Michael 'Magos' Sobronov
The drive to Konpeki Plaza was a mess of quiet tension, leaving my fingers biting into the steering wheel and teeth clenched so hard I could just about hear the groaning of metal.
Which was a considerable contrast to my departure, upon which I felt nothing but exasperation as I was nearly smothered by my worried mother to the point it all started feeling more ridiculous than threatening.
For a while at least.
Being left to stew in my thoughts, with Logos being busy creating an absolute abomination of a virus in case we needed to try and escape, let the gravity of the situation slowly settle back on my shoulders.
Thankfully, my thoughts were interrupted when I turned a corner and saw a bunch of Maelstrom members surrounding a pair of their bulky cyborgs, cheering as they beat the ever loving fuck out of each other.
And why did one of the two look vaguely familiar?
By then I'd already passed them by and the distraction was enough to bring me back into focus, and I did my best to center myself as I approached the walled Arasaka compound now dominating a good 5% of Watson.
The fact it was left mostly as warehouse space seemed a bit overkill at first but knowing their NC branch was their largest presence in the western hemisphere it made sense. They needed the logistic support if they wanted to keep their competition with Militech going to any real degree.
And it just so happened that particular seven decade long dickmeasuring contest left my home acting as a permanent frontline between the two. A state that had already resulted in a nuking and an invasion attempt, just for the sake of more profit, and a larger cut of the business pie.
Or worse, for petty pride.
And this was the sort of people that now had their eyes on me.
I suppose I was fortunate my relative anonymity lasted this long to begin with.
The gate guards at the compound were understandably tense when I drove up, as I made it a point to arrive in my guise of Magos and not Michael, in full armor and fully armed.
'As if that would make any real difference.' I groused despite myself as I transferred my codes and waited for them to check their list.
Still, it gave me the illusion of confidence, and that just might be enough.
The guards waved me through and soon enough I'd left my van in the trembling hands of a thoroughly confused valet and approached the entrance of NC's newest luxury attraction.
Not that the situation was in any way different when the poor guy tasked with scanning guests for weapons saw me approach, or the ridiculously chromed out woman standing at the reception desk.
How they thought replacing their workers' faces with bright golden chrome was anything other than utterly fucking garish I will never understand.
"My utmost apologies honored guest." The woman did a good job at hiding the tremble in her voice "Please insert your Neural Link into the scanner while I call on my supervisors to make sure everything is in order."
"Like I told your valet, Mr. Arasaka is expecting me." I repeated but followed her instruction.
[Generating false data.]
She offered a practiced patient smile at that, having probably heard that a million times in the last few days, but I still caught the slight widening of her eyes as she got confirmation from whoever she was calling.
Barely even glancing at the scan results she quickly spoke up "Please, go on ahead, honored guest. We apologize for making you wait."
"Right." I resisted the urge to inform her it was no big deal and stepped around the reception desk and deeper into the 'Plaza'.
And I had to say, even with my thoughts being a mess, the place still managed to look truly impressive.
Unlike their staff, the decor was actually tasteful. The construction was sleek and the coloring pleasant to the eye, and the well dispersed pots of plantlife were rather satisfying to my odd new appreciation for greenery.
The elevator dinged as I reached the top floor, and I took a short breath before stepping out, coming out into a thoroughly luxurious mostly glass penthouse where a trio of familiar figures were waiting.
Valerie looked like she'd taken a hit of the good stuff and was barely containing it, her eyes were focused and her poise was one of someone thoroughly in their element as she stood next to and slightly behind the seated corporate heir.
Speaking of whom, Yorinobu Arasaka had obviously seen better days. There were slight bags under his eyes and his lower legs had yet to be replaced but he didn't seem particularly troubled by that state of affairs.
He probably already had the best chrome money could buy slated for installation when he flew back to Japan.
And last but certainly not least, was the not so proverbial elephant in the room looming over all of us. Adam Smasher's eyes were laser focused on me from the moment I stepped out from the lift, and probably a long ass time before that as well.
His heavily modified Dragoon frame, initially coiled to react to anything, shifted minutely in a way that seemed almost... amused, when he saw me arrive covered in a small armory.
Which... yeah that's fair enough.
I noticed Valerie's right eye twitch slightly as she observed the same but notably neither of them openly commented on it.
I quickly put it out of my mind and from that moment I was solely focused on my host.
