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This girl was.... strange.

When he had called the security team of the latest victim of what looked to be an ever-growing conspiracy, he had not expected a hundred-and-twenty pound woman with the patience of a border collie and the temperament of a cyberpsycho. The whole time they first met, she shot a glare at him, her hand hovering above the holster strapped to her thigh. Her responses to his questions were evasive at best and hostile at worst. When he told her he had a lead, her reaction seemed to indicate that she had some role to play in the premature demise of her most recent employer.

Those doubts were dashed not a moment later when the next question she asked wasn't about what he knew but who.

Now, River may not have been the best detective in the world, but he was certainly good enough to pick up on a cue like that. Judging from her behaviour, she wasn't nervous, she was out for blood.

That was either very good, or it was very bad.

To be perfectly honest, it was difficult to decide which was which nowadays. River was an agent of law and order, he didn't doubt that. His badge had the the words 'protect and serve' very clearly stamped onto it, and that was an oath he intended to honour, come what may. Unfortunately, the dream of justice was less of a sprint and more of a marathon. Every time River thought he was coming close to honest justice, or a legitimately well-thought law he had to enforce, Night City found a way to disappoint. Everyone higher than him was too busy covering their own arses to change anything, and anyone below him was either too powerless or too unstable to even try.

And so, River decided, if he couldn't find justice in this world, he would simply have to make his own.

It wasn't perfect, and River was well aware of the fact that he wasn't exactly Batman. The sheer scale of the problem was too large and far too systemic for River to do anything more than clean up at the edges. Save the occasional life, prevent another child from being orphaned like he was, expose the occasional bit of corruption. To that effect, some of his more covert contacts at N54 proved to be a godsend, in spite of their relative uselessness at actually producing any results. Still, as far as River was concerned, every additional scandal made for a more honest world, one slightly better than the one that existed before it broke.

And then Peter Horvath, and Rhyne dies not long after, and from heart failure, of all things.

How was that not a scandal?

Clearly, his superiors disagreed, cause they suspended him shortly after, and all for some measly suspicions. This was as fishy as it got, and seemingly, it was either the largest coincidence in the world, or it was a move to be made in a much larger game. Now, to be clear, River didn't really care if Rhyne was dead or not, or by whom. The man had been in the pockets of anyone wealthy enough to buy him, and as far as River was concerned, one less gonk in office could only be a good thing. However, whoever wanted him removed likely wanted to see him replaced as well, and there was no guarantee that what would follow wouldn't be worse.

Clearly, some people in power shared his concerns, because shortly after his suspension, a very generous line of credit from the Peralez's was offered, and all he had to do in exchange is do what he always intended to do in the first place. Honestly, with how lucrative this was looking to be, River was beginning to wonder if the NCPD would even remain a part of his life for much longer.

But I digress. You see, River, in the course of his investigation into the seeming non-mystery uncovered something that was very mysterious indeed, because it wasn't a heart attack that killed Rhyne, it was a virus-spiked braindance, and of the smutty variety too.

Talk about scandalous.

But that was the point. Before he had uncovered that little titbit, the Peralez's demanded answers to the questions he had raised, and when he turned up empty handed, they had started sending people to help him. The first admittedly had been useful, a smart woman with anger issues who got to the bottom of the matter in stupidly short amount of time, which River explained away with the logic that he had laid the groundwork for the discovery in the first place. He was a good detective, damn it!

Still, even if it was her wits and brawn that got down to business, River could hardly help himself as he tilted his head and watched her hips sway hypnotically from side to side as she walked away.

Ahem. Well, once he had discovered that, and the reasoning behind the subsequent cover-up, the plot only seemed to thicken as for every question he answered, two more appeared to materialise. What's more, the atmosphere surrounding his investigation was becoming more and more tense by the day. Maybe he was being paranoid, but River could swear he was being followed. It wouldn't surprise him if such was the case. A lot was riding on the outcome of the case, and not only for the Peralez's. As the events of the last few days had shown, people had, and still could, be caught in the crossfires of whatever it was playing out. It was a shame too, River really liked him. Nobody he knew had so much as a bad word to say about the man.

And now, he knew this woman, Panam. Naturally, he had done his research before they met, and though concrete details were harder to come by that he would have liked, Joss vouched for her. As far as she was concerned, she was an Aldecaldo, even if she was on the outs, and so she had to be one of the good ones running around.

River wasn't exactly a cynic, but to say he was sceptical would be an understatement. Maybe the death of Joss's husband had been more traumatic than she had let on?

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Joss was right. After only a minute, River could tell, deep down in his gut, that Panam was in fact one of the good ones. However, whilst her character may have been satisfactory, her temperament most definitely was not.

And he'd thought V had had an anger problem. Compared to Panam, she was just fucking nova.

