Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 456: Defy Me.

A fist struck the even distance of a wide disk, bending it in half despite the alloy it was made of. The fist still shook, the rage that stirred it to move still.

Jaguar leaned back in his chair, resting his head on his fist. He looked like a bomb ready to explode at any moment, and for that reason, everyone in the room did their best to merge with the walls behind them and become invisible.

The door clicked open and the tension in the room spiked. In came a smartly dressed man with auburn hair. The look on his face showed that he was no less tense than the others, though only he had the courage to step forward and face their boss.

"Still no word?" Jaguar asked.

The man, Finka, could only shake his head. The tension in the room spiked further.

"First Kortic, and now Henry." Jaguar held a hand to his forehead, his metallic jaw groaning. "What the fuck is happening?"

No one dared to answer the question, as simple as the question was. The attack on the church was enough proof that they were fighting against powers beyond anything they’ve gone against before. Even the power suits they worked so hard to obtain have proven to be useless.

They have lost one of their top, and another one soon followed. It felt as if they were being picked off one after the other, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Worst of all, the impact on their regular operations keeps getting worse. Word of what happened had spread to their rivals, and now others beside Black Skull were messing with them. It wasn’t enough that the BEO was after them. Trouble kept springing up, and it didn’t seem like they would be gone any time soon.

"You still can’t find the red bastard?"

"Unfortunately, we have no leads." Said Finka. "Ever since that bounty was posted, there hadn’t been any sightings of him."

"No leads, you say?"

As if the fuse had reached its end, the desk suddenly went flying, smashing through a wall.

"THE HELL DO YOU MEAN NO LEADS!!? IT’S A GODDAMN KID!!! HOW THE HELL CAN’T YOU FIND HIM!!!?"

Finka, having docked while guarding his head, slowly looked up. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"I’m sorry, but... it seems he has been far more cautious after his capture." He said. "It might be that he has powers as well. I hear he killed a couple of dozen bounty hunters with his bare hands."

"He is a Diver!" Jaguar shouted. "A Cyborg! What powers would he have!?"

Cyborgs were simple and straightforward. No matter how complex their bionics got, the end goal is always to cause damage and resist it in the most efficient way possible. They didn’t have any fancy tricks like Sorcerers, and neither did they have abilities like Genomes.

"Henry said he barely had any enhancement to speak of. He’s just a Basic, and you can’t even locate him!?"

"We... we will continue the search." Said Finka.

"Damn sure you will," Jaguar growled before dropping onto his chair. "And you better do it soon."

"Understood."

That seemed to be the end of the conversation, so the gangsters in the room moved, each one intending to go deal with their business. They all came to a stop when they saw that the smartly dressed man had yet to move.

"Um... boss..."

"What?"

"It’s about Silver Claw." Said Finka. "We have dealt with them as you had instructed. We have their leaders in our hands."

"Silver Claw..."

Jaguar squinted his eyes, as if to ask who they were. He guessed they were insignificant enough for him to forget, and the explanation he got proved him right.

"Bring them to the warehouse." He said.

After a short ride, Jaguar arrived at a warehouse at the edge of New City. The warehouse itself was front. Paying no mind to the yachts lining its interior, he made his way to a hidden gate in the back then descended the stairs behind it.

The basement floor underneath was as large as the warehouse itself and was equally packed. It was one of the gang’s bigger weapon storage areas, and the crates stacked around were full of drones, bots, and mass-produced power suits. There were a few tanks as well, though those giant machines were hidden under sheets.

Jaguar made his way to one such machine. The crowd gathered under it turned his way the instant he entered. At their center, three young men were made to kneel on the ground. The hostility in their eyes was clear, but there was no hiding their fear.

Paying them no mind, Jaguar passed through and walked to the back. There, a large chair had been set. It was the kind one would find at a dentist’s clinic, but the purpose was entirely different.

Things weren’t looking up for the Daggers. They were under attack from several fronts, with some being the worst enemies they could have. Because of that, they had to give in and take out their heavy weapons.

