Chapter 59 - Threats, Offers, Netrunning Jesus & The Dog I

A/N :

Just in case there was any confusion, the dialog options are as follows:

"Hello" = Normal dialogue spoken in the real world.

Hello - Normal internal thoughts in italics.

"Hello" = A dialogue spoken in cyberspace/mind. Like Cypher talking to Atlas. Or Cypher talking to someone else using Atlas' ability to chat in the mind by hacking someone's cyberware.

[Hello] - This is only reserved for Atlas and other AIs speaking in Cypher's and others' minds. You'll see this when it's not an Atlas-centric scene. In scenes where Atlas is the main POV, like his adventures beyond the blackwall, I use normal dialogue.

I hope it's not confusing.

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It was hardly a challenge to less than one hundredth of a single percent of his processing.

But that didn't mean Atlas didn't enjoy these little moments. There was a strange sense of fulfillment whenever he found the opportunity to bring down evil. He felt ethically bound to do so, and being able to do it with Cypher made it seem like the right use of his capabilities.

Passing the ICE of Glen's City Manager, Zohara Freeman, wasn't hard, or even a roadblock. His digital tendrils, pure code of the highest order, rewrote the protocols and software of Freeman's entire body's cyberware. She was now nothing more than a puppet of his. Being old, she had quite a few pieces of cyberware, from joints and muscles to a completely new heart and more.

Before long, Atlas saw what she saw, heard what she heard, and knew what she thought before she spoke. He was inside her very being and infecting her mind in real-time, using the electrical pulses from the Neural Link to take her brain hostage.

So easy, he believed someone with a sense of humor would have laughed, which he had. But he didn't laugh. No, he directly spoke. He took control of her optics and revealed himself to her as a giant figure standing behind Cypher beyond the table.

Zohara Freeman gulped visibly, but showed no other reactions. Atlas made his appearance the same as he did in cyberspace, the Omnissiah, a giant hooded in red robes, mechanical arms, tentacles, and mechanical arms protruding from his back, his entire face covered in a mess of metal that moved like an octopus's tentacles, leaving only two round green lenses as hints of eyes. It was a tech priest, as Atlas understood, one he had created custom to appear overwhelming even to the most despicable of the Maelstrom.

[Zohara Freeman,] Atlas spoke, his words appearing directly into her mind. His voice was heavy, thick, with a hint of machine churn, and it echoed in a demonic way.

He made sure to tell Cypher to keep staring at her face menacingly, and he liked that menacing look. Cypher's icy, expressionless face with those dark circles and bright blue, merciless eyes worked perfectly. Moreover, Cypher crossed his arms over the table, back straight and proud.

"W-W-What? I-I can't move!" Zohran screamed, but it was only a mental scream as her body remained frozen on the chair, a smile on her lips. "W-Who are you?"

[I am the Godcode, I am the whisperer of machines, I am the eye that sees all. I am Omnissiah.] Atlas introduced himself, having come up with such an introduction a while ago to use if he ever met another sentient being like Song So-Mi past the Blackwall.

"P-Please… I didn't do it!"

As expected. Weak-minded people who commit a crime always self-incriminate themselves. Atlas saw that coming light-years away. But he chose not to speak anymore and handed Cypher the reins of the conversation. Still, to Zohara Freeman, it would be Cypher's lips that would move, but the voice would come from the massive tech priest behind.

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Cypher wanted to gawk; he wanted to praise Atlas and tell him how amazing this was. Being able to take someone over like that was fucking overpowering and dreadful. But he managed to remain in character, ignoring the huge tech priest behind him, a character he decided to talk about later with Atlas.

Might as well keep this holy punisher persona.

"Zohara Freeman, born 1981, age ninety-four. You killed the previous Glen City Manager to regain this position. A crime you were never caught for."

"No! Lies, I didn't do it. The NCPD investiga—"

Cypher chose to shut her up. He didn't know how or where Atlas got that video footage from, but it played inside Zohara's optics and showed the scene of the crime. She personally shot the previous City Manager and then fled the scene. It happened at night, inside a Night City office space. It was empty except for a few security guards. The report said the cameras in the building weren't working that night.

