Michael 'Magos' Sobronov
It was barely morning when the expected message blipped its way onto my Agent.
[Rogue: Got a contact request about you from Wakako. Old woman is being pretty insistent about it too.]
Hm. Ironic.
[Magos: And what do you think is making her insist?]
It took her a few seconds longer to answer than I expected.
[Rogue: My guess? She wants to get a better read on you.]
[Magos: That simple?]
[Rogue: You've been rising your rep around Watson and the rest of NC for a while, kid. Not to mention you are her kid's personal ripper, trusting him to keep a read on you is just not enough for her anymore.]
[Magos: Rather paranoid of her.]
Not that I'd do otherwise if I was in her place, but it needed pointing out.
[Rogue: You don't stay in this biz for as long as she has without sleeping with your eyes open. Wakako built a dynasty on it.]
[Magos: Reasonable. Think I should go pay her a visit then?]
[Rogue: Ignoring her is just going to make her cranky. Just remember, if you want to tell her to fuck off don't be too loud about it.]
[Magos: Or she'll have to 'put me in my place', yeah I know not to act the gonk.]
[Rogue: You'd be surprised by how often it happens.]
[Magos: I've learned to temper my expectations of people's intellect. And you are right, best get it out of the way instead of having to constantly worry about it. Your discretion is as always appreciated, Ms. Rogue.]
[Rogue: Its my job kid, even if you've been acting more like a client than a merc recently.]
[Magos: You say that like its a bad thing.]
She didn't bother answering, because we both knew the truth.
One high profile cybernetic operation netted me three to ten times the cut I'd get from the usual big gigs Rogue could offer me, and while I preferred to keep my skills sharp I could easily do that with simple smash and grabs and Scav hunts or the less explosive but just as important hacking gigs she threw my way from time to time.
Mercs were most effective when they were 'running the edge', when they had real skin in the game and their very livelihoods hung on their success or failure. It was exactly circumstances like these that made them throw themselves against impossible odds time and time again and somehow manage to get out alive.
I simply did not fall into that demographic anymore, or I never did with some hindsight.
And if I was being honest? I preferred it that way.
Merc work was survival, with your only hope at the end of the road being to leave a good story.
My art would make me thrive instead.
The call came only a minute after I stopped messaging with Rogue, and I answered without hesitation.
[Ms. Okada. How can I help you today?]
The old woman, a mildly wrinkled Japanese grandma with some vitality still clinging to her really, crinkled her eyes [Quite cheeky of you, young Michael. To ignore my invitation and then pretend like nothing happened.]
[Magos while on the job. Ms. Okada. If you please.] I corrected calmly.
She sighed in exasperation, and the mask of it was so perfect if I didn't know the woman to be one of the coldest people in Night City I'd have probably fallen for it [Oh very well, Magos. I think it is high time you paid my parlor a visit. There is work to be done and you are the perfect man for the job.]
[Not going to elaborate on that?]
[Some things are better said face to face. I will not waste your time.] She said simply and ended the call.
My eyes immediately narrowed "Petty fucking hag." I huffed an exhale and signaled my van to drive itself in front of the megabuilding, and grabbed my newest prototype weapon "Fine, let's see what you want then."
-----
The Jig-Jig street of Westrbrook's Japantown district was a special kind of hive of decadence, even for Night City. Nestled between a number of business centers and outwardly posing as a large marketplace but being a red light district in truth, it was the place where a large chunk of the city's whores and degenerates gathered on the daily, and all under the ever kind watchful eyes of the Lady of Westbrook.
She could have made herself at home in one of the better night clubs, and it would have been perfectly understandable, but for reasons that baffled me she stuck with a pachinko parlor as her base of operations.
The noisy gambling machines would have made me go insane within a week, and that is not counting the constant excited hollering of the gamblers themselves perpetually trying to outyell each other.
But it seemed the old widow was made of sterner stuff than I, because she was only separated from the parlor proper with a simple black beaded curtain, preventing no noise from reaching her office.
The first thing that came to mind as I ducked my way into the office was that Wakako was... kind of tiny.
I don't know why I thought that when most people were tiny relative to me, but it just refused to leave the forefront my mind.
The second was that there was not a single guard in sight. And that sent more of a message than any amount of posturing weaboos with katanas ever could.
"One moment, dear." She raised her hand while resuming her call "Yes, yes, I will make sure it is delivered as we agreed Carlos, goodbye."
She ended it and placed the phone on her table before looking up.
"Ah, Mr. Magos." She said, showing no outward reaction to my appearance and waving for me to sit "Please, make yourself comfortable."
