Walking out of hell does not feel clean. When Scavengers taped him to a chair for a black braindance, he had already written himself off. Being dragged in front of a camera while they "recorded the experience" felt worse than dying. In the end, he expected to die anyway.
He did not. Special Operations found him and cut him loose.
He was just an ordinary employee at Ascension Technology, not a manager or director. His paycheck could not buy a Trauma Team plan. He would have been a statistic by morning in most companies, not a rescue target. He had no words for the swing from certain death to daylight. "Thank you" was all he managed, and he kept repeating it.
David smiled. "No need to thank me. The company arranged this. Work hard from here."
"I will. I promise I will," the man said at once.
Saving a life buys more than gratitude. It anchors people. Maybe they do not die for the company, but they show up, push harder, and mean it.
Task done, David guided him out of the building.
On the way back, Jacky called. Lissandra had already confirmed completion from the field logs.
"Nice work, David. Clean hands. The guy isn't hurt, right?"
"He's rattled, but fine. Hope he clocks in tomorrow."
"Good. And we're swamped. L should add bodies. Just a few of us cannot cover the load," Jacky said, half-complaining, half-laughing.
Ascension kept growing. So did the job list. Rocky had not expanded Special Operations, which left Jacky's crew stretched thin. Nights like this kept popping up: no sleep, another run in the dark. Jacky had already aired the gripe to Rocky, who knew the truth under it.
Rocky needed more people, not just in Special Ops. He needed an army if he meant to stand level with the megacorps.
Their core team hit like a hammer now, and nothing in Night City could threaten them outright. That did not mean a handful of elites could punch through the whole city every day forever. He needed units to hold those lanes for routine missions, area security, escort, and interdiction.
The problem was trust. Night City did not have many people you could trust. Freelancers were unreliable. Training a force from scratch took time. People came with flaws, with angles, with secrets. You could not hand out blind trust the way he trusted Jacky.
Rocky had already started solving it from the other direction. If people were unreliable, stop relying on people.
…
The next day.
Vik studied the blueprint on the table in the lab for a long moment.
"This is the 'robot soldier' you mentioned? It doesn't look like it fights," he said finally.
Rocky laid out his machine legion plan days ago: punch Militech, kick Arasaka. He talked about vibranium frames, one unit taking ten, shrugging off a nuke. Vik had listened, eyebrows up.
Now he was staring at a robot with a big cylindrical camera for a head and a square display on its chest. The limbs looked very mechanical and not at all bionic. It was person-shaped, sure, but none of the faux-organic polish of this era's high-end androids. It read like an old-world robot.
If you put the thing on a factory line, Vik would have no complaints. Tell him it could be a brawler, and he had questions.
The blueprint's origin card answered him:
{ Mobile Robotic Versatile Entity (MRVN) — Automated Assistant }
{ Source: Titanfall universe; autonomous industrial robot responsible for manufacturing and similar daily tasks. }
{ Although generally used for production work, with sufficient stimulus and exposure to ideas, Marvin units can sometimes improve beyond baseline—becoming smarter, more capable, even self-aware. For example, a certain Marvin is fond of giving the thumbs-up. }
{ Note: This module's Marvin units reliably awaken self-awareness, possess strong plasticity, and can learn multiple skill types. System rules enforce absolute loyalty to the host at all times. }
{ Pricing correction: world correction −10% }
{ Item module: 45,000 eddies }
{ Fabrication blueprint: 450,000 eddies }
Vik was not wrong. The robots did not look like fighters.
That was fine. Marvin's traits gave Rocky what he wanted: a unit that could grow into a combat platform if trained and equipped. Pathfinder in Apex is the best-known example. The bot fought as well as any soldier and often better.
The bigger reason he chose Marvin was the disguise.
Every major in Night City had eyes on Ascension. Arasaka had not pressed harder yet because Ascension did not read as a threat. Power Stimulant was popular and profitable, but was "just a stimulant." Not worth a crusade.
Soldier Serum was more potent, but the ripples did not land at Ascension's door. Ascension was not a weapons manufacturer. No army. No guns. The threat level was set by Arasaka and other majors who licensed the serum.
If Ascension rolled out a powerful combat robot today, it would announce an intent to push into Arasaka, Militech, and Kang-Tao's lanes. That would trip alarms. Attitudes would harden overnight. Even Arasaka, a nominal partner, would shift them into the enemy column.
If Ascension released a civilian industrial robot, there would be no such headache.