- Location
- Australia
That will be handled automatically.
Cowls: A World of Supermen and Subterfuge
- Thread starter MJ12 Commando
- Start date
- Original
-
- Tags
- cyberpunk (punk)
- Location
- Luton Airport
I'd definitely say we can afford to let the police training itself slide for a fortnight then. There might be issues with the ex-gangers, but at this point they'd still represent an improving trend.
Sarpedon
Knight Errant
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Another thing to take note of, is since Immolator is going to be out on the street anyway looking into Zenith stuff, we should have him going out with the security teams, since that also doubles as a "cover" of sorts. In addition, it forces James to learn control 
EDIT: added that vote into my vote on the last page.
EDIT: added that vote into my vote on the last page.
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- Location
- Luton Airport
Also, as I mentioned to @MJ12 Commando, we should get Chemist to start synthesising loads of saffron when he's not otherwise engaged, to provide us some extra slush fund money.
- Location
- Australia
Saffron is, rather unfortunately, a very solid chemical.
SirLagginton
Shadow Cabal Caerbannog Bun-Bun
- Location
- Arrrghhh
[X] Yes; you need an investigatory department. There's always the chance that your efforts will draw the wrong kind of attention to you, but you need to have a good idea of what's going on.
[X] Offer Nicholas Laine part payment in kind, having our people upgrade/improve his prosthetics, to cut back on the total cash bill.
[X] You go into fights with the army you have, make sure that it's the army you want. By going to some of your old military contacts and picking up some decent gear, you can make sure that army will be capable of handling much more dangerous threats. It'll cost you some money-you're looking for good military surplus rather than old SPIWs and other 1960s relics from a dusty National Guard armory-but you could probably sneak in some upgrades for all your forces in there as well, including Lima.
[x] Vertex.
[X] Get James to assist the militia in their patrols around the city. He's going to out on the street poking his nose around and following leads that Laine turns up anyway, and this way he gets more experience, the militia gets more exposure to working with enhanciles, and if one of the leads ends up kicking a hornets nest, James has some kind of support before you and Lima fall on those fuckers like an orbital kinetic strike.
[X] Offer Nicholas Laine part payment in kind, having our people upgrade/improve his prosthetics, to cut back on the total cash bill.
[X] You go into fights with the army you have, make sure that it's the army you want. By going to some of your old military contacts and picking up some decent gear, you can make sure that army will be capable of handling much more dangerous threats. It'll cost you some money-you're looking for good military surplus rather than old SPIWs and other 1960s relics from a dusty National Guard armory-but you could probably sneak in some upgrades for all your forces in there as well, including Lima.
[x] Vertex.
[X] Get James to assist the militia in their patrols around the city. He's going to out on the street poking his nose around and following leads that Laine turns up anyway, and this way he gets more experience, the militia gets more exposure to working with enhanciles, and if one of the leads ends up kicking a hornets nest, James has some kind of support before you and Lima fall on those fuckers like an orbital kinetic strike.
- Location
- Luton Airport
Can we have him make scorpion venom instead? That's liquid.
- Location
- Australia
If it's a liquid (and isn't too exotic), he can produce it, yes.
Additionally; MJ and I are closing votes 24 hours from now. Please have a finalized plan up and ready by then.
- Location
- in the trash
If we're having Chemist make drugs to bolster our income stream he does have a lot of advantages in producing rare pharmaceuticals.
I mean, I don't know about the state of drug production in Cowls but I'll assume it's not too much more advanced than RL and thus drug companies are still going to find things like chirality a bitch to deal with.
Chemist? As a biological drug factory, he probably uses enzymes. I presume this is how his superpowers work--he can make all sorts of specialised enzymes to catalyse whatever chemical reactions he wants to occur, and has active control over their production and cuts out the need for a lot of expensive reagants/catalysts. He'd just need the feedstock, and that's not very hard to acquire when you're making organic molecules.
Taking the example of chirality, enzymes bypass the problems of conventional production methods, so should be able to easily make specific enantiomers of a drug with 100% purity--without the wastages or need for chiral chromatography for separation.
Saffron? Even if it wasn't a solid, it's something that's already produced naturally and it's actually a mixture of 150 different compounds. And it's a spice. Not really much utility.
We could possibly rent Chemist's talents out to other pharmaceutical companies by having him make small batches of drugs which are still in the testing phase. Though I think he's already doing that for our biotech department.
(I am so sorry I will stop nerding out about chemistry now)
I mean, I don't know about the state of drug production in Cowls but I'll assume it's not too much more advanced than RL and thus drug companies are still going to find things like chirality a bitch to deal with.
Chemist? As a biological drug factory, he probably uses enzymes. I presume this is how his superpowers work--he can make all sorts of specialised enzymes to catalyse whatever chemical reactions he wants to occur, and has active control over their production and cuts out the need for a lot of expensive reagants/catalysts. He'd just need the feedstock, and that's not very hard to acquire when you're making organic molecules.
Taking the example of chirality, enzymes bypass the problems of conventional production methods, so should be able to easily make specific enantiomers of a drug with 100% purity--without the wastages or need for chiral chromatography for separation.
Saffron? Even if it wasn't a solid, it's something that's already produced naturally and it's actually a mixture of 150 different compounds. And it's a spice. Not really much utility.
We could possibly rent Chemist's talents out to other pharmaceutical companies by having him make small batches of drugs which are still in the testing phase. Though I think he's already doing that for our biotech department.
(I am so sorry I will stop nerding out about chemistry now)
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Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
Actually, per my initial writeup, he uses NANOMACHINES, SON.
No seriously, they stripped out his bone marrow and replaced it with miniaturised nanofabbers geared towards chemical production. They make his blood too.
Assuming MJ is using my writeup, at least.
- Location
- in the trash
Ah, but enyzmes and receptors are like, naturally occuring nanomachines. And enzymes are how most organisms produce chemicals anyways, so the only thing is how Chemist has such fine control over everything (this is where the nanomachines might come in). Maybe there's some genetic modification so his body can produce certain enzymes it wouldn't normally.
Also, NANOMACHINES are a bit overdone. And the use of enzymes explains why they stuffed all this augmentation tech into a person instead of just making a blocky chemical nanofab-printer.
Also, NANOMACHINES are a bit overdone. And the use of enzymes explains why they stuffed all this augmentation tech into a person instead of just making a blocky chemical nanofab-printer.
- Location
- Luton Airport
Enzymes are also a better justification of his limitations.
Scorpion venom was my pick just because it's ludicrously expensive ($10k per mil today), and is the basis of a number of potential medical treatments, for cancer and various autoimmune disorders which would dovetail with our biotech focus.
