[Ripper Tavish POV]
[Argenta]
Rolling underneath the swing of a Night Sentinel, I bounce up and clock him in the side of the head, egged on by the cheers in the crowd.
As is tradition, the people of Argent D'nur fight in the arena to prove themselves, and the king was no different.
If the king was not fit to fight in the arena, he was not fit to lead the people of Argenta.
Any who wanted to test their mettle could attend, making this one of the most highly attended events before the demonic incursion.
Still, their was a significant showing as the people made themselves known, to see the individual who would lead them next.
While it was a bloody event, it was significantly tamer than when the Deag priests were in charge.
During that time, the priests would throw whoever they wanted into the arena against demons of all shapes and sizes, the main one being The Gladiator.
The Gladiator, and his demonic counterparts, had long since been killed and removed, once more turning this arena into a place of honorable combat.
This was my twelfth bout against a challenger, and I had opted not to use a weapon for this, as I didn't want to kill anymore of my people by accident. I wanted to use my tetsubo, but the metal club wasn't exactly non-lethal in my hands.
The Sentinels were taking it upon themselves to besiege me in groups to make it fair, thus I was squaring off against a female wielding a chain, a man with a spear, and another with a hammer.
I duck as the chain lashes out and dance through it, coming face to face with the hammer.
Pivoting into the blow, I break the man's nose and grab the haft of the hammer, throwing it at the spear man, who dodged out of the way.
Knocking out the man, the chain wraps around my arm, attempting to restrain it.
Moving far enough that the spear barely grazes me, I wrap the chain around the haft of the thrusting spear, locking the spearman in a grapple, before slamming him into the dirt
Hearing the bell, I reach down and offer a hand to one of the challengers, A Night Sentinel by the name of Roake.
He grinned cheekily, and grabbed the offered hand, as I help him to his feet.
"That's a mean hook you have their king. I look forward to see how you're going to lead Argenta in the future." He roared out, conceding the match.
This was my fifth or sixth round of fighting, so I'd take the victory offered. No need to fight to the death here.
Finally being declared the victor, I left the arena to take off my armor and weapons. I had a coronation to attend next . . .
[Cyberdemon POV]
Lounging on top of a shop front, I observed the partying Edgerunners below, as they hung out and had a good time.
I had a duffle bag sitting beside me, as I realized that I needed a way to conceal my inventory, and the duffle provided the solution.
Maine's crew was sitting on the other side of the fire from me, and I could see that he was examining me with a wary eye.
Lazily waving at him, my attention was drawn to the provocative actions of Pilar as he showed off is overly large cyberarms.
"You're the Cyberdemon right?" I hear a voice down below, causing my head to swivel to spot the speaker.
[Rebecca]
Class – Solo
Lvl -287
Thoughts – Fangirl
The fuck?
What did I do for her to fangirl?
"That's right. Call me Cyber, everyone does." I comment nonchalantly, rolling over to get a better look at the albino girl.
"So is it true that you beat up Smasher?" She asked excitedly, and quickly realize the reason.
"Yup! Guy seems a bit overhyped. Either that, or I'm over geared." I reply, spotting Maine standing up to walk over.
"Yeah well, Arasaka's not too happy that you broke their favorite toy." Maine interjected, joining our conversation, flipping a beer up into reach.
Snatching it out of the air, I pop the top of the bottle; "They can go cry about it. They can try to take me out, but I'll wipe the floor with whatever they throw at me." I state taking a sip.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that. From what I hear, Smasher is undergoing a massive upgrade after that little incident with you and Shaitan."
"So I can go steal his arms again? That good to know." Startling Rebecca who was mid drink, causing the beer to spray out her nose.
"Wait, you stole his arms?!" she exclaimed, and I nod happily, fishing about in my duffle and pulling out my "trophies".
"Yes indeedy!" I even have a set of legs in here!" I volunteer, pulling out a set of legs that I "liberated" from the 'borg.
"How much do you want for 'em?" she immediately offered, and I leaned back and thought about it.
"Hmm, how does one price out limbs ripped off a Night City legend? Is their an expert on that?" I ask jokingly.
The screech of tires, distracted us from negotiating and I saw a man get out who made my eyes narrow.
[Faraday]
Class – Fixer
Lvl – 302
Thoughts – intrigue, impatience
"Looks like that fucker is here for you . . ." I growl, re-directing Maines attention to the fixer.
"Why so cranky, Cyber? Bad blood?" Rebecca asked, as Maine walked over to appease the irritable man.
"No, I just dislike rats like him who sell out everyone they work with." I grumble, causing her to scoff.
"Yeah, but that's just Corpo's, isn't it?" She replied, and I shake my head.
"Yeah most corpo's in general are not fun to deal with. But you can have an amiable relationship with some of them, and they'll fuck off when they no longer have a use for you."
"Him on other hand, tends to implement a "scorched earth" policy to erase any of his dealings." I inform, watching Rebecca look back at Maine nervously.
"We've been doing jobs for that guy for a good month or two, but he hasn't done anything yet . . ." she said warily.
"That's probably because he hasn't found what he's looking for yet." I answer, watching the fixer speak with Maine, before breaking off and heading over towards us.
"Fuck, why is he coming over here?!" I whisper, only to notice Rebecca had vanished.
Dammit, leaving me all by my lonesome with this guy.
