Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 315 Borrowing a Knife (Part 1)

The transport operation of the Demon Body Prosthetic was launched 19 hours ago.

[According to the Arasaka Operation instructions, you are currently unable to leave Arasaka Tower; your access has been revoked.]

"I should have expected this to happen."

V twirled the small knife he was playing with in his hand. On the table were the prosthetic bodies of all the personnel involved in the operation, their training experiences, and their origins.

Her first reaction was anger.

A feeling of being cheated lingered endlessly in my heart.

It seems Michiko suffered quite a bit of trauma at NCX; most of the guys V has now acquired use cybernetic bodies—the kind previously only used by Arasaka's Special Operations Unit or Arasaka's ninjas.

Military-grade implants cause near-irreversible damage to the body's nerves, and once these individuals retire, they will face endless cyberpsychosis.

Even with the company providing comprehensive maintenance, it's only a matter of time before they break down.

Talent is something that exists in this world.

However, how many people were fitted with military-grade cybernetic bodies, and how many would be held responsible for this operation, were not within V's considerations...

She didn't even care how many of Michiko's dogs died; she only cared about one thing:

How can I help Rin?

In the past, the testing and transportation of prosthetic bodies like the Prosthetic King Kong would not have required the involvement of ministerial-level management.

According to the pre-arranged plan: the two team leaders will arrange the entire process of prosthetic body testing, and finding suitable prosthetic body "quality inspectors" will be sufficient...

It’s different in the past.

Rin's appearance not only cost Arasaka the death of the veteran quality inspector, but also sparked an extremely frenzied arms race in Night City. The entire city has entered a state of chaotic intensification, like a pot of boiling water, causing people to suffer the pain of being cooked.

Actually, judging from the operation materials, there is no specific candidate yet for the recipient of the prosthetic body, but V can guess what the operation process is like. The company is very good at using Night City's black and white gloves to achieve actions that cross the line, and V doesn't mind this.

Perhaps a whole bunch of Night City bastards dreaming of getting rich quick are rushing to their deaths because of the promise Arasaka made.

Use and discard – a consistent practice of the company.

After pondering for a long time…

The knife spinning in V's hand suddenly stopped.

Michiko Arasaka's distrust prevents her from leaving Arasaka Tower to relay information, and the entire Arasaka is on high alert, almost ready to mobilize its entire force.

Therefore, she had to find a way to let Rin know about the information she possessed.

Should you delegate full responsibility to your subordinates?

Or should we take the Night City approach to handle this?

Or should we take the risk of logging onto the internet now?
After thinking about it, V rejected it all.

In the current situation, V doesn't trust anyone... The former Jenkins brand ambassador stands behind Michiko, unsure whether the old minister, who has been working in the counterintelligence field for many years, will hold back in this situation.

Think about it again, V.

Forcing herself to calm down, she skillfully lit a cigarette, and with the flickering flame, she narrowed her eyes and began to think carefully.

The Arasaka management team is under surveillance, but some ongoing tasks haven't stopped...

However, when V tried to access this information, he was told that he no longer had permission to do so.

Right now, if the operation goes awry and Michiko can't handle it, she has to consider whether or not headquarters should intervene—thinking from the enemy's perspective is V's lesson learned from working in the intelligence agency for so long.

Whether it's taking down the wanderers who try to disrupt the tournament in Jakarta, or finding the mastermind behind any actions that are detrimental to Arasaka, this kind of thinking is extremely efficient.

If Rin gets into trouble, she'll blame it all on that bitch.

That's what V was thinking—

V, whose hostility towards Michiko had become tangible, naturally had ways to counter this "boss's" strict guard against him.

Therefore, she immediately issued an order to the counterintelligence department to cease all internal operational privileges, freeze all progress, and require the hacking department to temporarily cease all obligations to cooperate with the operation.

V doesn't know if the security department can shoulder this heavy responsibility, but in any case, if she wants the counterintelligence department to help her, then the counterintelligence department must be made to unfreeze her access, and only then will there be a chance to send out what Rin needs.

Sure enough, Harry came knocking on the door the moment the order was given.

His office was in a small, transparent cubicle to the side of V's office; it used to be V's office.

"Boss, are you sure you want to carry out the order like this?"

Harry looked very nervous. The long hours of working overtime had made it difficult to lower his heart rate, and he was restless and agitated. "If all the hacking stops, the operation will be in trouble..."

But when Harry saw V's calm face staring at him, he immediately swallowed the rest of his words.

“All external operations will continue as usual. No new instructions from above are required. They want me to be a minister who monitors the operations online.” Behind V is the entire rehearsal plan for the operation. “Do you think that going to the Badlands to risk your life without any intelligence coordination, while the minister sits in the Arasaka Tower and knows everything, gives us a good chance of winning?”

