Thunder and Webs C122 [Silver + Gold]

Johan Trask, mayor of New California, makes a visit to a little spider's web. By his side is Brian Ulrich. There are three offers in Ripley's hand.

Silver Members, just in case you didn't get a notification, know that chapters 122-126 are available to read.

Chapter 122: Three Offers

February 18th

Brian Ulrich

The one person Brian Ulrich hated most, after Founder Nolan Trask, was Johann Trask. They both had that same stupid moustache, an attitude that made you want to puke, and that old world southern drawl that turned every sentence they spoke into a tortuous expulsion of overcompensated masculinity.

Yet, the second he spoke, his words carried meaning – not entirely unlike the power possessed by the Grazhe’s, but at the same time far more incredible and rich.

“Would you kindly all leave? I have business to attend to here.” Mayor Johann Trask struck his cane against the ground, but the sound had little to do with everyone around them scattering. No, it had everything to do with authority and power, who held it. Where it was sourced from.

Even without a BUG and being Titanium in comparison to the Mayor’s Gold, Brian Ulrich could feel waves of authority bleed into the air through the presence of the Tier IV Adapter. Johann Trask’s moustache crinkled upwards as he flicked a finger and took a curious but wide glance at the emptying room.

“Huh, tiny little machines in the air. Soon as they touch me, they dissolve as though trying to maintain self-preservation – good, I don’t like insects.” Johann didn’t mind the irony of the fact that he was here to visit the most famous spider in all of New California.

And there he was, coming out of a door, just as Skeleton had shown. Ripley Donovick.

Brian’s hands instinctively tensed as he cast a glance over the man who’d by all means disfigured his daughter, but he didn’t dare say anything as the elevator door closed behind Ripley and he acknowledged the two politicians ahead of him. “I’m a bit surprised to be honest, the Mayor and The Corporate Advisor visiting my humble abode… what could you both possibly want from my humble clinic?”

“Hmm, a chat. Dreadwire.” The Mayor smiled, and his finger waved into the air.

The world obeyed. Space twisted and suddenly all three men were evaporated in a flash of light that disappeared from the lobby of Ripley’s clinic, and suddenly they were standing inside Ripley’s office.

Today, Ripley hadn’t dosed himself with Missy’s Nul-Serum, so when he found his stunned hand had landed on his couch’s armrest, he had questions. Like what technology could teleport three individuals in the blink of an eye, and how did he entangle each of them without touch?

The first of his questions wouldn’t be answered without a dissection of the Mayor’s precious and coveted Shardware, the second… he could feel it.

First through his nanites, which died in the air around him as they dissolved into carbon dioxide simply because it was too dangerous for them to even touch this man. The second, through Frequency Sync, normally capable of detecting the frequencies of Implants and Bioshards. Right now, Ripley felt crushed under the pure pressure of the waves around him, electromagnetic waves, that seemed to carry the Mayor’s very presence.

“I see you cleared out your basement, too. Didn’t want us finding any of your Dreadwire stuff.” The Mayor was helping himself to the whiskey on Ripley’s table, swirling it before taking a shallow sip and grimacing. “Damn, couldn’t afford anything better with all those millions you keep on stealing?”

“I-” For once, Ripley truly had no clue how to answer.

Brian sighed, clenching his fist as he sat besides the Mayor – who offered him the whiskey. Brian shook his head, and not out of distaste, but he felt the need to push this along before things got out of hand. “We’re here to offer you some opportunities.”

“What else would you two be here for, you’re corporate.”

“We’re government.” Brian corrected as though that meant any difference, “And considering I advise our government about all these deals, it might do you some good to listen.”

“Oh, this fuckin’ guy.” The Mayor jabbed a thumb, “already trying to suck up to you.”

“You mentioned deals… plural. As in… separate?” Ripley squinted.

“A little bit of competition between us.” The Mayor shrugged. “What’s it gon’ be, Dread. Me, or good ol’ Brian. SynTec, or New Cali? International, or local…”

“Isn’t this irony.” Ripley found himself getting a mad grin he swiped a knuckled into. “The fuckin’ Mayor here, and he’s the one trying to sell me out of his government.”

