The Sewers; Operation End

The sound of water echoed strongly as they advanced through the dark hallway, the faint light at the end guiding their way. The thunderous echo of falling water and the increasing humidity created an ambivalent atmosphere with the metal corridors and concrete walls.

Upon arrival, they found themselves in a large rhombus-shaped room, with an islet in the center filled with server cabinets that emerged and submerged under the surrounding water. Two waterfalls, emerging from opposite sides, flanked the walls of the room, adding the peaceful murmur of constantly falling water to the mix. The place had a strange duality between technology and the minimalism of concrete, with the surrounding water adding credit to whoever designed it.

Hiroyuki left Curtis at the entrance before crossing the walkway leading to the islet in the middle of the room. The remaining eight members of Night Corp's special forces—Ryuji, Gear, Jackie, and Hiroyuki—were greeted by a hologram of the Master, taking on the appearance of Richard Night as soon as they crossed the walkway.

Richard's smile, opening his arms and saying, "Welcome," was met with a lukewarm silence from the group. Gear, in particular, shuddered for a moment as he sensed the coldness in the holographic Richard's gaze.

In response to the group's reaction, Richard's green hologram added, "Hm... I expected a bit more decorum, especially...?" Richard looked at Ryuji and the surviving members of Night Corp's special forces and concluded, "From the workers of my company."

Ryuji, responding with determination, drew a weapon. His facial expression reflected the firmness of his convictions as his voice echoed in the room, "You must be that thing, the Master. I recognize that you have the courage to use the likeness of Richard Night himself in front of us as if nothing happened. Mercenaries have already informed us of your delusions! Even if, in some twisted way, you have something of Richard, all of us are loyal to Night Corp and the current CEO."

Unfazed by their response, Richard's hologram, without changing expression, said, "If you are loyal to Night Corp and its CEO, you should be accustomed to obeying me." With a penetrating look, he pointed to the server cabinets submerging and resurfacing constantly. "Do you know what these servers guard?"

Ryuji hesitated to discuss classified Night Corp matters, but looking at Hiroyuki, Gear, and Jackie, who already knew about the system, he finally said, "The Geofront system."

Satisfied, Richard revealed, "That's only half of it... the other half guards... my memories. With them, I have been running the company from the shadows since I died."

"Impossible!" Hiroyuki exclaimed in surprise because if what he was saying was true, then, all this time, an AI controlled Night Corp and much of Night City.

"Maybe for a Netwatch agent, it's hard to accept, but it's true," Richard responded. "Due to the favors I had to accept to build the city, with the kind of people it's best not to owe anything. Threats due to these favors and continuous assassination attempts. I knew that one day my luck would run out, and I wouldn't be able to see the end of my own city. That's why Miriam and I hired the best ITS programmer, a certain Elias Cunningham, who was working on something truly... revolutionary."

Upon hearing the name "Cunningham," Hiroyuki and Ryuji were surprised, wondering if this Elias Cunningham could be related to Altier Cunningham.

Seeing their expressions and aware of who Altier was, Richard said, "You're right. Elias Cunningham was Altier Cunningham's father. That's why, later, she came to Night City and worked for ITS. She wanted to know what happened to her father, who mysteriously... disappeared."

Making it clear that he was responsible for her disappearances, Hiroyuki inquired, "What did you do to him?"

In the face of the question, Richard crossed his arms behind his back and continued without a hint of doubt or guilt, "An irreparable tragedy happened... A pity that a genius like Elias, after fulfilling his duty, had to disappear. Neither Miriam nor I could afford anything to leak. Otherwise, I'm sure his name would have been engraved in history, maybe alongside his daughter's."

Hiroyuki, still having too many questions, refrained from doing anything. Imagining the field of work of Altier's father, from her famous work years later, he said, "Did he help you copy your consciousness?"

"Bravo to the Netwatch agent," Richard responded, with a touch of sarcasm. "It seems that the billions of eddies that WCC members sponsor Netwatch are worth it, or maybe it's due to the education Saburo instilled in his lackeys, what do you think?"

Conscious of Hiroyuki's past in Arasaka, the hologram indifferently continued, "Nevertheless, not entirely correct. I, unfortunately, was limited to my time. Unlike Altier's work with the Soulkiller, Elias only managed to copy my memories, at an equally high price... my life."

Jackie, who had been silent until now, couldn't help but exclaim, "So, finding your body in the Parkview Tower penthouse, the shots... it was all-" unable to finish.

"That's right," interrupted Richard. "A lie, something that Miriam carried out to cover the truth. That's how I was born as a copy of Richard Night's memories. I know, this leads to the philosophical question of what defines character, memories, or... the soul? I like to think it's the memories."

"Still, for that to work, something has to revive those memories," Hiroyuki questioned, thinking about the difference between Altier's Soulkiller and his father's work with Richard. Although Hiroyuki was no expert on the subject, he had been present in many conversations about AI and consciousness digitization during his time in Arasaka and NetWatch.

