Chapter 240 – Apsis

"Got some free time lately?"

Just as Karl was about to crash for the night—finally on break—he got a message from Blanca.

"Got a job?"

Karl replied:

"Just wrapped everything up. Planning to take a few days off. If it's a small gig, find someone else."

"Relax. I know you're on break. I'm not calling for a job."

"You forgot your reward, didn't you? After you took out that group, I said you could ask me for two things. I've just finished stabilizing things on my end, so I figured it's time to ask what you want."

Two things...

Oh, right. He'd nearly forgotten. It had been a month.

Back then, she'd promised to use her clearance to get two Militech-grade cyberware pieces as payment. But with all the implants they'd gotten from the Arasaka job, it had totally slipped his mind.

"What can you actually get with your clearance? Not that I'm in a rush—my crew still needs some time to adapt to the last batch of upgrades."

"What can I get?"

There was a definite hint of pride in Blanca's tone—bordering on arrogance.

"Whatever I give you will be way beyond the stuff you picked up from Arasaka. When it comes to focused R&D, Militech gear is the best on the market. Period."

Karl had kept the Arasaka job's details pretty vague in public, framing the implants as standard payment. Only a handful of people knew what really went down. From Blanca's perspective, the Arasaka stuff was just elite-grade standard fare—and she was confident what she could offer was even better.

"High-end Militech gear, huh?"

"Mhm. What else would it be? It's miles better than anything Arasaka puts out."

Karl smirked. That kind of corporate pride felt weirdly familiar—like she was trying to outdo someone who dropped 600K by throwing down a million, just to prove she could.

And the irony? She was technically breaking company rules by using internal resources for someone outside the corp… and still acting smug about it.

He'd originally figured the reward would be two 100K-range implants. Made sense for the job. But from her tone, it sounded like she was aiming way higher.

"So... what level are we talking here? Like, Peregrine Sandevistan?"

Just to check.

Blanca replied with a scoff: "Peregrine? Please. That's already on the market. Anyone with enough eddies can get it. That's not high-end."

Wait, what? A Peregrine goes for around 400K eddies. You could buy two exosuits with that.

Karl glanced at his account—just under two million, thanks to the Arasaka operation covering all weapons and gear. And even then, compared to actual corporate execs? He was still broke.

When he thought about all the gear they pulled from that job, it probably added up to a million easy.

Maybe the real value of these jobs wasn't the eddies—it was the extras that came with them.

Still, he felt like someone had to defend the Peregrine's honor.

"Even if it's on the market, it's not exactly easy to get your hands on. It still counts as high-end."

"I've got at least three people in my squad running it right now."

"…"

Karl:

You climbed the ladder that fast in just a month?

Blanca:

This isn't Arasaka. We don't play the seniority game. If you've got skills and status, people flock to you. How much leverage do you think I got off that assassination job? And how many people do you think I cleaned out?

Karl:

I'll never understand you corpo types.

Blanca:

Do it clean, or don't do it at all. Leave loose ends, and you've got no one to blame when they come back for your throat. That's Militech's way. Even Rosalind Myers nearly got assassinated—twice—before she became CEO and then President. Want to guess how many people she wiped out afterward?

Karl recognized the name—Rosalind Myers, President of the New United States. Former Militech CEO. But he hadn't heard anything about assassination attempts.

Karl:

She got targeted twice while climbing the ladder? Damn.

Blanca:

Yeah. First time, someone built a DIY gun and shot her twice in the back. Barely made it. Second time, sniper almost blew her head off. Lived through both. And you bet she settled every single score after that.

Karl shook his head.

Blanca getting targeted before her promotion, then nearly assassinated again after… Militech and Arasaka really were the same flavor of shark in different suits. One favored frontal assaults. The other liked playing in the shadows. But neither was noble.

Karl:

Alright, back on topic. What exactly can you get me? I'm not a corpo spy—I don't know your internal code names. Got anything specific?

Blanca:

Remember James Norris? That retired lieutenant you guys took out?

Karl:

The ex-officer? Yeah.

Blanca:

He was running a prototype Sandevistan. Not sure if it got destroyed in the fight or lifted by someone afterward, but you remember what it could do?

Karl did.

The guy had soloed through NCPD fire, while going toe-to-toe with him, Jack, and Oliver. Unforgettable.

Karl:

Yeah. Burned into my memory.

Blanca:

That prototype came out of a lab that's now under my jurisdiction. Using data from that fight—plus combat logs from your squad and our former trainers—we refined it into a new internal Sandevistan model.

Karl:

So that's why you're so confident. Your team developed it. You looking for field data?

Blanca:

If you don't want to be part of testing, that's fine. But if you—or anyone in your crew—wants to install it, I'll pay extra for performance feedback. We usually hire mercs for this sort of thing anyway.

Strong upgrades, extra pay... Yeah, not many mercs would say no to that.

Karl:

I'll think about it. So what's it called?

Blanca:

No official designation yet. But I've already named it.

For some reason, that reminded Karl of the time T-Bug, Jack, and Oliver spent a full hour arguing over what to name that ridiculous plush ball they'd found.

Everyone thinks they're some kind of naming genius.

Karl:

Alright, hit me with it.

Blanca:

I call it... "Apsis."

The Apsis Sandevistan.

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