Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 394 Power (Part 1) [4.4K Busy today, no extra chapter]

"Oh dear, we're already starting to fight amongst ourselves before we've even begun?"

Falco clearly didn't take Qiwei's words seriously, assuming the two girls had a minor disagreement at the bar the previous night because they hadn't had enough fun.

Sasha did take note.

Normally, Rebecca, with her stubborn personality, would punch someone if they said something to her...

I didn't react at all to what Qiwei said today. Also... what's the secret?
"What exactly happened, Qiwei?"

A thin cigarette, faintly burning, was stuck in Qiwei's mask. She wasn't stupid; with a formidable enemy at hand, Rin might need them to do something at a crucial moment. To ensure the mission went smoothly, Qiwei absolutely wouldn't allow Rebecca to participate in this operation.

As for the secret.

She's planning to tell the truth now.

“Rebecca, cyberpsychosis is no joke. Instead of staying at the company for a proper check-up or disassembling a few prosthetics, are you trying to follow in the footsteps of your former boss, Mann?”

Qiwei was already tall and slender, so as if afraid Rebecca wouldn't hear her, she leaned closer to the stunned Rebecca. "He was lucky. We still don't know what the Terrorist Mobile Unit did to him. I'm sorry, I'm always a pragmatist, after all, I'm a disliked old woman—"

Snapped!
The weak and feeble punch was casually blocked by Qi Wei's palm.

Her pale yellow pupils swept coldly over the stunned crowd, and she let out a strange laugh.

"You already agreed..."

Qiwei shrugged.

She does things like this without any hesitation. Not to mention eliminating this dangerous hidden danger, she wouldn't even blink if the Dreamer asked her to do it now.

"Qiwei, what exactly is cyberpsychosis?"

Qiwei didn't consider herself a professional doctor, but she had a fairly deep understanding of cyberpsychosis. Not to mention the images of the NCPD or the Terrorist Mobile Unit dealing with cyber lunatics on TV, there were also some Mewtwos that satisfied terrible desires and used cyberpsychosis as creative material, and... the ones she saw around her.

This thing is mysterious and elusive. Excessive mental stress can cause even a simple cybernetic arm to lead to cyberpsychosis.

Rebecca has quite a few prosthetic bodies, but the Dreamers' research team has the latest prototype of an immunosuppressant in biotechnology. In addition, with the comprehensive psychological treatment room that Lin Yue requested, this team, which shouldn't have been in this situation, has started to show signs of this.

Back in the underground lair of the Voodoo Gang in Taiping Continent, Qiwei had seen a fleeting glimpse of crimson in Rebecca's palm. Many times, she had heard this guy talking to himself. The symptoms of cyber psychosis vary greatly, but most of them involve a loss of self-control.

In fact, Qiwei had discovered Rebecca's dependence on the prosthetic body a long time ago.

It seemed that as long as there was a cybernetic body, one was omnipotent. However, such power was still a bit too much for a girl like Rebecca. Her father, Sunrise, did not make a name for himself in the underground streets by relying on his superior cybernetic body.

Falco abandoned his joking thoughts and frowned deeply.

"Rebecca, is what she said true?"

Qiwei didn't tell him everything Rebecca had told him, leaving himself some privacy. However, this mission was no small matter, so it was perfectly normal for Qiwei to make such a decision.

Rebecca's silence left everyone speechless.

Just then, the door in front of Rebecca opened. She didn't even need to look up to know that it was Suzuki Takeyoshi, Lin Yue's most loyal assistant.

Her fists clenched, unsure of what to say…

Unbeknownst to everyone, Rebecca's expression turned violent, and blood began to drip from her nose again.

Seeing Rebecca's strange behavior, Qiwei subconsciously wanted to draw her gun, but was stopped by Falco beside her.

The middle-aged man shook his head slightly.

His eyes were filled with disbelief and sympathy.

Did Rebecca not take her immunosuppressants on time?
Suzuki simply stared intently at the girl's head in front of him.

He is scanning.

Then a hint of self-reproach appeared on his face.

The expected cold rejection did not come. Suzuki was much taller than Rebecca. He leaned closer to Rebecca and said, "I'm sorry I didn't take good care of you for Mr. Rin."

Where does this come from?

After suffering such a devastating blow, it's already incredibly difficult for Suzuki to survive and get back on his feet...

"How could that be? People in this state have repeatedly assured me that your stress tests were all passed—"

Suzuki sighed. "Rebecca, let's check with Mr. Lost Island and Mr. Pila first."

Seeing that Rebecca kept her head down, Sasha stepped forward and grabbed her arm. "Bebecca, I think you should rest first. I believe Rin's arrangements are absolutely foolproof. It's not too late to wait until you feel better."

