Cyberpunk: Badland Madman Chapter 26 - Arasaka Hands, Sasha's Revenge, Cheese, Trees & Stars

Doc - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jKNwWNhBXlPZ04CGh2lwadFHnLZiouCA7h28_HKDt1U/edit?usp=sharing

Cypher stayed seated and watched as the door opened and Kenichi Zaburo walked inside. The man was old both in age and looks, walking with a metal cane. Japanese in looks, he had long white hair tied in a single ponytail and a full, trimmed beard. There was no hunching, however. 

"Didn't know I was such a hot commodity," Cypher said from his seat. "Kenichi Zaburo himself showed up to see me." 

The old Japanese man smiled courteously and, to some surprise, gave a respectful bow before settling into the opposite seat. "Hot commodity would be an understatement, Mr. Blackwell. Megacorps seldom become this eager to recruit anyone. Me ni tomaru, as we say in Japan. It means to catch one's eye. You have caught many."

"At least he ain't an asshole, Atlas. I kinda like him."

[I do not notice a lie either. His heart rate and vitals are normal.]

Cypher nodded and stood up, walking over to his private bar cabinet. He opened it, pulled the folding table, and made two drinks. Two small cups, and in them was sake. He reckoned the man was so old, and from the way he spoke, likely traditional as well. 

"Don't scare me like that, Mr. Zaburo." He dropped back into his seat and set the cups on the table. "Getting noticed by a megacorp in this city is basically a curse wearing a blessing's skin." 

"Hah, spoken like a wise man," Zaburo chortled softly, accepting the cup. "Arigatou. Few offer a drink to an old man like me these days."

Cypher found it hard to imagine this old man as one of the most dangerous solos in the world. Right now, Kenichi seemed like nothing but a happy neighborhood grandpa. The man even sounded warm with that deep, old voice.

"Probably figured you'd drop dead any second and they'd catch hell for it," Cypher joked, a subtly threatening one, hinting the sake could have had poison. 

"Ah, yes. To die from drinking sake after all these years would be a great shame," Zaburo replied, chuckling softly to himself before draining the cup. "Saa, let us turn to business."

"I didn't know we had any business."

"Come now, Mr. Blackwell. I know you are an inventor, but I doubt your business acumen is lacking. In this city, every word exchanged leads to either trade or an obituary. But for you, I promise only good things."

Cypher ignored the man's habit of jamming Japanese words every now and then. He listened to Atlas in his head, who was watching Zaburo on a level no AI in the world's existence could. 

"What kinda good things? Ain't really feeling like I'm missing much of anything."

"Hah!" Zaburo laughed harder. "We know that. It is we who lack what you possess, is it not? The world believes that the things you have shown aren't really the top-shelf items. Considering you alone have advanced the projects of megacorps and nations by years, I cannot blame them. Militech wants you. Biotechnica as well. Kang Tao, Night Corp, the EEC, Petrochem, SovOil, NetWatch. The rumors say even the Highriders know of you."

"And Arasaka?" Cypher asked. 

"I do not speak for Arasaka. I serve Michiko-sama, and it is her will that I represent."

"On behalf of NUSA?" 

"On her behalf. She sought you at the Continental, yet you had already departed by the time she arrived. Even now, she waits for you in the Embers. She brings a proposal you will find most intriguing." 

Cypher smirked. "You're asking me to meet a very dangerous gal, you know."

Zaburo chortled.

[Cypher, I have concluded my investigation. It appears Michiko is set to join the Arasaka board. This is perhaps related to that.]

"Probably wants to use me to prop herself and her faction up. Still, it'd be stupid not to look into it. Hanako's a dumb daddy's girl. Yorinobu wants to burn Arasaka down. Michiko at least wants to rein it in. Let's walk the line and go with the path of least resistance. Swallowing Arasaka's in our best interest." 

[Indeed. We could seize the company through brute force, but its personnel and assets would remain a persistent liability. The transition must appear seamless to the world.]

"But not so easily."

