The Brink and Back - Tinker of Fiction

As the corpo woman gave her speech, I watched her closely, hoping to find a crack in the facade she was presenting. I had no doubt she was well trained, especially if she was telling the truth about her family, which made peering through her mask a daunting and improbable task. It made me question the previous moments where I thought I had seen it crack to show what she was feeling underneath.

Rather than waste my time, I gave Jackie a look, the larger man looking back at me. Instead of any subtle cue, he simply shrugged and gestured that it was my floor and, ultimately, my decision. I sighed and leaned forward.

"I assume you have some sort of contract already written up?" I asked, unsurprised when she nodded. "Go get it, and then you can sit here while we discuss it."

"Very well, I suppose I have no other plans today," she said, calmly standing and dusting herself off as she did. "Regardless of your decision, thank you for your time."

I gave Riggs a look, giving me a subtle cue for him to follow after her, the large AI nodding and leaving with her, ducking under the door slightly as he did. Once the door was shut behind him, I looked at Murtaugh.

"Get everyone to the garage," I said, the strategist AI nodding and pulling out his radio. "We need to discuss our options."

I wasn't about to leave anyone out of this decision. This was something that could make or break us, so I wanted to make sure that everyone was on the same page and had an opportunity to express their opinions.

Not long after she left, Sable returned, entering the room and sitting back down at the table. As she did, she carefully placed a tablet on the table before sliding it across as she retook her seat.

"That contains the first contract we would have to sign, essentially outlining my first task," She explained. "Depending on how I perform, we can negotiate a secondary contract for our continued collaboration."

I nodded and stood, assuring her that we would return after a short conversation. As Jackie and I left, I had a brief conversation with Riggs, who assured me he was indifferent and happily "passed" me his vote. After making sure he was sure, we headed to the garage, where everyone else was waiting.

"Alright, what's everyone thinking?" I asked, sitting in my workshop chair and spinning to face everyone.

"She is one stone-cold killer, amigo," Jackie said, shaking his head. "I know that's not a hundred percent relevant, but we shouldn't underestimate her. Those nails of hers are scary."

"It's plenty relevant," I assured him. "And I felt the same way, she is not someone to be underestimated. But what does everyone think of her offer?"

"You could always show off some of your crazier projects," Jackie suggested. "She might have plans for betraying us, but those are gonna die real quick if she knows just how much you're worth."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Murtaugh stated. "Tempting her with advanced tech might just solidify her desire to betray us."

"That's fair," I agreed. "Personally, I think we should take or leave the deal depending on how this reads."

I tapped the tablet I had put down on my workstation before frowning and handing it to Samwise.

"Sam, plug into this and tell me what you think," I asked, the android nodding as he reached for the hidden panel that protected his data uplink.

"I'll admit, as far as I can understand… the idea makes sense," I continued, leaning back in my chair. "But this isn't what I'm good at, and we can't exactly take it back once it starts."

"Don't forget, Genio. She knows something is going on here," Jackie pointed out. "She could have showed up looking to blackmail us, or she could have sold us for a quick buck. But she came here herself. Gotta count for something, right?"

"I'm inclined to give her enough rope to hang herself," I said, getting a nod from Jackie in understanding. "I can grab a few things and let her have them, just to see what she can do. If she disappears, well, I guess we've learned our lesson."

"Just like that?" Kaytlyn asked with a frown.

"Of course not. But Jackie was right about her having blackmail material on us," I pointed out. "We don't have a lot of options."

"We could kill her," She suggested with a shrug. "I mean, it sounds like she's got something up her sleeve, but no way she can stand up to all of us."

"You know as well as I do she would have thought of that," I pointed out. "No way she came out here without insurance or some sort of mutually assured destruction, probably in the form of a Trauma Team. She would have learned from her previous mistake."

We discussed our options until Sam was finished analyzing the contract. When he was done, he informed us that it was surprisingly straightforward. Based on that information, as well as the direction in which our discussion was going, I made my decision. I quickly put together a box of a few items, including a lower-end, but still superior gyroscope. I also included copies of the blueprints for each part. Once I had all that put together, plus another little bonus for myself, I left the garage with Jackie in tow.

