Cyberpunk - Badland Madman [Cyberpunk 2077]

####

Cypher stayed home the entire day and night and worked on the SecUnit. He finished the final assembly of the operating table and started working on the blood and other biological parts. At that point, it was messy, dirty, and vomit-inducing, as he felt like he was working on a human body.

Atlas, meanwhile, was busy with too many damn things. Not just building the armor plating, internal weapons systems, sensors, cameras, and all the hardware, Atlas was also updating the Obsidian website.

Finally, the website had a store now where all the things the company had to offer could be directly purchased. But there was another new section called Obsidian Fashion. Clicking on it took visitors to a completely new page with bulletproof, stylish clothing options. The design went from the 80s to the latest fashion.

The advertisement campaign was also launched right away, with digital hoardings across the city displaying AI-created realistic images and animations. Moreover, targeted advertisements were sent to people most likely to buy the stuff. Mercs, corpos, and all those nerdy about old-school fashion.

In simple words, the nearby factory had started to function fully. A compound wall had been raised around it, but no living person worked there. It was fully automated. Even the trucks used to carry the clothes into the Continental building for distribution were automated.

Cypher didn't know much about that. He was busy as another morning came. He was excited since another itch was going to arrive at midnight. At the same time, he was nearly finished with the Fusion Core of the SecUnit.

"Man, I feel lonely," he muttered, seated in his living room, eating breakfast. Fake cereal with fake milk. It was probably going to kill him if he kept consuming it for a few more years.

"You have me, Cyph," Atlas said from right beside him.

"Yeah, but you ain't got no pussy, man."

"..."

There was a brief period of silence between them.

Bzzzzz!

But then Cypher's Agent phone rang up. He grabbed it and grinned ear to ear while picking up the call. "Panam! I was just thinking about you. Thanks for holding down the club that night. I owe you one."

He listened to her talk at length about how awesome the party was. How much she hoped he was there. How many people were there, even famous ones. How she was thankful to him for hiring so many Aldecaldos for the building's protection.

But then she got to the point, and he frowned.

"Seriously? He's what, retarded? I just handed jobs to a ton of people, and pretty soon my stuff's gonna be shipping all over America. Your family's gonna be stuck making long-ass trips till I figure out cheap cargo flights. Honestly, just kick him out, and you be the boss. Turn it from the Bright family into the Palmer family... aight, I'll quit yapping."

He resumed munching on his shitty cereal while listening to Panam curse Saul Bright's ten generations. The fucker was still trying to get in bed with Biotechnica while he existed. But Cypher knew it was somewhat rational from Saul's point of view.

Obsidian was new and unproven. And what Saul wanted from Biotechnica was reverse transpiration xerophytes. It was equipment to help grow crops in the Badlands. And Saul wanted more permanent jobs for his family.

"Pan, I gave the world the Moisture Vaporator. I basically fixed drinking water for damn near everyone. Saul staying with Biotechnica just means he already signed some deal and now he can't bail."

By the time Panam finished telling him about her worries and the track record of Biotechnica, Cypher had already finished eating.

"Alright, what about tomorrow? I'll swing by your camp. I got some dirt on Biotechnica, and if that ain't enough to make Saul forget about them, then he's either in bed with them, or they got him by the balls."

Finally, Cypher hung up and turned to look at Atlas, still seated on the couch, drinking fake digital tea just for the sake of looking classy.

"You said you're inside Biotechnica? You mind checking if Saul signed some shit?" he asked.

"He hasn't," Atlas instantly replied. "And it is not only Saul Bright, Cyph. Most of the Aldecaldos do not trust you. Only the people at the club are on your side. And it was Panam who convinced them."

Cypher sighed, deflating against the kitchen counter. "I know. My nomad past's the only reason Panam don't look at me like I'm some evil corpo asshole. But the rest of them ain't like her. Most'd rather starve to death or jump ship to another nomad clan than end up corporate slaves.

"But that ain't us, Atlas. Aldecaldos is one of the biggest nomad nations out there, and if we get them on our side, it helps your whole grand plan. We start with the Bright family, then they help us pull in the other families around Night City. Once we got all of them, then we go for the whole damn group."

Atlas gave a slight nod. "They're one of the more respectable factions. Having their people for manpower would help significantly. But earning their trust won't come easy. If they discover why your nomad clan cast you out…"

"Eh... I don't think it's really that big a deal. Everyone already knows I'm a horndog and... it was just a threesome."

"With the clan leader's wife and daughter, Cypher."

Cypher awkwardly scratched his head and started to walk away.

"They became pregnant. Both of them." Atlas added.

