Never Fade Away: Like a Supreme (ch. 27) (Patreon)

What was happening today was something that had only happened once in Night City's history, Rogue recalled as she leaned into her seat in the back room of the Afterlife. On one side of the room was a long row of the top Fixers in Night City -- Regina Jones, Padre, Wakako, Captain Reyes, Dino Dinovic, Faraday, and the unexpected addition of Dexter Deshaun. He used to operate out of Pacifica, before he vanished for a few years. Rogue was one of the few that knew he had returned to the city less than two weeks ago, and he likely saw this as an opportunity to announce his return.

Counting herself, they were the major league Fixers. There were some that had refused her invitation, of course -- Mr. Hands, a mysterious Fixer that proved to be elusive unless he was contacting you. Dakota Smith refused to enter the city, still seeing herself as a Nomad. However, she had little doubt that both of them would soon learn what was discussed in this room and find ways to make their approval or displeasure known.

The last time something like this happened was fifty years ago, Rogue thought, her eyes sliding to the other side of the room. It was just after the nuke went off, destroying Arasaka Tower and half of the city. When things were in absolute chaos -- the initial death toll had actually been pretty light in comparison to the deaths that came after. Gangs slaughtered civilians and each other for resources, more died from radiation sickness, and the situation devolved to the point that Night City became filled with feudal warlords.

It was only when Arasaka started cracking down hard that a meet was called. A meeting between the top Fixers and the top gang leaders to discuss how to get the city back under control so that biz leveled out and eddies resumed flowing to the correct hands.

On the other side of the room were the top gang leaders within the city -- Santiago Ramirez, one of the many men named after an old acquaintance of hers, was the representative for the Valentinos. Susan Quinn sat on the couch -- the leader of the Mox. Her skin was dark and her head was topped with a dark purple afro, her face perfectly sculpted with a cocky smirk on her full lips as she spread her arms out wide to claim as much of the couch as she could. Standing in a corner was Oren Row -- a member of Maelstrom, something that was obvious with his appearance. He was little more than metal wrapped in a thin layer of synth skin.

The Voodoo Boys, surprisingly, took her up on the invitation as well, sending a large black man named Placide. He stood behind the couch, his arms crossed over his chest, and he hadn’t said so much as a word despite the fact he was the first to arrive. In a less surprising turn, the Animals refused her invitation. The inner workings of the city meant little to them so long as they had eddies for their steroids. The definition of dumb muscle. Still, dumb muscle had its place in Night City.

In an unfortunate surprise, 6th street refused her invitation. Which didn’t bode well for their intentions, but there wasn’t much Rogue could do about that without overstepping.

As for the Tyger Claws… Their absence was felt keenly in the room.

Rogue turned her attention to the chair directly across from her, at the other end of the table she sat at the head of. She left it open to see if anyone would sit in it, but it seemed everyone knew the trap. Whoever tried to sit in it might as well be declaring themselves king, which would make them a target for everyone else in the room. And no one was confident enough to think they could survive making that declaration.

“What the fuck is the old bag doing here?” Oren decided to break the heavy silence in the sound proof room, looking at Wakako. “Ain’t she a Tyger Claw Fixer? Ain’t all of them buried out in Rocky Ridge?” He asked with an inhuman smile tugging at his lips. Rogue hadn’t been invited to the last meet. She had been on the run after the disastrous mission that seemed to change everything.

Wakako didn’t so much as blink, “Even diminished as they are, the Tyger Claws are still a formidable part of this city. I have a far greater right to be here than you, Oren-san. How many do you still number between Arasaka, Militech, and L? A dozen?” Wakako questioned, delivering a sharp jab in response. She was trying to project strength, but everyone knew that her interests were heavily tied to the Tyger Claws. You couldn’t be married to eight of them and not be.

She worked against them often enough, but that was usually the outliers -- the ones that went beyond the pale, who acted without sanction from their leaders. Or the ones that were ambitiously trying to climb the ranks. Wakako acted as a balancing force. A gardener that trimmed the stems and roots of the Tyger Claws… and now the plant had been ripped out of the ground entirely by L.

Still, she delivered a good point. Maelstrom had been heavily diminished by the three titans. They had a seat at the table for the sake of being an old hat that did still have a presence, but it couldn't be denied that they were a shadow of their former selves. The death of the Tyger Claws had been so flashy that the slow grinding death of Maelstrom was almost missed by Night City.

