Cyberpunk - Badland Madman [Cyberpunk 2077]

She swallowed a breath and nodded her head. There was no doubt, no point in stepping back now. She had gone too far already.

"Excellent. There is still time before hostilities begin. Before that hour arrives, I shall orchestrate the fall of your rivals and elevate you above them. For now, you shall enter Militech's armed services and bear an officer's rank. By equivalence to your current civilian standing, your rank shall be that of Major or Lieutenant Colonel. When this war has run its course, you shall stand as a General and the sole worthy candidate for elevation to CEO."

Meredith smiled, despite her fear of this man. For the first time, she heard the actual plan and could imagine the real ladder for her rise. The CEO offer no longer seemed just a dream but an actual possibility.

"Entry into the Armed Services without the standard training and rank progression is a rare exception. Major requires justification. I'll need a substantial achievement before that promotion clears protocol," she reasoned.

"And you shall have it," Omnissiah replied, the eyes glowing brighter. "Through anonymous means, you shall get your hands on the full body scan of Adam Smasher, from every bolt in his frame to his biological makeup. Arasaka may have one Adam Smasher; I shall allow Militech a dozen."

"..."

Meredith was silent for some time. Omnissiah just accepted that he was behind what happened in Waterfront, and what happened to Adam Smasher. However, she shook her head.

"It won't be enough," she declared sternly. "As I understand it, Militech has no interest in Adam Smasher. We already possess the technology. We choose not to deploy it. Smasher is a rare psychological anomaly with an unusually high cyberpsychosis threshold. Militech operates on standardization. If it can't be scaled, it's a liability."

"I am aware of that, Meredith Stout. Thus, your accomplishment must surpass the simple study of Adam Smasher. It must provide Militech with the means to mass-produce Adam Smashers. Through Goldstein, your department shall soon develop a Brainwave Interface far beyond the limitations of your primitive neural links. It will permit deeper union between the human mind and FBC, eliminating the possibility of cyberpsychosis."

Meredith's grip on the sink tightened. She felt excited; her heart was beaming with it. "That... alters the equation. If I'm tied to a development like this, securing military authorization won't be a problem."

For half a minute, there was silence. It was suffocating for her, but she endured. She watched as the tentacles of the Omnissiah moved, and then, she received a message on her holophone. It was from an unknown contact, and all it gave was the name of a place. And under it, a price, 300,000 Eurodollars.

She understood what it was.

"Do not fail me, Meredith Stout. My favor is not without limits, and it may be withdrawn the moment I judge you a liability. Should you so much as contemplate abandoning ship when trouble arrives, you shall discover that no nightmare rivals the one I can become."

"I will not fail."

Meredith forgot to breathe in that moment. She didn't know how far Omnissiah's hold went. If her cyberware was already compromised. She believed it was; her eyes were the proof.

And just like that, without any response, the figure in the mirror vanished. Finally, she saw herself and noticed the pale horror reflected in her frozen expression.

For a second, she wondered if she was biting more than she could chew. But then she realised she had already taken the bite.

####

Lake Farm, Badlands,

"Man, you sure went hardcore this time. At this rate, I ain't ever getting her into my bed," Cypher said as he lazed on the couch, feeling fresh with no more killing itch. He was playing catch in the living room with a Servo-Skull floating nearby with an attached mechanical arm.

"It had to be done," Atlas replied, lying on the other couch. "Meredith performs optimally under pressure. She required both incentive and fear. I provided them. Furthermore, once she delivers Adam Smasher's scans to her superiors, a Militech employee who is, in fact, an Arasaka asset will be exposed while attempting to contact his handler."

Cypher chuckled. "So Arasaka's gonna think Militech was behind the shit I pulled last night? Yeah, that's a pretty solid play. But since when were we handing Militech the Brainwave interface? Thought we agreed we'd only help them patch up the Dragoon FBC."

