章 96: Corporate Corpse Climbing
Elsewhere :
"So, has anyone here discovered the perpetrators of the recent incident that has harmed our interests...?" a tall, fat man with balding black hair and stark black glasses questioned the people gathered in the room.
"N-no, Mr Daffords... We've attempted to secure the identities of the group that attacked us but everyone who might know is refusing to cooperate. Even if we sent our security teams or requested the NCPD to accelerate their effor-"
*Bang!*
Roger Daffords slams his palm on the glass table, prompting everyone to go silent as he points at the previous speaker, "I didn't ask you to explain why you failed, Miss Fay! I asked if we knew the criminals who cost Biotechnica hundreds of millions of dollars! Forgive my language, but I don't give a SHIT what, why, or fucking how it happened!" he scans the room, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have you all thrown out of the building right now!"
...
"Hmph," a woman sitting far from him huffs in amusement.
"Is something wrong Dr Koch?" Roger questions with a sharp glare.
She smiles slightly and waves him off, "Oh, it's nothing... Just that you have no authority to touch any of us, not anyone."
"And why do you say that? Unless you have forgotten, I am the Regional Manager of this company location. All of you fall under my authority, all of you answer to me."
She sniffs again and shakes her head, "No... As of three minutes ago, you aren't the Manager of anything. Headquarters have deemed your abilities inadequate to run such a substantial marketplace, or so they said. I'm inclined to agree with them, given how you're still just sitting back and blaming all of us while Biotechnica's stocks plummet."
"Is this a joke? Do you think this is funny!? I'm the only person here keeping this company afloat! Besides, I would have received notice, earlier than you anyway." he gestures at her, glancing at the armed man guarding the door, "Take Dr Koch outside and strip her of her access card, she will no longer-" he pauses, eyes visibly glowing as he's sent a message.
Joanne stands from her chair and starts walking over to Roger, "I heard the news before you because I just received a promotion." she slides Roger's wheeled chair away and stands at the focal point of the table, staring at the other directors, doctors, and other partners present. "I am Joanne Koch, the new Regional Manager of this area. And I believe some changes are due... But first," she glances at the guard, "Have that witless idiot dragged to the NCPD officers outside, HQ wishes him to admit his guilt and culpability with the Securicine incident"
The guard nods, walking over and grabbing Roger by his arm, forcing him out of the daze he'd entered upon reading the message, his termination. "W-wait! They wouldn't do this! I have worked at this company for thirty years!" he begins pointing at various people along the table as the guard struggles to drag him out.
"I stopped the NCPD from finding out about your dalliances with that pre-teen! I bribed officials to prevent you, Jerald, from getting life in prison! Dr Koch! I backed you up when you unleashed bioweapons on innocents to test their effectiveness! IF I'M GOING DOWN, I'M TAKING THE REST OF YOU WITH ME! DO YOU HEAR ME!?"
Joanne just smiles at him, holding a hand up which causes the guard to pause, "Oh, we heard you loud and clear, Roger." she glances at the pale, guilty faces of those present, "And I believe we've all come to a consensus on what to do with you." she nods 'sadly', "A shame, your suicide letter was written with such haste, you just couldn't wait to end your guilt."
Roger's eyes widened as a few people turned away from him, not willing to meet his eyes or acknowledge what was about to happen to him. "N-no! You can't do this! I-I have backups saved! The moment I die, every scum-seller in the damned city knows of your crimes!"
"I sincerely doubt that, you were never so smart. Perhaps if you'd attended your duties properly you might've seen tomorrow. Take him."
With that, a dozen more guards arrive and carry the screaming man away, all while everyone gathered attempts to tune him out. They all knew how cut-through Corporate life was, but never had they been so close, or so directly responsible for a man's death.
Not only that, a few realised the power play. Dr Koch had literally just had her former superior dragged away to be framed for the crimes and executed, all while indirectly implicating everyone in the room. No doubt she had cameras present, so unless they immediately contacts the authorities to report what was happening, they could face consequences for their inaction... That's even if they got that far too, since Dr Koch had shown how eager she was to remove threats to her new position.
The new Regional Manager takes her seat and folds her legs, "Now, since the Late Roger Daffords' strategies haven't been working, why don't we discuss some alternatives? I'll start... Let's have the bottom-dwellers of this city do our jobs for us, hire some mercs, have them hunt the 'Zombie' and his band of criminals." she states, not recommending but actually ordering it to be done.
"We will also need some plans to recover the financial hit Roger caused the company in his negligence... First, rebrand most of our products, and advertise them as triple-tested alternatives we've decided to release in response to Securicine. Next, we need a controversy for one of our competitors, I don't care how it happens, just draw the public eye away from us. With our former Regional Manager's departure, we should be able to buy some goodwill, donate to some foundations, have some clinics built, etc."
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Niggross
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章 97: Spooderman
Ori kicks his feet up onto Judy's desk as she looks over the Cybernetic grappling hook with Bats. "So, you two a thing now or something...?" he asks while throwing a paper plane made from one of Judy's files at them.
