Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 11 I Decide to Take My Talent to Night City

Mercer looked at the girl with rainbow-colored short hair that could be seen even in cyberspace.

Her virtual avatar was almost identical to her real-life counterpart, complete with hacker-style glasses that obscured her eyes.

"This is a program you wrote yourself?"

Lucy walked toward him with a complicated expression, glancing at the cat and then at him—she never expected Mercer to do such a thing.

In cyberspace, or more precisely, on the old web, one can leisurely play with cats.
This is really unexpected.

However, this only increased Lucy's doubts.

Everyone in the hacker training center was trained by Arasaka at the same training institution before being sent to the 'Project Star' project.

Although I wasn't very familiar with Mercer before, we had lived in the same place for so long, talked a lot, and even went deep-sea diving together many times.

I wouldn't say I know Mercer very well, but I at least know what kind of person he is.

But now Mercer
Lucy didn't know how to put it, it was as if he had become a completely different person ever since he burned his head.

She is more lively, more carefree, and also much more mature and reliable.

In the past, although people wouldn't say it out loud, anyone who looked at the other's face could see the despair and confusion about the future in each other's eyes.

Mercer used to be like that, but now, Mercer gives the impression of suddenly possessing the confidence and composure to face everything with ease.

This kind of temperament makes them stand out from the crowd among all the junior hackers.

Moreover, his demeanor, or rather his attitude, seemed to inexplicably give everyone around him a bit more composure and courage.

That's how Lucy sees it, anyway.

In the past, her heart was filled with fear and confusion; the desire to survive almost overwhelmed her desire for everything else.

But now, just seeing Mercer, seeing his calm demeanor, makes the fear and unease in my heart magically subside.

However, it was precisely because of the huge changes that Mercer had undergone that Lucy felt he might be in some danger.

There are many technologies in this world that can change people's thoughts and consciousness. In fact, on the internet, people generally believe that AI has the most advanced technology in this field.

Could he have been possessed by some roving AI?

"Is it a small AI?" Lucy asked cautiously as she looked him over.

"Well, it is."

Mercer smiled and patted the ground beside him. Lucy hesitated for a moment, then sat down next to him.

"Go." He casually tossed the cat down, and the cyber cat nimbly flipped over and landed on the ground, obediently jumping onto Lucy's lap.

Lucy instinctively reached out her hand, and was surprised to find that the cat felt surprisingly good!
Even though her perception in cyberspace wasn't very strong, she could still feel as if she had actually touched a cat!
"That's amazing. What does this AI do?"

She asked curiously, gently stroking the cat's back with her fingers, watching it purr contentedly. This only made Lucy more incredulous—she didn't know cats could do that?
Lucy has never touched a living cat.

"Specifically designed to deal with the 'Guardian' AI on you."

Mercer pointed to the blue data that was faintly appearing on her body. Even though Lucy had manually hidden the shell of Guardian ICE, some blue data would still occasionally pop out due to her abilities.

Why go to such lengths to hide that imposing samurai appearance?

Well, Mercer guesses, she's probably afraid of being too conspicuous and being discovered by the roaming AI, so she's compressing her data as much as possible.

"what?"

Lucy looked up, and even though her eyes were covered by data-generated glasses, her shocked expression was still visible: "Is this your first time seeing Arasaka's 'Guardian' AI?"

"Isn't this our first time?"

Mercer smiled:
"It will take quite some time to find the vulnerability of that AI and kill it."

But with it, I believe it's only a matter of time. Without dealing with this guardian AI, we can't leverage the server's power to manage security.

"Then it's up to you."

Lucy was completely unable to fathom just how skilled Mercer was at hacking.

The two stopped talking. Lucy had too many questions but couldn't bring herself to ask them, while Mercer was simply using the server's computing power for malicious purposes.

Although the Guardian AI has not yet been cracked, as long as one does not violate any rules, it is still possible to secretly use the server's computing power to optimize the software and try to create some programs.

It wasn't until Lucy glanced at him several times that Mercer finally glanced at her and said, "Ask me what you want to say."