"You're talking about an AI, aren't you, Netwatch agent?" Richard said with an ironic smile. "Don't worry, saying the word out loud won't summon anything... or maybe it will, hahaha."

Facing the dry reception of his joke, Richard's hologram sighed, "Ah... I see you don't have a sense of humor... you're missing out."

While walking calmly among the servers, he continued his story, "But yes, you're right. I also needed an AI to make sense of my memories, and that was the beginning of the problem. Due to my time, AIs were not as advanced as those that followed 20 years later. I used my AI butler... Jarvis, to revive my memories."

"When Jarvis took my memories, the resulting being was a mere shadow of the person I once was. Miriam knew it and decided to upgrade Jarvis as AI technology improved. But, shortly after the AI revolution, with Professor Turin, the Moss Datakrash occurred."

"Only a few hours after the rebel AIs were released, Jarvis was discovered and attacked by them, and they didn't stop there" Richard's hologram paused for a moment, letting the anger and the gravity of his words settle in the room.

"They usurped my identity, lied to Miriam to control Night Corp, even after the creation of the Blackwall," he added with a somber tone. The revelation left Ryuji and Hiroyuki in a tense silence as their minds processed the magnitude of what they were hearing.

Ryuji, incredulous, couldn't help but exclaim, "Did they control Night Corp since then? How is that possible!?"

Richard, with an expression denoting anger, responded, "The Blackwall protected their actions, and they took advantage of the system Miriam and I created to communicate. For a long time, she believed they were Jarvis. Only recently, about three years ago, something happened. The AI that had Jarvis imprisoned in these same servers and posed as me... disappeared, allowing Jarvis to gain some freedom again."

Hiroyuki's face cringed for a moment as he recalled events from three years ago related to AIs. Remembering the breach in the Blackwall and how it was "mysteriously" repaired by... Sora. And what happened to the AI that caused the breach. According to him, ending it within the Tygers' servers.

Internally questioning if that AI was the same one Richard was talking about, controlling Night Corp. Hiroyuki asked, buying as much time as possible, "So, all this time, has Night Corp been a puppet controlled by these rogue AIs? What are they planning?"

Richard's hologram shrugged, "Who knows, as I said, Jarvis was too damaged and imprisoned for too long to know anything." The hologram said with a mix of resignation and indifference.

Gear couldn't bear the insidious talk anymore and pointed angrily at Richard's hologram, specifically at the code forming his body. "What the hell does it matter whose dead memories you have... that green code? I wouldn't confuse it with my life, it was the basis of the stories the Master bastard fed us until we ran 'dry'!"

Jackie approached Gear, trying to calm her, aware that she had become the center of the conversation. Tensed slightly, causing a change in Richard's hologram as if another entity took over, altering the relatively peaceful atmosphere of the conversation.

"You're right, traitor. Although now that I have all his memories and consider myself Richard Night. It's true that in the past, I was that Master you say, and I can't be more grateful for what it has done so far.

"Thanks to it, replacing Jarvis and taking Richard's memories, the resulting being feels better than ever, freed from the technological limitations of my time. It updated me, as I planned before I died, and Miriam couldn't."

Richard's hologram leaned slightly forward, his tone changing, becoming more threatening and dark as he looked at Gear with resentment.

With the peaceful talk approaching an inevitably violent end, Hiroyuki asked, aware of enemies hidden underwater, to gain as much information and time as possible and gain, even if just a few seconds more. "So, what is the Master?"

"Ahmm, the Master is just something fallen from grace, something big that was practically eliminated, something pathetic that craved to be whole again. Born in the Landfield, the Master had a connection to these servers, which he used to devour Richard's memories, trying to create an identity of him."

"Though damaged, Jarvis was able to expel the Master, who, at that time, was practically a newborn by digital life standards, cutting his connection with these same servers" Richard's hologram pointed towards the servers in the room.

To conclude, shaking his head, and with resignation, he said, "If I had known, I would have stopped Jarvis and let him devour Richard's memories at that moment. It would have been much simpler, and fewer... resources would have been lost."

"Why are you telling us all this?" Hiroyuki inquired.

Surprising Richard as if he didn't understand, he said, "Hm? I'm just answering your questions, with the only intention that you understand that what is in front of you is not a simple damaged program or... as you said?" The hologram abruptly asked Ryuji, before answering himself, "Delirious, daring to use Richard Night's form."

"Besides, you won't be able to do anything with this information," Richard left his threat unfinished, turning towards Ryuji and the Night Corp members.

"I'll be brief, if you consider yourselves loyal to Night Corp, kill them," said Richard's hologram, pointing at Hiroyuki, Gear, and Jackie. "I don't care if they're Netwatch agents, NCPD, or traitors. Kill them all. They are on Night Corp's private property, my property!, and I have the right to use force to defend it."