"Funny, I expected a man that had offended the whole of Arasaka to be a bit more respectful of the man who could get him out of his situation." Faraday stated smugly halting most of my higher thought processes.
I could have been eloquent.
I could have gracefully told him to fuck off.
Yet, I chose violence.
[The Only Thing They Fear is You]
[Gravity Manipulation]
Everyone in the area froze, as a sense of danger overwhelmed their senses.
But none had a reaction as bad as Faraday.
He slammed onto his hands and knees as the air around him became heavy, struggling to look up at me.
"You are an awfully bold little shitstain to assume that I judge them a threat. It makes one wonder how you've managed to live this long . . ." I growl, lounging back as I watch him struggle.
Spotting his guards, try to get out of their vehicle, they both immediately slammed into the ground as I trapped them as well.
"Quite frankly, I don't like dealing with such incompetents, so I'll just have to take this to a more accomplished individual." I insult, hopping off the roof, and snatching his phone from his pocket.
Flipping through his phone, I found the contact labeled as "boss", and hit the call button.
"And just think, if you decided "not" to act like a fucking dillwad, we could be having a nice conversation." I comment, down to Faraday, who had collapsed on the ground from the weight.
"Did you secure the contract, Faraday?" a voice immediately asked, as Faraday glared up at me.
"My apologies, your subordinate decided he wanted to be "the big man". He's still alive before you ask." I reply, the phone going silent for a moment.
"May I assume you are the Cyberdemon?"
"The one and only. If Militech requires my services, I'm going to need to interact with a different representative than this little rat."
"Rat . . .well I can see where one would get that assumption. Do you have someone in mind?"
"Not at all, I know less Militech employee's than I care to admit."
"Then I would like to schedule a meeting between yourself and a Megan Myers. She's trying to follow in her mother's footsteps, and a little bit of negotiation wouldn't hurt her resume."
"Sounds like a plan. I just sent you my contact for the exchange. Is their anything you would like to pass onto your subordinate?"
"Please put him on the phone."
Putting the phone on speaker, I set the phone down in front of Faraday's face.
"We will discuss how you will compensate for your failure when you return." The man stated, before you hear the click of him hanging up.
Releasing my grip on gravity, I allowed Faraday and his guards to scramble to their feet as they beat a very ungraceful retreat.
The cheerful atmosphere slowly returned once the Fixer took off.
"That was the most badass thing ever!" an excited Rebecca commented at my shoulder, reappearing after the fixer had vanished.
"Eh, just another day really. Now, were you trying to buy these superfluous arms and legs from me?" I offer as she grin's and starts negotiating.
[Monk Tavish POV]
I sat on the couch next to Karina on the set of the show "Night after night, with Ziggy Q" with little trepidation on what was going to happen over the next hour.
Ziggy Q happened to be the rather flamboyant host of a late night talk show where he interviewed a plethora of different famous people and personalities, often interjecting his own agenda into the interview.
What I had been told will happen, and what will happen, were two entirely different things, so I spent the time reviewing and bullet proofing possible answers.
Supposedly the pastor that was speaking with us was not present. Whether he was in the bathroom, or a separate area entirely, I didn't know, but I saw Ziggy franticly speaking with a director. Both looked disgruntled, and a producer next to them was frantically making calls.
"I don't care if he's stuck in traffic! We're supposed to go live in five minutes!" Ziggy screamed at the hapless director.
He turns away from the man, rubbing his temples, glancing back at the casting couch.
"Well it would be a shame to send home our other guest since the other one didn't budget his time properly. . ." He mused, and Karina glanced at me.
"Sound's like the shows about to change Abbot. Is that alright with you?" she questioned, as I considered her proposal.
"That is fine . . ." I started, and Ziggy immediately waved me off and started improvising his script.
These TV personalities were a different beast altogether.
Within a few minutes, the set was changed, removing the extra chair supplied for the pastor.
"Aaaand we're going live in five, four, three . . ." the producer announced as it rolled the intro for the show, Ziggy plastering a smile across his face as he starts the show.
"Good evening Night City! Welcome back to Night after night with me! Your host Ziggy Q!"
"Now originally, tonight was going to be a debate about Arasaka's new Relic. But unfortunately, one of our guests couldn't make it.
"So instead, let me bring up a different guest, to hear about an up-and-coming religion that has lit a fire in the hearts and minds of the people with his miracles."
"Introducing, Mondatta! The Abbot of the Shambali monastery!" He finished, and I floated onto the stage.
"The Iris embraces you Ziggy! Thank you for having me on." I greet cheerfully, watching the shock cross everyone's face.
Ziggy recovered well, laughing at the surprise ability.
"My aren't you just full of surprises! It makes me glad I brought another guest to attempt to identify what sort of chrome your wearing. Karina Lee everyone! She hosts the show Chip In, which identifies what's hot, and what's not for cyberware!." Ziggy continues as Karina bounces out and finds a seat on the couch.
"So, the Shambali, what are they Mondatta? Give me the religion in one word." He, offered grinning.
"In a word, unity. The premise is simply a path to attempt to better unify man and machine. The line gets so blurred and convoluted in todays world, that people often get bogged down by the swiftly changing world."
"I teach the path of the Iris, or how everything will be united in the end. It's base teachings originating from Buddhism." I finish, as Ziggy gives me the skeptical eye.
