Infinity, progress from Arasaka

Along with the whimpering sand, the smoke columns rose irregularly into the sky, thick and dense, which was definitely not the effect that could be produced by the burning of a wanderer's small camp and a few small shabby houses.

"It seems that the CIA suffered heavy losses this time..."

There was a tall and burly figure, standing like a sculpture on the bare, wind-swept rocky mountain, looking indifferently at everything on the ground.

Through the gaps in the smoke, he could see Arasaka's armored hovercraft and the hills over there where the heavy drone group was passing by in the distance. He could make out several Octants and surveyors.

"The contact person... was intercepted by Arasaka's cops? Even the underground transportation station was uncovered and blown up. What the hell is going on in Washington..."

With a low curse, the man turned around and looked at Watson who was busy with construction work at the south end.

There was an automatically cruising airship in the blue sky, dragging a long holographic advertisement across the sky, broadcasting the notice of the establishment of the new area of ​​the Arasaka Research Center and the scene of Vera Adelheid, Michiko Arasaka, and Wilton Houghton gathering in the Blue Sky Building to hold the land purchase agreement.

Arasaka is returning to its peak.

With a sigh, he walked towards the modified car with a weathered appearance parked beside the hill.

Open and close the car door, buzz...

The moment the car window closed, the skin color on the man's face changed from white to black, and then from black to brown.

The originally gray clothes were transformed into colorful and trendy clothes in an instant as the nanoparticles on the surface were transformed, turning a wanderer into a street boy.

If an intelligence worker witnessed the entire process, he would probably blurt out: nano camouflage clothing and shape-shifting mimicry mask.

"Six years...six years...I hope I can wait until the day I am 'awakened'."

The man put on a baseball cap and drove away.

His low voice disappeared with the wind and sand.

......

——"Night City Arasaka Academy 2076 Spring Graduation Ceremony"——

We sincerely invite you to...

drop.

Vera glanced at the report from Arasaka Academy and didn't take it seriously. Then, she zoomed in and called up the security data chart of the NCPD in the Highwood Li scenic area in recent times. At the same time, she closed the official website of Arasaka Academy and projected the relevant graphic information from the central holographic screen to the virtual screen grid built into her artificial eye.

[List of candidates for the security department of Night City Arasaka Academy 2076 graduates:]

Katsuo Tanaka.

Suneo Kawakami.

Gian Morishita (Fat Tiger).

David Martinez.

Conan Henry.

...

Vera glanced at it.

Wow, the results are pretty good.

Several directors of Arasaka Academy praised this year's graduates without hesitation, especially when Vera gave an encouraging speech at the academy in the summer of 2074, they praised her with all their might, which could be described as flattering.

This director is not that director. The directors of the management board of directors of the Night City headquarters of the Arasaka North American department are not the same as the school directors.

According to the data on the scores of the AI ​​classroom teachers and professional course instructors of Arasaka Academy compared with those of previous graduates, the average score of this year's graduates is more than 10 points higher. They also said that this year's students are the best batch they have taught in recent years.

The class of 2070 does not count, as there was a "god".

Among the batch of students graduating in spring, there are quite a few promising and top students who have been marked as promising by other departments within Arasaka.

Among them, David Martinez ranked third in the overall score among the pure physical students. Among the top ten, only two, including him, were born as pure civilians.

At this stage, it can be said that there is no need for Vera's special instructions. The assessment specialists and HR administrators of the Security Department have already included David Martinez in the list of candidates for employment, and his internal, unpublished physical examination report is quite excellent.

As soon as he turns 18 and graduates, and his body is basically mature, once he starts working, according to the incentive clauses in the regulations, the Security Department will provide each new combat personnel with heavy combat uniforms and weapons, special combat prostheses, low-interest loans, and generous salary contracts will be slapped in his face.

After he becomes a regular employee and proves himself, more advanced combat prostheses will be arranged in the future.

