9 Chapter 9: A whole different kind of Animal
The Animals.
An aggressive street fighting booster gang based in west Pacifica. They base themselves off the feral, primal side of human nature. Often dividing themselves into smaller packs, led by the strongest amongst them.
Forgoing most traditional cyberware, they prefer exotic bio sculpting, adding characteristics of various animals and enhancing their own strength with anything from drugs to steroids. Their insane strength required many animals to get endoskeleton implants and joint reinforcements in order to prevent their bones from crushing themselves and their tendons from snapping.
Most of their standard income comes in the form of drug dealing, underground fights, and raiding rival drug dealers. I wanted to hire them for their fearsome reputation as bouncers.
Across Night City, they had the reputation as the best take-no-shit bouncers and guards that can be found in Night City. Tough, reliable, and able to fight effectively against anyone with a gun, The animals were highly sought after for these type of jobs and variations thereof.
In addition to wanting to hire them, I wanted to study an animal if I got the chance. I was in the process of developing synthetic muscle tissue and I needed examples to study. My Skitarii were very effective at what they did. But they always had the element of surprise on their side. Some of the units had caught stray bullets from scav's and other Night City denizens causing them to go through an upgrade. I was testing out a "bruiser" variant, but I needed more study into synthetic muscle tissue to improve them.
But right now, I have a more pressing problem;
How the fuck do I interact with an Animal?
I was trying to figure out how to word the message that wouldn't come off as too prim and proper, yet not dumbed down. It was agonizing writing out this message to request for a meeting. It felt like a hostage negotiation, and I wasn't even involved with them yet.
I feel a pair of arms wrap around me from behind me as V rests her head on my shoulder.
"Still working on the Animal message?" she commented.
"Yeah, I don't want to just walk up and demand to meet the boss, but I do need to talk to one of the pack leaders. Problem is, I heard that they all gathered up in the Grand Imperial Mall under one leader. She calls herself Sasquatch, I think." I reply
"Just ask for a meeting and see what happens, the animals have been acting out of character anyway. Who knows, maybe they'd prefer it that way." V supplies
"We'll see. Got anything planned for today?" I ask.
"Padre has me and Jack running an errand for him today. Then I was going to go buy a car." She lists.
"Alright have fun, don't do anything I wouldn't do." I reply causing her to laugh.
"Ok then, see you later!" She kissed me on the cheek and left to get ready.
After leaving the bar last night, V ended up spending the night. She ended up borrowing my spare room that I kept for guests.
I woke up to a new notification screen this morning.
[Congratulations!]
[You have unlocked the Affection, Obedience and Romance options!]
[These represent the bonds you form beyond reputation with the people around you!]
[Affection can be gained with anyone and represents how close a relationship you have.]
[Obedience represents how likely to defer to your advice in certain situations.]
[Romance is taking it a step further on the type of relationship you have!]
[Maintaining and developing these relationships will reward you with Perks!]
[So go out and have fun!]
Romance
V
Affection (50/100)
Obedience (20/100)
For reaching 50 affection you gain a perk.
[Edgerunner]
You hold the fascination of Merc's and those who live outside the law.
+25% Rep/Aff gains with these groups.
"Hey Iris, do I have any more hidden mechanics I should be aware of?"
[Maybe ~.]
Goddammit she sounds smug.
"How did V get so high in Affection anyway? I will be the first to admit that I am a dense idiot, but I am fairly certain that I haven't been actively romancing her either." I ask Iris.
[Passive Affection can be gained through various actions.]
[You will not always be notified when this happens.]
[You have an existing history with V. Last nights "Date" just switched you to a romantic interest vs. a platonic one.]
[Romantic interests can vary in difficulty depending on who you're trying to romance.]
[Judy would be classified as "very hard" because in addition to having no interest in men, she has several past experiences that you would have to work past in order to have her as a romance option.]
So, I basically escaped the friend zone without even realizing it?
Yay?
Perk added
[Asexua-
No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm sorry. Please don't do that.
Perk Removed
[Asexual]
Sad thing to hear about Judy though.
I really need to set aside time to hang out with her, she's offered several times after all. Plus, Judy's good people.
At any rate, now that V was gone, I finished the message and sent it off. Worst comes to worst, I have to fist fight an Animal.
I also took some time to look over my Thunder hammer.
It was a really good hammer, and it served its purpose well. But it could do with a bit of a makeover. I forged, re-forged and created all of the weapons that I wield, so it's only fair that it receives the same treatment after serving so well.
[Time Skip.]
I look on proudly at my final product.
Stormreaver (Mythic)
Forged in a bath of sentinel energy and Tavish Byrne's mana, this mighty weapon is infused with enhanced nanomachines, creating a weapon worthy of a Technomancer.
It currently took the form of a high-tech bearded axe. I gently pick it up an activate it causing the blade to erupt into a burst of electrical energy.
I take a few experimental swings of the axe before I mentally send a new command to the axe. The axe started shifting, its handle elongating to a full two-handed grip. The head of the axe folding and shifting and elongating till I held a storm lord pattern thunder hammer, power radiating from the head.
With a nod of satisfaction, I deactivate Stormreaver, causing it to fold back into its initial size. I sheath the axe on my lower back and start getting ready for the day.
I hadn't shown up at the Afterlife in a week, so there was no doubt work for me to do.