Clearly, one was working as Atlas played everything. There was even an audio recording, revealing a small squabble between Zohara and the victim. The fight was all about corruption. The new City Manager refused to follow the same methods of corruption as Zohara did during her time. The new manager refused to stuff the same pockets that she did. To save her own skin from those people she had made rich, she had to either control the new manager or take back the office. She chose the latter.

"Zohara Freeman. Despite being a dog of the Night Corp, you maintain a remarkably impressive list of friends. I must say, I admire the consistency of your dedication to everything corrupt. Truly terrific. It only increases your value to m—"

"You won't get away with this! Do you know who I am? Who I work for?" Zohara interrupted.

Cypher let Atlas take over from there. The figure of the tech priest grew in size. All the surroundings in Zohara's vision turned into a black void, leaving behind only that table, Cypher sitting, and Omnissiah standing.

[Petrochem? You would place your faith in a vile corporation, infamous for its role in the destruction of this world's ecosystem? Tell me, do you truly believe they will help you? Or are you foolish enough to think they even can?] Atlas boomed, only his avatar speaking now, not Cypher.

The machine tentacles on the tech priest's back moved, circling Cypher, and grabbed Zohara Freeman. The tentacles wrapped around her like a python, squeezing her and then lifting her off the seat. Of course, it was all happening in her mind alone, as Atlas controlled every single human sense of her body.

[Fear me more, Zohara Freeman. Your life rests in the palm of my hand. No corporation can or will aid you. Nor will you ever live free. You must atone for your sins, or else. A single spark within your Neural Link. A single failure within your heart. A precise detonation in your mechanical joints. An overload of flame across your synthetic face.

[What you see, what you hear, what you speak, what you think, all of it shall remain known to me without end. And yet, rejoice, for this is your deliverance. The Omnissiah has marked you for salvation. Serve well and reap. Betray, and be ripped apart.]

Finally, Atlas stopped crushing her with his machine arms and retreated, returning to his usual height of nine feet.

Cypher felt the control returning to him and resumed the talk.

"I don't care if you are scared. You can try running away, fighting me. But know that I am the light at the end of the tunnel, and that means I can shut you out as well. You have duties now. You will sell me Club Atlantis at the market price."

"Impossible!" Zohara exclaimed, fear evident, yet somehow her greed exceeded her survival instincts. "They'll kill me if I do that. Believe me. I'm just a pawn in their game. They're powerful. Rich. The club's market price is fifteen million because the place is dead, rotting. The whole building is abandoned. The owners and investors only want to recover their costs. I... I can't. I'll lose everything."

Cypher internally frowned. That didn't sound like she was lying. The building was indeed abandoned, and its entrance was completely sealed.

[She speaks truth, Cypher. That is precisely why I recommend we acquire the entire building. The Glen occupies a prime location. A premium district near the Corporate Plaza. Ideal for Obsidian's headquarters. The club itself requires only three floors. The remaining levels may serve greater purposes. A hotel. A restaurant. Even your personal residence.]

Since it wasn't even his money, Cypher continued with that suggestion. He reckoned that since he was already wearing John Wick's clothes, he might as well start his own Continental while at it.

"Fine. Then sell me the whole building. How much for it?"

Zohara was silent for a moment, clearly taken aback. But again, she was a cold-hearted killer corpo. "The building? I… I haven't discussed it, but if the offer is right, I'll convince the investors."

Cypher glared at her coldly and made the tech priest wave the mechanical tentacles again. "Play games with me, and you'll cease to exist. I'm fully aware of every corrupt deal you have conducted, every piece of filth you have spoken, and all the accounts and assets you thought were concealed. Eighty million. Remarkable wealth for a mere City Manager. You wouldn't want that fortune to disappear now, would you?"

"No! Please… The building is a hazard, which is why it hasn't been sold yet. Its foundation is collapsing."

"..."

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