"Please spare me, Iâm just a high school dropout, my family has no money, no parents, not even a home!"
"Iâm only 17 and wonât be 18 until the end of the year, Iâm still a kid who doesnât know better, just passing by, please donât have any improper thoughts!"
"If you really canât let it go, please call the police and hand me over to the NYPD, let them deal with me, using vigilante justice is illegal!"
The girl, with her hands clasped in prayer, prostrated on the ground at lightning speed, muttering rapid-fire incantations while begging for mercy, which left Lille and the others entirely baffled.
After watching for a while, Lille had a guess in mind.
In 2011, after the internet bubble had burst, the industry had finally started to show some signs of recovery.
The rise of the network would naturally lead to an increase in the number of hackers, and this girl was probably a half-baked one.
But it was unclear what kind of hacker she wasâhacking for money, or so-called justice and truth?
"Whatâs your name?"
"Jenkins! Uh... Jenkins Walmart! I mean, Walton!"
The girl stuttered, glancing at the nearby convenience store as she spoke.
Perhaps she mentioned the major retail chain related to convenience stores to make it sound less far-fetched.
Lille was at a loss for words, "Oh? Is that so, nice to meet you, Ms. Walton, Iâm Dennis Burger King!"
The girl looked up, batting her big eyes, "Hello, Mr. Burger King, I really was just passing by..."
"Are you kidding me? You were engaging in hacking activities, werenât you? Who do you work for?"
The girl hesitated for a moment, her face showing struggle. She glanced at the two expressionless burly men behind Lille, then suddenly accepted her fate, closed her eyes, and shouted:
"I work for truth and justice! You canât intimidate me! Truth will one day be exposed to the sunlight, we..."
Lille rubbed his forehead, pinched the girlâs face, and she could only pout and make whimpering noises as they stared at each other:
"Stop shouting, or do you want to attract the attention of New York City officials? So, youâre a hacker with a sense of mission, and I also need this network route, can you stop meddling and leave?"
The girl nodded vigorously with wide eyes.
"Good."
Lille let go of the girl and walked towards the distribution box on his own.
There was a data port along his wristâs vein, an interface for cybernetic connections.
The interface read the information, processed the electrical signals, and uploaded them to a modified neural processor in the brain, which used the brain as storage and processing for the data.
If prosthetics with different operating systems were implanted in the spinal column, the nerve center, other nerves could be used for computation.
The entire system was one of the basic technologies of the Cyberpunk 2077 world â the brain-computer interface.
Of course, Lille had a specially modified data conversion adapter since the interfaces of the two worlds were not physically compatible.
As Lille was processing data, he twisted his shouldersâ
Because he noticed that the girl hadnât left, but was actually peeking at him from behind.
"..."
Lille once again shifted to the side, blocking his personal connection port, and the girl tiptoed to get a better view.
The two bodyguards also shifted their positions.
It turned into a game of cat and mouse.
Lille turned his head again with annoyance, "I told you to scram, what are you still doing here?"
"Eh... learning technology, youâre a hacker too, right? Do you still remember what the spirit of the internet entails? Sharing..."
"Idiot," Lille cursed under his breath, but then the thought struck him that this girl seemed quite proactive.
Why not coax her into working for him, helping the school dropout find employment?
"Hmm... whatâs your real name? Serious this time, otherwise seriously scram."
The girl hesitated a moment, "My name is Skye, I guess you guys arenât the bad guys, right?"
Lille quickly compared the name Skye with the "Marvel Characters Database" in his head.
This girl truly was a hacker, known in the hacker world as Quake, a formidable one before her superpower awakening, obviously now in the early stages of her hacking career.
A typical life trajectory would involve hacking the wrong person and then being recruited by the Shield Bureau or something.
Lille retorted, "Which bad guys? How did you guess?"
"You know, those people stirring up trouble with the redevelopment, killing with toothpicks, arenât you curious about how they do it?"
"Not curiousâafter all, Iâm bound to find out sooner or later." Lille pulled the sleeve of his coat to cover the vein port, only exposing the data cable.
"You can learn the technology, but itâs not free. Why donât you work with me?
Iâm hired to help the landlord upgrade the security system, of course, including defenses against potential toothpick killings."