[Time Skip]
[The Afterlife]
I walked past the bouncer at the front door and was met by a round of applause and cheers.
"Let's hear it for Tavish! The man who singlehandedly ran the Tygers out of town!" I hear a voice shout from the back.
Walking through the bar I received a lot of congratulations, handshakes and offers for drinks as I worked my way towards Rouge.
As I approach, I can hear Shaitan speak up from his spot next to Rouge;
"Good shit Doc. I've tried for years to get rid of Arasaka's little puppets. This will leave them hurting for quite a few years." He said, his metal face curved up in a grin.
"Wanna tag in if I do it again?" I ask jokingly, causing him to burst out laughing.
"Doc, it would be my genuine pleasure" he cheerfully informed.
He reached under the table and pulled out a fairly large crate and set it on the table.
"We all chipped in, and bought you something, hope you like it Doc." He said as I opened the box.
Inside was a full merc outfit. It had a heavily armored merc jacket with a hood in the collar. The back had what looked to be a wraith-like figure surrounded by a storm. It came with a pair of armored utility pants with a lightning design on the cuffs with a matching pair of boots.
[Clothing set awarded: Ghost of the Storm merc outfit (Epic)]
[Title Awarded: Ghost of the Storm]
While your presence isn't always noticed, your actions certainly are!
Night City knows your title, and maybe even your name, and while they may find your storm, they rarely find your ghost.
Perks gained
[Storm Rage]
Augment your rage with the power of the storm!
Allows you to spend mana to multiply stats by 5 for a limited time.
[Child of the Sky] (Passive)
You have an innate understanding of what the weather will be like for the next twenty-four hours in a fifty-mile radius.
[Storm Wraith]
Your body takes on a wraith like aspect. If nothing else, you could go haunt someone.
[Elemental manipulation (Storm)] (Minor) (1/100)
The aspect of the storm gathers some strength, lending you some of its power. It's beginning to feel out its potential, but it's a long way from being realized.
Item gained
Familiar Egg
Channel mana into the egg to hatch a familiar gifted by aspect of the storm.
"Every merc needs their signature look. And Night City has officially assigned you a handle. So, we got you a look to match." Rouge said with a smile.
"Thanks Guys." I say as I marvel over the new threads.
"By the way, the NCPD came calling. . . ." Rouge continued.
"Oh? Am I wanted?" I asked out of curiosity.
I wasn't sure if they would arrest me or not for this.
"No actually, they brought a gift basket." Rouge grabbed a basket full of cred chips and set them on the table.
I picked up an actual letter set on top of the basket and began to read.
To The Ghost of the Storm,
We extend the whole hearted thanks of the NCPD for your astonishing number of "self-defense" cases over the past week. This basket contains the bounties for every single case that you were involved in this week.
Signed - - - - - -
The rest of the letter was covered in signatures from the rest of the police department, from homicide to special investigations. This letter only leaves me with one question.
"Self-defense?" I ask causing Shaitan to laugh.
"It counts in Night City if the other party is armed. They are basically washing their hands of the issue since the Tygers were such a large problem. More often than not, if a Tyger stood trial, they would get off thanks to a fancy lawyer, paid for by Arasaka of course." Rouge said crossing her arms.
"I would keep an eye out for the Arasaka assassin squads though. You crippled their entire network of foot soldiers and black-market workers in Night City, and they may not take that lying down." Shaitan comments.
"Noted." I reply.
We continue laughing and joking for a bit before a voice cuts into our conversation.
"Ms. Rouge, might I have a minute?"
I turn and almost start in surprise at who was standing there.
Dexter Deshawn
Fixer
Lvl. 43
"Dexter Deshawn. I was wondering when you'd come crawling back here. I thought you were on vacation, avoiding some people in Pacifica?" Rouge comments, observing Dex with a skeptical eye.
"Well, that's just the name of the business, isn't it? Can't always please everyone. Thankfully the people who had an issue have left on a vacation of their own." Dex said
Rouge stared at Dex for a long moment and said; "Tavish. I think Shaitan was looking at getting an upgrade. Could you take him to your office and see what he would require?"
I nod my ascent to Rouge's hint and started heading to the office I had set up in one of the backrooms, Shaitan close behind.
"I'm surprised Dex would show his face again." Shaitan commented.
"You know what caused him to run from Pacifica last time?" I asked him.
"Rumors have it that he tends to screw over merc's if a job goes south. I'm guessing that the last job screwed over a lot of people in that neighborhood, namely the Voodoo Boys." Shaitan speculated.
The Voodoo Boys were a gang that formed from the Haitian workers left behind when investors pulled funding from developing Pacifica. They remained throughout the years creating their own version of their Haitian culture and religion, becoming elite netrunners and edgerunners. They worship the old net and the idea of eternal life at the hands of the all-knowing, all powerful rouge A.I.'s that reside beyond the Black Wall. With no police presence, they treat Pacifica as Haiti 2.0, cut off from the rest of the city, and enforcing their own rule of law with machetes and assassins. All to keep their little poverty-stricken hellhole.
They would Rape, mutilate, dissect and kill their victims for no reason at all, inspiring terror in the local population, and making it notoriously hard for police to root them out. At some point, the police gave up completely, and withdrew from Pacifica in its entirety. Sometime around 2062, a natural disaster wiped the original Haiti off the map. The refugees from that went to Pacifica, and the Voodoo Boys took on the task of settling the Haitians into their community.
