Infinity, progress from Arasaka

"Oh, and Director Vera Adelheid. When she comes back, you'll know by looking at her actions." V waved his hand, crossed the cubicle office, and prepared to go to the Watson area to check on the progress of the mission.

Ding.

Entering the elevator, V pressed the switch leading to the lower floor, then frowned slightly.

Private communication.

It's Jack.

What happened?

drop.

【V: Jack, what's up? 】

[Jack: Yes and no. Sister, do you remember when you contacted me and asked me to help you figure out the right mercenary offline for the next life? ]

V naturally remembers.

Back then, she helped her good brother Jack successfully sneak into the "Afterlife" nightclub by taking advantage of the increased deterrence of employees brought about by the highly efficient riot control of the Arasaka Security Department.

'Afterlife'. The legend of the underground world of Night City, where desperate cyber mercenaries gather. V asked Jack to develop downlines and channels, thinking that he would be useful in the future. Since there was no demand at hand, she rarely asked about this after giving instructions.

【V: Do you have a suitable candidate? Tell me. 】

【Jack: I see you're in a hurry. Well, there's a veteran group with two good cyber hackers. They look like they're in dire need of money. And because of your reminder, my business with them fell through. They were just about to take Faraday's order.】

【V: So what? 】

[Jack: That Faraday, according to the information I got, should be a middleman working for Military Technology. It's almost certain, don't you Arasaka always like to confront Military Technology...]

[Are you sure?] His eyes suddenly fixed, and V said in a very serious tone: [A person from military technology?]

【Jack: Sure. Can I still lie to you? Almost right. Anyway, for you, the commission they need, you only need to slip a little through your fingers to feed them. Give me an answer, or do you want to come and confirm it in person?】

V fell into deep thought.

At this moment, Ding, the elevator door opened.

It is one of the floors of the Security Department.

"Haywood, the Valentino gang should be quiet for a while."

"The Mox Gang is just a bunch of bitches, just warn them. Tiger Claw Gang, talk to their leader. Stop criminal activities during this period. The higher-ups have issued a strict order that when Director Russell takes office and gives a speech, the crime rate in Night City must be suppressed."

"The key is still the Six Street Gang and the Whirlpool Gang."

"Then we'll do another sweep. Chief Jimmy wants us to focus on the Sixth Street Gang. They've extended their reach too far..."

Several Arasaka administrators belonging to the Security Department were talking in low voices.

V frowned slightly, then quickly relaxed.

The security department...

As news of Vera's rapid rise in Tokyo spread back to Night City, the status and influence of the Security Department, especially those in the General Security Bureau, in Night City became increasingly prominent.

Thanks to the friendship in early years, in the eyes of many company dogs, those who can talk to the new director of the Night City Management Coordination Council and the Director of Security of the Security Department, Jimmy from the Special Assault Force, Brian and Laurie from the Guard Force... and even Tanaka from the R&D Department can be said to be in high spirits during this period.

You have really climbed to a high place.

The people in other companies are envious and jealous.

I am not afraid of my brothers suffering, but I am afraid that my brothers will drive Land Rover.

V thought back to the counterintelligence mission in South Africa.

She was sent to Johannesburg and Cape Town to capture many spies. One member of the quick response team was suspected to be hired by military technology after interrogation, so she was directly promoted to a higher level.

There is no doubt that the terrorist attack in South Africa was caused by military technology, and given Vera Adelheid's personality, she will definitely get revenge.

A plot to destroy military technology...

An orange-red data light flashed in V's eyes.

[V: Jack. Promise him and keep him. If your information is correct and this matter is handled properly, I may be able to get in touch with a big shot. I will discuss the detailed conditions with him in person.]

[Jack: OK. Girl, let’s meet at the Secret Astrology and Psychic House in Little Chinatown, Bradbury Street…]

------

PS: ε(┬┬﹏┬┬)3

Chapter 092: A Gathering of Winds and Clouds, You, Me, and Him (4.6K)

"That's pretty much the terms."

"Thanks for your support, Brother Jack."

After signaling his girlfriend Dolio to take Rebecca out of the room, Mann expressed his sincere gratitude.

"Hermanos (brother), may you and your companions be well." Jack knocked on the sofa cheerfully across from the broken coffee table. "Of course, don't be in a hurry to thank me. I am not qualified to make a judgment for my good sister. She will come to talk to you in person."

"what?"

Mann was slightly stunned.

"Your sister, the corporate dog who works at Arasaka? She, is coming to see me? When?"

"Now."

Shaking the beautiful liquid slowly swaying in the glass beer bottle, Jack curled the corners of his mouth and stood up.

"I haven't had an offline gathering with my sisters for a long time. I have to look for my treasures...Heywood's homemade brew, um, there's a noodle restaurant in Kabuki District, it's top-notch. There's also Ah Tang Restaurant, a long-standing brand in Heywood, fried eggs and bacon, grilled ribs, short ribs...all the best street food. I have to pay extra money to ask the boss lady to use some good meat instead of the low-quality synthetic meat. I bet V will like it."

Rummaging through the boxes piled up at the back, Jack's eyes flashed with the orange glow of the food ordering phone, "...I wonder if she missed these flavors during the days at the Arasaka Snake Den."

Muttering, he pulled out an iron box from under the sundries, dusted it off, and looked at Mann.

"A reminder, Brother Mann, don't say anything unfavorable to the company in front of my good sister... And, you know, the rules of the underworld. Keep your mouth shut and that of your team."

Mann nodded in response to Jack's reminder.

He is no longer in a position to be picky.

He needs money, and his team needs lots and lots of money.

Ever since Saburo Arasaka miraculously "regained his youth" and made a comeback in Tokyo in mid-autumn 2075, Arasaka has reached a series of cooperation agreements with friendly companies such as European banks and biotechnology companies.

