Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 664, Section 78: Reality
“Miss Haruko, Karl and Ms. Takemura Maki are downstairs,” Chiyome’s voice came from the side, tinged with inquiry. “Would you like to invite them to lunch?”

Haruko, who was engrossed in a pile of paper documents that needed to be signed, paused, her pen smearing a small patch of ink on the paper, slightly damaging the document which was printed on paper for confidentiality. She slowly raised her head.

"Karl Mashi"

Haruko blinked, remembering what they had mentioned in their previous chat—"Oh right, today is Maki's official start day." She tapped the table lightly with her fingertips, "So Karl came here specifically to see her."

The moment she uttered those words, a strange, dull feeling swept through her chest, as if something invisible had gently squeezed her heart before quickly releasing it.

The feeling came and went quickly, leaving no clear trace in her consciousness—she didn't even notice that she unconsciously took half a second longer to loosen her grip on the pen, nor did she realize the fleeting darkness that flashed in her eyes when she lowered her eyelashes.

"no need."

Haruko's voice was as calm as a still lake, but her fingertips unconsciously traced the edge of the document, pressing a fine crease into the corner of the paper.

“Since Karl came all this way to see Mashi…” She paused for half a second, her gaze falling on the cookies on the corner of the table—Mashi had said she had made them with great effort, but now that she thought about it, perhaps they were specially made for her and Karl.
"Then let her enjoy her first day on the job. After all, Maki will be working hard to help me from now on." She finally said this, with a polite smile on her lips, as if she didn't notice that she had said "enjoy" instead of "rest," nor did she notice that she spoke a little faster than usual, as if she was trying to quickly suppress a certain emotion before it surfaced.

The details that Haruko didn't notice, however, fell into Chiyome's ears without missing a beat.

".enjoy?"

This subtle difference in word choice caused Chiyome's long eyelashes to tremble slightly. In the brief silence, her bioprocessor had completed seventeen semantic analyses—ultimately arriving at a conclusion that made her pupils contract slightly.

'Miss Haruko's fatigue has affected her language center.'

She looked at the mountain of documents piled up beside Haruko, the cold light reflecting off the edges of the papers like tiny blades. She retrieved the work records from the database for the past three weeks: invalid meetings increased by 47%, duplicate approval processes increased by 62%, and 83% of the delays were caused by those newcomers who couldn't even fill out basic forms properly.

The existence of incompetent individuals is itself a waste of resources.

Chiyome subtly adjusted her breathing rate, and simultaneously sent three encrypted commands to the logistics system using her privileged access:

1. Delete the intern conversion evaluation submitted by the Human Resources Department.

2. Initiate a 'job suitability reassessment' procedure for certain employees.

3. Have the approvers conduct three reviews to ensure that the submitted proposals are indeed worthy of scrutiny.

After issuing these instructions, which were perfectly within her authority and without any problems, Chiyome's eyes flickered as she looked at the almost instantaneous responses and expressions of apprehension and understanding she received.

She suddenly felt that she was becoming more and more like the person who had failed in their duty, and more and more like her 'mentor'.

Without realizing it, she had become more and more accustomed to handling various matters and more and more adept at applying the knowledge that Kenichi Shiro had taught her to interpersonal relationships.

But it's only similar.
I will absolutely not be the one who fails in my duty.

Absolutely not.

The sins committed due to dereliction of duty will never be repeated in my bloodline. I will never repeat the same mistakes. This time, I will wash away my sins and fulfill my duty to protect.

As Chiyome's gaze gradually calmed down, one personnel transfer after another was approved.

The commotion caused by the personnel changes was heard by Karl and his friends downstairs.

A heart-wrenching scream pierced the soundproof glass—

"No! This is impossible!"

Carl, who was chatting with Mashi and David as they walked downstairs, turned his head. At the corner of the lobby, a middle-aged man in a suit was tightly gripping the cuff of a security guard. His tie was askew, and a few strands of his meticulously combed slicked-back hair were loose, glistening with a disheveled sheen under the overhead light.

"I've dedicated twelve years to the company!" The man's voice trembled, tinged with blood. "It's those incompetent subordinates! In just five minutes—no, three minutes! I can prove it."

His voice suddenly faltered, and his fingers twitched nervously, as if trying to grasp some non-existent document.

"Last week's report is wrong, it's last month's proposal. Damn it!" He frantically rummaged through his empty briefcase. "It's right here. That crucial data..."

The departing executive noticed his behavior, frowned, and took a half-step back. The man, however, lunged at him like a drowning man grasping at a straw: "Listen to me! Last year, in the third quarter—no, the fourth quarter—the projects I handled saw profit growth… growth!" His prosthetic eye darted around rapidly, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "At least 5%! No, maybe 3%, but it's definitely profitable!"

His distorted face was reflected in the glass curtain wall. Two buttons on his collar had popped open at some point. The Arasaka employees who had been watching his pathetic performance glanced up at the clown during their work breaks, and many of them wore sarcastic expressions: "He can't even remember which project he was in charge of."

The man suddenly erupted: "It's you who are faking it!" He waved a non-existent memory chip, his fingernails drawing ridiculous arcs in the air.

"The evidence is right here. Wait, I clearly saw it yesterday..." As his fingers futilely searched through the empty pockets of his trousers, he touched the crumpled Genting promotional leaflet inside the lining, and his voice stopped abruptly.

It wasn't that he didn't want to continue causing trouble, but rather that the former security personnel had already taken action.

"Buzz—" The moment the stun gun precisely pierced the back of his neck, Karl smelled a faint odor of ozone.

As the high-voltage current surged beneath the tailored suit, two screws popped off the man's expensive mechanical watch strap, and the watch face shattered into a spiderweb before hitting the ground. His pupils dilated abruptly, reflecting the newly installed smart surveillance cameras on the ceiling—those cold red dots flashing rhythmically, as if performing some kind of counting.

"boom!"

The man in his sharp suit crashed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Carl noticed that the hair gel on the back of his head had left a semi-circular, shiny mark on the carpet, while his Italian handmade leather shoes were still twitching and kicking, the metal heels scraping against the carpet weave, making a soft sound like a cricket chirping. Suddenly, the automatic coffee machine in the break room started up, the grinding sound perfectly masking the last gurgling sound in the man's throat.

This sight is strikingly similar to the final kick of the antelope that Carl saw in Mewtwo last week, being held down by a pride of lions.

"This"

David's eyes widened at the sight. He had witnessed Arasaka's execution of dismissals once before, but that was at the bar, and Arasaka staff hadn't done it in front of anyone else. Now, however, it was happening right inside the Arasaka Tower, in public. And the Arasaka employees around him not only showed no sympathy, but also made sarcastic remarks.
"This is the reality."

Carl patted David on the shoulder: "That's just how every company behaves when faced with incompetent people."

(End of this chapter)