Cyberpunk: Arasaka Secret Son

As gunfire and screams echoed from the end of the hallway, eight semi-invisible figures, camouflaged with cutting-edge holographic technology, slipped through the cloud of dust, moving like shadows until they reached the imposing armored doors.

"Light it up," ordered the veteran leader of the mercenary unit, his voice low and emotionless.

One of his men quickly advanced, extracting a tactical bag that he placed in the center of the door. With a swift gesture, he activated the device, and a flash without an explosion illuminated the entire hallway with a blinding light. The metal began to melt instantly, deforming under the intense heat.

Inside the laboratory, Lazarus's scientists watched in horror as the door turned red-hot. They huddled at the back of the room like cornered prey, aware there was no way out.

A few seconds later, a molten hole opened in the door, and the terrified scientists saw eight black-clad figures burst into the room, their weapons raised and ready to fire.

The head scientist, trembling, stepped forward with his hands raised. "Please, don't hurt us. We're not combatants."

The mercenary leader looked at him indifferently, without lowering his weapon. "If you don't want anything to happen to you, hand it over."

"What...?" The head scientist tried to feign ignorance, but as soon as he spoke, a shot pierced his shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

"Chief!" The other scientists screamed in terror and rushed to help him, trying to stop the bleeding.

"You know what we're after. Don't waste our time," growled the leader, pointing his weapon at the rest of the staff.

The head scientist, his face contorted in pain, nodded slowly. He crawled to the forensic table, typed some commands with a trembling hand, and an "Apogee" model Sandevistan emerged from inside the table.

"Take it and leave... please," he pleaded, his voice breaking.

One of the mercenaries stepped forward, picking up the Sandevistan with a cruel smile. "Wasn't so hard, was it?"

However, as the rest of the team turned, seeming ready to leave, the leader, his cold eyes fixed on the head scientist, said, "Check that it's the Sandevistan we're after."

This provoked a nervous reaction that spread through the staff members.

The mercenary who had picked up the device pulled out a pad and connected it to the Sandevistan. After a few seconds of analysis, his expression changed, his face hardened as he furiously threw the implant to the ground.

"Boss, it's a decoy. There's no trace of the target program..."

The leader remained motionless, his eyes fixed on the head scientist, his expression cold and calculating. Without warning, he raised his gun and emptied the magazine, each shot precise and lethal.

The sound of bodies hitting the ground echoed in the lab, mingled with the muffled cries of the survivors. Eight staff members were killed in a matter of seconds, leaving behind a suffocating silence.

The head scientist, stunned by what he had just witnessed, snapped out of his shock only to find the leader's gun pointed directly at his head.

"Where is it?" asked the mercenary once more, his voice as cold as the steel of his weapon.

The head scientist, knowing all was lost, felt a dark sense of release. Nothing could save them now, and he had no reason to keep pretending. A bitter laugh escaped his lips, his eyes gleaming with a mix of defiance and resignation. "It's not here," he murmured, savoring the power of those words for a brief moment.

The leader didn't wait any longer.

Bang.

As the head scientist's body fell to the ground, his laughter dying with him, the mercenary leader turned to contact "that thing."

Before leaving the laboratory, he ordered, without any emotion in his voice, "Kill the rest..."

-

At the same time…

In another corner of the facility, a bloody battle was taking place.

Trevor, covered in wounds, stood firm at the front, protected by his thick subcutaneous armor that absorbed the most lethal impacts. Despite the pain, he resisted the onslaught of the droids, acting as a human shield.

He covered as many soldiers as he could, but those he couldn't... became brutal victims of the droids. With every step they took, one of their lives was claimed, snapping necks, piercing hearts with their hands, or brutally ripping entire limbs off without effort.

Roxy moved swiftly, assisting in every skirmish she could, throwing explosive and electrified kunais that erupted in blinding flashes and sharp fragments.

At the same time, she released smoke bombs mixed with titanium shavings, aluminum powder, and activated carbon, creating a dense curtain that interfered with the droids' vision and advanced sensors.

