An Engineer In Night City - ch 11.7 (Patreon)

Preparation (7)

The restaurant is an Arasaka-sponsored venue and sells high-quality real food to its clients. The decoration style has a gentle, soothing atmosphere contrasting the Neo-Militarism favored by current corporations.

“It is the last place in America that sells genuine sushi,” Yorinobu explains to Gloria, “and one of the five American establishments that sell A5 Wagyu. They’re both pre-Krash relics now,” the man chuckles, “but I think the novelty of eating real food won't impress you.”

“Oh no, Yorinobu-san," Gloria replies flustered, "I am both impressed and interested in the food, though I’m not sure where to start, honestly.”

The Arasaka heir laughs, before showing her the menu, “Don’t worry, they have a tasting menu that comes on a boat with a bit of everything.” 

He grabs Gloria’s hand while waiting for the food, “how was your day? Any new amusing tales from your coworkers, or the people in your care?”

Eyes twinkling, she recounts the latest stories of her job, “Well, you see…”

As the date progressed the pair enjoyed each other’s company, sharing their daily routine, and some of their inner thoughts.

At some point, Gloria's curiosity shifted to a new theme, “What was your childhood like Yorinobu-san?”

The man pauses slightly, his expression pivoting from the earlier smile to a more somber mood, tinged with nostalgia and sadness.

“I must admit, it wasn’t easy growing under my father’s shadow,” When his bodyguard stiffened, Yorinobu waved him off, “It’s well-documented history. Everyone important knows about it, like Mark-san.”

That piqued Gloria's interest. “Oh, that sounds interesting, but if it’s a difficult topic-”

“No,” he interrupts her, “it’s just been a while since someone was interested in my past, that’s all. Now, where to begin?”

Yorinobu recounts some anecdotes of his childhood to Gloria, starting with being born in Japan to Saburo’s second wife Michiko, and his earlier childhood in Japan. After his father retired from public view and started to run the company from the shadows, his older brother Kei Arasaka became the new CEO.

His older brother had faithfully followed Saburo Arasaka's footsteps, meanwhile, Yorinobu took a different route. “Instead of accepting my father's strict rules and ideals, I became the leader of a biker gang named the Steel Dragons. I even had a band, back in the day. Some people even dared to compare me with the legendary Johnny Silverhand due to our personalities and goals at the time.”

A hint of recognition came to Gloria, but it was too vague for her. “Johnny Silverhand? The name isn’t unfamiliar, but I don’t remember where I heard it.”

Her date nods, “It was before your time. He was once a famous Rockerboy, drawing a huge legion of fans, but nowadays only a few people remember him," his expression didn't change when he explained the next part, "He was present during the Arasaka attack before the company left NUSA for a time.”

Finally, the female doctor remembers where she heard the name, “Ah! I remember him now, from the history lessons. He is recognized as a terrorist if I’m not mistaken.”

Despite the heavy theme, Yorinobu chuckles, “Johnny would accept the label with grace if he were alive now. That was how deep his hatred for Arasaka ran at the time. It was a hatred I once shared with him.”

That confession took the woman off guard, “Eh? But, aren’t you the heir to Arasaka?”

“I was young once,” Yorinobu leans back in his seat, remembering his past, “When I was young, I once witnessed how the company treated their employees, the citizens of Japan, and the immigrants who came to work at Arasaka, it was inhumane.” He closes his eyes, the various old scenes still seared in his mind. 

“The fear and terror that my father inflicted on those who couldn't meet his demands kept me awake many nights, Gloria. There's an argument about his practices becoming Industry Standard for over a century, but the shareholders can’t find fault in his results.”

As a former employee of the Meat Wagon company, she knows about the "Industry Standard." Now she understood why Yorinobu and Mark could be so close, as Mark acted genuinely baffled at the treatment of the employees and even customers by the corporations. She motions for her date to continue.

“Growing up with the man was also,” Yorinobu pauses, and Gloria suspects he's looking for an expression to avoid offending the bodyguard, “a challenging experience. That’s why I spent most of my early years opposing my father, organizing protests against Arasaka, and snubbing him when given the chance.”