"Huh? Is there money in it?"
"No, all the tech is taught for free and youâre given a job, and you still want a salary? You want all the good stuff for yourself, huh?"
Lille replied with too much self-righteousness, which made Skye wonder if this was some sort of adult world rule?
But learning some technology wasnât a bad idea, she could think about the future later.
Skye finally made up his mind, "Alright! Thatâs settled then! Both of you bodyguards..."
"Let her through," Lille waved his hand, and the two bodyguards made way for Skye.
Of course, they couldnât keep up their cool demeanor any longer, how could they follow Lille and on the very first day witness the kind of oddity they would never see during normal work.
Could it be that society was always this colorful?
As Skye approached, however, he couldnât see anything; after all, Lille wasnât using a phone or computer to hack.
To the naked eye, Lille just seemed to connect a wire, then stood there motionless.
The data processing part was finished; what remained was the rewiring, making the newly effective protocol physically operational.
"Done? And then what? Whereâs your computer? Your tools?"
"A real hacker, just being good with computers isnât enough."
Lille directly started to unplug several Ethernet cables, and in the complicated mess of wiring, found the interface he was looking for.
The speed, precision, and decisiveness of his actions filled Skye with admiration.
An old hacker! Definitely a pro!
"Wow, how did you do that?"
"Iâm a pro, I can tell how the wires should be connected at a glance, alright--the base station is now under my control.
Iâll be installing a backdoor at the substation, follow me."
The security trio gained a chatty girl, as Lille explained to her the operations he was currently undertaking while they walked.
"Whenever people think of hackers, they picture some guy squatting in a rental apartment, surrounded by computers, ground covered in trash, not moving for days with gloomy glasses on.
But thatâs not true; those who never leave the net might at best commit identity theft through online scams.
Truly secretive individuals are hard to fool, so finding the physical target is very important."
"Exactly, exactly! Thatâs what they say on the BBS too! But the wiring in this place is like a level from hell; I heard an electrician even had an accident here before, no idea what happened..."
"What BBS?"
"Uh... A forum called âTide,â havenât you heard of it? Lots of hackers hang out there."
"Amateurs stick together. From now on, if youâre with me, forget about those guys--"
Lille pointed to the front door of the nearby substation, and told the three, "See that? Later weâre just going to walk in, and Iâll say weâre electricians, here for an inspection. Act the part."
"Just walk right over?" The three said in unison.
Lille nodded, "Just walk right in, donât talk, donât show too much emotion on your faces, stay behind me, act natural."
"But..."
John and Anthony looked at each other, suspicion and hesitation apparent in their eyes.
If they were caught...
Lille said earnestly, "Trust me, if the surveillance doesnât come back on, believe me, someone could rob your house blind and youâd still only dare to watch."
Skye didnât hesitate muchâif they failed, theyâd just be kicked out.
If they succeededâmy god, this was a hacking god!
The three calmed themselves and followed Lille toward the substation, everyone but Lille feeling a bit shaky.
And sure enough, the security stopped them.
Lille said, "Weâre new, sent from above to investigate some strange electricity readings, might be a case of power theft."
Before the guard could ask more questions, his phone rang.
It was a text message from a senior engineer in the station.
"A group of electricians will be arriving soon to check the readings, three men and a woman."
Still, the guard felt something was offâthese three didnât look much like electricians, did they?
"Where are your work cards, your uniforms, and your tools?"
Just as Lille was about to explain, the guard received another text: "Their gear is all inside, the leaderâs name is Dennis Burger King.
By the way, their work area is in A2 zone."
"...Our stuff is inside, Iâm Dennis, the senior engineer should have reported this to you already."
Lilleâs explanation matched perfectly with the guardâs text messages, leaving him no reason to stop them anymore.
"Alright... go on in," the guard relented.
As he watched Lille and his group enter, the guard looked at the four of them warilyâ
If they took a wrong turn, that would be rather suspicious, wouldnât it?
However, Lille of course wouldnât take a wrong turnâthe engineerâs phone conveniently had a photo.
It was a map of the work areas inside the substation.
The guard shook his head and returned to his post.
"What a strange name, âBurger Kingâ..."