The Protagonist System

Atlas actually went to bed when he returned to the underground facility, just like he had promised the clerk at the office. He assumed he would have some time to deal with the PetroChem executives before they realized their fellow corpo had gone missing. It was temping for him to return the man to his apartment and give him the impression everything had been a dream, just to mess with him.

He drifted off to sleep as he thought about how he was going to get everything up into space in full view of everyone, or if he should just go up in secret and build the station, then reveal it to the world through a media blitz. Both concepts were amusing, because even if they tried to stop him, he would be doing it anyway.

*

It was daytime when Saboru Arasaka's plane left Japan. The flight was a long one at about 10 hours, even with the sub-orbital flight path, because they had to pass through several areas of restrictive airspace and politeness had to be observed.

The jet airplane arrived when it was still daytime, which really messed up their internal clocks and gave most of the crew and the waitresses jet-lag. Not the old man, though. Saboru left the plane with the same poise he had when he entered it.

A company AV was waiting for him and he wondered why the driver and the others waiting there looked embarrassed. He didn't ask and they didn't volunteer the information that the taxi service in the city had a more luxurious limo version of the AV and they couldn't book one on such short notice.

On the other hand, the company execs rushed through the paperwork approving the production of their own. If they were lucky, one of them would be finished by the time the old man wanted to leave, assuming he was going to leave within a reasonable time.

The AV flew at a slow pace above the morning traffic and Saboru's old tired eyes took in everything, especially the changes to his city. His medical aid microcomputer in his chest flooded his system with the appropriate drugs to stop the heart palpitations when they started. It would have been the start of a major cardiac arrest if it didn't constantly regulate his body's functions.

“When did all this happen?” Saboru asked and no one answered. He tore his assessing gaze from the rerouted canal below to look at his aide. “It is your job to keep me informed of these things.”

“I apologize, sir.” The man said and bowed, which looked really odd while sitting. “Nothing of these changes have been in any of the communiques I have received over the last few months about any of this happening.”

Saboru nodded and turned back to follow the canal with his eyes. He knew the spot where a PetroChem facility was supposed to be and it was now a small water reservoir. It also seemed like the AV he was in was deliberately following the new canal on purpose, as if rubbing the change in his face.

“We have been kept in the dark for far too long and I will discover the source of the deception.” Saboru stated and the aide nodded.

They flew across a waterway that was partially full of ocean water and the canal somehow followed the bridge across instead of emptying out into something that it logically should have. It wasn't until they reached Arasaka Tower that Saboru lost his hard-won composure and actually gasped when he saw the gigantic change below.

The old site of the nuclear blast had been replaced with a massively deep water reservoir that was slowly filling up. Even from this far up, he could tell how clean the water was and his mind raced as he wondered why such a thing was kept from him. The news about the planning of such a huge project should have reached him months ago and he was only seeing the results of it.

Personally, Saboru was impressed to be kept in the dark for so long and he sincerely hoped it was his son that had done it, so he could berate him and praise him for keeping such an important secret from him.

The AV entered the hangar high up in the building and he was surprised to see his daughter was the only one waiting for him. He tried to not feel disappointment in his son yet again, then chose to let his emotions do as they will. After so many years of disappointment, he should not have expected anything different.

“Daughter.” Saboru said as soon as he stepped out of the AV.

“Honorable father.” Hanako Arasaka said and bowed. “Welcome to your home away from home.”

Saboru gave her a raised eyebrow at the exaggeration and Hanako blushed.

“What is the meaning of that abomination down below?” The aide asked, his voice harsh.

Both the old man and his daughter turned their heads to look at the angry face of the aide.

“It spits upon the memories of those lost...” He started to rant.

“They are dead.” Both Saboru and Hanako said in the same flat tone of voice and cut him off.

“The memorial remains, as do the names. Even the walkways to allow people to stroll above it are still there.” Hanako added, her voice going back to normal. “It only changed how people see the remembrance, not the remembrance itself.”

Saboru nodded. “I assume you have done this?”

“In a way.” Hanako answered and received another raised eyebrow. “As in, I did not oppose it or tried to counter it. The PR department has been all over it and has already flooded the local net and the news stations about it.”

Saboru nodded and walked towards the door to leave the hangar. “How long have you known about this complete change in the city's infrastructure?” He asked and some annoyance entered his tone, so he took a breath and controlled himself. “I must assume you are in contact with the utilities department of Night City Hall to handle all of this.”