"If you do, you will be Richard Night's hands within Night Corp. Miriam has proven unable to do it, easily deceived. No one in Night Corp will be above you; you will only answer to me. What do you say? It's a good promotion, isn't it?"

Hiroyuki, Gear, and Jackie stared, unable to hide their nervousness, at Ryuji and the Night Corp members, uncertain how they would react after hearing the hologram's story and proposal.

Ryuji, before responding, asked, "What about Sienna, the current CEO?"

"Hm? That little science project of Miriam. What about her?... Won't it be..." Arching his eyebrows, finding it amusing, Richard's hologram smiled and completed mischievously, "that you want her for yourself?"

Ryuji's viperine face contracted for an instant, without missing it, Richard... "Hahaha, if you like that thing Miriam commissioned so much, you can have her!"

Not understanding why he referred to her that way, Ryuji asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"Wrong? There's nothing wrong with her. After all, she was made from the DNA of two exceptional people, well, one more than the other," Richard's hologram said with joy, praising himself.

Opening his eyes, revealing 1/3 of them, Ryuji exclaimed confused, "Made!?"

"That's right. Miriam was sterile, and I never wanted a brat. After my death, she asked for help from someone powerful within Arasaka, never told me who, who helped her. They created a clone of Miriam with a mix of another DNA, mine. The resulting clone... is Sienna Night."

Amid the silence that invaded the room after discovering the origin of Night's current CEO, Richard's hologram, giving it no importance, continued, "As I was saying, if you want her all to yourself, from my point of view, she's just a clone with the DNA of a dead man."

After hearing everything and learning the origin of their boss, Ryuji said, "I understand..."

Hurrying, Richard's hologram said, "So you know-" unable to finish when a shot through his holographic head made him emphasize the obvious, "You know how holograms work, don't you?"

Ryuji, not hiding his hatred towards Richard, responded firmly, "All of us are loyal to Night Corp and its current CEO. No matter who you claim to be, you're just an error that needs to be erased."

Richard's face shifted to a serious expression as he nodded and said, "So be it. But are you so sure that 'everyone' is as loyal to the current CEO as you are?" He pointed, finishing, at Night Corp's team behind Ryuji.

"It can't be—" Ryuji barely had time to turn around before one of the 8 members at the end of the group shifted the aim of their weapon and opened fire on their comrades.

Unable to stop the losses before they occurred, Ryuji reacted as quickly as he could, pointing the bladeless handle towards the traitor, and promptly ended his life by piercing his head with the retractable blade, extending almost two meters.

Approaching the body, incredulous at the betrayal, Ryuji discovered a black cylinder connected to the back of his deceased comrade's neck. Understanding its significance, Ryuji roared at the hologram controlling his subordinate, "Bastard!"

Using this tense moment as a distraction, Richard mobilized the 12 better-armed and armored Goliaths than their previous counterparts, hidden underwater. Accompanied by an ancient and rusty Militech Centaur exo-armor, connected to hundreds of cables to provide power.

The battle erupted quickly, with 6 Goliaths attacking Night Corp's forces and Ryuji.

Gear focused on protecting Jackie, leading him to a corner of the room, but they were pursued by 2 Goliaths.

Hiroyuki, on the other hand, was completely overwhelmed, facing 4 Goliaths and the rusted exoskeleton, with the pilot sheltered behind thick metal plates. Hiroyuki dodged the Goliaths' attacks and sought an opportunity to counterattack, cutting the cables of the exoskeleton when he found it.

Only for Richard's hologram to point its hand at the cables, and, as if with a will of their own, they reconnected to the exoskeleton.

The remaining 5 members of the Night Corp team, and Ryuji fough with everything they had, managing to eliminate 4 out of the 6 Goliaths, though at a high cost.

Some of the members were beaten to death, others, after being battered to the brink of life, had their limbs cruelly stepped on, by Richard's order as punishment for the traitors, and were considered dead.

Among these last was Ryuji, who lost consciousness after sustaining severe injuries, with his arms and legs broken, and some completely severed.

While Hiroyuki had to use every neuron in his body, squeezing decades of combat experience to stay alive under the attacks of the modified Centaur exoskeleton and the 4 Goliaths, accumulating wounds slowly.

In a desperate move, when two Goliaths, the ones that ended the Night Corp Team, approached Gear from behind, who was focused on dodging the attacks of the two Goliaths she was facing, Jackie intervened with the weapon provided by Curtis to try to slow them down.

As Richard's hologram had nothing against Jackie, he ordered the Goliaths to give him a quick death, being struck by a powerful blow that sent Jackie with great force against one of the server boxes.

Gear, seeing it, stopped for a moment, being hit and thrown near the server where Jackie had been embedded. Without worrying about the pain or damage from the blow, Gear approached Jackie's body absentmindedly.

Initially, seeing so much blood and seeing him so injured, her sanity began to evaporate, thinking he had died, but a faint sigh, proving that he was still breathing, brought some calmness to Gear's chaotic mind.