"Bring in the entire intelligence analysis team. We'll do whatever I say, Harry?"

Harry nodded quickly, wondering if his boss would hold a grudge against him for what he had blurted out under so much pressure.

The entire intelligence analysis process was not slow. In response to the possible actions of DRAR Corporation, the actuaries in the intelligence department made no fewer than dozens of risk predictions.

V remembered every single one of them.

Everyone stood respectfully beside V's desk, watching the woman with her back to them. V looked up at the data displayed on the holographic screen in the floor-to-ceiling window that Jenkins had once looked at, and his brows furrowed deeply…

"Have we collected enough data on the prosthetic body?"

Kate, who seemed to be lost in thought, suddenly snapped to attention. "Minister V, we've found some middlemen in Night City and screened many people, most of whom are marked with high humanity attributes. The plan is to transport the prosthetic body into Night City, load the test subjects with data, and then kill them."

middleman?
V immediately noticed this point.

"name."

In the workplace, some crucial aspects are extremely important. For example, if the boss wants results, but then starts asking about the process, the credit might be taken away.

Kate, clearly dissatisfied with her position as team leader, still has some reservations.

"As for the name..."

A dark-skinned, kitsch-haired man with a cold face subtly touched Kate.

However, in that brief moment of hesitation, V had already stood in front of Kate. "Did you think I was joking with you, Kate?"

Kate couldn't understand one thing: they'd both worked in counterintelligence for two or three years, so why was this woman the head of intelligence...?

"I'm sorry, Minister V, the intelligence team's analysis itself violates the current access freeze. I... I have no comment."

The moment those words were uttered, the expressions on the faces of everyone in the office were quite varied.

The counterintelligence department is spreading rumors everywhere, which are nothing more than that V is going to be sidelined, his privileges frozen and he can only wait for orders from above.

"Ah…"

Kate, bracing herself, heard the woman, who was half a head taller than her, chuckle softly. Her gaze was icy cold as she looked down at her.

"You mean, letting your people in to analyze intelligence is you giving me face?"

The people around were terrified and fell silent.

But they seem to have forgotten one thing: V herself is not a person without fighting ability. She is not Jenkins, who can carry out the execution herself if she wants.

It was accompanied by a slight impact and a crisp cracking sound from the throat.

Saliva began to slowly seep from the corner of Kate's mouth. She desperately tried to pry the woman's hands off with both hands. In an instant, a feeling of suffocation rushed to the top of her head, and her back felt icy cold.

“There’s only one rule in Arasaka: unconditional obedience to superiors. I know you’re all waiting for me to get out of my seat so you can kick me when I’m down—but do you really think the counterintelligence department won’t launch a major purge or something? Are you gambling on your luck?” “How interesting…”

Kate's barely audible "heh" sounded like a leaky balloon, and no one around dared to speak.

It seems that Michiko's publicity campaign was very successful, emboldening many of the less-than-honest members of the counterintelligence department.

"Boss, [Dexter Dexter DeSean]..."

The burly, dark-skinned man stared straight ahead. "He's a guy who got into trouble a few years ago and now runs back to Night City to take on big jobs. People in the underworld call him 'Dark-skinned Fat Jesus,' and many mercenaries recognize his name."

V immediately let go.

Kate collapsed to the ground like a dead dog, coughing violently for a long time before growling in frustration, "[Jamie]!"

However, Kate's companion only moved her fingers slightly and did not do anything else.

V clapped his hands.

She certainly couldn't kill someone in front of so many people. After all, this was Arasaka Tower. Kate hadn't even gone through the dismissal process yet, and dying like this would only damage V's reputation. A corporate employee has to maintain a certain image.

“Starting today, you’ll be replacing Kate in this group.”

Simple and efficient.

The people Jenkins trained all behaved so savagely, but no one dared to say anything.

But... it seems V is a bit crazier than Jenkins.

Jamie clearly hadn't expected V to let him up so easily—

Jamie clearly had forgotten that Kate was about to lose her position in the company.

See? Sometimes it's very easy to break up a relationship between two people. V knows what everyone in the company wants.

“DRAR has one of our people. It’s said that Rin’s operation will begin in twelve hours… Of course, there is also some good news. It seems that Rin’s prosthetic body has encountered some problems. Based on past practices, it is speculated that Rin’s prosthetic body’s operating module has been overwritten by some kind of large artificial intelligence. It is possible that this is false information.”

