TechPunk Gacha Chapter 2 - Plot within Plots, CEO and Militech (Patreon)

Militech was producing everything from small arms to heavy weapons and even vehicles like tanks. Most of the things were directly designed by Arasaka Sasai, who was replacing the outdated military armaments that were previously produced by the Arasaka.

When Militech was established, his grandfather transferred the entire Weapon Manufacturing Division to Militech for better concentration of resources and higher efficiency.

Sasai did a good job designing weapons, especially the Gauss Weaponry and Kinetic Weapons of the Achilles Series. He was even working on the Energy-based weapons, but that was rather challenging, even with the knowledge of Cyberware of Cyberpunk 2077 and Mechanical Augmentations of the Deus Ex universe.

Outside of Goro Takemura, he was also being watched by Oda Sandayu, a cyberninja employed by the Arasaka Corporation, assigned as his personal bodyguard by his grandfather. 

A member of the Oda Clan, a very small, highly traditional shinobi clan in Japan, one of the few remaining ones in existence. Now they transitioned to the Cyberninjas, who were Mechanically Augmented with the Cyberware Augmentations.

A combination of the technology of Cyberpunk 2077 and the Deus Ex Universe, creating really formidable killing machines.

"The General is now in his office, Mr. Arasaka."

One of the soldiers led Arasaka Sasai to the office of General Randal, which was rather modest-looking with little to no decorations. Sasai was accompanied by Goro Takemura, but he was accompanied by his bodyguards everywhere he went.

"I thank you for welcoming me, General Randal. I think that we should go straight to the matter instead of wasting time."

Blackwatch Special Forces, officially designated under the 1st Biological Warfare Command, is the black ops military force of the United States responsible for the containment of biohazard/viral outbreaks. 

The Blackwatch Special Forces wasn't handling just these missions, but they were also handling other covert operations that couldn't be linked to the Government of the United States of America.

Sasai did his research, and despite everything, even with the resources of the Arasaka, they couldn't find anything about Gentek, as it seemed that the corporation didn't exist in this world.

Still, some scientists who were working for Gentek existed in this world, like Dr. Anton Koenig, whom Sasai had already recruited for Arasaka. Even though right now, Arasaka and Militech were focusing more on the technological side of things, it was clear that in the future, they would be shifting part of their interests to Genetic Research.

Mainly due to the Umbrella.

Still, despite this, the Incident in Hope, Idaho, still happened, and the Outbreak was contained by the Blackwatch. This meant that Redlight Virus was a real thing, and Elizabeth Green was as well.

Compared to that... the T-Virus by the Umbrella Corporation seemed to be like a child's play.

"That would be greatly appreciated. Now, what do you have for me, son?"

Sasai was already acquainted with General Peter Randall due to the fact that the man was a friend of his father, Arasaka Kijirō.

"Right now, Militech is developing conceptual weapons that I think that Blackwatch may find rather useful in their endeavors of containing outbreaks and B.O.W.s."

He passed a very thin, futuristic-looking tablet to General Randall, where several files were already loaded. 

Bio Organic Weapon or B.O.W. for short, are genetically-altered organisms created with the intent of either being used as military and paramilitary weapons, or were created to further research into military and paramilitary weapons. This definition is rigid, and so does not include mutants created due to outbreaks, who are termed "Irregular Mutants".

"When it comes to the Project: CyberWarrior, the implementation could start immediately. The Project: Flashlight would require more research and resources, probably at least three years until it is completely ready."

Project CyberWarrior was something that Sasai was working on since he got his hands on the technological tree of Deus Ex's Mechanical Augmentations, which led him to the creation of the Cyber Sentinel Cyberware Mechanical Augmentation System, whose goal was to create a supersoldier through the combination of Cyberpunk Cyberware and Deus Ex's Mechanical Augmentations.

Fortunately enough, with the advent of the Cyberware, the financial status of Arasaka was like it was printing money all over. The idea of perfect cybernetic replacements for the body parts was something that not many thought was real.

Especially when it was without side effects, as Sasai was able to fill the gaps by combining it with the technology of Deus Ex. 

"You are aware that you are promising big things... if you can't deliver it, it would be a tremendous hit for the Arasaka and also for Blackwatch and my faction..."