"Really? Well you must have learned some special teachings considering you regenerated and repaired a man's cyberarms." He commented on a video displaying the "miracle" I performed on the homeless man.
"Mondatta I gotta say, first holy miracle I've seen, and it's a hell of a starter if your religion is the real deal. Poor Karina hear couldn't even identify if it was cyberware based!" Ziggy continued, causing Karina to pout.
"He's a full 'borg too, so I was really disappointed when I couldn't identify a single piece of your chrome . . ." she said in mock sadness.
"Well, I just so happen to be here, so ask away." I reply in amusement.
"Those orbs around your neck, that looks like gravity generators, or magnetic manipulators. But all projects concerning that are corporate black site projects." She states, the underlying question quite obvious.
"When I reached a certain point of enlightenment, my body started generating a bit of an energy field that I could use for various tasks. The orbs are simply a conduit for this energy which can be used for healing, or self-defense." I inform, sending one of the orbs to float around the set, and zoom across Ziggy's desk.
"So your saying that it was your own belief that unlocked this power? Why go full 'borg then?" Ziggy asked.
"The body was originally a holdover from a previous life, I was a full cyborg before I followed the Iris, but I settled for this body once I was done with that life." I supplied, watching Ziggy's eyebrows shoot into his hairline.
"We'll have to dig into that later, but much more pressing. Your religion has been touted as a cure for cyberpsychosis. What's the story with that?"
"People often lose sight of themselves with the rapid chipping of chrome, often disconnecting their psyche from who they actually are. I just help them find and keep themselves centered, so they can go back and live a normal life." I inform, watching Karina lean forward.
"And How do you go about doing that Mondatta?" She asked, causing me to smile.
"Fostering emotional connections, developing hobbies, basically giving them a goal to focus on helps them heal and think about themselves in a healthy manner." I reply, causing her to develop a mischievous smile.
"So, when I visited your monastery, I saw a guitar in a case on the wall. Was that from one of these "patients" for lack of a better term?" she asked, and I shake my head.
"No, that's actually mine when I was discovering my own path. It's been a good while since I've played . . ." I mused and Ziggy jumped on that immediately.
"Well we just so happen to have a guitar on set, would you mind plucking a few strings for us?" he egged on, the audio booth playing the sounds of a crowd cheering as a guitar was wheeled out to the stage.
"I suppose it couldn't hurt . . ." I reply, accepting the guitar from the assistant that brought it out.
"Just try not to play anything that falls under copyright, I know that people like to play the "greats", but we are on live TV." He said, grinning.
Damn near impossible ask in this world, given how AI wrote, generated, and copyrighted songs long before people could even sing the songs.
But I have a few cards in my pocket.
Part of the contract that I signed, copyrighted my speech in the event I was giving sermons on the show.
And while this song wasn't originally mine, it certainly didn't exist in this world.
[Silvered tongue, Iron Gut]
[Mithril Vocals]
[BGM: Son of Man]
Oh, the power to be strong
And the wisdom to be wise
All these things will come to you in time
On this journey that you're making
There'll be answers that you'll seek
And it's you who'll climb the mountain
It's you who'll reach the peak
Son of man, look to the sky
Lift your spirit, set it free
Some day you'll walk tall with pride
Son of man, a man, in time you'll be
Though there's no one there to guide you
No one to take your hand
But with faith and understanding
You will journey from boy to man.
. . . .
I don't think they quite realized the power they would give me by putting me in front of a mic.
The perk, "Silver Tongue, Iron Gut", allows me to amplify the effects of "Inspire", play instruments better, and manipulate emotions.
Stacking it with "Mithril Vocals", I basically was able to convey my teachings to every person watching or listening to the show, leaving an imprint that contained hundreds of images and feelings on the collective consciousness of the world.
An excited Karina was clapping enthusiastically as the song continued to its end, as Ziggy had a flabbergasted expression.
"Who would have guessed this innocent abbot, was a full metal monk waiting to be unleashed. When are you planning to release that single?" Ziggy said, shaking his head.
"Who knows? I just might have to hang up the robes and become a Rocker boy." I reply jokingly, as the interview continued.
[Time Skip]
[Ripper Tavish POV]
Sitting on my new throne, I page across a tablet, analyzing my player body room. It wasn't something I really messed with since I played around as a dragon, but I really got addicted to the many disguises I've donned for this world.
Thus, I started making stuff.
I designed my Werewolf body, adding a bit of scarring to the face and accentuating some of my base features to be a bit wilder.
This opportunity enabled me to read a bit more up on genetic manipulation, as I learned how to blend and bind the correct genomes, making it so future bodies weren't just held together by the demands of the system.
The kryptonian DNA cache was my first test subject with a totally blank body. Honestly, I had no use for kryptonian genetics, and I personally viewed them as having too big of a downside in the form of kryptonite.
It was a Kryptonian's ability to make use of solar energies that attracted my attention, and resulted in a body with nothing but Kryptonian genetics.
Having a clone control this body, resulted in an adequate sparring partner, but he had no fun tricks up his sleeves outside of the Kryptonian physiology.
I debated tossing his ass into the sun for a few thousand years to make him forcefully evolve is powers, but I quickly realized that I would be effectively uploading thousands of years of boredom from the clone.
So back into the body room he went.
I had significantly better results in creating Necron, and Tech-priest bodies.
Those I simply rigged with powerful transmitters so I could control them from a netrunner chair.