We stepped back inside the BD shack to find Sable sitting in the same spot as before, sipping on another glass of water. It appeared that she was patiently waiting for us and gave us a confident smile when we stepped in. Riggs was nearby, watching the corpo like a hawk.

"Have you come to your decision?" She asked. "While I don't exactly have a busy schedule at the moment, my time is anything but cheap."

"We have," I responded, sitting back down at the table and placing the small box down. "We've decided to give you a chance."

"Excellent," she responded, leaning forward with a hungry smile. "Then I assume this contains the items you wish me to work my magic on?"

"It does," I said with a single nod. "It includes a gyroscope, a micromotor, a cheaper and more effective sample of artificial muscle, and a temperature sensor. They are all minor improvements over everything on the market, either through cost or effectiveness."

Her golden eyes went wide as I described what I had selected, and her smile turned sharp, like she was eager to dig in.

"I also included diagrams and all the information someone would need to patent and produce them."

"That is… perfect," She said, her predatory smile barely fading. "I can tell this is the start of something beautiful, Jackson. Just you wait."

After a bit more discussion, I signed her preliminary contract. The fact that she didn't immediately jump to some sort of legal line connecting her to my creations and the ability to mass market them or anything like that was another point in her favor. Instead, all she had was the right to was a cut of the profits from this first deal. We would have to sign a new contract if this went well.

Once I finished signing, she took the tablet and read it over before nodding with a smile.

"Well, with that, it's time for me to do my part," She said, standing from her chair. "It's been fun, boys. I'll be in touch within the next few days, once I push through our company creation and the patents on these."

She patted the crate as I came around the table, my hand outstretched. She took my hand without hesitation, giving me a surprisingly firm handshake in return.

"Good luck," I responded simply.

The three of us walked outside, with Jackie carrying the box of parts. He stashed it in the passenger seat of the Caliburn, the doors popping open as we approached. He went as far as to buckle the box in, securing it soundly. He quickly stepped away from the vehicle, making his way back to me as I stopped a few yards away.

"Sable," I called out, the woman stopping just before she climbed into the driver's seat. "You said you had a feeling about me. That you were confident that what you had seen was just the tip of the iceberg? Would you like to see a bit below the water line?"

Her golden eyes lit up at the offer, leaning against the open door of her vehicle with a very interested look.

"I would like that very much, Jackson."

I reached down into my holster, her eyes locking onto my hand and tensing as I gripped my pistol. I pulled it out, revealing that my last-minute addition was to trade out my mag pistol with my plasma pistol, the only remaining plasma weapon I had. Jackie, who knew I had stuff like this but had yet to see me fire it, watched with wide eyes.

Making sure not to aim it even remotely in her direction, set my sights on a large boulder, about twenty or thirty yards away, out off the road. Using my armored undersuit to stabilize myself, I aimed and pulled the trigger in one smooth motion.

The pistol charged for a split second before firing out a beam of bright blue energy, the focused and charged plasma sending off geometric shapes of discharge around the pistol as it did. The beam slammed into the large rock, exploding the impact site and sending out shards of stone and globs of molten slag.

When the energy faded away, it revealed a red, almost molten crater, with a massive chunk of stone blown out of it. Then, after another second, the sound of cracking and crumbling rock echoed over the sand as the large boulder spit in two, unable to withstand the intense heat shift and the brutal impact of the plasma.

For a few seconds, Sable stared at the now broken rock, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open just a hair, clearly shocked by what I had done. Suddenly, she pulled free of her surprise and smiled like a cat that had caught the canary.

"Oh Jackson, we are going to have so much fun together," She said, giving me a wink. "I'll be in touch."

She gave me a final look before sliding into her car. The doors swung shut, and the engine roared. The car spun, wheels squealing as they drifted along the asphalt before they finally found purchase. The car shot off like a bolt, racing down the long road back to Night City. Jackie and I watched her go until her car disappeared out of sight.