Morgan, bleeding from his head and with multiple wounds on his face, defended himself as best he could against the four droids attacking him simultaneously, without giving him a moment to breath.

To make matters worse, the caliber of bullets he could fire with his flesh-and-bone hand—like the rest of the Lazarus soldiers, whose Cyberware had been disabled—wasn't powerful enough to penetrate the droids' armored bodies

They barely managed to contain them, and only when they hit, which was a challenge given the droids' speed and inhuman movements—dodging bullets by running along walls and ceilings before pouncing on Lazarus's forces

Morgan had no choice but to use his Sandevistan to dodge their attacks and buy time, hoping Roxy would support him so he could pull back and catch his breath.

Even so, while prioritizing avoiding the most lethal blows, several attacks aimed at disarming him grazed his body, leaving his right arm marked with wounds and his pinky and ring fingers broken.

Suddenly, the droids stopped. Their heads turned in unison toward Morgan, who, despite being injured, flashed a sardonic smile. With a deliberate gesture, he opened his coat and revealed the Apogee Sandevistan hidden within.

"Do you think I don't know what you're after? Or that I didn't notice the 'monkeys' that ran off after you entered?"

The silver-tongued droid slowly clapped, its metallic voice dripping with disdain. ["As I said, you have a keen eye, but revealing its possession so soon was a mistake."]

In the blink of an eye, another droid appeared in front of Morgan, thrusting its hand forward to pierce his chest. In the next instant, a large amount of blood splattered on the floor as sparks of electricity crackled in the air.

Just as it was about to pierce his heart, Morgan moved at the last moment, causing the droid's hand to stab into his shoulder instead.

Morgan gritted his teeth and shoved the barrel of his PeaceKeeper—an electromagnetic sawed-off shotgun designed for his left cybernetic arm—into the droid's ribcage, then pulled the trigger with his mangled right hand

The recoil was terrible for Morgan, but the impact was even more brutal for the droid, sending it flying upward until it smashed into the ceiling and fell to the ground like a broken doll.

His already injured right hand and arm were now a mangled mess of flesh and bone. 'Still... it was worth it,' Morgan thought as he smiled at the silver-tongued droid.

The droid didn't seem to like the unexpected surprise of losing one of its companions.

Ignoring the pain, before all the droids could attack him, Morgan shouted, "Terminate the protocol!"

As soon as they heard it, the surviving soldiers turned around and started running, dispersing through the different corridors, but not before releasing their EMP grenades, which every Lazarus soldier had to carry while on duty.

Morgan, Trevor, and Roxy did the same before activating their sandervistas and disappearing from the hallway.

The droids remained motionless as the electromagnetic storm enveloped them. When it dissipated, the eleven droids ignored the soldiers and focused on Morgan.

Roxy and Trevor followed him, concerned about the seemingly aimless direction he had chosen, thinking they were heading into a dead end.

The feeling of being cornered intensified when the eleven droids appeared behind them, quickly closing the distance.

However, when they turned the final corner, they were surprised to see that the wall at the end of the hallway, which should have blocked their way, was retracting hydraulically.

Revealing a massive armored door, similar to a bank vault, fully open, emitting a golden glow from within.

Morgan stopped at the entrance, ready to buy them some time as the door began to close slowly. Just as Trevor passed by him, Morgan performed a subtle sleight of hand with what was left of his limb.

They exchanged a final look that deeply worried Trevor.

The droids, aware they were running out of time, propelled their companion at the front, launching him towards Morgan like a projectile, crossing the hallway through the air.

Just as he was about to reach him, Morgan activated the security measures he had reserved, knowing he could only use them once and for a mere moment before losing control due to the nature of his enemies.

From the ceiling, automated turrets deployed and opened fire on the group of droids, temporarily stopping them. As a final touch, in the narrow space between Morgan and the droid lunging at him, having deliberately placed himself there, a lethal laser gate was activated.

The droid, unable to stop in mid-air, collided with it head-on, being sliced into diamond-shaped pieces that fell to the ground with a dull thud.