"Heh. Don't you worry about that, old bag. One way or another, we'll be back in tip top shape soon enough." Meaning kidnapping people and shoving in so many trash tier implants that no one would accept them except for Maelstrom. An old recruitment tactic for the gang. "A lot more than anyone can say for the Claws."

"Are we going to be posturing all night, or are we here to discuss business?" Faraday questioned, lighting a cigar as he lounged in his seat. Oren narrowed his six eyes at Faraday for the remark, but Faraday wasn't bothered by it. Instead, his gaze slid to her. That prompted everyone to turn their gazes to her. It would be a lie to call her the Queen of Night City, but she was amongst the most powerful.

No one was as well connected -- either with corpos or top tier mercs. She got the cream of the crop gigs that paid out in the millions. And with but a word, she could destroy anyone in this room.

There was a damn good reason that she was the Queen of the Afterlife.

Before she spoke, a message was sent her way. From Nix, the netrunner of her bar that protected her secrets.

'Guess who just showed up?'

Rogue instantly knew. She didn't need to check the cameras. She had to fight to keep a smile off of her face, but she lost the battle. Something that none of the others failed to miss. She was forced to cover it up, "We should wait until we're all in attendance, first," Rogue replied, crossing her legs as her attention drifted to the door.

"Who else is there? Some poser gang? They ain't worth shit, honey," Susan remarked, sounding annoyed at the delay. The others just seemed puzzled. The only one that wasn't was Regina Jones.

"He really is something else," Regina remarked to herself, and that made it click with Wakako, who immediately stiffened. Like she was about ready to run.

"Who-" Santiago started, only to be cut off when the door slid open, revealing the reason for their meeting.

L.

He was wearing David's jacket, Rogue quickly noticed. It seemed only a bit too big for him as he entered the room, his expression best summarized as bored. She also noticed that his left hand was metallic -- so, the BDs were true. He had shot off his left arm in an attempt to take out Adam Smasher. With his arrival, all the air seemed to be sucked out of the room because everyone was holding their breath. Rogue wasn't much better in that regard. However, appearances were a must in this biz.

"You have some massive balls showing up here," Rogue remarked, making L blink as he took the seat across from her.

"... They're pretty normal sized?" L questioned, sounding a little put off.

L had stood out like a sore thumb the first time she met him. It wasn't the flipflops -- though, that certainly did stand out. It was how he carried himself. How he acted. She saw it the moment she laid eyes on him. L… had no self-awareness. He had no perception of how he was perceived by others -- it was why he could wear that ridiculous clothing with a straight face. It was how he could drop bodies like they were flies. It was how he could earnestly say that he wasn’t targeting the Tyger Claws because, in his mind, he wasn’t.

Right now, he had absolutely no clue what his presence was doing in the room. L made a splash that was felt around the world with what he did. He took a shot at the King himself, and threw down with the Legend Killer. He was completely blind to how terrifying he was, or how down right audacious he was acting by showing up to a conversation that he was at the heart of.

Johnny would hate him. He always did hate sharing the limelight.

“I heard that there was supposed to be a conversation about the future. So… discuss away,” L offered, leaning back into his chair as he gave everyone a dull, clueless stare. Completely oblivious. Everyone took the words as a challenge. A threat. L was a different breed of mercenary and netrunner -- a living Legend. The last netrunner that made a splash like he did was Bartmoss, who had destroyed the old Net.

Anyone with a passing understanding of netrunning understood what L did. Arasaka, especially their military division, had the cream of the crop ICE. Back during the corpo wars, Militech and Arasaka spent billions upon billions making ICE so secure that Rogue would have called what he did impossible without the aid of an AI. But, he did it all the same. In a split second, he could kill everyone in this room. He could have their deepest and most personal secrets with a thought.

L just put a gun to everyone's heads and gave them permission to talk shit about him.

He dressed like an absolute idiot, but Rogue couldn't deny that L had his own style of swagger.

"Arasaka is strangling Night City. Because of you. I was hoping to find some evidence of you leaving the city, but no such luck," Rogue spoke up, breaking the tense silence that had fallen upon the most dangerous and influential people in the city. He had them scared. Rogue wanted to laugh at it -- he had the heads of every single major gang in the city looking like kids trying to avoid the attention of their parents.

"Ah. Sorry," L apologized, sounding like he meant it. "That should stop pretty soon, though. They'll realize that I can get around their security checkpoints pretty easily. I'll arrange for it to end by the end of the day."

Oblivious. He was completely oblivious to the context of those words as much as he was to the effects that they had on everyone in the room.

