Never Fade Away: I Know You See Me (ch. 24) (Patreon)

Arasaka Tower was big, I realized. I had never seen it up close before, but no matter where you were in this city, you could see it. Arasaka Tower was a testament to the control the company had over Night City. It dominated the skyline, equal to a mega building. Rebuilt after Johnny Silverhand nuked the tower years ago, demolishing it and the surrounding blocks, and now fifty years later it stood taller and prouder than ever.

It was practically a different city in front of the tower. Everything was clean, everyone was well dressed in expensive suits, and every single one of them were glancing my way. Hologram projectors had sakura blossoms falling in an endless loop, giving the building an almost ethereal appearance in comparison to the rest of Night City. It was daunting to approach, especially when I saw every camera in the vicinity zoom in on me, watching my every move as I drew closer.

I stood out like a sore thumb. My flip-flops slapped against my heel with each step. My cargo shorts were full to the point of bursting, forcing me to wear a fanny pack to keep my shorts up. My t-shirt had a graphic on it, but the back of it was soaked through with blood. On the walk over, the numbness left my body and my mind cleared, giving me absolute focus on what I was about to do. And that was to walk into the belly of the beast.

I thought I would be more afraid. More nervous. However, as I approached the doors, I felt calm. We had a plan. We were making a play. And, no matter what, we were going to get David back.

The doors opened, revealing a spacious lobby that felt cold and metallic to me. Directly ahead of me were a half dozen elevators which would take me where I needed to go. V had given us David's location. He was on an upper floor. But, between me and the elevator was a security checkpoint with a metal detector.

"You lost, kid?" The doorman asked me, a sneer on his face. I met his gaze and my eyes flashed red. His brain fried in an instant, letting me step through the metal detector that sounded off an alarm.

The woman at the front desk began to hide while the rest of the people -- civilians that were coming and going from the tower -- began to flee. I came to a stop in the middle of the lobby, my hands in my pockets, waiting for the response. I didn't have to wait long. Two Arasaka Minotaurs dropped down from above, a half dozen turrets locked into me, and the soldiers on standby rushed out from in front of me and behind. I didn't move a muscle as I was completely surrounded in thirty seconds -- a good fifty soldiers in front of me, all weapons trained onto me with laser dots. Another twenty behind me.

I waited for them to settle in before I spoke, "You have my friend. Give him back." My voice carried in the lobby, sweeping over everyone that now occupied it. Their faces were covered but I did notice some nervous shuffling. With my optics, I scanned their equipment. A lot of them were borg'd out with an interesting encryption method. Nothing that I couldn't chew through, though.

I expected the leader of them to speak up. To issue a demand. Instead, I heard a voice over the intercom, speaking in Japanese.

"Bold," the man decided before a hologram appeared above the elevators. An elderly Japanese guy wearing a yukata. His appearance was a soft blue, but his expression was clear and severe as he looked down at me. "Very bold. Your success is not only due to your technology, I see."

"Who the fuck are you?" I half snarled at the man, my eyes flashing red. I was poised to breach the security. I imagine Arasaka's ICE would be thick and difficult to get through, even with the Skeleton Key. But, that's why I got the Sandy installed.

The old guy seemed amused by the question, "I am Saburo Arasaka, the one who owns the tower you are within. The one who owns you, Shepard-san." Saburo stated, his voice unyielding as I narrowed my eyes.

"You're the one that took David. Give him back," I demanded, my tone decidedly even. "You're a business man, right? I can't imagine it's good for biz if I massacre everyone here. People might stop trusting Arasaka security," I snapped at him, anger leaking in my tone despite myself.

"No. I would imagine not," Saburo remarked, sounding unafraid of my threat. I imagine that wouldn't be the case if we were standing in the same room. "My company has faced a series of setbacks due to your actions, Shepard-san. Just as we are on the cusp of greatness. The very stars shall be mine. Yet, in the final steps, you escaped this Orphanage. Since then you have been nothing but trouble… yet, it is you that shall provide the final piece to my family's legacy."

My eyes narrowed. That… sounded like more than just vague grandstanding. He could be delusional, but… "I refuse."

"As I imagine you might," Saburo chuckled. It sounded warm and approving. "You were beneath my notice until quite recently. A number within my company wanted your existence kept from me to prevent their failures from being known. Something that failed them when the massacre of a small army reached my ears. I saw then what you are capable of and decided that you shall work for me." His slight smile became cruel, "You care a great deal for those in this Orphanage, as well as for David Martinez. I offer you their lives in exchange for yours."

It was the deal that V told me to expect. Hearing it, it sounded so very tempting. My doubts and concerns were still valid. All I had to do was give myself to them and everyone else would get to live out their lives.