This level of anger, there was no way it was habitually sustainable. That only meant that she was angry at something specific, and the obvious suspect made River just a little reluctant to work with her. The death of her employer seemed the only possible source of so much rage. But who got that angry over a lost job? To River, this looked more like the sort of reaction one has to losing something beloved, like a family member, or a close friend, or a.... boyfriend?

Yeah, that didn't massively complicate things at all.

In spite of the fact that he would be running around with the emotional equivalent of a ticking bomb for the next few days, there was no denying that he could use the help. Beyond pumping her for info regarding the surprise candidacy of her former boss, and the equally surprising termination of his candidacy, there was no denying that the woman was a good fighter. Hell, River wasn't too proud to admit that she was probably better than him at it, and that was muscle that River could be using over the next few days as he began to pull at the next line of enquiry he had available to him, namely that of Delamain.

One mayor died of a virus, a potential replacement dies by a corrupted AI. This wasn't mere coincidence, it was the establishment of of a pattern. Whoever this person was, it was clear that they were more comfortable with computers than people. It was also clear that they had some reason to desire that either Holt or Peralez rise to power. It wasn't all that uncommon an attitude to hold amongst the various netrunners in Night City, especially those who were brave, stupid or powerful enough to go beyond the Blackwall into the no-man's-land of the Old Net. Someone willing to fuck with Netwatch, and capable of getting away with it afterwards, was clearly a force to be reckoned with. There was only one group that River knew of that could do that without starting a war, though the notion of Voodoo Boy involvement was by no means a sure thing.

And then there remained the question of motive.

Those, however, remained topics deserving of consideration at a later date, because River had yet to confirm his theory, hence why he was stood here, with Panam, outside the headquarters of the Delamain company.

Interviewing a potentially rampant AI, with a definitely uncontrollable partner in tow, would certainly be one of the more interesting conversations River would have in his career. With how complicated this whole mess was rapidly becoming, River almost felt nostalgic for those simpler days of butting his head against the wall at the NCPD.

Almost.

Taking a deep breath, River calmed his mind, gestured to his new partner, and walked forwards through the automatic doors of the entrance and into the headquarters.

Once more then, into the breach.

He had a murder to solve.

------

And so River is finally beginning to close in on our mysterious player. Who will it be? What do they want?

I'm thinking of making the next chapter from the perspective of Silverhand to catch us up on V's story, thoughts?

Sorry for the delay between chapters, I've been really busy recently.

Feel free to comment and let me know what you think.

Hope you guys are enjoying the story thus far!

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was strange, the things you focused on when in shock.

For Ronald, it had always been the sounds. The whir of the engine, the subtle patter of raindrops lashing the roof of the hovercar, the hum of life coming from the city below, the straining of the fabric against his body, the rustle of the papers against his hands, the subtle whistle of his own breath and the almost inaudible clicking sounds that would emanate from his implants as they moved with him.

It was calming, in a sense, the hypersensitivity to sound. In moments like these, it helped to establish a sense of control that suddenly seemed missing from his life. Unfortunately, it was simultaneously suffocating, his mind processing far too many inputs from a single source and promptly shutting down, leaving his mind blank for the first time in years.

Honestly, Ronald didn't know whether to laugh, or to cry.

At least he was alone. When he had first heard the news, Ronald could swear he'd had a cardiac incident, there and then. It was the kind of worst-case scenario that he had dedicated his whole life to attempting to prevent.

Because the Blackwall, in all it's binary, artificially intelligent glory, had been broken.

Not pierced, or penetrated, or even bypassed. Those were all problems that NetWatch had been dealing with since it's inception, and Ronald and his agents were swift and efficient in their response to such threats. No, all was well one day, and then the next, the previously impenetrable barrier of the Blackwall had been cut down to swiss cheese, only functioning to the extent that it still did because of the various subordinate programs that remained functional. When the problem had been brought to him, Ronald had thought the problem was with his workstation. The conscious entity behind the Blackwall doesn't simply crash, it's just not possible.

That only left one possibility. Somebody had deliberately broken it.

Ronald hadn't even known that that was possible. It was certainly a terrifying prospect, that someone or something out there had the power to simply rip through a firewall that the best programmers in the world had dedicated the last six decades to erecting, to crash an artificial intelligence the was so mind-meltingly sophisticated and vast in scale. If this mysterious entity could tear apart some of the best digital defences on earth, who knew which other systems it could penetrate? Which systems it already had?

Ronald was suddenly very keenly aware of the fact that he was suspended hundreds of feet in the air, with nothing but a thin sheet of metal below him to protect him from the sweet kiss of oblivion. Of the fact that his very life was in the hands of one of those systems.

Needless to say, Ronald tossed the papers in his hands aside, gripped the controls, and promptly switched off the autopilot.