General Randal stated calmly because he really wanted to see the things that were being promised in the document.

Officially, Blackwatch does not exist - it is a black operations unit that is given free rein when it comes to containing viral outbreaks. The organization has access to vast stockpiles of military arsenal and experimental technologies, in addition to controlling the most refined information control technologies, vital to preserving the ignorance of the American public.

And with the existence of the B.O.W.s, the influence of General Randall and Blackwatch in the American Government was huge, and his faction of the warhawks was one of the biggest in US politics. 

There were not many that could compete against them. 

If Militech could deliver its promise, then it would strengthen their position tremendously to the point where they would have enough power to get rid of the Umbrella's influence within the US Military.

Which was right now, the most critical aspect of all things.

"Delivering isn't a problem. If you have suitable candidates from the Blackwatch, we can start the Project: CyberWarrior even right now. The Cyber Sentinel Cyberware Mechanical Augmentation System is already functional, as I have tested it on several volunteers of Arasaka."

After the apparent assassination of the Arasaka Clan by the Umbrella Corporation, the Arasaka invested a lot of money into the recruitment of former soldiers from the US Military.

There were many veterans who were disgraced from the Military, some in rough shape, some facing financial problems, some with debts, and some left crippled after the wars they fought in.

For the country that prided itself on its Military, the treatment of its veterans was something that it could improve upon. Arasaka, meanwhile, was thriving in the recruitment of the former soldiers.

Former Delta Force operatives, former Navy Seals, Marines, Rangers... they were primarily targeting the best of the best, because they would be forming the core of the new Private Military Company that was Sasai's brainchild.

The ATLAS.

***

Next Day, VIP Suite, New York Continental Hotel

"How is the audition for CEO going?"

One of the things Arasaka Sasai wanted to eliminate as soon as possible was the burden of being the company's CEO and dealing with all the unnecessary administrative tasks and paperwork.

Because the Militech Corporation was just established only a short time ago, there wasn't enough time to find a proper CEO for the company, so Arasaka Sasai was taking the place of the CEO as well.

Much to his great distaste.

He spent a few hours of a day doing paperwork, even though he managed to pass a part of it on to Takemura, but there were still many things that required the personal attention of the CEO, and such a state was absolutely unacceptable.

His attention was needed elsewhere, particularly in the research area, as there were numerous topics he could explore. He would have preferred to work on the newest Cyberware Augmentations and pursue the fusion between the two technological trees.

"We have received several tens of applications, and after filtering, we have thought of only three suitable candidates."

Goro Takemura answered as he passed Arasaka Sasai three folders of the three people who were applying for the position of CEO of the Militech Corporation. Finding the right person for the job was indeed a tough task. 

Suddenly, he noticed one person among the three who was more notable than the others, and it was rather a familiar sight. 

"Meredith Stout? Graduated from Harvard summa cum laude and worked for several huge weapon manufacturers, including Senior Executive Position and Junion CEO position at Lockheed Martin, age: 26, certified genius with IQ of 164 points."

He read out of loud before deciding on her. For several reasons, apparently, and her beauty playing one of the factors, certainly indeed. 

"Call this a personal interview. You can now excuse yourself, Goro."

Seeing Goro Takemura giving a slight bow and exiting the room, Arasaka Sasai decided to put his attention on the Gacha. He had collected a lot of the Normal Grade Gacha Tokens, approximately one hundred, because he wasn't using them at all. 

At the same time, he also completed another of the Achievements from the Achievement List. 

[Congratulations to the Host for completing the Achievement of the Achievement List - Obtain Arms Contract from the United States Military and obtaining a Premium Grade Gacha Ticket as a reward.]

He immediately used the Premium Grade Gacha Ticket.

[Gacha is now rolling!]

[Congratulations! User Arasaka Sasai has received (7th-Level Intellect Enhancement). The user may access the reward within the inventory.]

Sasai didn't waste any moment and directly used the 7th-Level Intellect Enhancement, as he immediately entered the realm of the Super Geniuses. The very moment it happened, Arasaka Sasai felt like a whole new world had opened in front of him, and many problems that he encountered during this research were instantly solved. 

Afterward, he looked at the hundred or so Normal Grade Gacha Tokens before he decided to use them in the Gacha. 