The price is that he will be completely bound to Arasaka for the rest of his life.

Once fired, the company will have the right to take back everything.

【approve. 】

Vera made instructions on the list of new recruits from the academy submitted by the Security Department. The academy, the graduates of Arasaka Academy, are considered one of the important backup sources of loyal employees of Arasaka Corporation.

[Internship] → [Supervision of outsourced projects at the Arasaka Research Center New Area]

drop.

send.

Have read.

After reading the last message on the PDA tablet, Vera drank the tea in the cup, sat up from the ergonomic Cyber ​​​​chair, and stretched slightly.

Stepping forward, she casually swiped across the large central holographic screen, and the construction progress chart of the new scientific research district slid aside. The public security data compiled by the NCPD was displayed on the enlarged three-dimensional map of the Haywood Li scenic area.

How can we describe the effect of the severe crackdown?

There must be.

Barely good enough.

Under the efficient crackdown by NCPD and Sheriff Arasaka during this period, crime in this area has been effectively curbed. Even the local residents think so, and the company still scolds them, but when it comes to this matter, they say that Arasaka and NCPD have finally done something humane.

As for eliminating public security cases to zero, it is impossible, absolutely impossible.

Vera couldn't even think about it.

There are too many idiots on the streets of Night City and too many spirited young men who dream of becoming legends.

There are always some fearless young men who commit crimes in defiance of the law.

Imitating the heroic posture of the cyber idol in Black Super's dream, he drank alcohol, took some stimulants, flew leaves, carried a gun, and shouted that he was the best in the world, and the team was about to start.

However, everything is afraid of comparison. Comparing the Li Scenic Area with the surrounding Meiquan Area, Valley Area and Santo Domingo is an effective curb.

After the Sixth Street Gang was beaten by the Hellhounds, new gang tentacles have not yet been filled in. The Valentino Gang was warned by the NCPD Terrorist Squad, the Tiger Claw Gang boss was interviewed by Arasaka, the Mox Pure Gang did not have the ability to do so, and the other gangs were too far away to be reached.

Scavengers, commonly known as kidney-cutters, have no specific ideas and their skills vary. They are like street thugs, appearing randomly and everywhere. But they are not a specific group of people and have no boss. They are just a general term for people with similar goals and only care about their bodies and money.

Arasaka's attitude is the same as NCPD, just kill them when you meet them.

Vera is very clear about her position and the composition of the power structure of Night City. Arasaka is the largest part of it, but it is by no means the only one.

Therefore, she still needs to find allies and will never eat alone or fight alone before laying a solid foundation.

We have successively reached cooperation with the Night City Government, NCPD, and the biotechnology company which is in its honeymoon period - the 'model house' of Li Scenic Area.

Anyway, it was the Hellhound who did it, and Arasaka needed it to use this opportunity to promote personal and home security services to the citizens;

The city government and NCPD want to reduce the negative reviews and add at least a few relatively cheap places to visit in the official Night City tourist guide.

Biotechnology, giving Arasaka a face, and also for the safety of employees, providing a relatively safe commuting area for grassroots employees who squeeze into the subway to go to work, which will also make it easier to exploit them, isn't it?

As more people joined and the momentum built up, Vera began to expand the circle and recruit more people to join.

Trauma team, invited.

They didn't touch politics, and Vera wasn't going to talk about politics with them.

From an economic perspective, it is true that the rescue equipment used by their grassroots officers is high-end, but they do the most difficult work, going to fire scenes and saving lives, but they only earn as much as selling cabbages.

The salary level is at the bottom of the large companies, and even lower than that of medium-sized companies. The place where the grassroots eat and live after get off work is Heywood, and there is such a demand.

There is also Su Petrochemical.

Anyway, I heard that Arasaka was setting up a model security area. It was called an invitation, but in fact it was a hint that people should stop supporting gangs and should go somewhere else to support them. Su Shihua found out that this was the former territory of the Six Street Gang, and seeing that so many forces were involved, he agreed reluctantly.