To this day, no one knew much about their current activities. The only thing that I knew for sure was that they were in a fierce gang war with the animals.
"Well then, I'll just have to keep an eye on him. So Shaitan, what were you looking for in the way of chrome?" I ask.
"I heard a rumor that you were able to have several sets of weaponized arms mounted on your back at one point. It's not like anything I ever heard of." He questioned.
"Ah yes, servo-arms. That can either be configured as cyberware, or an external harness attachment. The external harness enables you to attach it to an exo-suit or just the harness itself. It can carry heavier weaponry and a variety of tools and equipment." I explain.
"The cyberware component can carry weapons up to a certain weight and caliber but have a restriction past a certain point. You could mount heavy weapons cybernetically, but you would end up altering your base human figure in order to support the weight and electronics for it to work." I continue.
We spend an hour talking about different cyberware options before Rouge sent a message calling the whole crew out.
Myself, Shaitan, Nix, and Crispen Weyland came out from the back and sat at the booth with Rouge. It looked like Dex had left and she was half way into her glass.
"Alright people. Dexter Deshawn "temporarily" has his free pass to the Afterlife reinstated. That said, I want to know every step the fat bastard takes. His timing is very suspicious with everything happening in Night City right now. Nix, do you have anything?" Rouge asked.
Nix was Rouge's netrunner, one of the best in the city. He pulled a shard out of his pocket and passed it to Rouge.
"His most recent purchases are interesting but not indication of anything unusual. He recently pre-paid Brick from Maelstrom to hit a Militech convoy for a special drone and some parts sometime in the next few months. While it is a unique piece of hardware, it could be used on any number of jobs. He recently hired the netrunner known as T-bug and has her on an on-call basis. My guess is he is setting up a series of small jobs and mulling over a big one." Nix informed.
"What kind of idiot prepays without seeing the product first?" Crispen asked folding his arms across his chest.
"I would tend to agree with you, especially since Maelstrom hasn't hit the convoy yet. But Brick tends to repay any debt he owes and keeps his word. The only worrying thing is, it sounds like there may be a change in leadership for the Maelstromers soon. The contender being a 'borged out psycho by the name of Royce. It may or may not interfere with the purchase." Nix replied.
"Excellent, thank you Nix. I need everyone to keep your ear to the ground. Dex may just be coming out of retirement, but I want his activities monitored. If he contacts any of you for assistance, contact me for approval first." Rouge stated, receiving nods all around.
We all head our separate ways, and I head for my office to sort through requests. Merc's put through request for special and unique cyberware all the time, and I have to sort out the requests.
Merc's who want the newest Mr. Studd, Midnight Lady or other sexual implant, go to the reject pile, while job specific cyberware or anything towards improving their effectiveness as a merc, go to the review pile. The reviews got to have a meeting to discuss the instillation of the requested cyberware. What it boiled down to was Rouge offered discounts for business, not pleasure.
About an hour later I received a message. An animal pack agreed to meet with me at a place called "The Paint Factory". Should make things interesting.
[Time Skip]
I always forget how big Animals are.
Most of them almost match me in height, with a few exceeding my height. I could see the metal brackets for skeletal reinforcement to support their muscular structure. Some were basic, while others were stylish in design, yet their muscles made them look grotesque.
I was lead in to meet a woman by the name of Rhino. Apparently, she was famous in Night City for being one of the top underground street fighters.
When she greeted me and shook my hand, she tried to crush my hand, something that I matched her in doing. I couldn't afford to show anything resembling weakness here, there was only one thing the animals respected, and that was strength.
After that we sat down and talked business. It was fairly easy to get them to agree to supplement the Skitarii and Mox guards and bouncers at Clouds. They were very amicable to my payment offer, it was Rhino's personal request that surprised me.
"I want to fight you." She stated simply.
"Why?" I question.
"Fighting the "Ghost of the Storm" sounds cool." She said with a shrug.
Which is how I ended up in the Animal's sunken fighting ring.
The ring was an old empty paint vat, with several posts inside coated in barbed wire. I hung up my jacket and Stormreaver and hopped into the pit shortly followed by Rhino.
The Rules were laid out, anything goes, no weapons, berserker cyberware was fine.
Rhino initiated the fight and socked me across the face which I returned delivering a few punches to her abdomen and one to her head.
The Animals up above cheered us on as the fight dragged on.
Rhino attempted a side kick which I caught and used to strike her several times in her legs, and fling her into the wall.
Rhino got up with a snarl and charged me, her reflexes like lightning. I met her charge and flipped her into the wall once again.
The fight continues on for several minutes before a punch laid her flat out on her back.
Our audience falls silent as our referee counts Rhino until she's out. I hear her groan from the floor.
"Damn, you pack a serious punch bossman." She grunts out.
I offer a hand to her and help her up, and we climb out of the pit. The skeptical looks I got from the Animals before were replaced by looks of respect. In their eyes, I just established myself as an Alpha by beating their strongest fighter.
After I got affirmation and establishing final ground rules for working at Clouds, I depart.