I clenched my jaw, "What about the others?" I asked him after a brief moment of silence.

"Others?" He questioned, sounding guarded.

"Can you look me in the eyes and swear to me that you won't try to recreate me?" I asked him, and I saw by his reaction that he knew about my charges. Or, at least, he knew something. "I spent years watching one by one as the damage you and your company did to us mounted until the inevitable happened. I spent every day of my life not knowing if someone that I loved was going to die that day or if I was. Worse was seeing kids brought into that hell and knowing what awaited them. You and your company treated us like fucking animals."

Not so much as a twitch, I saw. Indifference. If I had to summarize his reaction, then it was complete indifference.

I didn't expect anything else from him.

In response to my accusations, he lifted something up. I recognized it immediately and my stomach plunged into my stomach. "You have much to learn of the world, Shepard-san. Such as learning on who you can trust," he remarked, turning his attention to the Typhon 1.0 cyberdeck. One of three in existence. "This was given to me by a trusted companion of yours, or so I gather. It is truly incredible what you have achieved -- if I were not holding it in my hand, my scientists would say that it is impossible."

Kiwi. What the fuck did you do? I grit my teeth, knowing that he was trying to rile me up and it was working like a charm. Did he take Kiwi too? No… no. V had said that Kiwi had betrayed us. Me. I… I didn't know what I felt as I looked at the depths of her betrayal -- she had sold the cyberdeck that I gave her to the people that experimented on and tortured the people that I loved.

I'm going to kill her. The thought punched me in the gut, knocking the breath from my lungs, leaving me in a stunned silence. I was going to kill Kiwi for this.

"I understand it is but one of your inventions, Shepard-san. You may buy the lives of your friends, even family, with your life and service. I shall personally ensure that they want for nothing… but I will have more of you," Saburo stated in no uncertain terms. "Your technology is beyond cutting edge, and I shall have it. Give yourself to me, Shepard-san. Or I shall take you."

I lowered my head. The temptation to say yes was there, but Becca's words rang out in my head like a bell. I took in a slow breath and let it out, "We fought like hell to escape that cage. Putting them in a gilded one isn't what I want. I want them to be free… but that won't ever happen, huh? If not because of you and Militech wanting to recoup costs… then because of me. Because they can be used against me." I reached up, pushing my hair back and I had what I could only call an epiphany. All my hopes and concerns were washed away because I knew what I had to do.

I met the gaze of Saburo. "For the sake of their peace of mind and right to live, I can't allow you to exist. You, Militech, any of the mega corporations. Any of the nations," I started, knowing it to be true. Saburo's eyes narrowed a fraction as my face settled into a serene blank expression. "I have to kill you all. Just like I did the Tyger Claws. If I kill every single one -- from the CEO's to the lowest intern… maybe then they can live in peace."

I felt the air shift at that, all of the soldiers around me growing tense as my words registered with them. I was going to kill them all. Every single one of them. Even Saburo seemed disquieted by what he heard.

"Then you shall serve me in death," he intoned.

I was faster. The code went out and the soldiers began to scream as they died, their biotics working against them to press their weapons to their heads. The gun fire happened at once, the near hundred soldiers dropping dead where they were.

"I'm sorry we couldn't work something out, Mr. Saburo. I would have liked for us to go our separate ways. But I can't allow you to exist for their sake. I'm going to kill you and your family," I told him, offering a small bow, but my gaze never wavered from his. His jaw tightened a fraction, but he seemed unmoved.

"You shall face the might of the world, Shepard-san."

"Bring it on," I responded and as the turrets were given the order to open fire, everything happened at once.

My Sandy came alive and I became keenly aware of every single nerve ending in my body. From the smallest neuron in my brain to the nerve endings in my toes. Time seemed to slow to but a fraction of the true flow of it, everything frozen in place. My gaze found a single drop of blood that had yet to hit the floor, and it seemed suspended in the air for how slow it was moving. In my mind, time was slowed to 1%.

A hand reached into my fanny pack, grabbing a grenade that I had built just for this. It was small hexagonal sphere that was a fixed to a spike. My body screamed in protest with the slightest of movements, and I accepted the pain, throwing it into the ground with all of my might. This Sandy had been optimized for David and he was more metal than flesh at this point. I wasn't. And I was paying the price for it because I could feel muscles tearing from the speed the Sandy jacked them up to.

It stabbed into the ground just in time for me to see the Arasaka elites that had been hiding out rushing forward with their own Sandys. They seemed to be moving in slow motion to me, but the fact they were moving at all told me how fast they were. The gun turrets began firing as the hexagon began to project light, the bullets sailing at me and I could see them smashing into the hard light barrier of the bubble shield. The bullets flattened before ricocheting off of the hard light, something I had created to buy me the split second that I needed.