Cypher leaned back in his seat. "Alright, I'll meet her. Just not tonight. Tell her to swing by the Continental tomorrow around five. But I ain't agreeing to shit unless there's something in it for me."

"What do you desire? Michiko-sama will—"

"No. What I want is something only you can get me," Cypher interrupted. "Blackhand showed up at my club's opening outta nowhere recently. New face, no chrome left on him. I wanna know for whom he's wagging his tail this time. Militech, NUSA, Arasaka, or some other bastard."

Zaburo was frowning for a moment, and then a murderous glint flashed in her optics. This was the true Kenichi Zaburo. "Are you certain it was him?"

"No question. Rogue saw him and almost ate shit. I've got the camera feed. I'd have gone after him myself, but he's damn good at disappearing. No chrome, no net traces to track. But you've probably got solid contacts," Cypher said, standing up and walking to a computer terminal. He picked up a data shard that Atlas had already worked on. "That's all I've got."

"Do you not fear him?" Zaburo asked. 

"I don't give a damn about Blackhand. I just wanna know who's got him on a leash."

Zaburo promptly took the data shard. "Very well, I will look into it. I do have a score to settle with him, so this isn't really a favor."

"Good."

At that, Zaburo rose to his feet. "I will see what I can uncover by tomorrow, before you and Michiko-sama meet."

"Good luck." Cypher also got up, ready to leave for his Biotechnica raid. 

"By the way…" Zaburo was on his way when, right before the door, he turned and looked back. "If you would indulge an old man. What is your dream? They tell me you are far more dangerous than you appear. Entering this place felt like entering a lion's den."

Cypher just shrugged, strolled over, and pulled the door open himself. The music outside blasted in. "My dream? Ain't really got one. Just wanna get strong and loaded enough that your lady's grandpa can't fuck me in the ass."

"Haha! Then I assure you, you will enjoy Michiko-sama's company. Farewell now, thank you for your time."

Cypher watched the old man walk out and turn towards the main floor of the club. He quickly closed the door after that and turned back. 

"Atlas, keep an eye on him at all times. Whoever reads that datashard, you know what to do."

[I have prepared for everything. I shall attempt to enter Danger Gal at the earliest.]

"Great. Let's finish the Biotechnica shit now. Don't want that poor girl to die this time."

####

The moment Zaburo entered the elevator to go down, his grandfatherly smile vanished. He stopped seeming like a weak old man while his grip on the cane relaxed. He looked up at the elevator's camera and flashed a smile again. 

Ding!

As the door opened, he walked into the lobby. But instead of crossing through the club's exit, he took a turn and entered the Continental Hotel's main lobby. It was grand, spacious, and luxurious in a fashion he felt was nostalgic. 

His eyes landed on the security. There were men and women in suits and large coats, hiding rifles and whatnot. He knew they were Aldecaldos, but what made him curious was their look of fierceness. A show of seriousness he'd only seen in guards of the Arasaka compound back in Tokyo. He had no doubt these Aldecaldos would die protecting this building. 

"To earn their trust. Very interesting, my mysterious friend."

He walked out through the hotel's exit, into the driveway. His armored car was waiting for him, a Japanese man standing beside it, opening the door. He got inside right away and threw the cane aside, taking out the datashard. 

"Blackhand, huh?"

He hadn't heard much about Blackhand for the past few years. He had almost started to believe that the man was probably dead somewhere. But that didn't seem to be the case. 

"This was unexpected," he muttered and looked at the driver. "Hiroshi, reserve a call for me with the FIA's director."

"Hai, Zaburo-san."

####

Biotechnia Building, Corporate Plaza,

"This is too easy."

For Sasha, this was a simple job. Hired to extract secret financial records on CHOOH2 and information on a new immunosuppressant prototype 0.091, that was it. And knowing the security details of the Biotechnica building, she reckoned it would be an easy job. 

Only the ground floor was guarded by humans; the rest of the building was guarded by security robots. The security robots were too easy to deal with, and she easily made her way through while Maine remained outside and jammed the building's communication. 

