Michael 'Magos' Sobronov
"Everything's accounted for, boss."
"Good." I nodded and finished packing up my tools "Take good care of the patient and observe everything. Inform me the moment he starts waking up. I need to be here if any complications crop up."
"Been doing this for ages, doc." Yelena rolls her eyes "Jus' don't expect me to try and stop him if he tries running."
I gave her a mildly annoyed look "I made sure to secure him properly. So long as you don't try to do something idiotic like giving him a handshake you will be fine."
She squints at me for a few moments and then sniffs "Bah. Fine." A few seconds passed before she asked "You goin' to be moving him to your new place soon?"
"Perhaps." I shrug and sling my duffle bag over my shoulder.
Seeing me not elaborating further she minutely narrows her eyes "Right."
"I'm glad we have an understanding." I smile thinly and start walking out "Do clean the place up."
"Yeah, yeah."
As I walk out of the building I feel a faint buzz from my Cyberdeck, the distinct sensation of Logos requesting access.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I ask aloud.
[Precautions are necessary.]
"I'd hope she isn't that suicidal. Or stupid." I mutter, knowing that Jones was going to give her a large signing off bonus to keep her quiet "But this is Night City. Go for it."
[Affirmative.]
By the time he'd finished uploading his program, my mind was already moving to the work ahead. We had only a bit over a day left over until the party and the mountain of furniture wasn't going to unpack itself.
-----
The metal of the wrench groaned as I tightened the bolt of the roof turret just a tiny bit too hard, nearly snapping the damn thing. Which would make it the fourth time this evening.
Mercifully, the metal didn't warp, meaning I didn't need to replace a whole sheet (again), as simply welding replacement parts on left structural weaknesses behind, which was not acceptable when it came to military equipment.
Standing up and straightening my spine, I absently wiped away at the sweat that wasn't there before speaking "Logos. A thought occurs."
[Have you finally come to accept the inherent advantages of power tools?]
My right Optic twitched "Shadup and let me enjoy my tinkering."
[Very well.] The far too amused AI droned.
"Anyway." I waved the wrench about as if to gesticulate at him "I've been thinking. Have we been approaching the cyberpsychosis issue from the wrong angle?"
[Possibly? What did you think of?]
"Our only success was made by haphazardly shoving extra bits into the brain during what is the equivalent of a complete processor meltdown." I explain "But what if we added the infrastructure in beforehand? Could we skip the whole 'psycho' part of the process in its entirety? Make it a step by step climb instead of a detonation?"
[...I did not consider this.]
"Neither did I until like a second ago." I admit with a shrug "But maybe that's exactly the problem... We've been trying to smash through the issue with brute force like everyone else." Pausing, I begin rubbing my chin "Even if we failed, we could still make a cognitive booster implant, one exclusive to our own brand..."
[The potential of such an implant would be immense... as would the profit margins.] There was no masking the eagerness in his voice.
"Exactly." I almost giggle at the imagined numbers "But we will need data first. Lots, and lots of data." I rub my hands together "Jones should have that well in hand the moment the lab is up and running, even if most are going to be too far gone to be truly salvageable."
Logos immediately noted their suitability as cannon fodder, and we spent the next hour or so debating the ethics of sending my patients to fight as doped up mindless cyber zombies.
It didn't take him all that long to convince me of his line of thinking.
Just as our discussion began to wind down, the camera system of the tower, as well as my squad of lookouts, notified me of the first round of guests arriving at the entrance, the former quickly displaying an eager Jackie leading a wide eyed Misty and a slightly grumpy Ms. Welles towards the entrance.
The usually cheerful old woman still didn't like Misty one bit, but at least she didn't look like she was about to make a scene about it.
At least Misty had gotten more than used to it by now and barely noticed it.
Silver linings and all that.
They were soon followed by Gloria and David, Vik, Sasha, and finally Valerie.
We had considered inviting some other acquaintances but quickly shot the idea down. All three of us preferred keeping things private and cozy.
Ms. Welles was a bit of a compromise invite but I'd visited Jackie's home enough times by now that not inviting her would have been considered somewhat impolite, and to be entirely fair to her I did appreciate her, whenever she wasn't loudly meddling in my friend's love life.
Sasha was called over by Rebecca, which was perfectly fine.
