Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 400 The Emperor (Part 3) [5.2K]

Watson, Liz.

Rainy days don't dampen the party spirit of Night City; bars and sex clubs that open at 9 p.m. at any time are always packed with customers.

Even today is no exception—

Many people are unaware that a major event is unfolding in Night City at this very moment.

As soon as you enter Lizhi, you're greeted by low-pitched dance music that seems to vibrate your heart. People in the lobby and private rooms are drinking to their hearts' content, while on the dance floor, men and women, under the influence of alcohol, twist their bodies like zombies. Those in the private rooms of Mewtwo are some stressed-out office workers, their bodies convulsing, their Mewtwo headbands flashing on and off... They've already had a blast.

A regular customer came to the bar today.

However, Judy had no intention of going up to chat or reminisce, and even avoided the man and woman...

no way.

Seeing that girl with pigtails reminded him of Sasha, the hacker behind Liz's subnet, and his own heartless ex-girlfriend, Maeda Maiko…

Of course, Maiko is not the same as before. She is the Queen of the Dolls in Westbrook and runs the best Mewtwo Doll Club in Night City. Judy, on the other hand, is still a unique girl wearing overalls, with dirty green hair and a large patch of hair deliberately shaved on the side. She is just an unknown Mewtwo editor.

Sighing, Judy stared blankly at the souvenir gift Maeda Maiko had given her. Suddenly, her gaze fell on "Little Ai" (Evelyn)'s cigarette case. It was made of purple leather and was just thick enough to hold a medium-sized lady's cigarette. Evelyn cared a lot about this and always carried it with her when entertaining guests... She wondered why she had forgotten to bring it today.

Night City is a colorful, filthy cesspool where everyone lives in a dirty world, yet people still scramble to swim to the top of this garbage dump.

"Hey Judy, have you seen Evelyn?"

"The customer specifically asked for him, hmm... I heard he's a big spender, and he's a bit of a shady character."

Judy frowned.

Today I started having this feeling of unease, like I'm about to have my period. My eyes feel a little swollen, and I might also have a low-grade fever. Something's not right, or maybe I just have a bad feeling about it.

"A big client? I've never heard Xiao Ai mention that before... Uh, didn't she take a job in the old town of Japan Street before? I heard Xiao Ai say she was planning to take a few days off, I'm just guessing..."

The woman blinked her eyes. The flamboyant neo-kitsch clothes were not only brightly colored, but the imitation mink fur only covered her belly and shoulders. The Lizhi brand, which was set to a relatively low temperature, still made the girl suffer. She could see fine goosebumps on her skin.

"Well, that's a shame. What an idiot—he even nominated himself."

"Guess what I said? You can't cover up Evelyn's affair..."

"Neuropathy."

Before Judy could speak, she heard a loud crash from the sliding iron door of her studio.

It seems the girl knows about her partnership with Evelyn, and what she's saying is that she's venting her anger.

Judy remained silent for a moment.

Most of the girls and boys at Lizhi are very cute, but only if they don't see money... In this environment, once you have money, all relationships are off the table.

Growing increasingly worried, Evelyn received a phone call from Judy…

The phone rang repeatedly until the voicemail ended, but Evelyn never answered.

Just when she thought the girl was careless and hadn't made plans to travel, she not only failed to invite her friend, but also left behind her most beloved cigarette case—

Perhaps someone accidentally pressed some button on the radio, and it suddenly started playing...

Unlike the monotonous roar of the server in her basement and the "boom boom boom" dance music that Liz was playing, the radio that she usually used as a way to pass the time and which had a lot of distortion was exceptionally clear today. However, it was playing the news program that Judy disliked the most. When the first sentence came on, Judy's hand hovered above it.

“Starting at 8:35 p.m., the Azure Building, located in the luxurious waterfront area of ​​Night City, was attacked by criminals.”

"Media reports indicate that Saburo Arasaka, the former president of Arasaka Corporation, has tragically died in this hotel. Insiders revealed that the company head, who was once ranked as the most powerful man in the world, may have died from homicide, and it was a vicious attack. Arasaka has now implemented the protection measures promised by the Corporate Property Law within a five-kilometer radius of the Konpaku Building."

