PRIVATE Something In The Way | MILITECH

[MILITECH INTERNATIONAL]

Verner Harrison

A holocall engaged, and through the digital feed, Verner Harrison, Senior Operations Manager for Militech's Night City Division would appear.

"Antonov," Verner said, his voice even, clipped, no wasted words. "Effective immediately, you're being temporarily reassigned under my directive. That means any assets under your command? They're now mine."

He leaned forward slightly, placing his hands flat on the polished surface of his desk. "Militech has two major problems, and I don't trust anyone but my own to handle them. First, I hear a rumor of a Rogue AI in Night City bearing a Militech digital signature. I don't have details, but we need to squash this rumor and see if there is any proof. If this rumor bears any truth, it could make the DataKrash look like a fucking system update."

Verner paused, letting the weight of that statement settle before continuing. He was obviously not updated to current investigation underway by the Russian Corpo.

"But that's secondary." His voice lowered slightly, steel threaded through every syllable. "The Blip. We don't know what the hell caused it, but we sure as hell know it wasn't random. Find me some answers."

Verner leaned back, eyes locked onto Dmitri's "I don't care what other operations you had running. Whatever it is. Put it on ice. I need full cooperation of your field assets, and I need them moving now." A beat of silence, then a ghost of a smirk crossed his lips. "I trust that won't be a problem, correct? I take care of my own, you take lead here and I'll make sure you get the proper commendations."

@Dmitri Antonov​

 

[Dmitri Antonov]

Theme Music: Something in the Way - Nirvana​

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Location: Watson -> Heywood, Night City Subway
Time: 7:30am
Tags: @MILITECH INTERNATIONAL

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Someone Dropped the Leash​

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Dmitri rarely took the subway. Most of his business played out in the dead of night or the earliest hours of the morning—times when Night City's pulse slowed just enough to make movement easier. But at 7:30 AM, the city was a different beast. Rush hour meant that driving was out of the question unless he wanted to sit in gridlock for hours. The subway was the better play, even if it meant blending into the sea of tired commuters.

He moved with the flow, watching the crowd as much as he was part of it. People talked when they thought no one was listening. It was easy to pick up on things—whispers of back-alley deals, corpo gossip, the usual churn of a city that never truly slept.

The train rumbled through a few stops before Dmitri finally stepped off, weaving into the packed streets of Heywood. Anders was expecting him, and he had no intention of being late.

Then his optics pinged—an incoming call.
Verner.
While he wasn't surprised, the name gave him pause.

Verner's face overlaid within Dmitri's Kiroshi optics, with his voice soon following.

"Antonov," Verner said, his voice even, clipped, no wasted words. "Effective immediately, you're being temporarily reassigned under my directive. That means any assets under your command? They're now mine."

He leaned forward slightly, placing his hands flat on the polished surface of his desk. "Militech has two major problems, and I don't trust anyone but my own to handle them. First, I hear a rumor of a Rogue AI in Night City bearing a Militech digital signature. I don't have details, but we need to squash this rumor and see if there is any proof. If this rumor bears any truth, it could make the DataKrash look like a fucking system update."

Dmitri listened silently. While his device was held a few feet from his face to facilitate a 'face to face' conversation, his sunglasses obscured the subtle cues that might be betrayed in his eyes - something that may well irritate Verner without being openly disrespectful or obtrusive. Dmitri was paid to be Militech's boots on the ground anyway, so Verner couldn't fault him for doing what was expected of him. As he continued, Dmitri set about turning down a less congested sidewalk as he steadily made his way to Ashlar Clinic.

"But that's secondary." His voice lowered slightly, steel threaded through every syllable. "The Blip. We don't know what the hell caused it, but we sure as hell know it wasn't random. Find me some answers."

Verner leaned back, eyes locked onto Dmitri's "I don't care what other operations you had running. Whatever it is. Put it on ice. I need full cooperation of your field assets, and I need them moving now." A beat of silence, then a ghost of a smirk crossed his lips. "I trust that won't be a problem, correct? I take care of my own, you take lead here and I'll make sure you get the proper commendations."

With only a second's pause, a smile flashed across Dmitri's face. "Understood." While he could hold his own in a firefight, he wasn't the most skilled man with a gun; nor was he a savant at navigating the net. No, Dmitri had another skillset - one that couldn't be taught, but was debatably just as valuable. He knew how to deal with a wide array of individuals, from street thugs who were coked out half the time, to power hungry corporate types wanting to play an angle. Dmitri had never dealt directly with Verner before, and in many ways this was an opportunity laden with high risk, but also a high potential for reward.

He just had to play it right. "It's what you pay me for. Can I assume the... 'gloves are off'? Whatever it takes to get the information you want?"

Verner's response would tell Dmitri alot, including how much of an opportunity had just presented itself. Over the preceding years, Dmitri had taken great care to keep his professional and 'extracurricular' life separate enough where anyone would be hard pressed to link the two together. He had used Basher to track down some leads for him, but was always careful to scrub the information so it wouldn't tie the two lives together. There was always a risk that someone with enough motivation could try to link Dmitri's criminal enterprise with his status as a Militech employee, and try to expose him or blackmail him into being someone else's puppet.

But if he could use this situation to cement his criminal contacts as a viable resource for Militech (as few enforcers were ever truly clean or devoid of criminal ties), then such a turn of events could only serve to insulate him further from attempts to compromise him - even from NCPD as long as he kept his tracks clean from something truly large enough to be of concern.

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