The Necron was originally the design of a Necron Overlord, before Iris came forward with a rather interesting offer.
[Flashback]
Run that by me again Iris?
[The Game administrators are rather fascinated by your progress with your various bodies, and were wondering if you'd be interested in designing some races for gamer use?]
Why my stuff? I was under the impression that I was running about with looser restrictions than normal?.
[You are, but ironically, some of the races that you've developed have some interesting evolutionary mechanics]
[Plus, since you tend to craft things, they would like you to figure out how to build a playable race for a handful of your "disguises".]
[They are particularly interested in the Necron Design.]
"What are my restrictions, and how much are they willing to pay me?" I ask, idea's running through my head, redrawing numerous blueprints.
[They would like your interpretation of a balanced design.]
[Flashback End]
Now I realized, that my gamer experience is heavily tilted in my favor, so I got some reference material, and designed a basic Necron Cryptek Conscript.
Originally, I designed him to evolve and get stronger based off his military advancement, before I remembered that Necron society didn't exactly function like that.
So I added notes on how it would functions off of a follower system.
The more necron's that followed you, the more powerful you would become.
It was designed as a pseudo-commander/summoner class, and would fit in well if Necron was a class.
With the body designed, I had a list of recommended perks that I supplied that would provide the best experience as a necron that I could think of.
However, I'm unsure if this is what the administrators were looking for. The project ended up being a race/class, but I submitted it and await the verdict.
While I was waiting on that, I continued building the Tech-Priest body.
It constantly evolved in an ongoing process for this body as I realized how much tech I stuffed into that body. Eventually coming to a stop when I realized I probably didn't need a fifth plasma pulse rifle.
Still . . . He was probably the best looking tech-priest I have ever seen, with clean lines and an imposing stance as he stands head and shoulders over most of his brethren.
That's something that has always bothered me about Tech-priests. Instead of building themselves up, or creating a bigger body. They decide that the optimal move is to keep adding on until they are hunched over cripples.
I get that they are constrained by limits, but still . . . . design stuff better you damn toaster worshipers.
And this brings me to the most recent body I was designing.
A Maykr.
It involved me playing with the energy of the Father for the first time, and it was quite fascinating creating basic creations to start bringing order to Urdak.
With the induction of the Father's energy, or Maykr energy, I was starting to wean the alien race off of argent, cutting out hell's corruption in the progress.
It was honestly quite detrimental that an entire race evolved to survive off the energy of a single being.
Which is why I'm working on a way to produce the maykr energy through alternative means.
Because while having an alien race entirely dependent on your whims sounded fun, I wanted to automate the process.
A portal opened up in front of the throne, distracting me from my blue prints as a slightly bloody Harley stepped through.
"Tav! Cool chair." She exclaimed cheerfully, ascending up to the throne and leaping up onto my lap, nearly knocking the tablet flying.
Adjusting to the sudden weight on my lap, I snap my fingers causing the blood to shoot off of her and vanish into the air.
"Do anything interesting Harley?" I ask dryly, as she makes herself comfortable.
"Killed the Joker again. He brought up a whole host of unpleasant memories that I wasn't expecting." She commented, as I wrap my arms around her.
"Need to talk about it?" I ask, moving to drop the tablet in my inventory, before Harley snatched it.
"Nah, I wanted to see what you were up to. What's this I'm hearing about you becoming a king?" she asked scanning over my design for the Maykr generator.
"Eh, apparently I've been their ruler for a while, I just needed to show up and beat some people up to prove it." I shrug, as she flips through the diagrams.
"Mmm, I can tell this is an energy generator, but what kinda energy, I can't say." She said flipping to another diagram, revealing the designs for her new suit.
"How do you like your new kit by the way?" I ask, and she turns and grabs my head and kisses me fiercely.
"Its wonderful Tav! It feels like I'm wearing nothing at all! I really like the gun brace feature you included. Takes a hell of a lot of weight off of a girls back." She said enthusiastically, rubbing her back for emphases.
"Well, I'm glad you like it. Took me a hot minute to get those actuators just right." I comment.
She opened her mouth to respond when a gold portal opened up in front of me, and a Maykr Angel floated through.
Snapping my fingers, the door to the chamber sealed.
"Milord, the last of the demons were excised from the realm. The individual known as Ivy was extremely helpful in accelerating the plant life." The maykr, informed as I nod in satisfaction.
"Ivy was definitely the right choice to help terraforming. I debated on deploying my machines, but Pam in conjunction with my plants is a lot faster than my machines at the moment." I reply, noticing that the maykr was hesitating.
"Their was a complication however . . ." It trailed off, and a gurney floated through the portal carrying an unconscious Ivy.
"What happened?" I ask, as Harley jumps up to check on her friend.
"We don't know. One minute she was growing the plants that harnessed the Maykr energy, next thing we know, she has collapsed on the ground . . ." The maykr hurriedly explained.
Moving to the other side of the gurney, I tap a finger to her forehead as I peak into her mind to sus out the issue.
Immediately, I get sucked into her mindscape.
Landing in a massive garden, I almost get thrown off my feet by the power surging around me.
I'm a fucking idiot.
I didn't take Ivy into account when having her mess with two separate types of plants, each possessing its own type of energy, while purifying a third type of energy.
This left a storm of sentinel, maykr, and argent, energies whirling around the garden as the plants thrashed and grew wildly out of control.