Downzone 8: M&A
Downzone 8: M&A
"Nicholas Laine here." He starts, when you call him. "What do you need?"
"I'd like to ask you to work with us." You say. "Full-time, I mean."
"Yeah?" His voice is suspicious. "And why would I do that?"
"I think you know why. We need an investigation department and you're the best candidate I know of." You've learned enough of corporate management to know that most places run departments like this. It's always good to know about corporate raids or other maneuvers ahead of time. The less scrupulous companies-and there's a lot of them-use theirs as their dirty-tricks department too. Blackmail, extortion, and the occasional assassination. You don't plan on using that capacity.
"No, that's why you want me. I'm asking why I'd give up my business to work with you."
You think of the many ways you can appeal to him. Moral, ideological, pragmatic. All the tools you have to try to get him to agree with you. You finally decide on the one you judge is going to be most effective. "I can pay you a lot of money. And I know the make and model of your augmentations. I have a military cyberdoc who owes me favors. I can get you better prosthetics at a steep discount."
He's silent for a moment. You're afraid that it'll backfire, that he acts mercenary to cover up his heart of gold or whatever. "Fine. A steady job's better than what I have right now, anyhow."
There's an army base a few hours' drive away which is running a "Military-Civilian Repatriation Program." It's fancy words for "selling military-grade gear to corporate security types in order to supplement the military budget. Nothing top of the line, of course. That kind of equipment tends to come from different channels. But you and Lima and a couple of trusted 'militia' members have brought a large truck to fill with the surplus they are selling.
It's going to be a damn sight better than whatever you can acquire around the street, and much cheaper as well. The average weapon on the street is some sort of 1940s-era chemical firearm. Cheap, easy to produce with regular machine tools. Made before superbrains started really making advancements to the art of killing people. Nothing like military-grade guns today, which are to those as they were to muskets. Not even as advanced as the rather mediocre second-line gear that gets given to National Guardsmen as they try to contain food riots or do 'peacekeeping' missions in unaligned countries where the three superpowers compete in trying to demonstrate their systems' superiority.
But you're not fighting for capitalism against the forces of cyber-communism or the Chinese Cooperative's weird ideas of 'unification.' You've done that for long enough that you're not interested in it anymore. And so has your friend here.
John Watts is another military-grade enhancile, but his enhancements are focused on memory and cognition. He's still capable of holding his own against any aug-but his real calling is running programs like this, targeting them to serve the interests of the government. He was a liaison to Lima Seven-Nine before, and you remember him from when you had to work with Centra Spike back in Panama-but now with all the chaos and gang warfare in the streets and the weakening domestic government he's been reassigned to use his COIN expertise on rooting out the gangs and other 'rogue elements.'
He's a bit resigned when you walk into his office. There's a few cables plugged into his neck-probably working on another computer simulation or whatever he does. "Major Espinosa. I assume you're not here for a social call."
You shake your head. "Can you not call me that?" You know quite well that your rank's inflated because you're an enhancile from rich parents. You weren't commanding more than small units at any point in time. "It's Ez, or Vector."
"All right. Ez. I know this isn't a social call. I suspect you're here for the government's contribution to domestic policing, although that's only because I do keep tabs on local conditions, including your brother becoming the celebrity of an hour in a very troubled section of the local megacity. So. Can we get down to business?" You're surprised at how burned-out he seems. When you last saw him years ago, he was enthusiastic about fighting the good fight. But seeing what you've seen tends to do that.
"I need weapons." You don't want to waste his time. "Better me than whoever else you're selling them to. I want to bring back the old days. Where you could rely on the cops to protect you if there wasn't money involved. Where you could walk around at night without being mugged. I want to bring some change to downzone."
"Will you?" He asks.
You nod, but you don't feel entirely confident.
"Good enough." He sighs. "What exactly do you need?"
You've got a list of the toys you need, and the toys your militia want. There's a couple of the ex-gang members who really want some heavy weapons to play with. You're not going to invest heavily in those, to their disappointment, but a handful of heavy weapons won't hurt. The majority of your list is fairly simple. Modern small arms-smartlinked, electromagnetic weapons with multiple fire modes. Nonlethals or hybrid lethal/nonlethal ones-electrostun guns, soporific gas shells for grenade launchers and shotguns, antipersonnel microwave weapons. Combat equipment-exoskeletons, self-healing carapace armor, sensors gear and field medic kits. And of course some toys in case another attack like that happens again. Portable anti-vehicle launchers and railguns. A couple of assault cannon. Things you'll train them on, but probably won't use much. You'll want to get some augs or enhanciles to be able to deploy them quickly, but that's something to consider later. And, of course, you have a few orders to make with regards to Laine. You have the surgical team to install the new prosthetics. Lighter, stronger, with a commensurate increase in quality of life. Part of your deal with him.
You quickly check the price of everything you're looking for. An easy 2 million for the gear. You'll be using up most of your remaining quarterly budget on it, but you can deal with that problem. Soon you'll be in better shape as some of these projects start to bear fruit. And this isn't something that you're going to want to risk being cheap on. If you were-you'd be talking to national guard units, not the Civil Defense adjuncts who work with corporate security, buying low-end gear maybe a bit better than what the gangs have. No, you want good, solid equipment.
You come to an arrangement with Watts fairly quickly-he'll have people work with Lima to train your militia reps in exoskeleton usage, in the heavy and complicated weapons they'll be carrying. These people will then train their people-the same way special forces did their jobs. It'll take a while, keeping you out of touch for that period. But it's, you think, worth it. It was in a million other conflict zones.
But it makes you wonder about all that proud chest-beating nationalism in your history books. When did the United States become 'just another conflict zone'?
Some people consider it strange that my family lives Downzone. Father is a Reverend. He makes enough money from that alone to support a family their size Upzone, let alone the money people donate to the church. Why would he choose to live down here, when he could live a better life up there?
It's hard for people to understand when they're not of the faith. They look at the filthy streets and the masses of downtrodden civilians dressed in hand-me-downs and question, why would anyone ever want to live there? Why would you voluntarily immerse yourself in this?
Father would reply that it is his duty to live amongst the less fortunate, to spread the word of the faith, to make their lives better in incremental steps. He would say that it is the duty of the clergy to spread their wealth amongst the community, that it is the duty of the clergy to sacrifice all they hold for the betterment of others.
Someone more cynical might say that it's an empty gesture- that true change can't be affected by something as simple as offering food to the needy or paying for visits to corner-clinics. Someone more cynical might say that if he wanted to affect change, he would do better to work from the top down, to work to make food more widely available, or to provide employment that doesn't pose such hazards to its workers' wellbeing.
Somehow, I doubt saying that would go down well.
