Cyberpunk - Badland Madman [Cyberpunk 2077]

Santo Domingo, Megabuilding H4,

Gloria didn't go home even after arriving at H4. She walked around the building's commercial floors, ate outside, trying to muster the courage to talk to her son and come clean.

By the time she returned, it was late evening. When the door opened, David was standing there, arms crossed. She knew she had to do it now. It was shameful to her, but the worst had already passed.

"Mom messed up bad, Dee." Gloria sat beside her son on the couch, crying. "I… I was shifting chrome from unclaimed bodies, and I had this contract with him to sell it all. It felt safe; he paid right every time. I put together a network of EMTs around it, and then, I ruined everything. Went solo on some expensive chrome and got reported straight to Meatwagon. That's why the badges came knocking."

"Mom, I already knew. Wasn't exactly a tough read. No way you'd jam me into Arasaka Academy and still have enough to eat. But… I thought it was C—"

"Shhh!" Gloria clamped her hand on David's mouth before he could say it. "Just trust me, David. I only started running with him recently. He's the best thing that's happened to us. If I hadn't screwed it up… He's got nothing to do with badges, but he pulled us out of that mess. Never, and I mean it, never talk about him to anyone. He's kind, yeah, helps out, but he's dangerous too. You tried to sell him out to the badges. That's not how you make it in this city."

David frowned. "Not like I did. Every time I tried to say his name, I got this glitchy headache."

"Netrunners," she muttered, swallowing hard. "They had netrunners there to keep you from saying anything stupid, and you nearly did. If not for him, we'd already be locked up, waiting on some rigged trial."

"Yeah, figured. So you're out of a job now?" David asked. "I'll drop out and find some work."

She shook her head. "No... he lined up another gig for me. We're going legit now. He cut a deal with Meatwagon and Trauma Team, and I'll run the EMTs and distribution, and one shop in a new club he's setting up. You don't gotta work, Dee. Just keep your head in your studies, you're gonna make it to the top."

"I don't like this, Mom. I can help you."

"You help me by studying hard," Gloria firmly replied. "We got a second shot. Mom's done with shady biz. We keep it clean now, okay? Do things right. I'll grind, pay back what he covered for us. You gotta do the same."

"Pay back? Mom, you even know what it costs to bring in Ashcroft & Kuroda LLP? I checked them out. Tight-lipped corpos, but I dug up a buried link someone left in a chatroom. Fee sheet, Mom. C– He… dropped over a million eddies to pull us outta lockup."

"What?!" Gloria jumped to her feet in shock. "A m-mill—"

Woosh!

Just then, all of a sudden, all the lights turned off in the apartment.

####

Meredith Stout hadn't slept since the meeting with Cypher Blackwell the day before.

She had reported to work as usual, written a report, and submitted it to the Director. She ended up receiving reprimands for not being swift enough.

How was she to be swift with a man who played Militech netrunners like they were children? She feared that man as much as her director, if not more. Cypher Blackwell had the intelligence and the ability to do personal harm to her without her ever realizing it.

Still pondering the offer he had given her, she rested at home, drinking a particularly strong cocktail to dull her senses. And that was when she received a dozen notifications on her holophone. There were reports about the latest updates on Obsidian's website.

She hurried to look it up and found a structure scanner and a new type of battery, different from any that currently exist. Better and more efficient, long-lasting than all alternatives. She gulped and waited for the call from Director Goldstein.

It came seconds later. This time, she received direct threats of being fired if she didn't make any progress. Director Goldstein wanted to meet Cypher Blackwell at the earliest. And in truth, Meredith didn't know if she could get that done.

From what she had seen, Cypher Blackwell was a proud and eccentric man. She couldn't read him.

The offer… I…

Without thinking, she wore her usual Militech uniform, the tight skirt and armor with the logo. She did her hair, holstered her pistol, and headed out alone. She used her personal armored car for this one.

"What?!"

