Infinity, progress from Arasaka

"Oh, you're not fooling people with those garbage trucks... Knowing how to judge people is a skill you must master to survive in Night City."

The loud speaker Stanley continued to babble, and although Vera was still looking at the screen, her thoughts had shifted to other places.

Dead Man's Lottery is just like this guy's show. He basically blackened all companies and even the NCPD and the gangs in Night City. Why is he still alive and well in "Good Morning, Night City"?

Because the show Stanley is in is also an asset of a big company. It is supported by capital and is just a happy show. Stanley is an employee. Even if he scolds the big companies, the traffic money he earns will eventually belong to the big companies.

Black and red are also red.

As far as Vera knows, Arasaka also owns shares and is one of the sponsors of the program, receiving dividends every year.

After all, it's about making money. The company won't lose a single cent if you criticize it. Besides, is there any need to criticize the company's reputation until 2074?

Stanley was only talking about things that everyone knew about as a channel for the public to vent. He had no way of knowing the truly life-threatening and confidential things, and he didn't dare to know them, so he could just say whatever was public.

Make money, free publicity, provide an outlet for venting, divert people's attention...kill two birds with one stone. When the public is addicted to meaninglessly trolling in entertainment programs, social security is improved. How wonderful.

As for why Vera won the prize, no one knows how many people died in Night City last night, but Vera was the one who took action and accounted for the majority of the deaths, so naturally Vera won the prize.

At the same time, Vera is a senior executive of the Arasaka security department. It is definitely not okay to fool her by pretending to be a lucky street girl. Dead Man's Lottery: Those who drive this car are the kind who are beaten to death in happiness and die completely! The regular prizes are naturally those restored old cars whose owners were killed.

The way of dealing with the company employees who win the lottery is another way.

First of all, a new car. Give him what he likes, an SUV that all the company dogs like. To prevent it from being shabby, add some cash reward, not too much, not too little, and make the number auspicious, and that's it.

Vera said she had read it and expressed her thanks in a formulaic way, then closed the message bar with the Dead Man Lotto.

She feels at ease when things are given to her.

Night City has its own set of rules.

Last night, after teaching the Uzumaki Gang a lesson and cleaning up the battlefield and taking back the goods from the Intelligence Department, Arasaka definitely had no interest in the other "junk", but Dead Man Lotto definitely would.

Whether it's cleaning the battlefield again to pick up leaks, picking up cars to repair, or dismantling parts to piece them together and give them out as the next lottery prizes, there's money to be made from the lottery sales and program ratings brought about by the popularity of the event.

Oh, behind them, there should be individual scavengers, kidney scrapers and other groups who plunder and squeeze the juice again and again.

After this, the aftermath of Vera's tactical suppression of the Uzumaki Gang will dissipate and be seen as another powerful display of Arasaka's authority.

"I even got a commendation, which is great."

Vera turned off the built-in perspective virtual grid, laid down the reclining chair, took out a glass of orange juice from the car's refrigerator, and drank it all in one gulp.

It is not the kind of liquid mixed with pigment and syrup on the market. It is real and fresh. Every day when I go to and from Arasaka Tower, there are special people to clean and change it. Vera swipes her card, places an order, and determines the service level she needs.

Ding dong.

Car AI: [We are about to arrive at Arasaka Tower Academy. 】

Vera's indigo eyes peered through the dark anti-peeping glass and could see the red and blue flying fish projections on the company square. The Arasaka Tower, the Military Science Building, and the Kantau Building were clearly separated yet stood side by side, like towering steel walls, coldly overlooking everything that passed by.

......

Arasaka Tower Academy.

hum...bum...

The hovercraft slid through the gap between the buildings and did not go straight into the helipad inside Arasaka Tower. Instead, it headed towards the annex building of Arasaka Tower near the municipal center. After passing a circular low-rise building with green space, the hovercraft hovered over a densely populated open space.

