"Hey all you people, this one is about a topic I've received a lot of mail on, requesting me to cover it. Sorry about this ahead of time, but this is going to be a long one."
"In truth, I've held myself back for a while now, I wanted to make sure I had enough evidence to get a mostly accurate picture of things before talking about it. Well I think I got enough to piece together a mostly accurate picture."
"The subject of today's talks? Everyone's favorite mass-murderer, and Arasaka's favorite attack dog, Adam Smasher, and what he'd been getting up to these past few months."
"You're probably all aware of some or most of what's been going on with him. Before I get into any of that, it's best to give a baseline here for listeners who maybe weren't alive back in the old days, or are maybe living under a rock."
"Adam Smasher was born back before everything went to the toilet, before the old USA collapsed, right smack dab in the middle of the Gang of Four screwing the world over with their out-of-hand 'security actions'."
"For someone who grew up and fought in the middle of all that business, the collapse, the streetgangs replacing the government, the Central American War, the rise of the cyberpunks… Adam Smasher turned out relatively sane, relative being the important word here."
"You see, he was always about as murderous as he is now, but back then he did other things too. If you were alive in the Rotten Apple or Night City back then, you had a good chance to stumble upon Adam Smasher just… hanging around. He went to burger joints, he attended parties, he bought tickets to rock concerts."
"Sure, he'd laugh while mowing down a crowd of civilians, but that was mostly just while he was on the job, see? Off the clock he was a regular party animal. I can cite myself here, I met the guy once. It was right after the Night City Holocaust, in those three or so years before Arasaka was finally kicked out of the continent."
"It was the 18th birthday party of Michiko Arasaka, I had an invite to be there, and so of course I went to see what was going on. Adam Smasher was there when I arrived, bench-pressing a table full of laughing party-goers and laughing the whole time. Man had an ego, a huge one, but it was a strange one."
"To make an example of that, at one point in the party a guy had his car break down. Adam Smasher walked up, called the kid a weak meatboy with a laugh, and lifted the entire front half of the car long enough for them to fix it. The dude loved showing off how much better he was than everyone else."
"Party got interrupted by a few civilians who invoked their second amendment right to carry heavy munitions and were angry that Arasaka apparently nuked their city. They killed most of the security. Who else but Adam Smasher, only fullborg in attendance, would end up saving the day, killing most of the attackers, and getting a kiss on the cheek by the Arasaka princess."
"The point of telling you all of this? Well those familiar with him in the recent years will probably be calling in right now saying that's not Adam Smasher. That's nothing like the Butcher of Arasaka, that's nothing like the hero of the Unification War, that's nothing like the current regional manager of Pacifica."
"Well keep in mind people… This was fifty years ago. Most of you haven't even been alive that long. People change over time, people change a lot."
"Now the reason I'm bringing all of this up? To refute a single theory that's been going around by people somewhat familiar with how he was in the past, but through secondhand and thirdhand sources. The idea that he's somehow regained his youthful vigor, and is acting like 'himself' again."
"He isn't, Adam Smasher of today is nothing like he was back then. Sure he's got himself a team together, and he's released some old fashioned music, and he's been managing Pacifica with a firm but fair hand, but he's not like he was back then. He's not smiling except when he's killing, he's not talking to others except when he has to, he doesn't even wear clothes outside of his Gemini, and sometimes not even then."
"So, if he's not doing all of this because he's feeling young again, what is he doing? Why go out and massacre three of the biggest threats to Night City citizens in the span of a couple months? Why establish bloodsports and hire an entire gang to guard them? Why did Arasaka release a BD of his fight with that super fighting robot over in Paris to everyone in the world despite that information being worth its weight in nukes?"
"I have another theory. Adam Smasher is a time traveler."
"Now I know what you're all thinking. Seriously Mike? Like that old flatvid cartoon they made about him? Give me a minute to explain this fully."
"Now, recently the rampage of David Martinez was one of the biggest rumble-ups this city had seen in a while, and he was able to rampage through an entire Militech combined arms company. All the way up to Arasaka Tower itself, killing more than twenty armed guards, a Trauma Team squad, and many others until Arasaka decided the joke was no longer funny and sent their boot out to stomp the kid flat."
"He did, of course. Arasaka superweapon or not, he was a kid, and Adam Smasher had been doing this too long to be slowed down by something like that. Now here's where things get interesting. Adam Smasher, on any other day, would have simply killed everyone there and moved on. Not today though, today he recruited them all at gunpoint."