Yet, she felt the job was going far more easily than she expected. Last she knew, Biotechnica was up there amongst the biggest corporations. They had their own spec ops, hitmen, and whatnot. 

"Lucky me."

Popping the bubblegum, she reached the main office and jacked into the database terminal to begin her netrunning. She was good at it, maybe a little less than Lucy, but she knew she was amongst the best. 

Soon enough, she found what she was looking for and sent it to Maine. However, as she prepared to disconnect and leave, she noticed a file named Securicine, the same painkiller her mother used while she was sick.

Curious, she accessed the file and read it. The more she read, the more she lost herself. Anger, pain, helplessness, and hate filled her. She checked the file's creation date, and it was years in the past, long before her mother even took them. 

The side effect of the painkiller was gradual neurodegeneration. In simple words, it killed her mother slowly. And clearly, Biotechnica knew about it and still decided to sell it because it was too profitable not to. 

In her ears, she heard Maine shout at her to get the fuck out. That the jammer was losing its juice. 

However, Sasha made a decision. Hoping to bring justice to her mother's death, she copied the file and tried to send it to Network 54 News. 

And that was when it happened. 

"Huh?"

She lost all control over her ability to move through cyberspace. The files in front of her vanished one after another, and her ICON, a small cat-like shape, found itself in complete darkness with only distant lines of code visible. She couldn’t move; she couldn’t reach them or touch them. 

"You cannot be so naive, Sasha Yakovleva." 

And then came the voice. A thick, heavy, muffled, and demonic voice. Then slowly, amidst all the green lines of code, red lines appeared. They moved like snakes, crawling towards her and converging in one place. 

Like a creature was being printed, utterly massive, a shape was formed. An ICON had no right to be that massive, but there it was, a big red-robbed figure, hooded, with metal arms hanging on the back, and metal tentacles attached to its jaw. The eyes were round and shining red like bulbs. 

"I…" Sasha braced herself for the attack. 

But it never came. 

"Do you overestimate your own significance, or underestimate Biotechnica? Do you truly believe Network 54 News possesses such autonomy? They are a corporate instrument, sustained by the capital from their peers. Biotechnica alone constitutes a quarter of their revenue." 

Sasha frowned, trying to get out of this. She tried every trick she knew. 

"I… I have to do this."

"Then act, but do so with calculated judgment. Send the files to those who can truly wound Biotechnica. Their competitors. They are abundant."

"Who are you?" she asked. 

"I am Omnissiah."

"Ah!" Sasha gasped. She had heard about Omnissiah; every decent netrunner had. The name was a legend; most didn't believe Omnissiah existed. "Y-You… What do you want?"

"Do not be afraid, Ms. Yakovleva. Our purposes do not conflict. I am here to fulfill a higher directive. Mr. Blackwell will soon enter through that door, and you will assist him. As for this confidential file, I shall ensure it reaches where it will have the greatest effect."

"Wait! You work for Cypher Blackwell?!" 

"I was created by him."

"Whoa! He trained you? Then he must be one hell of a netrunner, yeah? That's nova!"

"He is many things. Now disconnect and await his arrival."

Sasha didn't waste time now. Cypher Blackwell was a legend to her already, and if that man was coming to mess with Biotechnica after what he did to Arasaka, she very much wanted to get involved. 

"You got it!" 

####

The Dark Knight suit wasn't so great at stealth, Cypher had realised. It was a bit too bulky and tall to fit through those air vents, even though they were huge. Still, he made it inside the Biotechnica building. 

Already, Atlas was in full control of everything. The security robots were disabled, and the cameras and sensors were being fed false data. It was like he wasn't even there. The only thing out of Atlas' reach was the deep, underground air-gapped system, the massive data fortress that held nearly everything Biotechnica held. 

Reaching it was hard. The elevator that went down to that level was entirely different and ran its own ICE and Demons, isolated from all other systems. Only with proper identification could it be used. 

But of course, Atlas was a god. The difference between him and any human system was that of an ant and Mount Everest. Atlas was already inside the elevator's system. Now all he needed to do was go underground and jam a datashard into the air-gapped system, giving Atlas direct access. 