"So… can I try that pistol?" Jackie asked after a few moments of silence.

"Just a few shots," I explained with a snort. "I don't know what kind of long-range energy readings it might give off."

He nodded, and I passed him the pistol, the Night City native grinning like a madman, before completely obliterating what remained of the stone I had just split in two. He couldn't help but laugh when he was finished, passing the pistol back to me.

"Fucking hell, choom!" He said, shaking his head. "Now I know why you were so sad when I pointed out we couldn't use them."

"You were right," I responded with a shrug. "There was no way we wouldn't have attracted way too much attention with them."

We walked back into town, heading straight back to the garage. Murtaugh was already setting up a more comprehensive patrol around the settlement while Kaytlyn was back up in her sniper's nest. Samwise was waiting for me in the garage, the front door open to the slowly cooling afternoon air.

"Samwise, do me a favor and find Spot's box," I asked, heading right for my workstation. "Sable managed to make it all the way here without us having any idea she was coming until it was too late. Clearly, the sensor net we have is insufficient for targets moving that fast. I want to add some visual sensors as well."

"Of course."

"Why haven't you brought him out before?" Jackie asked, leaning against the wall. "He might have been useful."

"Honestly? I forgot about him," I admitted sheepishly. "Which was a mistake. I want to improve him a bit, then make a bigger model for watching over the town."

"Fair enough, we had a whole lot going on," He nodded, peaking back out of the garage door. "Listen, that friend of mine I mentioned? He is back in town. It turns out Padre is the one who steered him in our direction, so whatever he needs is now a proper gig. I'm meeting him tomorrow, you free?"

"Padre is the fixer?" I asked, turning back to look at the larger man, just in time to see him nod. "Yeah, that works for me. You want Riggs or Kaytlyn to join us or…?"

"No, just you should be fine," He responded, brushing the offer off. "Alright, if you're all set, I'm gonna head back home. I was on my way here when Murtaugh called, but I hadn't planned on spending so long here. Just wanted to talk about that meeting."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, choom."

He waved and left the garage, with Samwise returning not long after carrying our old friend. Together, we spent the rest of the day giving him some upgrades. I used my "new" programming knowledge to increase his understanding of commands and buff up his auto-hacking skills. Samwise worked on updating his hardware and replacing his chassis and armor with Alien Alloy. We also updated his power source, camera, and sensors. We could have done more, but at this point, he existed to help me with rapid programming and hacking, and he could do that just fine.

While working on Spot, Samwise and I were spitballing several ideas for the surveillance drone, trying to come up with a cost-effective design that would be as effective as possible. We wrote down a few notes before I headed off to bed, leaving Samwise to his own devices. I had confidence in my AI assistant's abilities, as he was just about as good at designing stuff as I was at this point.

When I woke up the next morning and eventually made my way to the workshop, he had the first prototype already printed and assembled. It was about the size of two basketballs, with a central spherical core and a circular thrust generator built into either side. They generated thrust the same way that a normal GREMLIN did but with updates and increases in power from incorporating Titanfall tech into it. The result was a large jump in speed and lifting capacity despite the smaller surface area for each of the ionizing air thrusters.

Along the bottom was a series of actuated holo projection systems. This was cloaking tech, trading the projector arm in favor of multiple congruent systems working together at once. This would allow the drone to project an image of the empty sky under and around its sides, hiding the drone completely from normal sight. The fact that there were multiple projections going at once made it much less likely that the cloak would be spotted, as well.

The drone itself used mostly mundane materials save its Elerium core, a rather large power generator for the drones size, since we wanted them to stay in the sky nearly twenty-four-seven. It was unarmed, save for the explosives specifically designed to annihilate the Elerium core, which in turn would cause a much larger explosion. It wasn't a flying nuke or anything, but there would be nothing left should the explosives go off. I didn't want anyone getting access to that much Elerium.

"It looks good, Sam. You are getting better and better at designing things," I said, walking around the hovering drone. "You tested the projection system?"

