Chapter 78 - Militech Conspiracy, Club Atlantis Returns, Teaching, Mystery Face & Atlas' Favorite Itch IV

Ding!

The elevator opened, and he stepped out into the main lobby of the club. He walked past the thick door that was operated by Atlas and entered the main floor of the club.

There was no loud music for his arrival, no announcement. He didn't want everyone's attention in the first place. He just wanted to meet a few people, exchange a few words, and go hide in his backroom.

"Cyph!"

"Judy!" Cypher saw his favorite woman on the dance floor; Evelyn Parker was with her.

"The party's insane! Where'd you dig up all this music?" Judy asked, hugging him with the full strength of her arms.

He reciprocated, lifting her a few inches off the floor for a few seconds. "Can't tell. Business secrets. Make sure you check out the BD booth, by the way. You'll find a few gems."

"Oh, now you got me geeking," Judy blurted and jumped out of his arms, storming away to the said BD booth.

Cypher watched her drag Evelyn along. Though he noticed how Evelyn was staring back at him the entire time. He knew why. She'd treated him like shit for no reason all this time, and now he turned out to be a rich fucker. A classic trope.

"Hey, Cypher. Been a while."

Cypher turned around and paused to catch his breath first. "Panam, looking great as usual."

She did look great. While still dressed in her usual jeans, leotard, and jacket, the theme of the jacket was now white instead of red. He really liked that as her face stood out more. And her braided bun and locks falling on the temples were a chef's kiss. She had the wild, unrestrained beauty to herself, and Cypher was drawn to it.

"Mr. Blackwell." Scorpion shook his hand.

"Great club. I remember reading about it years ago," Mitch spoke next. "Been here only once years ago. Like what you did to it. Nostalgic."

Cypher took their compliments proudly and walked with them over to the bar to get himself a drink. He ordered from his private, secret menu, which used the bottles he'd found earlier. He got three made for Panam and her friends as well.

"How's the city treating you?" Cypher asked her.

"Boring as hell. Almost makes me miss my days with Nash. Then I remember exactly who he was." Panam nearly growled at the end. "Enough about me. What's going on with you? You are on the news almost every damn day, Obsidian, all the tech, and now this. It is like… I see the Cypher I knew, but I don't know you anymore."

Cypher shrugged while chuckling. "Ain't much, just some investments. Mitch'll tell you my stuff sells. I'm already sitting nice off patents. As soon as I start making and selling, I'm gonna be drowning in cash."

"You will sell?" Mitch asked with interest. "Would you mind signing a contract with Aldecaldos? I can try spreading the word to all Aldecaldos, too. We can also move the product for you if you want."

"A symbiotic relationship?" Cypher asked, rubbing his chin. "Ain't that putting too much trust in me?"

"You are a nomad," Mitch said, giving Panam a look. "As she said before. You will always be one of us. And I did not say that just to butter you up, which I am trying to do."

Cypher let out a laugh. "Yeah, I'll think on it, Mitch. Panam, swing by in a couple of days. Might have some work for you. I gotta bounce now, bark at a few more faces."

He moved away from them as the music on that floor got too loud. It was the dance floor, after all. He headed upstairs, where all the shops were set, and there was more space to just sit and drink. He expected the fixers to be there, and he was right.

"This brings back many old memories."

Cypher focused on the man who'd approached him. Bald, tattoos, and a cross hanging on the neck. This was the man who operated out of The Glen, right where the club was now.

"That was the intention," he replied.

"Then you have succeeded. Name's Sebastian Ibarra. People around here call me Padre. Just a small-time fixer in Heywood," Padre said, extending his humble hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Blackwell. Rare to see large corpo executives make such appearances."

"Large? I'm pretty small still, I think." Cypher shook hands.

"Sometimes it's the small ones that leave the biggest mark. My instincts have kept me alive until now, and they say that you're someone I should befriend."

"Atlas. This guy a kiddie diddler?"

[There is no such record. Surprising for a priest, I must say

Cypher nodded and smiled. "And I'll remember your name. If I need something done, I'll send the word and eddies your way."

"See! I knew I was right to befriend you." Padre laughed loudly. "I won't keep a busy man any longer. Have a pleasant night, Mr. Blackwell."

After that, he met Maine and his crew. This time, they were all present, occupying one of the larger booths. He already knew most, but this time, a few more faces were there. One was Sasha, a young black-haired girl with a naturally adorable face and big eyes. Then there was Lucyna Kushinada, with hair colored in a pastel rainbow gradient, the same for her eyes. She stood out not only for being drop-dead gorgeous but also for that deep dive port on the back of her head.