"On paper, we're fine. These are almost equivalent to the Arasaka Ninja's assault teams, totaling 10 groups, each with at least 6 people... Combined with heavy weapons units, the probability of Rin snatching the cybernetic body from us is less than 10%... Of course, the specific figure is 9.37%..."

V fell silent for a moment upon hearing this number.

There's no time for Rin to find enough manpower in Night City right now, and her anxiety compels her to leave Arasaka Tower immediately.

But so many eyes are watching…

How could she possibly pull off a successful escape? And the only people she could trust were those involved with Arasaka. After all, even if Harry knew that Rin was actually in cahoots with him, he would betray her without hesitation. V didn't dare to gamble on that.

However, she had already come up with a solution—no, to be precise, she was already implementing the plan.

And Michiko will definitely be the first to give in and relinquish her authority to act.

"Then it seems we don't need our counterintelligence department anymore."

V spreads out his hands.

"No, boss... the security department alone cannot complete the entire operation. Many colleagues in other departments have received orders from above, but you have stopped them."

However, V had no intention of answering the question at all.

"Department bonuses have been doubled, which is considered an advance payment for the first half of the year... Your internal rating for participating in intelligence analysis today has been raised by one level, and then you can enjoy your vacation."

V has essentially issued an eviction notice.

The overjoyed counterintelligence staff had no idea that a woman who everyone thought was crazy like Jenkins could be so generous... But the news that the counterintelligence department's own funds had arrived was not false; the internally coordinated AI had already completed her instructions.

As the office door closed, V stood alone beside the floor-to-ceiling window, facing the night sky, next to the large desk.

She seemed completely unhurried, crossing her arms and gently tapping her arms.

With each tap of her delicate fingers, time ticked away, second by second…

The familiar ringtone rang out, echoing throughout the office with the unique ringtone of Night City's brain-computer communication system.

[Caller: Michiko Arakasaka]

V's lips curled into a disdainful smile.

Michiko sat calmly at her desk. "What are your people up to?"

It has to be said that V is quite the actor.

She replied in a professional tone, "My access has been temporarily blocked. People in intelligence are a bit paranoid—they basically won't do anything unless the orders from above are relayed to me... But I can give them a heads-up, and I'll also cooperate with the higher-ups to freeze access at any time."

Michiko interrupted, "Alright, alright, I'm not here to talk about this—your authority is a technical department issue, get them moving... As for you, you can act freely, but you must be on standby within the time limit."

The phone hangs up.

Michiko's face was gloomy, while Jenkins remained expressionless on the other side.

"You're anxious."

Michiko rubbed her forehead and paced back and forth. "The prosthetic body thing can't go wrong. I can't cover up if I don't get the data. I don't have time to deal with this bitch right now—I'll have someone keep an eye on her. Even the slightest slip-up will bring her down."

“That Rin has tricked Arasaka several times. The intelligence from insiders may not be accurate, so we just need to be more careful… Besides, I don’t believe that woman would dare to openly betray Arasaka. Isn’t her refusal to leave just a way to climb higher?”

The analysis is correct.

However, Jenkins looked down at his suit buttons with droopy eyelids, because a guy like V was definitely not someone you could keep an eye on.

However, Michiko's repeated assurances left Jenkins with no choice but to accept the status quo.

After all, the most powerful department in Arasaka's company is the counterintelligence department, and Michiko's probing has shown that V has complete control over this department. Right now, any struggles can only be put aside, and the most important goal is to ensure the smooth progress of the company's operations.

……

At this moment, in the back seat of a gold luxury sedan parked on the side of a road in Night City.

A woman in a black dress reminiscent of monarchical power sat in the back seat of the car, waiting for her target to appear. Emma took a sip of red wine.

She then received a text message.

Thinking it was important news, she quickly clicked on it—

[Welcome to Arasaka's smart device... We detected that you connected to the Arasaka Automatic Coffee Machine on January 3, 2076. Please provide your valuable feedback on our product quality...]

Emma rubbed her temples, feeling a bit of a headache.

"Damn Arasaka, anyone who touches their stuff will keep harassing you."

Emma, ​​who was about to toss her phone aside, suddenly stopped.

She slowly opened the text message, and at the end of the message, there was an extra line of text containing garbled characters…

[Company Plaza Real Estate]

She opened the text message she had received when she was looking for Rin at Arasaka Tower and found that the wording of these harassing messages was the same, except that the two messages were missing a line of location information.

I hesitated only slightly.

Emma said to the driver, "To the company plaza real estate."

……

　[Dexter Dessaud]: The middleman in 2077, as noted in the previous text.

　　Jamie: Kate's partner in the counterintelligence team in Cyberpunk Edgewalker, and the man who meets Faraday and asks him to arrest Lucy.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)