The laser barrier didn't stop there; it began moving along the hallway, advancing toward the remaining droids as they were pinned down by shots from all directions.

However, just as it was about to reach them, several droids simultaneously raised their hands, taking control of the defense system.

Before they could fully seize control, Morgan triggered the self-destruct, causing the turrets and lasers to explode.

As the armored door was about to close completely, despite every fiber of his body screaming in protest, Morgan activated his Sandevistan one last time and hurled himself into the chamber.

As an unexpected response, all the droids fell to the ground, inert... all except one.

The last one changed, grotesquely inflating its artificial muscles as all the AIs converged on it, powering up in a single frame beyond its limits.

Being able to enter a mysterious world... that seemed frozen in time.

In the blink of an eye, the droid appeared behind Morgan, grabbing his coat while driving four metallic fingers into his back, aiming to pierce his heart as it went through his ribs.

Nevertheless... before the fatal blow could fully penetrate him, Trevor, already holding onto his brother's harness, pushed him with all his strength into the chamber, which closed with a final, resounding bang.

Morgan fell to the ground, blood filling his mouth and his face growing pale as life slipped away from him.

"Morgan, hang on!" Trevor shouted, alarmed and terrified at the thought of his brother dying in his arms, as he watched Morgan's body go limp.

With the strength he had left, Morgan tried to speak, but his voice, choked by blood, could barely manage a whisper. "Tre...vor... I always envied you for being the one to finish off the old man... I'm sorry I couldn't... be there with you to kill Geor..."

"Forget that son of a bitch, just hang on..." Trevor replied, his voice breaking. Turning his head towards Roxy, he shouted, "Where the hell is the kid?! We need his help right now!"

Trevor felt as if the world was collapsing around him as he watched his brother close his eyes.

"Trevor..." Roxy began, trying to warn him.

But Trevor, unable to accept what was happening, interrupted her with a scream full of pain: "Shut up! He can't go like this!"

Roxy, seeing that he wasn't listening, kicked Trevor aside. Without hesitation, she pulled a syringe from under her jacket and plunged it into Morgan's neck. The black liquid inside the syringe glowed with a blue sheen before entering his body.

As everything faded around him, Morgan could only see the IDn interface shutting down slowly, just like his brain activity. Believing it to be a dying hallucination, a black puppy with blue eyes appeared in his vision, yawning as if it had just woken up amid the static filling his interface.

The black puppy sat down, as if looking straight into his eyes. Then, with his characteristic slightly broken voice that didn't match his current adorable appearance, he said, "You look like shit..."

-

A few seconds before the alarm sounded in the Civil Wing.

An unmarked NCPD car slipped into the crowded parking lot of the Turbo Bar.

The area was particularly busy, now that the building's owners had evicted the remaining patrons from inside.

The streets outside, however, were a chaos of neon lights, drunken citizens, and the noise of mixed songs from the various parked cars' sound systems.

With a tired sigh, the two detectives assigned to the case, due to their connection with the suspect, got out of the car. They had come to take his statement about the chase he had been involved in just over an hour ago.

To their disbelief, after four years away from the city, it had taken him less than a day—in fact, just a few hours—to reappear in the news, this time being surrealistically caught singing to his pursuers during the escape.

Detective River Ward and his partner Harold Han advanced toward the Iron Beast mega headquarters, exchanging heavy glances at what awaited them, until suddenly the alarm of the enormous complex cut through the air.

This was followed by the deafening roar of a black dropship that flew over the area, casting its shadow over the neon lights of the street.

The off-duty Iron Beast security members, who were enjoying a few drinks along with the two detectives, drew their weapons out of training and pure instinct.

Aiming at the twelve imposing droids, which made the ground tremble as they landed in the center of the crowded parking lot, their dark eye sockets glowing with a grim red glare.

Chaos erupted in screams of terror as the machines began to brutally liquidate anyone who dared to confront them. They dismembered bodies with coldness, scattering blood over the nearby cars and the hot asphalt.