Under the guidance of the control console evacuation personnel, the laser instrument on the bottom of the floating vehicle was turned on, outlining a halo of a safe edge in the open space, and the support frame was extended and slowly descended.

squeak.

When the cabin door opened and Vera stepped sideways down the ladder, a short, fat and sturdy middle-aged man wearing a college uniform and large brown square glasses came up to her.

"Director Russell, welcome back to Arasaka Tower Academy."

------

PS: The next chapter will be around eight o'clock.

Chapter 017 Arasaka Tower Academy

"Hello, Director Russell, my name is Marcus."

"Director Russell, this is Sugihara."

"I'm Hoyle."

……

After the ordinary self-introductions, the same formal greetings, courtesies and greetings as all other guests, and a few small talk, Vera was welcomed in by the senior management of Arasaka Academy.

"director."

After receiving Vera's order, the bodyguard team who had arrived at the academy in advance also joined the team.

"Bryan, Laurie."

Vera used the black and white bodyguards that she was familiar with, 'Black Evil' Brian, 'White Evil' Laurie and the bodyguards who were added after Vera's promotion to take over the surrounding defense.

Although Vera doesn't necessarily need their protection, and their combat power is another matter, this is an academy run by Arasaka, not a community college that anyone can enter, but it is always useful, and sometimes, the show can really bring extra benefits.

Surrounded by bodyguards and even vaguely occupying the center position, Vera stepped into this so-called "alma mater" again after more than a year.

Full name: Night City Arasaka Tower Academy.

Just as Arasaka Tower is not unique to Night City, Arasaka Tower Academy is not unique to Night City.

The headquarters of Arasaka Corporation's branches around the world are almost the same, but only the North American headquarters in Night City, the European headquarters in Paris, and the Tokyo headquarters can be called Arasaka Tower.

Other local branches are often called buildings.

Some branches have Arasaka Academy for the children of company employees, while others do not. The branches with "Tower" in their names are one level higher than the other branches.

Da da--

As you step into it, the large green areas full of ornamental natural plants undoubtedly demonstrate the strength of Arasaka. Many people in Night City may have never seen so many natural green plants in their lives.

Ask Vera how she feels at this moment.

Reminiscence? Miss?

Pooh!

Vera wasn't in the mood.

When she was in Arasaka Tower Academy, she had just lost her parents and she fought hard for her life just to make progress and get into Arasaka as soon as possible so that she could digest and inherit the "legacy" of her cheap parents. She had no time to feel sad about the passing of time and experience the campus atmosphere.

Besides, the school atmosphere and teaching atmosphere in 2074.

Hehehe...

Classes rely on AI, teaching relies on Mewmeng, and many courses are simply loaded into chips or transmitted via data cables.

There is such a thing as teacher-student friendship and classmate friendship... Well, I can't say it so absolutely. Maybe there is, but Vera just didn't see it.

The old-fashioned real-person teaching model is too rare in the cyberpunk world of 2074. Only a handful of world-class universities such as the University of Tokyo, Humboldt University of Berlin, Sorbonne University of Paris, Moscow State University, and Berkeley University of New America are able to promote it.

The tuition fee... it's impossible for a poor guy to get in.

Even a second-tier school like Arasaka Tower Academy is not affordable for ordinary citizens without parents who work in companies with stable, high salaries.

You think you can join a big company and work in Arasaka Tower right after graduation? Naive!

The social classes are clearly divided, and even more so within the academy!

In today's world, kindergartens, primary schools and even middle schools, this kind of preschool education and age-appropriate education has nothing to do with the lower classes. The mixed community colleges may be the only place where most people can access some knowledge, and there is not much valuable knowledge.

Trying to study on the Internet is a dead end.

The Internet was blown up by that idiot who called himself the "God of Hackers". Now it's all company LANs. If you don't have the qualifications, you can't get in. Want to try your luck on the old network? Whether you can get through the "black wall" of the Internet monitoring is another matter. Even if you get in, there's a high probability that the crazy roaming AI will burn your brain.

