When he woke, Night City was still dreaming.
Lin Mo opened his eyes to a garbage heap, bullet holes, and blood draining from his body.
Three seconds ago, he had been pulling an all-nighter at an internet cafe playing StarCraft. Three seconds later, he was a dying vagrant in a cyberpunk world. Overhead, Arasaka's wanted notice played on a loop across the city.
Then the voice rang out.
[StarCraft Overlord System, emergency activation.]
[Beginner's gift pack issued: Zerg Hatchery ×1, Mutalisk Larvae ×3.]
A fully armed pursuit squad stormed in. The three larvae burrowed into the garbage heap. When they emerged, there were six Zerglings.
Flesh and shards of steel were scattered across the ground.
Militech sent its ultimate mech, the “Bigfoot”? A Ultralisks burst from the ground, their tusks piercing the cockpit.
Adam Smasher arrived with the most advanced cybernetic army? Three Templars merged into an Archon. A storm of psionic energy turned “Night City's strongest weapon” into raw material for a Zerg hive.
Later, all of Night City was talking about the madman in Pacifica: he could turn gangsters into an armored infantry force and hackers into Templars. His swarm emerged from underground, while his Battlecruisers hovered above the ruins.
Arasaka Tower fell. A volley of Yamato Cannons brought down the skyscraper that symbolized absolute power.
Standing atop the ruins, Lin Mo looked at the remnants of the troops kneeling before him. “From today on, there are no corporations here, only the United States of Night City, and my rules.”