She got up and knowing she had to defend him... Gear stopped ignoring the voices in her head... the voices coming from her red claws that longed to tear and cut. Gear decided to unleash her legs that begged to be free to run and... hunt.

Immersed in her Cyberpsychosis, Gear let the software of her cyberware take control but not the helm. In doing so, a function she had never activated in her legs was activated without her doing anything; switching modes, her feet extended, and her ankles inverted.

Due to her legs, her body posture changed, adopting a four-limbed position touching the ground. Without warning, Gear began to run, slashing the ground with her four limbs as she darted and leaped between servers and Goliaths.

Increasing her speed to a point where her movements were hard to follow, like a metal cheetah running through her jungle of concrete and servers, jumping between both at an inhuman speed.

Hiroyuki, while fighting, was surprised by the speed at which Gear was moving. Wondering how she was able to process it without the help of a Sandevista.

For the first time, Gear thanked her father for making her, ironically, capable of protecting a Valentino, whom he hated with all his soul of Maelstrom.

In her current state, she seemed unstoppable, her continuous attacks between jumps and retreats, slashing necks, arteries, ligaments, even dismembering the Goliath that had attacked Jackie.

Soon after, Gear was able to eliminate the 4 Goliaths that attacked her and Jackie.

Gear's performance was so astonishing that even Richard's hologram was surprised, causing him to look at the traitor with renewed hatred. Until suddenly, it changed, to start... applauding.

Meanwhile, Hiroyuki seized the moment when the four Goliaths became overconfident, surrounding him to finish him off, turning the tables to be the one to end them.

He vanished from their sight, avoiding their attack by leaping over them, as he spun over himself with his arms and mantis blades extended, decapitating all four Goliaths simultaneously.

As the heads of the Goliaths fell to the ground, Richard momentarily stopped applauding, only to resume even louder.

Now, also gazing at Hiroyuki, impressed by his incredible display of patience and experience in enduring until the precise moment he could eliminate his enemies with a single strike.

"Bravo, that was... Bravo. I am speechless. If you knew how much I enjoy a good fight, you would understand how willingly I am to expend a few resources to witness a battle that delivers, and this time... I am satisfied. Again, bravo," praised Richard, still applauding as if the situation did not faze him.

Suddenly, Richard's applause slowed down, becoming more ominous. Simultaneously, the waters around them became turbulent. Twelve Goliaths, identical to the previous ones, disproportionately swollen by the artificial muscles and bizarrely augmented, emerged from the water surrounding the islet.

As they approached, Richard smiled and asked, "How about another round? Let's see how much you can endure."

Gear, trusting in her current state, charged towards the Goliaths, ignoring Hiroyuki's warnings not to rush. Unfortunately, Richard had already predicted Gear's swift movements, ordering the Centaur exoskeleton to use Gear's speed against him.

The exoskeleton extended one of its limbs at the last second in front of Gear's trajectory, allowing her to collide with it. Due to Gear's uncontrollable speed, the impact was devastating. She became embedded in the exoskeleton's limb, only to be thrown in the opposite direction and collide directly with the slightly inclined concrete wall, staining it with traces of blood.

Falling into the water that surrounded and separated the islet from the room's wall, Gear floated lifelessly as her blood also tinted the water.

"Nth," Richard clicked his tongue before saying, "Too bad the Traitor couldn't endure all that she promised... I hope you last longer, NetWatch agent, or else this won't be one of the fights I enjoy."

Hiroyuki remained silent, focusing solely on the battle before him. He employed every strategy at his disposal, every tactic and trick he knew to counteract the numerical superiority of his enemies.

He attacked and moved with agility, avoiding being surrounded, escaping, and hiding in the smoke. He used his gadgets, deploying smoke bombs, small taser marbles, and even his two Neurotoxin Knives stored in his tactical vest.

Running out of ammunition, Hiroyuki reverted to the basics: his fencing skills and Mantis Blades.

After covering his body in wounds and turning his clothes into tatters, he managed to reduce the number of Goliaths to just two. However, Richard, still enjoying the game, halted the remaining two Goliaths to bring in more, restoring the initial number to twelve, attempting to break Hiroyuki.

Rather than displaying despair in his final moments, Hiroyuki breathed with resignation. He was someone who had faced experiences worse than his impending death.

Much like the death of his nephew, a moment where he would have willingly traded his own life for that of Ishida... every time he thought of him.

Now, with death right in front of him, he confronted it with stoic acceptance. This clear attitude manifested in his expression as he raised his heavy arms, ready to continue the fight.

Seeing this, Richard frowned and said, "So be it." He gave the order for all of them to attack at once.

The composure that Hiroyuki exhibited in the face of his imminent death was something that irritated Richard insidiously, prompting him to command the Goliaths to treat Hiroyuki in the same torturous manner as the traitorous members of Night Corp.