"Alright, alright! Fuck, man. Get off my back. I didn't have control over my dick back then." He called the elevator to go down.

"You have it now?"

Cypher sighed deeply and changed the topic. "Wait, they were pregnant? That means I got kids?"

"They both aborted. I found them north of Night City, south of Santa Cruz, in the Badlands. The clan is still alive, but they're not doing well. Your moisture vaporator helped them, however."

Cypher just shrugged and walked out of the elevator into the underground workplace.

"Let them disappear, I say. Time to finish the Fusion core now."

####

11:50 AM, Near Laguna Bend, Badlands,

"The shack's just around the corner. Slow down at the turn," Bruce Ward ordered through his holophone on an open group channel.

It was a dark night, and less than half of the moon was visible in the sky. The water of the reservoir was still shining with flickers that night, mainly from the headlights and taillights of the cars in his group. He had twenty cars full of Wraiths following him; a total of fifty men had joined this harmless mission.

Bruce Ward had a job that night. As a high-ranking member of the Wraiths, it was his job to subdue this new corpo daring to live on their lands. Using their marked factory. And now, they had heard that the man had bought it all, from the dam to the factory.

It was unacceptable. Millions were due in the form of protection money and perhaps a few more favors. He'd heard about the club in the city. If the Wraiths could get their hands on it, he could imagine his boss rewarding him handsomely.

"Slow down and spread out. Don't leave a gap. Fucker drives and shoots real good."

His car was at the front, and he could finally see the shack by the lake. The lights were still on, and both the car and the bike were parked outside. It meant the man was still in there.

"Only shoot the roof! We don't want him dead."

At his orders, all Wraiths leaned their bodies out of the windows and aimed their guns.

Woosh!

"Huh?"

Bruce Ward expected to hear gunshots, but instead of that, he heard a loud mechanical noise. It was so loud and dreadful, and then.

Boom!

It appeared. The thing, four-legged, made of metal with a big red ring in the middle. It looked angry at the way it was standing in front of his stopped car. He could feel it; the thing was staring at him.

"What the fuck is this?! Aliens?" He cursed and looked around. He wasn't alone; all the cars had stopped. The spider-like machine monsters numbered just as many as the cars in his group. They all had red circles and looked angry. Some had dust on them, hinting at where they came out from.

"Grrrrrr!"

He heard a very low noise and then…

Zap! Zap!

"What the—"

Bruce jumped out of his car as a continuous barrage of red bolts of burning bullets hit his car. He fell on the ground and watched the carnage. The endless stream of those bullets engulfed his car. The man driving had a hole in his face. The car soon caught fire and exploded.

"No, no… What are you?!"

He took out his gun and started firing. However, the monster only became aware of his presence and started moving closer.

"Fuck!" Bruce jumped to his feet and started running, noticing how all the cars were burning, and most of his men were dead, many missing their heads or parts of their bodies. The remaining ones were running, while some got hit with that red beam of fire coming out of the red circles on the creatures.

He just ran without looking back, dread filling him up. He ran without thinking. He tried to call for help, but he was unable to use the holophone. It just didn't show up in his vision or connect to anyone.

Woooooosh!

Bruce heard a loud sound from behind. It sounded like jet propulsion. He was scared, but he gave a quick glance and saw the metal beast already high in the air, coming closer to him like a meteor.

"I-It can fucking fly?!"

####

Underground Factory, Lake House,

"What was that?" Cypher felt a very faint thud above.

"A few Wraiths attacked us. No concern, the Leapers have already neutralized them. I am keeping their leader alive."

Cypher frowned, but said nothing. Only a few seconds were left for twelve in the morning, and the new itch was about to arrive. Instead of his bed, he was in the workshop, sitting by a table, elbows above, and hands clasped.

He closed his eyes and prayed.

"Sweet Jesus and whatever the hell keeps dumping all these damn itches on me. Please just give me some kind of energy system. I don't care what it is, big or small. Fuck, even a starship engine would do…"

He was shamelessly begging.

Atlas began the countdown. "Five… four… three… two… one."

There was absolute silence. Just Cypher's gentle breathing. His body was calm and frozen in place, unmoving, while some veins on his temples throbbed.

Creak!

He suddenly stood up, pushing his chair back. Then his hands moved, grabbed the keyboard and…

Bam!

"Fuck this shit!" Cypher smashed the computer screen. "Fucking trash! A goddamn hoverboard from Back to the fucking Future. Shit can't even move on water! Useless!"

Bam!

Bam!

He smashed the keyboard into bits and pieces and turned, eyes red, huffing in anger.

"Take me to the Wraith leader. I need a punching bag."