More important, however, was the fact that until the AI of the Blackwall could be fully restored, a process which would take a minimum of a few days more, many of the daemons of the Old Net had the run of the new one. To that effect, Ronald had sent out the word amongst his operators. As far as he was aware, they had all gone dark, switched off those implants that they could, and cut themselves off from the Net for the next fortnight whilst the AI systems of the Blackwall were repaired. It was a dangerous gambit, to be sure, and Ronald was sure that some of them had had to break their cover to do it, but it was a necessity. Everything else was secondary from this day forwards. Finding the entity that broke the Blackwall was priority one, and all hands on deck would be required to have even the slimmest of chances of success.

Hence, Ronald had spent the past few hours of his journey reading a report that had been printed on paper. It was almost a novelty, and exorbitantly expensive, given the popularity of the holo and of datashards in general. Still, it remained the one medium that Ronald was one-hundred percent sure was completely un-hackable, and the peace of mind that knowledge brought far outweighed any of the monetary costs of acquiring the obsolete medium and the means of using it.

It was paranoid, but the situation warranted paranoia from all those brave enough to continue to operate on the Net. Even the Voodoo Boys, who were notorious for their desire to bring down the Blackwall, had seemed shocked at the events unfolding before their eyes, at least according to Mosley. The gang had been trying to breach the Blackwall for years now, and now that it had finally fallen, it seemed they were no more eager than he was to venture through it's remains.

If it weren't so fucking tragic, it would be funny. Careful what you wish for, eh?

Still, this was merely a sideshow to the real problem. You see, short of a truly gargantuan advance in quantum-computing tech, brute-forcing the encryption surrounding the Blackwall was impossible. The only people with the kind of resources to be able to make the investments into that kind of research were the megacorps, and Ronald simply couldn't see any incentive for them to do that. They only stood to lose if a million rampant AI's were suddenly released onto the net, and the Blackwall and NetWatch had been established for their benefit. The possibility of attack-by-proxy remained a possibility, as even though the primary consciousness of the Blackwall had been broken, many of its subordinate functions remained in operation, meaning that the breach in the defences was one that only enabled the passage of certain types of entities. Even still, it was far too risky a ploy for a corporation that had the resources to employ a veritable army of netrunners to do the job instead.

That only left one possibility, and it was the one that made Ronald's stomach churn.

You see, the only way to break the Blackwall's encryption, other than with particularly advanced quantum computers, was if you had access to the source-code. And that was the single most tightly-controlled file in all of human history, especially given that it gave one the power to utterly bugger up the central consciousness of the AI that ran the Blackwall, and consequently, the Net, in the first place. Ronald had reviewed the security arrangements himself, and they were truly unbreakable, from all angles. Not even a nuclear holocaust would be able to break those kind of safeguards, meaning only one thing....

NetWatch had a traitor.

Fortunately, the aforementioned arrangements meant that the pool of potential suspects remained quite small. Unfortunately, every single person on that list was far more powerful than Ronald could ever hope to be. If this really was a conspiracy, the mind boggled at it's sheer scale. To be able to turn even the very highest authorities at NetWatch against the very purpose they had dedicated their lives to; it was a terrifying prospect to consider.

Ronald struggled to imagine what cause could possibly be so important as to warrant such a massive betrayal. For it had to be some mysterious cause, some conspiracy, some grandiose objective that could sway the hearts of the people at the top. These people had inoculated themselves against personal corruption, a long, long time ago. No mere bribe or piece of blackmail would be enough. Unfortunately, Ronald, in his position as a lowly Operations Manager, could only speculate, and in the current circumstances, that was worse than useless.

Back in the land of reality, Ronald had at least seen some success. Though the hardcore netrunning community had discovered the breach in the Blackwall almost the moment it had been made, some quick thinking had allowed Ronald to suppress the news and prevent it from going any further. It had required physically pulling the plug on some of the most critical interchanges in the world under the guise of 'system maintenance', but the majority of the general public remained ignorant of the events unfolding before their eyes.

Thanks god for the news's obsession over the death of that man. Who was he again? The one that got run over?

Ronald mentally shook his head, bringing his focus back to the matter at hand. As he came in to land, slowing his speed and reducing his thrust until he could feel the tell-tale jolt that informed him that he was safe to switch off his engine, he considered his options. He opened his door, only to find two men in identical suits standing at the edge of the landing pad, waiting for him to emerge from the vehicle. "Mr Cheever, the board members have been waiting for you." One of them began to speak, but Ronald ignored him after his first sentence was uttered, too absorbed in figuring out his game plan.

Obviously, revealing the truth behind his suspicions in front of the board was a no-go. If one of them was in fact a traitor, then doing so meant that Ronald wouldn't be leaving London and returning to Night City alive. Simultaneously, he had to be able to justify the expenses he was taking to find the person or thing that temporarily brought down the Blackwall. It simply wouldn't do to act as if everything was normal, not only because the lie was an easy one to spot, but because it would likely lead to his dismissal on grounds of incompetence.