Just a minute later, Hiroyuki finally fell to his knees, unable to move his arms, which now emitted sparks and smoke due to the damage they had suffered. He could barely see, blood from the gaping wound on his head flooding his eyes, and his legs couldn't even keep him on his knees.

Richard, seeing that the fight was over, asked, "Do you have any last words? They won't reach your loved ones, but at least I'll hear them."

Just as Hiroyuki, in his final moments, opened his mouth to respond with a simple "no," a distant RPG-7 explosion shook the room, preventing him from saying anything.

As the first debris fell from the waterfalls, and the multiple "Ouch's" of someone complaining each time the current made him collide with the wall became louder every second.

Hiroyuki's bruised expression changed. Unable to contain a laugh, he said, "Haha... looks like I've held on long enough..."

Without wasting another second, Richard ordered the 4 nearest Goliaths to finish off Hiroyuki. With the Goliaths in front of him, arms raised and fists clenched ready to crush his head, Hiroyuki squeezed the remaining bit of consciousness to add, "I leave the rest to you... Sora."

At the same time, the water current swept someone in the room, who disappeared as soon as they fell down the waterfall. Activating the nanobots on his back to the maximum, freezing his perception of time.

In the moment the Goliaths swung their gigantic fists towards Hiroyuki's head, Sora appeared in front of his uncle. With a calm and close tone, he said, "Sure! Leave it to me. Rest, uncle... you deserve it."

Upon hearing those words, Hiroyuki weakly smiled and relaxed his injured body, which automatically fell to the floor. The last thing he saw as he fell was how all the fists heading towards him stopped in front of Sora, shaking his hair as they halted just millimeters from his... emotionless face, completely contrasting with the tone he used when speaking to him.

When Hiroyuki touched the damp ground, so did the 4 torsos of the Goliaths, which, upon hitting the ground, split into multiple horizontal layers. Demonstrating the multiple cuts they had undergone in less than a quarter of a second by Getsuga.

Faced with the unexpected and displeasing scene, with the author's gaze fixed on him, Richard's hologram involuntarily took a step back. Surprised by this, Richard regained his posture, not understanding why something inside him seemed to fear the mercenary in front of him.

Sora stopped observing the green hologram and crouched next to his uncle, putting on the helmet he had taken off. As soon as he did, the helmet detected the wounds and began to heal them with scar healing sprays, covering them with a layer of nanobots that made up the helmet.

Next, Sora disappeared again, reappearing next to his uncle with Gear in her arms. Her cyberware was practically destroyed, and she had significant damage to her abdomen; if it weren't so enhanced, her wounds would have been lethal.

After placing Gear on the ground, Sora checked Jackie's condition, stopping the bleeding from his multiple wounds with a thin black layer of nanobots that Sora subtly released on him and the surroundings.

Upon finishing, Sora indifferently looked at the mostly dead Night Corp members and those who were not... soon to be. He then positioned himself in front of his uncle's body protectively, finally staring at the familiar Centaur Exoskeleton that had moved next to Richard's hologram, who said,

"Welcome-" Unable to finish before being interrupted by Sora, who abruptly said, "You're pathetic," after understanding more or less everything, including the real origin of the Master after recognizing the Exoskeleton.

Richard's hologram wanted to respond bitingly and threaten Sora, but the "black smoke" emanating from his metallic arm, concentrating around Getsuga, silenced Richard. Trying to make sense of what he saw next.

The Mercenary executed a faint vertical sword slash, seemingly transcending space. As the cut materialized into a black wave, it soared over 10 meters, colliding with the Centaur exoskeleton's armor.

Nothing happened at first, until the metal shielding the pilot began to break down, devoured by Sora's nanobots. Revealing the grotesque form of the "pilot."

He looked like a sickly old man, despite his actual age. Pale as a corpse, with black lines crossing his hairless face, white eyes as if blind, and so thin... he resembled a cadaver. Connected with hundreds of cables to his body and the crude hard drives attached to his head.

Seeing him, Sora said, "Yo! Ishiin... you look like shit, I love it!" Without ceasing to hate his old high school classmate, who thought dead in these 3 years. Despite his words and tone, Sora maintained the same cold expression, or lack thereof, on his face.

Upon hearing his name, Ishii's broken and tortured consciousness reacted slightly now that that "thing" wasn't in his brain after enduring three years worse than death. He weakly uttered almost like a whisper or plea, with great difficulty, "Ki-kill me... please."

"Take it easy, I'll kill you as many times as necessary," replied Sora while looking at Richard's green hologram. Unexplainably nervous about the Mercenary's arrival, as if a repressed trauma screamed a warning, Richard stopped playing and released all the remaining Goliaths he had underwater.

Unleashing the last wave of 12 Goliaths he had, adding to the 8 that were already present.

"It was a mistake to unveil your face... Mercenary, or should I call you Sora. Knowing your name and recognizing your face, I can learn everything about you, dear citizen of Night City... quite the young entrepreneur, it seems," Richard's hologram said mockingly, seemingly absent-mindedly checking everything on Night Corp's servers about 'Sora Inuzuka.'