“Ah, ain’t you got a mouth.” The Mayor met Ripley’s grin with one of his own. “I like that about you. Really, like that about the rest of you under’ folk. You see things out for what they are, no need for tanglin’ myself up in fancy words to push up numbers on a board. So, I’ll cut straight to the chase on my side.”

He clapped his hands, and in an instant, a briefcase appeared on the table with a flash of white lightning. Clicking it open, Ripley’s breath hitched as he saw six clean slivers of golden metal that hummed with strength. Gold Shards, each worth an astounding 20 Million Shardyne.

“That’s Yuzhou’s bounty for you.” He responded, then clapped again.

A tube containing two Gold Implants packed against once another appeared. “Two BUGs of your caliber, each with a Source-Shard Fragment. None other than my grandfather’s Connection and a rare thing indeed… Mazhyr’s Understanding. Not as valuable as your own Implant… but…”

He clapped his hand a third time.

Ripley paled, as he felt pure aggravation build in his mind, not from his brain but the Implant growing within. It was just a simple piece of metal, an alloy covered in barnacles and about the size of a forearm, but he instinctively knew where it came from.

The Typhoon. The MALtitan of Release.

“That should wrack your mind for the next couple of decades…” The Mayor had a winning grin as he lounged back into the couch, awaiting Ripley’s response.

After a few moments, Ripley shook his head and found himself needing to sit down. He brought his hands to his knees, took a deep breath, and laughed. “Isn’t it a bit presumptuous to show me all this without even telling me what you want? Oh, wait… let me begin.”

He glanced around the room, waving his hands. “First off, this place. Prolly gonna turn it into another one of your shitty clinics that focus on beauty and health for profit over the things I’m trying to do here…  after that, you’ll likely be after my Shardware.”

“The Arachnodyne.” The Mayor smiled. “Those Shard Op’ drones you repurposed, the kinetic-repulsion emitters, the wall-crawling stuff, that holographic cloak, those Nanites of yours and of course… Livewire.”

“Uh huh… and there’s Dreadwire, himself!” Ripley exclaimed. “Oh, I can already see it. You’ll be wanting to make an army of me, funny… some perversion of everything that I am, take it all and make it your own but worse. Gonna cut corners on everything just to mass-produce it and strap it onto soldiers who barely know what they’re doing, who’ll be killed by it.”

“But imagine it, the Swarm…” The Mayor closed his eyes, his lips pursing before they opened with a dream-like seduction. “A city’s falling, a titan walks and tramples on a family but moments before, a zipping streak of gold dashes in and saves the day. What comes next? An army of them, tearing through the sky and earth as they dissolve steel barricades and rearrange the very infrastructure of a collapsing society to bolster it against those terrifying creatures.”

“And yet, I feel like that wouldn’t be enough, would it?” Ripley bit on the last word. “Because chances are, you wouldn’t use me how I would want to be used. And…”

“Your girlfriend… that conniving little digital runt we’ve been chasing for years under that title: Dogwhistler.” The Mayor sighed. “She gets to join you, of course, she’ll be good against Amaterasu, but we’re more focused on you.”

“Ah, and how could I forget, you’ll likely be wanting her help on Project Virtue?” Ripley chuckled.

“Ah, no, that… huh, curious.” He shrugged, paying no better mind to Ripley’s awareness of a top-secret SynTec project.

Ripley frowned. “And what about Cecil?”

“Oh, the guy that came to you?” Johann Trask dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “He triggered our Resignation Protocol, except the tampering he performed will result in… a slow death. All his assets have been seized, and his mind’s currently dissolving away to ensure his secrets go with him; we do not need to seize him actively.”

“I see.” Ripley clenched his steel hands. “But now I want to know something: why aren’t you hunting me down?”