Judy sighs and backhands it out of the air, "No, we're just friends. He comes in occasionally to help with a project, I pay him for his time, regular stuff."
"That didn't answer my question..."
"Because you already know the answer. I'm not into men, remember?" she blandly responds.
"Hear that Bats? She's not into you."
Bats just shrugs, adjusting something on the Cyberware, "Means you still have a chance though, maybe she likes kids instead of men?"
"Did you just call me a chomo...?" Judy questions with a glare.
"Ah-er, no? Unless chomo technically means paedophile, then kinda..." Bat sheepishly admits.
She wets her lips in a moment of silence, "If you two are going to keep playing around then I'll kick both your asses outta my lab."
"He started it."
"I did... But can either of you tell me about that chrome yet? Any good?" Ori asks.
"Hm, it reminds me of something the NCPD used to use when they still had police bikes. They had hooks like this on the front with winch systems, punch one into a fleeing car then activate the stabilising clamps. Didn't know anyone would want to install a version of it as Cyberware..." Judy remarks, sounding curious.
"Why'd they get rid of 'em? Were they trash? Or did they not want to be on the bike train like the Tyger Claws?"
"They actually worked from what I read, until cars started getting more powerful. The bikes would need to be four times more expensive to keep up which doesn't really fit a public service budget... Still, the tech got downsized major..." she says, holding up the grappling cyberware. Indeed, it was actually quite small compared to most cybernetics, around the size of a man's fist, most of which was just the cables themselves.
"How'd you install it?" Ori inquires. He was somewhat interested in it, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to commit to it. If it replaced muscle on his arm, then he'd be far weaker since the Cyberware itself likely wasn't designed for strength.
"Looks like you implant it somewhere at the end of your forearm, maybe five inches away from your wrist... The cables seem to stick out externally and be easily detachable, probably to stop them getting stuck to a running train and tearing your arm off accidentally." Bats states before pausing, "I'm guessing it's incomplete however, this thing will latch onto a surface and send you flying at it, fast. You'd need some suspension systems in your elbow, shoulder, neck, head, and brain to stop you from knocking yourself out or tearing yourself apart from the massive acceleration."
"All of that, just for a grappling hook... Doesn't worth it." Ori remarks, though, he knew he'd be able to handle such forces with the modifications his body already had.
"Well... This would make you like the old superhero if you practised enough with it... What was his name...? Spider something?" Judy offers, her brow quirked in thought.
"Spiderman? But you'd need two of them if you wanted to keep up in the air, we're not in an old comic book either. If you used it to swing from buildings you'd cause so much property damage the NCPD would send MaxTac at you..." Bats says.
"It'd be cool though, wouldn't it?" Judy retorts.
They both chuckle, "Yeah, I guess it would... Surprised no one's tried it before, to be honest..."
...
Ori drops his feet and leans forwards as he thinks back to what he knew of 'spiderman'. "Hey, think you guys could fashion that thing into a wrist-mounted-,Thing...?"
"Like an arm guard?" Judy asks.
"Yeah, like that. Something I can wear instead of having to install it. Just seems like a waste to implant it to be honest..."
"That doesn't fix the problems I brought up-... Ah," he mutters, realising Ori had methods to assist in that. He glances at Judy, "Think there's a way of doing it? I'm not all that great an engineer." he admits.
Judy ignores whatever was being unsaid between Bats and Ori, "We would need to relocate the launch system, strip everything but the actual machinery... It'd need some new batteries too, since fuel cells would be too bulky for an arm guard. I... I think I could make it work? Might take some time though."
"I'll pay you for the help, plus it's pretty interesting too." Ori offers.
"Yeah, but if I start seeing reports of 'spiderman' on the news, I'm coming to you first." she jokes.
Ori stretches his arms and back out, yawning lightly as he glances at the duo, "Hey, either of you know a good place to buy a car? My old one is busted."
"Eh... Not really..." Bats mutters, "Haven't actually ever bought a car, just stole them from someone else..."
"What's your budget?" Judy asks.
"Eh, not sure... Ten K sound good...?" Ori questions, not entirely sure how much a vehicle actually cost. His last one was stolen too... Maybe that ran in the family? Or all Nomads for that matter.
She snorts, "Pfft, ten thousand? What you trying to buy with that? One of those little electric cars you buy for kids?"
"Alright, smart ass. How much should I spend then?" he grouses.
"Well, depends, you care whether it's legal or not?"
"Not particularly."
"Then I know plenty of places that'll sell a nice ride on the cheap. Stolen, obviously, but with all trackers and identifiers scrubbed. Twenty K would be enough, thirty if you want something nice..."
"Hm... I'll bite, where's it at?"
"Don't bother going alone, I'll tag along and make sure you don't get burned buying some pile of crap. Unless you know something about cars?"
Ori shakes his head, "Not at all. I barely know how to change a tire... 'Sides, don't you have things going? Wouldn't wanna ask you to waste your time with me."
"It's fine, I've been wanting to check out what they got anyway."
クリエイターの想い
Niggross
Niggross
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
Faruk Ereng
VidDav FerDeL
Daniel
Peter Evans
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