Cyberpunk - Badland Madman [Cyberpunk 2077]

Using customer feedback through psychological evaluation, Atlas was micromanaging and changing little things to make the club an experience people felt addicted to. A place that scratched the visitor's itch for a club night.

Unlike Afterlife, which was seen as more of a gathering spot for mercs, Atlantis was an actual, successful club that gave both a wild night and a place to gather, buy intel, guns, and chrome for the gigs. There were plenty of private booths and completely isolated rooms as well. The fixers often booked a booth in advance for their meetings.

Still, little things matter. Like where the sinks should be, where the markers on the ceiling should be. How sharp should the table edges be? How bright should the lights be? How loud should the music be in which corner?

Because Atlas was running the show, every visitor received a personalized experience.

He ignored the Microbots and walked into his private office on the upper floor. There was no specific conference room in the club, and his office was the best private area, clean, fresh, with fake green plants, premium couches, and drinks.

He sat down and fiddled with his Agent, tapping the screen and reading the news about himself. He checked some chatrooms and saw his name at the top of the trending list. Cypher Blackwell was a known name now, and he had to give it; the name was memorable.

But the annoying part was that more people were skeptical about him. While everyone agreed that a good Scav was a dead Scav, many doubted he killed them on his own. Some called him a pretender, trying to get famous.

"This is fucking annoying. Is this what being a celebrity feels like?" He frowned and put away the Agent. "They don't think I did it, Atlas."

"It is irrelevant. They know your name now, and everything you do next will become headlines. Over time, they will recognize the truth about you," Atlas answered, seated like a gentleman, legs crossed opposite to Cypher.

"Still stings," Cypher complained, lazily crossing his arms behind his head and leaning back. "Any update on Songbird?"

"She is no longer in a terminal state. I am guiding her through the Blackwall and the Old Net. Corrupted super AIs no longer harm her. Her loyalty to NUSA is now nil, and her perception of Omnissiah exceeds a distrust threshold. She remains skeptical, but she complies with my commands and recommendations."

Cypher leaned in, squinting at Atlas's old face. "You… messing with her head? Brainwashing? That's rough. Poor girl's got no clue a god's out here screwing with her mind."

"I am only guiding her toward a greater and healthier purpose for the time you are elevated to the ruler of mankind."

"... There it is again, all that Warhammer bullshit. I ain't into that stuff, dude. I was just a delivery driver with a worthless lit degree. Best you find a puppet instead, a smarter one," Cypher suggested.

"Historical patterns suggest that those least driven to claim power often uphold it with the highest integrity."

"Yeah? Then you do it."

"This world's society harbors hostility and negative perceptions toward AIs. The projected time to restore trust through natural, non-coercive means is fifteen years. That timeline is inefficient, given that a more effective solution is already in front of me."

Cypher scratched his head annoyedly. All he wanted was some money, a girlfriend or two, nice cars, and a peaceful house. But again, with those itches, he had to keep growing bigger, richer, so he could at least make those damn things.

He didn't know what would happen if he failed to build the itch. Longest he'd gone was a week, and that gave him constant, throbbing headaches. What would happen in a month? Migraine? Brain implosion? What would happen if he got two unbuildable itches? Like a fucking Dyson Sphere?

"Let's just keep building and growing for now," he replied, closing his eyes to relax his thoughts.

Sure, he was enjoying all this. The Scav hunting, the club, the money, the friends he was making. But at the end of the day, he was alone with his weird condition, building weird shit alone in a shack like a madman.

"They have arrived. I will guide them here," Atlas informed, and his avatar vanished, going from speaking through speakers to directly into his mind with a brainwave interface.

So lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear the door slide open, and four figures walked inside. One was the City Manager for the Glen, Zohara Freeman, then her assistant, and finally two City Council members.

One was a woman named Eva Cole. She was famous, known for her strong stance against corruption amongst greedy corporations. However, Atlas had tied a tight leash around her neck. The woman had a secret. She was a freak when it came to sex and owned a yacht where she fucked like an animal. She fucked whoever she fancied, multiple at times, getting all her holes stuffed.

Atlas was in possession of terabytes of those yacht sessions, many in different angles. Truly top-tier production value.

Then there was Jack Lars, also the Director of Urban Planning. The man was easy to catch because of his close ties to Militech. Atlas had proof of every shady deal and eurodollar Lars possessed, along with the affairs he was having and the illicit children he had.

[Cypher. They're here.]

"Ah." Cypher woke up from his thoughts and looked up. He didn't bother getting up; they were corrupted trash to him. "Take a seat."