"Mr. Arsaka." I nodded as I approached, my tone respectful but not deferential.
"Mr. Magos." Yorinobu nodded back, completely unperturbed "Or is it Mr. Sobronov?"
"Magos will do for now." I answered without skipping a beat.
And was immediately rewarded for it with a disgusted cybernetic rumble "Fucking alter egos? Really? What are you, fifteen?"
Suppressing the wave of terror I felt at his attention, I made it a point to keep my eyes focused solely on Arasaka, quickly earning a mild grunt of disinterest from the death machine when said corpo shot Smasher a look.
"Please." Yorinobu said as he looked back at me "Take a seat and we may begin."
I went to sit across him but hesitated for all of a split second.
Which was more than enough "Its rated for me. Sit your ass down."
And sat it down I did.
"First." Yorinobu began "Allow me to thank you for both saving my life and protecting us from the netrunner attack that followed. My security detail's reports were understandably... terse when describing your contribution but the scale of your aid is unmistakable. It will not be forgotten."
"Bunch of pussies tried shifting blame. One meat stain even tried to take credit." Smasher rumbled with audible disgust "Had to paint the wall with two before they found their spines."
"Yes." Arasaka's voice turned clipped "Thank you for that reminder, Smasher. I'd almost forgotten that particular scene."
Smasher grunted "Net bullshit is for cowards, but lying is for worms."
"Smasher." V cut in "Enough. We are here for a reason."
"You can get back to creaming your chair in a bit, brat." The mountain of metal rumbled, causing her to scowl.
Deciding I was not going to step anywhere near whatever that was, I spoke up "While I am appreciative of the praise, something tells me that is not the only reason behind you calling me here."
"That is only partially true." Arasaka inclined his head, having completely ignored the back and forth going on around him "I can understand why someone of your background would doubt my sincerity in this but make no mistake. I owe you a debt, and it will be repaid."
Despite knowing it might be taken as offensive, I failed to contained a slow, baffled blink before my brain rebooted "Understood."
"But before we get to that." He moved on "It is my understanding that you are a man of discretion. Or at least so Ms. Price claims."
Mentally frowning at the implication, I leaned in slightly, remaining silent for a few moments before deciding that honesty here was the best option "So long as we aren't out for each other's blood, anything said here I will take to the grave."
V's shoulders tensed slightly.
But Yorinobu's answer made her relax almost as quickly "Good enough, for now." He said with a nod and began his spiel "This is no true secret but it will not be announced for a while yet. My father, specifically through my sister who is the current CEO of the company, plans to place me in direct control over Arasaka NC."
'That could mean a lot of different things. Whether those things are good or bad... Well. Only time could tell.' I thought but said nothing.
And seeing me remain silent Yorinobu went on "Doing this properly will of course demand that I establish contacts throughout the city that are mine alone, ones that I can trust to act in mutual interest without having to fear a knife to the back. Ms. Price claims you more than fit that bill."
V straightened her back.
"That is certainly a way to interpret the breath of my influence." I said slowly.
Finally, Yorinobu's relaxed expression changed as his lip twitched slightly upwards "There is no need to be humble, Mr. Magos." He gave V a sideways glance "Remind us, Ms. Price. If you please."
She shot me an apologetic look that passed so quickly it might as well have been a trick of the light, and began listing "Close ties to the Tyger Claws, working relationship with every single big name Fixer, notably so with Rogue and Regina Jones, network of favors and contacts relating to clandestine medical and cybernetic work, and as of two days ago, an official business endorsement from the Vice Mayor."
"Thank you, Ms. Price." Yorinobu hummed and waved his open hand as if to say 'See?' "As you can see Mr. Magos, you may dispense with the subterfuge. It is an understandable attempt but also a complete waste of both of our times."
Grateful for the lack of facial muscle that could display my mental scowl, I let out a grunt "Very well. What exactly did you want? And what do I get out of it?"
"And we finally reach the meat of it." He said, taking a short sip of his water before continuing "I am looking for someone to assist me with clandestine work concerning issues of the intra company variety. Someone capable of acting undetected or through disposable proxies that can help me in dismantling the less than acceptable cliques operating under my family's aegis."
'And supplanting them with your own cronies no doubt.'
"A number of names were considered for this, but Ms. Price was rather insistent you would be the best option." He gesticulated in her vague direction as he spoke "And it helps that I am already in your debt, two birds with one stone as the saying goes."