[Time Skip]
I finish placing the leg in a cast. The kid was dared to jump off a bridge and broke his leg. Thankfully it was a clean break, so it was an easy fix. Convincing his hysterical mother he would be fine was a different matter altogether. I gave him a small amount of health potion to help the leg mend but left him in a cast. Hopefully this would teach him that taking dares wasn't always a good idea.
They departed not long after and I was able to switch my sign to closed. I rubbed my eyes. The last week was fairly stressful establishing myself in the Tyger Claw territory I had acquired.
With the change in control, I had to establish a guard force of Skitarii to clean out portions of the territory.
I had redone the Skitarii color scheme and replaced their cloaks with a dark color with a lightning design around the hem. If they were representing me, they may as well stick to the color scheme.
But back to the territory, the megabuilding was originally established for people to live after the end of the fourth corporate war. Since then, many portions of the building had fallen into disrepair and many of the tenants had been Tygers. Old rooms had been converted into sprawling drug labs, contraband storage, and money laundering facilities.
The worst thing I found were the cages. Hundreds of rooms converted into cages full of people, some alive, but many dead. H8 was a hive for the Tyger's human smuggling ring. Some people could be released to head home, for others, it was a bit more difficult. These people had been converted into dolls.
Dolls were people that had been implanted with a doll chip, enabling for remote control, steering the dolls behavior during a "session" and wiping their memory after. It was fairly common in the sex industry and had a few commercial business applications.
The problem was their doll chips had been overused, leaving these people with little to none of their own original memories left. Their own synapses were so fried there was nothing for them to make new memories with.
The Mox came by to pick them up later that day to take them to a rehab clinic. Hopefully they would be able to recover from this.
The rooms with cages were cleaned and the cages were rendered down for material. This area was repurposed into a botany lab and a grow room. I can hire one of the locals to sell fresh produce.
The drug labs were disassembled and repurposed into alchemy labs. I altered the rooms so they had proper ventilation for potion creation.
Under the Megabuilding I initiated the construction of a new Cauldron. H8 was significantly closer to the water than my first cauldron, so this one could produce Snapmaw's and machines to deploy in town, and the Cauldron in the Badlands can start producing Striders and other machines that could start purifying the soil of harmful contaminants.
I started deploying construction drones within the megabuilding, slowly repairing and cleaning up the inside. So far, they had only completed 3% of the massive structure. I had them prioritize inhabited area's and continue to do so while rebuilding. Roughly half the building was left empty after the Tyger's left, leaving the other half of the building for the other residents and shops.
All-in-all, taking over the building was a massive hassle, and now that I had automated most everything, I could use a break.
I receive a call on my phone and I answered.
"Hey Tavish! Want to go on a job with me and Jackie?" V's voice comes over the phone.
"What have you got?" I ask, standing up and stretching out.
"Search and Rescue from a Scav haunt." She stated, causing me to perk up.
I did enjoy killing scav's. I hadn't done population control on them for a bit. This would be the perfect way to unwind.
"Man V, you know just what to say to get a guy in the mood." I say walking to go grab my Merc gear.
"For the record, I would shoot you if you tried to count this as part of a date." She commented, causing me to laugh.
"So would you like to go to The Hive afterwards?" I ask
"I'd love to. We'll be by to pick you up in ten." She said with a smile.
"Alright, see you on a few." I state and I hang up.
[Time Skip]
I watch as an Archer Hella EC-D pulls up in front of the clinic. Picking up my duffle, I open the back and toss it in and then climb in the back seat.
"Hey choom." Jackie said in greeting and we bump fists.
"Hey Jackie. How are you?" I reply.
"Doing pretty good. Been getting steady jobs. I've been asking around for bigger jobs, but everyone is on edge for some reason." Jackie complained.
"That's cause Dexter Deshawn resurfaced." I explain causing Jackie to look back at me in surprise.
"Really? Wonder what he wants?" He commented.
"No idea, just be careful on who you accept jobs for while everyone's agitated." I warn before I send him contact info.
"I just sent you info for a fixer in Watson. She is an ex-media by the name of Regina Jones. She has work all over the city. She'll even fork out a bonus for non-lethal take downs. Tell her I sent you, and she'll put you to work" I explain.
"Nova! Thanks a bundle Tavish." He said with a grin.
So, what are we doing? V said something about search and rescue?" I ask.
"Scav's kidnapped a Corpo's son. It would be "too expensive" to send in the company thugs or trauma team, so we were tasked to do this in their place." Jackie explained.
"Kid has trauma team? They should have swarmed his location in less than ten minutes if he so much as coughed. What happened?" I questioned.
"The parent told them to hold off because it wouldn't be "cost effective"". Jackie said with a sneer.
"That's just cold, do we at least have a location?" I asked.
"We have the building, we don't know which floor or room." V interjected passing back a shard.
I slot the shard and start scanning the building. I run the building operation specifications against its current readout. I start flagging rooms consuming more than the standard amount of power and identify which of these rooms were consolidated together.
"Man, this is going to be searching for a needle in a haystack." Jackie groans out.
"Found it." I state dropping back into realspace and taking out the shard and passing it to Jack.
"No way you found it that fast." He said slotting the shard and reading the provided data.
"Holy shit….." Jackie trails off.
"Scav haunt's inside of rented space consume huge amounts of power, and they like to rent rooms right next to each other so they can knock the walls down for more workspace. Identify what rooms are using more power than normal, and find which ones are grouped together. Any groups more than three get flagged. The room the scav's are working out of is on floor 56, room 00057843." I explain.