Looking down at the leather chair, I shrugged and took a seat as offered, finding myself rather surprised I didn't need to lean forward not to break it.
"Tea?" She asked.
"No thank you." I refused with all the politeness I could muster "I'd much rather we got down to business as quickly as possible."
"Very well then." She nodded, letting the silence rest briefly before speaking "You've been the talk of the town for some time now. My dear Isamu just won't shut up about you. And neither will his brothers, or the other Captains."
"He definitely... has his moments." I said, eliciting a brief flash of emotion in the woman's eyes I'd dare call fond exasperation.
"My pride and joy." She agreed dryly "Just like the rest of his brothers."
"And speaking of his brothers." I leaned in slightly "Why would they talk about me?"
"Anyone with good sense would at least mention someone with your level of cybernetics suddenly appearing in Night City." She pointed out patiently "And that is without talking about your other skills. Skills that are growing notorious in certain circles."
"True." Sensible really "And yet your tone suggests that isn't everything."
"And you would be right." She hummed "You also played a big part in the Totentanz debacle, and it wasn't something that is easily forgotten, especially among the Tyger Claws."
'Was that their angle?' I kept my face pointedly blank "I was merely a contractor in Jugo's employ, anyone with a brain knows this."
"And usually that would be well and good." She said lightly before turning serious "If not for the fact you were not the one to keep them together after pulling my son out of the fire."
"I literally told them he survived and they should stop being gonks." I deadpanned "As was my job as Jugo's doctor at the time."
"They won't see it that way." She informed me "The story around the fight has already spread across the entire gang, and not without its embellishments."
"So what?" I frowned "They are getting pissy because they got outshined by someone outside the gang?"
"Correct." She offered me the tiniest nod in turn "They see a powerful outsider having too much authority with the western branch and demand you be brough to heel. Foolish and short sighted from them yes, but they are all hot-blooded young men so its to be expected."
'So much for my guarantees as an associate.' I scoffed to myself and quickly moved past it "And you've no doubt called me here to offer a compromise?"
"Quite astute, young man." She not quite smiled "The solution is quite simple. All you need to do is make a sufficiently public display of working for me, and everything else will fall into place."
"Yes, I did hear something about your rumored connections to the gang." I drawled, letting just a bit of my annoyance out "And they will be satisfied with just that?"
My words drew a tiny flash of amusement from her.
"You just leave that side of things to me." She waved down lightly "I'll make sure they don't bother you so long as you don't do anything else overt."
"Hm." I grunted "I'd almost call the solution elegant, if not for one detail." Seeing her raise an eyebrow I explained "What will your help cost me?"
If not for my powerful Optics I would have missed the briefest frown appearing on her face "You seem to be misunderstanding something here my boy."
She leaned forward and all subtlety disappeared from her face as she stared me directly in the Optics "You've already more than paid for my assistance. The fact you also made sure my idiot son didn't kill himself by trying to take revenge on Arasaka makes me the one in debt, not the other way around."
"That's-" I paused, frowning "I was duly compensated for both of those."
She actually smirked then "How about you let an old woman be emotionally compromised when it comes to her family instead of acting tough, hm?"
"If that's how you want to play it." I said slowly, keeping my eyes from narrowing despite my racing thoughts.
Was she trying to assure my loyalty to her son through an emotional angle? Or did she acknowledge there was no way for her or the gang to actually control me in the first place and was merely pivoting to something salvageable?
She was not being completely sincere, of that there was no doubt.
Did it matter in the end?
Probably not.
Minutely shaking my head I spoke up again "But you still need me to make a display of loyalty, right?"
"Oh don't pout at me, child." She said, knowing damn well it was getting under my plating "This is just the simplest solution to a growing problem, and we both know nipping it in the bud now is much better than having to deal with it down the line. Less headache for everyone involved."
"You aren't exactly wrong." I admitted with a click of my tongue "What do you need done?"
"Good, I had heard you were a reasonable one." She smiled thinly "There is a small group of Tygers who have insulted my authority, all of them are gathered around an old basketball court a few blocks away. I need them turned into a warning."
"A display." I hummed, it was as simple as it got "And them being Tygers won't raise eyebrows?"
"They know their place." Wakako said calmly "But sometimes a reminder is necessary."
So a mix of intimidation aimed at the central Tyger power in Westbrook, a display that I was under a 'higher power' and a punishment aimed at her own son for his 'daring assault' in taking the prestige of 'controlling' me right from under him.
'What a devious woman.'
"Fine." I said after a brief silence "Will that be all?"
