenient.

“You mean the Bioinformatic Neural Simulation Program? There has been some progress but nothing too solid right now,” His R&D Head answered.

“Keep sending them money. While I don’t trust Biotechnica, I do trust them enough that they’re still loyal to the state,” He gritted out. It was expensive but any edge right now was well worth it. They might be practically grasping at straws at this point but they still had a lot to throw around.

As his mind wondered about the various projects they had funded, a board member from the financial end of the company raised his hand to call for his attention. He motioned for him to go on as a secretary passed by and give him some files on Arasaka’s golden child, “If I may be so bold, don’t you think this is an excessive amount of money being poured into countering Arasaka? I know we need the R&D, but this is getting ridiculous and we haven’t even touched our funds in trying to break into Night City?” The man asked before a hush fell upon the room.

Hartfords fist clenched around the edge of the folder he was reading before he gently placed the files down as he sat down. “Excessive? Yes? Reasonable? No, because I’m fucking underfunding our R&D by all accounts.” He replied as reached down from beneath the chair and pulled out an innocuous bolter round he had laying around from the last meeting they had.

“Do you know what this is?” He asked the man as he brought a bucket load of the bullets up, before picking one up and letting the diamond-like substance at the tip glint from the light illuminating their table.

The man looked at him quizzically as he replied, “An Araska Bolter round?”

“This isn’t merely a bolter round, this is an Armor Piercing High Explosive Gyro-stabilized Gyrojet Round. When this comes out of the barrel, it’s going as fast as one of our sniper rifles and it hasn’t even used up its rockets,” He replied as he pressed the disarmed bullet against the steel table before dragging the tip across its surface. Everyone winced as the bullet created a large rent across the surface. Good, he had everyone's attention.

“From Preliminary testing, a clip of this in the hands of a right soldier can effectively mission kill a power armored soldier. While we could produce something like this easily, Arasaka solved something we had yet to actually solve back when we developed something similar back in the 20’s, and you know what it was?” He lectured them before quizzing the man on the history of their company. By all accounts, their old product was a success and could go toe to toe with the base model of the bolters, but it had one drawback that doomed it in the market.

“What?” The man asked, still not getting it.

Hartford tossed the bullet across the table, letting it bounce before it rolled to a stop. It left a series of dents along the way while still as sharp as ever. “Cost. A box of this, which contains 50 bullets, costs around 100 EB,” He answered, letting the fact sink in before he pressed on, “Even with their most ‘primitive’ weapon, they still have us beat. They’re light years ahead of us now.”

It was an unfortunate reality that they woke up too. One moment they were peers, now they were far behind, “Our lasers? We’re using the lenses and jury rigged batteries of Lasgun because it's that much cheaper. The low price of food stuff in the market? Arasaka’s sea farms are starting to outstrip our farms in Alaska. The precision parts of our most advanced manufacturing tools? From Arasaka. The funny thing is, we're actually using the defective parts,” He fired off a list of the places that Arasaka was simply beating them. Their mastery of physics, biology, and material sciences had him on edge and those were the things he had just listed off.

Militech, the goliath of a megacorp, was in trouble. Profits had taken a slow but steady decline ever since Arasaka’s golden child arrived in Night City. Once, they were on top of the world with Arasaka humbled, but now the tables had turned and what’s worse was their rival didn’t even have to lift a single finger. Left behind and made to bite the dust, they now had to catch up to their bitter enemy else they would sink and be torn apart.

“All it took was 15 years and they’ve surpassed us technologically and economically. The point I’m making is, if we keep going down this path, the more Arasaka can sink its tendrils in our country,” He pointed out as he turned around and walked towards a large display showing the map of the New United States of America. One by one the independent states were pulled back but Night City remained a large blemish in the almost perfect map before him.

“There’s no hiding it, we’re fucked if we can’t catch up to Arasaka. The longer this peace lasts, the better equipped Arasaka will become. Eventually, they’ll surpass everyone, but before that we have to pull that trigger.” He warned them as he glared at the icon glowing atop that cursed city.

“As much as I want them to be brought down, a war with them now that they’re still intact and solid would be disastrous. We need to bide our time and wait. Eventually, our efforts will show and cracks will form,” He cautioned as he stared at the super power across the ocean.

“But if that time never comes?” Rosalina then asked, finally speaking out after staying quiet for most of the meeting.

He looked back and grinned as he answered her, “Then we do the unthinkable,.” If an opportunity didn’t come, they’d just have to tough out the odds.

Rogue’s New Reality

Rogue took a deep breath before sighing as she stared at the symbol of Militech spinning across the screen. Another month and another debriefing she had to do to keep her “masters” over in Washington happy. She shook her head as she unplugged a cord hooking her briefcase laptop to the creepy servitor Hiro made.