It was a fine line he had to walk, between stating the urgency of the absolute crisis that this was, and of presenting the reassuring falsehood that Ronald had the situation under control. If he was lucky, he would even be able to glean some clues as to the identity of the traitor during the course of the meeting. Assuming of course that he made it out unscathed, and that the consciousness of the Blackwall was restored in time, there only remained the problem of discerning the identity of the person or thing that did this, and why.

Ronald still wasn't sure what he wanted to do with that information. It took a terrifying degree of technical proficiency to be able to outmanoeuvre an AI on the Net, much less one as developed and sophisticated as the one controlling the Blackwall, even with it's original source code on hand. If this person was really as powerful as he imagined, Ronald didn't think he would do much of anything at all about it. As committed as he was to protecting the integrity of the Net, and of all the infrastructure that depended on it to function and keep human civilisation from plunging back into the dark ages, he was even more loyal to the notion of staying alive and unharmed.

All of that, however, was a concern for the future. As Ronald stepped out of his hovercar, and made his way to the rooftop entrance of the building, flanked by the two men in suits, he only had the meeting on his mind. Everything, from the fate of the world as he knew it, to his very own survival, hinged on the outcome of that meeting.

No pressure.

-------

Moves are being made, but by who, and to what end?

Feel free to comment and let me know what you think.

Hope you guys are enjoying the story thus far!

P.S. I tried to correct the inaccuracy in the chapter without changing it too much. I considered a full rewrite, but with the direction I'm looking to take the story, having the antagonist cut a deal with the Blackwall or any of the AI's on the Old Net at this stage meant writing myself into an uncomfortable position, plot-wise. To that effect, I've had to bend canon a little. In this story, the Blackwall was created by a combination of human programmers and personal AI's, and is divided into a central consciousness and subordinate programs. Here, the AI consciousness has been temporarily disabled, so the Blackwall has been weakened, creating gaps where someone could pass through, but the subordinated programs keep the bulk of the Blackwall solid and functional. This means that the plot can progress mostly unchanged, whilst retaining a degree of lore-accuracy.

P.P.S. May be subject to a more extensive rewrite or edit in the future.

Last edited: Oct 7, 2022

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Oct 6, 2022

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#109

Tamarind77

Quick point about the Blackwall. It's not a firewall, it's a Transcendent AI, the result of a deal between Personal AIs (those Soulkilled by Arasaka, but managed to escape) led by Alt Cunningham and Netwatch. Basically, an AI so big that we're like microbes living on a human. It's not something you can control once its created. It doesn't really perceive us as existing, just part of it. It's sole purpose is to prevent travel in and out of the Old NET and New NET.

Perhaps a way around that would be someone managing to create a tunnel. The means of which are terrifying because it shouldn't be possible.

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#110

Morph

Tamarind77 said:

Perhaps a way around that would be someone managing to create a tunnel. The means of which are terrifying because it shouldn't be possible.

Click to expand...

Damn. If nothing else, I promise I'll be more thorough with my research from now on to ensure lore accuracy. I'm sorry about the mistake.

One question though, is this supposed to be common knowledge in the world of Cyberpunk?

Cause if everyone in the world knows what you've said, then the whole chapter needs a rewrite. If, on the other hand, this is a supposed to be a secret in the Canon of the lore, then it remains possible that someone like Ronald Cheever may not actually know the true nature of the Blackwall. If that is the case instead, then I can leave the chapter mostly unchanged, save for a few edits here and there for consistency. Let me know which is which, and then I can get round to changing it accordingly.

Regardless of the inaccuracy, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the story so far.

Thanks for the comment, I really appreciate any feedback you guys have to offer!

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#111

Devilking1994

Morph said:

One question though, is this supposed to be common knowledge in the world of Cyberpunk?

From my understanding it is not common knowledge in fact I would turn that around and say it is a extremely well guarded secret

"If you might suspend your panic for a moment, gentlemen, here's a complete and comprehensive solution to our problem I thought up on the ride over." -- "Mad" Harris

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#112

BlackStar

Hey, if you just want to cover your goof, just say that Ronnie didn't know about that. Or if he finds out later, then realizes his mistake.

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#113

Dovalorder

Morph said:

access to the source-code

You couold make it so that this is a rumour to make those employees at netwatch feel safer and to keep the turth of it being an ai to the very very top

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#114

Tamarind77

Morph said:

One question though, is this supposed to be common knowledge in the world of Cyberpunk?

It's not common knowledge for the regular person. But it is common knowledge for NetWatch.