"Jennifer," my father barks. I look up indolently. He's dressed in his preacher's outfit; a crisp, sharp suit of mass-produced cotton, black vest over white buttoned shirt. He rests on his cane, favouring his right leg.
I rise slowly to my feet, dragging myself over to stand in front of him. His eyes are bloodshot, and his breath smells faintly of whiskey- the one indulgence he allows himself. Drinking is not a sin, as he is fond of reminding me; only drinking to excess.
His tie is crooked. I patiently straighten it as I wait for him to speak.
"I will be out tonight," he announces once I finish straightening it and step back. He looks briefly over to a mirror, mouth tightening in a frown as he takes in his appearance. From his pocket, he pulls out his glasses case and puts them on. It's hard to see his eyes through them. "The streets have been bloody recently, with these god-cursed gangs roaming everywhere. I expect you will stay inside tonight. It is not safe for a lady on the streets."
The only response I can make is a nod as I stare at his tie, afraid to look him in the eyes.
I have never been good at lying to my father.
"Excellent." He sounds satisfied. "I have prepared dinner; all you need to do is heat it in the oven for twenty minutes. Do you need me to arrange a ride to school tomorrow?"
"No," I murmur in reply. "I am sure Maria will take me. If she doesn't, I will call you."
"Excellent." It happens every time, but I'm still caught off-guard when he pulls me into a hug and ruffles my hair. I return it hesitantly. "I will see you tomorrow, Jennifer."
"And you, Father." I unwrap my arms from around him, trying to hide their nervous shaking as he straightens and begins heading to the front door. He hesitates as he reaches it, looking back to me for a moment as if to say something, before seeming to decide better of it and heading out the front door.
I let out a soft breath as the door clicks closed behind him. Saying goodbye is an uncomfortable ritual.
I wait fifteen minutes, filling the spare time by moving idly around the house and gently wiping dust off the already pristine picture frames hanging on the walls, before it is clear that he has not forgotten anything. I have made that mistake once, and had almost been caught.
When the time has passed, I make my way slowly to my bedroom.
There is a certain difference between Father and myself. He does not know it, and it does not inform his actions, but I know it, and it does inform my own.
Father believes that people are good by nature, and bad by circumstance.
I also believe that people are good by nature, and bad by circumstance. I agree with my father on that level. If I believed that people were not good, I would not do any of the things I do.
Father believes that by offering what assistance he can to people, that by opening his arms and inviting people to seek help, they will necessarily be drawn to him; and that in doing so, the world will become a better place, step by incremental step. Father believes that charity and acceptance will make a difference.
That is where Father and I differ. Father believes that people will seek help and improvement. He is a good person. I am not.
My room is clean and bare. A bed stands against the far wall, a small table beside it bearing a lamp and an alarm clock. A desk and chair sits to my left below a window, my science homework laying neatly on top awaiting my return, and a heavy wardrobe takes up what remaining space there is within my room. It is not an exciting room.
I move towards the wardrobe, lifting it just high enough that it no longer touches the floor, then shuffle backwards and place it down. People often think that being as strong as I am means I can lift everything with ease, but a lot of things are very awkwardly shaped. It is hard to move them.
Behind my wardrobe is a small hole in the wall, one I carved there well over a year ago, when all this first started. It is just large enough to hold a small duffel bag, which I pull out and toss on my bed. Lifting the wardrobe back takes only a few moments- it's much easier to move forwards with an object than it is to shuffle backwards.
From within my duffel bag, I pull out my costume, stash the duffel bag beneath my mattress and leave, crawling my way out the window.
***
Maintaining a secret identity is a lot harder than people online give it credit for. There are a lot of factors that can give you away; height, hair colour, eye colour, body shape, voice inflection, word choice, and those are just the things people can get from a short video clip of you in action.
If you have enough money, there are a lot of ways you can deal with that. Some people have implants that can change their appearance when they venture out. Others wear full-body outfits intended to conceal their appearance and make it harder to recognize them. A few don't even bother, either lacking family and friends to exploit or trusting in security to protect them for them.
I don't have to worry about protecting Father too much. He's a member of the Church, and a Reverend, at that. Anyone who would go after him deserves what would happen to them afterwards.
No, I'm not worried about concealing my identity from the masses. I just don't want Father to figure out who I am and what I'm doing.
Some people might be content with just hiding their physical appearance, but Father is far more perceptive than that. I dress myself up, concealing my body behind body armour, my hair beneath a cap, my face beneath a bandana, but there are a lot of other things that could give me away.
Which leaves me in my current situation; having to present two different personalities to the world. One shy, boring, and introspective; the other vivacious and spunky. Nobody would connect the boring and demure Jennifer Austin, daughter of a preacher, with the reckless Vertex, superpowered vigilante.
I let out a big sigh, casually stretching my arms as I begin to jog on the spot. Father wouldn't be home tonight, so I had more time than usual. Excellent. I needed to spend more time in the east, anyway- I'd been neglecting patrolling over there with homework picking up.
Stealthily moving from rooftop to rooftop, I listen to the conversations flowing on the streets beneath me. Most of them are boring and inane, simple conversations about their families, their friends, their jobs or lack thereof. Some of them are a bit more exciting- one man is whispering over the phone into the ear of his lover, another man is dealing drugs two blocks over, a woman is cackling over her humiliation of a coworker further down that street.
Not my problem. I don't handle petty crime- and even if I did, I wouldn't have the time or the energy to try and beat all the drug dealers in Summer Hill down. My hands are full just trying to keep all the violence in check.
This is how I spend most of my nights. It's not as exciting as one might expect. There isn't a constant rush of action and adrenaline; in fact, I'm lucky if I get two incidents in a night. There's a lot of patience, a lot of stalking around on rooftops, and a lot of listening in on people's private conversations involved. It might be easier if I could get my hands on a police radio, but then, that would require people to trust in the police enough to call them in whenever crimes were happening.
It's what I do best, though. Keep the violence contained, focus it all onto me, and beat down anyone who might try and spill it over onto the streets. Patrol at night, or occasionally during the day when I have a free period before or after lunch, and try to find situations like these before they can fester and become big issues.
It's the best thing I can do for this place. I'm not my father. I can't spend my time doing charity, feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless. He has his faith, but I don't share it. As much as I wish it weren't so, I am my mother's daughter; a sinner, not a saint. A liar, a thief, a violent vigilante.
I'm the kind of person who would steal millions from my father's church's savings to pay for the augmentations to hunt down the people who abducted my mentor and threatened my family.
As I said before; there is a certain difference between my father and myself. He is a good person. I am not.
The area you're in now is relatively stable. Although there's the chance that that might fall through if the gangs make a sudden resurgence, you think you're set on that front for at least the next couple of weeks- and you've still got all your security assets in the region, anyway. It's time for you to look towards the future.