Just when everyone thought Rebecca was just annoyed and silent, she raised her arm and flung Sasha away after a long silence.

Caught off guard, Sasha nearly spun around due to inertia, and looked at her empty hand with a bewildered and terrified expression.

Suzuki's expression darkened.

With just a glance, he saw Rebecca's extremely abnormal expression, indicating that the quirky girl was no longer herself; cyberbullying amplified unattainable and negative emotions.

"What do you guys know?"

"The reason some people can use those powerful military prosthetics without inhibitors is because you guys are too cowardly!"

Everyone listened in silence.

As long as Rebecca doesn't show any aggressive tendencies, no one wants to use violence to stop her.

At this moment, Rebecca had no idea what she was saying.

Her consciousness was constantly switching between the memory of the day she made up her mind to get these prosthetics and chase after that guy and reality.

Seeing her expression, which was half calm and half slightly distorted, Sasha was about to step forward when Suzuki stopped her with his hand.

"I know you might not remember, young lady."

"But Rin values ​​the lives of her companions and friends immensely. Does having power really mean you can have everything?"

Suzuki shook his head helplessly, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Rebecca was reaching behind her to touch Ironclad. His movements were swift and decisive. The team members' Black Wall-adaptive prosthetics all had a flaw: a disconnect device to prevent the prosthetics from connecting to the network and creating a connection with Black Wall. This area could create a temporary short-circuit bug…

Hearing a noise behind her, Rebecca instinctively turned around.

Suzuki's sudden chop left the girl's body limp, and S.A.S.S. locked the machine with a program after Suzuki pulled out the human-computer interaction cable.

Brandon was the guy in charge of modifying the prosthetic body's backdoor.

He was clearly very upset after hearing the almost certain diagnosis of cyberpsychosis for Rebecca, and kept muttering Rebecca's name.

There's nothing we can do about it. Brandon has seen a lot and has been exposed to a lot of data. The early and middle stages of cyberpsychosis are characterized by taciturnity and insomnia, accompanied by some somatization symptoms, which are somewhat similar to mental illness. However, timely removal of the prosthetic body greatly increases the chances of survival.

"I'll take her to Pila first."

Falco carried the girl on his back, a bitter smile on his lips, and even the cigar he was holding tasted bland.

Suzuki never expected that Rin, busy with various major events organized by the company, would overlook a few things, which would cause one of the team's assault soldiers to develop cyberpsychosis.

Now that things have come to this…

Suzuki looked down and clenched his fists, staring at the cyber implant that perfectly integrated his palm with the human body's structure and craftsmanship, and for a moment he felt a little lost.

The human body is undoubtedly the most natural thing, while cyber implants are external objects. Cyber-psychosis mostly occurs among low-level mercenaries or ordinary citizens on the streets. The root cause is likely the long-standing unequal social environment and immense pressure to survive, leaving their spiritual world impoverished. Once this is lost or they become obsessed with certain obsessions, this happens. "Qiwei, what exactly caused Rebecca to…?"

Suzuki wanted to know about this and told Rin at the right time, because only in this way could the Rebecca incident be resolved perfectly.

However, Qiwei's answer was simple.

"I have to apologize to you, Suzuki. I just didn't want Dreamer to suffer losses due to unstable factors. As for why she did this..."

I can't tell you.

Suzuki nodded in understanding.

However, even a guess would tell that the problem probably lies with Rin...

……
-
"DeSean, you messed up the job you were asked to do. Have you cleaned up the mess yet?"

The bar by the beach in Night City had just opened. In a slightly more private booth, the bloated DeShawn was hunched over, his arms propped on his thighs, taking one drag of a cigarette in silence. The military technology intelligence officer sat next to him, his face full of impatience, dissatisfaction, and contempt.

DeShawn also wanted to curse.

After hiding away for several years, he vowed to make a fortune in Night City, then travel to Europe, Asia, or anywhere else and live a carefree life.

It was decided from the beginning that I wouldn't do anything for the company.

But I never expected—

The Whirlpool Gang's claim of "kicking the Animal Gang and punching the fat old man from Taipingzhou" was thoroughly refuted by the Queen, the middleman who made her fortune in Dogtown.

The company didn't kill him for what happened on the Badlands only because Night City couldn't find a suitable person with the connections to do something so despicable and destructive...

The data collection for military prosthetic bodies is done through shady means to deceive people, and the process must leave as few traces as possible to avoid being spotted by agents from other companies or the curious underlings in Night City.

When you're down on your luck, even drinking cold water can cause problems.

