After getting into the car, Old Captain immediately answered a call from his old friend Cheson.
Cheson, "Damn, man, what the hell happened yesterday? This morning, as soon as I opened the door, both Military Science and Kantao came to my shop twice to inspect things!"
Old Captain, "How would I know? But, bro, Iâm in with the big boys now, Iâll treat you to a drink sometime!"
Cheson, "I mean... impressive."
Cheson, "Looks like itâs gonna be tough these next few days. Got any business to refer?"
Old Captain, "Hard to say, but I think if business in the city is tough, you could head up to Evil Land. You saw how badass the Wanderer was last night."
Cheson, "Now that you mention it, thatâs true. Can you help me advertise?"
Old Captain, "Since the company has already come knocking at your door, I think whether or not advertising matters is beside the pointâBro, I even got a video of yesterdayâs legend, Mackinaw!"
Old Captain, "Thunder Company must be ecstatic."
Cheson, "Thatâs beyond ecstatic... I need to buy some stocks... damn it, the company dogs are back, this time itâs Arasakaâs!"
Cheson, "Gotta hang up, brother, letâs talk when weâre free."
Right after hanging up, Old Captain receives a text message from Arasaka.
Sender: Arasaka Representative A.
Old Captain: Yo, a rare visitor. What do you need?
Arasaka Representative A: Information.
Old Captain: Ah, thatâs a tough one.
Arasaka Representative A: Cut the crap, we want information on those three.
Old Captain: Those three?
Arasaka Representative A: Yes, the three from last night.
Old Captain: Thatâs not easy to say. There are many trios in this world, and maybe the information you want isnât about a trio at all. It could be a duo, a quartet, a quintet. Without a name, how would I know what youâre talking about?
Arasaka Representative A: ...The big shot from Burger Kingâs deal, I want their current information.
Old Captain: Wow, so they were the ones behind last nightâs events? Truly badass, but where would I go to meet such big shots?
Arasaka Representative A: Watch your status.
Old Captain: Oy, big boss, Iâm just an ordinary middleman, really donât get to see any big shots.
Old Captain: Boss? You still there?
The communication is cut off, and Old Captain in the car scoffs.
"Getting anxiousâthere you go getting anxious; thereâll be more for you to worry about later."
As he spoke, Old Captain looked at Evil Land through the rearview mirror, saying thoughtfully,
"Formidable... Night City has no living legends, turns out that law isnât quite accurate."
...
The injuries that Jack and V suffered would normally be fatalâbut they are cyborgs, transhumans with prosthetic enhancements.
The price of not dying was that they had to pay for parts to repair their bodies.
After the drive, the two lay back down in their tent.
"Tsk tsk, you guys are something. Drove yourselves to lie down."
V blinked her large eyes and said, "Er... what do we do now?"
Lille didnât speak, just remained in diagnostic modeâhis brain-computer interface was damaged, slowing down his system operations.
Jackâs problem was straightforwardâhis reinforced skeleton had fractures, mainly in the rib area, both femurs and tibias also had varying degrees of fractures.
It wasnât that his bones werenât hard enough. If it had been natural bones, this wouldnât be just simple fractures. His whole body would have been ground to pieces.
That big guy from the Terrorist Mobile Team wasnât kidding when he got violent. Those walls that were smashed through in a couple of hits were the walls of the Biotechnology Building!
Given his level of prosthetics, it wasnât impossible for him to break an armored vehicle with his bare hands in that state.
The broken bones meant he couldnât stiffen his body, and the fractures would also cause more severe immune reactions inside the body, leading to an overall decline in bodily functions.
Otherwise, Jack was someone who had ridden through explosions in the city center; this bit of speed wouldnât normally make him pass out.
"As for Jack... just find some merchandise to replace his bones, that repairâs relatively simple."
Jack lay on his back, unable to move, "Ah, can I replace less?"
After some thought, responded Lille, "Maybe so, let me think of a way."
"Good brother, youâre reliable."
Vâs problem, however, was much more complicatedâ
The visible part: Cyberpsychosis caused the prosthetics to over-frequency and malfunction, so her circulatory system and frontal cortex readings were a bit off, but overall, she was recovering.
But the diagnostic system encountered errors, suggesting that Vâs prosthetics were not just normally damaged; her nervous system and immune system were reporting a multitude of error messages.