At least she didn't invite Pilar.
Hernan was also in the building, but he had enough tact to refuse when I invited him and his family, citing he wanted to get his wife comfortable with their new home.
Mrs. Guadalajara was a rather pleasant woman, far quieter than her husband but just as intense, and rather cheerful for someone living in Night City.
We sat down for a while and exchanged some gifts, and wished each other a good evening.
Getting the expected message from Mary that she wouldn't be coming, I shot her an invitation for some gaming later and left the rooftop. I didn't want to begin to imagine the violence that would be inflicted upon my poor self if I wasn't there to greet the guests as they arrived.
The Wannabe
David Martinez chewed slowly, eyeing the massive dining room and its occupants while trying and failing to relax enough to join the ongoing conversations. It had been days but everything still felt too surreal.
A week back, when he saw his mother start packing their stuff up he was happy, thinking they were going to finally move to a less stuffy (and hopefully less stinky) place. He wasn't expecting it to be the big ass apartment on top of Magos' tower, and pretty much for free at that.
But then again it was Magos, and the borg never did things halfway.
He contained his unbelieving chuckle and finished chewing, observing the other guests at the penthouse.
He hit it off with the Welleses easily enough, the old Mama Welles immediately began doting on him, which was incredibly embarrassing and made his mom start teasing him, while Jackie treated him like an old choom within the first minute.
The old ripper was polite and friendly but he was obviously far more interested in talking to his fellow techie instead of chatting with the rest of them, which David found to be perfectly fair.
Rebecca was just as energetic as usual, and her choom who he'd just met was only a step behind. The two only barely managed to keep themselves seated, and that was mostly due to being made to do so multiple times over by a patient if exasperated borg.
And then there was her.
David almost wished he hadn't come over when Magos introduced 'V' to everyone, she seemed like another merc at first but then the borg told everyone about her job and David felt like bolting right the fuck out of the building without looking back.
The Director of Arasaka NC's Counterintelligence Division seemed to find great amusement in terrorizing him by periodically staring in his direction without saying a thing, paying just enough attention to unnerve him without drawing eyes to herself.
Magos noticed almost immediately, and just laughed before returning to a conversation with Doctor Viktor.
Feeling just about done, David put his fork down "Can I help you, Ms. Price?"
Her mouth twitched into a smirk, and instead of answering him she tilted her head in Magos' direction "Stealing Arasaka talent, M? For shame."
David felt a bit of sweat on his brow.
The cyborg looked away from his fellow ripperdoc and gave David a long, exaggerated once over "Talent, V? Really?"
"Hey!" David yelled indignantly, making the whole table laugh.
Thankfully, that seemed to redirect their attention into grilling him about his academy experience, which was something his heart could actually survive.
A few minutes later Magos flicked his fingers, making them let out a sharp metallic ring and draw everyone's attention to the head of the table "Terribly sorry for the interruption." He said, obviously lying "But I have something to say, if you will forgive me a tiny bit of dramatics."
The table was filled with amused or teasing expressions but he powered through it.
"It has been a long couple of months since I first started work on this project, and if I'm being perfectly honest I expected everything to blow up somewhere along the way." He chuckled, which was joined by a few seated at the table "Thankfully I was wrong and we are finally here! And none of it could have been done without your help."
He shared a few meaningful looks with the people that was actually addressed to.
"So thank you all. For your support, your help, most of all, for your friendship. And of course, for coming to celebrate this occasion with me." He raised his wine glass and made a toast "To a greater future."
Everyone else raised their glasses and voiced their own toasts.
David just barely caught Ms. Valerie saying "To this." Which made Jackie Welles smack his head against the table and groan.
The previously solemn atmosphere disappeared under the fresh wave of laughter.
---
An hour or so later, the dinner was over and done with, and they split into two groups, the older folks staying inside while the rest stepped out onto the balcony for some drinks.
The moment they did, David had to blink a few times, and then rub his eyes just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating because he could almost swear there was a big ass military grade AV just sitting there.
Jackie letting out a whistle drew him back to the present, "Now there is a beautiful ass view."
The balcony was high enough to see over most buildings, and David could see most of Night City stretching into the distance in all its glory.
"The lightshow is nice I guess... It isn't nearly as impressive in daytime." The fullborg shrugged as they approached the reinforced glass fence. He made a show of cupping his chin "Although..."