[] You can't stay in this area forever, as much as you have not-so-fond memories of it. If your business is going to expand, the area you cover is also going to need to expand. Moving blind is a bad idea, though, as you learned when you started this venture. You're going to assign Laine to looking into a region ahead of time so you know what you're getting into. Where are you going to be expanding into next?
[] Kingsman's. It's the least dangerous area to move into, and it's moderately prosperous, but it's also a bit of a powder keg. The possibility that moving into the region will set it off exists- especially when your own forces are as volatile as they are. It's the closest region to the Retros, a rapidly declining gang apparently led by an enhancile called White Skull.
[] Shutterbug's. Laine assures you that you shouldn't ask why it's named that. Regardless, it used to be a fairly artsy area, before Downzone started declining as hard as it has. Now, it's a hotbed of crime and corruption; augs have even been spotted in the area. It's a very dangerous area, even you can tell that, but there are plenty of assets ripe for subversion if you can wedge yourself in there.
[] Summer Hill. It's in a stable position at the moment, thanks to how run-down the area is and the relatively low presence of gangs thanks to the enhancile Vertex, but moving into the area is almost guaranteed to cause things to go south when you're inevitably followed. Nonetheless, the area is home to no less than two enhanciles, in the form of Vertex and Spook. It's the least profitable area in a monetary sense, however.
[] Your business is also going to need to grow in a more figurative sense if it's going to rise quickly enough to challenge Cydonia. You're doing your best on the ground, but there's only so much you can do here. Thankfully, Laine has offered his assistance here; he's going to spend some of his time looking into this for you, and hopefully securing you good deals so it doesn't cost as much as it otherwise would. [Pick one option, but the two most popular votes will win.]
[] You want your biotech department to grow. Laine will focus his research on picking up any talented biotech assets in the area that have flown under the radar so far, as well as useful patents and caches of resources that haven't been snapped up yet.
[] You want to establish a cybertech department. Laine will focus his research on picking up any surgical and implant assets which might be useful to start up an implant clinic, as well as useful patents, designs and caches of resources that are still available.
[] You want to focus on your security department. Laine will focus on providing arms and armour suppliers who sell at reasonable rates, as well as trainers and instructors who can help instruct your troops.
[] You want to establish a strike force to attack vulnerable assets in the reason. Laine will focus on providing arms suppliers who sell at low rates, as well as trainers who can help instruct your troops, and troops trained in this area who are willing to work without demanding too much in the form of payments.
[] You want your cyber-security division to grow. Laine will focus on recruiting people to help Shamus to run his division, as well as "obtaining" various programs used for similar things Shamus can adapt or tear apart for his own uses.
[] You want to establish a robotics department. Laine will focus his research on picking up any robotic engineers in the area, any broken robotics, and any caches of resources you can use for your own uses.
[] It's been a few weeks since Copperfield was burned out, and nobody's snapped it up. You're reasonably sure that you can buy the building out, albeit it'll cost a fair amount, and begin producing technically legal fruits and vegetables you can use as a cover to produce less-than-legal variants of the same. It might take some time to recoup a profit if you don't seek methods on the ground to make this venture worthwhile, however.
[] Yes; go for it.
[] No, it's not worth it.
"Nicholas Laine here." He starts, when you call him. "What do you need?"
"I'd like to ask you to work with us." You say. "Full-time, I mean."
"Yeah?" His voice is suspicious. "And why would I do that?"
"I think you know why. We need an investigation department and you're the best candidate I know of." You've learned enough of corporate management to know that most places run departments like this. It's always good to know about corporate raids or other maneuvers ahead of time. The less scrupulous companies-and there's a lot of them-use theirs as their dirty-tricks department too. Blackmail, extortion, and the occasional assassination. You don't plan on using that capacity.
"No, that's why you want me. I'm asking why I'd give up my business to work with you."
You think of the many ways you can appeal to him. Moral, ideological, pragmatic. All the tools you have to try to get him to agree with you. You finally decide on the one you judge is going to be most effective. "I can pay you a lot of money. And I know the make and model of your augmentations. I have a military cyberdoc who owes me favors. I can get you better prosthetics at a steep discount."
He's silent for a moment. You're afraid that it'll backfire, that he acts mercenary to cover up his heart of gold or whatever. "Fine. A steady job's better than what I have right now, anyhow."
***
There's an army base a few hours' drive away which is running a "Military-Civilian Repatriation Program." It's fancy words for "selling military-grade gear to corporate security types in order to supplement the military budget. Nothing top of the line, of course. That kind of equipment tends to come from different channels. But you and Lima and a couple of trusted 'militia' members have brought a large truck to fill with the surplus they are selling.
It's going to be a damn sight better than whatever you can acquire around the street, and much cheaper as well. The average weapon on the street is some sort of 1940s-era chemical firearm. Cheap, easy to produce with regular machine tools. Made before superbrains started really making advancements to the art of killing people. Nothing like military-grade guns today, which are to those as they were to muskets. Not even as advanced as the rather mediocre second-line gear that gets given to National Guardsmen as they try to contain food riots or do 'peacekeeping' missions in unaligned countries where the three superpowers compete in trying to demonstrate their systems' superiority.
But you're not fighting for capitalism against the forces of cyber-communism or the Chinese Cooperative's weird ideas of 'unification.' You've done that for long enough that you're not interested in it anymore. And so has your friend here.
John Watts is another military-grade enhancile, but his enhancements are focused on memory and cognition. He's still capable of holding his own against any aug-but his real calling is running programs like this, targeting them to serve the interests of the government. He was a liaison to Lima Seven-Nine before, and you remember him from when you had to work with Centra Spike back in Panama-but now with all the chaos and gang warfare in the streets and the weakening domestic government he's been reassigned to use his COIN expertise on rooting out the gangs and other 'rogue elements.'
He's a bit resigned when you walk into his office. There's a few cables plugged into his neck-probably working on another computer simulation or whatever he does. "Major Espinosa. I assume you're not here for a social call."
You shake your head. "Can you not call me that?" You know quite well that your rank's inflated because you're an enhancile from rich parents. You weren't commanding more than small units at any point in time. "It's Ez, or Vector."
"All right. Ez. I know this isn't a social call. I suspect you're here for the government's contribution to domestic policing, although that's only because I do keep tabs on local conditions, including your brother becoming the celebrity of an hour in a very troubled section of the local megacity. So. Can we get down to business?" You're surprised at how burned-out he seems. When you last saw him years ago, he was enthusiastic about fighting the good fight. But seeing what you've seen tends to do that.