[Gacha is now rolling!]

[Gacha is now rolling!]

[Gacha is now rolling!]

[Congratulations! User Arasaka Sasai has received (Ordinary Sword - Trash). The user may access the reward within the inventory.]

[Congratulations! User Arasaka Sasai has received (Coding Knowledge - Rare). The user may access the reward within the inventory.]

[Congratulations! User Arasaka Sasai has received (Fusion Core - Unique). The user may access the reward within the inventory.]

[Congratulations! User Arasaka Sasai has received (T-Shirt - Trash). The user may access the reward within the inventory.]

[Congratulations! User Arasaka Sasai has received (Old Computer - Common). The user may access the reward within the inventory.]

[Congratulations! User Arasaka Sasai has received (Paralen - Trash). The user may access the reward within the inventory.]

[Congratulations! User Arasaka Sasai has received (Playing Cards - Trash). The user may access the reward within the inventory.]

[Congratulations! User Arasaka Sasai has received (Mission Invokator - Transcendental). The user may access the reward within the inventory.]

This series of notifications continued for several minutes, though, unfortunately, after the initial luck that he had, the rest of the things were utterly useless. Most of the things that Sasai obtained, he also sold back to the Gacha in exchange for the Credits, earning himself around 8,000 Credits.

The most valuable thing that he obtained from the Gacha was a Fusion Core.

The Fusion Core was technology from the Fallout Universe, a world that was in many areas technologically far more advanced, and some of their inventions were like straight out of fantasy...

People in the Fallout Universe mastered Nuclear Technology to the point where they developed clear Nuclear Fusion as a limitless source of energy; even Cold Fusion wasn't out of their reach.

Standardized fusion cores are a high-grade, long-term nuclear battery used for military and commercial applications before the Great War.

Used by civilians to power a multitude of devices, from automobiles to generators, the Military instead used them for warfare, supplying Power Armor and some Gatling Laser models with energy.

If they could study it and uncover the secrets of the Fusion Core, it would be a staggering achievement that would push the technological boundaries of the world by whole decades. 

Now that he pondered about it, the problem with researching this would be that he could only entrust it to the people who were 110% loyal to him. It was literary technology from a different world.

He would have a hard time explaining where it came from... 

However, he could always blame it on the Anomaly.

The last thing that continued to elude him somewhat was the last reward he got from the Gacha and which actually had God-Rank rarity. This was the first time he got something that rare, if he didn't count the Summinings that were actually as rare as the God-Rank Gachas were.

[Mission Invokator activated.]

[Special Achievement Added.]

[Achieve S-Rank Evaluation during the Racoon City Crisis. Reward: Trans-Dimensional Klein Gate: ??? (Fallout / I Have a Mansion in a Post-Apocalyptic World).]

Arasaka Sasai calmed himself down when he saw the mission and its subsequent reward because he knew that it would be very hard to fulfill, but at the same time, it would be something that could properly use his power and accelerate the development not only of his Corporation but the entire world by at least few centuries.

Acess to worlds like Fallout or Alternate Earth of the I Have a Mansion in a Post-Apocalyptic World... both of world were filled with a tremendous amount of technological innovation and advanced techniques that almost made him salivate.

'It seems that expanding the military power is necessary... The ATLAS would make a debut during the Raccoon City Outbreak and coordinate with the Blackwatch in containing the Outbreak. Not only could this be used to expand the Arasaka's influence in the American Government, but the creation of the proper PMC could finally be realized.'

Right now, Sasai wasn't keen on saving the money, but rather, he decided to invest everything back to expand as fast as possible without endangering the future and foundation of Militech and, by extension, the entire Arasaka Corporation. 

Without the Mission Invocation, he wouldn't have chosen this step, but the Trans-Dimensional Gate to the Fallout Universe or I Have a Mansion in a Post-Apocalyptic World was too tempting for him to just pass.

The technological advances that he could obtain from such a world were staggering and could become the foundation of the Arasaka Clan for the next decades. The opportunity to plunder the resources of the entire world, be it the Fallout Universe or I Have a Mansion in a Post-Apocalyptic World, was something that...

Holding the knowledge of the entire civilization.

Even if it was destroyed in the fires of the nuclear war.