“There are no longer any passage rights within this area. We hope that citizens will choose their routes carefully when traveling. Arasaka said that this crisis will end soon.”

"Of course, Arasaka did not directly respond to the question of whether the company's leader had been attacked, News 54..."

Night City?
Now?
Judy was bewildered by her surroundings. The sense of disorientation felt as if the news was fabricated by third-rate media. The subsequent broadcast about the massive mob gathering in Night City Plaza was even more unbelievable to her. Normally, Judy wouldn't even bother listening to such news.

After all, it had little to do with her, a girl from Night City who just wanted to save enough money to go outside, but the more she listened, the more frightened she felt inside.

And a subconscious thought told her that she had to find Evelyn right now.

Suddenly, Judy remembered something. She hurriedly looked down and rummaged through the drawer full of Mewtwo chips, and soon she remembered what it was.

Evelyn had asked her to adjust a video to editable mode, saying that the prosthetic doctor needed to diagnose Mewtwo's prosthetic body. Moreover, the video of Mewtwo was not long, and it seemed to be something Evelyn had casually recorded while waiting for guests at some motel.

Maybe I'm just overthinking it?

Judy felt increasingly breathless and agitated, so she went outside for a smoke to clear her head, only to be nearly scared out of her wits by a shrill ring of a telephone.

cell phone…

Judy quickly noticed that Evelyn's handbag was hanging on the side hook of her workbench, and the phone inside was lit up and vibrating incessantly.

If it were just Evelyn leaving behind her cigarette case, it wouldn't be unusual. For a woman like her with no brain protection, it's natural to frequently contact customers by phone. Of course, real hackers don't care what contact method you use, but for these anxious girls, this is a form of self-protection.

"Hey?"

Judy glanced at the unfamiliar caller ID and thought she'd try to smooth things over for Evelyn.

“Aveline isn’t here, I think I can relay the message or you can leave a message.”

Seeing that the other person had turned on their holographic camera but wasn't showing their face, Judy felt she shouldn't have answered the call. However, there was no response from the other end; they just hung up after Judy asked several times, "Are you listening?"

Judy gripped her phone and scanned the surroundings, finally settling on the security camera in her workspace. She was actually eager to review the video recordings to find out when Evelyn arrived and when she left.

The scene quickly reverses, and the moment he disappears from the frame, sometimes leaning over his workbench and sometimes with his hands on his hips, Evelyn appears.

Judy hadn't been at Liz for long, and lately she hadn't had many orders, so she usually went home to sleep, and she even came at Liz's opening hours... But this time, Evelyn arrived at seven o'clock, and to Judy's surprise, Evelyn seemed to have taken off her heavily feminine clothing and started rummaging through the closet next to Judy...

Judy squinted and leaned closer to the screen.

She soon found out what Evelyn was doing; she seemed to be trying to impersonate herself.
Evelyn has been acting very mysteriously lately…

Curiosity was like a driver; Judy flipped through the images frame by frame, afraid of missing anything.

Soon, two men appeared on the screen. Having seen many people and ghosts at the Lizhi Bar, she could tell at a glance that these two guys had some gang affiliation.

Evelyn seemed to be talking to the two men, and she appeared somewhat agitated at one point, even standing up and opening her arms as if to explain something. Judy could see the impatience in the two men's gestures even through the screen.

Soon the man seemed to pull something out of his pocket, but the image wasn't high-definition enough for Judy to see clearly; it looked like a card or something similar.

Evelyn seemed to improve her mood after seeing this, and sat down in front of the computer with the card, as if she was about to connect it to the network, when...

Judy's expression changed.

Perhaps out of fear that this was the Mox Gang's territory, the two thugs made some inappropriate moves while Evelyn was looking at the cards. Judy instinctively wanted to warn them, but realized that these were records from the past, and there was nothing she could do at that moment.