Even if you are lucky enough to get into a regular college with the help of your parents' open-mindedness and best efforts to support you, many people will feel the disparity in the world in the first year. Those who have a foundation will be promoted through exams and skip grades, while those who don't have a foundation will continue to make up for it and be divided after the assessment. Those who don't have enough money will transfer to comprehensive colleges.

What is comprehensive?

High emotional intelligence, teaching and nurturing students' all-round development. The college has strong teaching capabilities and teaches everything.

Low EQ, none of them are sharp, so-called comprehensive but actually ordinary.

As the top-ranked institution in Night City, Arasaka Tower Academy certainly has places that impart cutting-edge knowledge and even have real people teaching cutting-edge courses, but those are colleges with clear development directions, such as the School of Military and Political Management and Law, the School of Information, Communication and Intelligence, and the School of Bioengineering.

Tuition fees and assessment requirements are several levels higher than those of comprehensive colleges.

Coming out of the Comprehensive Academy and entering Arasaka Tower? That's probably not where they're going. Arasaka's manufacturing workshop, intelligent control factory, seaside port, badland farm... aren't these also jobs?

"Tsk...this world."

Vera felt secretly sad.

Soon, under the guidance of the reception staff, the group entered the closed venue where the freshman entrance ceremony was held and entered the waiting area of ​​the VIP seats.

Watching more and more enthusiastic freshmen entering the venue accompanied by their parents, Vera seemed to be able to see their future.

She unconsciously pulled out the exquisite metal box for cigarettes from her pocket.

Ding--

The black bodyguard Brian tactfully took out the lighter he carried with him. With the crisp sound of the lighter being turned on, the flame rose. Vera held the cigarette between her two slender fingers, put it on her lightly painted red lips, lit it and took a sip.

Let’s finish it quickly.

Just going through the motions, giving them some chicken soup as an outstanding alumnus of the past year to cheer them up, and at the same time showing and maintaining her persona: 'Arasaka Second Generation Tadayoshi', 'grateful', 'an outstanding senior leader who maximizes the interests of the company'.

...

At the ceremony venue.

"..."

Freshman David doesn't like it here.

He doesn't like the atmosphere here.

Because this place doesn't fit in with his world.

His small home is in the H4 apartment, a super skyscraper in Santo Domingo. There are rusty elevators, walkways with most of the wall paint peeling off, old-fashioned decorations everywhere, and the stairwell is full of needles and a lot of stains that people don't want to look into. The home is always gloomy.

Here, close to the company square, you can see the suffocating black tower by looking up.

The skyscrapers here were like weapons used in war: they were aggressive, heavily guarded, arrogant, clean but cold. Standing here, he felt like he had come to the heart of the city, or even at the center of the universe, and they could eat him alive at any time.

Including his mother...

"David."

The gentle call seemed to detect the depression and panic in David's heart. Gloria gently patted her son's shoulder and said, "You are already here. Face it. In the future, I hope you can live like a human being. Don't be like your mother or your dead father." As she spoke, Gloria's eyes seemed to be moist.

"mom..."

David was speechless.

Just as he was about to speak in response to his mother's expectations and reassure her, his vision was attracted by a bright color in his peripheral vision.

David followed his mother's bright red hair and looked towards the side and back of the platform in front of the venue. There, behind the railings, a large number of Arasaka bodyguards who looked not to be trifled with were surrounding a beautiful figure.

Gorgeous and brilliant.

The light golden hair, which looks like gold but not gold, and like silver but not silver, is like flowing ribbons, fluttering in the wind, making people unforgettable.

--------

Chapter 018 White Moonlight

For the first time, David Martinez understood the meaning of the word stunning.

He had never seen such brilliant colors in the seedy neighborhoods of Santo Domingo before.

A beautiful silhouette that looked completely different from anyone else there, or even here.