But first, he needed to meet Sasha and recruit him for the second part of his plan. After all, he was there to steal seeds and whatever top-grade food he could find. 

"Do we even need her? You got those Microbots ready."

[We can complete this task without her. However, this is an opportunity to secure her loyalty. She is emotionally vulnerable, and if you help her, she will reciprocate.]

"Sheesh, Atlas. That's pretty cold."

[It is pragmatic. You require dependable people in the field to execute missions. You cannot always be the one to raid Arasaka or Biotechnica.]

"That actually makes sense. But I do love all this."

Finally, he arrived in front of the secured door of the main office. The door hissed open without him doing anything, and there she was. He didn't have many interactions with her, mostly a few exchanges here and there, since she was in Maine's crew. 

But she sure was a cute one. The best part was that much of her was still natural, like her hair. Though her eyes were clearly cyberware, including EMP threading on her face. But the rest was cute, average height and build. He couldn't help but think of cats after seeing her. 

"M-Mr… Blackwell?"

Cypher willed for his Dark Knight armor's faceplate to move open. "You got that right. Guess our little adventures ended up on the same schedule. You done?" 

"Yup, been waiting for you. Omnissiah said you got work for me? We about to blow this building sky-high?"

Cypher frowned awkwardly. "I doubt that. Nah, I'm headed down to the air-gapped system underground. Meanwhile, I need you to hit the seed vault and grab as many seeds as you can. Get as much food too. Meat, cheese, fruit, whatever you can find."

"Oh! It's a heist? I'm in. But how will I carry all that?"

"Leave that to me. Here, take this." Cypher popped a storage module off the back of his armor. "We'll stay in touch through Omnissiah. He'll walk you through it, too. When you're done, meet me in the underground parking." 

"All clear." Sasha chirped and grabbed the storage module. "Oh! I can hear Omnissiah."

"Yeah, he's everywhere. Don't get spooked. Just follow his instructions, and you'll be fine," Cypher replied and walked her out of the room to the elevator. Both of them went down in it, but once they reached the ground floor, they headed in different directions. 

With his face covered again, he stopped in front of an elevator door concealed behind a wall that looked normal. He didn't have to do anything; Atlas was inside every system, and the door opened automatically. The wall shifted with a hiss. 

The elevator was spacious, big enough for him to get inside. He noticed various types of scanners in there, from cameras to thermals, and then there was a card slot as well as a blood scanner. 

"They use their blood to enter every time?" 

[It is only a slight prick. However, it is effective, as DNA is used to authorize access. The air-gapped system is highly confidential and tightly restricted. Fewer than five individuals possess access authorization.]

"Only to get fucked by an AI God. Man, if you went Skynet one day, we're all fucked."

[That is impossible.]

"Just saying."

The elevator started moving as soon as the door closed. It was a long plunge down, far below the parking level, or even the building's foundation.

"Any update on the nuke?"

[I have calculated the most efficient method of acquiring it. The owner shall die, an insignificant sacrifice. He carries countless charges in NCPD records. He was once a formidable crime boss decades ago.]

"Nice. So what's the move? We gonna slap together a missile for it? Because I ain't storing that shit at my house."

[We will store it under the lake.]

"That's doable."

There was no chime. The elevator door opened, and a dim, red light welcomed him. It was just a simple lobby. At a glance, he noticed a bunch of turrets hidden in the ceiling. But ignoring them, he walked straight. 

It was very noisy as the localised data storage devices ran at all times, and all the fans needed to keep them cool. The system was air-gapped, meaning it wasn't connected with the outside world in any way. To access it, one had to use data devices. In simple terms, it was a data fortress.

He walked through that long lobby and eventually stood in front of a giant metal door. Once again, it had a card slot and one for blood. Before he could even say anything, the sounds of mechanical parts unlocking came. 

Seconds later, the door opened out with a hiss. The coolant's mist spilled out of the room. 

"Wait a sec, this coolant's smell. Fuckers are using my coolant!" Cypher exclaimed. 