Judy's body suddenly trembled. She covered her mouth, and in her wide pupils, she saw two men restraining Evelyn. One was responsible for controlling her strongest thighs, while the other covered her mouth and carried Evelyn into the basement living room, which was also the former subnet hacker Sasha's workspace.

Judy glanced around anxiously, quickly fast-forwarding through the footage. Aside from the scene of two men emerging half an hour later, there was nothing else…

Does this mean—

Judy's body began to stiffen, and her back suddenly felt icy cold.

Wow!

Judy frantically ripped open the metal wardrobe beside her, and Evelyn's fishtail dress and fluffy shawl, which she had carelessly piled up inside, slipped out. She almost fell to the ground because of this.

Evelyn is in the basement.

She hasn't made a sound since, and Judy doesn't dare to think about it anymore.

Feeling her legs were about to give way, Judy stumbled through the debris, barely managing to reach the basement. Her hands trembling, she pressed the automatic door button several times, cursing that the door had suddenly become unresponsive. However, just as Judy tried to find tools to pry open the door's touch panel, the jammed automatic door opened...

The moment Judy saw the dark walls and the cyan-toned neon lights, the dark patches on the walls made her instantly weak in the knees.

……
-
"Don't you usually love drinking? Hahaha!"

"What's wrong? Are you not having a good appetite today?"

"It's okay, I raised you like a good-for-nothing when you were a kid. You're still capable even if you're useless now, you just eat a lot—"

Pila really is a thug in any situation. At Dreamer, he's like a street thug in a white coat pretending to be a big shot. In the setting of Liz Bar, he's the perfect template for a criminal. Putting everything else aside, his unique mohawk, his ear-piercing laughter, and the spit he spews out made several flirtatious bar buddies around him run away.

After all, very few people would modify their arms to have a hand the same length as their forearm...

too weird.

And she even brought along a... young girl. Pila completely ignored the stares of those around her, and in a teasing tone, poured the ice ball out of Rebecca's glass before refilling her glass with a fruit wine with an alcohol content of only a few degrees.

Rebecca didn't appreciate it.

"Fuck your mother Pila!"

"I don't want to drink this weak stuff!"

Rebecca raised her middle finger in displeasure, and the people around her began to look at her with hostility. Although not many people in this area were morally upright, there were still some who were a bit rude. For example, Rebecca did look rather immature... not at all like a twenty-year-old Chica (girl)...

Pila was secretly delighted to see her sister utter such insults.

"Wow, it's much louder than when I left..."

"Go ahead and drink, it's better than nothing. If Shidao is watching you, forget about drinking alcohol, you can forget about even drinking anything with caffeine."

"Who else in this world would treat you so well if I weren't here?"

Pila's way of showing concern is always so inappropriate. Tonight he's been unusually talkative, as if... he's deliberately hiding something.

Rebecca underwent an examination and had her prosthetic body deactivated by Lost Island. Rebecca's case involves numerous neural couplings that were locked and then reconnected to the prosthetic body, so Lost Island and Old V are currently busy with this matter. Of course, excessive repression can trigger the onset of cyberpsychosis...

So Pila brought Rebecca to Night City for a stroll.

With no missions in sight, Pira's company information systems were suspended. A smart man like Shidao was afraid that these mercenaries, because of their close relationships and brotherhood, would choose to get involved in company affairs again.

As for why it's so serious...

Rebecca's eyes were somewhat downcast. "Of course there are people who are good to me."

Pila was really annoyed...

Even a fool could tell who his own sister was talking about. That guy is only a little smart, a bit cunning, owns a big company, and is decent-looking... what's so great about him?!

Can it compare to family?!
"Alright, alright, even if you cry tonight, don't expect to get any operation details from me."

"By the way, that guy knows about your current situation. Do you think he'll agree with our ideas or yours?"

"Little sister, it's a bad habit to not be able to keep things to yourself, you need to change that."

Pila looked very serious.

Rebecca puffed out her cheeks, sipping her sweet drink through the straw, then suddenly pointed behind Pila and exclaimed, "Holy crap! It's huge!"

Pila turned her head instantly…

It wasn't until it dawned on me that I realized I'd been tricked by Rebecca...