Vera also plans to invite Zeta Technology, Kangtao, Jianli...

Did you forget someone important, the second largest mountain in Night City?

that's not important.

Continue browsing the executive briefing.

Holographic screen switches, [Counterintelligence Department]

——《Counterintelligence Department Employees Proposed Promotion List in Spring 2076》——

Vera's eyes narrowed.

Harry.

Frank Nostra.

...

Valerie.

A bust of a woman with red hair in a shaved hairstyle and sharp eyes, looking very aggressive.

The key point is this Valerie. Arthur Jenkins wants to promote her to the second-in-command of the Counterintelligence Department, skipping two levels.

【Information Analysis Department:

Agent V successfully uncovered Baskin Undercover's suspected espionage activities around Watson Arasaka in the first quarter of 2076. He was in charge of Operation Fishhook, which is currently going well and has helped to clean up the rampant secret intelligence activities outside Arasaka Beach in stages. He also continues to monitor underground mercenary gangs that are suspected of being hired by hostile forces.

…(expandable)…】

"Is it her? Is she finally making it...V." Whispering silently, Vera tapped the director's desk lightly with her right index finger, and her invisible gaze seemed to become memorable.

The unwritten rule within Arasaka is that as long as you can uncover the conspiracy of military technology, your performance rating will be increased by one level on the original basis.

【approve. 】

Crossing her arms, Vera stared at the counterintelligence department's spring promotion list, her indigo eyes revealing deep meaning.

Time to start planning...

Ding Dong, she didn't have long to think about it before a staff member from the administrative department of Arasaka Tower came to the war room.

"Director Russell, the special cars of Mr. Alexi from Su Petrochemical, Ms. Julian from Zeta Technology, and Mr. Huang from Kangtao have arrived at the helipad on the 80th floor of Arasaka Tower."

He asked softly, "Is it the Diplomatic Reception Center on the 99th floor?"

"Yeah." Vera turned around, nodded, and said, "I'll be there right away."

She straightened her dark Arasaka-style uniform, picked up the silver pin on the table and put it on, then walked towards the door.

Ding.

The elevator door opens.

Just then, a highly encrypted satellite video call came in.

drop.

[Jimmy: Director, after reconnaissance and verification, our department has contacted the secret agent association established in the old Arasaka Tower in Seattle in 2023. I met their elders, and they recognized your identity.]

Surrounded by the cyber lone wolf bodyguards, Vera, who had just stepped into the elevator, received a very surprising message from her confidant, Jimmy, the head of the special assault force.

[Vera: Keep in touch and stay alert. Please pay my highest respects to their loyalty and perseverance. Military technology is keeping a close eye on them, and I can't leave. If possible, please invite them to come to Night City secretly. I want to meet with them and discuss in detail the blood debt for the humiliation that Arasaka Kei and Miss Michiko suffered in Washington all those years. ]

【Jimmy: Understood.】

Toot—

Vera smiled.

All things are difficult at the beginning. If she takes the first step well, her subsequent inheritance of Arasaka Kei's "legacy" will be much easier.

With the tactful cooperation of Michiko Arasaka, the two sisters behaved like sisters in front of the outside media, praising each other. It was Michiko who told Vera about this secret agent organization in Seattle.

Although Arasaka was nominally defeated in the Fourth Corporate War, before that, Arasaka in its heyday, under the leadership of Crown Prince Kei Arasaka, invested unimaginable resources in North America. Countless underground weapons research institutes, secret agent societies, and intelligence bases were established during that period.

Michiko founded the Dangerous Girl Detective Agency in the 1940s and provided private investigation services to world celebrities and some important clients. The seemingly strange cases she solved often concealed the "destruction" or "incorporation" of past Arasaka facilities.

This was exactly what President Elizabeth Kress proposed in exchange for Michiko Arasaka retaining her new American citizenship.