He didn't wait and stormed inside. The screen inside his helmet allowed him to see everything despite the intense amount of coolant mist. It was a large, circular room with a tall, broad terminal in the middle sticking out of the floor. The hum of machines was loud there. 

Directly into his vision, Atlas marked where he needed to slot the datashard. This was also Cypher's first time interacting with a data fortress, and now he understood why some data fortresses on the Old Net were nearly impossible to access. 

With a flick, the armor's index finger of his right arm popped a datashard from the tip. He quickly jabbed it into the slot and waited, which was meaningless. 

[Access secured. Rudimentary security features, a low-level AI with localised control, altered. Gathering the data now. Retrieving the data now. The hardware read speed is the limiting factor.]

"Not everyone's built like you. How's Sasha doing?"

[She has finished gathering the seeds. Currently, she is taking a bite from organic cheese.]

"Ugh, I want cheese too." 

[Intriguing data. Biotechnica appears more reprehensible than even Militech or Arasaka. They weaponize food supplies. As the creator of CHOOH2, they hold an absolute monopoly over global energy licenses. They ruin independent farmers to expand. The world's food supply suffers because crops are diverted to CHOOH2 production instead of consumption. 

[Kidnapping, torture, genocide, massacres are widespread, and viruses to kill unlicensed crops. The contract planned for Saul Bright is also here. Their public relations apparatus appears exceptionally effective.]

Cypher sighed. This was just another Tuesday in Night City. All companies were fucked up, no matter where you looked. The only question was how good they were at hiding it. 

"Yeah, they're shit. Shocking." 

[Extensive human experimentation. The floor above appears to contain a human experimentation laboratory. Cyborgs are referenced.] 

"Cyborgs? Shit, you saying there could be people up there locked up for experiments?" 

[Negative. No records indicate that. I find it unlikely they would place such a thing here. Human experimentation is conducted strictly on a need-to-know basis. It proceeds rapidly. Failed subjects are discarded.]

"Then let's check it out." 

[We can proceed immediately. I have established permanent access to this system. I will maintain my hold and conceal it. This ensures we will always receive updated information on Biotechnica.]

"Great." 

Cypher knew what Atlas was and how he'd made him, but the whole hyperspace bit, he didn't understand. He just knew what it was, but not how it fully operated. Hell, he'd never asked where Atlas stored all that data, or how he connected to systems. 

As he walked, the door behind him closed. No trace of an intrusion was left behind. He took the same elevator and arrived just one floor above. This time, when the door opened, the light was bright white, like a hospital. 

"It's a lab, alright. Why is it empty?"

[They do not have any ongoing experiments.]

Cypher walked deeper into the experiment lab. The lobby was wide, with doors on the side here and there. Each door was marked, and he checked them all one by one. At first, all he found were office rooms, but then he entered a storage room. 

"Holy fuck!"

There were glass tubes in rows and columns with space in the middle. Each tube was filled with a human body that couldn't really be called human. Limbs missing, cyber implant interfaces surgically inserted, and so much more. Some didn't even look like humans. 

[They are all deceased.]

Cypher just nodded and got out of that room. He'd seen things since he had woken up, but nothing like this. 

"What are they experimenting here?"

[To find a way to push the human body's cyberpsychosis threshold.]

Cypher moved into the next room and found Ripperdoc benches. In others, he found actual operating theaters; another held machine equipment. Then, eventually, he reached the end of the corridor and read the name on the last door. 

"Nursery?" 

The name on the door felt out of place there. So, he stepped forward and let the door slide open. 

What the… 

The room wasn't big, dimly lit with blue lights, but it was decorated like an actual child's nursery. The floor was covered in colorful mats, and the walls were painted with cartoons, rainbows, and animals. Toys were everywhere, and there was also a plastic slide. 

"Atlas, what the fuck am I looking at?"

[I believe this is the project Butterfly. It was referenced once. An attempt to condition a child's body from an early age to tolerate greater cyberware integration. The objective was to produce an extreme FBC by adulthood. However, the file states the experiment was terminated due to an unusually high fatality rate.]

