Chapter 78 - 74 Eyewitness Event: School Bullying

Three days ago—

David carried his mother, Gloria, to the hospital—

He didn’t know how he managed it, but he remembered every word Acido told him.

He had a feeling that if he passed out, if he didn’t personally carry his mom to the hospital, if he didn’t watch her every minute and every second...

The future that Acido hinted at would definitely happen.

He placed his mother on the gurney of Red Shirt Mental Hospital himself—Gloria had an insurance policy here and often had bodies delivered to be dealt with.

Then he just stood there, staring blankly at the doctors.

"All right, leave the rest to us doctors, you can rest outside or go back.

However, I suggest you go home. The cheapest package doesn’t include visitation services; you can wait for news at home.

You look like a student; don’t you have school to attend? Don’t neglect your studies. We’ll take care of your mother," said the doctor before pushing the gurney towards the operating room.

Clack.

The gurney was suddenly halted.

"I want to watch over her."

The doctor frowned, "Then pay up. If you can’t afford it, don’t make a fuss."

"We don’t have any money..."

"Then get lost! Beggar!"

The doctor slapped David’s hand with a smack, yet this did not dislodge David’s grip.

How strange—this kid looked like he was about to drop dead, blood still trickling from his head.

David’s head was a bit dazed; he just looked at the doctor—a sight that even unnerved the doctor.

If it weren’t for the fact that this kid didn’t have Combat Prosthetics, he’d suspect that the kid was about to have a cyberpsychosis episode.

Now, he reckoned the kid hadn’t recovered from his concussion—like this woman.

Fractures, contusions, concussion, minor blood loss, burns... nothing too serious.

Her body was still worth something.

After doing so much work filching treasures from corpses, now it was her turn.

"I..."

The doctor sighed, "Listen, kid, go home if you don’t have money. We’ll take good care of your mom, okay? Rules are rules..."

Slap!

David, as if possessed, slapped the doctor with a force that pulled no punches.

"Give you a slap... you still want to act up?"

David didn’t know what he was saying, he just remembered what Acido told him before, and then he did it.

Carrying Gloria from the west side of Saint Domingo all the way to the east, near the Colorado Farm, to the Red Shirt Mental Hospital.

He didn’t even know how he had endured it all, plus the nausea and vertigo from the concussion. All that flashed through his mind were fragments of images.

That included Acido’s words, which was the clearest thing in his mind recently.

That slap was so strong it even involved holding a handgun, ringing the doctor’s head.

"You..." The doctor was about to explode in anger when he noticed David’s gleaming handgun and involuntarily swallowed his spit.

Alright then, not a cyberpsycho but an armed psycho.

"Hey, you can just pay a little extra..."

Before he could finish, David slapped him again!

Bang!

This time it wasn’t just a slap— the gun went off!

The doctor thought he was dead, his legs giving out: "I was wrong, I was wrong! I’ll let you stay by her side! I’ll save her! Don’t kill me!"

Like that, David laboriously pushed his mom into the treatment room.

And sitting nearby was a Colorado Farm worker with his arm in a sling, wearing an expression as if he was watching a drama unfold.

...

"That’s the story, boss. I taught that kid this method. Pretty clever, right?"

In the car, Acido told Lille the story to pass the time.

Can’t deny, the kid’s got potential to be a driver—not only does he have good driving skills, his observation skills are decent too, and he knows how to pick a topic when the ride gets dull.

But this story, why does it sound like a reboot of Cyberpunk Edgerunners?

If David had been smarter, maybe his mom wouldn’t have had to die.

"The kid you’re talking about... does his mom have red hair?"

"Uh... I actually don’t know. The... former colleague who told me the story just said the kid acted like he was crazy, kind of interesting, ended up being the right move accidentally.

That hospital was not exactly legit anyway, specialized in locking up psychos to supply the Scavengers."

"Red Shirt Psychiatric Hospital?"

"Yes, that one. Boss, you know about it too?"

"I was just asking. Okay, stop the car here. I’ll go in myself."

"Oh, by the way, Boss, I have to work for Valentino this afternoon..."

"I got it. I can take the subway by myself—don’t use my car for your gig."

"Understood, understood. See you later, Boss!"