She grimaced at the face of one of Militech’s agents staring at her. “Go on, go back to your master. Your job here’s done,” She ordered the droid who nodded in a facsimile of human gesture before walking off and disappearing in a flash of light.

She groaned as she reached for her bottle of booze but her hand flinched away from it as an alarm rang off. Her eyes drifted to her calendar as she was reminded of what today was. Today was the day Arasaka opened up a public Aviary of all things inside Night City. The fact that they were showcasing an animal that had just come back from the jaws of extinction through the power of modern science was just pure showboating at this point.

She needed her booze but… her son needed her more on her best behavior. Besides, it wouldn’t do her reputation any good if she were to vomit all over an Arasaka employee at their event. With great struggle, she pulled herself off her comfortable seat as she marched out of her private booth.

“Squama, get the Aerodyne ready,” Rogue ordered her trusty bodyguard as she walked past all her usual patrons before heading straight for her car. If there’s anyone she could trust to do his job without fail, it was Squama as the man had her ride flying in just a few minutes.

She lounged against the luxurious leather seats of her car as she chomped on an apple while staring down at the streets below. To think that all it took was 15 years to change the very face of the city. If Johnny was here, he’d probably think that this was just a fever dream. The city? Greener and a bit classier with all the buildings, public monuments and trees now dotting it all; this was not the same neon colored trash heap she once called home. She could only dream of the day he came back, but for now she watched as the city transformed before her very eyes.

With Arasaka firmly in hold of the city, there was order but at what cost? The city was still the nest of snakes she knew, but slowly Arasaka was strangling their competition in the city. The burning and half demolished wreck of Pacifica was all she needed to see, yet it was all doom and gloom.

There in the harbor were the floating farms for Arasaka, large aquatic farms that not only supplied the city with fresh food but also kept its waters clean. The sparkling blue waters of the bay along with the stretches of the rehabilitated beach front with all the people milling around it was all she needed to know that yes, this part of the ocean was clean, even if said ocean was walled off.

Turning back to the city, she sighed as she observed the extent of Arasaka’s control. It was no longer a hodgepodge of architectural styles as Arasaka’s aesthetics flourished. Even the new factories being built in the remnants of Pacifica followed the style, even if it only added flourishes and nothing of value to the factory. She did have to admit that at least it didn’t look like an eyesore.

As her ride flew closer to her destination, her mind wandered off to where it all went wrong. Should she have allied herself to the child of her old friend and lover? He was just so different, so… weird. It was often hard to see him as their child. He did have the bone headed stubbornness of the two, yet he took far more from his grandfather in her opinion.

That boy was a monster in sheep's clothing, yet the monster she knew had a heart and it cared for those it held dear with as much passion as it hated its enemies and fortunately for this city, Hiro loved it as much as he loved that poor girl. She snorted at the memory of the little firebrand. It wasn’t that surprising that it took a rough girl from the streets to tame that boy given his mother.

Oftentimes, she wondered if it was worth it, was it worth it selling out to Arasaka? Was it worth partnering with the devil to bring the gangs of the city to heel and install a foreign entity in control? Was she really going to help Arasaka take over this city?

Her musing was cut short as they finally arrived at their destination. The large glass dome was much a castle of glass as it was a marvel to behold. With the fully climate controlled aviary open to the public, another site within the city opened up for illicit dealings and meetings as much as it served as a park for the families and children of Night City.

Stepping off her ride, she walked past the crowd that had gathered in the entrance of the building. What she saw inside left her speechless as she paused and looked around in wonder with mouth agape. When she heard that her son wanted to see the aviary, she didn't expect it to have an entire forest inside it.

Colorful birds flew overhead while Parrots milled around and harassed park goers for the seeds sold in tiny bags in many of the automatic kiosks. Her eyes shifted to the moving shapes above the tree and there she found squirrels, real live squirrels milling about as they gorged themselves on the endless bounty before them.

While the park had paved parts, it was certainly brimming with life as the sound of insects mixed in with the songs of birds. She found herself lost in the wonderful sight and for a moment, that voice asking her if it was worth it quite down as a sparrow landed on her shoulder. It looked up at her inquisitively, hoping about before flying off to join its friends in the sky.

Maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t so bad after all. If Arasaka would devote just a fraction of the effort they placed in tending these gardens to the city as a whole, then maybe it would be worth it. “Mom? There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you,” A voice called out as she turned to find her son’s smiling visage gazing upon her. Only that wonderful smile gave her joy these days, and if the only way to keep that smile in her son's face was to sell this city then so be it.

Cult Mechanicus

“Is it really wise to abandon our brothers to the mercy of our lord?”