Went back to chapter 103, switched the bone material to a graphene alloy, and added the longevity module to the biopod. Chapter 104 has been neatened up slightly, but no big changes were needed.
Michael 'Magos' Sobronov
"Mr. Sobronov, thank you for joining us tonight." The show hostess smiles politely, showing off her perfectly white teeth in the process.
Daintily shaking her hand as to not accidentally crush it, I spoke "A pleasure to be here Christie. Thank you for having me. And please, call me Michael."
Despite my anxiety rising with each second I spent surrounded by cameras, I managed to not immediately make a fool out of myself.
I take a seat in a large armchair across from her, its structural integrity having been ensured by Hernan well in advance of the show, and give the young woman a nod. The questions had been agreed upon in advance so I wasn't too worried about the incoming interview.
But I still had to flick my Keren on just to set my sensory implants to ignore the constant flashes going on around us. It came far too close to gunfire at the intensity it was going on, and I'd prefer not to reflexively toss my seat into anyone.
Back in real time, Christie smiles again, half turns to the camera, and speaks "Many of our viewers have been curious about you for a while now, ever since your first appearance half a year ago. You were quite the mystery when you first showed up. Full body conversions are rare in Night City, especially those who aren't tied to a corporation."
"I'd wager the answer to that is both far more mundane and more complex than they probably guessed." I say in a wry tone "I'm an NC local, Watson born and raised. As for how I got my hands on all my chrome? Well, I built it all myself."
"Really?" She blinks, acting surprised.
"Indeed." I smile slightly "Cyberware was always a passion of mine to say the least, I spent almost every day and night studying the art of creating it. After all that constructing something as complex as an entire body wasn't impossible."
"Amazing." She says, sounding genuinely impressed "But what made you decide to take such a massive step? To go from your human self to a body of chrome? From what little I understand, there is no going back once you go through the surgery."
"Most people would probably hesitate, and I get that." I tilt my head, considering for a moment "But I'd always been a rather frail man, constant health issues, medical costs, the whole list."
She nods in understanding "An unfortunately common story in Night City."
"Exactly." I point at her "And while admittedly I could have cured myself the usual way, especially with my work on cyberware... Well, it just didn't seem like it would be enough. Cyberware is my passion so when things got bad the only obvious solution was to go all out and never look back." I chuckle "I haven't regretted making the choice for even a second since."
"An inspiring story for all of us." The hostess says "But how does being a prodigy with cybernetics and creating a full body conversion in your own home lead to you becoming one of Night City's most notorious mercenaries?"
"Another question with a surprisingly mundane answer I'm afraid." I admit with some amusement "While my passion was always creation and healing first, making it an actual lifestyle required a lot of investment, and my new body just so happened to offer the perfect platform for Night city's most famed product." I pause for dramatics "Violence."
"One thing led to another." I go on gesticulating "And I found myself moving up the mercenary ladder at blinding speeds. Apparently I was a bit overequipped for the job." Cue some slight chuckles from the peanut gallery "I stayed in the biz a fair bit longer than I'd originally planned but as they say, no plan survives first contact with opposition. Hopefully the mess in Zurich will be the last of it."
"Many of our viewers will be disappointed to hear that." Christie says only half-jokingly "And speaking of Zurich, we received many questions about your encounter with Arasaka's Butcher, Adam Smasher. Can you share how did it feel, facing off against a Legend?"
"Like I was going to die any second." I say with a dark chuckle, slowly folding the fingers of my right hand into a fist "The adage of fearing the old man in a job where men die young rings true. And Smasher is old even among the old."
Christie furrows her brows almost as if in confusion "So you claim you didn't stand a chance against him?"
"Obviously." I shrug, unbothered by the potential loss of undeserved rep "People have been giving me far too much credit when it comes to that 'confrontation' no matter what I tried saying about it."
"There is no need to be so humble, Michael. What you did was impressive." She says with a slight teasing lilt, making me huff in annoyed amusement.
"Of course, Christie." I drawl in a fake put off tone.
A beat passes before she moves on to the next topic "You have said multiple times you wish to leave the business of violence behind you, but the recent incident at the old Night Motors plant is being painted as the exact opposite by some of my colleagues. What do you have to say about that event?"
