- Oh. After that icy hell, it's just a resort!"Reich, you've lived in a freezer for almost half a century."Brr. Don't remind me. But now I can enjoy the warmth of the
sun, even if it's only the end of winter, but still the temperature doesn't
drop below freezing."You'll have time to warm up. Let's go, we're waiting for a meeting with
Yerinobu. Then we'll decide where exactly you will live and work."- I would never have thought that I myself would voluntarily agree to work
for the corporation.-Aha. How can you not be a volunteer here if you have
explosives in your body, and I have the remote control.Returning to Night City was quite ordinary. Fortunately,
before arrival, we managed to do plastic surgery on Bartmoss and will replace
many areas of the skin with synthetics, which will not allow us to track biometrics
and other data of our hacker so easily.Yes. I'm not exaggerating when I say ours, because when
Bartmoss got more or less free access to the network, he contacted our
mutual AI friends and Mr. Blue-Eyes himself. I don't know what exactly they were talking about, but after that,
Bartmoss began to behave more loyal to me and my guys.Although I still did not remove that implant with explosives from the body
of the legendary netrunner. It was too early to have any trust in the person who
plunged the whole world into a kind of techno apocalypse. Let
him earn our trust first. Although I still doubt that I can safely
trust this walking bomb in both senses.After leaving the airport, we immediately went to one of the elite villas in Westbrook.
There will be a party for Yerinobu tonight. Although this is an ordinary screen so that we could talk to
him in a safer environment than in Konpeki Plaza. If Father Yerinobu finds out about
Bartmoss, we will all face a very deplorable future, where even
life on the run will seem like a jackpot.The party had already begun, so they did not pay
too much attention to our arrival. You think, the Archangel with his gang of thugs has come. There are also brighter personalities here
, Lizzie Wizzey, who tells TV presenter Karina Lee,
the head of Jinguji, showing a new gun created in collaboration with Arasaka. Here
I am not even in the top ten, or even twenty interesting personalities.-Em. Marcus. I don't think it's the best day to
meet. There are too many extra eyes and ears here." Bartmoss whispers as his
eyes begin to glow ruby color.-Rach. What the hell are you doing?" I almost growl at him.
"I'm trying to scan and check everything here. My paranoia
is taking its toll. There are so many cameras both inside and outside that
it's not a good idea to glow."Calm down, Reich. It's just the cream of society here, and this
level of surveillance is normal. Especially since I'm not going to tell
Yerinobu about a successful trip in public. He already knows everything he needs. The conversation will be
much later. It's just that we won't have
another good time to get to know each other very soon. Yerinobu is Arasaka's heir after all, so it's not always possible
to talk in a sufficiently safe and private environment. I
pat him on the shoulder and lead him in the direction where I noticed Yerinobu's personal guards
.It took at
least ten minutes to greet Erinob. Many wanted to talk about something and discuss or
ask him. Finally, it was Reich's and my turn.Yerinobu greeted me warmly and cast a
thoughtful glance at Reich."Another shard of the past." Yerinobu sighed and took
a sip of champagne.-Next? I ask him, arching an eyebrow."I'll tell you later. My father is working with another fragment of the
past." Yerinobu's eyes flashed with sadness,
which quickly changed to irritation.-Hmm. Are you sure that today is
a good day to talk? I point to the crowd of guests.-Yes. But we'll have to wait. Take a walk here for a couple of hours, and
then I'll call you to the garage. Supposedly to show a new rare car from
the last century.-Ok. Let's try to have a good time." After exchanging hand-to-hand,
I took Reich with me and walked towards the bar.Sitting at the bar, I ordered whiskey and Reich juice."Is that all?" Reich asked, sipping his juice.- And what did you expect? That he would immediately drive the guests away and, taking us
, go to a room protected from wiretapping? - I ask him sarcastically and
empty my glass.-No. But showing some rare junk seems
to me not a very good excuse and cover for an important conversation.-Ha. It's actually a pretty good screen. When we
first met Yerinobu, we got drunk, and then we went for a ride in an
old muscle car. It even got into the media, so no one would be too surprised that we
would go see the car, and then maybe drive it. I explain everything
to Reich, and then I order another drink."And you're going to get drunk so that everyone can see how you're going to ride an expensive car drunk again
?" Reich asks snidely.- Well, why not. Moreover, I don't have much to talk to here.