“Clever question, you’re right… Typically, a guy who’s been as problematic as you would be better off taken out and buried in the lake. Your tech can be replicated. It’s good but not quite extraordinary – with the exception of the nanites, and that cure you made for The Revenant. Speaking of the nanites, we can take them off your body. You’ve left some stray Livewire samples around, tiny bits here and there. We’ll have that analyzed to completion soon. But…”

His eyes turned sharp. “You got quite the reputation – people see you and think you’re a badass, sensational. I figure we can use that aspect until the Swarm, have you monitor crime from the inside, sway the public opinion by bastarding Yuzhou some more. Soon as the Swarm kicks in, you can publicly affiliate with us, and if we play our cards right, you’d be considered a hero and significantly shift some criminal folk into fighting for some actual order around here.”

A hero… what bullshit.

“And.” He continued. “Word’s gotten around that you’re an Adapter with 99% compatibility…”

“Awfully close to Hybridism.” Ripley responded with a glare.

The Mayor raised his eyebrows, a smile forming beneath his moustache. “Ah, even I’m not all ears on that side of things. But yes, it ain’t easy finding someone like that, and Brian here’s done a good job keeping his daughter in his clutches for now. It’s the reason why this entire deal has been signed off by my grandfather.”

Ripley’s heart froze in place like a fist had squeezed it out of fear that the sound of a heartbeat could awaken a beast to tear him apart.

“The Founder.” Ripley’s voice echoed with a hollow pitch of fear. “Oh shit… so they’re… aware of me?”

“There’s reasons we play by the rules we have to.” The Mayor smiled charmingly, but it only made everything more twisted in Ripley’s mind. “As you probably know, this city’s being armed to face down a Titan. Take down The Infinite, and the entire American continent becomes a haven free of the MAL. Take down the Typhoon, and the Pacific Ocean can become a bridge between the East and West. If it's The Infinite? North and South America can reconnect again. Naturally, New California holds position – geographically and politically – as a place that can serve to better the future of this entire planet.”

He leaned forward in his seat. “NeoCore’s been monitoring this place for a while now… they know exactly what’s going on, and their Founder is a clever woman. Michelle Silvha. She can see the future, of sorts, more like… peer into alternate timelines. She knows what actions to take, what not to, how much to intervene, and how much to simply… let go. So, SynTec or Yuzhou take any bold moves, NeoCore will have intervened before we even instigate it. I ain’t kiddin’, planned to assassinate you – we got a letter from Herald Ruby saying not to or it would have vague catastrophic consequences.”

Ripley shut his eyes. He wasn’t sure what to think anymore. He just wanted to live his life without all this complicated corporate-swarm bullshit.

“And you?” He turned his eyes to Brian Ulrich. “What offer do you have for me?”

“I’d like to make you an Executive Investigator and an official governmental Shard Operator.” Brian Ulrich met Ripley’s eyes with a measured gaze. It was easy for him to suffocate the personal matter between Ripley and his daughter – easy, because it was necessary. “A large amount of it entails what the Mayor offered you, except without the need to sell yourself to a corporation.”

“Oh,” The Mayor smirked. “At least my method of offering deals didn’t require me to put your institute down.”

“And I never interrupted you.” Brian Ulrich’s eyes sliced into Johann’s infallible smug grin. Rolling his eyes with exasperation, Brian returned his attention to Ripley. “I’m well aware of the tension between you and my daughter. I’m well aware of your crimes. And I’m well aware of your reasoning, Donovick – and for that, I’d like to give you my condolences.”

Ripley stiffened, but didn’t say anything.

Brian continued. “I believe that, at heart, you’re a good kid. Just one been stuck on the wrong side of things for too long. Sure, you’ve killed for money and power, but unlike so many other people… you tried to return it somewhere. To your mother, to this place… you’re trying to do a good thing.”

“Stop flattering me and get to the point.” Ripley grit his teeth.

“I swear, you and she are the same.” Brian sighed before a projection streamed from his palm. It displayed news headlines, all about Dreadwire: gossip about where he had been, while some detailed stories of copycats, cases of people appropriating the name and attire to commit acts of vigilantism or crime. Others were pictures of holo-tagged graffiti, artistic portrayals of Dreadwire toppling corporations or digging out crime, but the one that made Ripley’s eyes widen was one of excited children in mockups of his costume – it was a poor attempt they'd fashioned from cardboard, surrounded by dirt and grit on a parking lot.