"I did. It is functioning beyond what we had anticipated," They confirmed. "The power core is stable, and its power draw is low. Its top speed is slightly under what we projected but well within reasonable tolerances.

"Good, that's good," I said with a nod. "Let's hammer out any issues, and then I'll start working on getting it programmed and creating a control network, and you can start making more. I want a rotation of at least five of these in the air at all times, so we should probably make six or seven."

Samwise agreed, and we got back to work, fixing the few of the mechanical failures that cropped up before I tackled the programming stuff, and Samwise assembled the next one. As I worked, I really started to regret not remembering Spot after the move, as he really did increase my programming speed by a not-insignificant amount. The system he used definitely had a learning curve, but once you got used to working with him, it was amazing. It was kind of like using an auto-fill system for a phone or tablet, except the device knew what it was doing more than five percent of the time.

It was lunchtime when I finally installed the control software onto the security building's hardware, and the second drone took off and started its patrol. We would now have significantly earlier warnings when it came to unannounced visitors and some incoming threats. Our sensor net would still likely be our only warning for someone trying to sneak up on us, but I felt better with both systems working together.

When that project was done, I went on a little walk around the town, talking to Riggs, Murtaugh, and Kaytlyn. Kaytlyn was playing around with her jump kit, trying to perfect a quick climb up to the sniper's nest. Even with the auto-jumping capabilities of our dumbed-down jump kits, it was still a challenging move since she needed to boost up a ladder without smashing into the side of the building.

Riggs was fine, patrolling the town and enjoying the silence of the pair of specters that were accompanying him. Murtaugh, on the other hand, was distraught.

"Sir, I want to apologize for the catastrophe that occurred yesterday," he said the moment I greeted him inside the security building. He was standing at full rigid attention as he spoke. "It was unacceptable, and I would fully understand if you wanted to build another AI to replace me."

"What cata- Oh, you mean Sable getting so close to town before you could warn me?" I asked, wincing when the AI somehow got even more rigid and tense. "That wasn't your fault, Murtaugh. There was a hole in our security, one that's now fixed. And at ease, Murtaugh, this isn't an army."

"Sir, I let a potentially hostile individual get within a few dozen feet of the town before I could warn you."

"What other option did you have?" I asked with a frown. "It's not like you would have been able to stop her with anything but violence, and I don't want you guys opening fire on anyone who shows up here peacefully."

He nodded reluctantly, so I reached and patted his shoulder.

"Once the garage addition is finished, making this town more secure is our number one priority," I assured him. "You are going to have every toy and trick that I think you might even remotely need. Just hang in a little longer."

He nodded in understanding, though he still looked upset with himself. I made a mental note to check in on him more often, as his personality seemed to be developing in a way that he would require more attention to keep happy. That was fine by me, because I wanted all my AIs to develop on their own into their own beings. It just meant they had different requirements.

My last stop on the tour was the back of the garage, where I could see Noah's progress with the additions. He and his team had been working hard in the background to get the addition made, and they were making definite progress already. They had the structure anchored into the ground using giant metal pylons that were fused to the bedrock below the sand and dirt. As I watched, they were starting to lay down the floor, welding and bolting sheets of metal together. Luckily, the final design for the room was relatively simple, meaning it would hopefully get finished pretty quickly.

"Noah, you guys need anything?" I asked, watching the green advanced MRVN model work to secure a plate in place with the help of a normal MRVN. "Everything going well?"

"Everything thing is moving at acceptable speeds," He confirmed with a nod. "Our supply of material is acceptable. I am hopeful that we will complete this structure within two days."

"That's good to hear, Noah. I'm hoping to have Samwise start making the parts for multiple molly-makers and their systems while he has downtime," I explained. "That way, we have a solid base to work from once you finish."

"Acceptable," He responded, still focused on his task. "I will most likely be prepared to cut the doorway into the addition tomorrow afternoon."

"Sounds good," I acknowledge with a nod. "Thank you for your hard work."