"Guess bringing you along is already paying off. Was that some netrunner magic?" V asked.
"Yeah. I hired a runner a month or so ago to teach me how to do it and I've been improving ever since." I state proudly.
"Think you could show me how to do it?" V asked.
"Sure, I could probably spare a moment. I'm not an expert but I can point out the basics. You're going to have to get your hands on a cyberdeck too." I reply.
"And their goes most of the payout from this job." V grumbles.
"But we'd have access to more jobs V." Jackie chip's in.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." V replied.
"By the way, what do you guys have in the way of cyberware?" I ask, receiving awkward silence in return.
"I have a reflex booster, and we both have neural links, but that's it. We haven't been able to afford anything else yet." Jackie admitted.
"You gonks, alright when we are done with this job, we are going to my clinic or Vik's to get you chipped. For my peace of mind at least, I'll fund it. Just pay me back when you can alright?" I say with a sigh.
"Thanks, Tavish!" They say in unison.
+20 Rep with Jackie Welles
+20 Aff with V
"Don't thank me yet, thank me when it saves your life." I state while massaging my forehead.
We ride in comfortable silence for the rest of the trip until we reach the living complex.
I step out of the car and head to the back. I start ruffling through my duffle and selecting weapons.
"Do you guys have everything you need?" I ask as I ruffle through the duffle.
"Yeah, I have my pistol and my blade. V has her pistol somewhere too." Jackie answered.
"Are we going in quietly or loud?" I question, as I slide a drum mag into a Schockhammer Shotgun.
They both look at each other and have a quick silent conversation before they turn back to me.
"What would you recommend?" V asked.
"We don't know how many they have, or what the inside of the room is like. Start out quiet and fast, go loud if one sounds the alarm." I hand Jackie the shotgun.
"It's close quarters in there so use short range stuff in there. But be careful, sometimes the Scav's may have other people they captured, the kid is the priority, but the other people may lead to an easy payday as well." I continue, pulling another shotgun from my bag and handing it to V.
"Do you always carry that many shotguns?" V questioned as I pulled a third Schockhammer from my duffle and sling it over my back.
"Always dress for the occasion." I joke drawing my silenced pistol and start moving towards the elevator.
We all ride the elevator up to the fifty-sixth floor and start making our way towards the room.
As we walk towards the room we slow down to a stop outside the door.
Jackie checks the door and see's that its locked.
"Alright so what now?" Jackie asked quietly.
"We let ourselves in." I whisper back, hacking the door open.
It slid open silently and we swiftly made our way inside. The room widened out to show several of the interior walls were knocked down. The space inside had several bloody cutting tables and several huge coolers lining the walls. A scav was busy washing his hands in the sink.
I slipped into the room right behind him and snapped his neck. I heard a gasp suddenly cut off behind me and I turn to see V kill another scav that just walked in. I set my guy down and we proceed into the next room.
Jackie killed the first guy in the next room causing him to knock over a metal table with implements. Jackie cringes at the noise made by the man. We hear footsteps and voices on the other side of the door. I quickly unsling my shotgun and aim it at the door.
The door slides open and we open fire on the investigating scav's. Quickly proceeding into the next room, I let the Schockhammer spin up and unleash on the scav's within the room.
We quickly become embroiled in a firefight. I can see the bullets from the shotgun bouncing off their skin. Looks like they installed subdermal armor. Jackie and V notice it too and start searching for alternatives.
Time to improvise.
I see a filthy cast iron pan on the counter next to me. I grab it charge it with mana and throw it.
Perk Activated
[Ancient Art of Throwing Shit]
The skillet flies through the head of one of the scav's, causing it to explode apart in a splash of gore and the pan embeds itself in the wall behind him.
The scav's pause for a moment in shock, I toss a grenade over by two of them, causing it to explode by their feet. I leap over my cover unsheathing Stormreaver and igniting it, the blade encasing itself in energy.
I slice through the first scav, and I see Jackie following close behind running his blade through the chest of the second one. V shoots the final one in the head with a rifle she acquired.
We do a quick search around the apartments checking for scav's.
"Found a couple of live ones here." V's voice shouts from the other room.
[Luck event Triggered]
The back room has a bathtub full of ice, and beside it, was two tied up and sedated bodies. I use observe to identify them.
Joseph Yates
Corpo Kid
Lvl – 19
Xochi Peralez
Grad Student
Lvl-36
Oh for fuck's sake.
[Time Skip]
So apparently, rescuing a mayoral candidates daughter pays rather well.
Completing the initial mission provided decent payout for the job, but the real payout was the thank you cred from Jefferson Peralez and his wife Elizabeth.
Xochi was apparently here visiting her parents before school started up again, and was snatched up at the Spaceport. She was only reported as having missed her flight roughly a few hours ago.
The money actually allowed for V and Jackie to pay for their own chrome.
I pulled out some of my equipment from AOT to actually outfit them. While Jackie was in surgery, I infused sentinel energy into his body while installing subdermal armor and a titanium bone-lacing. Jackie wouldn't let me install anything else just as a personal preference. He wanted to get used to what I put in before adding anything else.