He claimed he could make Arasaka do anything. And everyone here believed him, herself included.

Now that the ice has been broken, the others dared to speak up. Wakako turned to L, a quiet anger blazing in her eyes. "You intend to remain in the city, then?" She questioned, a threatening edge in her voice.

L nodded, "For the most part, yeah. Why?" To the others, that question echoed with pure audacity. Rogue heard genuine curiosity and ignorance.

"Revenge. You truly did not think that the massacre you committed would go unanswered?" Wakako questioned, the sweet old lady facade dropping for a moment to reveal the ruthless bitch that she was. She was posturing for the Valentinos, Mox, and Maelstrom. Convincing them that the Tyger Claws weren't done with Night City. "The Tyger Claws in Japan and across America will come pouring into Night City to take your head."

L seemed faintly annoyed, "Look, lady -- I don't hate the Tyger Claws. I just did the gigs I got. Tell 'em, Regina," he said, looking to Regina, who closed her lone eye for a moment. This really was too entertaining to watch.

"True enough, for the most part. L was the best Merc on my roster, so I gave him the best jobs. A decent chunk of them involved the Claws. Though, I had nothing to do with Rocky Ridge."

L nodded, "That was because I needed a distraction. And the Tyger Claws were annoying. I figured you'd stop bothering me if I killed enough of you, but I guess I didn't kill enough. That's fine. Do you want to send everyone to Rocky Ridge when they get here?" L asked, and Rogue could see the blood draining from Wakako's face. Everyone's faces. They had just started to realize what kind of monster they were dealing with here.

Threats wouldn't work. Posturing was ignored. The rules of the game were not in play.

You could not escalate a situation to the point that L was willing to back off.

Wakako bit her tongue, looking away from L and seeming as shaken as Rogue had ever seen her. Rogue imagined it must be one hell of a pill to swallow -- that everything you had built, everything that you had achieved, that the Kings of Night City, meant absolutely nothing to the one who destroyed it all.

L scratched at his cheek, glancing around the room. "Well… if no one's going to start, I guess I will. I don't like any of you," L directed the words to the gang side of the room. Rogue practically saw their hearts jumping out of their throats even as they tried to play it cool. "Except for you, Susan. I don't really know you, but Jack has a lot of good things to say about Judy. But, beyond that, I think the city would be better off without any of you in it."

Rogue felt her own heart go still in her chest. It said crazy, crazy things about L because the thought that bounced around her skull was… 'Is he about to kill every gang in the city?'

Based on some of the expressions that they wore, some of them had the same thought.

"But, I'm busy with Arasaka and it'd be pretty annoying to deal with all of you too. So, I'd appreciate it if you changed your business practices. I didn't particularly care about the Tyger Claws, but they pissed a lot of people off and they were pretty fucked up from what I saw. Don't do any of that, and you should be fine." Which would mean a complete restructure in the business practices.

It was Santiago that found his voice, "And if we don't?" He questioned, cocking his head with a defiant swagger. They wouldn't have made it up the ranks if they bent so easily.

"I killed the Tyger Claws because they were a convenient distraction," L began, speaking the words dispassionately. "It wasn't personal. Just wanted to knock out two birds with one stone. But, something has changed since then. I have kids to worry about, now. I have to think about their safety and wellbeing. It's not enough for them to survive. They have to live good, happy, well adjusted lives. And I don't see that happening as things are. So, if you don't change your ways, it's going to be personal."

Santiago clenched his hands into fists, keenly aware that one of them was a prosthetic. "The Valentinos are a protection gang. People join to support their families. You can understand that, right?"

"I do. I just don't care," L admitted with frightening ease. "You aren't my family. If your gang supporting their families impacts mine? Puts them in danger? Do you expect me to just… accept that? Shrug my fucking shoulders at the risks of one of your members shooting, robbing, slinging drugs, or raping one of my kids?"

"It ain't that easy," Santiago tried digging his heels in, but there was fear in his eyes when L's eyes glowed an ominous red.

"That's not my problem. Me giving you this chance is the extent of my concern," L responded, his voice flat.

It was Dexter Deshaun that spoke up, "Now, now -- let's cool things off a bit. What you're asking for us going to affect everyone in this room, you hear? That's all of our biz."

"...Who are you?" L asked, sounding clueless.

"Dexter Deshaun. A Fixer," Dexter replied, his tone smooth and unbothered. "I'm just saying, your making a big ask and expecting results right out the gate. You get that, right?"

L's head bobbed, "Yeah. I don't think it would be easy, but I figured everyone would prefer to change over dying."

