Locust looked at the shard that Rogue slide to his side.
"Finally got info that you wanted… you know, about cows and pigs."
Locust nodded as he took the shard. Rogue had also prepared a truck for him. How nice of her.
"Oh, and one question."
Rogue spoke as Locust rose from his seat.
"Dexter Deshawn was found with a bullet in his head in a rundown motel, Pacifica."
Rogue quietly tapped her fingers on the synth-leather couch.
"You don't know anything about that, do you?"
Locust silently stared at Rogue.
Rogue will be honest, she was suspicious of Baba Yaga.
But then again, she was suspicious about every 1st rate Mercs being involved in that assassination.
MO didn't fit Voodoo Boys, who would rather kill him using daemons and viruses. And if it was the Barghest they wouldn't have killed him so silently. Probably dragged him across the broken pavement until his lard ass fell apart from friction, then pump bullets into the fixer.
This was too clean, too quiet.
No traces of the perpetrator.
Standard Baba Yaga behaviour.
Barghest had also faced heavy setback thanks to Dodger turning up dead in his own headquarter. Which made Rogue all the more sure it was a Merc's work.
"I don't go near Pacifica." Locust lied. "Reilly might know something, though."
Rogue sneered. "Of course she would." That cheeky little shit had suddenly become the centre of the network of info. Baba Yaga had made her so big that nearly every information went past her first at this point. Even Rogue was starting to use Reilly as a source of info for a gig or two.
Locust walked out of the VIP room, disappearing into the shadows as soon as he walked around the corner.
Rogue's took a sip of Whisky that Locust didn't touch.
He never touched the drinks in the club.
A farmer woke up in the middle of the night.
The cows he was keeping in stations, fed with hormones and antibiotics like they were food and water, was mooing in distress.
The pigs too, squealing in the night air.
The Farmer felt something was wrong. Something was off.
Probably some no good Chooms, stupid enough to try and steal something… or vandalise something.
The Farmer grabbed his shotgun next to his desk and pumped it.
Well, let's see if they're still laughing with lead stuck in whatever skull they have left.
The Farmer quietly opened his front door and walked to the farm Shotgun ready and aimed to shoot at anything that moves.
He couldn't fire.
There he saw, A Cow and a pig floating in the air, looking like they were getting carried out from the farm.
But there were no one else.
How- How were they-
The Farmer felt something grab his shotgun out of his hand in an instance, the farmer fell on his rear thanks to the force.
The shotgun was dismantled in an instant, and there the Farmer stood in disbelief as he saw a black space suit with white highlights, for the briefest moment, be visible right in front of him.
A gigantic figure, a towering figure that stood more than 2 or 3 head taller than him.
Standing menacingly, like Adam Smasher.
Then all of a sudden it disappeared. And so did the cow and pig.
The Farmer sat there on the dirt, hearing the Cows and Pigs calming down and going silent again.
The Farmer felt his pants were warm and wet.
Who could blame him?
He just bumped into the fucking boogeyman.
Genjiro drank a bottle of water inside the UNSC-developed truck, Cadet Moris gently tapped on Genjiro's shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.
"Hey, Genjiro. Relax, you'll do fine!"
2 other UNSC soldiers nodded in support, as 4 ODSTs silently kept watch on the outside road.
This was the first time the ODSTs had entered Night City. Civilians and dirty roads were all that they could see, but they heard enough from the newest recruits about potential gang fights occurring on the road that they could be in the crossfire.
Night City Citizens, on the other hand, saw as the giant armoured Cargo Truck dominated the road with its size.
Gigantic. Of course it was, it was housing 3 different vehicles that would serve as a demo for Red and Blue's first ever product.
Genjiro smile and quietly nodded. He freely admitted to the people here about just how stressful it was to meet these people to negotiate business.
They wanted something as much as he wanted something, sometimes even more.
Luckily, Genjiro had honed his skills to get the results he wanted. How else do you think he earned the executive position in Arasaka? Rail his superiors whenever they ringed for him to come to their office?
"This is the location, right Genjiro?" The ODST behind the wheels quickly looked back to ask Genjiro. The Corpo nodded.
"Yes. This is the place."
Large sleek buildings rose up from the ground like towers, the streets were a little cleaner and people here were dressed better than the rest - clean and pristine suits and dresses.
Definitely the upper class.
Genjiro quitely stared at his own uniform: High collared uniform with padded armour on the arms shoulders, back and chest. It was comfortable, and quality was certainly high.