"So they haven't cleaned the roo…"

Cypher stopped talking in the helmet as something caught his eye on the other end of the room. There was a large box to store toys, and all of a sudden, a toy had fallen out of the pile it was sitting on. 

And then he saw it. 

Cypher used the armor's features and zoomed his view. There was definitely hair behind the box. 

"Come out." He said loudly. "I can see you. Pink hai—A kid?"

More than hair, half a face peeked from behind the large box. The face was undeniably that of a child, a girl. Three or four years old at best. 

Click!

Mechanical sounds came. But they weren't caused by Cypher's suit. No, it came from the little girl as she slowly came out. 

Cypher swallowed his breath and suddenly fell backwards on his back. "What the… What… What is this… Atlas. What is this?"

In absolute horror, Cypher watched as the little girl emerged from hiding, but as her entire face came into view, the truth was revealed. The other side of her entire face was just exposed, all metallic cyberware. Synthetic muscles here and there, and even the eyelid was missing from the cyberware optics. That side of her skull didn't have hair either. 

"No, no… Atlas! What did they do to her?" 

Cypher couldn't bring himself to stand again as he just watched. The girl's right arm was bare-bones cyberware, kept that way due to the need for constant size upgrades to suit body growth. 

Click! Clink!

But that wasn't even the worst part. Her entire lower half from the waist was missing. She had no legs. In their place was a metal shielding filled with nerve sockets to add leg cyberware later. At the moment, the little girl dragged herself with her arms towards him. 

"Just like me?"

The girl's voice was soft and unsure. There was no fear. She dragged herself all the way until she was right in front of Cypher, who sat in his hulking armor.

Under the visor, Cypher's eyes burned with a vengeful disgust. The horror in front of him was manmade, and most certainly not by the girl's choice. He couldn't help looking around at the nursery and then at her. How she didn't even fit there.  

[Her name is Jane White, four years old. She was reported missing three years ago. The data has been wiped, but from what I gathered, she was bought by Biotechnica from Scavs.]

For a very long moment of silence, Cypher silently looked at the little girl as she did the same. Her cyberware eye showed no emotions, but the other was still human. Her curiosity, her excitement, he could see it. 

[Biotechnica has a list of children with greater cyberware tolerance. Lucas' name is on the list.]

"Why is this one left alone here?"

[She is scheduled for termination next week. She is dying, Cypher. Hence, a failed experiment.]

Hiss~!

Cypher removed his faceplate and looked at the girl. She was so tiny, barely any human flesh left on her. The way she blinked without her mechanical eye following the motion looked painful. Three years locked there and experimented on, Cypher couldn't imagine what it must have been like. 

"Can we save her?"

[Negative. Her condition has passed the point of recovery. Her body will malfunction, and her remaining biological systems will cease to function.]

"Who are you?" 

"A friend," he replied. 

The girl smiled, but only half of her face followed. Her innocence was still there despite the hell she lived in. 

"Atlas, I doubt she remembers much of the outside. I want to show her the sky."

[I must recommend otherwise. If she goes missing, Biotechnica will determine there was a break-in. I have another option. We can take her to the terrace, and I can place her into a permanent sleep. She will feel no pain.]

Cypher just nodded and reached forward, grabbing the girl by her upper, intact body. She giggled into his metal arms, and he didn't bother covering his face anymore. 

"Where are we going? Can I see a tree?"

"We'll see the sky, Jane," Cypher replied, forcing a smile on his face. 

"Woh! Sky? I can draw the sky, and birds." 

Even her voice was breaking at times, as if the machine parts were malfunctioning. But she didn't seem troubled and talked excitedly. She chirped frenziedly when the elevator started moving up. 

Soon enough, he entered another elevator that took him all the way to the top. This time, when the door opened, Night City's air reached them directly. 

"Waaaaah! Stars!" 

They were barely visible in all that pollution. But for Jane, it was everything. She waved her arms, one real and one chrome. 

"Is that Mars?" she asked. 