Rogue could see that Dexter really didn't know how to respond to that. For several reasons -- the complete willingness to exterminate entire gangs, the admission that he knew it would be difficult but didn't care how. They didn't realize who they were speaking to. Rogue did. She knew the type.

L didn't value the lives of anyone except for the people he did. That wasn’t a bad thing. Honestly, it was human. Back in the day, everyone like to talk a big game about caring about the kids in some sweatshop over an ocean, but that never stopped them from buying the fruits of their labor. In the end, people only had it in them to care about themselves and their family. L wasn’t a monster for that. It was the most human thing about him.

What made him a monster was the lengths he was willing to go to protect those that he did care about. Everyone else outside of that circle? Rogue could see it -- he’d zero them all without a second of thought.

"Even if we could," Oren spoke up, "That leaves the Tyger Claws old haunt up for grabs." And Rogue saw the hunger in all their faces. Everyone wanted it. It was prime territory-

"It's going to the Mox," L decided, speaking as if the decision was final. Susan looked like she wanted to argue, panic immediately setting in on her face.

"I- I don't think we could hold that amount of territory," Susan stammered out, making L blink.

"Oh. Then I'll help you out with that. Becca told me that the Mox is a good gang, so I don't mind. If anyone tries to take it from you, I'll kill them," L reassured her in the most terrifying way possible. His eyes flashed blue for a moment, telling everyone that he just got a message. "Ah. Looks like I have to go. I have to go blow up some buildings," L said, raising to his feet.

He looked at all of them for a moment, his gaze meeting all of theirs and lingering on hers. "See ya," he decided before leaving the room.

Leaving silence in his wake.

Rogue smiled before taking a long sip from her whiskey.

Oh, Johnny would have absolutely hated him.

…

A ten percent drop in the stock price, Yorinobu Arasaka thought to himself as he sat at a long table filled with family and executives. An army slaughtered, a building bombed, Adam Smasher defeated, and the reveal of a netrunner equal to Bartmoss… and the culmination of a series of disasters for Arasaka was a ten percent drop in the price per share. Not even the largest drop that the company had ever seen, though it was in the top ten.

It made him consider how he spent his twenties through his sixties. The leader of the Steel Dragons. He was famous throughout Japan for his struggles -- as the rebellious son of Saburo, as well as his efforts to destroy the megacorporation that he was now heir to. Even today, there existed an offshoot of his nomad clan, though all the original members had died.

Forty years of effort and the greatest achievement he had managed was a single point drop.

"The Relic. It's a flagship product. It's a little earlier than planned, but we can begin the marketing for the Relic to rebound," Barreto, one of the board of directors, began.

The Relic. The lie of immortality. One of many lies that Arasaka sold.

Yorinobu looked around the table. There was a clear divide between the directors and his family. His sister, Hanako, sat across from him. To his left was Michiko -- a niece. She stood out in comparison to the others with bright blue hair and an openly bored expression. Down the rest of the table were several faces -- some he knew, others he didn't.

The newest face was Valerie -- or, as she preferred to be called, V. A talented and competent member of Counter-Intel that recently rose to become Head of Counter-Intel due to discovering that her boss had aided L for her own ends.

Lastly, the most important one of them all sat at the head of the table -- his father. Saburo Arasaka. Standing behind him was his shadow, Goro Takemura.

"Do so," Saburo decided, his voice curt before taking a sip of tea.

"It may also be prudent to release what we know of the Charon Relay," another ventured. The Mass Effect Relay. The thing that changed it all. It was discovered five years ago after a cache of technology was found on Mars during the construction of yet another city on the red planet. Which had also revealed the existence of Element Zero, which was being mined in the asteroid belt. That, in turn, led to the creation of biotics when a mistake turning the element into an implant revealed biological potential. The first generation of drones from Aerospace took ten years to reach the relay.

The current generation ships took a year and a half. The next generation could make the trip in as little as three months.

Earth wasn't enough for his father. He wouldn't stop until he claimed the stars as well.

"We cannot. We are under contract to maintain silence for an additional six months," Saburo replied. The leaders of the world knew of the Charon Relay.

What they likely didn't know was that Arasaka had used it. Arasaka existed beyond the Sol System, now. Something that only the people in this room knew. Yorinobu was certain that Biotech, Aerospace, and Militech were already beyond the Sol System as well. The EU, Soviets, and NUSA too. However, officially, the Charon Relay had not been activated.