As time slowed to a crawl, I lashed out with the Skeleton Key, hitting the systems of Arasaka. The transference of data was fast, far faster than anyone gave it credit for. Even as time seemed to go still, the Skeleton Key still felt as fast as a whip to my mind. It touched the surface levels of ICE within the tower, tearing through them with the same ease as it did everything else. I managed to gain access to the elevators, and I was working on getting access to the cameras…

Then my progress hit a wall. Or, rather, it was as if the rug had been pulled out from underneath me. I watched as my progress get lost and my mind raced, pounding between my temples. I expected Arasaka to have netrunners in the sub-net, but the ones in the Orphanage hadn’t caused me an even slight delay. They hadn’t been able to react to me at all. The most they had been able to do was burn access to slow me down, but by the time they realized they should have, it was too late.

Were these elite netrunners? My brow furrowed as I tried to regain my progress, shifting tracks, only to find that odd encryption on the systems. It was building as my Skeleton Key chewed through it. Honestly, it was kind of incredible. It reminded me… hm… this… was too familiar. This was… why did the encryption remind me so much of the Skeleton Key? The way its cipher was building code in response to my intrusions, but it was more than that. It was being guided. It was like watching Arasaka Tower being built in real time. It…

They had their own version of the Skeleton Key. It wasn’t as good as mine, not even half as good, but they had turned it from being an ICE breaker into ICE. They didn’t have the source code, that was obvious enough, but it was uncanny in appearance. Like they had caught a glimpse of it and tried to rebuild it. What made it able to keep up with me was…

AIs. Arasaka had AIs in their net.

That complicated things significantly. The… Skeleton Lock was building rapidly in this fraction of a second, the single drop of blood barely moving a fraction of a centimeter in the time that passed since the cyberbattle began. The AIs were able to react faster than me, putting me at a disadvantage on top of me taking them on on their home turf. Switching tracks again, I started to analyze the Skeleton Lock, picking at it to steal some code that I added onto my own ICE to prevent myself from getting hacked by them.

However, it was becoming increasingly clear that I wasn’t going to be able to remote hack Arasaka like this. I needed direct access to their servers. Though, I couldn’t leave things as they were. I needed to buff up my ICE, and to that end, as I withdrew from the Arasaka systems, I had the snippets of the Skeleton Lock interact with my Skeleton Key. The two went together like they belonged together, the Key trying to rip through my own ICE, but the Lock was growing more complicated and intricate to keep the Key out. An unstoppable force that was meeting an immovable object.

Then, abruptly, time resumed. I heard a loud smashing sound as I dropped to a knee, blood erupting from my nose in a spray of blood. My arm hurt. My back hurt. My brain felt like someone was stabbing it with an ice pick, but I kept my eyes open to see my reinforcements coming in.

The front gate to the tower was bashed inward, sending shards of glass and metal that intermixed with the dull orange particles that spun off of the GN drive in the back of the tank that sailed into the lobby. The tank looked exactly how I wanted it too in my designs -- the GN drive keeping it aloft, the main guns tapping into it's awesome power. Energy based weapons supported the main gun battery that fired at the elevators, unleashing an explosion that was a dozen times too big for the size of the delivery.

The tank itself was the size of one of the Makigai MaiMai's that I had seen on the streets. Not that it changed anything. The laser guns fired out, sending blood red lasers at the remaining enemy while slower shots of green plasma splashed over the handful of Arasaka soldiers left in the lobby. The tank shifted, growing in size, and the hatch opened up for me, revealing Jack. “Get in!” She said, reaching out a hand.

I looked up at Saburo, he watched the massacre of his men with an indifferent expression. Our eyes seemed to meet for the briefest of seconds, blood dripping down my chin -- I would kill him. No matter what, he would have to die. Along with everyone else that worked at this company. Breaking the eye contact, I got into the back of the Tank that had everyone else inside. Falco was driving while Becca was hooked into the guns. “I couldn’t bust into their defenses. They have AIs in their net,” I told them, taking a seat.

The hatch closed with a hiss and I felt the sensation of the tank shrinking as we shot into the elevator shaft, flying upward. I had managed to make the GN particles non-toxic, and it seemed to enhance some of their properties somehow. Such as the fact that they seemed to interfere with communication. Meaning that while we were in here, we wouldn’t need to worry about getting remote hacked.

