For a moment, people everywhere lumped Ascension Technology in with Arasaka and the other megacorps. In their eyes, Ascension was just another giant that got rich through pressure and monopoly, and would end up bleeding everyone dry.
On Blackstar, Vik watched protest headlines spread and smiled. "Public opinion's not great for your company right now."
"It doesn't matter," Rocky said. "We care about results. Let them talk. When it's over, we won't need to explain anything." He'd expected this and didn't care.
"We've only monopolized the Net so far. Boycotts and protests are small stuff. We chose to stand against the whole world. Continue to the next step."
News about Ascension was under a microscope: doubt, resistance, curiosity. Then Ascension made a new move.
A press conference for the entire world went live.
With the Ascension Network linking the globe, information no longer respects borders. It felt like the old era again, when anyone could learn world news instantly.
This Ascension-wide broadcast drew unprecedented attention. Even a top corp like Arasaka or the hottest braindance stars had never enjoyed a stage like this.
Ascension had crashed into the public eye in a short time and changed the shape of the world. Everyone wanted to know what it would do next and how it would affect their lives. Would it mean exploitation, war, or something better?
The live feed framed a simple stage. No reporters, no camera scrum. Only Rocky stood in the center. Behind him, an electronic map of the Earth glowed.
"I'm L, chairman of Ascension Technology.
"If you're watching, you're from all over the world. Many of you may not know my name. If you've spent time in Night City, you may have heard my story. I was a kid from Watson.
"By day, I apprenticed at an underground clinic. By night, I ran street jobs with my friends to pay bills.
"I've seen endless gang wars on Night City streets. I've seen the faces of patients on the operating table waiting for death.
"I used to be a nobody who kept asking who killed them. Was it the rival gang? Was it me, an incompetent ripperdoc?
"The answer was neither. What killed them was a twisted world and the corps that rule it.
"I wondered how to change that.
"As you can see, I became one of them. I found an answer: I'll take control. I'll stand above the board and end the farce."
It sounded like a joke, but his tone and confidence told everyone he was serious.
People at the bottom scoffed that the Ascension chairman was selling a fairy tale. Executives and power brokers watched to see what this restless upstart would pull next.
They already knew his roots. He was street, not boardroom. Even if he climbed into the club of global giants, the old guard wouldn't accept him. They weren't denouncing him openly only because Arasaka and Ascension were too strong to provoke.
Now, with WCN already wrecked, Ascension came back with another move and talked about controlling everything. That put every executive on alert again.
Whatever anyone thought, the conference rolled on. The preamble was short. Rocky showed his plan.
This was a press conference and a product launch rolled into one.
In front of the world, he laid out Ascension's following lineup. Beyond armed security, Ascension would enter media, manufacturing, medical services, transportation, agriculture, and new energy. Basically, every industry monopolized by big players appeared on the list.
Medical services to rival Trauma Team, with hospitals planned across regions. Global cargo routes, including runs between Earth orbit and the Moon. Power built on Arc reactor technology. Supply chains for critical raw materials.
Ascension put real deliverables on the table, and its intentions finally surfaced.
It wanted to challenge the world's monopolies, break them, and even flip the board.
The world's giants exploded in response. Trauma Team, the orbital transport leaders, petrochemical majors, and more felt the hit without exception.
This time, Ascension wasn't testing the water. It was starting a global fight with corporations.
"This is the craziest move any company has ever made. Ascension is challenging every corp at once."
"Even if they can ship all this, they'll face siege from everyone."
The chatter rose, and those companies started moving. It wasn't empty talk from Ascension. As the press conference aired, its projects were already booting up. Rollouts began across the map, and the tech under the hood looked strong. Any corp with a nose for threat could smell what these deployments meant for their margins.
In an instant, Ascension became the thorn in every board's side.
Back when Ascension fought Militech and WCN, the other megacorps didn't lift a finger. They just watched the show.