“People look up to you, kid. Not the same kind of people that look up to my daughter.” Brian took a deep breath. “There’s ways to synergize all of this, to give you the chance to make things right, fix things with my daughter, and make money out of it. Officially, the public would never know you’re working with the government, but you’d be a special agent for us, both you and your girlfriend. You’d have access to our resources, prepare this city for the Swarm, make public appearances that would better your reputation, and ensure we can keep some order.”

“And what about Skeleton? Aren’t you guys working with him?” Ripley’s voice was tense.

“We are.” Johann answered that. “Mikail’s a man who knows his worth, he’s proven himself… worthy of receiving our attention.”

“Your money. Your resources. The same thing he wanted, you’re offering me.” Ripley said matter-of-factly. “Finish up, Brian.”

“Ah, alright. Salary will be at 4 million a year, and that’s your personal research and habitation fund. In terms of anything you develop for the state, you’ll be able to quote us for it, and you’ll receive additional bonuses. All that’s just for Shard Operating. As Dreadwire, we’ll be needing you for covert actions within the criminal sphere – and the police won’t be interfering. You’ll be paid for that as well. We’ll run the media to ensure you grow popular and that the public supports you… we can make both you and my daughter more than just legends. We can make you warriors, the heroes of New California that bravely lead us into the Fifth Swarm and the battle against Titans.”

His gaze blended honesty and desperation. “This is your chance to do something good. Ripley.”

“I’ll think about it.” Ripley waved them both off… “Send me the contracts. I want to read the fine print.”

“Of course.” Mayor Johann Trask stood up, dusted his fine suit, adjusted his cane and then pointed his finger at the table, and a Datacube flashed into existence. Brian Ulrich sighed, muttering something along the lines of ‘what a fuckin’ showoff’ and placed down a Datacube manually before turning a sharp eye to the Mayor. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Ah, yes.” The Mayor playfully slapped his head before snapping his finger to make a metallic skull appear on a table. “We invited him to come with us… but he said you threatened him with harsh words to make sure you never saw him again.”

“Skeleton…” Ripley glared at the black orbital cavities of the metal skull on his table. “Three offers, huh, and I’m assuming the contract length of my employment would be from signing it… until the end of the Fifth Swarm.”

“If you don’t like any of it, feel free to negotiate.” Brian Ulrich raised his hand for a shake.

“And if I don’t take these deals?” Ripley tentatively reached and shook his hand. He wasn’t an idiot… but he needed confirmation.

Johan Trask smirked from the side, folding his arms. “If you ain’t with us Ripley… you’re against us.”

“Be straight with me,” Ripley’s eyes glanced to the side where Johan was standing, “how long are you giving me until you try and kill me? Regardless of what NeoCore says.”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “But I’d suggest you don’t wait long.”

He clapped his hands, and with that, he and the hand Ripley was shaking were gone in a flash of light alongside the offerings on my table, with the exception of the skull.

Ripley

My head had been a mess, and it was proven by the no less than four Psyche Updates I’d had over the course of the meeting.

Psyche V.4.00 has updated to V.4.04

Effects:

• Increased emotional control during negotiation.

• Increased ability to conduct ‘professional’ behavior during business.

• Increased Personality Editor effect on the execution of most immediate task.

• Slight empathic nullification in regards to business deals.

I couldn’t lie. They weren’t all from my mind. In fact, the Warpcode was sourced entirely from the Mayor and his strange aura of pure authority. Simply put, I’d been reading his Warpcode through Frequency Sync, but it was less 'opening my eyes' and more 'having pure digital authority slip into my head'.

When I came to realize his Unique Feature. I only knew I was safe because my DataShield was, by all means, the FIREWALL. “How you doing with all that, Starlight?”

“Terrified…” She appeared in a hazy daze, looking disheveled as though pure heat had been sweltering her. Though, it wasn’t heat, that wasn’t the nature of his Warpcode, it was like the sky was falling on you, trapping you in a coffin.