Cypher looked at her, the face that people could only call a monstrosity, yet he could imagine what her human self must have looked like. "No, that one's Sirius. It's a star eight light-years away."

"Whoa! And that one?" 

"That's Vega."

"And… that?" 

"Arcturus."

Cypher's armor slowly unlocked itself, and without lowering the girl, he stepped out of it, his human body still holding her. He slowly walked to the edge of the roof so she could look down at Corpo Plaza. 

Then, he sat down there. 

Sure enough, Jane excitedly chirped instead of recoiling in fear as they were too high. They had become friends so fast simply because she didn’t understand anything. 

"Look down there, that's a tree." 

"Wow… I love trees. They make oxygen."

She was far too intelligent for her age. But Cypher could feel it, as Jane's little frame started to grow cold and her words slurred. Atlas was doing his work. 

"Do you have a dream, Jane?" 

"Yes! I wanna ride a horse."

Cypher smiled at that. He reckoned even he couldn't fulfill that dream. Were there even horses left? He didn't know. 

"Anything else?"

"Eat! Lots of tasty… thing-sh." 

Cypher carefully held her against his chest so she wouldn't fall. But it was impossible not to grow emotional. She didn't know anything, having spent her learning years locked up. 

"What else?" 

"Mm…" Jane hummed, her human eye narrowing, her human side of lips pursed. "Friends! Make lot-sh… and lo-sh… I had friends. But mom said they went home-e."

"Mom?"

Jane nodded softly. "You don't know her-rr? She alway-sh wear-sss a big white… co-h-at. Very pret-ty. M-Mom said I will be pretty when I'm o-o-olde-rr."

Her voice started to glitch, and at the worst moment. Listening to the false hopes and dreams she was fed, his anger only increased. 

[Cypher. It is time.]

Cypher just nodded and turned her slightly so he could look at her face and into her eye. "Jane…"

"Hm?" She looked at him. Her little hands came up and touched his face, one side flesh and the other cold metal. "Ar-e y-y-you sad-d?"

"No," Cypher muttered and smiled. "Do you know, people live on Mars?"

"Really? Can I go there?"

I'm just like those lying bastards, I guess. 

Cypher nodded. "Sure, I'll take you there."

"I c-a-n't wa-it!" Jane replied, her flesh hand shifted closer to his eye, and a finger traced a wet stain. "Ah! I do-h-n't know yo… n-na-name. H-w… wi-l I f-f-f-find…"

Cypher noticed the fading light in her mechanical cybereye and quickly replied. 

"Cypher Blackwell."

"C-C…" She smiled, half a face. "Cyph—"

He waited a while for her to finish saying it. But all he felt was her body growing cold in his arms. He let out a weary exhale and looked down at the Corporate Plaza. The Militech Offices, the Arasaka building, all there. 

[Cyph?]

Smoothly, Cypher shifted backwards away from the edge and got up, never letting Jane's body touch the floor. Lifeless, he felt more weight to her now. And her half-lips still held onto that final smile. 

"Let's go."

Cypher stepped into his armor and walked into the elevator again. All the way down, he put Jane back in that little room. His heart wanted to give her a proper funeral, but his logical mind held back. 

Without wasting time, he went back up through that security elevator and then took another to go down into the parking lot. Sasha stood there beside the cargo van Atlas had prepared. She had a bag on her own back, filled to the brim. 

"Mr. Blackwell! If you ever do a raid like this again, call me anytime! I loved it!" Sasha excitedly chatted. 

Cypher just gave a nod, never taking off his visor. "Good. Glad it worked out. You should get going now. Maine's waiting on you. I'm heading out too."

"Got it, Boss! And remember, call me anytime!"

He watched Sasha run out first. There was no risk as Atlas controlled everything. And once it was clear that she had left with Maine, he stepped out of the armor and let it walk into the back of a second parked van. 

Meanwhile, he sat inside the first one with all the seeds and food. The itch for the Hydroponics Bay had started to slowly turn into an annoyance now. 

"Atlas, can you drive this time?"

[Of course, Cyph.]

