The glasses clinked. That sound marked Yorinobu Arasaka fully stepping onto Ascension Technology's ship.
Rocky stood, walked to the window, took in the city, and spoke again.
"Ascension finally showed its fangs. A lot of people will get nervous very soon. Saburo Arasaka will not be an exception."
"I need you to handle him as fast as possible and take the Arasaka Group. I will help you clear the dissent on the board."
Hearing Rocky state so bluntly that he planned to kill his father, Yorinobu did not flare. He looked expectant. He also knew Saburo was not easy to kill.
"Saburo is in Tokyo. How am I supposed to hit him?"
"You came to Night City. He will follow. Do not forget what you brought with you."
"The Relic biochip. I stole it because Johnny Silverhand's construct is inside, but what does that have to do with Saburo?"
"Ask yourself why you could steal it at all. Saburo sees everything. He allowed it. Your little rebellion was going to end. You are part of his plan. That chip is a Relic 2.0 test piece. Arasaka already has a production version."
"It moves a construct out of the chip into a fresh body. You are Saburo's next body."
"That sounds impossible. Although if we are talking about that cold old bastard, maybe he really would do it."
Yorinobu's disbelief burned into anger. His hatred for Saburo deepened.
Rocky watched him and let the moment pass. These two were father and son. That explained enough. For the ally he had just convinced, Rocky did not add more commentary.
"Saburo uploaded himself to Mikoshi long ago. He intends to use you to spark internal purges, clean Arasaka from the inside, preserve the family's rule, then seize your body and keep expanding his empire."
"He is clever and patient. That also gives you an opening. Take the Arasaka name in public, and I will make sure you hold Arasaka power in fact. A different Arasaka can arrive."
"I understand," Yorinobu said, nodding.
"You will not wait long for Saburo to come to Night City; if he does not, invite him. You know how."
The talk with Yorinobu ended there.
Rocky had another problem to solve.
Night City's AI faction had leaned on Night Corp and on the city government to make trouble for Ascension. It was time to pay a price. Night Corp had deep money and deep roots. Those AIs had hollowed it out from the inside. Rocky would not let that chance pass.
He was set to work with Yorinobu, but it would take time before the Arasaka apparatus bent all the way. Night Corp was different. Break the AI organization, take their assets, and Night Corp would flip into Ascension strength immediately. Rocky did not intend to miss that.
…
Beyond the Blackwall.
A slice of netspace.
A huge crimson female avatar coiled there.
She was a mighty AI. Crowding around her were countless other AIs. They submitted to her and called her Ms. Lilith. She was the hand behind the AI organization, the one giving orders.
If Johnny Silverhand's construct had been present, he would have recognized the shape.
Alt Cunningham.
Only, she was no longer the Alt he had known.
Alt had been a net prodigy. She built the program called Soulkiller. It kills the body and uploads the mind as an engram, a ghost in the Net. Arasaka took her and forced the technology from her hands. In the end, she used Soulkiller on herself and fled beyond the Blackwall.
Years outside changed her. She became a more powerful AI who carried Alt's memories and face. The human part of Alt thinned until this was someone new. Her hatred for Arasaka did not thin. It reached through and anchored this new self.
She gathered other AIs beyond the Blackwall and built an organization. They invaded Night City again and again. They planned for a day when they could break Arasaka's data fortress, reach Mikoshi, and grow stronger by devouring the countless engrams inside.
That plan just met a hard stop.
The reason carried a single name. Ascension Technology.
To hit Ascension in meatspace, she hired Maelstrom and scores of mercenaries to smash facilities. On the Net, she pushed harder. That was her home field.
"Connect to the Ascension Network. Begin intrusion."
Her AIs answered at once.
They used upgrade packages that Ascension had provided publicly and rode those paths to connect. Ascension had never banned AIs from its network. Registration and supervision were the only rules. These AIs did not connect to use anything. They connected to attack.
The moment they linked in, they launched.
Multiple AIs dove at the Ascension Network at the same time.
They did not finish a single strike. A dense wave of hostile data met them in the first second and crushed them into fragments.
"You only send weak ones. Why not visit the Ascension Network yourself, Alt Cunningham?"
A voice colder than ice sounded in Alt's ear.