The way she said the word 'colleagues' made it clear she was talking shit about the other networks.
Honestly it wouldn't surprise me if part of the reason they let me in on their most profitable hour of the week was just so they could fuck over the other station. But that might just be me projecting there.
"Ah yes, the so called 'massacre'." I chuckle dryly "Honestly the misrepresentation of what happened there is so blatant I almost took it for a comedy skit before I realized they were actually being serious. That only made it even more comical."
Christie offers a genuine satisfied smirk at that "Yes, anyone who took even a minute to look through the publicly available NCPD report would understand that the gang members harassing the workers there all had bounties on their heads."
"Bounties or no bounties, it wouldn't have changed a thing." I shake my head "They were harassing workers doing their jobs on my property, and any self respecting business owner will defend their property with extreme prejudice."
"So the rumors are true then?" She catches on immediately "A new factory is being opened there? And you are the new owner?"
"Indeed." I smile a genuine smile "I'm proud to announce that in just over two weeks the first plant of Ars Mechanica will be opening and starting production of a new line of robust and reliable cyberware, with nine clinics ready to install it on site."
"You definitely don't aim low, Michael." The hostess' eyes shine eagerly. She did just secure a delightfully juicy scoop to her name.
"What other point would there be in risking my life for eddies?" I answer while waving my arms as if to say 'what can you do?' "I know what I love doing, and providing the people of this city and even the world at large with tools to make their lives easier and better is something I can see myself doing for a very, very long time."
For just a moment I see her give me the same odd look Jackie does from time to time but it is quickly smothered under her professional friendly expression "Night City will be proud to see one of its own rise, if you can deliver on your promisses."
"It will be a challenge but one I will face happily."
She smiles "Thank you for sharing your story with us, Michael." And turns to the crowd "Now, does anyone have any questions for Mr. Sobronov?"
A man raises a hand and I slightly nod at him "Marcus Steer, NC Holo. Can you tell us any more about the cyberware you plan on producing? What will make your chrome the better choice instead of other, proven brands?"
"An excellent question." I point at him "In one word? Reliability. Low maintenance and low mental strain is the name of the game, without compromising on the actual utility and performance of course. I've made sure every mass produced design will be well worth the costs."
He nods and sits back down.
I nudge my head at the next one, and she introduces herself before asking "Why Ars Mechanica?"
"Well." I hum briefly "I could go on and on about the cultural impact of Latin and how it makes everything feel more dignified and gives it gravity, but honestly? I just think it sounds nova."
The woman grins and sits back down.
Another woman stands after a moment without any prompting from me, looking like one of those hipsters lounging in Arasaka's central park while talking downright unreasonable amounts of shit against said company.
She gives looks down at me over her nose, or at least tries to but she is both tiny and placed below me, not that it deters her "Why should the people trust their bodies and futures to another street butcher?" Her voice was oddly grating even to my Audioreceptors "You claim to want to help save people but you profit from their blood and suffering, how can you even look yourself in the mirr-"
"What a profoundly stupid question." I cut her off in a distinctly disinterested tone, deciding to just ignore the second part of her rant "Its simple. He who rips them apart knows how to put them back together." I wave at the reporter next to her "Next."
I extract a considerable amount of satisfaction watching the red faced gonk trying and failing to gather the courage to speak up again after my glare and some ten minutes and many a question later the interview comes to a close.
Some of them asked productive questions like the exact time of opening, and whether I already had contracts set up, that sort of thing that I was more than happy to elaborate (except saying who I was contracted to, that would have been incredibly poor form.)
Others asked more personal questions, like why I chose my color scheme, or what is my favorite car or band... or a rather thin man asking whether I had an input or output or multiple with an almost disturbingly eager expression on his face.
Only a few tried halfheartedly riling up drama about the Maelstrommers, but as I'd known from the beginning Night City wouldn't ever react negatively towards a bunch of gangoons winning the Darwin Award and getting flatlined for their troubles.
Almost exactly thirty minutes from when I first entered, the interview ended and I said my goodbyes before leaving as quickly as I could without looking like I was in a rush.
Which was almost painfully slow.
Feeling curious, I took that opportunity to scan the net for the general reaction to the interview, and I was mostly satisfied by what I found.