Ward and Han didn't hesitate to open fire on two of the droids that were slowly approaching them.

With each shot, their anxiety grew as they saw the bullets uselessly ricochet off the droids' armored exoskeletons. Even the powerful .44 Magnum rounds from River's Malorian Overture barely managed to scratch the metallic armor.

Panic took hold of them, causing them to keep pulling the trigger even when their weapons were empty, each 'click' more futile than the last.

The first droid stopped in front of Han, raising its leg and, with a mechanical motion, brought it down like a hydraulic press onto the detective's calf.

The sound of bones breaking mixed with Han's heart-wrenching scream as he fell to the ground, his face contorted in an expression of absolute pain.

Meanwhile, the other droid, with a simple and brutal slap, sent Ward flying through the air, his body crashing down onto the hood of a nearby car, leaving a deep dent.

The droid that had crushed Han's tibia and fibula raised its leg again, this time with the clear intention of finishing the job by crushing his skull.

The other droid raised its fist to break River's neck, which was sticking out next to its head from one side of the hood.

Before it could bring its foot down like a guillotine on Detective Han, something big and black leaped onto it, biting the droid's neck and smashing it against the car, saving Han's life.

At the same time, a black kanabo, with electrical sparks crackling between its silver spikes, brutally struck the droid next to Detective Ward.

The "batter" let out a furious roar, expelling a gust of condensed air from the sides of his black helmet, where a red Oni face was illuminated. His entire body released steam that escaped through the openings of his relentless black suit.

By activating his Gear Limit, Tashin—or rather his brother Miyamoto controlling his body—was able to fracture the droid's tough thoracic casing before sending it flying.

The intervention of Tashin and Eco silenced the frantic parking lot. The people, who had been fleeing in terror, now stopped only to record what had happened with their ocular implants, morbid curiosity and the desire for views surpassing the instinct for survival.

Miyamoto, with Getsuga Modo-Kanabo resting on his shoulder, approached River, extending his metal hand to help him. "Are you alright, Detective Ward?" his voice firm, without a trace of hesitation.

River accepted the help, his legs trembling from the adrenaline and the recent impact.

As he stood up, seeing nine droids running toward the Turbo Bar, leaving behind the shattered bodies of the guards, he asked alarmed, "Shouldn't you be worried about those things?"

With Eco taking care of two and him still having his hands full with the droid he had batted away, which got back up again, Miyamoto responded, "Don't worry... they're heading straight to their deaths..."

Thus describing the place where his brother and sisters-in-law were.

The droid with the fractured ribcage made the mistake of trying to take control of Miyamoto's software, causing interference in his helmet and making him lose control of his body... for a second.

That was the time it took for Tashin to regain control, and for Miyamoto and Ishida to defend against the hacking... before counterattacking, targeting the AI controlling the droid in cyberspace.

In the real world, Tashin disappeared from Detective Ward's sight, and in the next blink, he appeared in front of the droid, grasping the handle of Getsuga sheathed, which vibrated with the contained force.

Upon unsheathing it... his brothers did the same in cyberspace.

With the AI finding itself surrounded by the three brothers attacking from the front and sides... all executing the same Tsume-ryū sword technique in entirely different dimensions.

While the "monsters" engaged in a battle that any normal human would die in within seconds, River ran toward his injured partner.

Han was on the ground, struggling to stay conscious as he injected stim after stim directly into his leg. His shattered shin was now a shapeless mass of flesh and bone, with his foot hanging precariously from the other end.

"Han, Han, are you okay?" River's voice trembled at the sight of his leg.

"Do I look good? Damn it!" Han shouted, his voice filled with agony. "What the hell were those things? I've never seen bots like that! With 50 of those, they could take a city, fuck!"

Harold kept cursing, unaware of how right he was.

♪♪

Suddenly, he and everyone present turned toward the shattered entrance of the bar, where the droids had come in... from which emerged the melodic chords of a... guitar?