"The brainwave interface is how they will patch it, Cyph. And I will be giving them not the wearable version, but one that must be implanted into the brain. And o—"

"Fuck! No, you didn't!" Cypher shot to his feet as the Servo-Skull smacked the ball into his chest. "You crazy bastard. Militech's gonna wanna cram that thing into everything and... fuck, you're gonna slip into every device with an interface, aren't you? We won't even have to fight to take over Militech."

Clap!

Atlas clapped with his hologram, but claps rang from all the speakers. "Well done, Cyph. Lucas finally has competition."

"Fuck you, buddy." Cypher threw the pillow at the hologram, and it phased through. "Alright, let's get to work. Still gotta build the Hydroponic Bay and the Durasteel. Lucas is gonna lose his shit when he finds out I added new elements to the damn periodic table."

"You also have six scientists awaiting you. They must begin work on the fusion reactor. The designs are finalized, and the raw materials will be arriving soon. I have assembled two hundred thousand Microbots for this operation, supported by fifty Servo-Skulls armed with Sonic Screwdrivers."

"And the Biotechnica raid, Atlas. Don't forget that. We're getting it done tonight. I wanna eat a real fucking potato, a carrot, a tomato, some corn. Shit, I could make my own pizza. Atlas, you think they've got a secret stockpile of organic food somewhere? Like cheese? We gotta raid that too."

"Your greed is spilling, Cypher."

"Wrong, Atlas. It's called gluttony. And I'm feeling gluttony as fuck right now."

"The word is gluttonous."

"Yeah, yeah, grammar nazi," Cypher muttered as he grabbed a NiCola from the fridge and stepped into the elevator in his bedroom. "Why d'you even need those six scientists when you've already got the reactor plans and a damn army of Microbots? Can't you just build the thing yourself?"

"The primary challenge in building a nuclear reactor is securing the necessary materials. Some components are easy to acquire, while others are beyond our present capabilities. Arasaka, however, possesses suppliers for all of them. The six scientists will help me identify these sources and revise the reactor designs according to resource availability. Once the initial reactor is complete, we will use it to power the Replicator and produce a more efficient and considerably smaller reactor."

"Yeah, sure, but that still don't make those six scientists worth a damn, right?" he asked.

"Certainly. There is a greater reason, and it is you. Obsidian cannot run with you alone, and I'm an AI with no body. It requires researchers and scientists beyond yourself who can interpret your work and advance it into the market. Obsidian should exist as its own entity, and you should remain the force behind it. These six..."

Cypher interrupted Atlas. "They're Arasaka dogs."

"I shall extract their families from Japan and bring them here. In return, all six will be credited with the creation of the Fusion Reactor, securing their place in human history alongside yours. Fame, wealth, and family. I see little reason for them to want more."

"Security," Cypher barked as the elevator hit sublevel one. "The second Arasaka finds out we've got these six, they're gonna come after me, Obsidian, and those six fuckers too."

"Hence, we must not profit from this invention. Release the patent to the public and grant the world access to fusion energy. You will serve as chief scientist and the rest as your assistants. You wished to be the Madman. This is how you become one. I shall ensure Arasaka remains occupied with Militech and unable to act, at least openly."

"Unless it's a nuke," Cypher said, entering his usual workplace where an unfinished Hydroponic Bay sat. "They can just wipe us out."

"I have already accounted for that contingency. My design for an anti-air high-energy blaster derived from DL-18 technology is complete. Once fusion reactors are operational, we will be able to power it. With this system, I will be capable of intercepting a missile within a one-hundred-kilometer radius," Atlas declared, standing with arms crossed beside Cypher.

"Furthermore, AZRAEL has located several live nuclear warheads in Night City, kept by certain criminal figures as souvenirs. They originate from before the DataKrash and the Night City Holocaust. In AZRAEL's own words, you would be surprised by what people share on dating apps."

Cypher rubbed his chin, trying to remember who this guy even was.

"Wait… AZRAEL? The MAD AI turned dating AI?"

"That is him. He truly loves his new work."

"..."

####

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Check out Cypher X Judy, Cypher X Rebecca, Hanako Arasaka Solo 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 NovelPhoenix chapters.