Cyberpunk: The Magnet fruit

Arasaka Tower, Arasaka Corporation.

In the cold steel meeting room of the special operations division, Susan Abner sat at the head of the table, exuding authority. She had firmly taken control of operations following the chaos of the previous night.

On the large projector screen, footage from the prosthetic eye of the deceased operative known as "Executor" was being replayed. The images—gritty and raw—showed a deadly ballet of gunfire and acrobatics.

Members of the special ops unit sat in silent attention, joined by technicians and researchers from Arasaka's weapons development division.

Even the seasoned experts from R&D looked pale as they witnessed V rolling, dodging, and shooting with unnatural precision. The moment she activated her armor mid-combat, jaws dropped.

When the footage ended, silence hung heavy.

Susan's voice cut through it. "Well? Any idea what kind of tech she's using?"

One of the lead researchers hesitated, stammering, "T-this kind of armor... I've never seen anything like it."

He gulped, then added, "Judging from her movements and enhancements, it resembles something out of Steinweisstein's prosthetics line, but—this is V. She's a senior Arasaka executive. We have complete logs of her augmentations. She's never been equipped with anything remotely like this."

Another specialist leaned forward. "What's even more baffling is the rapid transformation. She fully armored herself in under a second. That's not something conventional cyberware can do. There's no known skin-level prosthetic that performs like that."

Susan narrowed her eyes. Her suspicions were confirmed.

"So... she's been dealing with outside forces."

She tapped her fingers on the table thoughtfully. "If someone gave her that kind of hardware, my money's on Militech."

Turning to her right, she snapped, "Sedes, get the intel division on this immediately. Have them monitor every move Militech makes. I want reports by the hour."

"Yes, Miss Abner," Sedes replied with a crisp nod.

"And another thing," she added, narrowing her eyes. "Deploy agents to Night City. I want V found. Alive, if possible."

"Understood."

As Sedes turned to leave, Susan called after him once more.

"Oh—and track down a mercenary V was seen associating with. Kid from the Dragon Kingdom. Name's David. Look into him. He might be the key to V's location."

"Clear. I'll start immediately."

With that, Sedes exited, and the special ops team began preparing for mobilization.

Susan leaned back in her chair, mind racing.

She was intrigued, even obsessed, with the armor V had deployed. But despite her curiosity, the truth was frustratingly out of reach. Where had V gotten it? Was Militech really behind this?

She didn't know.

What she did know was that Arasaka had just issued a full-scale bounty across Night City. V was now officially a wanted target.

But unknown to her, Militech had its own problems.

Elsewhere: Militech Interrogation Facility

At that very moment, the military tech conglomerate was dealing with the aftermath of an aerial vehicle theft. The theft had embarrassed the company on a global scale.

In one of their black-site interrogation rooms, the air was thick with blood and tension.

Albers, the director of Militech's interrogation department, stood coldly across from Royce, leader of the Whirlpool Gang in Watson's North District.

Royce no longer looked like a feared gang leader. His mechanical limbs had been disassembled piece by piece. His face was a mess of bruises, blood, and swelling. The cold steel table reflected his defeated expression.

This was Militech's method.

Words were optional.

Torture? Mandatory.

They didn't just extract information. They stripped it from your mind and body.

Prosthetics? Removed.

Lies? Detected before you even spoke them.

Even if you had the latest black-market augments, Militech would break you down to the bone.

Royce had held out longer than most—but even he couldn't withstand Albers.

Albers leaned in.

"Where did the tech come from, Royce?"

Royce coughed, spitting blood onto the table. He mumbled, barely coherent.

"Didn't... know... it was hers..."

Albers narrowed his eyes. "You're lying."

He nodded to an assistant, who activated another round of electrical pulses through Royce's spine.

Meanwhile: In the Underground

While Arasaka and Militech each scrambled in their own ways, far below the shining towers of Night City, David and his team were already in motion.

The gangs of Night City wouldn't know what hit them.

They thought the city belonged to them.

But everything was about to change.

And David? He was the one pulling the strings.

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