Their greed truly knew no bounds. They thought nothing of the potential consequences in favor of racing to claim as much of what laid beyond the solar system as they could.

"Enough of this talk of stocks. There is a far more pressing issue at hand. What leads do we have on Shepard-san?" His father decided, ending the talk despite the fact there was a great deal more to say.

"He's surely left the city-" one of the board of directors started, but he was interrupted.

"No," Saburo said, his voice sharp as a knife. "Shepard-san does not fear us. He is a man of will and conviction. Something most of you know very little of." It was easy to see who took the words to heart.

Yorinobu was one of them. Forty years. Forty long years of a fight that got him absolutely nowhere. The last ten years of that fight were the hardest -- after an operation by Militech led to Blackhand and Silverhand nuking Arasaka tower, he did everything in his power to prevent his father’s influence from reclaiming the city. To make it a free city in earnest. Then he flew to Night City and what he found…

He failed. Completely and utterly. Forty years of his life wasted. He wasn’t even a thorn in his father’s side. It had been a crushing revelation, but a necessary one. It was what he needed to change his tactics.

If he couldn’t destroy Arasaka from the outside… then he would be the bomb within that led to its implosion.

"He is possibly recovering from his injuries, perhaps. Or he is biding his time to attack. But run? No… no, he is not capable of such a thing," Saburo gave a small smile. "He shall make a fine construct."

Another member of the board spoke up, "We've already begun Project Inspired Inventor. It may take some time to recreate the circumstances of these… ‘charges’, but research and development will see that it is done, Saburo-sama.” Project L. Thousands of children across the world would be subjected to inhuman experiments, all to recreate what was done to L. It was sickening to even think about. It settled heavily in his stomach like a stone.

There truly were no depths that his father wouldn’t sink to in the name of power.

“As well as Project Renewal,” another director pitched in. “The cyberdeck-”

“Meaningless,” Saburo interjected. “Until they produce results. Which will be in decades, at the very earliest. What is being done to kill or capture Shepard-san?”

To that, there was an uneasy silence amongst the board of directors. None wanted to speak. At least, until V dared to. “Capture or kill him? At the moment, next to nothing, Saburo-sama. With his technology, he could be anywhere. He could be a microscopic spec in this room, for all we know. Instead, I have taken measures to prepare for when he does choose to reveal himself. Every member of Counter-Intel is moving to a closed network in response to his code. It is a precaution that I’m putting forward to be done company wide.” V began, catching everyone’s attention.

Everyone was in touch with the Arasaka subnet. Their implants were keyed into it. With but a push of a button through the Arasaka subnet, you could shut off and kill nearly everyone in the company. A dangerous risk that had always been present, but had always seemed so distant a possibility.

Until now.

“Approved,” Saburo decided with a nod of his head. V bowed in thanks. “He is a talented Netrunner. Removing an easy avenue of attack will force him to reconsider his methods. Brute force is what he will turn to. Far less subtle. Far easier to manage," Saburo remarked, a slight smile tugging at his lips. If Yorinobu didn't know any better, he would say that his father liked L. But, he did know better.

What he looked forward to was turning L's marvelous brain into something to be used for his interest.

Then V stood up, an eye flashing blue for a moment. "You were correct, Sabaro-sama. He was anything but subtle," V informed before the center of the table projected a hologram. Yorinobu found himself looking at an aerial view of a smoldering ruin. Black smoke billowed upwards, rubble still burning and the focus of the shot was the man in question. It took Yorinobu a moment to realize that the building was an Arasaka warehouse on the docks.

L was smiling wildly as he raised a single metallic hand up, giving the camera the bird. There was genuine joy in his eyes, Yorinobu saw and it took absolutely everything he had to not smile back when he read the fire in the background. Written in Japanese.

‘I’m not running.’

"He subverted the checkpoints. Gave a hundred false positives to mobilize our response teams, then blew up the dockyard," V continued.

He was trying. He was trying so hard, Yorinobu saw. L was taking a swing at a giant. One that he had spent forty of his eighty years of life trying to destroy. For the past twenty years, he had worked to regain his father's trust -- as much as he could at any rate. All so he could destroy Arasaka from within. He had a number of pieces in play -- the Silverhand Relic was soon to be stolen, where he could then give it to Netwatch. It would be them that revealed his father's lies about the nature of the Relic, hopefully before anyone enslaved themselves to his father after death.

"Bold," his father decided, looking at the still frame of L. "Very bold indeed."

Perhaps it would be best to amend the plan. After all, they had a great deal in common.

They both wanted to murder his father.