Night City
A breathtaking cybernetic marvel, home to over 10 million inhabitants, is a megacity on the west coast of the United States, located in the Free State of Northern California.
The streets are filled with people from all walks of life, adorned with various cyberwares - from mercenaries to junkies, to ordinary citizens struggling to survive under the mega-corporations that siphon their emotions and souls, to notorious gang leaders. The NCPD tries to enforce the law, though corruption runs rampant with only one honest cop for every 80. Meanwhile, the heavily armed Trauma Team serves as ambulances, ensuring only those with valid insurance get assistance. (Don't forget to check your insurance; the Trauma Team doesn't do charity!)
The city's architecture is an elegant blend of metal, concrete, and cutting-edge technology. Skyscrapers aim to touch the heavens, as if reaching for the realm of the gods. Neon lights and massive holographic billboards stretch for hundreds of meters, accompanied by giant advertisement screens on various skyscrapers that dot the city. For the rich, Night City is a kingdom of light and dreams, but for the poor and mercenaries, it's a living nightmare.
Night City is a chaotic mixture of futuristic brilliance and dystopian grime, where combat, crime, murder, and hacking demonstrate the relentless struggle of the human spirit to survive. It's a place where the boundary between humanity and machinery blurs, where dreams are forged and shattered under the flickering neon lights. This city never sleeps.
NEKOSHI: The Solar System's Most Powerful Megacorporation
Night City is also the birthplace of NEKOSHI, the most powerful megacorporation in the solar system, which governs and controls hundreds of medium and small businesses. This corporate giant possesses armed forces rivaling several countries combined: 50 million employees, including netrunners and soldiers enhanced with the latest cyberware and military equipment. Their arsenal includes magnetic planes capable of incredible speeds, tanks and tactical vehicles armed with ion or laser cannons capable of penetrating the world's best armor, combat drones equipped with anti-tank missiles and resistant to high-level netrunner hacks, combat ships...
A meticulously designed corporate machine, NEKOSHI was built by the pioneers of technology and is considered the creation of a cybernetic deity, the most intelligent being of the 21st century.
Nekoshi Tower
The tallest skyscraper in Night City, constructed, on the ashes of the old Arasaka Tower, destroyed in the nuclear attack orchestrated by Johnny Silverhand. Nekoshi Tower stands at a height of 970 meters with 180 floors. This metal monster surpasses human limits and rests gently among the clouds. Its shiny black facade, made of armored glass resistant to nuclear explosions, reflects the ambition and brutality of its creators. An EMP field operates 24/7, preventing the risk of netrunner attacks and cyber theft.
Its symbol? A large eight-handled wheel on a red background, representing a complete cycle and harmony, also symbolizing Saṃsāra and...
reincarnation.
<<<<>>>>
Date: June 15, 2088
Time: 1:53 AM
Location: Night City, Nekoshi Tower
Ploc Ploc Ploc Ploc Ploc Ploc Ploc Ploc Ploc Ploc
On the top floor of Nekoshi Tower, under a pounding rain outside, in a dark, cold, and barren environment, lies a room several dozen meters wide, long, and high, forming a perfect cube. A shiny, cold black marble floor. Three sides are made of tinted glass, high enough that the top cannot be seen, thick as two men standing side by side, offering a view of the raindrops, the city below, and Night City's spaceport.
One side, however, is not made of glass but of a wall. A large double door, 10 meters high and weighing several tons, is embedded within. On either side, a facade filled with screens displaying rapidly scrolling red or green code on a black background. Small arachnoid droids scurry along the walls, their constant clicking sounds as they repair, move, or replace tangled cables running from the ceiling to the floor.
These spiders, if observed closely, follow specific paths and do not exceed certain zones: a pattern resembling an inverted half-circle.
These small drones avoid going further into the darkness, impossible to see with the screen lights and server diodes. Whether out of fear or programming, they avoid crossing this boundary at all costs. Even though more than half of these various-sized cables converge and head in that direction.
With good eyesight or cybernetic night vision implants, one could see a gigantic shadow, a a nine-meter diameter circle made in tatami, elevated a few feet with steps surrounding it. Sitting immobile with legs crossed, a gigantic shadow, the environment too dark to discern its features or appearance, reveals only its enormous musculature and that all these cables are not leading into a machine, but into the back of its head, neck, and spinal cord.
Beep
"Ho?" A deep voice resonated from the silhouette, opening its eyes, glowing fluorescent green, turning on themselves, zooming in and out as if looking through something.
[REPORT]
A robotic female voice echoed in the room, halting all bot activities. They all turned toward the silhouette, their red eyes flashing, awaiting orders.
[Intruder detected in the servers… searching for intruder in the installation… searching…]
[...]
[Intruder detected on level -14… initiating elimination protocol…]
"No, stop the protocol, but increase the firewalls and initiate a random refresh every five seconds," replied the vibrant voice, causing all the small spiders to twitch. The large, imposing silhouette looked to the side, watching a plan of each floor of Nekoshi Tower appear. It zoomed in on level -14, showing three blinking red dots.
[Incoming call…]
[???: Yes, Master?] An angelic female voice emanated from the silhouette's interface. He tore his gaze from the plan, raising his eyes to look through the windows at the city illuminated by neon.
"Intruders have managed to infiltrate the tower." The voice paused before…
[???: I'm sorry, master! I couldn't protect you! I deserve to die. Master, I will reformat and cease to exist. I don't deserve to ser-]
".STOP." Before this voice, as beautiful as wind chimes, could continue, he spoke again…
"I want you to kill each one of them, but leave the one disguised as some sort of, smurf cat? ,Let her watch her teammates get torn apart one by one. That will be your 'punishment'." With an amused tone that resonated throughout the room mixed with the clicking sounds of the spider in mouvement.
"Kuhkeke, I hope you'll put on an entertaining show for me,…■■■■■■..."