Still, obtaining the S-Rank Evaluation of the Mission to Survive Raccoon City would be hard. 

In the first place, he didn't even know what it meant, though he could guess that it was primarily about keeping the city intact and somehow convincing the US Government not to use a nuke on the city.

That would be hard.

***

Several days later, Arasaka Sasai had a meeting with the potential candidate for the position of CEO of the Militech Corporation, Meredith Stout. He chose her mainly because she was another person from the Cyberpunk Universe that appeared in this world.

Coupled with this being some weird amalgam of the John Wick Universe, Arasaka Sasai suspected that more notable figures could appear here. As long as they had someone to fill the position of the CEO of the Umbrella Corporation, it would relieve Arasaka Sasai from the tremendous burden of paperwork and other duties.

"Goro, has the project that the research team is working on been completed?"

Arasaka Sasai gave the research team specific tasks to work on... it was one of the rewards that he got from the Gacha a few months ago, but he didn't really pay it more attention at the time. 

"They relayed the message that the project has been successfully completed and all people within the Tokyo Headquarters of Arasaka and Arasaka Security Guard Corps have been injected with the Loyalty Chips."

The Research and Development Team of Militech was working on the Loyalty Chips, which were implanted directly into the spinal cortex of a person. Their sole purpose was to ensure the loyalty of Arasaka employees and its subsidiaries to the Arasaka and the Arasaka Clan.

This, in turn, fulfilled Sasai's vision of dividing the members of the Arasaka Corporation into two categories. The first was the Outer Members who were not working on crucial projects, research, and in most secret laboratories.

The second category was the Core Members of the Arasaka Corporation, who were the researchers and scientists working on top-secret projects, the core of the Arasaka or other High-Ranking Executives of the Arasaka Corporation.

Of course, all armed personnel of the Arasaka Corporation were the Core Members of the Loyalty Chips.

In the future, Sasai planned to introduce more technologies from different Universes or even construct the Trans-Dimensional Gateway to another Universe, which was most likely the Fallout Universe or its Alternative Version.

He was very paranoid about the loyalty of the people, especially since the assassination attempt on his life...

Obviously, these "Loyalty Chips" were not just mere chips to ensure loyalty, but they were also a crucial part of the Cyberware Augmentations for the most cutting-edge inventions that Sasai created.

"Excellent... from now on, all people in certain positions must be implanted with Loyalty Chip, same for the Armed Forces, Executives, and anyone in important positions to the Umbrella or those who are working in the secret facilities."

Of course, the main benefits for the Core Members of the Arasaka Corporation were the working conditions, pay, benefits, and other things. For example, when they had researched some ways to prolong life or cure diseases, all these things would be free to a certain degree for the Core Members of the Arasaka Corporation and its subsidiaries.

Due to the nature of the research conducted by the Militech and Arasaka or the things that he had planned for the ATLAS and the things that they were going to do in the future, there was a need for utmost secrecy, and nothing could be left to chance. 

"Sir, we can go for the interview with the candidate Meredith Stout."

Hearing Goro Takemura, Arasaka Sasai nodded as they had already packed their things and were prepared to depart from the Continental Hotel. After the interview with Meredith Stout, Arasaka Sasai planned to head to the research facility of Arasaka in America, where they were developing some of the more advanced weapons for sale.

Now that he had obtained the 7th-Level Super-Genius Level Intellect, many problems that he encountered before became clear as a sunny day.

Though he needed to make a small pause to meet with the representative of the High Table about the weapon deal. He knew that the advanced weapons would sell well, especially for the Soldiery of the High Table, who were the official army of the High Table.

And also one of the main reasons why the High Table could rule the entire Underworld unchallenged, across the entire world. The meeting with the Emissary of the High Table would take place on top of the Continental Hotel, while the meeting with Miss Stout would take place in one of the VIP Lounges of the Continental.

***

Common Lounge of the Continental Hotel, One Hour Later

Life in the Continental Hotel was going on as always; everyone minded their own business, though when a beautiful blonde woman with a short haircut, with her hair black, slid in wearing a business suit, everyone sharpened.

Because the Continental Hotel was housing killers and assassins, members of the High Table, or anyone else affiliated with it, they could recognize each other. It was clear that the woman wasn't an assassin and probably didn't even know how to fight.