"Bad Mike." Rebecca hops and taps the back of his head "No demolishing the whole block just so you can make it look pretty."
"Well of course I'm not going to do that." He says defensively, making Jackie sigh in relief "I'm going to lure a bunch of Maelstrommers into doing it for me instead."
The ex Mox laughed her ass off, while almost everyone else looked at the borg in horror.
"No faith, all of you." He sighed exaggeratedly and shook his head, before pointing towards a small section of the outdoor garden "There is a fridge full of drinks over there, I made sure to get the good stuff so grab whatever you feel like drinking and sit down wherever you want. I'll be right back."
No one except David seemed to notice the Arasaka higher up slink away after the borg, and honestly he was all too happy to keep quiet.
Counterintel people were fucking scary.
Michael 'Magos' Sobronov
"Did you have to torture him like that?" I couldn't help but ask as V stalked over to the hidden part of the balcony "He was enjoying himself."
"The kid made it too easy." V shrugs with a cheeky ass smirk "Still, I'm surprised. He actually had the guts to speak up."
"He has the beginnings of a spine to him." I nod in agreement "Why, you thinking about recruiting him?"
Having to watch him constantly despite my previous efforts would be annoying but I wasn't about to make a mess with Arasaka over a single potential recruit... Then again I was going to have to watch him anyway because V was aware of him now.
Sigh.
"Hmmm..." Said corpo hummed, tilting her head "Maybe." She shrugs before giving me a coy look "Not afraid I'm going to make him my little mole?"
"Oh please." I snort "I'd find out in minutes." I wave a dismissive arm "Recruit as you wish, since apparently you have enough free time to waste on a protege."
Her eye twitches "Ass."
"You wanted the promotion." I shrug "Now suffer."
She grumbles and flips me off "Yeah, yeah. Speaking of suffering, I need you to make another 'statement'."
Onto business then.
"Which poor fucker is it this time?" I cross my arms and lean against a concrete pillar.
"A security Lt." She flicks me the details "He's been harassing some of Yorinobu-sama's people whenever he gets the chance. Telling him to fuck off didn't work."
So either stubborn or just a dumbass then "What kind of statement do you want made?"
"Disappear him." She says coldly "No trace of fighting, no signal, no body."
"Noted." 'Woodchipper it is.' I mark everything down on my Agent and forward the info to Kimagawa "Speaking of Yorinobu-sama, when is he coming back? I'd think he's wasted enough time with dear old dad by now."
Immediately, V's eyes narrow and she looks around "You have cameras here?"
"Obviously."
"Turn them off."
"...Alright." I blink and do so.
"Good." She exhales and hesitates only for a moment before saying "Next friday, both he and Smasher are coming back to officially take things over." She almost whispers it out "He probably won't call you over immediately but he won't waste time either."
"I'll be ready." I nod "Think he is going to start pushing harder when he gets back?"
"I'm honestly not sure." She admits after some thought "The Emperor probably came up with his own plans during their discussions but whether Yorinobu-Sama will follow them or not I have no idea."
"Makes no difference to me really." I admit "The people I have on this are reliable and are always looking for more."
"You trust them?" She raises an eyebrow.
"As much as anyone can trust a merc." I shrug.
"Hopefully that'll be enough." She exhales.
"Anything else you want to discuss?" I ask.
"Yeah." She looks away sheepishly "Think you can give me another 'refresh' soon?"
Processing her words, I find myself speechless for a moment as I direct her with my most incredulous slow blink "V-"
"I know, I know." She raises her arms placatingly "Its just until I'm done cleaning things up. I'll stop then."
"Substance abuse is not a good coping mechanism, V." I deadpan "But I'll help you."
She perks up.
"You are paying full price this time though." I add.
Her expression upon seeing the actual price of a single nanite cleansing was food for the soul, and by the time she managed to snap awake from her horror and try and convince me to give her some kind of deal, I'd already strolled off to join the rest of the guests.
The remainder of the evening passed me by in pleasant carousal, and for once I managed to get away from all the paranoia and worry, simply enjoying the company and letting myself exist in the moment.
We really had come a long way.
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The stones must be remanded into the hands of the holy church of the machine posthaste, failure to comply will result in prompt servitorization!