Gloria takes a bite of her food, thinking over the confession of her date, “What changed? Because now you’re his heir.”

The older man takes a deep breath, “I… grew up, I suppose. I couldn’t just throw temper tantrums at my father anymore."

He picks up a glass of wine, staring at his reflection while pondering the past. “After the death of my brother, the bombing of Arasaka, and the fallout on Night City, I went back to my father and apologized for my youthful indiscretion. Of course, my father didn’t trust me completely from the onset, so I worked from the ground up until I could be entrusted with more responsibilities.” The current heir chuckles mirthlessly, “Away from the public eyes, of course, you can’t have the future heir doing menial labor, right?”

“Yorinobu-sama,” The bodyguard tries to protest, but the man waves him off.

“As I said, It’s old history. The tabloids already had their fill with that information twice over. Once before the Time of Red, and another right after.”

The bodyguard relaxes and resumes his previous position.

Trying to defuse the heavy atmosphere, Gloria pints to their plates, “How about we go back to dinner? The waiter is almost here.”

The older man nods, and the pair are back enjoying each other’s company.

…

After dinner, the pair went to one of the restaurant's appeals, an exclusive garden with genetically engineered plants from extinct flora from all over the world, forming an artificial garden that’s the highlight of the experience. A small orchestra plays recovered classical music live for the guests while they enjoy the garden's scenery, or take the dance floor.

The pair follow the other guests into dancing, enjoying the moment. Eventually, Gloria asks her date the question that was bugging her all night, “Did you ever get involved with someone seriously? You were vague the last time we talked.”

Yorinobu doesn't answer immediately, thinking it over. “No. I had my fair share of lovers, but anyone I wanted to court had to meet with my father’s approval. At first, I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of controlling my life to that extent, but as time went on my duties with the company made building a relationship impossible.”

Gloria leans on his chest silently, already expecting this answer. Despite David becoming more involved in Wube Inc. and gaining greater recognition, she is still a doctor working in a single factory. 

Mark had once asked her if she wanted to lead the overall Worker Health and Safety division of Wube Inc. since the company opened a mine in Wyoming. Unfortunately, she didn't feel ready for that level of responsibility yet. Maybe in the future, when she studies more, she might accept the position if it is still open.

While distracted, the music enters a new movement, and Yorinobu steals a kiss from Gloria.

She reciprocates the kiss, almost hungrily as she lets go of the tension of her job and the uncertainty of life, living for the moment just once. Eventually, they break the kiss just as the music stops, and she has a prominent blush and is slightly out of breath.

Eventually, the pair stroll around the garden until Gloria turns around to Yorinobu and takes a few steps away. “Thank you for the night, Yorinobu-san. I appreciate how thoughtful you were.” She’s smiling contentedly, “I know this won’t last long, but being with you made me remember what it’s like being loved as a woman.”

Yorinobu's expression doesn't change, and his hand goes inside the coat's pocket to grab a small box. Taking a deep breath he stares into his date's eyes, “Gloria, there’s something I want to tell you, a couple of words I thought I forgot how to say it.”

“I love you.” He says with some emotion escaping his voice.

The confession hits Gloria unprepared, and a deep crimson blush to match her hair is on her, "Wha, what?”

The heir didn't stop by simply declaring his love. “At first I was teasing you for your mistake, but as we kept talking I ended up being taken by your beauty, energy, kindness, and love you held for your son. You are a rare flower in this age, someone who doesn’t tremble under the fear of this world.”

Gloria's mouth gapes, as she never thought Yorinobu felt so intensely for her. At first, she believed the dates were how corpos did things, but as time passed she also fell in love with the man, despite the relatively short time together. She doesn't know if it was her taste, the man's charm and charisma, or the odd circumstances that brought two people starved for intimacy together.