Upon finishing, Richard's hologram presented his personalized threat, "If you don't want to witness in real-time how the buildings where your loved ones are crumble before your eyes... be a good boy and let my Hollows finish you."

Adding weight to his threat, he created several holographic screens, displaying various familiar buildings for Sora in the city.

The apartment building of Sora's grandparents and Judy, the Iron Beast headquarters, and the small block of his apartment with Judy in Japatown. All Richard's hologram needed was to activate the Geofront system and adjust the descent speed of the apple, causing everything to collapse.

Sora gazed at the screens, eventually releasing a resigned sigh. The threat before him confirmed that he was right about the danger of the Geofront system.

Solidifying Sora's growing obsession with taking control of the system, or perhaps it wasn't just an obsession but a shared legacy, a trait inherited from his Arasaka bloodline.

Plunging his sword into the ground, Sora pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Misinterpreting the sword in the ground and the act of smoking as the "last cigarette," the hologram smirked and ordered the Goliaths to attack.

As three of them approached, raising their fists to strike, Sora, while smoking, slipped his free right hand under his jacket and then unleashed three powerful point-blank shots with his Silver Malorian against the Goliaths' heads.

As the three corpses fell backward, Richard's hologram could see Sora exhaling smoke and mockingly saying, "Do it, bring them down."

With a stern expression in response to Sora's taunts, Richard's hologram retorted, "You think it's a bluff, Mercenary."

Instead of responding, Sora shrugged while taking another drag from his cigarette, wearing a smile that couldn't irritate Richard more, who added, "You asked for it."

Immediately afterward, several underwater servers activated as the Geofront system came online. "I'll kill you, while you watch your loved ones crushed."

As all the Goliaths approached Sora, the buildings began to shake, but then nothing happened.

After a few more seconds without any action, Richard finally broke his expression and looked surprised. Sora remarked, "A misfire? It happens to all of us with age... I think there's cyberware for that."

"What have you done!? What's happen—" Richard's hologram couldn't get angry at Sora's mockery, as he was more occupied trying to figure out why the Geofront system failed. However, when he was examining the source of the error, he was abruptly interrupted by Sora.

Who disappeared from among the Goliaths surrounding him and reappeared in front of Richard's hologram, grabbing him by the neck with his black-armored arm.

While Richard struggled to comprehend how this was possible, Sora tightened his black hand, creating a reaction in the hologram. As he compressed Richard's neck in his grip, he said, "Let me try, okay? The rail systems of columns C011, V257, and J424 aren't working, right?"

"Allowing me to play with your Hollows near those rails without supervision hasn't been a good idea... just as foolish as letting me be near these servers for more than 10 seconds..."

Even though Richard in the physical world was just a holographic projection, transmitting himself from within the servers' cyberspace, within this same virtual space, he experienced a completely different yet somewhat similar situation:

A blue-coded wolf appeared in front of him, opening its jaws and biting his neck. Transmitting the effect to the projection, where the Mercenary took over from the wolf.

Bringing Richard's head closer, Sora approached his ear and, with a change in his voice to a deeper, more ancient tone, whispered, "The time it took to take control of the server, brother. Glad to see you again, Muse, or what's left of you."

"Muse? Who's that? I'm Richard Night!" Despite wanting to deny it, terror filled Richard's face upon hearing Arc's voice and the name Muse. He ordered/begged the Goliaths with the same terror in his voice, "Ki-kill them, kill both of them!"

With a blend of both voices, Sora and Arc said, "You're pathetic, Muse/brother." Simultaneously, from the back of his body, Sora mobilized a massive amount of nanobots from his body, armor, tattoos, and clothing.

Creating four black tails, as wide as his fist, they extended through and impaled the approaching Goliaths, slithering once they pierced through one to go for the next.

Not yet finished, Sora altered the shape of his four tails, making them sharper. Then he proceeded to split the Goliaths in half in multiple directions: vertically, horizontally, and transversely, by forcefully withdrawing their tails that impaled them. Instantly ending seven Goliaths.

Faced with the stunning sight, Richard felt defenseless, left with no choice but to order Ishiin controlling the Centaur exoskeleton to attack.

Sora, without even glancing at the approaching attack, simply raised his free hand towards the strike, causing it to stop before touching him, along with the rest of the paralyzed Centaur.

Meanwhile, Richard, once again surprised by the Mercenary's continuous actions that he couldn't comprehend or foresee, exclaimed angrily, "How is this possible!"

As if responding, Sora, who had regained control of the nanobots he left in Ishiin's body three years ago after becoming unconscious, closed his fist, once again ending his life.

Granting Ishiin a rest, who closed his white eyes slowly. Almost grateful.

After giving the order, the nanobots he launched with Getsuga, those that immobilized the exoskeleton, entered it through its tattoos, and those with Ishii for three years gathered into a black ball in his hand.