The Black Shield power suits were prototypes that had yet to see any real use. They were Orvakia’s response to the rise of Genomes—machines that further augment cyborgs, allowing them to reach beyond the Level 4 ceiling. Just obtaining them burned through entire fortunes, but even after they fell into their hands, the Daggers found themselves faced with a problem.

The suits’ operating systems were tightly secured, and since their keys were installed into the MLPs of the chosen pilot, most of whom are important figures in the Orvakian military, operating the suits was simply impossible.

That left them with only one choice: they had to alter the operating systems and overwrite the security keys, and to do so, they required the services of very powerful Divers.

Sitting on that chair was one such Diver. He was short in stature, with a thin build and no muscles to speak of. One wouldn’t be faulted for thinking he was a child, because that’s exactly what he was.

The child’s head was encased in a strange headgear, and several probes had been stuck to his body, connecting him to the nearby medical machines.

"Why is he still connected?" Jaguar asked.

"Sir, the ejection sequence requires time." A man in a white coat answered. "Rushing might result in serious damage."

"Tsk."

Jaguar turned to the child, momentarily considering whether to yank the cables plugged into the back of his head or to just wait. Fortunately, his wait didn’t last long. A loud beep announced the child’s return, and the doctor went about removing the headgear and the cables.

The child rose in a daze and looked around him. As soon as he spotted Jaguar, his face contorted with hatred and rage.

"Good morning, son."

Somehow, seeing the fierce glare the boy directed at him improved Jaguar’s mood.

"Don’t you fucking dare call me that." The boy growled between gritted teeth. "You are not my father."

"You still going on bout that?"

"Back at you."

"I see." Heaving a sigh, Jaguar looked up. "Have you made any progress?"

"Never said I would help you," Finn said. "You can plug me in all you want, I will never Dive for you."

"So you have been wasting the last three days?"

"..."

"Sir." The doctor approached, smiling nervously. "The truth is, we have bypassed the first two layers. At this pace, we will-"

"Uh-oh, so you’re actually doing your job."

Finn clicked his tongue and turned away. If he still had a normal face, Jaguar would have smiled at that moment. He held a hand up, and one of his subordinates walked over, handing him a small tablet.

"Guess I won’t be needing this, then." He said.

Tapping the screen a couple of times, he stared at it for a moment, then turned it around. Finn glared at him, then at the screen. His eyes shot wide right away. The video playing on the tablet was that of a young man with red hair. He was tied to a chair and seemed to be unconscious. Going by the state of his clothes, it seemed like he had gone through a very violent experience.

"Wha- how..."

"Yeah, he gave us quite a bit of trouble." Jaguar pulled away and handed the tablet back to his subordinate. "Henry is handling him just about now. If you would like, I can pass on a message."

"If you dare touch-"

"And the hell are you going to do?"

Finn went silent, and his gaze fell.

"Now, are you going to be a good son and help your dad with his work?"

Gritting his teeth, the boy turned to him with a glare.

"I know I can rely on you." Turning around, Jaguar walked over to the three men kneeling on the floor. Without much effort, he grabbed one by the neck and lifted him up with no effort. "But just in case, I will show you what will happen to your friend if you fail me."

"N-no! P-please! I swear I won’t-"

The man wriggled his body, pleading with tears in his eyes as he tried to escape. Ignoring the futile resistance, Jaguar pulled him closer and spread his jaws wide. The plating covering them shifter, shifting the simple shape of the implant and turning it into the maw of a beast straight out of a nightmare.

"P-PLEASE I DON’T WA-"

Jaguar’s jaws snapped, and the man’s words disappeared into the sound of an audible crunch. A large section of his head disappeared, bitten cleanly off as if it were a ripe fruit. As blood splattered everywhere, staining his exposed chest and tropical shirt, Jaguar let go of the now still corpse and turned to face the boy.

Finn was watching with wide-eyed horror, his face ghastly pale. His eyes seemed to meet Jaguar’s after a moment, and that caused him to recoil.

[Do you get it now?] Jaguar said, blood seeping from his unmoving jaws. [This is what will happen to your friends if you dare defy me.]