“We are in negotiations, yes.” Hanako said and followed him at a respectful distance, the aide following just behind her. “The new canal comes directly here from the Coronado Dam on the other side of the city, relayed from the Laguna Reservoir.”

“The contaminated cesspool that has been an embarrassment of the government for a decade?” Saboru asked, slightly surprised.

“The cleaned and filtered contaminated cesspool.” Hanako responded and the old man nodded. “A decontamination station was built under the spillway and a pumping station was constructed on top of the dam to feed it.”

“What of the landfill between both dams? Did that not spoil the new water?” Saboru asked as the door opened for him and he entered the hallway.

“It was cleaned up and reinforced, recreating the reservoir it used to be, only better. The area around it was also cleaned up and there is no danger of any contamination reaching it.” Hanako told him.

“Good. Good.” Saboru said and the elevator opened when he approached. The three of them entered it and it rose up to the penthouse suite. “I noticed the city is much cleaner than the last time I visited.”

Hanako knew he meant more than visually. “Most of the gangs have been suppressed to the point of non-existence. The Tyger Claws, Sixth Street, Maelstrom, and a few others were wiped out in gang fights during the riots last week.”

Saboru thought that was going to change the city even more than the new canal of clean water would. “Who is left?” He asked when he left the elevator and entered the huge penthouse suite that covered the entire top floor.

“The Valentinos have spread out to cover most of the Sixth Street territory and most of the Tyger Claws territory. They are strained as they maintain it and fight off the little no name gangs as they try to claim small pieces of it from them.”

Saboru nodded, since that was the price of success. Even though you are a shark and they knew better, the little fish kept biting you. “What of the Tyger Claws? What remains of them?”

Hanako knew he wasn't going to be happy to hear the truth. She wasn't going to keep it from him, though. “Wakako Okado was lucky that she had been trapped during most of the riots and the fighting; but, what remains of the gang has lost all respect. There is no chance to have them reclaim their previous stature, as all the previous talented people have gone missing or are dead.”

Saboru closed his eyes and sighed. It had been a known secret that the Arasaka Corporation supported and used the Tyger Claws to do their dirty work. Without them as a disposable asset, their various operations were going to be significantly diminished.

The old man sat down at his desk without letting out the groan of relief he felt. He brought up the holographic interface, using his hands to make the inquiry that he had been secretly dreading for hours. Was it going to have the same response as it did when he had been back in Japan?

Status of Secure Your Soul Digital Preservation Project: 0%.

With a glare on his face that he couldn't suppress, Saboru turned to stare at his daughter. “Explain this. Now.”

Hanako held in her sigh at that beig the reason her father had come to see her. Before she could open her mouth to do so, the elevator opened and she turned to see Yuri step out of it.

“I believe I would be the best person to answer that question.” Yuri said and walked over to them. “My name is Yuri Arasaka.”

Saboru looked from her to his daughter, back to her, and back to his daughter. He did not miss the resemblance or how similarly they were composed and poised. He did not recognize her and there was no one in his family that matched her, so her claim on the Arasaka name was a false one.

“Who is the intruder that dares to interfere with family business?” Saboru asked his daughter.

Hanako caught her breath at the rudeness. “Father, you shouldn't...”

“Remove her from my sight.” Saboru ordered his aide.

The man drew a gun from inside his suit coat and tried to aim it at her forehead. Yuri grabbed the man's hand and broke his wrist as she pointed the hand and the gun back at his own face. The gun went off and the bullet penetrated his forehead and blew the back of his head off. The body dropped to the floor and blood flowed freely out of his torn open skull.

Saboru didn't even look at the body, because Yuri now had the gun in her hand. “Go ahead and shoot. You will never leave here alive.”

“Father!” Hanako gasped. “Shut up!”

Saboru didn't look away from the gun, even if it wasn't pointed at him. “I already ordered her death, daughter. It has been recorded and everyone in this company must obey my order.” He looked up from the gun to Yuri's face. “If you do not shoot me now, you never will.”

Yuri lifted the gun and looked at it. “Why would I need a gun to kill you?”

Saboru watched as she crushed it in her bare hands and dropped it on the body. “I am plagued with cowards.” He said with a sigh. “How disappointing to see such potential wasted again.”