♪♪- Hzzzv

"What the hell? Have those things formed a band or what?" Han tried to joke, but his bitter laughter was short-lived due to the unbearable pain.

♪♪-Zhvzz

"No, I don't think it's them," Ward replied, watching the flashes of light and the sound of discharges that synced with the chords.

-

A few seconds earlier, when the bar door came crashing down with a bang, scattering metal fragments and dust into the air as the droids stormed into the Turbo Bar.

The first thing the droids detected were four people and a monkey-faced robot, who seemed to be waiting for them.

Judy and Lucy were partially dressed, with their pants on and their jackets and shirts loosely covering their upper bodies to some extent...

Comfortably seated on an L-shaped sofa, they observed the intruders with a mix of hatred and curiosity.

A little further away, Powler stood next to Cymbal, armed to the teeth, with her Fishbones—a missile launcher with a shark-head-shaped barrel—slung across her back, while she aimed at the droids with her minigun, Pow-Pow, ready to open fire.

And then there was Sora... exuding a solitary presence in the middle of the room, facing the nine droids.

Clad only in shoes, dress pants, and an unbuttoned black shirt that revealed the tense muscles beneath his skin, along with an elegant harness for his Malorian under his arms

A strap comfortably crossed his torso, loosely securing a futuristic guitar: with an experimental metallic orange frame, covering a smooth, headless neck that remained open like the mouth of a cannon...

Confusing the droids, when suddenly —♪♪— their target literally began... 'Playing God'

(Song: Polyphia - Playing God. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5NoQg8LdDk )

illing the bar with complex guitar chords that flowed like an intricate, hypnotic melody, which the droids didn't seem to like as they simultaneously lunged at him.

Powler, laughing like a maniac, opened fire with her Pow-Pow, unleashing a rain of bullets on the droids, causing one of them to change targets and head toward her.

Before it could reach her, Cymbal crashed into the droid, immobilizing it by grabbing its hands and blocking its path toward Powler.

Meanwhile, Judy and Lucy lit up and shared a cigarette, moving their heads to the rhythm of the music, enjoying their fiancé's performance.

Who continued playing —♪♪—, his fingers gliding over the strings as if each had a life of its own, until the first droid reached him with its arm flexed and fingers outstretched as if it wanted to impale him.

Before the machine could attack, Sora stepped forward, tilting his new guitar towards it, while the neck filled with —HzzVh— electricity that crackled violently.

With a deep strum of the strings —♪♪-ZzVzh—, the electricity condensed before being unleashed in a bolt that roared out from the guitar's neck.

The bolt struck the droid directly, causing an electrical explosion that sent it flying backward with such force that the other AIs, surprised, quickly moved aside, creating a path to avoid the silver meteor their companion had become, until it crashed into a wall, embedding itself there.

Mimicking Morgan's 'Diabolical' smile, Sora picked up the pace.

—♪♪-♪♪—

His hands became a blur as they moved across the strings, multiplying the chords he played at such speed that it seemed like two guitarists were playing different parts of the same song.

Also increasing —ZzVzh-VzZzh— the electricity running through his guitar, accumulating until it was discharged as a violent massive surge that branched out, striking several droids.

Those who managed to dodge it seized the opportunity to charge at Sora, correctly believing that if they could make him stop playing, they would also disable his Arc weapon.

Aware of what they were planning, when three droids charged at him, Sora also rushed toward them, using his own body as a pivot and hurling his guitar, making it spin around him.

As it spun, in a fluid motion, a sinuous blade emerged from the edge of the metallic frame, transforming the guitar into an axe with a bright, incandescent edge.

Unable to keep playing, —♪~— Sora whistled, continuing the melody. While wielding his guitar-axe, he unleashed a quick and brutal sequence of slashes, mixing aerial attacks with low sweeps.

Each impact emitted a metallic, reverberating sound as sparks flew from the clashes against the metallic frames of the droids that attempted to defend themselves.

In one of the swings, Sora managed to break through the defenses of one of the droids. For an instant, he activated his Limit Gear, causing steam to burst from his body as he drove the axe-blade of his guitar into the droid's skull, splitting it in two.

