Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 81 The Office [Please continue reading]

Lin Yue and Jenkins talked for almost an hour in the office.

The rest of the conversation was mostly about Dogtown.

According to Jenkins, many officers from Dogtown used to frequent Night City for entertainment, and some even had shady dealings with the company, though everyone tacitly pretended not to know, and Hansen himself was unaware of it.

Lin Yue's orders were to infiltrate the Netherhounds when necessary and help Ara Saka resolve some of the troubles in Dog Town, such as the officers closely associated with the Military Science Bureau, Kangtao, and Peizhuo Petrochemical. Ara Saka wanted to know what they were talking about.

This sounds simple, but it's actually a hellish dungeon.

Putting aside the sheer size of the intelligence network required for these overt and covert clues, the mere fact that it involves the Ghost Hound officer is already quite troublesome. Lin Yue isn't about to be so reckless as to wander into Hansen's den of wolves.

In other words, the reason he can live so freely in Dogtown is entirely because Mr. Hanz is afraid to act rashly and is still keeping it a secret from that good colonel, pretending that everything is peaceful.

Fortunately, Jenkins isn't entirely confident in himself yet; he probably wants to test his abilities by assigning him many tasks first.

Is Night City really that alluring? Even after reaching this point, a former senior executive at Peizhuo Petrochemical is still unwilling to relinquish his position.

But this also served as a wake-up call for Lin Yue.

The first rule is to sever ties with Jenkins as soon as possible before V is laid off, while also concealing your shortcomings and carefully maintaining that boundary. If you do a too-successful job and the task of getting rid of Abernathy falls on your shoulders, you're truly doomed.

The second point is that the behavioral characteristic faceplate needs to be installed by a prosthetic veterinarian as soon as possible. It's not that Lin Yue doesn't want to install it, but there isn't a suitable prosthetic veterinarian available yet. In his memory, Li De installed this faceplate for V at a female prosthetic veterinarian in Dogtown.

Her name is Farida Nazeri, a woman of Kazakh descent.

She and Li De had a close relationship. Lin Yue had instructed the animal gang in Dogtown to investigate, and it seemed that there was no such prosthetic doctor in Dogtown in 2075.

That's really strange. Could it be that this doctor only opened his clinic in Dogtown in 2076?
Just as Lin Yue was about to leave this den of wolves in the elevator, a hand decorated with gold patterns on a prosthetic body pressed on the elevator's touch panel.

V looked Lin Yue up and down. "Come to my office."

?

Holy crap! Am I your grandson? I'm at your beck and call!

Lin Yue watched the woman leave, gritted his teeth, and stubbornly pressed the elevator button again.

With so many people in the office watching, he had just come out of Jenkins' office when he was called to the office by Arasaka's woman, who was not yet promoted but was nominally the second boss. What else could this be but a traitor?
V stopped in his tracks, seemingly sensing that this guy, who was nominally his equal, was not convinced.

She turned her head slightly, and the elevator door, which was supposed to open, refused to open no matter what.

Lin Yue shrugged and hesitated. Awesome!
Since the elevator isn't coming up anytime soon, I'll reluctantly listen to what this cold-faced woman has to say.

V's office wasn't big. It was located behind a semi-transparent glass wall next to Jenkins' office. Inside, besides desks and chairs, there were some servers. Even the windows meant for looking out at the scenery were closed. No wonder she had such fair skin; she never saw the sun.

V sat in the chair, and the automatic door behind him closed.

She rested her chin on the armrest of the chair, staring at Lin Yue with great interest.

What did Jenkins say to you?

Lin Yue spread his hands. "Give me a place to sit? Are you treating me like a subordinate?"

V shook his head. "There aren't any extra seats. I can stand up and you can sit down."

"..." Lin Yue was completely speechless. Fine, fine, I'll be your father.

"I... I told you you've been very busy lately, so what summit?" Lin Yue paused for a moment.

“Jakarta Summit,” V added.

"Yes, it's probably asking me to cooperate with you, saying you're too busy... uh, that you can push some things onto me to find someone else to do." Lin Yue was quite skilled at the art of conversation.

