Thus the Old Man Spoke 4 - (Cyberpunk AUrunners/2077, Arasaka Saburo!SI)
2076, Coronado City, California, USNA
The pub he found had just the right fees and the right booze.
Yet someone like Johnny Silverhand had to also find someone that is willing to handle 'his size'. His reputation was, after all, one that is shrouded in a mixture of unease, fear and unpredictability. Not by choice, but he has to admit that his rocker attitude in gritty situations had shown him as a crazy daredevil, even if the tasks tended to be quite dangerous.
Having been hailed by most as a legend akin to Morgan Blackhand in most of the US, he was also supposedly 'blacklisted' as one of the 'relics' of the SCAW. Old propaganda tended to die slowly when it came to the 'alignment' troops had back then.
He was just 17 when he enlisted in the bloody war against the 'drug lords' and one of the first few morons to get caught in the scandals that almost had him killed. Back when the so-called Gang of Four (FBI, DEA, CIA, NSA) in charge of the backstage in Washington had tried to cook him and his comrades into the messy tropical stew that was Central America.
A bomb on his arm, his old buddy Samson dying to prevent the blast from ripping him to shred, and a perspective of the Old USA lost - that was where Robert John Linder died and Johnny Silverhand was born. The irony wasn't even about the betrayal happened and didn't see him die, but rather being taken in by the very group he and many of his old comrades had been coached to hate from a young age.
Arasaka had been rising on top of the business for decades. The old Japanese fox that was Arasaka Saburo (aka Grandpa Boss) a bitter thorn in the American side, and one that had made big moves to counter the Soviet influence in Asia during the early Cold War.
He had been helpful back then, but his expansion in terms of financial means had led the Tokyo-based company to spread both in Europe and in the US with insane pace. The fact that the Gang of Four had been so confident of using their influence in the Congress to limit his reach had been the reason of their undoing. The SCAW was the last nail to their coffin as Johnny and other 'mutineers' were recovered by the Mercs employed by Arasaka at the behest of the Central American Governments.
Turns out that the entire war was staged to actually restore US-made drug control over the region, but Arasaka had been working hard to weed out the issue entirely. When the war started, no one would have expected for Arasaka to have some of the toughest bastards working for him and, at the end of the war, it was no surprise that Johnny and some of his old buddies tagged along for the ride.
Johnny in particular 'changed' after the war. His daredevil personality sharpened to the point that he started to call himself 'Samurai'. He would use his free time to practice rocking and he eventually started to make a lot of 'noise'. So much that, however, he ended up get the attention of his current long-standing boss.
In 2025, Arasaka Saburo himself asked him for a meeting. The two sat, the two shared some of that sweet Sake and... Johnny actually broke into tears during that conversation. It lasted three hours, and yet Johnny felt like he had gone through years of memories with the old man.
Saburo admitted to have not been involved in serious skirmishes back during WW2, but he remarked that 'bitching and whining to get through the pain' would do him no favor. They drank until Johnny actually passed out and... he woke up in the hospital bay of the base they were at and, right beside him, was that sweet-assed angel that was Michiko.
Lovely woman, crazy woman even. She was 17, two decades younger than him, but the girl had energy - she had the guts. He saw something in her that made him curious and then, ultimately, their hanging out turned into adventures in the bed.
Johnny was rising in the ranks at the time, and as his relationship with Michi got revealed, he got pulled in tougher tasks by Saburo himself. One would think that his 'father-in-law' would be the worst, but Arasaka Kei was a amiable man. Saburo? He had him grilled for years.
The understanding old man had turned into a menace that seemed to love to put himself in the dangerous spotlight. Johnny really had it rough while serving as the old man's personal enforcer but... it made it easy for him to ultimately get in a good relationship with Michiko.
Until she decided that dicks on girls and not 'in' girls were cool.
Johnny knew that her bae was crazy, but a dick to cover her sweet lower lips was a threat to his masculinity. He wasn't one of those 'fragile guys', but he was well-wary of the idea his girl had a dick so she could tag along on threesomes as a fucker.
The shouting and the furniture hurling was just part of their process to cope with personal issues. No one got hurt but... working around Coronado helped Johnny clear his mind. And soon he was on his way to actually get himself a smoke when-
His communicator rang and he paused at the number. Should he answer? Was it even viable to say no?
"Sup."
"Don't 'sup' me. Where are you?"
"America."
"Jerk. Still... I wanted to talk."
"I'm busy-"
"Through the call, not personally. I... I had a talk with gramps."
Oh, so he did that as he promised Johnny? The man wondered how far he gone with the crazy girl.
"And?"
"Dick stays, I will not peg you ever, and I apologize for having not told you before I got the implants."
...
That was progress. It just wasn't 'enough' within his mindset. And while he wanted to just lash out and let her in the dark once more for a few days, Johnny knew that the old man was involved and he would beat the shit out of him if he tried to be too angsty about it.
"Fine, but I want an extra thing to that deal."
"That is?"
"Marriage."
...
...
"You... want to marry me."
Johnny sighed, standing up from the counter after paying the bartender and pacing out of the pub.
"Look, bae, we have been at this game for ages now. You are crazy as much as I love it, and you have a thing for my breath-taking smile, so... I need this guarantee. If you're thinking of just fucking bitches, I want to know you are mine first."
"O-Of course I am your... well, bitch. But that would really stir the hornet nest."
"Would your grandpa approve?"
"Yes, but-"
"Pops too?"
"Yes, Johnny, it's just-"
"What now?"
"I just... I just want you to do the fucking the proposal old-fashioned rather than with a call, you dickhead."
Johnny paused mid-wandering, then nodded to the idea. It made sense that Michiko would want this but-
"What about that whole hornet nest?"
"You know better than me that Auntie Hanako hates you."
"She just needs two more decades. Trust me, she will tolerate me." Eventually.
"I just need your promise you will not cause a mess if we are working to make this happen. And you need to propose to me directly."
"Fine. But my ass is off-limit."
"Deal. Oh, and Johnny?"
"Yeah, babe?"
"You are still my breath-taking pogchamp."
The call ended, Johnny snorted in amusement at the dumb-talk that his fiery gal would employ to throw him off-balance, shaking his head and yet not fully free as he got notified by message that he was needed elsewhere. He had some plans to check on an old friend of the 'fiery hair' kind, but... well, a job was a job.
The old man had somehow found a brothel owned by a group of criminals while going for a 'mid-day stroll' and... just 'cleaned it up' by the time he arrived. Same as usual, except the various Dolls were now enjoying listening grandpa providing them some tales and some free cash to survive their new status as unemployed.
"-And then I told the Chinese Corporate Union that 'their ass is grass' and I bought out their entire company to fire away the scummy leaders."
A standing ovation ensued and...
To Johnny Silverhand, this was a relatively common sight when having Grandpa Boss wandering Coronado City.
AN
Johnny Silverhand, Boyfriend (Future Husband), Bodyguard (Babysitter), Rocker (Samurai).
He knows Alt, but while he flirts with her, she is very unwilling to open up to him because... Michiko is 'territorial' about her friendship with Alt.