It just wasn't for Corpos and rich people that favours famous designer brands.
Genjiro didn't care about the design though. He resonated more with UNSC's philosophy than Night City at this point. Hell, with how he was living for the past few weeks he might as well be from a UNSC colony planet.
Howard, the owner of the very famous mall 'The View', was already waiting outside.
Genjiro saw the man's widen in surprise when he realised the Gigantic truck marked [Reds and Blues], the logo above was a Red Mark IV Spartan helmet painted in side view, with a blue flaming plasma grenade stuck to the back.
Howard had laughed when he first got Genjiro's call 2 days ago. Last time he heard about him he was fired from Arasaka, was half-on the run as a beggar. Howard believed Genjiro had called him for help, for a new job.
Expect his surprise when he heard that he was in a new Megacorp that he had never heard of, pitching a new product.
Howard thought it was a scam. It had to be, who would take a homeless beggar living off the streets and trash in and give them a job?
Howard flinched and was sweating bullets when soldiers clad in black armour come out of the truck first, brandishing SMGs as they formed a cover for Genjiro. That was the moment Howard knew that Genjiro wasn't lying- there was a new megacorp. And they had soldiers that fit the descriptions of the Baba Yaga. Howard only managed to relax when Genjiro spoke with the same old fentle smile on his lips.
"Howard. It's nice to meet you again." Howard looked at Genjiro from head to toe. Genjiro was looking way better than before, when he was still in Arasaka. No dark circles under his eyes, no signs of blood shot-eyes. His skin was looking much brighter and younger.
Overall, he looked healthier. He was eating good diet, getting good exercise.
Unlike the slight port belly Howard had that indicated his slightly below-average health lifestyle.
Howard put on his business smile. "It's good to see you back on your feet again too. The current Arasaka executive is a bitch and a half to handle. Makes me wish you were still here."
Genjiro knew Howard was just trying to butter him up. But there was no harm in dismissing his attempt. He needed this to succeed, and Genjiro had worked with Howard long enough to push the right buttons. Genjiro smiled and grabed Howard's outstretched hand. "Well, here I am. Different MegaCorp- a new one, but I assure you that you will not be disappointed."
We'll see about that, Howard thought to himself as he shook Genjiro's hand.
"So, Reds and Blues huh?" Howard noted as he looked at the truck, and then to the soldiers body guarding Genjiro. "Quite the Megacorp if it can print out a military truck and these soldiers. How come Night City never heard about them?"
"Because it was a recent addition to Night City."
Howard tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.
"How recent…?"
"Only a few weeks. This is their first introduction to Night City."
Howard quietly scanned the scenery in front of him. Both figuratively and literally.
Nothing showed up on the database, which meant either Genjiro was telling the truth, or these people were so secretive that they decided not to reveal any information about them to anyone else.
The former was much more plausible in this situation, and Howard nodded.
"Where's the MegaCorp from? Germany? NUSA?"
"Space." Genjiro bluntly answered. He had already been informed by Cell about what he could and could not reveal to the public right now - Red and Blue being a MegaCorp from space was bound to be public knowledge sooner or later.
Genjiro witnessed Howard's eyes slowly getting bigger in realisation - Red and Blue was the company that came down from that giant flying gunship, looming over Earth.
They were the one that built that shiny building in the middle of the Badlands near the trash mountain, the one that built that building on Laguna Bend that was purifying the water.
Howard cleared his throat and slowly changed his stance. If they were capable of such performance as soon as they entered Night City, then they were bound to have products that was bound to have everyone's interest and attention.
"Well, hopefully they enjoy their stay, and… well, I guess we should stop with the talking and get down to business."
Genjiro nodded as one of the UNSC soldiers walked back into the truck - the back of the cargo hold opened up, and a new car rolled out and onto the road.
"Our newest product: the Black Mamba."
Howard stared at the car rolling up beside Genjiro and the armoured soldiers surrounding the Corpo - a black and dark-green sports car, the edges were prominent that made the whole vehicle slightly blocky.
It was… unique, Howard thought as he snorted. He wasn't going to lie, the vehicle looked somewhere between savagely militaristic and elegantly posh. Like a manufacturer that only knew how to build economy cars decided to copy a hypercar design but didn't know how so they half-assed it.
"I could stand here explaining everything about this car… or I can just give it to you to try out the product yourself. I do assure you, it will be an experience like no other car."
