"So, the situation is clear now." Inside the Tower Suite on the 100th floor of Konpeki Plaza, Oliver crossed one leg over the other. "To put
"So, the situation is clear now."
Inside the Tower Suite on the 100th floor of Konpeki Plaza, Oliver crossed one leg over the other. "To put it simply, some thieves have their eyes on what you've got, Yorinobu. They're planning to steal it. And that thing—it's the same thing you stole from Saburo Arasaka. Now they want it too."
"That's about right."
Yorinobu Arasaka nodded and casually pointed toward a corner of the room. "It's over there. But the thing itself doesn't matter. I don't care who ends up with it, as long as it doesn't fall back into Saburo Arasaka's hands."
"So you're going to let them steal it?"
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Letting Militech get their hands on it doesn't sound great either."
"Originally, I was planning to contact NetWatch. They'd be interested in tech that might come from beyond the Blackwall. After all, the tech's original creator was the legendary netrunner—Alt Cunningham."
"Alt Cunningham?"
Karl mulled the name over for a moment before recalling it. "Yeah, I remember her. Famous netrunner from over fifty years ago. Oh, and she was Johnny Silverhand's girlfriend—the rocker who attacked Arasaka Tower."
As he spoke, something clicked in Karl's mind. "Her tech... ended up with Arasaka? Then Johnny stormed the tower... Wait, I think I'm getting it."
"Arasaka kidnapped Alt Cunningham. That led Johnny Silverhand to attack Arasaka Tower. But in that incident, Alt died. Maybe it was revenge, or maybe defiance, but Johnny, Morgan Blackhand, and other legends from that era accepted Militech's support, launched a second assault on Arasaka Tower, and set off the nuke."
Yorinobu spoke calmly, his eyes fixed on the rebuilt Arasaka Tower in the distance. "One of my body doubles was inside the tower at the time. He was rescued by a team. He told me the whole story—Saburo tried to kill me, what happened to him in the end, and what Johnny, Morgan, and the others did."
"Saburo Arasaka..."
Karl remembered—Saburo, now dead, was Yorinobu's father and the grandfather of Hanako.
He tried to kill Yorinobu.
Not exactly a shock.
To the Arasaka family, Yorinobu had always been the black sheep, the traitor.
But this wasn't the time to dwell on the past.
"So your original plan was to give the tech to NetWatch," Karl said. "But now you've changed your mind. You never answered my earlier question—are you really going to hand that tech to Militech?"
"No. I've changed my mind."
Yorinobu replied, "Originally, I wanted to use a deal with NetWatch to lure out Saburo and spark an incident that would escalate into a war with Militech."
"The Fifth Corporate War."
Karl immediately caught on. "You wanted to drag Arasaka down—maybe even take a few other corps with it."
"Even if only one corp falls, the world might change a little. If all of them fall—even if the price is steep—that might pave the way for a new world. That was my thinking back then."
Yorinobu made no attempt to hide it. His original plan had been to bring Arasaka down in flames and take the rest of the corps with it—just like Johnny once tried.
But now, he shook his head.
"But I've changed. If one corp collapses, another just takes its place. Trying to destroy them all? Unrealistic. Even Arasaka doesn't have that kind of power."
He continued:
"After failing in my street rebellion, I went corporate. I started to believe that beating corps required becoming one. Slowly, my way of thinking shifted. The fire never died, but my methods, my beliefs... they all became corporate. I started playing their game."
"And what makes that any different from Saburo? That lunatic wanted to rule the world. He wanted order and domination. I wanted chaos and an end. But really, it's just two sides of the same coin."
Order through control. Chaos through destruction. Different flavors of the same poison.
Yorinobu had once believed that even if he couldn't win, he could take a few others down with him. But wasn't that just like Saburo, contemplating seppuku as Japan lost the war?
Just another doomed last stand.
"I'll admit it—maybe blood really does shape how we think."
Yorinobu looked Karl straight in the eye.
"But now, my perspective has changed. Spending time with you all, seeing what you've done, walking the streets again, reclaiming the name 'Yori'... I realized something. Maybe the street can't topple a megacorp. Maybe it's powerless. Maybe it means nothing to the corpos. But even then—even then, it matters. A spark is still a spark."
"A spark..."
Karl repeated the word, familiar and weighted.
"I never thought I'd see this in Night City—a place drowning in chaos. But I've seen NCPD officers fighting for justice. I've seen people still willing to call the cops for help..."
Yorinobu paused, locking eyes with Karl again.
"And I saw someone like you—someone with old-school ideals who just doesn't fit into Night City."
"You can just say I'm as stubborn as you. No need to dress it up like some grand revelation."
Karl rolled his eyes. "So, let me get this straight. You thought the world was screwed, the next generation hopeless. Then you met some punk who thinks just like you did, and suddenly the world seems worth saving again?"
Like an old otaku watching a newbie fall in love with a long-dead anime.
Karl realized Yorinobu's thinking boiled down to this:
The world is doomed. No one's left to fight. Maybe I'm the last hope. If I die, I'll take as many corps with me as I can. Maybe I win. Maybe not. But at least I try.
Wait—someone else does get it. He's younger. He's already changing Night City. There's hope.
Maybe the world isn't beyond saving.
Yorinobu laughed out loud. He hadn't laughed like that in ages. It was like tearing down a street on a bike, the wind in your face, your hair a complete mess.
"Maybe that's exactly it."
Still smiling, he pointed to where the Relic was hidden.
"Anyway, I'm giving it to you. Use it however you want, Karl. I think you'll figure out a better use for it than I ever could."
"You want me to come up with a plan? Nothing comes to mind right now."
Karl grumbled, but his eyes gradually turned serious.
"First, we deal with Saburo Arasaka. Then we talk."
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🔥🦾 CYBERPUNK: THE RELENTLESS 🦾🔥
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