An Engineer In Night City - ch 11.2 (Patreon)

Preparation (2)

In the Chief Engineer's office at Wube Inc., a flurry of activity happens as David Martinez checks the various contracts and budgets of Wube Inc. while Mark finally works as the CEO of Wube Inc.'s NC branch.

Sighing tiredly, Mark calls the Mayor of West Side City. He only has enough time to make himself comfortable before the mayor answers.

"West Side City Mayor's office, to whom am I speaking?"

Mark grins when he sees the Mayor in his 'fat mayor from a wild west city' costume, "Hello, Mr. Mayor, this is Mark Henderson. How's the weather over there?"

The mayor adjusts himself before leaning back, "Like always, I am glad that my office has air conditioning, Mr. Henderson. Now, what can the mayor's office do for you today?"

Mark nods gratefully at the man, "Direct to the point, good. Well, I plan on hiring more locals to expand Wube Inc.'s operations. If you have any names to indicate, I would be grateful to you."

The mayor contemplates the Engineer's words before pulling a physical book from under his desk. "I do have a good list to choose from. What am I looking for?"

Mark pulls out his list, "First, to improve our operations we will be hiring more security, truck drivers, janitors, and managers to keep track of everything. I need people that can do their jobs without fucking with me."

The mayor idly takes some notes and consults his book, "I can find the right people for that. Considering Wube Inc. is one of the few corporations that pay their taxes in full, I'm happy to help you with something simple like that. Is there anything else?"

Mark glances around to room to find his advisors. David is working hard on his task, but when their eyes meet he nods back. Mark turns his head and looks at the Marketable Plushy Solvernia sitting at the side of his terminal, reminding him of what he decided earlier.

"I also want to expand my local team of lawyers. Militech opposition became overt recently, so I want to cover all my bases."

The mayor nods back, "Naturally. I know a good, reliable lawyer office that isn't fond of Militech. Is there anything else?"

Mark takes a deep breath to calm himself since this is the real request he has for the Mayor. "I need an introduction to other politicians in the state."

The mayor raises an eyebrow, "Looking to join politics?"

The Engineer ponders how to put things delicately, but realizes that's impossible, thus he speaks directly, "I'm expecting a large-scale conflict to break out soon, and I will need political backing to weather this storm."

Mark leans forward as if speaking a grand secret to the mayor, "I am also building the seeds for something... greater."

That caught the interest of the man, "Greater? What are you referring to?"

Mark's smile turns feral, but he refrains from giving more information than necessary, "We will talk more when I visit, Mr. Mayor."

He quickly changes the subject, lightening his tone. "Now, tell me Mr. Mayor, how are the current workers doing? Any complaints? Any sign of sickness?"

Taking the hint, the man laughs lightly, "On no, dear heavens no! Things have bone incredibly well in your lands! I have no idea what kind of process you have, but the few people handling your green rocks are perfectly safe! The Geiger Counter doesn't register anything beyond the background radiation levels, which to be fair, is already higher than a century ago."

Mark sighs at the uncomfortable reminder. One of the reasons why Night City is so crowded is because of the constant weather hazards outside the city, among them being the elevated background radiation.

"Maybe I will make a biter farm to counter the pollution," the Engineer mutters under his breath, and a new notification appears on his system HUD. "Huh?"

"Did something happen, Mr. Henderson?" Mark blinked away the notification before looking at the Mayor.

"It's nothing, just received a new message. Now Mr. Mayor, do you have any questions or requests for me, or to Wube Inc. in general?"

The Mayor considers it but declines the offer, "I will wait until we meet each other in person. Now, Mr. Henderson, if that's all, my secretary just told me I need to preside over a duel of honor."

"No, that's all. Have fun with the duel, Mr. Mayor. I will see you around." Mark closes the connection and checks the latest technology.

Advanced genetic sequencing.

Biter Domestication.

Cloning Chambers.

…

Elsewhere, on the badlands roads between BN2 and Night City, a caravan transports a cargo of RGB Chips, Frozen Food, and other items back to Night City. The caravan is composed of several Haulter trucks and its armed escorts.

One of the truck drivers carrying the RGB Chips notices a plume of dust on the horizon and curses as the sight is an indicator for Nomad raiders.

"This is the third time today." He calls his escort on the radio. "Can you guys do something about it, over?"

The answer comes almost immediately from the security team. "Negative, the Engineer told us to prioritize safety, so that's what we're doing, over."