Hanako groaned at her father's behavior. She should have expected it after he discovered his project was gone and there was no way for him to preserve his digital consciousness. She had already reassigned the scientists and researchers to other departments and sworn them to secrecy, with the caveat that if they did talk about it, they would end up like her father's aide on the floor.

“Where is my project?” Saboru asked, as if the last couple of minutes hadn't happened. He wasn't ignoring the situation, though. His observation of Yuri not shooting him was him judging her character. Since she didn't kill him as soon as she had the opportunity, he knew she never would.

“I don't feel like answering you now.” Yuri said.

“I didn't ask you, walking corpse.” Sabori said and looked at Hanako. “Answer me.”

Hanako wanted to slap her father for being so stupid, except she had many years of reverence and respect for the man and that wasn't going to go away anytime soon. So, she launched into what she had learned about what happened to the Mikoshi Digital Fortress and that it had been emptied.

Saboru nodded when she was done and walked over to the spot where the secret safe was in the floor. He used his security codes to override the locking mechanism and opened it up to reveal a large case inside. He took it out and carried it over to the coffee table. He popped it open and sighed at what it didn't contain. The Relic chip was gone.

“Who has done this to me?” Saboru asked and left the open safe and the open case where it was, as both were now useless to him. “I have lost everything I have worked a century for and they will pay for it with their lives.”

Hanako looked at Yuri and they had a quick mental exchange over a private chat. Hanako had worded everything to leave any mention of Atlas Incorporated out of everything she had relayed to her father. Should she tell him or should she leave him in the dark about it?

While they were busy with that, Saboru lifted the lining of the case and pulled out a standard Arasaka pistol and shot Yuri in the side of the head. To his surprise, the armor piercing bullet only dented her temple and bounced off.

However, that was enough to trigger the mortal danger recall protocol and Yuri disappeared in a swirl of glittering blue energy. Both Hanako and Saboru stared at the spot that used to have a person it in and wondered what had just happened.

*

“Son of a bitch!” Yuri gasped when she appeared in the office next to Atlas. “He shot me!”

“Who?” Atlas asked as he saved the transferred DS9 plans he had just converted from the device he had copied from the last time he had been in a Star Trek universe.

“Saboru Arasaka!” Yuri shouted and pointed at her dented temple.

Atlas stood and walked over to her. “I'll work on that and you can tell me what happened.”

“I'll do better than that.” Yuri said and waved a hand at the vidscreen on the wall.

“Do that in here.” Atlas said and had her follow him into the surgical lab, then he nodded at the vidscreen there before he started working on fixing the minor damage to her outer shell.

When that was done, he started in on the micro-electronics that had been impacted underneath. While he worked, the entire event played from when the old man had arrived inside her tower and right up to where he had shot her and she teleported away.

“I'm surprised the transport function waited that long to get you away.” Atlas said and ran another diagnostic on her positronic net. “There's no permanent damage, thankfully. The neural net pathways along that spot were only crushed and not broken, so there was no signal disruption.”

“I think you built me too well.” Yuri said, with a bit of relief. “It wasn't until those pathways were impacted that the site-to-site transporter engaged.”

“Ah, then I'll lower the requirements. Getting you here after you were shot was not how the system was supposed to work.” Atlas said and sent a few mental commands to change the system monitoring her. “There we go. As soon as anything above a certain velocity tries to impact you, you'll be brought back here.”

“Thank you.” Yuri said and relaxed. “What are you going to do about him, now that Hanako is sure to tell him it was you.”

“Will she?” Atlas asked. “Or will she tell him it was Veder?”

Yuri wasn't sure and that worried her. When she tried to send a priority message, it bounced. She was surprised by that, then tried again, and tried another person, then tried to access her building's security systems.

“I've been locked out of my old body.” Yuri said, surprised.

“That shouldn't be possible, unless they erected a Faraday Cage around the receivers...” Atlas stopped talking and checked through Veder. “They did lock down the tower again.”

“I should still be able to connect.” Yuri said and tried again. “I'm not getting anything, even when I use your comm signal technology.”

“I think they put up a scrambling or scattering field. Our signals just aren't reaching what we want.” Atlas said.

“Then what do we do?” Yuri asked.

“We let Veder gather information and then we'll see how far the head of the Arasaka Corporation is going to escalate things after trying to murder you twice.” Atlas answered and she nodded.