The Soldier stepped out of the car and gave Genjiro the key, to which the Corpo threw the key to Howard, who caught it effortlessly. Howard checked just how pristine the card looked. Durable too. A Red R and Blue B was marked as an initial on the corner.
Howard glanced at Genjiro, and sceptically got into the driver seat of the car.
The door closed smoothly, and he saw as the screen right on top and behind the wheel lit up with life.
Genjiro walked up to the window. "Have a drive around the corner and back.
Howard shrugged as he plugged the key into the ignition. Guess he'll do just that to see just how good this car is.
…
…
Holy shit, Howard thought as he made a curve to the right.
The engine, and gears, the handle and the turning itself-
It was smooth. Way too smooth.
He knew from the touch - he had bought enough cars in his lifetime ever since he rose to the position to get the difference.
Howard silently looked around as he stepped on the pedal. Seamless acceleration.
He returned to the View, and got out of the car with his mouth slightly ajar.
Howard tried to return the key, but was surprised when Genjiro refused. "The demo can be extended for 24 hours."
Howard stared at Genjiro as the Corpo fixed his collar. "We will be visiting another buyer tomorrow - you may freely enjoy our product until then. And know that while we can print out as much as you want to order, our stocks are… finite."
Howard had negotiated business with Genjiro so many times before. Majority of the product Genjiro advocated for was pretty much cream of the crops - sold like hot pancakes made from the high-sugar wheat used to make CHOOH2.
He knew, his instincts, his experience knew one thing:
People will come to the View because of the hot news about a Megacorp from space.
And people will stay because of how high the quality of the new Megacorp's products.
"I-" Howard was thinking of the possibilities, the potential profit, but he hesitated for a moment because the back of his mind was still unsure about all this, and Genjiro took that moment to raise a hand and stop him.
"We can negotiate the pricing and rest of business tomorrow. For now, enjoy our demo product to the fullest."
Genjiro turned back to the rest of the soldiers and gave a slight bow to them. The rest of the soldiers, in turn nodded as they started escorting Genjiro back into the truck.
Genjiro briefly turned back to look at Howard.
"I'll give you call when it's time for us to talk about business."
Howard could only nod at that. He was fidgeting with the car key, feeling the texture of its surface.
Howard stayed up in his bed, staring at the ceiling.
His wife was already sound asleep. Tired from working as the accountant.
She had been surprised about the new car, asking him if he decided to buy another one for his collection.
He told her everything - the MegaCorp from the stars,, who had taken a man dragged down to failure due to sabotage and backstabbing into their arms to work for them, a new product. The car.
The car.
The goddamn car.
Howard looked at his hands.
One thing he loved more than luxury items were the engines that veered to life.
He used to race when he was young, and he was damn good at it too.
But life gives you so little happiness, drowning out your hobbies with mandatory responsibilities.
…
… He had heard about there being a race starting in Corpo Plaza, if you had the money to pitch into the bet you were welcome.
Fuck it, Howard thought as he quietly got out of the bed, going to his closet and grabbing his old racing suit. Genjiro wanted him to try it out, and Howard was going to try it out alright.
He closed the door and went to his garage as silently as possible. He didn't want to ruin his wife's beauty sleep just because he had the sudden urge to race again.
He called the manager of the race, sent the eddies, participated at the last minute.
The Black Mamba brought him to the race 10 minutes early. He was already feeling the high again. Fuck black laces and cocaine - he considered dopamine from a high thrill race to be the best drug there is.
He felt the flashes bombared the participants - taking pictures and videos of the cars and their racers.
Ever other competitors had their car fully tuned and decked out with custom parts. Will he be able to win against them? Howard didn't know. But that didn't matter - he just didn't want to waste this precious opportunity away by just driving below 50 mph on a slow road.
"Hey, Howard!" A Valentino that he used to race together tapped on the glass with a happy expression. "I didn't know you came back to racing, man! How've you been, choom!"
Howard laughed. "Pretty great. I'm just coming back to race one more time, though."
The Valentino laughed and nodded. "Still can't get the thrill of the road out of your mind, huh? Well, keep yourself alive alright? I can tell you came here without telling your input! Don't wanna drag your corpse back to her and explain the situation."
Howard waved his hand as he chuckled.
He can feel his heart thumping in his chest. How durable was this car? Was it bulletproof? Can it take an impact?
He didn't know, but he was more than willing to limit test it out of pure impulse.
The racer was all heading into their driver's seat. The race was starting soon.
Engines revved to life, making sounds like roars of the beast.
The only one that didn't was Black Mamba. Like the snake, it was silent.