The Chip truck driver almost slams his fist on the radio. "I know that, damn it! I'm asking why nobody took care of those fucking highwaymen in the first place! Over."

A new voice cackles on the radio. "The Nomads got a lot of power during the Time of Red, but now that most corpos restored transportation they became raiders. Over."

The Chip truck driver rolls his eyes, "So much for 'family and honor,' they're just a bunch of hypocrites like everyone else. Over."

"Not everyone is like the boss, over." He snorts at the obvious.

"Well, if the boss is the only one taking care of everyone, then maybe he should be in fucking charge, then. Over."

A different voice asks, "Like what? A King? Over."

The man pauses to ponder the question, taking it more seriously than he initially expected. “Maybe the new President. I bet if he could, he would fix this shitty country on his own! I would vote for him! ... over.”

The radio explodes with laughter at the joke. "Haha, nice joke! We all know you have to sell your soul to the devil to succeed as a politician! Over."

The truck drivers laugh at their jokes, though inwardly they feel the world needs more people like the Engineer if they want things to get better. For now, they are content to have secured their next paycheck.

Meanwhile, the security team drives off the Nomads harassing the convoy by shooting from their Buggy or the Chain Gunner Light Tanks. The Nomad's harassment delayed the convoy, but nothing more.

The truck driver suspects that was the real intention of the raiders, as their hit-and-run tactics targeted the convoys through the round trip to the BN2 Complex and back to Night City. As an experienced driver, he knows this consistency is not natural.

...

Back in Night City sitting in his office, Mark studies the map with the multiple red dots near the new electrical lines he set up to provide Night City with energy.

He just witnessed several saboteur teams that planted explosives at the base of the Big Electric Poles. "I knew they played dirty, but I underestimated them."

Sighing, Mark reminds himself that the West Coast states are composed of the Free States, with a few exceptions, and are technically enemies of NUSA, 'I have to reach out to the other Free States if I want to combat that monster.' Mark is confident he can win an armed conflict against the new country, but he doesn't want to create an unnecessary mountain of corpses with a haphazard invasion.

"I need to either make several bases or eat the bullet when the time comes." Counting the electric poles between BN2 Complex and Night City, he's facing another workforce problem.

The new technologies can help him deal with the problem, but he's hesitant to open the Pandora Box. "If they escalate further, I will set those things up. For now, I will reach out to the communities in the badlands. My problem is time: can I finish my preparations before NUSA and Militech strike?"

The Engineer turns to Solvernia, patiently sitting on his desk. "What do you think?"

In the setting where Solvernia comes from, she's an honorary Admiral who commands the ship with the same name as herself, and she remains in the home system to protect the capital against invasions. Her ship, while powerful, is a resource gobbler and a logistical nightmare for aggressive missions.

"Maybe if I use the City Block philosophy, create a crisscross electrical grid with multiple redundances, and set up a single base to defend each Block, things can work out." Mark pulls the map and assigns several labels for the potential bases. "Keep each base topped up with supplies, and let the robot network fix things while the security team defends my holdings?"

The Engineer falls into the simulation and starts to test blueprint designs. It's not impossible, but it will be expensive in material. He will also have to barrel oil for the base's defenses. "I will call the Night City Mayor. He might be happy with easing the stain in the city by building new communities eastward."

While inside the simulator the Engineer opens Wube Inc.'s holdings on Pacifica and the Night City landfill. In Pacifica, around seventy-five percent of the scrap and other trash finished the reclamation process, leaving a pristine area paved with concrete. In the newly reclaimed area, a section became a desalination plant and now sells clean water to Night City, while the rest has Accumulators and Anti-Air guns.

Ten percent of the original area from Night City's Landfill concluded reclamation. It also has Anti-Air guns and accumulators.

Mark grimaces. "It's not enough. I don't doubt Militech will escalate things."

With a tired sigh, Mark starts designing new blueprints to expand the BN2 Complex and create more outposts. Meanwhile, he sets several orders for his space-based assets expansion and to build larger bases, prepare more material, and work on increasing the Quality of his items.

"Let's focus research on military research for now, at least until the special buildings arrive on Earth." Mark sighs one last time before focusing on his task, "I won't let myself get caught off guard. Show me your worst NUSA. I will take everything you throw at me."

Post Chapter Note

Sorry for the lack of update on Friday, I had to rewrite this, and I was working on something else. Tomorrow the Weekly Poll and the two chapters per day should resume.

There is also the new monthly poll and some statistics of the previous month for those interested.