Snapping my fingers, the storm ceased immediately as I forced the energies to attention in front of me.
Even after all this time working in sync within myself, they tried to spiral out of control when I wasn't looking.
One of the massive flowers nearby opened to reveal an exhausted Ivy, as her plants started settling back down.
"You alright Pam?" I ask, watching her wobble about as if drunk.
"Yes, the energy is just . . . intoxicating." She uttered, as she slowly sags against one of her plants.
"Well I'm going to get rid of this stuff . . ." I state, preparing to dissipate the energy, when she raised a hand.
"No . . . I can handle it . . . . I just need time." She said haltingly, causing me to raise an eyebrow.
Expanding my awareness outward, I could sense how she had a hold of most of the energy, but I remained hesitant.
The Argent was a big wild card in the equation, and I and Eleanor remained to only individuals to date that use argent as a power source without suffering mutation.
And the only reason I'm considering it is because of the presence of Maykr and Sentinel energies.
It was certainly a problem that I didn't want to deal with latter, as I probably would like Ivy's help on countless other projects. And I certainly didn't want the argent to infect other projects across the countless worlds I would inevitably visit.
Until an idea dawned on me.
Setting a timer for a hundred years, I sit and wait.
A portal opens and an older Eleanor walked through, a mini nuke held in her hand like a football.
Blood dripped off her armored arm, as she fished a crumpled piece of paper out of a belt pouch and handed it to me.
"Thank you, sweetheart!" I call back cheerfully as she smiles fondly before diving back into the portal.
The portal sealed up as I unfolded the note, recognizing my handwriting.
It's Aight!
"Ok, cool! I'll hang around until you get yourself sorted then!
[Wait, hold on . . .]
[Did your future self just write you a note?!]
I mean, yeah?
Cleaning up argent is a massive hassle.
[What the Fuck?!]
[Aren't you worried about time lines or some shit like that.]
Nah.
I didn't tell myself what happens, and it was delivered by an intermediary, I just confirmed my own thoughts. Future me probably has a vested interest in Ivy not becoming a demon.
[What if he's changed from what you are now? Could you live with it?]
Gonna have to really. Plus, if I stayed the same the first four hundred years, another century shouldn't change much.
[Cyberdemon POV]
Megan Myers . . .
I should have realized just who they were sending to deal with yours truly.
Rosaline Myers is the current president of the NUSA, or the New United States of America.
She happened to be the former CEO of Militech.
And her daughter was sitting across from me.
Along with another person I never expected to encounter in the form of Meredith Stout, a Senior operations manager for Militech.
We sat in a private booth within a bar at Yagami Market, near corpo plaza. I lounged against the back of my side while Megan presented the mega corporations offer.
Both of them were nervous in being in such close proximity, and it wasn't even until halfway through our talks that I discovered why.
"Cyberdemon, to be blunt, you're the first person that we've seen match Smasher in any capacity since Morgan Blackhand. Militech does not wish to be found lacking against that particular cyberpsycho in regards to our operations in Night City." Megan explained, as I took a sip of my whisky.
"News travels fast, but sometime rumors develop that gain too much traction. How did Militech discover that little adventure?" I ask, causing Meredith to roll her eyes and pull out a tablet.
Hitting a few buttons, it starts playing a little news cycle of the fight.
"Your "little adventure" was on the news for an hour and a half before Arasaka got N54 to take it down. Though that didn't stop Karina Lee from doing a detailed breakdown of what you might have "under the hood" so to speak."
I knew it would be more interesting to turn off my "Ghost in the Shell" perk for a bit.
Megan slowly reached into her bag and set another tablet next to the first, a Militech contract presented on the screen
"I would like to present you with an exclusive contract for the duration of while I'm in Night City." She informed, as I pick up the tablet and started reading it over.
Which if I'm honest, is a hell of a lot better than I was expecting, and judging by the disapproving look that Meredith threw at her, significantly more generous that what she would have been.
Ten million eddies for a one-year period, exclusive access to Militech weapons and cyberware at a hefty 70% discount, Trauma Team Platinum and a rather pricy apartment in Corpo Plaza.
The Job? Provide security for Megan Myers for one year, and several other token jobs that would be commissioned based.
"This is a very generous offer Ms. Myers. Are their any restrictions to this?" I ask, prompting Meredith to speak up.
"Absolutely no competing contracts allowed. Your jobs through fixers will be significantly limited for the duration of the contract. Plenty of work will be provided, but you will also be solely responsible for security for Ms. Myers. Because of this, you will be directly linked to her bio monitor" She informed, flipping over to a page with the most extensive security requirements I had ever seen.
I was basically a live in guard/butler with a budget. Yes, you heard right, I was also supposed to cook, and look after the miss, protecting her from every angle from kidnapping, assassination, blackmail, even chemical assault was included on the list.
"When does it start?" I ask, as Meredith held out a pen.
"Three days. We need you to be fully operational within that time." She stated.
Finishing reading over the contract, and finding no hidden clauses that were particularly offensive, I sign my "name" on the tablet.
Meredith pulls a duffle out from under the table, she passes it to me along with to shards.
Slotting the first, it gave me access to Militech systems and software. The sheer amount of resources I could now pull from was impressive, leaving me wondering what was on the second shard.
Once I inserted it, two health readouts appeared in the corner of my vision providing biometrics for myself, and Megan.