But Howard knew that silent was deadly.
And boy, was the speed it can jump up to deadly as shit.
"Strap in, pray to your gods and get ready to go for pay dirt! Three! Two!
One!"
Cars started to rev to life, Black Mamba overtook them the moment Howard stomped on the pedal.
The black and green car swivelled and swerved around and between cars like a serpent, some cars were already deciding to try and ram the Red and Blue-made vehicle.
They all missed, the Black Mamba was too fast, too flexible.
Howard was shrieking in his seat with excitement.
The other cars were slowly lagging behind him, he had never been this fast before in his life!
His kiroshi optics flashed with info, he saw the yellow holographic line guiding him through the entire race course. Going around the roundabouts, cutting sharp corners-
One of the cars, highly tuned with almost-illegal engines, managed to catch up to the Black Mamba by using a short cut, it T-boned Howard which shocked him so strong he managed to snap out of his dopamine rush to see what was happening. A gruff looking woman was behind the wheels as she tried to make the 1st place skid out of control. Howard damn well thought he was going to as well.
But the Black Mamba broke expectations- tires gripped, the vehicle refused to surrender control. And just like that, out of pure instinct, Howard turned the wheels to use the force of impact against the competitor- the car spun a little, giving way for the competitor that rammed into him to fly past thanks to her own inertia and crash into a corner.
Howard turned the wheels to the opposite direction and prayed for this to work - that the control would be smooth enough.
It sure damn was- the Black Mamba stopped spinning and immediately straightened back up, blazing through the road in a straight direction.
Howard couldn't believe it, with how easy the control was it was like this car had a life of its own. He didn't even feel the impact too, like the car was capable of absorbing such force like it was breakfast.
Gunshot rang through the air as he heard metal hit metal - bullets bouncing off of the Black Mamba.
Someone decided to shoot him from the distance, and this was the perfect moment for the car to demonstrate to Howard it's durability to gunshot.
Some of the Nomad participants decided to use in-built machine guns, but that didn't impede Black Mamba's speed.
A sharp bend to left, and Car turned with pinpoint accuracy.
Howard was laughing.
He was still 1st place - he was now in the Glen, driving around the roundabout and going up the highway. He looked briefly at his back mirror, and saw that the 2nd place was nothing more than a speck of dust on the horizon, disappearing the moment he took a sharp right. If he wasn't so excited with adrenaline rushing through his veins, he would have been sure that there was a truck that whizzed past the other direction with a sickly looking cow at the back, with the Boogeymen behind the wheels.
… Nah, Howard thought. That must've just been a hallucination. Delirious, he was, for many reasons.
All of a sudden, he was alone on the road. No music, no shouts and gunfire.
Just him, and the new car.
He didn't realise just how beautiful the neon-peppered night sky was as he drove up the mountain.
Some of the rocky roads in between caused the speeding vehicle to fly for the briefest moment, which scared Howard. But with how safely it landed, inbuilt springs making the inertia look like it was nothing, just amazed Howard.
He was on a league of his own- he saw the finish mark, 10 minutes before the rest of the car.
In the world of racing, this meant a lot.
"Howard! The participant who joined dead last, is the one who finishes first! What did we just see!"
The announcer's voice boomed with exasperation and shock.
Audience that was waiting was just as amazed and perplexed.
Howard couldn't believe it either: the standard car, no tuning and no customisation, was the peak of racing.
He almost felt a little guilty about it, but that drowned out the excitement of…
Well, as everyone heard, first place.
Howard stayed in his seat for a moment, gripping to the wheel.
He was slowly realising too late that one: this wasn't his car, and two: it had just taken a lot of hits.
He slowly opened the door and stepped outside, prepared to look at the damage.
He wanted to buy this car, he truly did. But Genjiro said that this was a Demo, and this car was meant to be sent to another Corpo with a mall.
Howard stared at the pristine surface of the car: No scratches, no dents, no signs of damage.
Not even the windows showed any scrapes.
My god… this thing was durable, and they managed to make the drivers and passengers safe from potential damage.
They thought of every feature, didn't they?
Howard slowly blanked out as cameras flashed to take pictures of him and the car. The other racers arrived and tried to speak to him, ask him what the hell was that car.
Howard tried to answer as best as he can, but he didn't even remember what he said in amidst of all the adrenaline and dopamine drugging him out.
All he remembered was that he stayed on top of that hill, looking at the sunrise in the horizon.