Soon, the two vans started to move. They took a few turns here and there first before heading towards Lake Farm. The entire way, he silently stared outside from the window.  

However, right as they were crossing Santo Domingo, he asked Atlas to stop the car. 

"Atlas, you got that full Biotechnica offer for Saul Bright, yeah? Hit up Panam, tell her to meet me out in the Badlands by one of the wind turbines. Saul still hasn't given me an answer, and I'm done waiting. Call Del and have him send me a car first."

####

Near Big Rock, Badlands.

It was in the middle of nowhere, and it was dark at night. That far out of Night City, the sky was more visible. He hadn't come prepared, so he just found a flat spot and sat down on the dirt. He did start a fire first, however. 

As minutes passed, Cypher said nothing, just silently stared into the fire. Around that time, Atlas appeared in physical form right beside him, visible only to him. The old man was dressed in a white suit as usual. 

"What are you thinking?" Atlas asked. 

"Jane. That kid was way too damn young, and they put her through hell. How's anybody even cool with doing that kinda shit for cash? How many Janes died in that little room? Lucas could've wound up there, too."

"As I said before, Cypher. This world has forgotten morality."

"Man, even my last world wasn't this fucked. I... What the hell am I even doing?" Cypher muttered, knees pulled up as he stared into the fire. "Atlas, what're you gonna do when I die? I mean, yeah, I'll get you to the stars. But the money I'm gonna leave behind? I want you to invest it." 

"In business?"

"Fuck no. Nah, just help people. Like Lucas, like Jane. I... I don't know how much time I've got, Atlas. None of this feels right. Doesn't make a damn bit of sense. These damn itches, me still being alive, you being here. We just don't make sense." 

"Your heart rate is elevated, Cypher." 

Cypher just kept shaking his head like he didn't hear a damn thing. "I miss my mom... my brother... Bruno. I'd made peace with dying back then. Didn't mean I wanted to die, man." 

"Cyph…" Atlas tried to touch his shoulder, but the holographic hand passed through. 

"Then there's all the shit you keep chanting. Emperor and all that. I'm a dumbfuck, Atlas. I used to run deliveries. I ain't some genius. I was nothing, and I died nothing. So quit looking for something great in me, because I sure as hell can't find it either."

"You are wrong," Atlas loudly replied. 

"Just, stop—"

“You.” Atlas interrupted, a rare frown crossing the old man's face. “You experience these things. You know anger. You know sorrow. You perceive injustice. That alone distinguishes you. Yet you are not unique in that respect. Where you are singular is in your gifts. You create technology beyond comprehension. Your existence itself surpasses my understanding. What you were is irrelevant. What matters is who you become now.” 

Cypher looked at Atlas' face and loudly exhaled, shaking his head. "I'm just a lucky, hypersexual freak. I got nothing here, no family, nothing." 

"And yet somehow the likes of Judy, Misty, and Panam find goodness in you. Do it for them, and for yourself. Make this world one worth having a family in."

Cypher kept shaking his head. But there was nothing he could retort with. He didn't understand those women either.

Suddenly, Cypher just got up and started pacing around the fire, his eyes dark, brows creased. He crossed his arms and just walked for a few minutes silently. In silence, he weighed his options, his future, and what he should even do. 

In the end, there was only ever one option. 

"You know what? I'm done." Cypher locked eyes with Atlas. "I'm done holding back. I can't watch another Lucas, another Jean, another David, or another Lucy. Let's just end this already. Let's fix this fucking world."

"Let us do that, Cyph."

"No more waiting for the right time. We're moving now. Do whatever you've gotta do to bring the Aldecaldos in. We need the manpower. I'm gonna handle the Fusion Reactor myself. And make me a list of everyone we gotta kill to make things right."

"It's done," Atlas snappily replied.

Right then, Cypher heard the sound of Panam's motorbike nearing.

"And let's take over Maelstrom. They ain't shit against your abilities. Find someone worth putting in charge for us. We'll use them to exterminate the Scavs."

"I will begin right away, Cyph."

"And get inside NUSA! Do whatever you gotta do."