Rebecca looked at her with a sour expression, "You have to keep things to yourself~"

"Come on, you idiot. If this prosthetic body wasn't so poorly designed, I wouldn't be drinking with you."

The way the siblings communicated was indeed a bit rough.

It's perfect for Night City; it's quite cozy.

Pila suddenly changed her tone.

"Why didn't you say anything when the immunosuppressants became ineffective?"

Rebecca was taken aback.

Unexpectedly, Pila's words were even more outrageous: "If you want to court death, you should have died when you were a child. Maybe I would be as awesome as my dad now, without you as a burden—tsk tsk tsk."

Rebecca knew that Pila was a guy who wouldn't say anything nice...

Fortunately, Rebecca is used to it.

Pila never says the other half of what a person would say, like, "I'm worried about you."

"That's good, Rebecca."

"Losing the island means you have to remove all the combat prosthetics. The nerve tolerance point has been exceeded, and we weren't even given a chance to adjust them... What are you worried about? Even without these prosthetics, I think that kid would be willing to support you. One more or one less won't make a difference. As for picking up girls... pfft."

Rebecca spat.

He raised his middle finger and said, "Fuck you, Pila."

But after expressing her anger, she still cautiously asked, "What do you mean by 'tolerance'..."

Pila stopped joking this time. "The body is a magical thing, like a rubber band. No matter how much you stretch it, it may deform into an exaggerated degree that you can't imagine. But... once it breaks, it's not so easy to change back. Combat prosthetics are inherently overloaded. Your body... is naturally unable to tolerate it."

"Thank goodness for Qiwei..."

"Although her figure isn't the most interesting, she likes to wear old-fashioned lace, so she has a really good heart!"

Rebecca's forehead throbbed.

Her biggest wish right now is that the gorilla arm can be charged once... just once, she wants to beat Pila's face into a pig's head.

but…

Rebecca didn't resent Qiwei, but she felt very uncomfortable.

Rebecca preferred to call it distance; she could clearly sense from any angle that something irreversible was that young people walking down the street in Westbrook could hardly keep up with him…

Only by becoming stronger can we perhaps catch up with him.

However, becoming powerful was too difficult. Rebecca once thought that the company would be her second starting point, but it seems that everyone is destined not to be this kind of person... A cybernetic warrior may not be Rebecca's future.

However, it does not have a prosthetic body.

Rebecca didn't know how to face her past life and her future self.

Be an ordinary person.

These five simple words represent the situation Night City fears most.

This means that street thugs can rob you, enemies you encounter on the street will cause you trouble at any time, you will end up with a bloody head, and then you will leave in a peaceful city in pain due to complications after your prosthetic surgery.

Life was utterly tasteless.

In fact, the people who live in Night City are all living for one thing: to be awesome.

The same applies to dating.

Rebecca, who had given up completely on the idea, could only continue to probe indirectly, even though it seemed obvious to Pira.

"Is there really a machine that can determine whether someone is a suitable candidate for a prosthetic body?"

Rebecca had a nonchalant expression.

Pila dislikes it most when people belittle his professional field, so he rolled up his sleeves and explained seriously: "Neurology is only one aspect. Everyone's nerves are the same. The key point is... here, and here."

The man pointed to his chest and head.

"A person's reaction to mental and external stress, personality traits, and unique existence are a combination of all these elements."

"hey-hey…"

Pila has fallen into her habit of showing off her knowledge again.

"Do you know what the opposite of cyberpsychosis, the special beings among prosthetic body recipients, are described as?"

Rebecca shook her head.

"legend?"

Pira pulled out one finger, then two. "Wrong, that's called personality uniformity disorder."

"I've read all the research findings on the lost island... It seems that some of the idiots have already suffered a mental breakdown, but they can still participate in social behavior normally. It's probably because there's another version of himself deep in his soul helping him vent his emotions."

"Don't even think about it, Rebecca, give up."

"Unless you can develop an extra consciousness in your head that tells you that you two should shoulder everything."

……

……

(End of this chapter)