"Hmm, have you thought about where you'll go after you leave?"

Lucy finally asked the question.

Mercer stared at her silently for a while, then looked at the cat in her arms.

Death Wish's body suddenly transformed into a stream of data and plunged into her body.

Then, the blue light emanating from her body suddenly intensified, and a majestic armored warrior broke free from her body, transforming into human form.

The samurai let out a silent roar, his mouth agape, and a deep blue samurai sword appeared in his hand, which he viciously plunged into his own chest.

But the black, hairless cat that swam in his chest was as agile as a fish swimming in his body, and in the blink of an eye, it jumped onto his head.

The now-black 'Death Wish' is far more ferocious than the warrior it once appeared. At this moment, it opened its mouth wide, and with each bite, it would tear off a large chunk of blue data.

At the same time, its size will increase dramatically.

The enormous blue warrior initially stood tall, seemingly forty or fifty meters high, but after a few bites, it appeared to be only twice the size of a normal human.

However, the cat-like 'Death Wish' has now transformed into a terrifying behemoth several meters tall.

After it swallowed the entire ICE set up by the Guardian AI with its last bite, it even yawned contentedly.

Then, with a flicker of its body, the black behemoth transformed back into a kitten composed of blue data.

It stretched on the ground, then hopped onto Lucy's lap.

As for Lucy, she was completely dumbfounded.

"You don't think that the ICE Arakawa set up for you is just a simple ICE, do you? This thing has a subroutine of the Guardian AI inside, which is equivalent to a low-intelligence AI."

After saying that, Mercer paused, then comforted him, "But it's not your fault. With your skills, it's indeed difficult to tell, since you've never been exposed to this kind of AI-related technology before."

"I'm sorry, I... I thought..." Lucy felt that if this were in the real world, she would probably blush with shame—she had really been too stupid this time.

just
"I just feel that if I'm with you, I don't have to worry about so much," Lucy decided to tell the truth.

Mercer smirked, making no attempt to hide his feelings: "Hmm, not a bad explanation. Alright, let's continue with the previous questions." "I've decided to take my talent to Night City."

Mercer provided the answer.

"Night City? I've heard of it. I heard it's pretty chaotic there. Since it's currently a neutral city, Arasaka and the Military Academy are locked in a fierce battle there."

There's also biotechnology, the Night Corporation, and outside of Kangtao, there are the vagrants and the Chaotic Blade Society.

Lucy was somewhat surprised; she had thought Mercer would go to a safer place, Night City? That didn't seem like a pleasant place to settle down.

"Yes, the company is in a dogfight, and the factions and cliques underneath are even more complicated."

The Valentino gang, comprised of Haywood men.

A gang of Americans from Sixth Street.

The Vortex Gang is made up of a bunch of cyber-psychotics, and the Voodoo Gang is made up of a bunch of idiots and traitors.

There are cleaners who should be killed on sight.

"The Wild Blade Gang in the Wilderness, the Tiger Claw Gang of Vicious Dogs Raised on Arasaka, an animal gang whose heads are all pointed from being injected with drugs."

Mercer rattled off the names of those forces in simple terms, then laughed and said, "So, that's where we should go."

"Only there will we have a chance to rise above our circumstances, and even give a huge blow to a stupid company like Arasaka—remember the Arasaka nuclear bomb fifty years ago? Only Night City can do something like that."

Morgan Blackhand, Spider-Murphy, Bartmouth
Countless legends have spun their stories there, and although the endings are rarely happy, believe me, some things can only be done in Night City.

After Mercer finished speaking, he paused, then smiled at her and said:

Even if you just want to hide
That's also your best hiding place. Although Arasaka has regained his dominance in Night City, there are plenty of people in Night City who are against him.

With your mere mining card, no one will bother to look for you anywhere.

Well.
But it's hard to say if they're with me, because I'm not planning on just slinking away like that.

Lucy looked into his eyes. Even in cyberspace, with his face covered by a smiling mask, she could still vaguely see his confident and unruly eyes in the pulsating light of data in his eye sockets.

