Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 612, Section 26: Deposit Status
"What did Jeremiah Grayson leave with you?"

Carl's sudden question made Iron Block reflexively straighten its body and turn towards him.

"Stored items?"

"Wasn't he listed as a prohibited contact person? What exactly did he deposit?"

Watching Andy rummage through the client files of dangerous prosthetics, Carl walked straight up to Ironhide and asked a question that piqued his curiosity even more.

“Things that Jeremiah Grayson left with us.”

Facing Karl, Iron Block instinctively avoided eye contact, then forced himself to look back. He searched the data in the memory chip: "I don't know the specific details, but it seems to be a car, parked in a container on that old cargo ship at the dock, along with some of his personal belongings."

"The car, and personal belongings?"

Carl found it a bit strange. Jeremiah Grayson worked for Adam Hammer, and aside from that person and the item, the car should be related to Adam Hammer, but Adam Hammer's car...
What kind of car could support his body? Or is this the car Adam Hammer used when he went for a ride in another body?
Karl's eyes twitched slightly as he imagined Adam wielding a heavy hammer and speeding along.

It feels very strange. I must be thinking wrong. Jeremiah Grayson was working for Adam Hammer, but those things might just be Jeremiah Grayson's own.

"How long has Jeremiah Grayson's stuff been stored here with you?"

"How long have you kept it?"

“It’s been almost half a year. If it weren’t for the person behind him,” Iron Block’s prosthetic eye gleamed, “we would have dealt with him long ago, and we’d almost lost contact.”

Is the connection about to be lost?
Carl remembered Adam Hammer's identity—the security chief of Arasaka.

If Jeremiah was indeed working for him.
Carl took out his phone and sent a message to Kenichi and Kazuya.

As Kenichi Shiro's liaison to Karl, Karl had some questions about the employees.

Carl knows quite a few people in Arasaka, but considering the issue of status, some people might not care much about the transfer and names of underground employees, so it's better to find the right people, just the right amount.

“Mr. Kenichi Kazuya, I have something to ask you, Jeremiah Grayson. Are there any people with that name in your Arasaka operations unit?”

Kenichi and Kazuya quickly responded to Carl's message.

"Your Excellency Karl, the identity card you received previously now grants you access to Arasaka's internal files, provided that permission is granted. You may access it directly."

"Does this user have permission to access and view internal documents?"

Carl stared blankly at the message sent by Kenichi and Kazuya.

Kenichi Shiro had given each member of Carl's squad an ID card, granting them access to the parts warehouse that had been their reward. Kenichi Shiro simply gave them those ID cards, saying they had special operations force-level access and he could use them for small favors.
Karl knew this, but as far as he knew, the special operations forces shouldn't have the authority to freely access Arasaka's internal documents. When was this access privilege upgraded?

"The permissions were upgraded? How come I didn't know?"

"On the night that Director Kenichi Shiro handed the ID card to you and your team, Ms. Haruko, who knew about this, specially upgraded your permissions, giving you the permissions of a regular department head. After Mr. Arasaka Seigen became the CEO, he upgraded your and your team's permissions again. Now your permissions are sufficient to access most of Arasaka's matters."

Most of the Arasaka incident?

Carl understood immediately; his identity card had been upgraded several times without his knowledge.

'A wondrous adventure where an identity card levels up all by itself in 2077?'

After this unconventional thought flashed through Karl's mind—a thought that wouldn't seem out of place as a title for a Japanese light novel—he understood what was going on.

"So, I can just go in?"

"Yes, Your Excellency Karl."

"Thank you for your help." "No need to thank Lord Karl, it was my honor to answer your question. I have never forgotten your brilliance during our trip to Dogtown, and I hope to have the opportunity to accompany you on duty again as Arasaka."

Kenichi and Kazuya ended the call with a somewhat strange remark.

"Extremely polite."

Karl always felt that Kenichi and Kazuya, who were older than him, were too polite, almost like a rigid and loyal retainer in some period drama, which gave people a strange feeling.

However, upon closer reflection, Carl realized that being polite was actually a good thing, and he had been led astray by the foul language on the street—even though he usually addressed others as "sir."

Carl quickly pulled his fleeting thoughts back. After confirming that he had the necessary permissions, Carl started fiddling with his phone in an environment where Iron Block was watching him silently and somewhat apprehensively.

As the phone's temperature rose, Carl's mind drifted to the idea of ​​finding an opportunity to have V check if the phone could be modified and upgraded. At that moment, the information provided by Arasaka's internal access was displayed to him.

Search for Jeremiah Grayson.

As Carl entered the information, just as he had guessed, the data appeared.

Records: Employee Deaths

Number: KK-2076-4434-TQ
Access Level: Department (Internal Review Only)

Main subject: Jeremiah Grayson

Subordinate Unit: Arasaka Group Security Department | Combat Squad 1 (Number: 6)

Service duration: 4 months and 16 days

Final activity log: Participation in a company internal banquet (Event No.: 2076-4434)

Event Overview:

The subject suffered an unauthorized neural intrusion during the banquet, resulting in sudden death. On-site scanning revealed abnormal data streams, suspected to be a wandering AI (marked as "TQ", threat level: high).

Death confirmed:

Executor: V (Second Combat Squad Leader)
Authorization Basis: Article 12 of the Company's Emergency Agreement (AI Contamination Removal)

Method of execution: Thermal samurai sword (thermal energy activated, no signs of pain, determined to have lost physiological consciousness before death)

Remarks:

The main remains have been handed over to the biological recovery department, and the incident record has been backed up to the Arasaka Central Database.

Recorder: Automated System (ID: alv)

//File terminated//
This file is locked.
'So that's how it is.'

Jeremiah Grayson is dead.

Carl had already thought of this.

Adam Hammer had long since become the head of the security department. To be the head of a department, even someone like Adam Hammer would need a few subordinates to serve him. Jeremiah Grayson, who used to work for him, was naturally among them. He had obviously been recruited as a member of the combat team, but he was killed by V after being controlled at the Arasaka party that Carl and the others attended.

That's quite a coincidence.

(End of this chapter)