"There is another thing." She said "A long-term contract."
"I'm listening."
"You are to quietly protect my son and his family for the duration of the conflict with Maelstrom." The Fixer said "For which you will be compensated two hundred thousand eurodollars a week."
'Quite the sum for something I'd do anyway.' I thought before catching it 'And another slap on Jugo's wrist she can keep in the proverbial chamber.'
My eyes narrowed ever so slightly "I'm afraid I am already engaged in a long-term contract with the client in question, so I won't be accepting any new entanglements at the moment."
She didn't so much as twitch at the refusal, merely raising an eyebrow "Oh?"
"Quite." I nodded and got up "I'll go beat up your gangoons now."
She did not stop me.
---
Finding the disgruntled Tygers was as simple as taking a short stroll.
The gonks, in what I could only ascribe to a terminal case of the stupid, didn't even bother hiding themselves or moving somewhere else, still squatting on their 'turf' despite all of the signs pointing to them being fucked.
Before long I found myself approaching a large abandoned, half ruined school, and the sixteen men and women, teenagers really, squatting around said school's basketball court, huffing glitter and drinking without a care in the world.
I did not know what they did to draw Wakako's irritation and I frankly did not care to look into it on the information packet the Fixer provided me with. The only thing that concerned were their combat abilities.
And I found them thoroughly lacking.
Which is why I didn't bother drawing my guns as I approached them, a long, thick metal bat crackling with electricity hanging from my right hand.
They noticed me immediately, either jumping onto their feet or trying to stumble up depending on their level of inebriation, and their leader, a young woman with no visible chrome stepped out.
"The fuck you want, clanker?" She cussed.
Which only made me blink and tilt my head "Really? That's the best you've got?"
"Yeah bitch!" She flipped me off "This is our turf, so you can fight right back off to whatever little shitheap you crawled out of or we'll turn you to scrap."
Well, there went the final tiny bit of empathy I still had for them.
"Shit, I know this gonk!" One of the more drugged out Tygers pointed at me "He's that fucking death machine from Watson!"
"No shit?" The bosswoman blinked before in all her intelligence showing no fear and looking back at me just as haughtily as she had been at first "What the fuck are you still doing here?"
"You annoyed Wakako." I droned out the necessary performance "And I'm here to break you for it."
"Well you can tell that shriveled up old fucking bitch she can go and fu-!"
Is as far as she got before I blasted forward with all my weight and instant momentum, artificial muscle coiling with explosive force as I blurred at her, right arm swinging down on her head and bursting it like a ripe melon as the crackling electricity of my bat exploded outwards, harmlessly washing over me and leaping into the many implants of the other goons.
The sudden makeshift EMP left them screaming and convulsing, and completely open to what came next.
My bat swung out to the right, braining another gangoon as one of the others managed to recover and quickly drew his katana in an attempt to rush me.
My left thermal claw ignited before he even realized what was happening and cut through the blade with a satisfying ting, gouging the man's face and chest and ending him painfully.
The others fared no better. The few errant bullets bouncing of my plating and barely even denting my coat as I methodically bashed my way through them.
Really, the greatest 'damage' I took was the realization the bat was just not as useful as I had hoped, ultimately ending up launched into one of the fleeing Tygers, crushing his spine and impaling him into the cement.
The rest I proceeded to simply punch or claw to death.
And just like that, sixteen lives disappeared for my convenience.
Seems like I was already in the corpo mindset.
Minutes later, a word for word story of what occurred was spreading in the ranks of the less idiotic Tyger Claws, and Wakako informed me I did well, depositing a solid 30k eddies onto my account with a message of 'For the inconvenience.' A moment later.
What a fucking chore.
----
"Tsk." I clicked my tongue and flicked the power switch on the bloodied EMP bat, proper name pending, stopping the crackling electricity from jumping about the jutting studs spread all over the three foot long metal head.
It was meant to be a simple solution and a proper middle finger to the sword worshippers, but no matter how much I changed or redesigned it it just wasn't clicking.
Even with my ability to outright ignore the weight constraints with my cybernetic strength, any actually usable version was just too damn unwieldy to give me what I wanted from a melee weapon.
The EMP gimmick was my final attempt at making it practical, but even then I had shotgun shells that did the same thing, and that was without mentioning my netrunning.
Also, as the pest control job had proven, my hands were more than sufficient ambassadors of blunt force trauma, making the bat part of the weapon completely redundant.
"Oh well." I sighed in defeat and tossed it on the pile with the rest of the failures "Back to the drawing board."
-------
Me hungy, gib ston.
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