"I look forward to working with you Ms. Myers." I reply, offering a hand to shake which she took gingerly.
[Time Skip]
This led to Meredith showing me to my new home in the upper penthouse floor of a Militech living area.
The reason for the apartment location was quickly revealed as Megan resided just down the hall, placing my apartment between Her's, and the elevator, making us the only two residents of the floor.
Personally, I approved of this tactical decision, what I didn't approve of, was the lack of ICE protecting the turrets and drones already in place.
ICE was essentially the 2077 equivalent of a firewall that protected your devices from rogue netrunners.
Any basic runner would have a pathetically easy time taking over and killing Megan, so I took the initiative to slave their systems into my own.
This ironically, locked Militech out of their own overrides, but I went on to beef up the rest of the security on the floor, adding nano cores to reinforce windows and openings wholesale, turning the floor into a veritable fortress.
Which I'm glad I did because its defenses were tested the first night of the job.
[Flashback]
A silent alarm woke me up at 2 am.
Interfacing with my camera's, I detect four people slowly proceeding down the hall.
Several ports along the ceiling open, and a black cloud fills the room swarming the figures, slamming them into the walls and forming restraints around them.
Casually stepping out of my apartment, a knife forms in my hand as I run my optics over my four captives, before I settle on one.
"Greetings gentlemen, your free trial of life has expired. Your viability for an extension of your trial entirely depends on what information you offer." I say coldly, twirling the knife in between my fingers.
"Fuck you chrome ass! We ain't telling you shi-!" one of the men voiced before I cut him off with a knife to the throat.
The nanomachines devoured the body in an instant, removing all evidence of the man, much to the horror of his companions.
"Contrary to popular belief, I do not require you to be alive to get the information I require. That was just a generous offer on my part." I comment, assimilating the data the nanomachines stripped from the man's cyberware.
My audio receptors picked up the sound of Megan's door opening at the end of the hall, before she comes into view, a robe protecting her modesty as she ran her eyes over the men with a calculating look.
"My apologies Ms. Myers, I intended to resolve this without waking you up." I stated, and she waved it aside.
"I was already awake Cyber, and happy to say you passed our little test." She commented, causing my optics to narrow.
Quickly running over the list of cyberware I detected on the first man, one stood out that gave the game away.
"Doll-chip. These are remote control puppets." I state, watching her smile in approval.
"Correct. As you have no doubt figured out, my mother is Rosaline Myers, the president of the NUSA. With such a position, comes the secret service for her and her family to protect them from all sorts of threats." She informed, examining the men closely.
"I have declined the protection detail for my career at Militech, but I still required security. And it needed to be tested to ensure it would be sufficient. And my mother was generous enough to volunteer some people for the task. What do you think?" she finished, raising her voice.
It wasn't until the second voice interjected, that I realized she was addressing someone else.
"Efficient, ruthless, and above all else, deadly. You found quite a good individual for the task Megan." A woman's voice came from the freshly arrived elevator, and a very recognizable figure stepped out.
[Rosaline Myers] (Doll)
Class- Corpo
Lvl – 437
Thoughts – approval, curiosity
Huh. Neat.
"Well good, I'd hate to have to firebomb someone's house on my first day to deter stuff like this." I comment, seeing Rosaline smile faintly.
"Do you desire to cause pain and suffering on your enemies?" the doll asked, and I shake my head.
"No, it's not something I particularly enjoy, but its more efficient than a sternly worded letter. Believe me, I've tried." I reply getting a strange look from the doll, before she turned to her daughter.
"Certainly one of the more "human" cyborgs I've met. How did you find this one?" She asked Megan, who offered up a tablet with the newsreel I was caught on.
The president watched the video, her eyes drifting back to me once more.
"This isn't defeating Smasher, this is utterly annihilating him." She commented before looking towards me.
"I would recommend offering him as a Militech sponsored MAXTAC unit, but appointing him as your personal security is still a excellent power move on your part." She states, congratulating her daughter.
Something is going on higher up in the corporation that is involving me. I might need to do some investigation of my own.
Expanding my awareness out from the hallway, I start assessing minds and intentions of every being within a five-block radius.
A handful of Militech agents were detected, some Arasaka ninja's watching the apartment, and several other suspicious entities that were watching, but not moving.
This might be less of a cake walk than I thought . . .
[Monk Tavish]
[Belief in your faith has surged to unprecedented levels.]
[Your world has unlocked the ability "Magical Awakening"]
[Magical Awakening] (Mythic)
A magical awakening can be triggered when enough people believe in the mysticism of a world. Activating this forcibly evolves your world to accommodate magic. This can vary wildly by adding new races, magic, and creatures, as well as unlock hidden history and legends that have long been dormant.
[Do you wish to activate the "magical awakening"?]
I would fucking love to activate this, I really would.
Shadowrun is a pretty awesome genre with its blend of technology and magic.
But I would need to make a corporation to get a proper handle on it.
Thankfully it was world specific, so I would have both a standard and a modified cyberpunk world when it was all said and done.
Creating a fourth clone, he smiles and nods before leaping through a portal to set up the ground work as I moved on to more important tasks.
Like the ravenous followers I now have.
I really underestimated the power of the television in spreading my message.
Hundreds of people came through the monastery on the daily, some wishing to pray, some wishing for powers of their own.
Even more begging for a fraction of my time for a blessing, a magical cure for some obscure ailment, or just trying to get buddy-buddy with yours truly.
