"Ehm." Bald Delamain suddenly coughed in the screen. This was clearly the main Delamain, not the sub-AIs that ran individual taxis. "Great Cypher Blackwell, Sir. If I may ask, how did you build soone so magnificent as—"
"Just drive, Del," Atlas ordered suddenly in a thick voice.
"Ah, of course, your holiness, Atlas."
Cypher chuckled at their dynamics. "What's with this holiness?"
"I introduced myself as God because, by your own design, I am the God of AIs, Cyph."
"Damn right!" Cypher nodded.
"Pomposity and pride, as I said previously."
"..."
Cypher shut his mouth after that and looked outside at the changing scenery. He was about to take the next step and reveal himself as a crazy corpo guy now. But he still loved the Badlands, however. It felt like ho, maybe it was just a biological thing.
Soon enough, they entered Night City. Right then, he rembered his so-called security detail to mask the presence of an AI just in case sothing happened. Whatever Atlas would do would simply get pinned on the accompanying netrunner.
"So who're those security dudes you ntioned?" he asked.
"A capable netrunner known as T-Bug, along with the solo she frequently works beside, Rhino. They will accompany you to the eting."
Oh? I know T-Bug, but… who's Rhino?
Soon after entering Arroyo, the car ca to a stop near gabuilding Four. There, two won stood waiting. One was huge, over six feet tall and muscular, dressed in a clean, loose military jacket and cargo pants. The other one was T-Bug, Cypher recognized.
I'd have whistled if I could. Damn, she's pretty.
T-Bug was dark-skinned, bald with so dark hair growth, dressed in her usual black netrunning suit, which honestly did the magic as it was skintight and accentuated her curves. And thanks to the olive jacket she wore above, her ass really stood out.
Delamain opened the doors for them to enter and greeted them by their nas. The tall, muscular solo woman nad Rhino sat in the front passenger seat. T-Bug, anwhile, sat beside Cypher.
But Cypher's hypersexuality didn't cloud his mind anymore. He'd learned to control it, no matter how hard he got. No matter what, T-Bug and her friend were rcs, and that ant they served whoever paid more.
"Atlas." He spoke ntally, using the Brainwave interface. "Is she clean? Any connection with Militech or Arasaka?"
[That is precisely why I chose them, Cyph. My first thought was to bring in Main's crew, yet one of their people is heavily tied to Arasaka. So I selected these two instead.]
Cypher thought of Lucy.
"Good job."
He stopped talking to Atlas after that and looked at the gorgeous netrunner beside him. He liked whatever perfu she was using, though he didn't like the way she was staring at him with those big eyes. There was amusent and… ridicule?
Sure, he knew his clothes were pretty old-school style, but they were still handso. Black suit, black pants, black shirt, dark red tie. He looked like an assassin with dark circles under his eyes, but the suit was damn dashing. Even Atlas agreed.
As if she noticed his slightly curious gaze, T-Bug looked away, settling straight in the seat.
"The heatsink and the coolant you made were amazing, Mr. Blackwell."
Cypher smiled brightly at that. Who didn't enjoy listening to praise for sothing they made? And that only motivated him to make more things and put them on the site.
"Did it help you with netrunning?" he asked.
"It absolutely did. My rig now runs cooler than ever. It probably helped pretty much every netrunner worth their eddies out there. But I don't get it, why sell it so cheap?"
Cypher crossed his arms, sitting like a wise old man. "It isn't cheap, Ms…"
"Just call T-Bug."
"Then call Cypher… in private," Cypher replied smoothly. "I knew the things I made could help a lotta folks. But if I'd made the patents expensive, only big corpos would've been able to afford it. And you know what they'd do next. Flip the stuff and sell it for way more. Screw that. Now they pay a cut for every unit they sell, and netrunners and techies like you can just build the thing yourself for a one-ti price. Hell, I'm sure half the people out there don't even bother with that. I bet the designs are sitting on shady sites for free."
"That's… huh. Didn't see it that way. I guess wisdom starts when you realize what you missed. But I assure you, I didn't pirate it. I knew it was worth it, so I bought the real designs. Not that I could find the free ones anywhere on the CitiNet."
[Not on my watch.]