“So, we don’t know if he’s where V said,” Lucy muttered darkly as we sailed toward our destination. The plan was to verify where he was, in case Arasaka moved him, with cameras. However, that wasn’t in the cards at the moment so we would have to hope that V was telling the truth… and if she wasn’t, then we would just need to tear this building apart looking for him.

“We’ll find him,” I told her, wiping the blood off of my face with a towel that Jack offered. Sweat was building up on my forehead. Even that quick use had taken a lot out of me. “Kiwi didn’t just leave. She betrayed us. She sold the cyberdeck to Arasaka and they have a version of the Skeleton Key. Not the source code, but it’s too similar to be coincidence,” I continued, my head pounding as I turned my attention to the video feeds around the tank.

We were racing down the hallways, no bigger than a baseball. There were soldiers, and general employees that were shooting at us, but Falco activated the hard-light bubble shield to protect the tank. Becca fired out with the laser tech, reducing some people to ash and chrome when they were struck with enough shots. We were heading right to where David should be, and the added security was giving me hope that he was where V had said he would be.

“She-” Lucy began, cutting herself off as her eyes flashed with rage. Lucy always struck me as the aloof type. Soft smirks and warm chuckles, but she was surprisingly expressive. With or without us, she would be tearing Arasaka up to find David. "She doesn't matter. For now," Lucy seethed.

I gripped the railing, feeling a rose in my gut as we spun through the air, "I know… we scared her off. I scared her off. But she went straight to Arasaka to sell the tech. It can't stay in their hands."

"Could they reverse engineer it?" Jack questioned, and that was the million eddie question. Could they reverse engineer it? Thinking logically, I would say no. Even if they knew it was possible, that didn't mean they could figure out how to do it themselves. They would need a sample of my PYM particles at the very least, and my equipment to create the particles. I wanted to say no.

"It's possible," I admitted. They had managed to make a rough copy of my Skeleton Key after all, and I hadn't tried  to black box my tech simply because I never imagined that Kiwi would betray us like this.

Lucy bit her lip, wanting to say more, but Falco's voice rang out. "We're arriving," He informed, throwing the tank into high gear as he lined another shot up with the door that supposedly had David. The explosion rocked the door, punching it in and blowing in the doorframe. We sailed through the smoke, entering a wide open room- "David!" Lucy cried out, seeing David laying on a medical bed. Becca destroyed the guards meant to keep us from reaching him -- the soldiers no match for a flying tank.

Falco enlarged us, and I threw open the hatch and stepped out. Jack grabbed some rubble and flung it into the hole, preventing anyone from entering while I went to David. He was alive, and whole. I'm guessing as a bargaining chip to get me to agree to work for Arasaka. Jacking into his systems, I saw that Arasaka had their thumbs and fingers all inside of David. Hooks and barbs that would let them track him, even kill him remotely.

My gut clenched when I saw the order had already been given. The moment I refused the order, Saburo gave the other to kill David. However, the order wasn't carried out. A false positive subverted the trigger.

V.

V had saved David's life.

I had no evidence of the fact, but I knew it was true in my gut. I tore through the hooks that Arasaka had left before I picked David up with the help of Kaiden. David was heavy, but we managed to drag him into the tank. "We need to go! Now!" Falco shouted out as Jack got in, the Arasaka ninjas closing in not a second later. Falco fired at the wall, punching through it before he gunned the throttle and sent us flying through it as bullets bounced off of our bubble shield embedded into the tank.

Lucy was clinging to David, his head in her lap. He was drugged up to the gills, completely out of it as we began to descend down the side of the tower, falling hundreds of feet. My heart pounded like a drum, my brain feeling like it was getting ripped in two, but I felt light as a feather. Against all the odds, we were getting away. We were going to escape. David was going to be fine. From here, the real fight would begin-

As if to agree with me, Becca shouted, "We got incoming!" She warned a second too late because I felt the tank buck, grinding into the side of Arasaka tower, sending out a shower of sparks. I looked through the cameras to see what hit us. And it wasn't an it. It was a who, despite all appearances.

A large man with a body made of chrome and steel stood on top of the tank, a hand ripping out the bubble shield projector. His body was painted black and appeared distinctly inhuman. I had seen a number of borgs since I had left the Orphanage, but none of them could compare to him. The only thing that seemed distinctly human was the skull face plate that he wore that seemed more of a mockery than anything.

Adam Smasher.

He clenched his hand, purple energy swirling around it and punched into the armor of the tank, the gravity fields ripping the armor like it was made of cardboard, letting him peer into the tank as we all fell.

"You're worth killing," Adam Smasher told me, our eyes meeting. "I'm going to enjoy this."

And not a second later, we slammed into the ground.

So much for our clean escape.