DeShawn, who had just decided to focus on military technology for a while before making any further plans, unscrupulously tricked a group of mercenaries he had incited with his "passionate speeches," obtaining the military cybernetic bodies they had painstakingly acquired. Each time, DeShawn only asked for the data, generously giving the cybernetic bodies to the mercenaries.

In reality, it was all a setup.

If the company's cybernetic implants are stolen, then it has no responsibility. Regulatory agencies have no proof, and military technology has been affected by the company's actions countless times even though it didn't involve any legal issues.

"An unknown nobody, or a household name?"

"If you don't want to die in bed with a catheter in your bladder, then make good use of the rest of your life and strive to live a dazzling life, becoming the king of this city..."

In short, these are the words Dexter uses to brainwash those idiots.

However, before they could get started on this job for long, a group of highly trained individuals appeared out of nowhere. They not only killed a cyber-madman with military technology on the mudflats, but also recruited a large group of scavengers. And that wasn't all—

What's more, this group of people is extremely outrageous, appearing and disappearing without a trace. DeShawn suspects that the guys in the company dug up the secret of one of the most important test subjects in the Terrorist Mobile Unit. When the hacker in charge of keeping the data of that person named "Mann" was discovered, his brains were already cold from being cooked.

With Mann being urgently transferred and chaos erupting in Pacific Island, the group seemed to have calmed down a bit.

However, the severed downstream lines must be thoroughly cleaned up; this was a strict order given to DeSean by military technology...

"I can guarantee Mr. Vanno is clean. You may not believe my verbal explanation, but given Ms. BUG's reputation in the industry, you are welcome to verify it at any time."

After scratching his head in embarrassment for a while, DeShawn finally replied.

Soon, the guy let out a sneer from his nose.

"They're all hopeless scoundrels, just a little bit of audacity."

"Take a look at this!"

These corporate dogs only then revealed their true purpose: they just wanted to find an excuse to keep DeSean working.

Realizing he had been tricked, Dexter had no choice but to hesitate for a long time before finally taking the item into his hands—a prototype drawing of a weapon.

It looks a bit like a spider.

MTOOD12, nicknamed "Flathead".

Dexter finally understood what this thing was: zero-gravity adhesive bionic spider legs, long-lasting optical camouflage, and protocol kits compatible with various network access modules on the market—another body for hackers.

"What is this...?"

Dexter was very good at putting on airs, with a cigarette between his fingers and an innocent look on his face.

The military technology company dog, with its arms crossed, reached out and patted non-existent dust off its trouser leg.

He whispered in the ear of this once-renowned but now declining middleman, "We need to find a way to smuggle this stuff into Arasaka's businesses. Our intelligence agents have been sending us information that there's trouble within Arasaka... you know that, right? Don't try to act all high and mighty with me; you bunch of dogs have the best noses!"

Dexter smiled ingratiatingly, his ruthlessness well concealed.

“Arazaka defected a scientist, and the information he had was sold off by some fool in Chiba City. Arazaka made sure he was wiped out—but we want to know something other than that information.”

Dexter slowed his smoking slightly.

I forced myself to suppress my nervousness.

Fortunately, the other side did not discover that Dexter already knew about the existence of scientist Herman and had sent people to strike first.

The office worker had a confident, triumphant expression.

Dexter muttered to himself that these bastards couldn't even catch the hottest food.

"Take this and copy what our good partner wants to send, then find a reliable person to make it."

Dexter stared longingly at the people in the company.

The man chuckled and pointed to the coffee table, saying, "There's no other information to read. I'm just giving you verbal instructions, so you just copy them verbally."

"Search every floor of the Azure Building, go through the network lines and temperature control system corridors, find the room with a glass of wine on the coffee table, and a man sitting on the sofa watching Mewtwo. Copy the contents of the laptop in front of him."

These conditions are far too lenient.

DeShawn thought that this was probably the case in every room.

"To help you identify it better, there's an old bottle of 2045 next to that glass of wine, a bourbon whiskey, the one that costs 3000 euros a bottle."

Bourbon whiskey?
Dexter shrugged. Only these corporate dogs would drink something this bitter. He'd much rather buy a pair of limited-edition sneakers adorned with gold.

The torment was finally over. The company dog's nose was wrinkled like it had just been to the toilet. He stood up, pointed at Dexter's nose, and put eye drops on him.

"Fatty, if you do this job well, military technology will reward you handsomely."

Dexter nodded repeatedly, stood up with an expression of being flattered, but his face darkened even more as the automatic door closed.

"Boss, the 'goods' have arrived."

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

……

……

(End of this chapter)