Noah, who hadn't really looked up while we were talking, simply nodded and continued on. He did remind me of Samwise, especially when I had first finished with my assistant, but I was hoping they would diverge more as they got older. He already had a slightly more serious tone to him, which was encouraging.

After a quick lunch break, I was back in the workshop, finally back to the project that Sable had interrupted the day before. Working on the hyper-realistic animal androids from Become Human had firmly cemented a catalog of animal programming into my brain, and now I was itching to use it. A proper canine companion, a guard dog that would always be at my side, was something I was very interested in. It wouldn't even stand out that much since robotic companions were a pretty common thing throughout this world, though mine would be leagues above anything they had access to.

It would not be a full AI since its job would be to put itself into harm's way to protect me, and I didn't feel comfortable building an AI designed to sacrifice itself. That said, it would still have plenty of processing power and some pretty impressive programming, which was the best I could manage at this point in time. It would also be armored, reinforced, and have plenty of room for some goodies, though I didn't really know what exactly I would put inside the extra space.

I finished the design process in a few hours, Samwise assisting me while he was waiting for drone parts to print. The final look was based on a Great Dane, a clean outline that wouldn't look weird as a sleek and clean design, unlike, say, a golden retriever or even a German shepherd. Most of the exterior plating would be metal, most likely AA, but I wanted to try something a bit different. Since it was supposed to be a companion for me, and I knew I would inevitably wish to pet and scratch them, I needed something other than metal. So, I planned to layer fur RealSkinn around its head, as well as down and around its neck. I didn't even have to make it since it already existed. I just needed Chuck or Robin to buy some for me.

While Samwise was building the last drone, I got to work on my new protector's programming, with Spot helping with the process. Unfortunately, I didn't get to finish, as it was getting late, and I needed to head into town to meet up with Jackie and his friend. I quickly put on my armored underlayer, then a layer of clothes on over that, to conceal the vast majority of the enhancing suit. I quickly holstered my mag pistol and hopped into the Chevillion truck. As I pulled out and onto the road, I made a note to try and snag another car during our next gig. The Chevillio was a bit too much just to be driving around casually. It was a behemoth of a vehicle, and just generally way more truck than I needed for just going out for the night.

I also quickly realized, once I arrived at the Coyote, or the nearest parking to it at least, that it was a pain to park as well. When I eventually found a spot, paying out the nose for it in the process, I made my way back to the familiar bar. I stepped in and waved to the bartender, who waved back as I approached.

"Hey, Pepe, Jackie around?" I asked, sitting down at the bar.

"He just stepped out, should be back any minute," He assured me, putting down a beer in front of me. "You got business tonight?"

"He mentioned something about a friend with some work," I responded, shrugging as I took a sip of my beer while handing him my keyfob so he could set up my tab. "Not sure what's going on other than that."

He nodded, passing back my keyfob when he was done. I stashed it back away in my pocket, turning in my stool to look around as I sipped my beer. After a few minutes, I spotted Mama Welles, who immediately spotted me as well.

"Mijo! How are you?" She asked, coming up to give me a hug. "I want to thank you for sticking around with Jackie, keeping him safe, and helping him put together a team. I sleep so much better knowing he has friends working with him."

"I'm happy to work with him, Mama Welles," I assured her. "Besides, mostly I'm just returning the favor. He's kept me out of plenty of trouble in his own way."

"He mentioned you not knowing how these streets work," she said with a smile. "He said it was sad, but I know the truth. Any parent worth their salt would give anything to keep their child ignorant of how this city works."

"Yeah… I can't say I regret growing up away from this place."

She nodded, turning to look at someone waving to her from the corner of the bar. She waved back before patting my side.

"Jackie should be back any minute," She assured me with a smile. "In the meantime, sit and relax. Jackie also says you work too hard."

The older woman gave me a smile that reminded me of my own mother before walking past me to talk to whoever was waving to her. I could hear her firing off in rapid Spanish that I had no hope of following as I reclaimed my seat at the bar. It took about twenty minutes for Jackie to show up, a beer already in his hand.