That said, if you do want to keep it as is... you can keep the traitor angle, but instead of it being a NetWatch traitor, it's an AI traitor. Like Alt and a few other of the Soulkilled Pseudo Intellects (SPIs) that acted as the middlemen between NetWatch and the Transcendental Sentience (TS) AIs. Used said knowledge to get some cooperation from the Blackwall TS AI and created a small hole.

They needed the SPIs because humans just cannot communicate with the TS AIs, they're too big. Think Lovecraft, your brain would melt before you could understand a reply. Like, they can control every other form of AI, that's how big and powerful they are. So the SPIs that brokered the original deal, could themselves have 'betrayed' them. Maybe made a deal with someone, or worked on their own to do it.

Just a few line changes and it would work out fine.

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#115

carbon1923

Or it could simply be a expression. Like if you're defending a wall called the LINE, if a opponent appears on the other side, by digging under the wall without you knowing, you would say the breached the LINE.

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#116

TerenceofGod

My guy, this work is a ray of sunshine in the bleak chromed streets of Night City. Please continue until a reasonable ending, so that you may leave a legend, and that we may never fear the reaper.

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Oct 10, 2022

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#117

Galahad

With so many abandoned industry ideas due to the pursuit of eddies, recycling is one of many.

I wonder what other types of industry ideas abandoned by corpos that'll have a significant impact on this world.

A zoo, mayhaps?

Last edited: Oct 10, 2022

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#118

Arnumart

Affordable schooling, you pay a ridiculous amount for kids to be trained in academies and massive student debt for university. Having affordable education would greatly help the economy long term. Health care is also one of those things that is expensive for no reason than making money.

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#119

Galahad

Arnumart said:

Click to expand...

Discount Trauma Team, but also as effective as Trauma Team.

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#120

TerenceofGod

Tax Consulting, since Megacorps have massive sway in government regulations there are probably large and unknown tax breaks that most people do not know how to exploit.

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General A Man With a Heart - What a Damn Gonk.... A Cyberpunk 2077 OC

Thread starterMorph

Start dateSep 16, 2022

Tagscyberpunk cyberpunk 2077 own-character self-insert world building

Who should Arthur wind up with?

Panam Palmer

Valerie (V)

Gloria Martinez

Claire Russell

Lucyna Kushinada

Hanako Arasaka

Meredith Stout

Rogue Amendiares

Lizzie Wizzie

Us Cracks (whole band)

Harem (select this and anyone you want involved)

Other / OC (reply with suggestions)

Nobody

Gonzo

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#121

Threadmarks Interlude 5: The Mox

Index

Morph

It was a strange business to be in, prostitution.

It took a certain kind of person to run a brothel, Rita had found, and another kind of person to patronise one. Disgusting worms, the lot of them, Rita didn't care that they indirectly paid her bills. As far as she was concerned, these brain-potatoes were all the same, just waiting to get violent with one of the girls when she inevitably refused one of their more depraved requests. And inevitably, they did, and inevitably, Rita would kick their sorry asses out.

That had been Rita's routine for years now, and she hadn't expected it to change anytime soon.

In many ways, it hadn't. Outside many of the places she used to work, the same routine would continue, Lizzie's bar chief among them. Still, a girl's gotta eat, and so Rita hustled at many of the other brothels all over town, working security. It was even dirtier work in those places than it was at Lizzie's, the clientele grimier, more desperate for their next fix, and consequently, more violent. If she didn't need the money, Rita would have quit a long time ago. She hated this kind of work. Hated the tough-girl persona she put on as she left for work at night and peeled off when she got back home in the morning, hated the after-hours tears, the desperation, all of it. Given what she saw and experienced on the daily, Rita swore she would never become anything more than tangentially involved in the whole affair. She wanted out, and she wanted out bad.

Well, Rita got her wish, and it was the worst news she had heard in years.

At many of her former haunts, they promptly replaced her when a cheaper, supposedly more reliable option came round. Frankly, Rita couldn't believe her ears. She was a member of the fuckin Mox! When it came to protecting Joytoys and whores, it just didn't get much more reliable than that.

And, to her eternal joy and sadness all at once, it did.

In her off time, Rita had gone to one of the old brothels in Heywood, watching the entranceway for the inevitable scuffle. I mean, come on, she had been replaced by some gonk from the fuckin Valentinos! It was only a matter of time till something happened. However, it was a longer time that Rita had ever anticipated she would have to wait. For three nights, she camped outside the entrance of the old place until shit went down. When she had last worked there, something would happen every three hours.

Still, when shit went down, it went down hard. Rita could even hear the distinctive crack of gunfire in the distance.

However, the incident lasted for less than two minutes uninterrupted before a speeding car with a white siren on top rolled up to the scene, filled to the brim with 6th Street gangoons. Rita predicted a bloodbath, and switched on her engine in anticipation of a getaway. Only, the Valentino recognised them, and began to work with them. It wasn't unheard of, for gangs to cooperate in Night City, but Rita couldn't remember hearing anything about these two factions making peace.