"How can I help you, Madam?"

The receptionist, Charon, asked with his typical neutral, respectful voice as he scanned the woman in front of him, already prepared to turn her away. The Continental Hotel served only those with Coins; normal money didn't really have much say in this.

It was just the way the Continental Hotel worked.

"I have scheduled a meeting with Sir Arasaka Sasai at 11:00."

Hearing the name of the person whom she came to meet here, Charon immediately knew that this was the personal guest of someone who was in a very high position at the High Table.

"Of course, Madam. Please follow the staff to the meeting room."

As soon as Charon said that, one of the members of the staff came there and led her to the elevator. Meanwhile, Charon called the VIP Lounge, where Arasaka Sasai was waiting, to inform him that his guest was already on the way.

***

Arasaka Sasai was having breakfast, and after his morning exercise, he was rather hungry. He wans'đt someone who was into exercising, but after the transmigration and obtaining Master Mixed Martial Arts (Epic), he started regularly exercising to keep himself in shape.

In his first life, he wasn't nearly as fit as he is right now, so he wanted to keep his good physique, possibly to look even better. So, at least a few times a week, he was training with Goro Takemura, who mastered several Martial Arts and was a very fearsome close-quarter combatant.

Coupled with the Cyberware Augmentations that he installed into his body, Arasaka Sasai was nothing short of a killing machine. His Cybernetic Arm Prosthesis contained Nanoblade, TESLA Coil, Precision Implant, Holo-Terminal and Hacking Chip. In the place of his left eye, he had Kiroshi Eye.

And everything was being controlled by the ODIN Interference System and Net Terminal Gene. Though the latter one was just a prototype thing...

As it was a combination of Cyberware Augmentation and Genetic Engineering, and it was something that Sasai planned to reserve only for the members of the Arasaka Clan. The existence and idea of the Net Terminal Gene was also the reason why he desperately wanted to get his hands on the T-Virus.

Right now, he was enjoying the delicious, luxurious breakfast prepared by the chefs of the Continental Hotel. After a long and hard workout, he really appreciated good, nutritious food.

He had to admit that the food here was top-notch, on the level of the Michelin Restaurants.

This wasn't that surprising because the services provided by the Continental Hotel were anything but perfect. Everything within the hotel was created with the intention of being perfect, and food was one of the great aspects. 

"Sir, Miss Meredith Sout has arrived."

Just as he finished eating, he was notified by Goro Takemura that the sole candidate for the position of the CEO of the Militech Corporation had arrived.

Arasaka Sasai scanned the newcomer to the room as she was led by one of his bodyguards. Certainly, she was a very beautiful woman; though she was 24 years old, she exuded an aura of authority and strength, which was rather unusual.

Interestingly enough, she didn't really appear to be nervous, which was something surprising, considering the fact that she was in a room with heavily armored people, which would put a certain nervousness in most.

However, considering that she applied for a job in which the main thing to do is to deal with weapons, manufacture them, and sell them, it was a good sign.

"Welcome, Miss Stout."

Arasaka Sasai stated as he kissed the back of her hand and motioned her to sit down.

"Thank you very much, Sir Arasaka. I am honored to have this chance for the interview for the position of CEO."

Meredith Stout knew how to deal with people of high social standings, and before she came to the meeting, she even studied the customs of the British Aristocracy to avoid any embarrassment herself.

She knew that some people in high social standing, especially the members of the nobility, were really keen on the right manners.

Arasaka Sasai was also the case because he liked the formalities and protocols, not to mention he didn't like it when people were behaving familiarly with him out of nowhere and not knowing their proper manners.

"I am glad for this opportunity, Sir. But I am sure that you are a busy man yourself and don't want to waste any time, so we should go straight to the matter."

Arasaka Sasai was pleased by her no-nonsense business tone of voice because it was clear that she didn't waste any time. He appreciated it because he, too, wasn't really fond of the useless formalities and wasting time; he was busy as he was.

"Excellent... then, you are the sole person who was eligible among all of the candidates for the position at the Militech Corporation. Your profile is excellent, and your resume is satisfactory. After going through it over, I have decided that before I come to a final decision, we need to go through a few matters."