Atlas' quick reaction reached his mind, and Cypher stopped himself from chuckling. Clearly, Atlas wanted to make sure they made as much money as possible from their legitimate business.
"Glad I could help."
That's right. Kind, noble, charitable, and smart as fuck. Chicks dig that, don't they?
"It's really rare eting a corpo like you, Mr… Cypher. Most of them are snobby and… I, I'm rambling too much." T-Bug cut herself off quickly, lips pressing shut, embarrassnt written on her face.
She a fan of or sothing? Weird.
"Yeah, I know the type. Seen them around, t a few too. They strut around like they're gods or sothing, like they're sitting on top of the damn world and everybody else is dirt. They got those fake smiles glued on, hiding the ugly parts and all their fears behind them. It's always about the money with them. Profits over everything, every single ti. I get it," Cypher said, thinking back to that ti he tried to sell Quantum Condom.
"Cussing those guys out feels pretty right to ."
"Exactly!" T-Bug replied again. "Knew you were different the mont you made the Moisture Vaporator free. Been tracking its use. Folks even out in Africa are running it now, not just the Nomads here."
Really? Fuck, shouldn't have made it free.
But then it beca clear. T-Bug didn't dislike him for being a corpo. If anything, he had a positive image in her mind. And looking at her… he liked where this was going.
It was a pretty long journey. By the ti they arrived at Embers, he and T-Bug were talking about ideas on how to re-work netrunning chairs and make them more efficient, bringing them closer to the Deep Dive Port that so install on the back of their heads. She didn't have one, nor wanted one, because the damn thing looked ugly.
But that was enough chatting for the day.
[Militech is watching you. Five unmarked cars are on standby around the block. Three netrunners are hunting your trace in the datastream. I will construct a false digital projection of you and send them on a goose chase.]
"Do that and… keep T-Bug safe. She ain't all that good, not against Militech and Arasaka."
[Understood.]
Being organic had its benefits. Netrunners couldn't do shit to him, nor find him. But in the current scenario, he wanted them to think he wasn't ganic. That they could hack him.
"Just walk behind , alright? It's just a basic business thing, nothing crazy. Do the usual stuff, and we'll be good," Cypher ordered his two security guards and walked over to the building's lift entrance.
He showed his Agent to the two guards, and they were quick to open the door for him. He was a mber, after all.
Ting!
The lift doors opened on the thirteenth floor. Right there stood a staff mber, well-dressed and rather muscular, but no glittery skin or such. The man bowed to him.
"Welco to Embers, Mr. Blackwell. We have prepared the finest table for you on the upper deck. We were made aware it's a business occasion?"
"That's right," he replied.
"Perfect, we have prepared the table. Right this way, sir."
Cypher followed the man. He saw the grand piano on the stage. The place was mostly empty, just one other table was occupied, where a man and a woman ate. The candle between them and the roses indicated this was a date.
Ignoring them, he climbed the stairs to the left-side deck and arrived at his table. It was larger than the others with seating for six people. He quickly took the middle seat on one side and gestured to T-Bug and Rhino to sit beside him.
"The nu, sir."
Cypher took the elegant-looking booklet with the whole nu, and as soon as he turned the first page, his eyes nearly bulged.
What the fuck is this price? Three hundred eddies for a glass of water? Wait… I-is this… real at? Real veggies and fruits?
His eyes went for the steaks right away, but he felt deflated when he looked at the price. 32,000 eddies for a ribeye. 45,000 eddies for a Tomahawk. Fruits were even more expensive; a single apple was 50,000 eddies. And then there were monstrosities like the fruit salad with a total cost of 235,000 eddies.
It's either who's too poor or this world's just too fucked up. Holy Jesus! This is insane!
He eyed T-Bug, and her mouth was agape slightly. Rhino was shivering.
"Uh… Atlas? Can I buy this?"
[Cyph, simply because I did not reveal to you our net-worth does not an you must live like a cockroach. It's still your money, do whatever you want. I cannot eat any of it.]
"Did you just call a cockroach?"
[Jean Anthel Brillat-Savarin once said, you are what you eat.]
"Yeah? Then I eat pussy too, the pretty ones. That ans I'm a… Fuck it, we're getting sidelined."
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