Arasaka Tower.
Michiko had just finished the meeting and taken the elevator up to her private board office.
The style and layout she had chosen for the office were completely different from what one might expect from her cherry-blossom bloodline heritage.
The entire floor was luxurious and imposing, covered in silver-gray metallic tones that projected a distinctly New American style.
As she walked toward her private office, two secretaries briefed her on the day's schedule and work matters.
Then suddenly, she received a communication request from Kyoto.
Yorinobu?
Michiko raised a hand, signaling for the secretaries to wait outside. After passing the identity scan, she entered the office alone.
She walked straight to the smart desk and accepted the call from Yorinobu.
A male holographic projection appeared above the desktop, the silver-gray metal surface reflecting a faint blue glow.
Yorinobu wore black sunglasses with round lenses, and his expression was stern as he questioned her.
"Why did something this serious happen in Night City? Militech has gone way too far. Don't tell me you intend to just let this slide."
The moment she saw how quickly Yorinobu had called to question her, Michiko knew someone from the board had already tipped him off.
As the legitimate heir to the corporation, Yorinobu had both the right and the duty to ask about major company matters.
But she knew very well that her uncle thrived on chaos and always took an extremely hardline stance toward Militech.
Now that he had gotten his hands on this mess, he clearly wanted to use it to escalate the conflict with Militech.
Even though she wanted to ease tensions between the two giants, as a member of the Arasaka family, there was no way she could openly tolerate a provocation from Militech. All she could do was respond move for move.
"Yorinobu, we don't have direct evidence proving Militech made the move."
"And besides, the mission target was originally an experimental product developed by Militech. It's only natural they'd want to recover the cyberware."
"Fortunately, Counterintel already obtained the implant data. The operation did suffer a major incident, but it can still barely be counted as complete."
Yorinobu's expression remained severe. He clearly did not agree with her and pressed further.
"What do you mean, no direct evidence?"
"Would Maelstrom have the guts to open fire without Militech backing them?"
"Three entire Special Ops squads were wiped out. With consequences this severe, Arasaka cannot respond with a cold, muted approach."
"We must retaliate against Militech."
Michiko felt a bit speechless.
Back then, she had thought that Yorinobu returning to the company meant he had finally come to his senses.
Now it seemed she had been wrong.
Even if she herself had private motives for mediating between the two megacorps and benefiting from the position in between them, the truth was still clear.
From every practical angle, Arasaka should not be escalating its conflict with Militech or expanding the scale of competition right now.
Michiko knew she could not persuade Yorinobu, so she could only stall as best she could.
"I'll think further about retaliation and give you a satisfactory answer."
Seeing her give ground, Yorinobu's tone softened slightly.
"Militech's influence is growing stronger by the day. There's no possibility of reconciliation anymore. I hope you recognize reality sooner rather than later."
Once Yorinobu ended the call, Michiko let out a helpless sigh.
Then, all of a sudden, someone came to mind.
Kai stepped out of Arthur's office.
After downing a couple of mouthfuls of strong whiskey, he was slightly buzzed.
As he walked, he unconsciously pressed a hand to his forehead. It felt a little warm.
When he passed through the office area, quite a few coworkers from Counterintel stood up from their desks on their own initiative and smiled at him.
First, a beautiful blonde woman with wavy hair rose to her feet and began clapping with a faint smile.
Then the applause spread from two or three spots until it rippled across the entire office floor. The Counterintel staff present all began clapping for him on their own.
Kai stopped halfway and listened to the thunder of applause around him.
Looking up, he saw that his coworkers were smiling at him, congratulating him on the board's decision today.
Kai had never exactly been known for having a pleasant temper in the department.
He figured the reason his coworkers no longer saw him so strongly as the office villain was probably because of his recent border mission.
In the past, even if he had been promoted and the whole department had gotten extra bonuses, there was no way something like applause and congratulations would have happened.
Subordinates happily clapping because a superior got promoted?
That would only happen if the sun rose in the west.
In Night City, corpos probably wished nothing more than for their direct boss to get hit by a car, flatline from a virus while watching braindance, or die from implant rejection.
Whether they were being hypocritical or trying to curry favor, Kai did not care.
He only raised a hand, signaling everyone to get back to work.
Holding two deputy director posts, receiving an extra bonus, and stepping on the department next door was not that big a deal to him.
Everyone returned to their seats, but after watching Kai head back into his office, they immediately began whispering among themselves.
"Director Kai really pulled off something huge this time. Deputy director of two departments. Special Ops better stop trying to boss us around after this."
"Exactly. Special Ops always acts like Counterintel is easy prey just because they've got more power and higher-ranking bosses. Who knows how much dirty crap those people have done behind the scenes. Audit them and you'd nail them every time."
"By the way, with those extra six months of bonus pay, what are you gonna do with yours?"
"A couple days ago I saw an ad on the show Hooked Up for a new silicone breast implant package from Moore Tech. The deadbeat at home keeps insisting I get it. What can you do."
Kai returned to his office.
He leaned back in his chair and picked up the cup of plain hot water on the desk. It had cooled off by now, the steam mostly gone, and was just warm enough.
A sip helped soothe his throat.
The official transfer order had not been generated yet. Once the position data was entered into the system, he would go over to Special Ops and make an appearance.
Special Ops would prepare a deputy director's office just for him, though where he actually chose to work would be up to him.
At the board meeting, Michiko had suddenly proposed appointing him as deputy director of both departments.
That kind of generous promotion had definitely been unexpected.
Kai highly suspected Michiko's motives.
On the surface, holding two deputy director positions looked like major trust and promotion.
In reality, it was more like putting him over a fire.
Special Ops had always been at odds with Counterintel, and the supervisors above both departments were even more bitter enemies.
The official line was that Kai would stand in the middle and coordinate the two sides.
The real meaning was that he would be the one cleaning up the mess both departments left behind.
As for being valued by Michiko and having a bright future inside Arasaka, that was even more absurd. At the end of the day, she was just using him as a tool.
Right now, he was walking a tightrope made of Arasaka steel, dancing on eggs in two major departments.
The audience below cheered.
The clown on stage kept performing.
If the act went well, there would be applause and praise.
If it went badly, there would be bullets and shells.
"In my last life, I never held deputy director posts in two departments either."
"This first time around, I really don't have much experience."
"Looks like the butterfly effect has already started flapping its wings..."
Kai felt a dull ache in his teeth, unsure where the next storm would rise from.
"Good thing I still have a few cards left to play."
Yorinobu, Hanako, even Saburo from the Arasaka family.
And beyond the Blackwall, Alt Cunningham coveting Mikoshi, along with Mr. Blue Eyes watching the human world.
Knowing their secrets meant holding power.
But borrowed power could never truly be trusted.
Who was whose pawn would depend on how the game unfolded.
Just as Kai was deep in thought, two Arasaka guards outside the door requested an audience.
(End of Chapter)
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