Arasaka Sasai wanted to ask a few things before they would officially come to an agreement.

"As you are aware, the main things that Umbrella is and will be selling are weapons and, at a later date, other things that you will be informed about. You should be aware that Umbrella works differently from the other companies, especially structure-wise. Each Head of Department of the Umbrella would also be the CEO of the Subsidiary Company that is charged with manufacturing some things. Departments of the Umbrella are tasked with only research, not manufacturing or creating anything, just research. Your task as the CEO of the Umbrella would be to oversee everything..."

The structure of the Umbrella Corporation was different from the other companies, though, it was purposely done in this way. Arasaka Sasai planned for the Militech itself to manufacture only a few key technologies. 

All other things would be made by the subsidiary companies, whose sole purpose would be manufacturing and upgrading already existing things. 

"Now, your first responsibility would be building the company structure and finding the right people for Management and Executive positions. At the same time, you need to find scientists and people and continue making dealings with the US Military."

Meredith, hearing that, nodded because it seemed like a normal job for the CEO, though it would be a bit harder because she needed to build the company from scratch. That would be a very tough job even for her, so Arasaka Sasai needed to be fully confident that she was up to the task.

"I am confident that I can carry out the job according to your wishes. I already have enough experience with similar tasks in my old positions, and my recommendations from my previous employers were nothing short of praise."

She said with a confident expression as Sasai nodded with a satisfied smile. 

"I saw the recommendations... very impressive for your age, how did you manage to get into business so young? The resume says that you were an assistant to the CEO of General Stout Arms at age 17, who was also your uncle. It is noted that you did all of the administrative work..."

The resumé of Meredith Stout was rather impressive. Her family owned a local arms manufacturer stationed in Texas; it wasn't very big, but it wasn't small either, rather average, but it was still a rather successful company. 

At the age of 16, she started helping her uncle, who was CEO of the company after the death of her parents, and it was actually her who was doing basically everything that the CEO should be doing, but her uncle actually let her do it.

She was apparently natural at the job, far better than even people who had been doing it their whole life. Meredith Stout was like a fish in the water.

"After I stopped working at the General Stout Arms when we sold the company to Lockheed Martin, Lockheed Martin hired me for the position of Senior Executive while I was studying at Harvard."

Arasaka Sasai raised his brow when he heard that as he pondered over something for a little.

"Why did you decide to leave Lockheed Martin? After you graduated from Harvard, they promoted you to the Junior Vice President of the company, and your career and future were bright. Many were thinking that in a decade or so, you would be named CEO."

This was something that was bugging Arasaka Sasai to no end.

"Ambition, stability and vision. I want to build something from scratch, and with the fame of Arasaka Sasai, the Father of Cyberware and Mechanical Augmentation, the prodigy of the new era, whose inventions elevated Arasaka to the most prominent corporation in the world. Many are saying that you will soon overtake Umbrella."

The reasoning was certainly interesting; Arasaka Sasai could hear the ambition and pride from her, yet there was no arrogance that one would expect from someone with such high ambitions. 

There was just confidence. 

Nothing more and nothing less.

"Well... Arasaka will soon be expanding our Weapon Manufacturing Division tremendously, and after the price of Lockheed Martin drops a bit, we plan to acquire the corporation fully. Even right now, Militech has started buying off any stock on the stock market until we hit 5%."

Right now, Arasaka Corporation is one of the richest corporations in the world due to the invention of the Cyberware Augmentations, and it is making tens of billions in pure income every year.

Selling Cyberware Augmentations, Cyberware Augmentation Maintenance, Healthcare services related to the Cyberware, and other things were raking in a lot of money. Most of these were once again reinvested or used to expand the operations.

Because the ownership of the Arasaka was private and all in the hands of the Arasaka Family, there were no other interests besides their own. 

"That would be rather a steep investment... Currently, the market capitalization of Lockheed Martin is something around 21 billion dollars."

Sasai nodded, hearing that, but for the Arasaka, it wasn't a lot. Certainly, even though they didn't have that much in liquidity on hand, it wouldn't take long before they could prepare it, and Arasaka Nairakira was very supportive of Sasai's inventions and plans.

In the end...

It was his inventions that brought Arasaka to where it is.

And money was just money...

Influence and power were far more important than money.