Chapter 77: The Conspiracy in the Shadows
Arasaka Tower. A darkened office. Tanaka sat at his desk, facing a holographic conference screen. Behind him stood Eto Kei, holding a remote, ready to mute or eject any participant at Tanaka's command.
A fixer named Dino was currently speaking. "Handling this... it's not impossible, but it's definitely not easy."
"Even I've heard the chatter about this kid. They're calling him the 'Future of Santo Domingo,' the 'Rising Star of the Afterlife,' the 'Nightmare of the Badlands'... heh. In one day, he went from a nobody to a guy with a dozen nicknames. And anyone who gets a nickname in this city is bad news. To catch him, we'll need a solid plan. But my territory is the City Center..."
"Just get to the point, Kuso," a face on the screen snapped, cutting Dino off. The speaker was a white man in a high-end bespoke suit, his features hard, his aura grim.
This was Arthur Jenkins, Director of Arasaka's Regional Counter-Intelligence. His power and status dwarfed Tanaka's. He was a major player, not just in Night City, but across all of North America. A street-level scuffle like this was beneath his notice, but the data Tanaka had sent up the chain had piqued his interest.
"Project Chimera." It was the Night City branch's flagship cyberware initiative. And not just Night City—Tokyo HQ was closely monitoring the data. But so far, Project Chimera was a failure. They couldn't find a single test subject capable of handling the monstrous strain of the implant. The load was too high; subjects inevitably descended into cyberpsychosis, losing all sense of self.
Arasaka had the tech to brain-wipe them, to turn them into 'unfeeling weapons,' but the process was astronomically expensive and not guaranteed to work. Only a subject who could withstand the initial psychic pressure, someone with "potential," was even worth the attempt.
That's right. Even to be a corpo attack dog, you had to be qualified. Not everyone was an Adam Smasher.
And this damn Chimera... who knew what R&D was thinking. Even the Militech spec-ops agents they'd captured couldn't handle it. They'd limb them, remove half their torsos, and forcibly slot the chrome, only for the subjects to collapse, vomiting blood and suffering catastrophic organ failure within minutes.
So, Tanaka's data on Rhys had gotten Arthur's attention.
If... if I could get my hands on a secret weapon capable of handling the Chimera... would I still be stuck in this office power struggle?
"Uh..." Dino stammered, thrown by the interruption from the high-level exec. He quickly put on a fawning smile. "I mean, to understand this kid, we need to look at the fixers in Santo Domingo... and Watson."
"I don't know him. He just appeared in Santo," a gaunt-faced man on the call spoke up quickly. "But I've had dealings with Maine's crew before. They ran some gigs for me. So... I have some intel on them."
The fixer immediately uploaded a file.
Tanaka downloaded it. It was a detailed report on Maine's crew. Most of it overlapped with Eto's findings, but there were new details... their regular haunts, their schedules, even their backgrounds.
Tanaka nodded, satisfied. "You are... Faraday, correct? I've heard your name." He looked at the Santo Domingo fixer. "Good work."
"Yes, thank you, thank you, sir!" Faraday gushed.
He didn't notice the looks of pure contempt the other fixers, including Dino, were giving him.
A fixer was supposed to be the buffer, the middleman. A good fixer knew one thing: you don't become the gasoline. You're the driveshaft. You don't try to start a fire when the machine is out of oil. And more importantly... a fixer who sells out his own mercs never lasts long.
Why did fixers thrive in Night City? Reputation. This Santo Domingo punk, Faraday... Arasaka snaps its fingers, and he comes running with his tail between his legs, bone in his mouth.
Sure, Faraday had backing now. He was Arasaka's boy. But his career on the street was finished. He'd be locked into Arasaka's ecosystem. And when they were done with him... did he really think they'd keep him around?
This fucking idiot... every veteran fixer on the call thought. He won't last two years.
Was Dino sucking up? Of course. You had to show respect. But that didn't mean he was going to be loyal. Dino, a retired rock star, had used his old connections to build an empire in the City Center. He'd taken gigs from Arasaka and gigs against Arasaka. It wasn't a contradiction. The best fixers stayed neutral, never fully committing, never fully opposing.
"So, what's the plan?" Tanaka said, his voice hardening. "I didn't call you here for excuses. I need you to be like Faraday. Think of a solution. Put Arasaka's interests first."
"Your reward will be substantial."
"..." No one spoke. They're all afraid of Rogue, Dino thought.
"What about starting with the Mox?"
It was Faraday again. "On paper, he's been kicked out by Susan Q. But my intel suggests that was just a front to appease the Tyger Claws."
"I've also dug into his past. He's a fool. He has a history of starting fights to protect Mox dolls, which is how his feud with the Tygers started in the first place," Faraday said quickly. "My point is, we can apply pressure to the Mox. As a merc, he's a ghost; he could leave Night City at any time. But the Mox are rooted here. If his family is threatened, he will show up. Attacking the Mox is the best way to get to him."
Wow. This bastard really is throwing his own people under the bus, Dino thought. Didn't Maine's crew run gigs for you before they went to Rogue?
Dino's gaze drifted to the third row of holograms. A simple, unassuming old man in a wool sweater: Father Sebastian. He'd been silent the whole meeting, his hands steepled. Dino suddenly remembered... wasn't there a Valentino named Jackie in Maine's crew? Did Father know him?
Tanaka looked at Jenkins.
Jenkins nodded. "The 'how' is up to you, Tanaka-san. This is your initiative. I'll provide whatever you need—intel, agents, gang assets. Take your pick."
"Thank you for your support, sir," Tanaka said, bowing.
Jenkins's hologram vanished, leaving Tanaka with the fixers.
"Then we'll proceed with Faraday's plan. As for the specifics... Faraday, you will oversee this operation. Do not disappoint me."
"Yes, Mr. Tanaka! I guarantee I'll get it done!" Faraday beamed, completely oblivious to the cold, dead-eyed stares from every other fixer in the conference.