Kowalski has already sent me a guest list and there is no one there who could be
useful or interesting. Moreover, I prefer to communicate with clients only during
work.-Clients? Oh yes. TT and their Archangels. And how many of them are here? He points
his glass in the direction of the party guests.- At least a quarter. Maybe even a third of them have special
insurance against TT. There are also enough people here who have regular TT insurance,
which is provided by their employer. Although if it were up to me, I would strangle some of my own
clients myself, because because of their actions and behavior, only a bunch of problems add
to me. - I sigh and take out a cigarette, which the obliging bartender lights
for me.- Wars between the Corpo?"And not only. You see, the Archangels have become something of a Max-Tac. We are summoned, or we react
when the situation is so assy that others simply can't handle it. And
we've earned a special reputation for countering cyber psychos.-Yes. I've read a couple of articles that say that if you see a cyber psycho,
it's better to call TT instead of Max-Tac
. There is a higher chance that you won't be killed by an accidental shot, and so on.- After all, Max-Tac is
the same cyberpsychos, that's why the style of work is appropriate. By the way, about
cyberpsychos. There's one of the reasons why cyber psychosis has become a big problem. -
Not far from us, shining with a chrome body, Lizzie Wizzy. - Now many,
especially underage, want to be like her. Replace their body with chrome
or some other shiny metal. At the same time, without thinking about how much it can
cost and, most importantly, that they are standing on the edge of the abyss of cyberpsychosis. I have already
worked with her fans who have gone crazy."For some, hype is important, and for others, this is an option
for prolonging life." Reich looks at Lizzie posing for a photo and sighs. "Few
people want to go into obscurity.Thus began our philosophical debate, thanks to which we
managed to kill a couple of hours before the appointed meeting.Finally, a short message came with a photo of an old Porsche 911 for this world,
but not for me. Together with Reich, we went towards the garage, where a security guard was waiting for us
. Inside, we were met by a slightly drunk Yerinobu and a Porsche with the SAMURAI inscription on the back.
"Damn it! It's his car! Fuck! Reich cursed
loudly, which surprised me not a little."I had a similar reaction. So you really are Reich
Bartmoss. Now I see another legend of the past. I need to drink for it." Yerinobu
took a bottle of champagne and a few glasses from the car.- Maybe at least explain what is so special about this
car? - I take one of the glasses from Yerinobu and point my finger at a fairly well-preserved
rarity."It's not about the car itself, it's about who it belongs to. And its
owner was a rare asshole and selfish. Reich says angrily.- A politician or what? - Such an answer amused me.-Aha. Politician. This is the car of fucking Johnny Silverhand! -
Here I was very surprised.-You sure? Maybe just a fan of his band?-No. I'm sure for sure. Only he had such a car. I saw him driving this car all the time
when he started dating the Beast. So much for
a greeting from the past. So that the devils would him in the ass in hell. Reich slams on the
hood."Well, I'm not sure about the latter." Yerinobu
mutters thoughtfully and opens a bottle of champagne.-What do you mean? After all, your dad sent Smasher, his pet monster, on his
head. Even if he hadn't died immediately, but was
captured, he wouldn't have lived very long." Reich grabs champagne from Yerinobu's hands, who
is taken aback by this, and begins to drink from his throat.- I accidentally came across this car when I started
checking on Smasher and his assistant Grayson. I came across a note that Grayson
was walking around with some unusual gun, which, according to him, belonged to a famous
person. I had to put a little pressure on him until he told me that all
the personal belongings that were about Johnny were taken by Smasher as trophies. And then
I had to use my power to take this car for myself. Even though
this car belonged to my father's enemy, it was still a
beautiful car. So I took it for myself. Yerinobu took the bottle from Reich and took a sip from his throat as well
."But then I wondered what exactly happened to
Johnny. There was music, a car, a gun, but what happened to Johnny himself? Was he put
in a meat grinder or just burned? Was there an unmarked grave left of him, or was there
not even a pinch of ashes to be found? So many questions and so