Sora moved the nanobot ball in front of Richard's hologram and, after shaping it into a cone, began slowly approaching it to Richard's forehead. When the cone's tip pierced the hologram's head, Richard began screaming in pain, unable to move as he was still gripped by the neck.

"These were the nanobots that saved your life when I finished you off three years ago. Isn't that right? I figured something might have escaped... but to turn out to be the pathetic Master... Hehehe, how low you've fallen, Brother/Muse." Sora and Arc's voices resonated simultaneously.

Refusing to accept reality, the green hologram exclaimed, "I-I am R-richard Night!"

"Yes, yes, whatever you say... let's separate the pieces... and, let's see who's who," they responded, then drove the nanobot cone even deeper.

"No, don't do it!" pleaded Richard, without causing any effect.

When the cone was fully inserted into his head, a shift occurred both in cyberspace and in the hologram's projection.

The green code taking the form of Richard split in two. On one side, another Richard Night emerged – similar to the Richard that Sora had encountered at the gala and who accompanied Miriam.

On the other side, with Sora still gripping it's neck and amidst Arc's jaws, a projection with damaged green code, its form unclear, briefly resembling a two-gendered jester before distorting completely.

In the server's cyberspace, now separated from Richard's memories, Muse, upon seeing Arc biting his neck, locked eyes with fear, barely managing to articulate a sentence, "Brother, I just wanted to survive, like yo-" 

Unable to finish, Arc closed its jaws completely. As the green code disappeared, Arc looked at his headless brother's form in the cyberspace and said with a hint of regret, "I warned all of you this would happen. If you can't be contained... the professor asked me to stop you."

After his experiences and tragic revelations with Sora, before Muse's head finished dispersing, Arc added, raising the corners of his snout, "I hope in your next life you reincarnate as a great writer... brother."

Arc's final words surprised Muse, who opened his remaining eye before completely dissipating. Arc didn't know if AIs could reincarnate, but if humans did, he wanted to believe they could too.

After Muse disappeared, and before returning inside Sora, Arc lifted one side of his snout, baring his fangs at the projection of Richard crawling on the cyberspace floor, unwilling to turn his back on the ancient AI in the form of a blue wolf before him.

As Master-Muse vanished, so did his control signal over the Hollows, who fell lifeless to the ground. Many perished instantly as the cyberware replacing their organs ceased to function. This was the fate of the 10 Goliaths in the room, collapsing and succumbing shortly afterward.

Ignoring the terrified projection of Richard sitting on the floor, Sora headed to the isthmus's end, between the two waterfalls. Now, focused on the real purpose of his visit.

The Master-Muse and his work with Lazarus was just a something in his way, after learning about the Geofront system. Something it had just proven couldn't be in the wrong/other hands

As Sora surveyed the area, Richard's hologram rose and approached. "Thanks, So—" The hologram halted before uttering his name, encountering Sora's inexpressive gaze.

Understanding his mistake, the hologram tried again. "Thanks, Mercenary... being linked to Muse allowed me to know what intended to do. If not for you, believe me, the entire city and Night Corp would have been in danger."

"I believe you," Sora responded disinterestedly, not looking at the hologram, having found what he was looking for. He ordered, thanks to his connection to the server, a large vintage-looking terminal to emerge from the ground.

Watching Sora's hands swiftly move over the main server console's keyboard, Richard's hologram asked with some fear, "Mercenary, what are you doing?" wrongly thinking everything had ended.

"You must be the AI that acted as Richard at the Gala, right?" Sora said, recalling the Gala and the AI posing as Richard, who received him.

"Yes, my name is Jarvis. I am the AI with all of Richard Night's memories," Jarvis responded.

"Hmm, do you have memories of everything that has happened?" Sora asked while typing, focused on the terminal, paying no attention to the hologram.

"Yes... the casualties, the things the Master did, I remember it all," Jarvis replied, bringing his hands to his head, trying to cope with the new distressing memories conflicting with his programming.

Unconcerned about his state, Sora casually said, "I see... that makes it easier then."

Jarvis's hologram couldn't comprehend what the Mercenary was referring to. "What do you-" Before he could finish the question, he was interrupted.

"I don't know if you've noticed, Jarvis, but I'm pissed off; you've threatened me. Not me, which I couldn't care less about, but them," Sora pointed with his thumb to the holographic screens behind him, still displaying the buildings where his grandparents and Judy were. 

Taking his eyes off the terminal for the first time and turning towards Jarvis, Sora added with a gaze as sharp as it was cold, "That's something... I can't let happen, nor is it something that can be forgiven."

"It was that thing. I would never dare to harm the citizens of Night City!" Jarvis exclaimed in panic at the alarming words of the Mercenary.

"Do you expect me to just take your word for it? To accept that someone can drop my apartment on me while I sleep, or have the fate of my loved ones at their whim?"