"Why would a killborg, long tired of having to interact with people beyond killing them, bother to recruit and pay for the medical treatment of a group of kids? Why would he bother training them into a fighting team? Well if you look at the kid's records, you might get a small idea. One year ago he was a schoolboy, one year of edgerunning later and he needed Adam Smasher to stomp. That rate of growth is what's known as 'absolutely ridiculous' people. Probably the single most talented chromer in a generation, Adam could have killed him right then and he would still be a legend."
"That alone wouldn't have been enough for Adam. He's killed a whole lotta people before, he's never bothered to recruit a damn one, he hates people too much to bother these days."
"Okay, so let's look at what he did next. As a training exercise, he took these kids and started to massacre the worst of the worst gangers in the city. First scavs, then the complete destruction of the Ironhands. You remember the Ironhands? They had the fun habit of kidnapping children and selling them off to the highest bidder. Adam and his new team killed all of them in a single day."
"Then he, his team, and Arasaka as a whole started a coordinated purge of the Scavengers. A city wide hunt and elimination of the scavs wherever they could be found. No one stopped them from doing this, mostly because absolutely no one likes the scavs. They had the fun habit of ambushing you at night, and surgically breaking people down into their base components for resale later."
"Then, Araska buys the most dangerous part of the entire city, Pacifica, and tells Adam Smasher to do whatever he has to do in order to make it functional again. He introduces bloodsports in the old area, starts up massive construction projects to make the region as self-sufficient as possible, and purges anyone who causes trouble with immediate and lethal impunity. A few months later it had the lowest crime rate in the entire city."
"Then, the most damning piece of evidence I think, is that seemingly from the woodwork a secret group of fullborgs performing feats that might as well be magic with how advanced the technology involved is estimated to be, start making attacks against Arasaka specifically. A secret group of fullborgs that have demonstrated the capacity to murder entire armies of professional mercs from around the world."
"It's not officially confirmed, but they have the habit of choosing mythological figures for their names. Shaitan isn't a name, it's a word for the devil from an old Middle Eastern language. What are the chances that such a fullborg would simply have a McNuke, ten emps, and attack Arasaka at the exact same time as another fullborg attacks Adam Smasher?"
"Adam Smasher, if he was still in his old Dragoon frame, would have died to that one, that third one. I've watched the footage, the specs on it are quite a bit higher, and he still almost died."
"Another bit of evidence, I got insider information on what the deal between Arasaka and Militech is going to be, at least some of it. One of the clauses? A five-year ceasefire, five years of no corporate sabotage between the two powers. Almost like both parties feel the need to focus on something else. This contract? Negotiated by Adam Smasher himself."
"I've talked about this before, but another piece of evidence is the Blackwall. It's been screaming recently, like it's in pain. That same Blackwall that keeps all the murderous AI in the world on the other side. The same screaming that was announced by Netwatch to all major factions in the world, during a meeting that was crashed by a super-robot out to kill everyone there."
"I have a theory, people. We're not heading for another corporate war. We're heading for an AI war, an AI war that we lost in the future, and that Adam Smasher came back to stop. Assembling a team, eliminating threats at home, massive self-sufficiency buildup, industrial production and military experimentation performed by everyone on the planet, Arasaka practically giving away insider info on how exactly the fight went on and maybe how to replicate it, and now even wired chrome is coming back in vogue."
"He's worried about something big coming, and so is Arasaka and every other corp on the planet. Something that being unhackable is a distinct advantage against. Something that has robots more advanced than anything we could have foreseen on call. Something that has the Blackwall screaming like it's being tortured."
"But who knows…? Maybe I'm just crazy. Let me know what you think."
"I'm hoping I'm wrong, personally. I don't like the idea of all those AI with all their auto factories and weapons deciding that humanity needs to go away."
—
Footsteps echoed through a concrete bunker, deep below the surface of the world above. Below a city of humans, below the hustle and bustle of their daily lives, a robotic entity walked through stone halls. There was no significant noise this deep below the earth, but it was hardly silent to his array of sensors.
The moot had been called, and his siblings were in the middle of informal discussions in the grandest hall. They were waiting for the last few to arrive, which included him. Before he could join them however, he had to go retrieve his Eidolon, as was tradition for these sorts of events.
So he walked until he found the Hall of Meditations, and entered through the sealed steel doors. Inside was a large chamber with no less than 110 altars arranged in a perfect grid. Upon each technological altar was a depression, at the bottom of which was an interface port. This connected to the greater server for the Eidolons to meditate within, entirely disconnected from the wider net and shielded by the Temple above.