Black oil splattered across his face as the machine collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

"One down... Who's next?" Sora asked, resting the body of his guitar on his shoulder with a mocking smile.

["Don't get too excited, monkey..."] The metallic voice of the droid pinned to the wall echoed with disdain.

"Monkey?" Sora frowned, surprised by the outdated information his "brothers" on the other side of the wall seemed to have. They were aware of his survival but not of his current state...

Wrongly believing that 'Arc' was weakened or dying.

Ignoring his reaction, the AI continued speaking: ["It's true that you've surprised us, but... that's only because we haven't used our full capacity, purely out of 'respect' for the great fallen and dying being that hides within you..."]

As it spoke, the droid peeled itself off the wall. Its artificial muscles swelled as it invited its fallen brother into its frame. ["The great beings have ordered us to put him out of his misery,"] it concluded, almost with a fervent, nearly religious tone.

"Oh... How merciful... So? What are you waiting for? Give me your best shot. You wouldn't be afraid of a dying AI... would you?" Sora responded, patting his shoulder with a defiant smile.

The conversation between Sora and the droid caught Powler's attention, who was in the midst of a fierce battle alongside Cymbal against one of the droids.

After the order preventing them from attacking through Cyberspace was lifted, the enemy droid raised its hand, and Cymbal was instantly paralyzed.

Erin became alarmed when she saw how, simultaneously, two of the droids suddenly launched themselves at Judy and Lucy.

Mistakenly thinking that Sora was also being hacked, as the six droids aimed at him with their hands raised, Powler decided to prioritize protecting his fiancées instead of helping Cymbal.

With one hand, she fired her Pow-Pow, and with the other, her Fishbones, doing everything she could to hold off the droids.

Meanwhile, the paralyzed Cymbal, in a last attempt to protect Erin before having his head ripped off, managed to close his heavy arms around the droid, immobilizing it for a few moments.

The droids that lunged at Judy and Lucy disappeared in multiple missile explosions in a desperate attempt to save them. Powler breathed a sigh of relief... until she saw them emerge from the fire almost unscathed, with only a few artificial muscles burning.

However, what truly surprised Powler was the reaction—or rather, the lack thereof—from Judy and Lucy.

As the droids were practically on top of them, Judy calmly handed over her cigarette, stood up from the sofa with an unsettling composure, and raising her hand towards the droids, her eyes darkened as her purple pupils glowed with an inhuman intensity. On her finger, a simple yet elegant gold tech engagement ring caught the dim light.

Immediately, both droids froze. Despite their practically expressionless frames, one could discern their surprise at being immobilized by an unknown code.

At the same time, Lucy, her eyes filled with hatred towards the AIs on the other side, also stood up, the cigarette dangling from her full lips. She raised both hands, causing the tattoos on her back to glow as she injected all sorts of malware into the vulnerable AIs.

Her white gold engagement ring, which matched Judy's, subtly gleamed as she focused.

Sora also wore a black ring of the same design, a silent witness to the bond between the three.

Due to the series of events unfolding in front of her, Powler became distracted.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, panicked, as she saw the droid she was fighting right in front of her, its arm flexed, ready to smash her head in.

When all she could do was think of closing her eyes, Judy quickly turned her hand towards her, managing to stop the droid's fist just inches from her face.

The effort to keep three AIs at bay on the other side of the wall... was reflected on Judy's face, with her small nose wrinkled, brows furrowed, and heavy breathing.

Until Sora, after getting a taste of their ability in digital warfare and realizing that Morgan and the others were in danger... got serious.

And... expanded his domain.

'Inviting' all the AIs present, both inside and outside the bar, into his cyberspace.

-

Author: With this, we are now up to date. It takes me about a week to write and translate each new chapter. I hope you've enjoyed the story so far!

Also, the next chapter is already up on my Patreon for those who want an early read. I'll be gradually releasing more chapters for subscribers. patreon.com/user?u=8326781