After all, he couldn't exactly say, "Hey! Girl, Jenkins doesn't want you anymore, I'm going to do something serious for someone else. If I don't get rid of Abernathy by then, you're fired!"

V thought for a moment, then nodded, seemingly having truly taken it to heart.

Lin Yue chuckled inwardly, speechless. A mere hacker, easily fooled. At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief. After all, V's affection for him was practically nonexistent. If this ambitious female corporate dog knew about Jenkins's double-crossing, who knew how she would manipulate him?

Ultimately, Jenkins's point is: whoever does the best job gets the position. However, in some ways, V does seem to trust Jenkins quite a bit.

In fact, Lin Yue had no interest in arguing about this. The Arasaka Company matter was a dead end in a practical sense. Unless he impulsively took down Abernathy now, but even then, Jenkins would not be able to get back on his feet, so it would all be in vain. Everyone was in the same boat.

“But why do I feel like Jenkins wants you to come up here?” V looked at Lin Yue, who was lost in thought, and a smile with an ambiguous meaning appeared on his lips.

She simply stated it openly and without any reservations.

Lin Yue felt a slight soreness in his teeth and was truly drenched in sweat.

Hacker V's intelligence is no joke; even so, Lin Yue immediately came up with a solution.

"What big thing could happen in Dogtown? Besides, I'm not even familiar with Night City. A lack of intelligence network doesn't mean I'm useless," Lin Yue tried to appear innocent. "And you're the one who got me out of Dogtown. I'm grateful for your kindness. What benefit would I get from getting rid of you? Do you expect me to keep an eye on me every day and find a time to kill me?"

V frowned. "What...?"

Her mouth, accustomed to English, couldn't pronounce the syllables of Lin Yue's proverb.

Lin Yue waved his hand, "It's a proverb from my hometown, anyway, it means: If you help me out, would it be right for me to stab you in the back?"

V gave him a knowing look and reached out to open the cabinet next to his desk. "You're quite frank. It's alright, even if you want to climb the ladder, I have ways to deal with you."

The favorability rating... hasn't changed, right?

Lin Yue felt that V's current state was dangerous; if his favorability dropped, it would be a complete waste.

"Do you know what the counterintelligence department says about people from the same faction?" V handed the encrypted chip in his hand to Lin Yue.

Lin Yue shook his head. How would he know about the language habits (slang) of Europeans and Americans?
V laughed and said, "Whether you admit it or not, they'll say you're my dog ​​now."

To be honest, Lin Yue was a little reluctant to take the chip.

Isn't this office bullying? Does it even make sense?

Although dogs represent loyalty in Night City's cultural context, Lin Yue's memory doesn't hold that meaning.

A dog is a lackey, and some people with certain peculiar fetishes are even willing to see themselves as dogs.

But none of that matters. The important thing is: I'm on the same level as her!

Lin Yue felt it was necessary to make this woman drop her arrogant attitude and righteously refused, "I'm not a dog, don't talk nonsense."

Well, the resistance seems somewhat weak and ineffective.

"Just kidding, of course it's what other people say. Are you that bothered? Is it a bad word in your hometown?" V thought this guy seemed too naive at times, like Jack, a bit simple-minded.

"Take it...I apologize to your colleague."

Having experienced "American-style bullying," Lin Yue took the chip and asked, "What is this?"

V was somewhat puzzled. "Didn't you say last time that mobile phone communication was insecure? For the sake of you, the famous middleman, this chip can be inserted into your own brain-computer interface to complete double-encrypted calls under the identity of Rin in real time, without affecting calls using your own identity information—I made it myself."

I think I mentioned this to V before, but I didn't expect V to be so reliable.

Lin Yue momentarily forgot to take the chip.

"What? Are you afraid I'll tamper with things inside?" V crossed his arms and his tone became unfriendly.

Lin Yue smiled and took the chip. "How could that be? I just didn't expect you to remember something I mentioned casually."

V turned to look at the computer. "Alright, go ahead."

　I wonder if I captured V's sisterly aura well, haha. It's good to relax the plot occasionally to avoid nerve fatigue.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)