"I need weapons." You don't want to waste his time. "Better me than whoever else you're selling them to. I want to bring back the old days. Where you could rely on the cops to protect you if there wasn't money involved. Where you could walk around at night without being mugged. I want to bring some change to downzone."
"Will you?" He asks.
You nod, but you don't feel entirely confident.
"Good enough." He sighs. "What exactly do you need?"
You've got a list of the toys you need, and the toys your militia want. There's a couple of the ex-gang members who really want some heavy weapons to play with. You're not going to invest heavily in those, to their disappointment, but a handful of heavy weapons won't hurt. The majority of your list is fairly simple. Modern small arms-smartlinked, electromagnetic weapons with multiple fire modes. Nonlethals or hybrid lethal/nonlethal ones-electrostun guns, soporific gas shells for grenade launchers and shotguns, antipersonnel microwave weapons. Combat equipment-exoskeletons, self-healing carapace armor, sensors gear and field medic kits. And of course some toys in case another attack like that happens again. Portable anti-vehicle launchers and railguns. A couple of assault cannon. Things you'll train them on, but probably won't use much. You'll want to get some augs or enhanciles to be able to deploy them quickly, but that's something to consider later. And, of course, you have a few orders to make with regards to Laine. You have the surgical team to install the new prosthetics. Lighter, stronger, with a commensurate increase in quality of life. Part of your deal with him.
You quickly check the price of everything you're looking for. An easy 2 million for the gear. You'll be using up most of your remaining quarterly budget on it, but you can deal with that problem. Soon you'll be in better shape as some of these projects start to bear fruit. And this isn't something that you're going to want to risk being cheap on. If you were-you'd be talking to national guard units, not the Civil Defense adjuncts who work with corporate security, buying low-end gear maybe a bit better than what the gangs have. No, you want good, solid equipment.
You come to an arrangement with Watts fairly quickly-he'll have people work with Lima to train your militia reps in exoskeleton usage, in the heavy and complicated weapons they'll be carrying. These people will then train their people-the same way special forces did their jobs. It'll take a while, keeping you out of touch for that period. But it's, you think, worth it. It was in a million other conflict zones.
But it makes you wonder about all that proud chest-beating nationalism in your history books. When did the United States become 'just another conflict zone'?
***
Vertex
Some people consider it strange that my family lives Downzone. Father is a Reverend. He makes enough money from that alone to support a family their size Upzone, let alone the money people donate to the church. Why would he choose to live down here, when he could live a better life up there?
It's hard for people to understand when they're not of the faith. They look at the filthy streets and the masses of downtrodden civilians dressed in hand-me-downs and question, why would anyone ever want to live there? Why would you voluntarily immerse yourself in this?
Father would reply that it is his duty to live amongst the less fortunate, to spread the word of the faith, to make their lives better in incremental steps. He would say that it is the duty of the clergy to spread their wealth amongst the community, that it is the duty of the clergy to sacrifice all they hold for the betterment of others.
Someone more cynical might say that it's an empty gesture- that true change can't be affected by something as simple as offering food to the needy or paying for visits to corner-clinics. Someone more cynical might say that if he wanted to affect change, he would do better to work from the top down, to work to make food more widely available, or to provide employment that doesn't pose such hazards to its workers' wellbeing.
Somehow, I doubt saying that would go down well.
"Jennifer," my father barks. I look up indolently. He's dressed in his preacher's outfit; a crisp, sharp suit of mass-produced cotton, black vest over white buttoned shirt. He rests on his cane, favouring his right leg.
I rise slowly to my feet, dragging myself over to stand in front of him. His eyes are bloodshot, and his breath smells faintly of whiskey- the one indulgence he allows himself. Drinking is not a sin, as he is fond of reminding me; only drinking to excess.
His tie is crooked. I patiently straighten it as I wait for him to speak.
"I will be out tonight," he announces once I finish straightening it and step back. He looks briefly over to a mirror, mouth tightening in a frown as he takes in his appearance. From his pocket, he pulls out his glasses case and puts them on. It's hard to see his eyes through them. "The streets have been bloody recently, with these god-cursed gangs roaming everywhere. I expect you will stay inside tonight. It is not safe for a lady on the streets."
The only response I can make is a nod as I stare at his tie, afraid to look him in the eyes.
I have never been good at lying to my father.
"Excellent." He sounds satisfied. "I have prepared dinner; all you need to do is heat it in the oven for twenty minutes. Do you need me to arrange a ride to school tomorrow?"
"No," I murmur in reply. "I am sure Maria will take me. If she doesn't, I will call you."
"Excellent." It happens every time, but I'm still caught off-guard when he pulls me into a hug and ruffles my hair. I return it hesitantly. "I will see you tomorrow, Jennifer."
"And you, Father." I unwrap my arms from around him, trying to hide their nervous shaking as he straightens and begins heading to the front door. He hesitates as he reaches it, looking back to me for a moment as if to say something, before seeming to decide better of it and heading out the front door.
I let out a soft breath as the door clicks closed behind him. Saying goodbye is an uncomfortable ritual.
I wait fifteen minutes, filling the spare time by moving idly around the house and gently wiping dust off the already pristine picture frames hanging on the walls, before it is clear that he has not forgotten anything. I have made that mistake once, and had almost been caught.
When the time has passed, I make my way slowly to my bedroom.
There is a certain difference between Father and myself. He does not know it, and it does not inform his actions, but I know it, and it does inform my own.
Father believes that people are good by nature, and bad by circumstance.
I also believe that people are good by nature, and bad by circumstance. I agree with my father on that level. If I believed that people were not good, I would not do any of the things I do.
Father believes that by offering what assistance he can to people, that by opening his arms and inviting people to seek help, they will necessarily be drawn to him; and that in doing so, the world will become a better place, step by incremental step. Father believes that charity and acceptance will make a difference.
That is where Father and I differ. Father believes that people will seek help and improvement. He is a good person. I am not.
My room is clean and bare. A bed stands against the far wall, a small table beside it bearing a lamp and an alarm clock. A desk and chair sits to my left below a window, my science homework laying neatly on top awaiting my return, and a heavy wardrobe takes up what remaining space there is within my room. It is not an exciting room.
I move towards the wardrobe, lifting it just high enough that it no longer touches the floor, then shuffle backwards and place it down. People often think that being as strong as I am means I can lift everything with ease, but a lot of things are very awkwardly shaped. It is hard to move them.
Behind my wardrobe is a small hole in the wall, one I carved there well over a year ago, when all this first started. It is just large enough to hold a small duffel bag, which I pull out and toss on my bed. Lifting the wardrobe back takes only a few moments- it's much easier to move forwards with an object than it is to shuffle backwards.