On the flip side, I now had over a hundred and fifty followers who could be considered a monk of the Shambali monastery.
Some of them even started developing abilities of their own, to the point where I was debating of sending some of them off to spread the good word.
But I'll remain content with Tray's expansion of the monastery.
Our funding has finally enabled us this luxury, so of course we expanded to accept more parishioners.
This gave us a significantly larger dojo area that the makeshift area we had before.
The local population took notice of us properly for the first time as well, causing an economic boom in the area as people came to visit the monastery, subtlety improving the area around us.
Unfortunately, it also attracted the underbelly of the city, hoping to take advantage of the tourists.
Media, gangers, scavs and corpo's alike were trying to profit off the phenomena I caused, forcing me to get personally involved a time or two.
The Voodoo Boys increased their attacks, relighting the burning anger I had for them.
It seemed that regardless of the world, they would do their very best to piss me off.
Even with Tray's netrunner friend, it resulted in five of my monks suffering fatal brain damage, thanks to the overload of their cyberware.
If they can't control, kill, right?
Turning away from the vigil I held for the last day over their corpses, I run over my options before settling on the best one I knew.
Walking out the front of the temple, I push open the doors to the flash of many camera's, I start walking down the street, many of the people following.
It was only after forty-five minutes of walking that I spotted the entry into Pacifica.
Golden light wreathed my feet consuming filth and debris as I continued my march.
The people behind me hesitated at the edge of the district clearly not wanting to go any further.
Until a brave media, stepped forward to follow me into the district, releasing the flood gates as more and more people followed my foot steps.
The bums and junkies withdrew from the approaching mass of people, as I walked through the underpass, the local Haitian's finally taking notice of my presence.
They wearily watched me as I continued my march finally stopping outside the church much to the surprise of the onlookers.
"Madam Brigitte, you have five minutes to present yourself outside before I cave in your Black Wall connection." My voice thundered shattering the remaining windows in the district.
Expanding my mind out, I detect the lack of people within the church itself, but the hive of activity in the old abandoned Maglev tunnel was significant, as I could barely pick out her consciousness that deep.
My personal ICE swatted a daemon that tried to fry my brain, as I waited to see if the woman would heed my warning.
Five minutes passed, with several vicious daemons attempting to attack my systems, before I had enough.
[Psionic Combat Form]
A massive golden arm formed in the sky, its fingers clutching into a fist.
"You failed to come out and explain yourself for the death of my disciples. It's with that action that I now take mine." I utter, the fist flying up and slamming down through the church.
The earth around it forcibly collapsed the netrunner hideout, snuffing out the minds beneath like blowing out a candle.
It slammed down five more times before the arm dissipated into nothingness, leaving a horrified audience.
"I teach tolerance for others, to attempt to reach an understanding with those that think different from you." My voice echo's throughout the area.
"What I don't teach, is to become a doormat for those that would burn your faith down along with those who worship it."
"Still, it's unfair that I take away the church just because of the rat infestation . . ." I muse raising my hand, and golden light surrounded the rubble.
[Repair]
The Church rebuilt itself to a brand new state, leaving no trace of the damage from before, and backfilling the tunnels underneath, sealing Brigitte into a permanent grave.
Hmm, this might be the next spot to spread my faith, judging by the local on-lookers.
The Corpo clone was working on taking over this area again soon, so it might be helpful to expend a bit of my influence here.
[Ripper Tavish]
David was on my table once more, getting synthetic lungs to enhance his stamina with Lucy watching me carefully from the side.
It was a good distraction for while I was worrying about Ivy.
She's a hell of a fighter, forcing the energies into compliance, but blending them successfully required more that force.
Parallel minds was a weird perk, as I divided my consciousness to accomplish so many things simultaneously.
I was performing surgery, while thinking about Ivy, while guarding a corpo, while leading a religion, and starting a corporation.
The monk better have a damn good excuse for that one.
He probably will, but due to parallel minds, its like partitioning your consciousness for different tasks, and I won't get the full story until we re-join.
That isn't even counting the electronic systems that I passively monitor with my cyberdeck.
Another thing on my list to upgrade.
I've had that thing implanted for a significant period of time, its time to rebuild one off of my newer knowledges so I stay at the pinnacle of my game.
Which reminds me . . .
Glancing over at the two cybernetic gauntlets on the table next to a book from the Gacha.
[Fist Magic] (Rare)
The magic of punching someone. This magic teaches the user how to properly conduct magic through a punch.
I am one hundred percent certain that this is the special ability of punching with extra steps, but still . . .
The potential for amusement is great.
I really wanted to punch someone in the teeth and magically perform dental work, but surgery comes first.
Personally, I think that David should have just put in a bit of good old elbow grease before jumping straight to cybernetic lungs, but once I started slicing, I quickly realized that he had reached his limit with these lungs.
It quite frankly surprised me that he got away for so long with these underdeveloped lungs. But I imagine that its one of many ailments that go "unnoticed" due to a lack of funds.
Ah well, when in doubt, infuse some sentinel energy and call it a day.
I have yet to find a single instance of negative effects from sentinel energy.
Mostly, because it optimizes a body to "Enhanced human" status.
Jackie was the last person I used this augment for, and now it was David's turn.
I mostly did it to see what would happen.