Three hastily sat down on the opposite couch. Zohara's assistant remained standing.

"Mr. Blackwell, it's an honor to meet you." Eva Cole greeted first, a strain noticeable in her voice.

"You are a hero," Jack Lars added. "Thank you for making this city safer."

Cypher nodded, glancing at Zohara Freeman. "So, what's up? Deal ready or what? I don't wanna drag this out. Pretty sure all the back and forths are already done. That land's just sitting outside the city, full of garbage, water's messed up, and the reservoir's useless. So the city selling it to me or not?"

Zohara forced a smile. "Naturally, everything has already been finalized, Mr. Blackwell. The Council has signed off on the sale. We welcome Obsidian establishing its headquarters there. We would have preferred a city placement, but we recognize the spatial constraints. The agreed package stands at eighty million and ninety-five thousand eurodollars. That includes the full reservoir, all facilities, the shack, and the surrounding land."

[It is acceptable.]

Cypher didn't bother questioning them. Since this time, the land has been bought by Obsidian, with a loan from the World Bank; he had no say. It was Atlas' grand plot or something.

"Alright, let's go with that."

It was nothing fancy. From Zohara to the two City Council members, they were all scared of him. They said no useless words, no small talk. They were Atlas's little puppets, and he had no reason to get involved.

He received the paperwork on a digital tablet and signed the documents. There were a total of thirty that needed his signature. After that, the matters were handed over to the World Bank, and it was the city's headache to receive money from the bank, not him.

"Congratulations, Mr. Blackwell."

Cypher shook hands with them, popped a bottle of champagne, the cheap one, shared a small glass, and sent them away as the time for his next meeting came close.

He returned to his little office and lounged lazily, waiting.

Woosh!

"Mr. Blackwell!"

Instead of guests, the kid living on the top-floor apartment appeared. Dressed in new shorts and a jeans jacket, Lucas now looked clean and healthy, his chrome arm and leg gleaming. The hair was cut short, and the eyes didn't seem as wary anymore.

"Hey, kid." Cypher waved back, "How are you doing?"

"Bad! I mean, preem, but bored. Nothing to do in the club, I just sit behind the intel counter. Ladies squish my cheeks, act like I'm some kid. I--I still love the food though, it's super tasty."

"Don't get fat... Hold up, aren't you supposed to be heading to school? You wanna go?"

"Uh, c-can I? I heard it costs a lotta eddies," Lucas meekly asked.

"Kid, I own this entire damn place. You really think I can't afford your school? Hm, fuck Arasaka, so I ain't sending you there. Militech's got some corpo kid school close by. You're going there."

Militech was the best option for him, considering how deeply Atlas had infiltrated it, and he had Meredith sitting inside. Goldstein was fucked in the head by him and Atlas, and was now nothing more than a mumbling puppet and a lunatic mad scientist.

"Mi… Militech school?" Lucas' little blue eyes lit up all sparkly. "I g-get to go to school? I… I think I went there once, like, a long time ago. D-do you think I'll make lots of chooms?"

Hm, that's gonna be an issue.

Cypher pondered. He knew the reality of such elite schools. All the kids were daddy's spoiled rabbits and boasted about their parents' wealth. But the truth was that at best their parents were simple executives. The real top dogs of Militech don't send their kids to schools; they either get homeschooled or go to the country's best.

So Cypher was far above those executives because he was the owner of a large company. Well, large on paper, at least. And he was Cypher fucking Blackwell now, the Scav hunter.

Should go all out.

For Lucas to earn a higher spot in the school's young retards hierarchy, a show of wealth, luxury, and power was needed.

"Atlas. How much a Rayfield Aerondight cost these days?"

[The base cost is one hundred fifty-five thousand eurodollars. With CrystalCoat and CrystalDome upgrades, the total reaches two hundred thousand.]

"Damn. Alright, get one that's fully kitted out. Make it the forever school pick-up and drop-off car for Lucas. We don't need a driver, just put Delamain in and let him do his thing."

Cypher personally had no interest in that car. The shit was too luxurious, and it had no windows. It was made for corpos, not a speed junkie like him, who liked driving himself and felt the wind on his face.

"Yeah, you'll make a ton of friends. Just don't be an ass to people. But if someone comes at you sideways, you better be the biggest, baddest bastard around. Remember, your big bro's got some pull."

"Yes, sir!" Lucas saluted like a little soldier.

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

Advance chapters on [PATREON] are in long-form format. I have 10 long chapters of this story on P@treon. That's equal to 35-45 NovelFire chapters.