From within my duffel bag, I pull out my costume, stash the duffel bag beneath my mattress and leave, crawling my way out the window.
***
Maintaining a secret identity is a lot harder than people online give it credit for. There are a lot of factors that can give you away; height, hair colour, eye colour, body shape, voice inflection, word choice, and those are just the things people can get from a short video clip of you in action.
If you have enough money, there are a lot of ways you can deal with that. Some people have implants that can change their appearance when they venture out. Others wear full-body outfits intended to conceal their appearance and make it harder to recognize them. A few don't even bother, either lacking family and friends to exploit or trusting in security to protect them for them.
I don't have to worry about protecting Father too much. He's a member of the Church, and a Reverend, at that. Anyone who would go after him deserves what would happen to them afterwards.
No, I'm not worried about concealing my identity from the masses. I just don't want Father to figure out who I am and what I'm doing.
Some people might be content with just hiding their physical appearance, but Father is far more perceptive than that. I dress myself up, concealing my body behind body armour, my hair beneath a cap, my face beneath a bandana, but there are a lot of other things that could give me away.
Which leaves me in my current situation; having to present two different personalities to the world. One shy, boring, and introspective; the other vivacious and spunky. Nobody would connect the boring and demure Jennifer Austin, daughter of a preacher, with the reckless Vertex, superpowered vigilante.
I let out a big sigh, casually stretching my arms as I begin to jog on the spot. Father wouldn't be home tonight, so I had more time than usual. Excellent. I needed to spend more time in the east, anyway- I'd been neglecting patrolling over there with homework picking up.
Stealthily moving from rooftop to rooftop, I listen to the conversations flowing on the streets beneath me. Most of them are boring and inane, simple conversations about their families, their friends, their jobs or lack thereof. Some of them are a bit more exciting- one man is whispering over the phone into the ear of his lover, another man is dealing drugs two blocks over, a woman is cackling over her humiliation of a coworker further down that street.
Not my problem. I don't handle petty crime- and even if I did, I wouldn't have the time or the energy to try and beat all the drug dealers in Summer Hill down. My hands are full just trying to keep all the violence in check.
This is how I spend most of my nights. It's not as exciting as one might expect. There isn't a constant rush of action and adrenaline; in fact, I'm lucky if I get two incidents in a night. There's a lot of patience, a lot of stalking around on rooftops, and a lot of listening in on people's private conversations involved. It might be easier if I could get my hands on a police radio, but then, that would require people to trust in the police enough to call them in whenever crimes were happening.
It's what I do best, though. Keep the violence contained, focus it all onto me, and beat down anyone who might try and spill it over onto the streets. Patrol at night, or occasionally during the day when I have a free period before or after lunch, and try to find situations like these before they can fester and become big issues.
It's the best thing I can do for this place. I'm not my father. I can't spend my time doing charity, feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless. He has his faith, but I don't share it. As much as I wish it weren't so, I am my mother's daughter; a sinner, not a saint. A liar, a thief, a violent vigilante.
I'm the kind of person who would steal millions from my father's church's savings to pay for the augmentations to hunt down the people who abducted my mentor and threatened my family.
As I said before; there is a certain difference between my father and myself. He is a good person. I am not.
The area you're in now is relatively stable. Although there's the chance that that might fall through if the gangs make a sudden resurgence, you think you're set on that front for at least the next couple of weeks- and you've still got all your security assets in the region, anyway. It's time for you to look towards the future.
[] You can't stay in this area forever, as much as you have not-so-fond memories of it. If your business is going to expand, the area you cover is also going to need to expand. Moving blind is a bad idea, though, as you learned when you started this venture. You're going to assign Laine to looking into a region ahead of time so you know what you're getting into. Where are you going to be expanding into next?
[] Kingsman's. It's the least dangerous area to move into, and it's moderately prosperous, but it's also a bit of a powder keg. The possibility that moving into the region will set it off exists- especially when your own forces are as volatile as they are. It's the closest region to the Retros, a rapidly declining gang apparently led by an enhancile called White Skull.
[] Shutterbug's. Laine assures you that you shouldn't ask why it's named that. Regardless, it used to be a fairly artsy area, before Downzone started declining as hard as it has. Now, it's a hotbed of crime and corruption; augs have even been spotted in the area. It's a very dangerous area, even you can tell that, but there are plenty of assets ripe for subversion if you can wedge yourself in there.
[] Summer Hill. It's in a stable position at the moment, thanks to how run-down the area is and the relatively low presence of gangs thanks to the enhancile Vertex, but moving into the area is almost guaranteed to cause things to go south when you're inevitably followed. Nonetheless, the area is home to no less than two enhanciles, in the form of Vertex and Spook. It's the least profitable area in a monetary sense, however.
[] Your business is also going to need to grow in a more figurative sense if it's going to rise quickly enough to challenge Cydonia. You're doing your best on the ground, but there's only so much you can do here. Thankfully, Laine has offered his assistance here; he's going to spend some of his time looking into this for you, and hopefully securing you good deals so it doesn't cost as much as it otherwise would. [Pick one option, but the two most popular votes will win.]
[] You want your biotech department to grow. Laine will focus his research on picking up any talented biotech assets in the area that have flown under the radar so far, as well as useful patents and caches of resources that haven't been snapped up yet.
[] You want to establish a cybertech department. Laine will focus his research on picking up any surgical and implant assets which might be useful to start up an implant clinic, as well as useful patents, designs and caches of resources that are still available.
[] You want to focus on your security department. Laine will focus on providing arms and armour suppliers who sell at reasonable rates, as well as trainers and instructors who can help instruct your troops.
[] You want to establish a strike force to attack vulnerable assets in the reason. Laine will focus on providing arms suppliers who sell at low rates, as well as trainers who can help instruct your troops, and troops trained in this area who are willing to work without demanding too much in the form of payments.
[] You want your cyber-security division to grow. Laine will focus on recruiting people to help Shamus to run his division, as well as "obtaining" various programs used for similar things Shamus can adapt or tear apart for his own uses.
[] You want to establish a robotics department. Laine will focus his research on picking up any robotic engineers in the area, any broken robotics, and any caches of resources you can use for your own uses.
[] It's been a few weeks since Copperfield was burned out, and nobody's snapped it up. You're reasonably sure that you can buy the building out, albeit it'll cost a fair amount, and begin producing technically legal fruits and vegetables you can use as a cover to produce less-than-legal variants of the same. It might take some time to recoup a profit if you don't seek methods on the ground to make this venture worthwhile, however.
[] Yes; go for it.
[] No, it's not worth it.