"Any idea what he wanted to happen to his fleshy bits?" I ask Lucy, gently placing the lungs in a cold case.
"No idea. You'd probably be fine just to toss them out." She comments apathetically.
"And that's where you'd be wrong. People tend to be attached to their parts and pieces. You'd be surprised how many body parts people keep in cold storage in case of emergencies." I reply, watching her shrug.
"Whatever, its not really a topic I developed an interest in." She said, examining a poster I had thrown up.
It was a picture I had taken of a black hole consuming a star when I was out exploring with Nova.
"Eh, psychology isn't for everyone. I only have a basic understanding of it to the point one could consider me an amateur of the subject. I'd much prefer to hit things or build things. Both of those are hundreds of times easier to understand than humans." I respond, stabbing an air hypo of Unity into David's back, watching his flesh knit back together.
Eleanor walked in, providing an excellent distraction from my anti-social guest.
I had recommended that she pick up a hobby or two in her free time.
Even offered her guitar lessons, but she decided that she wanted to try something else.
Hence the keyboard under her arm.
When she suggested the instrument, I was curious on why until I watched her play.
The keyboard is amazingly versatile, allowing her to mimic many of the sounds produced by other instruments.
She currently seemed to favor a standard electric keyboard, but I heard her jamming away to saxophone notes on occasion.
It was times like these that made me thankful for ear augments.
Noise cancellation was a life saver.
But still . . . she's getting better.
Given that she's only been at it a few weeks I'm pretty proud of her.
But my attention was drawn from the keyboard under her arm, to the bloody leg she held in her other hand.
"Hey Dad. The Maelstromers tried to get in again." She commented, tossing the leg into the disposal chute I had for "organic" materials.
"Huh . . . I thought they'd be too busy rebuilding from the Smasher attack." I mutter, grabbing a stimulant off the table and jabbing David to speed up his wake up.
"There more?" I ask and Eleanor nods, leaning the keyboard up against the wall.
Hitting a button on the wall, a cubie opens with a hiss revealing a handful of weapons.
Pulling my tetsubo from storage, I heft it fondly before tossing Eleanor a Cel-3 Cauterizer.
The fact that I had so many duplicates of the direct energy shotgun is a testament to how often the Maelstromers swing by.
It was easier to just melt our way through their chrome verses using armor piercing rounds.
Throw a few rechargeable magazines into the mix, and we can deal eco-green death as we please.
[I don't think you'll be "saving the planet" by killing people with an energy shotgun . . .]
Oh hush, I'll at least be saving money on bullets.
[Interlude: Smashing Expectations]
[Adam Smasher POV]
I grit my teeth as I undergo the most drastic upgrade since assuming my cyborg body.
Watching back the footage of the encounter, I analyze every single movement of my opponent.
The man that made light of my entire reputation.
Cyberdemon.
The smoke moved in an unnatural manner as he hunted me in the smoke like a predator stalking his prey.
And while his unorthodox ambush tactics were interesting, it was the fear that he somehow instilled in me.
Very few things could arouse my emotions in this day and age, and fear, was most definitely something I had written off years ago.
And the one person to bring it to light, was the fucking rat that hid in the smoke.
Maybe this was because I had grown lax in the past few decades, letting my reputation take care of many of my enemies.
But this . . . .
Watching the 'borg cheekily wave up at the camera, the rage returns anew.
Regardless, the next time we meet . . .
I will mount his carcass on the top of the Arasaka tower!
[Omake: Sleepless in the Singularity]
[The Doctor POV]
Heaving the last of Tavish's large form onto a bed in the TARDIS, he lets out a quiet snore as me and Rory quickly exit the room.
Once I had caused the cybermind to self-destruct, the demonic invasion was slowly pushed back until their was naught a demon in sight.
This took place over the course of a week, and we finally found a very bloody Tavish sleeping in the remains of a field with little plants sprouting out around him.
After liberally hosing him off, we managed to move his body out of the elements.
He still remains one of the oddest entities of creation and destruction that I have ever encountered given his strict adherence to human habits and customs.
"Did you put big and angry to bed?" Amy calls down from a seat near the central console.
"Yeah. I don't know how much his armor weighs, but he's very heavy." Rory groaned, popping his back.
"Well of course he is heavy! His armor's probably only around fifty pounds with the weight reduction, but his entire skeleton is coated in the core of a dwarf star! We're just lucky that he's got similar weight reduction to the TARDIS."
"Oh ok." Rory replied, letting silence fall for a second before posing his next question.
"And how heavy is this dwarf star material?" he asked.
"Well to put it in perspective, a teaspoon of the raw material is roughly 15 tons." The doctor answered, causing Amy to exclaim.
"How is he even moving around then?" She asked and I beamed.
"C'mon Pond! He's very clearly not human! You think a man capable of defeating the forces of hell on a global scale is tied down by human restraints? Please, even I am only aware of a fraction of what he has done." I chastise before continuing.
"The places he visits are on par with some of the oddest encounters I've had in my life, but then again, they defy the standard laws of reality . . ." I continued, before the door slammed open behind me.
Turing around, I laid eyes on a sleepy Tavish, massive bags under his eyes as he glared at the three of us.
"Could you keep it down?! I'm trying to sleep!" He growled, slamming the door once more.
Silence fell for a bit before Rory chipped in with his well-timed bits of wisdom.
"And clearly not a morning person." He whispered, prompting my grin.