“His Tendency… it’s called the Mountain Tendency. A union of the Air and Earth Tendencies. Increases the… range and resilience, respectively. I wouldn’t say it was extremely potent, but it was impossible to break apart. It’s a battle of attrition that he would have won eventually. Because of his Unique Feature…”

“Domination.” I had read that as the name for his Unique Feature. “Touched by the Source-Shard of Connection. Not to mention his teleporting capabilities, his tech is probably like nothing we’ve seen before…”

“Dad… why does it sound like you want to fight him?” Starlight clutched Ripley’s finger. “We can’t win that fight.”

“I know.” I hissed through clenched teeth. “Either I join Diana and be a sellout to the government, or a sellout to the corporations… I’ll have Elsa read the fine print; this type of thing can’t be taken into haste.”

“But… it did sound like you’d be able to start working again with Diana!” Starlight smiled.

“Yeah…” I could smile at that, but I didn’t fully trust any of this. I could never. All my life I’d been a free agent, or tried to, but doing any of this would mean… being owned by someone else. My tech. My skills. My name and likeness, Dreadwire. God, Brian would likely make a movie out of me.

I mean, I didn’t hate everything offered… but…

“Should I…” Starlight started, before she got the courage. “Maybe you should talk to mom? Twilight?”

“No… I…” I shook my head. “Not now, I know I should, but not yet.”

“Oh…” Starlight turned her head away. “Okay… um… so what are you going to do now? Should I… should we hang out?”

“I… I’d love that,” I smiled with an underlying sadness in there I knew she could feel, but that was precisely why I couldn’t, “but I have to do something later today, something… I don’t want you to see. Something I’m ashamed of, and… need to deal with by myself.”

“Oh… is it Emily Wilbur’s daughter?” Starlight took a deep breath, puffing her chest out and stepping forward. “I can handle it! You’re trying to make things better!”

“I know you could handle it, Star…” I rubbed her head, taking a deep breath as my brain tilted upside down in my skull to dump grief into my words. But before it would trap my Warpcode into an update, I grabbed a needle from a compartment in my forearm and jabbed it into my neck. Feeling that Warpcode neuter, and my connection to Starlight snap, I spoke with that grief drowning my tongue. “I wouldn’t be able to handle it, Star. If you were with me.”

Starlight shivered from the lack of a connection between us, but nodded weakly. “I get it, Dad… I just… I’m here for you.”

“Thank you, Star.” I tried to rub her head, but my fingers only passed through her. I frowned before forcing a smile on my face. “Now, how about you go hang out with your Mom again if she’s not busy? But, uh, do me a favor and don’t tell her about these offers just yet. It’s something I would like to think about on my own for now.”

“Actually… I think I’ll stay here… I want to build some stuff.” Starlight said with a teasing smile. "I'll tell you later, but I'll be borrowing a Dreadwire drone."

“Don’t go too wild.” I playfully scolded her. “I’ll head to Elsa’s now, make sure this place is all locked up when it’s closing time, oh, and tell all the customers who the Mayor threw out that their next consultation is free.”

“I will!” She slipped into a drone before waving its appendage in the air. “Bye, Dad, love ya!”

“Love you too, Star.” I waved back before closing the door as I descended down the stairway.

In the loneliness of that descent, I had to grip the railing to keep myself from collapsing. The cold was frigid and penetrating, and the darkness was comforting, a silence to the rampant vortex pulling my head down to where I couldn’t take it.

It’s only been four days… of course, you’re feeling sad, Rip. But you can’t waste any more time; you have to make things right.

In the distance of my memories, I saw that skull resting on my table. An offer unmade, but the nature of which was left clear.

Brian and the Mayor. They were the cage.

Skeleton was anything but caged.

“But fuck that guy.” I hissed, opening my door, ready to make things right.

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Next chapter is called: This is what you did.

It's an uncomfortable chapter. TW include: Child Trafficking, allusions to sexual assault.

Ripley sees the consequences of killing that drug dealer all the way back in Chapter 27 of Blood and Steel.