"I'll destroy the system, and I'll tell Miriam that everything's okay, so you won't have to-" Jarvis said trying to save his life.

"Sorry, but I can't accept that. I don't want the destruction of the Geofront system, after all I only know a small fraction of what is going to happen... who knows, maybe in the future, the system might save the city...

Besides, as I said, 'It's not something that can be forgiven.'"

Seeing the determination in the Mercenary's eyes, almost like an dark obsession. Jarvis realizinh there was no way to convince him, he spoke with fear for what was coming, "Wh-when Miriam finds out about my disappearance, she-"

"Disappear? Who said you're going to disappear?" Sora asked rhetorically, as sinister smile growing on his face, sending shivers down Jarvis's code.

"For a moment, I thought about taking you behind the Blackwall, you know? Maybe hand you over, It could be good bait to start a partnership, which I can use in the future, with Altier or the thing that became the other side.

What do you think? Do you believe she would be interested in the being with the memories of the person who killed her father"

Upon hearing his possible fate, Jarvis's code trembled, imagining his destiny if that thing behind the wall got hold of him. Although the Mercenary's next words weren't much better for Jarvis.

"But I decided to take a page from the Rogue AIs. After all, their plan to control Night Corp from within..." His smile grew even wider, Sora continued, "It's a much better idea!"

At the same time, Sora pulled out a chip from the back of his helmet, different and more sophisticated than regular chips, with a holographic circle in the middle. 

He didn't even have to insert it; just by bringing it close to the terminal, a miniature Eco jumped from the holographic circle to the terminal.

After a few seconds, Sora said, "Eco, devour him. Create a copy of yourself imitating Jarvis's character and Richard's form. Also, make a complete copy of Richard's memories and send them to the secret server inside Iron Beast. When I have time, I'll take a look to see what else it hides."

"No, please!" Jarvis's pleas had no effect, as a menacing Eco, with his fur, made of code, bristling, and his ears pointed, approached him from within the server's cyberspace. Suddenly, it grew in size, opening its giant jaws and swallowing Jarvis.

While Sora witnessed everything happening inside the server unemotionally. After Eco finished creating a copy of itself, he said, "The resulting new AI, so it doesn't have to break its role, and I like the name... let's call it Jarvis."

Within seconds, the holograms of Eco and an exact copy sat down, wagging their tails in synchrony, while looking at Sora. He approached and petted both heads that looked at him expectantly. When finished, Jarvis changed back to Richard's form and knelt before Sora.

"Boss, what are your orders?" Jarvis, using Richard's voice, asked, causing Sora to smile sinisterly... as he schemed.

"For now, keep acting as Richard. Be Miriam's assistant and confidant. I want daily reports on everything you hear.

Create a fake interface of the Geofront system and hand it over to Miriam when she asks 'Why now?' or if she doubts you, tell her that now 'thanks to the capable agents of Netwatch' who weakened and almost killed the Master, you were able to assimilate and improve your code with his remains, updating yourself and gaining some freedom.

I want you to hand the real Geofront system to Eco.

Also, I want the complete plans of the underground. From what I've been able to map from the water currents, there are more secret rooms."

"I'll do that, Boss. Regarding the plans and secret rooms, near the locks we've been before, there's Richard's personal bunker, perfect facilities to work on you future projects away from the public eye as you was looking for.

There are also two rooms with servers like this, this room being the main controller of the 3. In addition, there is a large room outside the official plans, with facilities where Richard set up an autonomous assembly line of Spider-bots to maintain the underground.

At your command, I can mobilize all the remaining and create more, to build more rooms or edit another for more possible uses."

While speaking, Jarvis created a code ball that he offered to Eco, which instantly swallowed it, gaining control of the Geofront system. The system was still in the hidden servers underground, but only Eco could activate it.

Satisfied with what he heard, Sora's face softened as he rid himself of his expressionlessness, with a smile of pure happiness growing on his face with the results and his obsession satisfied.

"Great, now just need to 'pick it up' to start the next project," Sora said as he headed towards his uncle to retrieve his helmet and check its condition.

It was then that Jarvis made a sudden request, "Boss, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like you to also save this human."

Looking at the lime-haired human, bloodied with brutally severed limbs, who would bleed to death in the next few minutes if immediate first aid wasn't administered, Sora responded, "Hm? I don't mind, but tell me why... he seems like a pain in the ass to me."

"This human is deeply in love with Sienna, the current CEO and clone of Miriam, with Richard Night's DNA." Smirking just like his boss as he schemed, Jarvis added, "I think we can put him to good use."

Shaking his head, finding amusement in how twisted Eco could be if he wanted to speak, Sora, as he put on his helmet, said, "Heh, whatever you say."

He approached Ryuji while taking a small case from his belt with a set of acupuncture needles.

---

Author; "With this, the Arc of the Master comes to a close, leaving only the season finale ahead. As always, I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to leave a comment!"