[X] Summer Hill. It's in a stable position at the moment, thanks to how run-down the area is and the relatively low presence of gangs thanks to the enhancile Vertex, but moving into the area is almost guaranteed to cause things to go south when you're inevitably followed. Nonetheless, the area is home to no less than two enhanciles, in the form of Vertex and Spook. It's the least profitable area in a monetary sense, however.
[X] You want to establish a cybertech department. Laine will focus his research on picking up any surgical and implant assets which might be useful to start up an implant clinic, as well as useful patents, designs and caches of resources that are still available.
[X] Yes; go for it.
[X] You want to establish a cybertech department. Laine will focus his research on picking up any surgical and implant assets which might be useful to start up an implant clinic, as well as useful patents, designs and caches of resources that are still available.
[X] Yes; go for it.
- Location
- Luton Airport
Not that I object to the opportunity to buy it, but didn't we successfully defend Copperfield?
Also, did the efforts to track down the Zenith loot not get anywhere? Did we get any security contracts out of our PR buzz?
We've just invested in a load of guns and armour - we might as well make use of them. If Shutterbug is as much of a freefire zone as indicated, no-one is going to be too concerned at us letting rip there, allowing us to basically do live fire training for our security people and help wield the disparate ex-gangers into a cohesive force, while hopefully acquiring a nice chunk of "confiscated" items to compensate us for the effort. Laine helping us shape a strike force dovetails with this (I'd assume cybertech is going to get the other slot).
"Taming" an area with that kind of reputation is also going to be excellent PR.
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- Location
- Australia
You did, but the place did take some damage in the meantime. Not enough to make them scrap the whole thing, like Zenith did with their portion, but enough that the place- with profits that were already fragile- is really starting to suffer. Now that you've got a department who can actually look into this kind of thing, you've found out before it collapsed or was rebuilt, and are in a position to take advantage of it.
Laine hasn't made appreciable efforts down those lanes yet, but is still looking into it.
Sarpedon
Knight Errant
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Shutterbug's
[X] You want your biotech department to grow. Laine will focus his research on picking up any talented biotech assets in the area that have flown under the radar so far, as well as useful patents and caches of resources that haven't been snapped up yet.
[X] No, it's not worth it.
Alright time to murk dudes and take real estate.
[X] You want your biotech department to grow. Laine will focus his research on picking up any talented biotech assets in the area that have flown under the radar so far, as well as useful patents and caches of resources that haven't been snapped up yet.
[X] No, it's not worth it.
Alright time to murk dudes and take real estate.
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[X] Summer Hill. It's in a stable position at the moment, thanks to how run-down the area is and the relatively low presence of gangs thanks to the enhancile Vertex, but moving into the area is almost guaranteed to cause things to go south when you're inevitably followed. Nonetheless, the area is home to no less than two enhanciles, in the form of Vertex and Spook. It's the least profitable area in a monetary sense, however.
[X] You want to establish a cybertech department. Laine will focus his research on picking up any surgical and implant assets which might be useful to start up an implant clinic, as well as useful patents, designs and caches of resources that are still available.
[X] Yes; go for it.
[X] You want to establish a cybertech department. Laine will focus his research on picking up any surgical and implant assets which might be useful to start up an implant clinic, as well as useful patents, designs and caches of resources that are still available.
[X] Yes; go for it.
- Location
- Luton Airport
I'd like to reiterate that while Summer Hill and Kingsman's might superficially seem like the easier options, they're going to end up giving us more grief, since we'll be the ones apparently fucking up reasonably quiet neighbourhoods and bringing violence and destruction to their streets. Whereas Shutterbug's already got all the violence, and pretty much anything we do to the place is going to count as an improvement. Plus, if we tame Shutterbug, the likelihood of anyone fucking with us when we subsequently move into the quieter areas is a lot lower.
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[X] Shutterbug's. Laine assures you that you shouldn't ask why it's named that. Regardless, it used to be a fairly artsy area, before Downzone started declining as hard as it has. Now, it's a hotbed of crime and corruption; augs have even been spotted in the area. It's a very dangerous area, even you can tell that, but there are plenty of assets ripe for subversion if you can wedge yourself in there.
[X] You want your biotech department to grow. Laine will focus his research on picking up any talented biotech assets in the area that have flown under the radar so far, as well as useful patents and caches of resources that haven't been snapped up yet.
[X] Yes; go for it.
[X] You want your biotech department to grow. Laine will focus his research on picking up any talented biotech assets in the area that have flown under the radar so far, as well as useful patents and caches of resources that haven't been snapped up yet.
[X] Yes; go for it.
Happerry
Bat out of Hell
- Location
- Kanto
[X] Shutterbug's. Laine assures you that you shouldn't ask why it's named that. Regardless, it used to be a fairly artsy area, before Downzone started declining as hard as it has. Now, it's a hotbed of crime and corruption; augs have even been spotted in the area. It's a very dangerous area, even you can tell that, but there are plenty of assets ripe for subversion if you can wedge yourself in there.
[X] You want to establish a robotics department. Laine will focus his research on picking up any robotic engineers in the area, any broken robotics, and any caches of resources you can use for your own uses.
[X] Yes; go for it.
[X] You want to establish a robotics department. Laine will focus his research on picking up any robotic engineers in the area, any broken robotics, and any caches of resources you can use for your own uses.
[X] Yes; go for it.
Sarpedon
Knight Errant
- Pronouns
- He/Him
If people are focused on expanding into Shutterbug, then also acquiring Copperfield is a bad idea. Expanding into Shutterbug will require violence of action to suppress enemies and a concentration of resources to exploit the opportunities we make. Acquiring Copperfield is not only highly expensive, but we won't see a return on our investment for sometime, which is exactly the opposite of what we want if we are to move into Shutterbug.
- Location
- Luton Airport
The way I was looking at it, the Copperfield purchase should be funded with borrowing on the asset, given it's a solid income-producer long-term. Shutterbug, in contrast, is a chance to swipe resources, the same way we confiscated the gang's guns and biomod clinic previously, with any spending to exploit opportunities done out of working funds.
Sarpedon
Knight Errant
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Eh with us expanding Shutterbugs isnt going to be just a quick smash and grab for stuff, we are gonna be in there for the long haul. So I think its important if we are to move into that area that we focus our resources on smashing the enemy and exploiting opportunity and not spread ourselves thin. We need to establish ourselves and maintain our gains, not spit our focus onto other costly ventures for little return. Basically if we are expanding into Shutterbugs its the wrong time to acquire Copperfield imo.
TenfoldShields
Lounging on a Hoard of Words
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Shutterbug's. Laine assures you that you shouldn't ask why it's named that. Regardless, it used to be a fairly artsy area, before Downzone started declining as hard as it has. Now, it's a hotbed of crime and corruption; augs have even been spotted in the area. It's a very dangerous area, even you can tell that, but there are plenty of assets ripe for subversion if you can wedge yourself in there.