few answers. So I went back to Grayson and began to interrogate him more
thoroughly. His answers gave some hints, and I began to drip more
deeply. It was easy to find Johnny's body. But what exactly happened to him... Everything was much more complicated and frightening here
. Yerinobu sat down on the floor and leaned on the
car."You know that sometimes fate is worse than death. Mr
. Bartmoss is lucky, unlike Johnny Silverhand.- Let's guess. Did they conduct any dangerous experiments on him
or even several before he died in agony? - I sit down next to him and take a
bottle of champagne.- You can say that. I got my hands on data about a special project
where a person is killed and a digital copy is created at the same time.-Murderer. Reich wheezed, realizing for a moment what that might
mean. "Cunningham."-Yes. Arasaka used a program created by Johnny's
lover. To his father, this seemed to be quite cruel and painful retribution
for all his sins against Arasaka.-Shit. Better a bullet than that... existence. I felt uncomfortable too
, because I know something about the Murderer thanks to Reich, who
told me a lot about the events of those years, since he had access to the network and many
acquaintances who could share secret details."I think so myself. Both life and not life. A moment here
, a millennium there. An execution that lasts forever." Yerinobu stands up and staggers
into the car. "Let's take a ride. I need to take my mind off this shit."- Then I'll get behind the wheel. Reich, I'll call the guys, and they'll
take you to me. You'll stay there for a couple of days. Then we'll decide what we're going to do. - I
quickly type a message to the guys and go towards the driver's seat.Before I had time to sit down, Yerinobu turned on Never Fade Away. Chuckling at this, I started
the car and roared off through the open gate.-You know. I think that Johnny's fate may await me." Yerinobu said sadly.- What makes you think so? - I turn to him."Let's come to the place where our friendship began and I'll
tell you everything." He rolled down the window and began to enjoy the night breeze.Half an hour later, we were sitting on the hood of the car and smoking. I was not
in a hurry for Yerinoba, he would tell me when he was ready."My father really hopes that thanks to digitization, he will be able to
live forever. I even dread to imagine what will happen to the world if such a
monster can live forever without fear of old age, wounds and disease." Erinobu released a jet of
smoke and sucked on a bottle of champagne, of which there was a whole box in the car.
"But that's only half the problem. The results
of the current experiments with the modified Murderer and the Relic Project do not provide
an absolute guarantee of resurrection. And if everything works as planned, my
father will most likely want to keep this technology for himself, but since it is very difficult to do
so unnoticed, he may decide to sacrifice with me. My body
is busy and rules forever.Such news sent shivers all over my body.
Saburo Arasaka surpassed my grandfather in this example of ruthlessness, and he was
still that monster."I realized this by gathering all the donors together. So, if
the Relic project doesn't give me the right relics soon, I'll most likely be killed like
Johnny. They'll digitize it and keep it until better times, or until they decide whether they'll delete it due
to uselessness." Erinobu continues to speak, not paying attention
to the fact that his finger is burning with an almost finished cigarette.He turns around and looks me straight in the eye.- Marcus, what should I do?I sigh. I take out a new cigarette and smoke. This goes on
for a while.-Fight. It is better to fight, having little chance of victory
, than to go to the scaffold yourself. I am with you, Yerinobu. When it all begins, let me
know. I will come to the rescue.My words caused bewilderment on Yerinobu's face. The fear in his
eyes began to give way to anger, rage, and most importantly, hope."Thank you, Marcus. Now let's turn on Chippin in! Shit to my father, not victory!
The old bastard will fall, and so will his horrible world! Shit about everything! I'm not going to give up! Even
if I have to die, I'll do it on my own terms!" He climbed onto the roof of the
car and started screaming.With these screams, all the accumulated fear and
horror came out of him. The fire of rage, fueled by the desire to live and be free from fear
, flared up in Yerinobu's soul. And this rage was transmitted to me.So we embarked on the path of confrontation with Saburo Arasaka.P.S. = here we begin to go to the plot of the game. Through one
place, of course, but let's go.cyberpunk 2077