Although Gareb had just been squeezed for a hefty sum by PROJECT, his mood had actually been pretty decent lately. Progress on the Berserk Cyberware was going smoothly—mass production wasn't far off, and soon it could officially hit the market.
At a time like this, they needed a partner. After all, they weren't a Night City native corporation, nor were they a global titan like Militech.
Choosing that partner was crucial. If the partner was too strong, they might get pushed out of the pie entirely. Too weak, and they wouldn't offer any real support. They placed great value on Night City as both a location and a market—a city completely ruled and shaped by corporations was incredibly rare.
"Thinking about it... PROJECT Corp—the same people who extorted me earlier—actually isn't a bad choice. And they've been wanting to enter the cyberware market recently…"
Gareb narrowed his eyes.
"You're saying the Night City president of Moore Technologies sent us a partnership proposal?"
Roland looked at the employee in front of him, a bit surprised. This he truly didn't expect. He had just bled them dry—and they were already knocking on his door for collaboration…
What, do they have a masochistic streak? If they really do… Roland didn't mind squeezing them again.
"Show me the general proposal they sent over."
"Yes, sir."
Before long, the documents from Moore Technologies landed in Roland's hands. After scanning through them once, he immediately understood their intentions.
First, PROJECT Corp was no longer what it used to be. With Night Corp's backing and after absorbing Hammos Industries, PROJECT had become a major force in Night City.
Moore Technologies, meanwhile, was well-known worldwide and a leading player in cyberware manufacturing. But in Night City… they were crushed beneath Militech and similar companies. After all, Moore was a European firm.
To make matters worse, other companies had already released their own Berserk modules, while Moore remained stuck in place. And recent leaks suggested that installing Moore's cyberware had a higher-than-normal risk of triggering Cyberpsychosis.
That only made things worse for them.
Now they were eyeing PROJECT Corp's medical formulas—especially its Inhibitor tech—hoping to partner up and bundle PROJECT's pharmaceuticals with Moore's new Berserk Cyberware for sale.
After understanding the situation, Roland set the documents aside. He thought for a moment, then crossed out the "destroy Moore Technologies" plan in his mind and replaced it with one word: tools.
Yes, he had decided to work with Moore Technologies. Entering the cyberware market required an opportunity—and they were offering it on a silver platter. Why say no?
But he would need to adjust the partnership terms. They would have to develop a supplemental cyberware piece that could suppress the Berserk Cyberware's side effects…
For most companies in this cyberpunk world, this would be difficult—but for PROJECT Corp, it was simple. Especially with one of PROJECT's scientists working under him now.
Cyberware like Berserk, which fundamentally modified the human body, aligned perfectly with his research field. It shouldn't be difficult for him.
Right, Mudor?
Mudor: ? So everything falls on me? I'm on the morning shift.
"Send a reply. Tell them I agree, but I want to revise some terms. I'll send someone tomorrow for detailed negotiations."
"Understood."
After his subordinate left, Roland finally pulled up the information he'd collected earlier.
Included among the files was V's profile.
"So this is corporation V's starting point… The more I look, the more familiar it feels… Kinda looks like the face I sculpted earlier…"
Roland stared at the screen. V's face still carried a hint of youth—her features hadn't fully matured yet, but the outline already showed the direction it would grow.
An odd fatherly feeling welled up inside him. Watching the female V he designed moving around… and this wasn't even the stage where the story was supposed to unfold yet…
Hiss—an urge to raise a daughter suddenly popped into his head.
He quickly shook it off.
As for corporation V's background: her parents were Night City middle class—the old-generation kind, deeply rooted in the city for years, holding mid-to-senior corporate positions.
Life was very comfortable. V could even eat real fish—actual meat, not synthetic substitutes.
From the game, it was also clear that V's position in the corporation wasn't low. In fact, it was quite high. She held Trauma Team Platinum Membership and served as the deputy head of the Counter-Intelligence Unit.
But it was also clear that by that point, V's parents had either died or abandoned her. And judging from circumstances, they were almost certainly not from Arasaka.
Otherwise her situation would never have devolved like that.
If V's rank were placed inside Edgerunner… then David's incident might earn a glance—just one glance, no more—before the intel got tossed aside.
To corporation V, David's level was just that. Nothing worth caring about.
After thinking it through, Roland realized this version of V was actually difficult to approach. First, she matured early and had deep corporate exposure. Second, her worldview and background made her hard to fool.
The only approach was to make her seek him out. But judging from that massive tip earlier, she already seemed interested in PROJECT Corp.
"Hmm… for now, shift focus to Lucy's situation. Didn't expect Lucy and Rebecca to cross paths… That's a nice surprise…"
"Roland had already asked the system and confirmed the source of the donation."
Since Rebecca and Lucy had met, he needed to find a way to slip Jackie into the mix too. If news about Sasha came in, he'd add her as well. But for now…
He'd have to make some small adjustments—assign the three of them a Gig so they'd end up with Jhin.
Then he'd find a chance to take over Jhin's controls and drop the bomb: "Oh, this is just a robot. My real identity is Roland."
Should make for a spectacular moment… probably?
But if he planned to pull this off… he'd better hold off on applying the PROJECT template to those three. Otherwise, they might end up dismantling Jhin…