"Also helps that you have every ability to simply crush everything I have if I disagree." I muttered despite myself.
His eyes flashed with irritation, but bafflingly it didn't seem to be at all directed at me "Again, I understand your skepticism. But I am not so callous to repay a favor with blood. But-" He paused briefly giving me a knowing look "It is true that active cooperation between us ensures whatever it is you suspect doesn't happen, for an appreciable period at the very least."
Taking in a needles breath I nodded "You are right. I apologize for that outburst."
He merely nodded.
"So." I said after a moment "You want me to act as what? Your personal Fixer in the city?"
He tilted his head a bit at that "Of a sort. I would provide you with tasks and leave you to accomplish them however you see fit, with an emphasis on subtlety. Your methods do not matter so long as they ensure the local branch of the company is made compliant with my goals."
"Dare I ask what those goals are?" I prompted slowly.
"Stability and productivity."
'Might as well have told me to fuck right off.' I groused "Right. And what do I get out of it?"
"I was informed you prefer to keep things simple and so allow me to do the same. Every job I request through my new Head of Counterintelligence I will pay you a fair but premium price on a case to case basis."
So her promotion really was an Arasaka (The family) whim. Good to know.
I was mostly satisfied with that, but not satisfied enough to just follow along, and so I asked "And if I need you to put your weight behind me instead of the money?"
Yorinobu shook his head "Unfortunately that would be revealing our connection to far too many eyes, and would defeat the purpose of our agreement."
Just about ready to agree I had a thought aggressively shove itself to the forefront of my mind, quickly identifying the source to be the still completely silent Logos "But what if we could obscure it?"
"You have something in mind?" Arasaka sounded vaguely intrigued.
"The favor you owe me." I began slowly, having to consciously keep myself from rubbing my hands "Why not make it a business contract between my new company and Arasaka NC? A large order of cyberware done as a favor, and leaked to appear exactly as just that, would explain away any connection between us, imagined or otherwise."
"And help you launch your business." He rubbed his chin briefly, notably not dismissing it out of hand "It is acceptable in principle, even if the execution would be more complex. And I am eager to repay you properly. What exactly are you offering?"
Instead of answering, I procured a blank chip and quickly inserted it into my Neurport, uploading a string of data before placing it on the table between us.
"Smasher." Arasaka called.
The mountain of chrome reached over, picking the chip up with surprisingly delicate precision and inserting it into his own port.
He must have noticed my brief surprise because he immediately snorted "Net fuckery is for cowards. And no damn coward is getting through my BlackICE."
Just from the passive feeling he gave off, all I could say to that was "Fair enough."
"So?" Yorinobu asked after twenty or so quiet seconds.
Smasher grunted and ejected the chip "Solid designs, good price, good performance, easy maintenance. Too bad its all civvie shit."
"I don't do mass produced military grade." I said, doing my best to hide my surprise at the fact he could actually understand it enough to comment. It made sense, but the image just didn't fit for some reason.
"Your designs are good kid." Smasher glared down at me "But if you aren't alloyed the fuck up the next time I see you, I am scrapping you on principle. This isn't amateur hour anymore."
"Duly noted." I ground out.
"Kindly do not intimidate my new business associates, Smasher-san." Yorinobu ordered.
And his wording was hard to miss "So you accept?"
"With Smasher-san's approval, ignoring your offer would be foolish, but my acceptance depends entirely on you." He informed me "As I said before, I do not plan on repaying my debt to you by forcing you into an alliance. I am content with you using up your favor on making this deal and walking out, so long as you keep our discussion to yourself."
That was... almost suspiciously generous.
"Or, we can work together." He offered his hand "And support each other's rise."
I looked down at the offered hand, my Kerenzikov snapping into action to give me more time to consider it.
There was obviously a lot he wasn't telling me, and all of this could simply be an attempt to tempt me before ultimately getting rid of me once I was no longer useful to his plans.
But at the same time I couldn't completely discount the idea he was being sincere with his offer, even if it would give me no assurance someone else in Arasaka wouldn't try to poke me without his protection.
Most important however was the fact the deal would offer me the chance to build myself up in relative safety (emphasis on the relative) from the other corps, allowing me to build up a power base and survive on my own when the deal ultimately fell through.
The real question in the end was simply was temporary safety and support worth the risk of openly working with Arasaka?
Less than an objective second passed before I shook the hand, and took my first true step in the corporate world.
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