That was.... surprising.

Even more surprising, however, was the fact that upon arriving at the scene, they clambered out of their car, a few additional gunshots could be heard, and then followed silence. Rita checked the time. Yep, in less than thirty seconds, a nearby firefight, a situation that might have taken the NCPD hours to get to, had been terminated in less than a minute. Frankly, Rita couldn't believe her fucking eyes.

How?! How was any of this possible!?

She had to be hallucinating, it simply couldn't be anything else. After all these years, the stress must finally have gotten to her, and she had turned into a brain-potato, like all the rest of the gonks. Driving around, she saw more storefronts than she had ever seen before, less people living in alleys, almost no garbage lining the pavement at all, the whole works. The people looked cleaner, healthier, happier. Hell, in some places, there were children playing in the streets under the watchful eyes of their parents, and all without a care in the world.

It was like a twisted dream.

She had spent practically her entire life imagining the world like this. Imagining the laughter of children, the smiles on their faces, of the feeling of safety that only the richest rich seemed to enjoy. She had a line-up of little clay sculptures in her house, made with wandering hands during her imaginings, her version of simulated utopia. She had long since relegated that notion to the dustbin of history, a long, long time ago. And yet here was the genuine article, just a few blocks away, all this time.

How had she missed this?

Suddenly, her concerns about the strange numbers of Animals and Maelstrom patronising Lizzie's all at the same time, of Tyger Claws showing more and more of their ugly mugs in Watson, was reduced to a mere triviality. Even her financial woes were pushed to the back of her mind, relegated in favour of the sheer wonder of a district she had visited a thousand times before, but had seemingly never paid attention to.

She was like a kid in a goddamn candy store.

Taking a deep breath revealed one of the best scents in the world. The stench of the city was still present, of industrial effluent in the river water, of rotting corpses tucked away into various alleyways, of the faeces left behind by those with no other choice but to go on the streets, of burning fuel and rubber, and yet, it all seemed to be more distant, somehow. As if all those concerns were merely a memory, tainting her experience of the smell of progress.

Rita couldn't believe her nose, because like an impacted colon, Rita had learnt long ago that the city never moved, at least not to become better. Something had to be wrong, and Rita remained sure that if she searched hard enough, some sordid secret would be exposed.

Walking down the street and peering down the alleyways revealed little. They weren't what Rita would call clean, but they were a damn sight better than in Watson. Sure, graffiti was plastered across the walls, but she had yet to stumble onto a single corpse, or even a trash bag, though the occasional piece of litter or rotting turd remained to ground her in reality and provide assurance to her mind that she was in fact still in Night City. Popping into one of the new stores for a bite to eat revealed even less. The standard fare could be found, but to Rita's surprise, an equally large section seemed to be dedicated to the sale of produce.

Real fruits, and real vegetables, Rita checked.

How the fuck could they afford this? Even better, how could they afford to sell it for just five eddies each?

She hadn't been living under a rock, had she? To have missed all this, it boggled the mind. She knew she was never the most sociable person, and preferred her own little bubble at home, where things were safe and clean rather than dangerous and dirty, but she couldn't have missed all this. Sure, she avoided the news like a plague, and bulk-ordered Kibble online, relishing the pleasures of her own imagination, but she could hardly have imagined that the world would have passed her by in such drastic a fashion. It was like an entirely different world down here, and asking the shopkeeper a few questions as she walked through checkout with as much produce as she could reasonably carry revealed the man responsible for it all.

A fucking corpo did this.

His company made the food, his company issued the loan that allowed the shopkeeper to open, his company convinced the gangs to provide the security that kept the shop open. The way the shopkeeper spoke about him, Rita wouldn't be surprised to find out he was the second coming.

He was also dead.

Why all of his achievements hadn't yet been pillaged by his many, many rivals remained a mystery. Still, as the day came to a close, and Rita made her way back to Watson, she sent a quick thanks into the ether for the little slice of joy she had found in Heywood. She had never been the religious or even spiritual type, but if that was possible, than hell, who knew what else could be real?

Still, like always, she had to leave it all behind, and make way for Lizzie's before opening hour. As the sun set behind the horizon, it's warm glow replaced by the harsh glare of neon, Rita hardened her heart and coarsened her language, preparing for the inevitably grungy shift ahead of her. Any thoughts of the district set aside for later, she spent her time breaking up fights, kicking people out, barring entry to the more rowdy entrants, and keeping a close eyes on the Claws lingering around the corner.

It was exhausting, draining work, but it was necessary. She was a Mox, and this is what they did.