Just as she was driving out of Arroyo, all the streetlights turned off. Her car's headlight helped, but she looked around and noticed everything was gone. All the homes were covered in darkness.

She looked back through the rearview mirror and noticed very few lights still on, mainly of those buildings in Corpo Plaza. The rest of the city was engulfed in darkness.

"What's this now?"

####

Lake Farm,

"Fuck! This tiny ass box just knocked out the whole city's grid? Atlas, get ready, we might have to dip." Cypher panicked as he stood outside his home and watched the far distant tall buildings flicker, all the long holographic ads vanish, and most of the city entered darkness.

[There is no need. I have already rerouted the load and concealed the surge so it cannot be traced to this location. I also revised the logs accordingly. The grid did not fail on its own. I initiated the disruption to prevent severe infrastructural damage. As things stand, restoration will take only a few hours.]

Cypher let out a long breath and gave a slow nod. "Man, I was hoping you'd say that. I'd be real damn disappointed if you didn't handle it. But yeah, point still stands, we're screwed, Atlas. That Replicator's our lifeline; we can whip up whatever we need with it. But I doubt we're going anywhere. Heck, I doubt anyone has anything to run it, Arasaka or Militech or Mayer's ass-sniffing FIA."

[You are correct. At this stage, I have identified references to incomplete research on fusion reactor technology. IEC stood at the pinnacle of fusion advancement, intending to perfect it and liberate the world from CHOOH2, reclaiming millions of acres for food production. They also planned to integrate it into deep-space exploration. Naturally, they intended to commercialize every aspect.]

"Can't you just handle all that yourself? You're basically a tech god. Why not cook up something like Cold Fusion or an Arc Reactor? You can't pull that off?"

[Do you want me to? Even then, you may not be capable of building it. It will not manifest as an itch, and that very impulse is what defines your mastery in creating technology. Without it, creating a nuclear reactor would be impossible for you. Regardless, I'll try to obtain the full IEC research and complete it.

[We can leverage it to expand our influence and improve the world simultaneously, as it would remove reliance on CHOOH. In time, you will feel another itch, one that leads us to a far more extraordinary energy source. The chances are non-zero.]

Cypher thought about it. He had a pretty good grasp of mechanical tech building after making the Blaster, Screwdriver, Leaper, and now the Replicator. What he lacked was the chemical side of the knowledge, dealing with radiation and other things. Building something nuclear wasn't just one single machine, but a big mixture of many. Without an itch, he'd need to study each part first.

"Yeah, you're right. Hope I luck into cold fusion or an Arc Reactor or something, hell maybe a Zero-Point Module, even a Singularity Core," Cypher muttered, no longer having to hide his train of thoughts from Atlas.

"C'mon, let's roll. You hook me up with some night vision. I'll dismantle the Replicator before our future Militech CEO strolls in… Anyway, what's the update on Gloria? She found out?"

[She has not made a clear decision yet, Cypher,] Atlas replied.

"Oh, she has. She just ain't got the guts to say it out loud. Girl's ambitious as hell, Atlas. And hot too. I know that type. Real close to the psycho I offed back in my past life. We'll straighten her out together though."

[Her son has.]

"Yeah, figured. Keep tabs on that little shit, alright? He doesn't think, just one of those dumb, self-destructive types. Those blaze of glory dreamers wanting an Afterlife drink named after them," Cypher said, heading back into his place.

He first checked on Lucas, the kid now tucked in the bed, sleeping. He then returned to the Replicator and started working. He didn't destroy it completely, however. Only removed the most important parts.

"How long you think it's gonna take to finish up the basement, the tunnel, and that milk farm nearby? You need a hand with it?"

______________________

Check out Cypher X Panam, Cypher X Gloria, Cypher X Judy NSFW ART, and advance chapters at [email protected]/MrPlotThickens Or Subscribestar.adult/mrplotthickens

Advance chapters on [PATREON] are in long-form format. I have 8 long chapters of this story on P@treon. That's equal to 26-30 NovelFire chapters.