I think Shutterbug appeals to our core strengths in the most visceral way: it's a zone largely geared towards murking dudes and taking their stuff. As the past couple of updates have shown, we're pretty decent at the whole murking dudes and taking their stuff thing. Plus like...it's a way to effect other zones without rolling in and fucking up the internal ecosystem. People are already paying attention to us, handling us with some measure of wariness. This will make them take us seriously and potentially bring more, and better established, players to the table to talk.
Plus, like, it's a crime-ridden cesspit basically nextdoor to our area. If left alone it's a pretty dire threat to the stability of what we've built. Pacifying it is ultimately worth it in the long run.
[X] You want to establish a cybertech department. Laine will focus his research on picking up any surgical and implant assets which might be useful to start up an implant clinic, as well as useful patents, designs and caches of resources that are still available.
Our dudes are SO BORED. Like, holy shit people, I assumed we'd be able to make up the ground pretty fast after acquiring them but that was a bit of a strategic fuckup on my part at least because all the options for getting cybernetics shit came with pretty hefty price tags. So, like, let's stop fucking around and get a move on it before what assets we do have turn in their two weeks notices.
Also augs draw heavily on both cybernetic and biotech fields. Our biotech division is plenty muscly as it is. Focus on our weaker spot and shore up our development. We've already invested a lot in amping up our security force, we can afford to focus on other things.
[X] Broker out a deal with the Grocers. They fold their operations into Copperfield to shore it up, we underwrite some of the costs and become major investors, the likelihood of people starving or the Grocers eating a bullet goes down dramatically.
We're sort of scraping the bottom of the barrel funds-wise for this quarter iirc and I'm not convinced that we can provide the proper attention and infrastructure a business like AgriSystems needs to survive and thrive. That said, all the reasons for protecting it still hold true: it still supplies a lot of crucial supplementary nutrition to the district, it improves morale, and it employs hundreds of people right outside our door. So we can't exactly cut it loose either.
Seeing as this is the cyberpunk future I'm proposing a deal with one time enemies, especially since we've already started cutting deals with a few of their affiliates. Even though they were almost certainly involved in the attack it's time to let bygones (of, like, two weeks ago) be bygones. They clearly want it badly enough right? So let's work with that.
By getting the Grocers to go legit we can give them the opportunity to centralize the food supplying operations for our home turf under one more efficient and very profitable banner. We open the possibility for healing to occur in the community since, as it was pointed out, a lot of these gangers have friends and family here too. We give the community an opportunity to move forward, together.
And we heavily incentivize that they take it and not asset strip the place by a. being major investors and having the legal muscle to rip them to gory bits if they fuck us over and b. having a paramilitary army parked right next-door that they can step outside and see on patrol absolutely every day. And they know from pretty painful experience that Vector has pretty few compunctions about throwing her weight around if its strategically warranted. They know that she's not really the type to just lick her wounds and cut her losses, that she's pretty clearly here to stay. So they know that even if they make a push for seizing control and by some miracle they rebuff our standing forces with their sick-ass cyberpunk masks, all they have to look forward to is a very, very, irritated military enhancile with a vibrosword.
It means we don't get pure control over Copperfield but, like, that's okay I think. We have the Grocers on a leash. They know that we need the area to be secure. Everyone has the ability to walk away with something in their pocket and, most importantly, peace on the streets.
I think Shutterbug appeals to our core strengths in the most visceral way: it's a zone largely geared towards murking dudes and taking their stuff. As the past couple of updates have shown, we're pretty decent at the whole murking dudes and taking their stuff thing. Plus like...it's a way to effect other zones without rolling in and fucking up the internal ecosystem. People are already paying attention to us, handling us with some measure of wariness. This will make them take us seriously and potentially bring more, and better established, players to the table to talk.
Plus, like, it's a crime-ridden cesspit basically nextdoor to our area. If left alone it's a pretty dire threat to the stability of what we've built. Pacifying it is ultimately worth it in the long run.
[X] You want to establish a cybertech department. Laine will focus his research on picking up any surgical and implant assets which might be useful to start up an implant clinic, as well as useful patents, designs and caches of resources that are still available.
Our dudes are SO BORED. Like, holy shit people, I assumed we'd be able to make up the ground pretty fast after acquiring them but that was a bit of a strategic fuckup on my part at least because all the options for getting cybernetics shit came with pretty hefty price tags. So, like, let's stop fucking around and get a move on it before what assets we do have turn in their two weeks notices.
Also augs draw heavily on both cybernetic and biotech fields. Our biotech division is plenty muscly as it is. Focus on our weaker spot and shore up our development. We've already invested a lot in amping up our security force, we can afford to focus on other things.
[X] Broker out a deal with the Grocers. They fold their operations into Copperfield to shore it up, we underwrite some of the costs and become major investors, the likelihood of people starving or the Grocers eating a bullet goes down dramatically.
We're sort of scraping the bottom of the barrel funds-wise for this quarter iirc and I'm not convinced that we can provide the proper attention and infrastructure a business like AgriSystems needs to survive and thrive. That said, all the reasons for protecting it still hold true: it still supplies a lot of crucial supplementary nutrition to the district, it improves morale, and it employs hundreds of people right outside our door. So we can't exactly cut it loose either.
Seeing as this is the cyberpunk future I'm proposing a deal with one time enemies, especially since we've already started cutting deals with a few of their affiliates. Even though they were almost certainly involved in the attack it's time to let bygones (of, like, two weeks ago) be bygones. They clearly want it badly enough right? So let's work with that.
By getting the Grocers to go legit we can give them the opportunity to centralize the food supplying operations for our home turf under one more efficient and very profitable banner. We open the possibility for healing to occur in the community since, as it was pointed out, a lot of these gangers have friends and family here too. We give the community an opportunity to move forward, together.
And we heavily incentivize that they take it and not asset strip the place by a. being major investors and having the legal muscle to rip them to gory bits if they fuck us over and b. having a paramilitary army parked right next-door that they can step outside and see on patrol absolutely every day. And they know from pretty painful experience that Vector has pretty few compunctions about throwing her weight around if its strategically warranted. They know that she's not really the type to just lick her wounds and cut her losses, that she's pretty clearly here to stay. So they know that even if they make a push for seizing control and by some miracle they rebuff our standing forces with their sick-ass cyberpunk masks, all they have to look forward to is a very, very, irritated military enhancile with a vibrosword.
It means we don't get pure control over Copperfield but, like, that's okay I think. We have the Grocers on a leash. They know that we need the area to be secure. Everyone has the ability to walk away with something in their pocket and, most importantly, peace on the streets.
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