Even still, it was hard to not notice the strangeness. The volume of rival gangoons had increased, and Rita could swear she had seen some of the ones from the rival gangs talking, instead of ripping each other's heads off like they normally did. In spite of the change in clientele, it seemed to her as if violence in the vicinity of the bar had actually decreased. Not by much, of course, but still, something was up. It was almost as if the three had decided on Lizzie's as neutral ground. Oh sure, there was still the occasional brawl, but there had yet to be a shooting, or even a case of grievous bodily harm in days.

Maelstrom, Animals and Tyger Claws, arm in arm.

It was a strange prospect to consider, and Rita struggled to decide if she was in favour of this new turn of events or not. If it could bring peace, and make her work even just a little easier, than it was surely something to look forwards to. However, Rita had spent too much time on the lowest rung of the ladder to believe that any such efforts would, or even could, last. In Night City, violence, much like prostitution, was simply far too profitable an enterprise for the three to abandon.

There also remained the question of how this would affect the Mox as a whole. They didn't really have a feud with anyone save for the Tyger Claws, but if the Claws made peace with even one of their rivals, they would have enough leftover members to decimate the Mox. Putting the word out amongst her compatriots revealed similar concerns, with Susie in particular fretting over the news. Settling old grudges was a pastime they all engaged in from time to time, and they knew just how bloody things could get once the ball got rolling.

The big question plaguing Rita's mind, however, was why?

Rivalries like the ones between the gangs were commonplace throughout Night City, and as a lifetime of experience informed Rita, they rarely ended well. More importantly, however, was the fact that they almost never got set aside. It wasn't at all unusual for gangs to cooperate at a low level, especially when there was eddies to be made in doing so, but for these three to set aside their conflicts, and all at once? The only reason that could possibly be the case was because they had found a common enemy, one they all saw a reason to band together against. Seemingly, someone had noticed the threat growing on their doorstep, and managed to convince the three of them to work together to see it eliminated.

And, all of a sudden, Rita Wheeler began to fear for the fate of her newfound slice of joy.

Because war was coming.

-------

And the pressure mounts. The MC isn't the only ones with plans for the city.....

With most of the setup done, I think we are almost back to the MC's perspective. Maybe one more interlude at the most.

Feel free to comment and let me know what you think.

Hope you guys are enjoying the story thus far!

P.S. May be subject to rewrite in the future

Last edited: Oct 10, 2022

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Oct 10, 2022

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#122

BruteSelf-Insert

Loved the new perspective, can't wait for the next.

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Oct 10, 2022

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#123

Galahad

So it's gonna be the Valentinos and Sixth Street against Maelstrom, Tyger Claws, and Animals.

From the wiki, Maelstrom and Tyger Claws have 1,500 and 4,500 people in their gangs respectively.

Man, this is gonna be a low-scale war huh?

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Oct 10, 2022

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#124

TerenceofGod

It's the Tyger Claws that are the biggest problems here, because if Arasaka decide to get involved you may find the MC fighting against Bottomless Pockets. The Animals are definitely getting some Biotechnica support to stomp down their rival. The Maelstrom will never find any help so they will be used as cannon-fodder for this war.

With Valentino's are going to be outmatched in sheer violence by any enemy gang. This problem needs rectification.

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Oct 10, 2022

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#125

Arnumart

I like how the mix change was a better example of change than say Johnny . While the gangs will have a lot of power we'll the people of the city would probably want the change the SI is bringing.

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Oct 10, 2022

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#126

traveller76

Waiting to see if the NUSA will show interest.

PUBLIC NOTICE: Remember that GMs/Authors/Artists are doing these games and stories for fun. They have real world responsibilities and need to maintain their own physical and mental health.

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Oct 10, 2022

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#127

Arnumart

Now that I think about it nearly everyone but the Tyjer claws would support the Si's goals. Maelstrom for all their crazy antics did develop a lot of technology that can be sold. The Anmials are all about the eddies. Making money could really change their opinions. Long term growth and safety are a hell of a incentive. No one truly wants to be a evil person besides serial killers. Now I want to know is who got the other gangs to unit .

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Oct 10, 2022

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#128

Lone Wolf 666

Arnumart said:

Maelstrom for all their crazy antics did develop a lot of technology

They do not developed anything. They are a body modification gang taken to the extreme. All their cybernetics are either bought, stolen, burrowed etc.

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Oct 10, 2022

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#129

Arnumart

Lone Wolf 666 said:

They do not developed anything. They are a body modification gang taken to the extreme. All their cybernetics are either bought, stolen, burrowed etc.

They developed a operating system independent of any corporation. One that can not be tracked or be licensed. It is mentions in the mission the Pickup. They essentially developed cyberpunk lynx. They are developed ways to use cybernetics through experiment that others would find unethical.