Then there was Kiwi with the lower half of her face chromed. He considered her the most dangerous of the group because of her willingness to do anything for eddies. While useful as a tool, she was the worst to have in a team.

"Can't really blame her for being a self-serving bitch, can I, Atlas? Girl's been through hell since she was a kid. Factory grunt, got sold off to a brothel, turned into some joytoy, then bam, some chromed psycho ripped her jaw clean off. You think therapy can fix any of that?"

[You need therapy as well, Cyph.]

"Yada yada, answer what I asked."

[She's not beyond repair. With precise guidance, she can be restored. Many like her were shaped by a hostile world, one that denied them any safety net when failure came as the governments collapsed. Abandoned to probability and consequence, self-preservation became their doctrine. By building goodwill and trust, therapy, and providing them with hope, they can be helped.]

Cypher nodded and finally eyed the loudest member of the group, Rebecca. Five-foot, blue-tinted white skin, eyes a mix of pink and yellow. She had issues, but as a human being, he somewhat liked her. Despite all the fucked up things she'd been through, she had some compassion left in a corner of her trigger-happy mind.

"Maine, contact me in two days. I got some regular delivery work that needs handling," Cypher told the massive man.

"You got it, big boss. Regular gigs are solid. Easy eddies."

"Don't ya got somethin' that needs blastin'?" Rebecca asked while lazing in her seat, kicking her brother for no reason. "I wanna blast some gonk's head off."

Cypher pondered, "Yeah, I'm planning on popping a few heads before long. Just need to get things ready. I'll call you when it's all good."

"Hah! I knew we were gonna be chooms!" Rebecca jumped to his side and punched his arm. "You ain't like those stick up their ass corpos."

Cypher nodded, remembering the few he'd met. "Damn right. I only shove my stick, don't take in any."

He then walked away from them and checked the gun store. It was a standard little shop with what was currently in the market already. He didn't have his own weapons yet. Meanwhile, Gloria was already working at the cyberware shop, and from the looks of the crowd, business was booming.

Then there was the intel shop, manned by none other than Lucas, the most badass-looking kid with his chrome arm and leg. The kid's job was nothing but to point at the board that showed tiers of intel. The mercs who wanted to buy only had to scan a code and send the eddies. They'd get the intel right away. Atlas was running the shop behind the scenes, after all.

Lucas was just the face of it. Not that the kid was doing anything. Glasses of juice at his side and a few plates of snacks, the kid had plenty to do.

Moving away, he met with Regina Jones next. The woman with an eye patch was one of the better people in the city. He chatted with her and promised her chrome at a marginally better rate for cyberpsychos she was rehabilitating. He even offered to take a look if she ever got a case she couldn't fix.

Cypher had complete faith in Atlas that the godly AI could fix any cyberware issue if it was internal.

Rogue Amendiares was also there. She arrived late, and he only shook hands with her once. They were competitors, after all. Cypher enjoyed it, taking her coldness as a sign that she was threatened by his club.

As expected, Mr. Hands didn't come, but a personal, hand-written greeting had arrived, also a gift, which was a sleek-looking katana. He accepted it and sent a thank-you reply over text. There were many other fixers in the club, from big ones like Wakako to no-name wannabe fixers. Even Faraday was there with his weird fucking eyes.

Club Atlantis wasn't a hit because it was a great club. It was a hit because of what it already was. The original gathering ground for Night City's mercs and fixers. And now the club was back with an owner shrouded in mysteries and fame.

He spent another hour chatting with guests, showing Vik around, drinking with Panam and her friends, and helping T-Bug with maintaining the surface-level security systems of the club. He'd hired her again as a puppet for Atlas to do his magic.

Then, finally, he danced with Judy and dragged himself to his private backroom office.

He slumped on the couch tiredly, loosening his tie.

"Tell me if someone important comes. What about the Peralezes? They didn't come?"

[They don't seem to be in the city anymore.]

"Keep an eye on them. Someone could be trying to mess with their memories."

[Understood. I will mark it as a priority.]

Knock! Knock!

______________________

Check out Cypher X Panam, Cypher X Gloria, Cypher X Judy NSFW ART, and advance chapters at [email protected]/MrPlotThickens Or Subscribestar.adult/mrplotthickens

Advance chapters on [PATREON] are in long-form format. I have 8 long chapters of this story on P@treon. That's equal to 26-30 NovelFire chapters.

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.