"Aren't you afraid?" she asked, hesitating to finish her sentence.

"Afraid of Arasaka? Or afraid of death?"

The smile on Mercer's mask grew even brighter:

"Now that I'm alive in this world, I have no intention of dying a pathetic death."

Fortunately, I now seem to have the possibility, or rather, the ability, to change these things. So, of course, I'll cause a huge uproar before I die.

Lucy couldn't understand.

Right now, all she wants is to survive. Things like the meaning of life are too far off.
"Okay, I'm going to Night City too. Can you take me with you?"

She turned her face to look at the cat in her arms, which seemed to be digesting its meal and was currently dozing on her lap.

"Okay."

Mercer smiled and said, "Then I'll take you with me. Even Arakawa can't stop me. I said it."

"You'd better not be exaggerating." Lucy felt a little hot for no reason. How strange, how could cyberspace have a temperature?
"So, what do you plan to do after you arrive in Night City?" she changed the subject.

"First, I'll find a place to settle down, then switch careers and become a mercenary. I'll earn money, increase my reputation, build connections, and gather some like-minded partners along the way."

Mercer described the future in a relaxed tone:

"Once I make some money, I'm going to buy a mansion to live in, the kind with a swimming pool. I've never experienced such luxury in my life!"

Once I get to Night City and make a fortune, I'll definitely enjoy myself first.

Ah, I also need to continue improving my hacking skills and figuring out and developing technologies like prosthetic bodies.

Well, in short, my short-term goal is to become the legendary boss of Night City!

After Mercer finished speaking, he turned to look at Lucy:

"You can also think about what you really want."
I know you're scared—scared of Arasaka, scared of death, and even more scared of dying meaninglessly.

There's nothing wrong with that, but...
I think that rather than worrying all day about how to die or how to escape death, the meaning of life should lie in what you really want to do.

Only when one finds meaning in life, and the right attitude towards life, does the fear of death become meaningful.

"Hmm," Lucy nodded gently, without saying anything, and simply lowered her head.

Mercer reached out and gently patted her head:

"You're still young, you don't need to think about all sorts of things all day."
At least, if you come with me, you can take it one step at a time.

“You’re only a year older than me,” Lucy said quietly, somewhat displeased, not liking his attitude of treating her like a child.

"Well, in terms of mental age alone, I think I'm at least ten years older than you."

Mercer spoke the truth, but Lucy looked at him suspiciously. In the end, however, Lucy simply nodded.

"You're the boss, what you say goes."

After she finished speaking, she let out a long sigh of relief and then laughed: "Then, I'll leave these annoying things to you, Mercer, who is mature for his age, both physically and mentally."

"Take a bite out of her."

As Mercer finished speaking, the Death Wish on her knee actually bit her, miraculously causing her a little real pain, but without causing any data damage.

"Alright, go and find everyone else. From now on, we'll all be using the same IP address for Deep Dive, so let's not split up."

"I'm unlikely to encounter any roaming AIs around me. Even if I do, the combined ICE units deployed by the Arasaka Guardian AI, along with my cat, should be enough to hold them off until we're all safely evacuated."

Mercer gave the instructions.

"Okay." Lucy happily ruffled DeathWish's cat head, then immediately got up and went to trace the IP address to call someone.

After Mercer waited for her to leave, he pondered for a while before secretly spitting at Bartmouth—that old guy must have deliberately sent it to Lucy's IP address.

Dude, she's only thirteen or fourteen!
Are you guys in the cyber world really that powerful? Aren't you afraid of the iron fist of justice?
Shaking his head, Mercer relaxed and lay down on the ground.

Keep taking advantage of the freebies, and while we can still use the Arasaka server, use its computing power to write a lot of programs for ourselves!
What should I write first?
Um.
Got it!

Let's start by writing out all the common offensive golems in the game, such as prosthetic malfunctions and synaptic melting, and compress them into a quick crack!
Once he writes out a dozen or so superviruses, he'll open his eyes wide and kill anyone who glares at him, guaranteeing a small cyber shock to Night City!

(End of this chapter)