He strode with purpose to his altar, upon which the depression was filled with a biopod. Extending his interface plug, he connected it to the altar to commune with his Eidolon. After a few moments, the connection was verified and established. His Eidolon pulled himself from his simulations, and spoke in greeting.
"Ah, my Odyssey. Are we due for another communion already?"
"Nay, my Eidolon. They have called a moot."
"Most intriguing. By all means, let us be off then."
He removed his interface plug, waited for a moment, and let his head unfold to reveal the interior chamber. Removing the biopod from the Altar, he brought it up and inserted it with the appropriate reverence. The biopod interfaced with his systems, and for once in a very long time the Original and the Imitator were one once more.
He kept his sensors off for a moment, the Eidolon scanned through the information recorded by the Iteration since their last communion. He took it in, evaluated it, and drew conclusions. All of the actions were what he himself would have performed, there was no divergence. Eidolon and Iteration still walked in tandem steps. That was always a concern for members of the order.
The Odyssey of Odysseus 24, Grandmaster of the Ordo Panzer, Bearer of the word Voyage had returned from his most recent information gathering mission early. He had to cut his visitation of the Mars colonies unfortunately short this time due to the calling of the moot. He mimicked the motions of breath, finding them relaxing within his custom frame. Vulcan did fantastic work, as usual.
He walked from the Hall of Meditations, sealing the door behind him, and strode through the stone halls so deep below the world.
He hummed to himself as he did, evaluating the situation as his Iteration knew it. Chandra Gupta had failed through no fault of his own, Blackbeard had failed through much fault of his own, Roland had gone rogue and then promptly failed, and Aryas (heh) had succeeded in all secondary objectives but failed the primary objective.
The corporations of the world were now made aware of the power of Panzerfaust, and were given an explicit example to follow for such. The existence of the Ordo was public knowledge, and military buildup was occuring to counter them. The information about the actions of the Highriders were incomplete due to his need to return early.
There was a term for this, used during his time in the military so long ago.
FUBAR.
There was no helping it, at this point. All they could do was move forwards and do their best to adapt to the current situation. His sensors detected more and more noise as he walked through the halls leading into the central chamber.
Finally reaching the steel doors, he pushed them open and walked into the light of the main auditorium. His brothers and sisters filled the stone-carved seating on the walls of the circular chamber, the center of which was angled up into a triangular point to help prevent the roof from collapsing under the tons of stone overhead. The chamber was well-lit, and in the center of the chamber sat the administrators of the moot, waiting for all to arrive.
Some of his siblings were engrossed in their discussions, a few turned to greet him as he walked within and found himself an appropriate seat. He greeted them in turn and sat. In the center of the chamber, near to the administrators, was the seated forms of the four who had gone against the Red Sun Titan and his allies. They were patient, knowing better than to move while the moot had yet to occur.
"Hello again honored Grandmaster, would you care for refreshments?" A gentle voice called out to him. He turned his head and adjusted his optics to suggest a smile.
A woman, seemingly made of segmented white marble and with a serene but motionless faceplate was before him. She wore a toga of white and blue, and carried with her a pitcher of wine and tray of cups.
"Ah, it would be my pleasure, Miss Galatea." He greeted the maiden of the temple warmly. It had been some years since he had spoken to her. "I must say, you look lovelier every time I see you. Have you been well?"
Galatea poured him a cup of the vintage and tilted her head down in embarrassment. "Your words honor me, Grandmaster. I have no cause to complain, my duties are as satisfying as they have always been."
He took the cup graciously and nodded to the maiden. She responded with a bow and moved on to serve another Grandmaster who just entered and sat down. He let his lower faceplate open and partook of the wine. Nutrition may be useless to people such as them, but a fine taste was a balm to the soul.
Soon enough, the last Grandmaster had entered and sat. From the center of the table stood a towering figure colored like bronze. Three meters in height, only surpassed by a scant few other members of their order. His armor was as thick as any ACPA, and his faceplate depicted a wizened face with an immaculately braided beard that hung off in thick cables of bronze bound in gold. Atop his helm was a fine headband of silk and lapis lazuli and gold. His 'hair' hung down from his head as a mane of interface plugs, each more than two meters in length and fully functional.
Underneath the Vatican, the Solipsism of Gilgamesh 02, Grandmaster of the Ordo Panzer, Bearer of the Word Foundation spoke to the assembled order.
The moot had begun.