V had a cyberdeck installed along with some subdermal armor. V had a bucket list of stuff she wanted to install but I forced her to undergo a recovery period to adjust to the cyberware. While Unity reduced the chances of cyberpsychosis, it was still possible to install too much cyberware too quickly. I did wire in a Quicksilver reflex booster to let that get settled in during her recovery period.
On another topic, I was surprised how new Jackie and V were to some of the basic stuff I did. It did help me establish somewhat of a rough timeline of where I was at in this universe. Jackie and V had only been working together for roughly a month. So that put me about five to six months before the Relic theft. Which meant that they were both still a relatively new merc team.
Which begged the question, what was Dex up to? Evelyn Parker hadn't contacted him to do the job yet, was he buying the Flathead drone based on intuition? Or did he have it earmarked for another job?
I really need that spymaster, there is just too much going on that I'm not aware of. I just need to figure out how to filter and acquire the data . . . . .
I quickly activate my parallel thoughts, and advanced processing perks and establish a connection with GAEA.
The Motherly avatar of GAEA appeared within the Data Fortress I established.
- "Hello Tavish. What can I help you with?" – the powerful A.I. asked.
"I've developed an idea for the acquisition of data in the cyberpunk world. Could you please summon your subordinate functions MINERVA and APOLLO? They would be integral in making this work." I request.
- "Most certainly, give me a moment."- GAIA said closing her eyes.
Two new avatars appeared, one of a stern, warlike woman holding a spear and shield, while the other is a man with a sunny disposition holding a bow.
"APOLLO, if you are constantly fed data, how much could you hold and process?" I ask him.
- "Theoretically, everything you could possibly give and then some. I was originally designed to process all of earth's history and knowledge over the course of a few days. Once I have the data and it is indexed and cataloged, we could access any number of files for easy retrieval. It will take time to process the initial data surge, but once I get caught up, we're golden."- APOLLO explained.
I turn to MINERVA.
"If given access to the data, could you work up a system to filter through all pertinent data regarding certain activities or people?" I ask her.
- "Absolutely, I could even flag and notify you if certain actions take place and offer a tentative course of action in response."- She stated.
I nodded in response.
"Alright so I'm going to write a new program. Yggdrasil will be designed to spread its "roots" to connect to any and all systems and copy the data to APOLLO. I'm going to reinforce it with Asgard to act as a filter so no hostile programs make it back here. Yggdrasil will feed data to APOLLO to be processed and archived. MINERVA will then scan through the archived data, sorting it into categories and flag anything that would count as important." I explain receiving nods of understanding.
- "I recommend creating a specialized security system for the data to filter through. Asgard is a decent defense against your average runner, but it is not strong enough yet. This is a world that possesses rouge independent thinking systems, and we cannot afford any of them attempting to take control of your projects. If a deranged system took control of project Zero Dawn, the results could be catastrophic."- MINERVA advised.
We continued hammering out details for the project and designing the programs. My thought processes could somewhat keep up with my perks but GAEA and her functions were truly on another level, often finishing the calculations for a problem the instant I contemplated them.
The end result was Jormungandr, a powerful A.I. that processed the data as a part of Yggdrasil itself, hunting and destroying anything that tried to exploit the system.
After several hours, I finally dropped back into realspace. I sat up from my Netrunner chair and saw Jackie and V resting on my couch watching TV. V took notice of me first.
"Hey Tavish! You were jacked in for quite a while, everything alright?" She asked.
"Yeah, I was securing my data fortress. Voodoo Boys keep trying to break in so I had to establish active defenses." I explain, causing her to nod in understanding.
"So Tavish, we were wondering, would you like to do more jobs with us?" Jackie asked.
"Why me?" I ask, watching them shift uncomfortably.
"It's because you know what you're doing." V finally blurts out.
"Yeah, you built up your street cred ridiculously fast Tavish. And you didn't even bat an eye at the parameters of the mission yesterday. You have experience, something V and I are seriously lacking in. But most of all, you're a good solo, and we want to learn how you got so good." Jackie explained, V nodding in agreement.
"I suppose I could spare sometime to teach you guys. But be warned, I have to answer to Rouge for my jobs, so be aware that she has the right to say no to jobs." I relent, causing V to frown.
"Why does Rouge have so much say in what jobs you take?" She questioned.
"Rouge is Queen of the Afterlife V. Any of the good jobs that happen in Night City have to go through her for approval. The Merc's on the job have to have her approval too. Tavish was hand-picked by Rouge to be a part of her crew, and one of the stipulations is that your on-call for her when she needs their services. I wouldn't worry too much about it though. Her crew is free to take jobs, and she is fairly hands-off on what jobs they do take." Jackie explained, causing V's frown to disappear.
"Makes sense, don't piss off the lady who gives out the good jobs." V jokes.
"Damn straight!" Jackie returns causing us to laugh.
We spend several hours talking about different aspect of merc work and how to best pick out our next job.
[Time Skip]
I decided to check on my Cauldon in the Badland's. I wasn't too worried, it would have sent me an alert if something was wrong.
I walked up to the huge triangle doorway within the cave and it opened on my approach. I stepped into a huge lift an it started descending deeper into the cauldron.
When the lift came to a stop, the facility opened up showing manufacturing chambers of different sizes shapes and variations. Tech-priests of many different disciplines scurried back and forth along the long corridors taking notes, adjusting designs and implementing upgrades.
I pass by a room labeled "Skitarii Break Room" and out of curiosity, I take a glance inside.