The black Mackinaw stood out awkwardly at the entrance of Arasaka Academy amid the luxury cars.

Although the car was ugly, oversized, and cheap, the flashy cars next to it had to steer clear—scratching it would mean a big loss.

Lille got out of the car and headed towards Arasaka Academy.

All day long, besides studying, Lille was contemplating his next move.

The data barriers were already dealt with, and the movement paths of the three of them in Cyberspace were intermittent.

Now all he needed to do was to toss away the braindead name "Burger King Bigshot Dumbass" and pull off one more big job; no one would connect the two.

But the best cover name is one where you know it’s fake, but you can’t find any real clues.

So Lille planned to continue using the name but with more convoluted handling.

The best-case scenario would be to become like the Cuban hitman Aloroy, a super assassin who could appear anywhere in the world with a 100% success rate.

Nobody knew if Aloroy was a living Death God or a group of assassins fixated on the same name.

"Might as well turn the name into an urban legend..."

The next step was to head straight for Biotechnology—the entry point being their R&D director in Night City, Joanne Koch.

It was this person who had signed a cooperation agreement with the Redstone Tribe, almost causing them to die off.

By finding out exactly what experiments Biotechnology was conducting, and exposing their dirty experiments, other companies would press down on them like sharks smelling blood.

Then kidnap Joanne to use her mouth to swindle the DNA editing device into Night City.

Finally, the most crucial step of the big plan: robbery.

After the heist, he could secure the Lizard potion to become... no, not a Lizard Man, to extend his own life.

The job was dangerous and needed ample cover.

Walking along the road, Lille suddenly heard voices talking in an alley ahead—he thought all kids from Arasaka Academy should have gone home by now.

As Lille was passing by, he happened to witness an incident: school bullying.

"Just drop out already, David Martinez."

Three lavishly dressed students from Arasaka Academy were surrounding a tattered-clothed David, with the ringleader—who sported a watermelon-head haircut—making grand speeches.

"I’m not targeting you because your family is poor. In fact, I am very open-minded. It’s not your fault you were born into a poor family, and there’s no rule that poor people can’t attend Arasaka Academy.

But the crux is, you have to be able to afford the tuition—but what really concerns me is something else."

David sighed, responding nonchalantly, "So what? I didn’t understand what you said."

"That’s exactly my point!" the leader suddenly pulled out a finger towards David from his pocket, "You don’t belong here, freak!

You’re rubbish that can never blend in with us and, if left unattended, will only dirty others..."

Lille listened with interest—he had to admit, studying at Arasaka Academy was quite different.

If this were on the streets, a single "F*ck your mom" would suffice, but this kid really had a way with words.

But while he was enjoying the scene, inside the Davi within stared in shock—

That man!

That man!

He was the one who had escaped the Six Street Gang’s blockade in Saint Domingo, then killed his way back, ambushed the Cyberspace psychos on the highway, and was even rumored to have taken down the leading brother in Aloroy!

"Hey! Martinez, are you even listening?"

David didn’t pay him any attention, which made the leader even more anxious. He followed David’s gaze and caught sight of Lille.

And the Arasaka Adult Education Academy badge on his chest.

Cheap clothing, cheap hair, and an overall frail-looking body...

"Tsk, another piece of trash, just like him... Stay out of what doesn’t concern you and get out of the way!"

Tanaka Shigeru—that is, the speaker—scanned Lille and found almost no prosthetics on him.

So his two underlings started to approach.

"Tanaka, I’d advise you not to mess with him..." David tried to warn him out of goodwill, only to receive an eye roll in response.

Lille sighed.

But Tanaka Shigeru was still talking; it seemed like Lille’s sigh touched a nerve, and he turned his hostility towards Lille, stepping closer:

"Even if it’s continuing education, it’s still not something a poor man can afford. Someone like you is definitely involved in criminal activities, right?

Involved in criminal work, fantasizing about learning something that could turn your life around—a piece of trash just the same..."

"Yeah," Lille spread his hands.

"Huh?" Tanaka Shigeru was momentarily stunned, "What did you say?"

"I said, you said I was involved in criminal activities, I said yeah—now hurry up and hand over anything valuable you’ve got."