Cyberpunk: Nirvana of Shoko Toyokawa

"That guy...he's...crazy..."

Is the president of imaging giant Avex crazy?

"He is an expert in brain science! In the City of Music, no matter who suffers from cyberpsychosis, he will not get it!" Miao Meng couldn't help but interrupt.

Xiangzi glanced at Miaomeng and signaled Watanabe to continue.

"Hei Yan... and Pastel*Palettes'... Bai Lu Qian Sheng... have been conducting a transaction regarding brain repair technology..."

As expected of a personal driver, Watanabe also knew about this.

"Hei Yan... He was blinded by the huge profits... He stepped too deep..."

"Faced with the eager Pastel*Palettes...he asked for too many things..."

"…The other party refused to trade with him anymore."

"After Bai Lu Qian Sheng clearly rejected the deal, Hei Yan still insisted that 'she will come back sooner or later' and refused to give in... On the other hand... he still felt panic in his heart..."

"He knows that Pastel*Palettes, one of the Five Great Groups, will not let him go so easily..."

"Either Bai Lu Qian Sheng gives in and comes back one day in the future to agree to his outrageous request...or, he turns into a pile of rotten meat and dies in a trash can on the street..."

"He is greedy, but he still has this basic understanding..."

"When greed and clear cognition coexist, everyone will gradually slide into madness..."

"Hei Yan started living in Avex's research base. He didn't go home, nor did he go to the company... All work was done through remote conferencing and stereo projection..."

"At the same time, he began to frantically strengthen the security of the research base... He made it as tight as a military base... The entry and exit hours of the research base became more and more strict... Hei Yan sent more and more money to Roselia and invited them to attend security meetings. At the same time, he kept streamlining the old employees and eliminating those who might have been bribed by Pastel*Palettes to come in and assassinate him..."

"The initial suspicion was somewhat well-founded. But as time went on, Black Rock became more and more paranoid..."

"Finally, even I... am suspected."

Chapter 50: Important People

"Hei Yan suspects that I was bribed by Pastel*Palettes?"

At this point, Watanabe's heart rate suddenly increased and his eyes became bloodshot.

"How can this be!"

"Twelve years... twelve years! I've worked for Black Rock for twelve years and never violated the security agreement once! And he actually thought that I would value the money given by Pastel*Palettes and betray him like this-"

"Calm down, Mr. Watanabe," Shoko said. "I don't want to shock you again."

"Okay... okay... Anyway, because of that ridiculous comprehensive analysis software... and because I occasionally go to underground boxing gyms to gamble, I was judged to be a [risk of betrayal]."

"Hei Yan had the bodyguards take me to the observation room and used his proud brain science equipment to burn all the information about Avex in my brain. Then, he threw me out like a stray dog."

"But I know... I know... he's sliding towards madness and it won't stop..."

"When I left, he had already started hiring people to kill. The people he was hunting down were the bodyguards and researchers he had expelled."

"Because after thinking it over, he still felt it was 'unsafe' to let them live."

"The terror of Black Rock will not stop. One day... he will find me."

"When I was still living in the apartment in Roselia, I heard someone picking the lock at night. The next day, I saw a large piece of the bottom corner of the door was torn off. A bullet hit the head of my bed, and if it was a few centimeters off, I would be dead."

"I can't wait any longer."

"I'll sell that place, buy this place, live in the most remote and desolate place, and provide my own security..."

"But he'll come anyway. I know... I know..."

Watanabe's physiological indicators began to become disordered again.

"Take a deep breath."

Hai Ling said this and injected a shot of [Fuercon Type 2] into Watanabe's neck from behind.

The vital signs gradually stabilized.

"Ha." Miao Meng leaned against the wall behind him and sneered, "Hei Yan is really funny. If you are so scared, don't be so greedy."

"Sure enough, only greedy people can rise to the top in the City of Joy?"

As she spoke, she glanced at Xiangzi intentionally or unintentionally.

"That's as if you yourself are not greedy."

Xiangzi confirmed the polygraph parameters of Watanabe's words just now and said.

"Ah~ Oblivionis, are you praising me for being able to reach a high position?" Miao Meng laughed.

"As your collaborator, I hope you can do this. Because it means we have succeeded."

Xiangzi said this and looked forward.

Watanabe has recovered.

"I already understand the details," Xiangzi said to Watanabe, "We are not sent by Kuroiwa, you can rest assured about this."

"However, there is still some information that requires your cooperation."

"Haha... Are you from Pastel*Palettes..."

"..."