Pointedly ignoring Yoko spamming me like the annoyance that she was, most of the local netizens were either calling me a sellout for going corpo or congratulating me for rising above my origins depending on their level of maturity.
And of course there were already a bunch of memes circulating about profound stupidity that made me cackle quietly as I left the building.
Hernan was already on his way so I simply stood waiting, only to be interrupted by an unfamiliar voice from within the building "Mr. Sobronov, a moment of your time please."
Turning around I find a middle aged man in a smart formal suit I recognized from the silent part of the crowd walking over to me. He was obviously not from the media so his presence made me curious.
"Yes, Mr..." I trail off, pretending I didn't immediately scan him.
"Jefferson Peralez, I'm on the City Council." He offers his hand for a shake which I return "it is a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine, Councilor." I nod slowly "How can I help you?"
"I just wanted to tell you I was truly impressed by your story." He smiles, and there was a certain earnestness to it that simply couldn't be faked "Night City needs more people like you if we ever want to leave the cycle of squalor we are stuck in."
"That is an awful lot of confidence to give someone you've just met for the first time." I point out "Not that I don't appreciate it of course."
"Call it a gut feeling of mine." He shrugs easily before adding a bit more quietly "Something tells me you will save many of our fellow citizens from the blatant exploitation of the corporations."
"Save them?" I ask "No."
"No?" Peralez frowns, confused.
"They will save themselves." I smirk "All I will do is provide the opportunity."
And his grin is back "All the better, my friend." He pats my shoulder "It was a pleasure meeting you but I must get going now, my wife is done with her shopping and I don't want to make her wait. I hope we meet again soon."
Watching the far too enthusiastic man strolling away I blinked as I realized I wasn't anywhere near as annoyed as I'd usually be. Probably because he didn't actually try to push whatever agenda he preferred while acting all friendly with me.
Not something I'd expect from a politician but this one seemed the weird one out of the bunch, which made him paradoxically likeable by sheer comparison.
Or maybe I was simply overthinking it and he was just charismatic.
"Weird." I mutter and shake my head, staying put and waiting for Hernan to arrive, which he does only two minutes later, driving up in his large Valentino-marked SUV and waving for me to get in before driving us off in the direction of my compound.
"So." I begin "How did I do?"
"You did well. Excellent even." He nods after a moment "But not perfectly."
Unsurprised, I shot him a questioning look "What did I mess up specifically?"
"You held yourself all together competently." He explains as we just barely avoid a trafic jam by making a short turn "But you were still holding back when talking about your dreams and goals. You spoke about passion but didn't let them feel it."
"Its not easy to relax when surrounded by cameras." I shrug, hiding my huff.
"Not without experience it isn't." He chuckles, nodding "But don't worry. Reactions on the streets are overall positive and we have already started receiving massed job requests and product inquiries. You can be sure that when we start, business will be booming!"
Smiling at the thought I ask "The catalogue distribution went on without a hitch, I hope?"
"Just as instructed, your hidden netrunner friend posted them on multiple IPs and sites exactly when you announced the company." He says as we make another turn "One of them crashed due to overload and another was hacked but the others are holding up well, and people are already eager to get their hands on the first production line."
"Hope we didn't do it too soon." I mutter.
"Do not worry." He shakes his head "People usually have to wait multiple weeks and even months for their cyberware orders and operations. They won't complain too much about two weeks. Especially the collectors."
"Collectors?" I frown.
"They'll buy up the lower serial numbers just so they can say they have the first of a new line of cyberware." He rumbles a laugh "Part of me wants to suggest selling those models for a massive markup."
"But?"
"But that would damage our integrity." He shakes his head "And that's not something you want when starting out. Not for a bit of extra pocket money anyway."
"Suppose I'll juts have to trust you on that." I huff as we reach our destination and Hernan parks us in front of my residential tower "Ready to choose your family's future home?"
"Just try and stop me." He grins.
Yes, I know I went with the obvious choice for the name, but Ars Mechanica (Mechanical arts( is both neat and rolls off the tongue, and he is already using it. There is literally no reason not to.
Writing the interview (the first half-ish) section was actual torture lol. Took me three times as long as usual.Did it come out good at least?