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Oct 10, 2022

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#130

Havoc_frost123

Galahad said:

With so many abandoned industry ideas due to the pursuit of eddies, recycling is one of many.

If the SI wants to pursue this, he'll need a contract from Night City's Council itself, as scavenging trash is illegal as the city considers it national property.

That means that yes, that festering junk pile filled with mechanical and biological corpses sitting outside your megablock is not something you can take care of yourself and you'll be fined a few hundred eddies for daring to think of making a better life for yourself haha

Show me what passes for fury among your misbegotten kind!

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Oct 10, 2022

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#131

TheStu

Havoc_frost123 said:

… you'll be fined a few hundred eddies for daring to think of making a better life for yourself haha …

Eh, laws enforced with fines are only laws for poor people. As long as the fines are less then the value of the salvage it's all good.

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Oct 10, 2022

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#132

traveller76

What about bioremediation or cleanup of abandoned properties or sites?

PUBLIC NOTICE: Remember that GMs/Authors/Artists are doing these games and stories for fun. They have real world responsibilities and need to maintain their own physical and mental health.

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Oct 10, 2022

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#133

Jarrik32

Havoc_frost123 said:

If the SI wants to pursue this, he'll need a contract from Night City's Council itself, as scavenging trash is illegal as the city considers it national property.

Click to expand...

When in night city money can fix almost anything. I imagine this issue was resolved by finding whoever ran waste collection and either bribing or blackmailing them into 'accepting' a contract for city services in this case waste collection.

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Oct 11, 2022

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#134

Kaiser Chris

Galahad said:

So it's gonna be the Valentinos and Sixth Street against Maelstrom, Tyger Claws, and Animals.

From the wiki, Maelstrom and Tyger Claws have 1,500 and 4,500 people in their gangs respectively.

Man, this is gonna be a low-scale war huh?

Click to expand...

Don't forget the Aldecados who the MC has an in with thanks to Panam and if he grants the Nomads significant autonomy and allows the Aldecados to act as protection for continental trade and maybe even act as the traders themselves he can probably get them on board. I imagine that based off of the recent chapter that the MC can also easily get Mox on board his alliance if he institutes protection and welfare for sex workers and helping it be seen as a legitimate business instead of an easy place to get your high and abuse women like toys.

Arnumart said:

Click to expand...

Maelstrom are brutal parasites who exist to thrive off of people's suffering and mutilate the human body for a sick sense of pleasure. Animals are anarchists who take Social Darwinism to the extreme. 6th Street can be reasoned off of patriotism and American nostalgia, Valentinos can be reasoned with a sense of morality and community, Animals just want to beat the shit out of people and prove they're the best. They always go looking for fights and the will not tolerate a Mayor who does his best to make Night City a sane and stable community because if it is then that means no anarchy to thrive off of and prove whose the best. Overall Maelstron and Animals easily are equal to the worst of IRL Cartels and Syndicates with Maelstrom in particular making El Chapo or Pablo Escobar look like Catholic missionaries.

Lone Star Republic TL: 2017 Turtledove Award Winner. Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren's Glory Gihren Zabi SI/ISOT 2018 Turtledove Nominee. Stars and Stripes Ascendant. Lone Star President

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Oct 11, 2022

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#135

Galahad

Arnumart said:

Click to expand...

Maelstroms are extremely unpredictable and violent. They're better off dead and ruined. Besides, they occupy most of the abandoned factories in NID. That alone makes their eradication as a group fucking important.

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Oct 11, 2022

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#136

Lone Wolf 666

I wonder if you can made some sort of localised MMO games using netrunner network or a club within the net?.

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#137

Galahad

Lone Wolf 666 said:

I wonder if you can made some sort of localised MMO games using netrunner network or a club within the net?.

Even better: create Minecraft.

That level of escapism would surely bring the SI tons of eddies.

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Oct 11, 2022

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#138

Devilking1994

Galahad said:

Even better: create Minecraft.

That level of escapism would surely bring the SI tons of eddies.

That..

Holy Shit that's an amazing idea

It's inexpensive to make and it's super addicting to people

10/10 the SI needs to do this ASAP

"If you might suspend your panic for a moment, gentlemen, here's a complete and comprehensive solution to our problem I thought up on the ride over." -- "Mad" Harris

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Oct 11, 2022

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#139

maguado87

TerenceofGod said:

With Valentino's are going to be outmatched in sheer violence by any enemy gang. This problem needs rectification.

Click to expand...

Mox might have to side with 6th and Valentino's just to survive. I think one of the 3 gang alliance has big beef with the Mox

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Oct 11, 2022

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#140

Arnumart

Judy is the most multiple force person of the game. She can turn the sex dolls into killers shake to attack multiple locations at once. What I disliked about the game is they only attacked one place at once. Hitting multiple places and whipping out the tiger claws would have been better for a revolution.

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