Now she realizes that perhaps she’s more fortunate than Yorinobu in certain areas. She has her son, and coworkers turned friends, while the man in front of her has no friends in the company and a strained relationship with his family. Moved by the commitment displayed by Yorinobu, she decides to be honest with her feelings and reciprocates the courage shown by the heir of Arasaka.

“Yorinobu, I also love you.” 

She loved his thoughtfulness, burning passion beneath the discipline, how kind he was to her and David, and how he genuinely wanted to change the world for the better, not unlike Mark Henderson, perhaps the only friend of Yorinobu in recent memory.

However, she never got to finish her confession.

Blam

Yorinobu’s Speedware activates automatically, allowing his perception to slow down and see when the bulletproof tinted glass shatters. While in slow motion thanks to his Speedware, he tries to push Gloria away, but his bodyguard is faster than him and pushes the Arasaka heir away from harm.

With growing horror he witnesses her body jerking forward from the impact. But her body flares with shimmering light, and for an instant, his hopes rise upon seeing the protective shield of light protecting his lover, but the shield shatters under the power of the sniper rifle, and the bullet exists from the front of her chest.

Time returns to normal speed, and the venue is in uproar at the assassination attempt on the heir of Arasaka.

In that moment, decades of frustration combined into a single scream, “Gloria!”

During the chaos, Yorinobu doesn’t fight his bodyguard pulling him away from the windows and into safety, instead, he calls the Trauma Team and orders their highest Premium Emergency services to save the love of his life. Even if she’s clinically dead for ten minutes, so long as the Trauma Team picks her up there’s still a chance to save her.

It has to be enough.

…

At the Trauma Team Emergency Hospital, a large monitor shows the latest news presented by the female Anchor, a beautiful Japanese woman with long black hair.

"Breaking news, the Heir of Arasaka recently suffered an assassination attempt at the exclusive Japantown Corporate Restaurant. Fortunately, Arasaka's heir Yorinobu Arasaka was unharmed, however, his escort was critically injured. The Trauma Team managed to reach her in time, but currently, her physical condition is unknown. The DNSNews couldn't contact her family and Arasaka remains tight-lipped over the escort identity."

Meanwhile, Yorinobu stomped into his office at Arasaka Tower and didn't waste time to call his father.

The man answers the call with his back turned to the camera, leisurely working on a piece of calligraphy. “Yorinobu, my son. I’m glad you are well. Rest assured, Arasaka is working hard to get to the bottom of this matter.”

Through gritted teeth, the heir to the company asks the question burning him since the last hour, “Were you involved in this?”

Saburo stops his hand for a second, and in an uncharacteristic display of emotion, he turns to face his son, “Did your hate burn so deeply, that you suspect me of attempting to kill my family?”

Taking a deep breath, and allowing his Speedware to slow down his perception of time to calm himself, Yorinobu clamps on his emotion with hard-won discipline, “It is because my anger has subsided after all these years, that I am asking you instead of assuming your involvement in this case.”

After checking the security footage, Yorinobu concluded that the angle of the shot wouldn’t have hit him even if he had remained rooted on the spot. While Yorinobu was a high-profile target as the Arasaka heir, Gloria Martinez underestimated her worth as the mother of the up-and-coming David Martinez, and she is friends with Mark Henderson, the famed Engineer.

With this in mind Yorinobu continues, “I need to know, for my peace of mind, for the sake of the fragile bond we started to form, I need to hear it from you, Father. Were you involved in this incident?”

Saburo adjusts himself to look at his son’s yes. Without wavering or hesitation, he answers, “No, I did not involve myself in this incident. Does this reassure you, my son?”

Yorinobu doesn’t change his expression while he studies his father's face for any sign of deception. Eventually, he nods to his father after finding the answer. “Thank you for answering my question and reassuring me, father.”

Saburo Arasaka keeps his head high and dignified, “Good, we will be in contact, don’t leave the Arasaka Tower until you're cleared.”

When the call ends, Yorinob’s fists are clenched tight enough to draw blood from his hands.