A series of 'rejuvenation surgeries' were opened up for the upper class nobles, and new flexible stimulants and implant neutralizing inhibitors for the sinking market... were launched into regional markets with high consumption power such as Night City.

The so-called 'rejuvenation surgery' is a diluted and simplified version of the R-618 new drug.

Saburo was unwilling and unable to open up the most advanced technology to non-Arasaka forces, but for the purpose of winning allies and buying margin for Arasaka, he had to hold his nose and cooperate with the forces he could barely accept to bring out the new results of the interim results of the [Sun Staircase Project] that Vera mentioned, which were more inclined towards "beauty and skin care, health care, and basic medical care."

These technologies may be useless to the cyber mercenaries who live on the edge of blood, and are pretentious sissy products that they don't need. But for the upper class, the nobles think they are very necessary.

As for prosthetics, the more advanced they are, the more they fit the human body.

That is, biocomponents, a technology that uses biological transformation to replace cyber implant components. It is a contemporary product of the third-generation cyber component technology.

Biotechnology and nanotechnology are still fairly new by consumer market standards, but biocomponents are developing rapidly in Europe, the cradle of advanced bioengineering technologies.

This is also the reason why Saburo chose to cooperate with European banks, because the [Sun Staircase Project] is in line with the direction of technological research in Europe.

As for biotechnology, it goes without saying what the company is good at and what its business focus is, just look at the name of the company.

For cyber mercenaries like Mann, "rejuvenation surgery" is far away, but flexible stimulants, implants and neutralizing inhibitors are close.

It was a life-saving drug, but it was also something that imprisoned him and emptied his wallet. In order to support this body that had reached its limit, he had to use stimulants and inhibitors to desperately prolong his mercenary career and earn more money.

As the leader of the team, he must fulfill his promise, for Dolio, for Pira and Rebecca, for Qiwei, and for the dream of Lucy, the newest member of the team, to go to the moon...

It's not that I can't take the company's work. I can just say some nice words and be a grandson. It won't cost me a thing. But the reputation of company dogs in the old-school 'legend' of the underground mercenary world is too bad!

Just as Mann was in the final tangle—

drip.

A voice communication that blocks the video.

【Gloria: Mann.】

The tone was a bit anxious and belonged to a female voice. It reminded Mann of one of his sellers, a woman who had saved him and done him a favor.

"Gloria?"

【Gloria: It's me. To make a long story short, you should have heard that my son David is studying at Arasaka Academy. The latest news is from a classmate of David whose family is a mid-level manager in Arasaka. The situation in Night City will be tense for a while in the coming days... Mann, please stay safe.】

"....I see. Thanks, Gloria."

【Gloria: Take care. 】

Beep. The phone is hung up.

Mann: "..."

How can I put it? I have mixed feelings.

Is it so comfortable to have connections in the company? Gloria, an ordinary office worker working in the Night City Medical Center, became well-informed because her son got into Arasaka Academy and she boasted to her classmates? !

Suddenly I feel that this pure mercenary is just a bunch of bullshit...

As if it was the last straw that broke the camel's back, Mann made up his mind.

"Qiwei, you said that in the 'next life', we are at our level, neither up nor down, which is very embarrassing. If we want to move up and earn more, we must contact the company. Since we have to contact the company sooner or later, we might as well contact it now. Instead of hiding as a guerrilla, we might as well seize the opportunity and climb up the ladder."

He looked outside the door with burning eyes at the think tank of their team.

At the psychic house, Qi Wei, who seemed to be chatting about divination with Jack's girlfriend Misty and Lucy, turned her head away when she heard the words. Her eyes with yellow sclera and red irises condensed. She took a deep breath, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said slowly, "Have you decided to gamble your life?"

"bet!"

Stud!

Bo Yi Bo's bicycle turns into a motorcycle.

As cyber mercenaries, no one in this line of work is afraid of death. They just don't want to die meaninglessly, doing a job that has no chance of winning and will lead to their own death.

"Mann didn't come out, so the deal was done."

Cyber ​​​​girl Lucy raised her head when she heard this, holding a cigarette between her fingers, her eyes fixed on the three tarot cards that Misty drew for her, she was lost in thought.

0 The Fool, X The Wheel of Fortune, XVIII The Moon.

0, is the end and the beginning, representing infinite possibilities; X, the impermanence of fate, a new beginning that must be accepted; XVIII, confusion, distress and anxiety...

Your destiny will be in the hands of others.

This is Misty's interpretation for Lucy.

Although Lucy was just having a try with this idealistic thing in the new cyber age, when this sentence echoed in her mind, she couldn't help but think of her past, when she was discovered by Arasaka from an orphanage and worked as a consumable diver to help Arasaka salvage and dig out the remnants of old network data.

Does this mean that my destiny has been controlled by someone from the very beginning?

How despairing! Lucy thought to herself with self-mockery.

What about the moon? As long as she goes to the moon, Arasaka, the evil tentacles of those big companies should not be able to reach her. Once there, she should be free and not controlled, right?

"What's the mission? Go find Faraday, or continue working for this 'new wrist' Mr. Wells?" Lucy asked, not fully participating in the conversation between Mann and Jack.

Unlike other cyberpunks who aspire to become legends in Night City, she is just trying to save money to go to the moon. She has always been out of place in the team. She has never been interested in such exchanges between "big shots" and "bosses". She only asks what the commission is.

"Wait." Qiwei said.

"Wait? Who are you waiting for?"

"Mr. Wells's partner, a big shot to you and me."

"Big shot..." Lucy was inexperienced but not stupid. She immediately became alert and guessed, "Someone from the company?"

"From Arasaka."

As Qi Wei's voice fell, "..." subconsciously, Lucy froze in place.