Various tables and comfortable chairs were scattered throughout the room. A few were playing games on a TV, another was reading a book. The largest gathering of the Skitarii was gathered around a very enthusiastic foosball game. The table looks to have been reinforced to account for the Skitarii's enhanced strength.
I continue on and pass a chamber where they are manufacturing a Ravager. I had decided that a group of Ravagers would be deployed along with several Longleg's, and some Lancehorn's as part of the first terraforming party. They would be sticking to abandoned areas in the desert regions near Night City as part of a test run.
The group's mission was to start getting initial reading on the surrounding land and hopefully start restoring it to a less damaged state.
This would probably be the most dangerous of all of the missions because the area around Night City was a war zone. Mines were littered in some areas because no one cared enough that they were left there. I am fairly certain that the nomads had mapped out the minefields for their smuggling routes.
Speaking of nomads . . . .
I pull out my phone and call the local fixer.
"Hello"? A voice answered.
"This Dakota?" I ask.
"Indeed, who is this?" Dakota responds.
"This is Dr. Tavish Byrne. I was wondering if it was possible to set up a meet and greet." I ask.
"You're the one treating the Aldecaldos? I suppose I could spare some time. Do you know the CHOOH2 station where I operate?" She asked.
"Yeah, I know the place." I reply
"Swing by there and we can chat." She stated, and hung up.
Dakota Smith, an extremely perceptive fixer who worked in the Badland's since the end of the Unification war in 2070. She used to be part of a nomad clan but settled as a static fixer out in the Badlands. If I can avoid any misunderstandings where the nomads start shooting my machines that would be great.
[Time Skip]
I walk into Dakota's garage. She looks up from the truck she is working on.
"You must be Tavish. You going to finally tell me what you and yours are doing in that old mine tunnel?" She asked.
"A personal terraforming project, it will be ready to deploy soon and I wanted to make sure I could avoid any misunderstanding when strange machines are seen roaming the Badlands." I explain. causing her to cock an eyebrow.
"That is an unexpected courtesy. What is the overall aim of the project?" She questioned.
"The dismantling of the damaged done to local ecosystems. The machines will be restoring surrounding land to a healthier state." I inform.
If I didn't have her full attention before, I certainly did now. She observed me for a long moment before she asked; "What would be required of the locals?"
"I would ask that they not shoot the machines and that the machines are not captured or studied. If provoked, the machines will react very violently, but they remain, peaceful as long as they are allowed to do their work. Nothing will be required of the locals, and the machines will leave an area when finished. The only interaction with the locals will if we come across a particularly dangerous or harmful substance on or near their property." I continue.
"What will those interactions consist of?" She questioned.
"Inform the residents of what we found and offer to remove it. If they refuse, we move on." I reply.
Dakota appears to have a bit of an internal debate going on as she thinks about my request.
"Alright, I'll provide you a map of the area on one condition. I want to see their initial deployment." Dakota stated.
"May I ask why?" I ask her.
"If your little "project" actually works, it will potentially revolutionize the world, and completely change the way nomads operate completely." She starts out.
Dakota reaches down for here oxygen mask and takes a deep huff of the canister; "Detoxifying the area would be a wonderful progression towards making area's more habitable and reclaiming lost natural resources? That would be priceless. As for why I want to see it, being one of the first people on the globe to see the beginning of such a project, well it would be a hell of a story to tell at the next nomad meet wouldn't it?" She said with a grin.
I smile back at her; "I suppose so. Alright Dakota, you've got yourself a deal."
We shake on it, and I forward the map to the Cauldron for implementation.
[Time Skip]
Dakota and I were standing on top of an overlook near the entrance of the old mining facility towards the end of the day. After waiting for a bit, we saw movement in the entry way of the cave as the first Longleg emerges.
The six optics of the terror bird like machine, gleam in the fading light as it checks around for any dangers. Once its satisfied, it proceeded further out of the entrance followed by several more of its siblings.
Next come the Lancehorn's. These gazelle like machine's start scanning the area searching for contaminants, one or two stopping to process the soil and rock outside of the cave entrance.
The Ravagers prowl out past the Lancehorn's, and start establishing a patrol pattern amongst themselves, always keeping the herd in sight as they slowly proceeded away as a group from the entrance.
"Truly a fascinating sight. How long is it before you will see noticeable results?" Dakota asked.
"If I only deployed that group? Probably within about five years. According to the project plan? One to two months." I explain causing Dakota's eyes to widen.
"Only a few months! How on earth can they accomplish that much in that short a time span?!" Dakota exclaimed.
"That is when we will start seeing results, not when I'm done. The ground in the Badlands hasn't been altered or affected in a year, making it a good place to start initial progress in reversing the damage. Most of the damage is from the landfill and all of the material dumped there. I am expecting that once we have more plant life in the area, it will help the soil naturally process the pollution." I reply
"You also have to keep in mind, I am attempting to counter massive amounts of radiation and toxic waste left behind by people and corporations. The fact that we will see results that soon is a miracle in of itself." I continue.
"It's an interesting concept anyway. How will you prevent it all from being undone? The local storms may hinder your progress significantly." Dakota asked, observing the group of machines travel further into the Badlands.
"With another machine altogether." I explain gesturing at the cave opening again.