Such a vast array of indeterminate errors... could only mean an issue with her spinal prosthetic.
The flagship product from Super Dream, the unfinished "Reality Distortion" Si Anweisitan.
Weâll have to get Kantao on this.
But to take the issue to the company... I always feel itâs not quite safe.
This silence gave V the creeps, "Why arenât you talking anymore? Say something, will you?"
"...The issue is somewhat complex."
Lille thought of something else:
Speaking of which, Vâs Si Anweisitan was one of those with high security but low performance, so how did she severely injure one of the Terrorist Mobile Team, with three of them present?
Even if you take away that distracted big guy, there are still two good ones left, right?
To know the answer to this question...
V was stunned, "Spit it out! Why do you stop halfway every time?"
"For now... Iâm going to stop your spinal prosthetics, just maintaining basic functions, then I need to extract a snippet of âSuper Dreamâ from your Si Anweisitan."
"Super Dream?" V was taken aback.
Super Dream is actually a recording system.
This recording system can completely capture the hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell experienced by the Cyber Implant.
Itâs converted into Cyber Implant information through a special device, replicating these sensations almost identically, allowing the experiencer to relive nearly 100% of what the extractor felt.
By 2076 these were already very common technologies, of course V wouldnât be unfamiliar with them; she just found it strangeâ
Because recording a Super Dream supposedly required special equipment, at least thatâs what she had heard.
"Yes, Super Dream," explained Lille. "Si Anweisitan itself is a prosthetic that stimulates almost every part of the body, so in fact, itâs also the highest grade of Super Dream recording device.
An editor who knows how to convert this information can record a Super Dream with it.
I need the Super Dream to analyze what happened to you in the building."
"No way!"
V suddenly shook her head.
Lille was surprised, "Itâs not like Iâm asking for your life, just a Super Dream recording. Didnât you ever dream of being a Super Dream star as a kid?"
Being a Super Dream star is one thing; this is my personal privacy..."
"Iâve told you, this is medical data, and Iâve already got it."
The chip popped out with a snap, and Vâs eyes widened!
"Alright, if you want to get better sooner, cut out the drama. Thereâs bigger work waiting for you once youâre healed."
"Wait a minute, how can you just extract Super Dream data from my body?"
"Si Anweisitan itself comes with a data recording function. Have you ever heard of the Super Dream series called âOutsiderâ? Thatâs how itâs done."
Lille waved the chip he had obtained and slipped it into his pocket.
V resigned herself to the situationâmost of her prosthetics were now shut down, maintaining only the essential functions.
Before this, she could have used Si Anweisitan to snatch the stuff back right away, but not anymore.
"Fine, fine..." V lay on the mat and sneaked a glance at Lille. Seeing no change in his expression, she continued, "So what now? Just lie here?"
"Of course not, donât forget that we too are now Wanderers."
Lille looked out of the tent.
The elders of the red ochre stone had released the last of their lifeâs vitality, but those who survived still had to struggle on in this world.
"...Weâve got to do something good for the Tribe, right?"
The red ochre stone Tribe was in a transition periodâthe elders were gone, and the youth had not been through much.
But this Tribe still had potential.
"Never thought Iâd see the day Iâd be wanderingâNight Cityâs legends arenât made in Evil Land."
Saying this, V turned over and sat up against the cupboard:
"Just so long as we donât keep sinking money into itâand speaking of which, you said Rogel used to lay low in Evil Land, tell me about that."
Jack also nodded, "I want to hear about that too. The street legends donât seem to cover that bit."
Lille was startled for a moment, then realized that although this history was well known to him, Rogel was laying low at the time and naturally wouldnât make a big deal about it.
Their ignorance was to be expected.
"Alright... then we can catch up on someâurban legends. You all know about the Arasaka Tower nuclear blast, right?"
Both noddedâthey knew it was one of Night Cityâs biggest mysteries, with the truth still hotly debated.
The commonly accepted version now is the one revealed by a famous journalist decades agoâ
That the nuclear blast was set off by Military Technology, and Rogel was just a decoy sent by Military Technology.
"Everybody knows this has a lot to do with Rogel, but not many know that the Wanderers were also involved.
And it was precisely our current hostâAdkaduo."
[Unstable Energy is about to erupt, please prepare.]