Everything was quiet as he answered his wife's holo call, worried sick that he had disappeared without a note. Howard told her everything. And only got an exasperated sigh as a return. Howard laughed. He knew she was just relieved nothing went wrong.
The cool wind blew from the badlands. That made him remember that Red and Blue was built there. Was that where this car was printed out? Where more of this vehicle's brethren were being printed out?
Howard slightly grazed his hand on the top of the hood.
He hands stopped when he saw a name pop up, requesting a holocall.
Genjiro.
This time, Howard didn't hesitate.
"Howard, this is-"
"I'll buy it!"
Howard saw Genjiro's brow rise. But he couldn't wait.
"I'll buy the cars, how many models are there? Is it just this one? How-how much eddies?"
Genjiro smirked at the mention.
"My Superior told me that each will cost 19,000 eddies."
Howard's jaws dropped. This high quality of a car and they only wanted 19,000?
No fucking way. A hypercar like this costed an average of 225,000.
Genjiro was bullshiting. He had to be, he had to be taunting Howard.
"Enough with the jokes, Genjiro. I'm serious, I'm willing to buy your stocks for the View!"
"And I am serious as well. 19,000 each."
Howard dragged his hand over his mouth. Genjiro wasn't shitting him - this car really was going to be 19,000.
That was going to fuck over Rayfield. Hell, this was going to fuck over Thorton and Villefort too. Did they know this?
… Was that their plan?
Howard didn't care. No matter how much it really costed, Howard knew from his experience that just having these cars placed in the market was bound to fuck over quite a few vehicle manufacturers.
"… How much do you have in stock?" Howard finally asked.
"How much do you want?" Genjiro replied with question of his own.
"… How many other models are you selling?" Howard didn't need to try the other models to know that they will blow the competition out of the water. And he knew that would be inevitable.
And if it was inevitable, he might as well be on the profiting end.
"3. We have the Black Mamba, Diamond Back, and Cottonmouth."
Howard wet his dry lips, the flakes of skins stuck back on as soon as moisture was applied.
"I want 5,000 for each model. We can negotiate for more once I put them on the View."
Howard looked to the car next to him, before he made an ultimatum.
"And I want to personally buy the car you gave me for the demo, and the other two models."
Howard heard Genjiro chuckle.
"Willing to be our first customer? That's fine by me. I'll bring the first batch to the View, we can finish our business there."
Howard stepped into his new car as Genjiro ended the call. Shit, maybe he needed to go to the nearest station to refuel on CHOOH2. After all, with how hard he put the pedal to the metal, he most likely burned most of the fuel-
Howard saw the fuel gauge barely going below 96%.
All that exhaustion in the race and he only wasted 4% at best.
"… Are you genuinely shitting me…?"
Genjiro ended the call and turned to Cell.
"We have established ourselves in the Market."
Cell laughed through his helmet. Red and Blue predicted that it would've taken somewhere between 2 weeks to a month for them to establish themselves in Night City.
Genjiro managed to do it in a day.
Genjiro bowed to Cell as he took interest in Cell's newest creations: Insects, beetles and worms and butterflies were fluttering around in a small terrarium.
… Were they beetles and butterflies?
He heard from the geneticists that Cell recently decided to genetically create new life forms based on the leftover SCOP stuck to the packets in trash mountain.
Cell saw where Genjiro's gaze was heading. He felt his mouth itch.
Fuck me, Cell thought. He wanted to explain this to Genjiro.
And Genjiro was all ears before he had to head over to the View once more.
"Cool, isn't it? To see such a diverse forms of life originate from leftover food."
Genjiro blinked as he slowly straightened his back. "Yes, sir."
"It's all got something to do with the Hox gene. That's where all the body plan of an organism is coded by."
Genjiro nodded his head. He could understand that.
"All I had to do was slightly tamper with the Hox genes to get worms and beetles and butterflies out of it. And tamper the other genes for behaviour, and now we have beetles that eat waste product as a juvenile and worms that enrich the soil, and butterflies that live on trees and crops before spreading pollen with the beetles."
Cell turned to Genjiro. "Automated crop distribution system, perfect for environment restoration too."
Genjiro felt Cell grinning like a madman behind his helmet.
"Oh, yeah. I'm making a poll for the rest of the company to decide on our next product. Be sure to vote for one you think would be good."
Genjiro looked at the office window, looking down at the vertical farm and greenhouses.
Food. It had to be the fresh foods that they were capable of making in excess.
But that was just Genjiro's thoughts. Maybe the rest of Red and Blue had different opinions.