Emerging from the cave mouth, was a Stormbird. Its large raptorial like appearance, giving it the look of a bird of prey as it walks from the entrance.
Its engines ignite, electricity arcing from the wings as it takes off, launching up into the sky. The Stormbird eventually fades out of sight as a cloaking mechanism activates.
"The "Stormbird" will start the process of rebalancing the atmosphere in the area and start bringing about a more normal climate. The storms in this area will still be strong, but there is more of a chance of the storms being intermixed with rain and less damaging elements." I explain.
"Well, you seem to have everything figured out. It will be interesting to see if it works. Best of luck to you Tavish. The nomads always appreciate working with you so give a call if you need work." Dakota said, slowly walking back towards her truck.
I stick around for a bit watching as a few more machines come out of the cave before I get in my Quadra and head back towards town.
As I drive, I turn on the radio and slowly get lost in thought as I slowly drive back towards Night City.
I just played part of my hand to the local fixer, it was only a matter of time before someone came knocking, the question is who it would be first.
Would it be a corporation, looking to exploit me for their own personal gain? Would it be a media, hunting for a good story? Or would it be a person I had yet to factor into my plans?
Regardless, all I could do now is wait and continue to prepare for any eventuality that I could think of.
[Time Skip]
"Dammit Judy! You stole my kill!"
"You snooze, you lose Tavish!"
I managed to set aside some time to hang with Judy. Turns out, she is a fairly avid gamer when she's not editing braindances or doing techie stuff.
Playing video games turned out to be one of the safest things to do in Night City. You had the option of playing with either a braindance wreath, or a mouse and keyboard. We were using the latter.
Judy recommended this FPS to play together. It was called "Call of Corpo 3". Their might have been a story to the game, but I went right into the multiplayer as soon as it booted up.
"Well, that was fun Tavish. We should do this more often. I get bored of just editing braindances for Lizzy's." She bemoans.
"Don't any of the other Mox like playing video games?" I ask.
"Not particularly. Some may enjoy it from time to time, but not many actually have their own setups to play on. Plus, many games are played through the "net" or a braindance wreath, so its just easier to play on those platforms." Judy explains with a sigh.
"That's a bummer. Want to do this again next week?" I question.
"That would be Nova Tavish. See you later!" She said, and disconnects.
I shut off my computers and start heading towards my bed. As I head towards my bed, I decide to use a few of my Gacha tokens
[Ohm direct energy weapon] (Rare)
[Mjolnir Powered assault armor blueprints] (Epic)
[Vibranium Block] (Epic)
[Perk Gacha Tokens x 3] (Common)
[EXO-7 Falcon] (Epic)
[Chuck E. Cheese Token x 1] (Common)
[Companion Token: Dr. Harleen Quinzel] (Rare)
[ARC mobile command carrier] (Epic)
[Moon ball] (Common)
[A Blockbuster Membership Card] (Common)
[Spartan Project documentation] (Epic)
[NES Controller] (Common)
One of the first things that stood out was the Spartan Project documentation. I would be able to make my own Spartan's! That was, until I pulled it out of my inventory.
Hundreds of thousands of books, hard drives, prototypes and documentation poured out of my inventory, burying me under an avalanche of data. I guess when it specified documentation, it meant everything regarding the Spartan program.
I stuff the documentation back in my inventory as I look over my other draws.
The power armor was potentially intriguing, but I didn't quite have a place to use it yet. Perk Gacha is always interesting, I wonder what I could get using those.
The most valuable by far was the Vibranium block. Dropping the one meter by one meter block out of my inventory. I receive a notification as I feel my nano hive get agitated.
[Nano Hive wishes to integrate new material "Vibranium" for optimization of existing systems.]
[Do you accept?]
[Y/N]
"How much would you guys need?"
[Calculating. . .]
[Half of existing material is required.]
"That's acceptable, that would leave me some material for making other stuff with the Vibranium."
Upon my agreement, my nano machines surge outward from my body in a cloud and start breaking down the block.
[Assimilating material, will finish in 12:59:32]
Nothing to do except wait, I guess.
[Interlude: Scav's In Space! Part 3]
[Scav POV]
40% Oxygen and filling.
41% Oxygen and filling.
42% Oxygen and filling.
So apparently, Trauma Team coverage does not include space.
I ended up improvising with my pistol to create enough propulsion towards the crystal palace. I collided with the outside of the station after a few hours of travel. I spent several more hours climbing along the outside of the station till I found a service hatch. Water and Oxygen were loaded onto the station from here so once I was in the hatch, I was able to jury rig a system to refill my oxygen tanks.
I couldn't believe that the rich assholes that lived up here actually paid for oxygen, when I was getting all of their posh oxygen for free. I even managed to scavenge some food from the trash airlock.
In roughly twelve hours, the next supply ship would bring supplies to the space station. Getting on that ship was my next priority. There was no way my cyberware would help me survive re-entry to earth's atmosphere without a ship, much less landing.
I kick back on the makeshift hammock I made out of cable as I watch my oxygen meter fill up. It was nice to be reconnected with a network again. I was able to stream data from the station and pass the time with movies and news articles.
My relative peace was disturbed when a spider-like drone scuttled into the little nook I made in the service hatch.
It scanned me and an alarm started blaring in the hatch. The rest of the station was waking up.
I just had to hold out and hope the residents would be merciful.