…

On the 7th floor, room 13 of the Trauma Team Emergency Hospital intensive care bed, David, Lucy, Kiwi, Mark, and Miguel watch over the sleeping Gloria. After being rescued by the Trauma Team, she was successfully revived, however, she entered into a coma right after. Even Mark sneaking his best Medical Kit to her didn’t wake up Gloria, though her chest wound healed better than the Trauma Team medicine.

Mark puts his hand on David’s shoulder, who punches the nearby wall in frustration.

“I’m sorry David," The Engineer apologizes with a trembling voice, "I thought she would be safe with the belt I gave her.”

A miniaturization of the modular armor, with only space for a 3x4 module grid. Unsuited for combat, but enough for discreet defenses. Had Gloria not been wearing the belt, her chest would have exploded from the impact, killing her on the spot.

“It’s not your fault,” David answers through gritted teeth, “It is whoever gonk pulled this shit under our noses. I’m going to make them pay!”

Lucy and Kiwi hug David to calm him down, the pair also being shocked by the sudden event.

Meanwhile, Mark receives a call from Yorinobu.

Excusing himself from the group he walks away to get some extra privacy. "Hello, Yorinobu? How are you doing over there?”

The man's voice is composed, almost mechanical in Mark's ears. “I’m doing fine. Mark-san, I’m calling you to warn you about Militech. The bullet came back from forensic and we discovered it was fired by one of Militech’s prototype guns. That’s why it could punch through the bulletproof glass and whatever protections you gave to Gloria.”

Mark's body tenses as he digests the news. “Is that so? Thank you for warning me.”

Yorinobu isn't finished, however, “There’s more, unfortunately. The Arasaka Bank gave me a report where NUSA demands Arasaka Bank to freeze all of Wube Inc.'s assets, and they suspect your assets in other bans are already frozen.”

Mark inwardly curses, as he hopes to have more time. He had already transferred most of his money to institutions within the Highrider Confederation, but there were still some funds in local banks. Thankfully, Arasaka didn't hand over his assets.

When Mark thought there wasn't any more bad news, he received a special notification and quickly brought out the System Map.

Two out of Two asteroids were shot down.

Six Anti-Orbital Defenses are recharging.

Bringing the energy expenditure graph, Mark confirms the special defenses were used, with a second graph indicating the size of the asteroid was equivalent to a one-megaton nuclear warhead.

"... Mark, Mark, are you still listening?"

Mark returns to reality and addresses his friend once more. "I'm sorry Yorinobu, you were saying?"

"I asked if you were alright. You zoned out on me for a while."

Taking a deep breath, the Engineer breaks out the news to his friend, "I'm sorry Yorinobu, but I'm afraid to say that I also have terrible news to share. NUSA just declared war on Wube Inc."

The voice from the other side of the line sounded confused, “War, what do you mean by war? Did the news broadcast something else? Or is it one of your internal sources?”

Mark shakes his head. “My Anti-Orbital defenses just shot down a pair of asteroids aimed at Night City and my BN2 Complex. The two asteroids had an estimated power equivalent of a one-megaton nuclear warhead. There are only two policies with access to mass drivers capable of shooting asteroids of that size: the Highrider Confederacy, or the ESA.”

Yorinobu remained silent for a while, digesting the new information. "NUSA allied with the ESA and they're throwing megaton-class asteroids on Night City? That's madness! None of the other corporations will let this lie down!"

"Maybe," Mark admits, "Yorinobu, I have to go. I will take Gloria back to Pacifica and keep her there, please send medical equipment, supplies, and medical staff to the Factory, it's not safe here."

"Of course," Yorinobu agrees, "anything you need."

"Thanks," after closing the call, Mark returns to the group with a somber expression. "Alright everyone, we have a Code Behemoth."

David's eyes widen, "Code Behemoth? Does that mean..."

"Yes David," Mark confirms to him, "this is war."

Alternate Title: Cocked Pistol

Post Chapter Notes

I initially thought of splitting this chapter in two, but the latter half would be too small, so I joined both of them together.

Please tell me if you liked the chapter, and thanks for waiting, and enjoy the story!