"Ha, hahaha... at this point, I don't have the right to choose..."

"thanks for your cooperation."

Xiangzi said.

"Next, I want to ask you about the Avex Brain Science Research Base."

"Terrain, internal and external conditions of the building, opening hours, surveillance camera locations, weapons, personnel, defense forces, patrol times, patrol routes..."

"You know, tell us all."

"Ha... I've already said that all my memories of Avex have been erased..." Watanabe said slowly, "How could I... remember..."

"I know you forgot."

Xiangzi said.

"It is impossible to recover the information that has been washed away. I understand this very well."

"But [the purge] will only destroy the most critical target. The rest of the information is simply affected and turned into fragments."

"In a sense, Black Rock's concerns are not wrong. Those fragments can be pieced together to create seemingly insignificant marginal content."

"…but whether it is really 'insignificant' is hard to say."

Xiangzi waved his hand. Miaomeng said, "Is it finally my turn~" and took out the tungsten steel Mewtwo headband and the simple brain motion camera from his waist bag.

"We have a way to make you remember these 'irrelevant' contents again."

Xiangzi connected the port of Mewtwo's brain-motion camera to Watanabe's brain-computer interface and said to Watanabe.

"Our people will sneak into your memory, sort out the fragments destroyed by the Cleansing, re-burn and integrate them, and pull out a master tape of Black Mewtwo from the depths of your memory."

"This master tape will be part of what you saw, heard, and felt in the past."

Xiangzi smiled.

"It takes a little while. But it won't hurt."

"Just think of it as a good night's sleep."

After saying that, she put the mask of inhaled anesthetic on Watanabe's mouth and nose.

……

After complaining for the third time, "Why not operate it in my workshop?", the fifth time, "The simple brain-moving camera is not simple at all and requires more external lines," and the eleventh time, "The environment is unstable and the settings and debugging are always difficult to do," Miao Meng finally got everything done.

"It should be almost finished by daybreak~"

She lay on the camp bed, glanced at her watch, said "Please keep an eye on it for me, don't let the mice bite off my fingers", and put on the camera headband.

After a few seconds, Miao Meng's breathing began to become deep and heavy.

The light switches from yellow to green.

The parallel connection between Meow Meng and Watanabe was successful.

This means that Meowme has entered Watanabe's brain - entered Watanabe's consciousness.

Next, it’s Miao Meng’s job.

Xiangzi stretched his body and walked to Hailing.

"We can take a short break now," Xiangzi said.

Hai Ling nodded.

……

The most talkative hacker in the team stopped talking. For the next few minutes, the only sound in the room was the occasional beeping of electronic equipment.

Hai Ling held the [Black Unicorn], sat behind Watanabe, and closed her eyes to rest.

Xiangzi sat on the glove box near the door.

She looked out the window.

Outside the window was an endless night. On the far horizon, golden-red lights lit up the night clouds.

It is the central area of ​​the City of Joy, a place where there is never night.

“It’s too bright, isn’t it?”

The voice came from the side. Xiangzi came to his senses and found that Hailing had opened her eyes and was looking at him.

"Poppin' Party always likes to turn on a lot of lights." Xiangzi said, "Light can cover up a lot of problems, and the cost is just a little bit of electricity. This is a wise choice."

"I see...interesting." Hai Ling smiled.

"What's interesting?"

"Your way of thinking. You don't see things from the perspective of the people, Oblivionis. You always think from the perspective of the superiors."

"..."

"You want to be in control of everything?"

“What I want to control is what we are supposed to control.”

Xiangzi said frankly.

"Prosthetics, software, family, institutions, companies... we have handed over too many things to others to handle."

“Everyone believes that these things are more reliable than their weak selves.”

“But in fact, it is the environment itself that makes us weaker [using better equipment and computing power to take away the decision-making power of others].”

“We’re supposed to be in control of everything.”

“Hold on to the people, things and things that are important to you. Don’t wake up every day afraid that they will suddenly disappear.”

Xiangzi closed his eyes in the shadows and said.

"If in this era, only those in a higher position can do this..."

"Then I will become the superior one."

"Take everything into your own hands?" Hai Ling said, "It sounds like the thinking of the last century."

“That’s often said.”

Xiangzi smiled softly.

"I used to hear it a lot when I was practicing the piano."

“But you still persisted.”

“Because I met people who were on the same path as me.”

Xiangzi said.

“That child always uses her heart to feel everything, no matter how the surrounding environment misleads or interferes. She is very talented… It gives me confidence to see talented people walking on the same path as me.”