V shrugged, turned and walked to the break room bar in the office area to make two cups of coffee. After handing one to Harry and thanking him, she headed for Jenkins's office.
"Good morning, Officer Jenkins." After passing through the corridor, waiting for a moment, and receiving entry authorization after a scan, V immediately entered the office and greeted him.
Behind the desk sat Arthur Jenkins, a fit white man with a clean-shaven face and somewhat sinister eyes.
"Mm. Sit." He glanced at V, then lowered his head again to deal with something as he gestured for her to sit.
"..."
Just as V was considering how to begin, Jenkins broke the silence.
"V, it will take a few more days to process your confirmation paperwork. Your full employee benefits will be in place within a week. Is there anything else? If not, get back to work. I sent you the file. Handle it well, and work hard."
The stream of information left V stunned for quite a while before she digested it. It was 2074, she was only twenty, and she had not been with Arasaka Corporation for long.
"Nothing else, sir. I'll head back first." After a long moment, V took a deep breath and stood up. There was no point in saying more now. What mattered was doing the work.
"Very good." Jenkins merely waved a hand dismissively.
He had taken a liking to V's potential. She had performed well during her probationary period, her background check had come back clean, and she was capable. The personality analysis in her personnel file also showed that she suited his needs. That was why he had called V in.
Of course, if V wanted more cultivation, she still had to fulfill her potential and improve herself. Her full employee benefits were merely a little something he had casually let slip through his fingers.
"How did it go, V?"
Harry had been waiting by the door and immediately waved when he saw V emerge.
"Not bad. I got a promise. If I work hard, I'll be confirmed within a week."
"Holy shit! Congratulations!" Harry rubbed his hands excitedly, as though he himself had been promoted.
"Thanks, Harry." In a company environment full of intrigue and deception, decent people like Harry were exceedingly rare. V suppressed the joy in her heart and patted Harry. "I've got a task, so excuse me first." With that, she headed toward her workstation.
Beep beep...
With an excited heart and trembling hands, V activated her personal terminal, opened the file marked unread, and went straight to the document sent by her superior, Arthur Jenkins.
The document's cover title read:
—Harazaka South America Investigation Team—
The South America Investigation Team?
Wasn't that about Rio de Janeiro?
Thinking of something, V opened the document. The first page immediately made her raise her brows in surprise.
"What a coincidence."
Operation File (Confidentiality Agreement) Affiliation: Arasaka Corporation Employee ID: NC760404( Name: Vera Adelheid Russell (Vera Adelheide Russell) Department: I (Security Department) Occupation: Combat Commander/Technician Trauma Team Platinum Member/Crystal Palace Discount Agreement/Quantified Enlightenment Rehabilitation Center Member Superiors: Shintaro Takayama, Director of Security Department, Arasaka Tokyo Headquarters/Michiko Arasaka, CEO of Harazaka America Division, Board Member Duties: Execute and support private contracts, corporate security services, and public security services; provide and train combat soldiers; defend corporate assets during armed conflicts; Biotechnology specialist researcher (concurrent post), conducting research in areas of personal interest to create value for the company and provide technical support for the discovery and restoration of Old Net Technology. Brief Biography: Born April 4, 2054.( 2070: At age sixteen, entered Night City Harazaka Tower Academy on recommendation as the orphaned child of a meritorious Arasaka Group employee. 2071: Achieved outstanding grades in all subjects during one year at Arasaka Tower Academy. Following a report, selected for the reserve talent pool of Harazaka Group Tokyo Headquarters. As an elite student of Arasaka Tower Academy, participated as an intern observer in the 2071 Arasaka Security Department suppression of the San Francisco Riots. 2072: Received a recommended placement and transferred from Night City Harazaka Tower Academy to the academy at Harazaka Group Tokyo Headquarters for one year of evaluation and advanced study. 2073: Returned to Night City Harazaka Tower Academy and graduated as the Chief of the Arasaka Tower Academy Class of 2073. Officially joined the Night City Harazaka Security Department. Following assessment, concurrently assigned as a researcher at the Night City Harazaka Biotechnology R&D Department under a special internal approval for Biotechnology talent. Personal laboratory codename: Umbrella red-and-white symmetrical umbrella logo—confidential. 2074:... —Insufficient authorization for further details— Employee Evaluation: Entered Night City Harazaka Tower Academy in 2070 and officially joined the company after graduating in 2073. During two years of internship and service, this employee performed exceptionally, deeply participating in and organizing seven successful security defense operations and six public security stabilization operations. Specializations: Providing corporate security services, maintaining public security, commanding decapitation strikes (San Francisco security service, Kyoto Counter-Terrorism Attack, Rio de Janeiro Riot Control Operation); possesses deep personal interest in Biotechnology, with notable talent and considerable achievements (confidential).
No wonder Vera Adelheid had risen so quickly.
Personal ability was one thing, but background, background, and still background!
When it came to being born into the right family, parents recognized by Arasaka as meritorious employees definitely had not been low-ranking. They were most likely middle management or higher. All those confidential notices and insufficient permissions were things V could never compare to.
Before long, V understood what Jenkins had meant by "work hard." With great self-awareness, she snuffed out her curiosity.
It was a routine counterespionage inspection, work for their Counter-Intelligence Department.
In theory, task reports from other corporate departments were routinely sent through the Counter-Intelligence Department for review and filing. But everyone knew that theory was theory. For certain people and departments, such inspections were usually just for show.
As long as there were no procedural abnormalities, the report passed. It was one of the fastest ways for the Counter-Intelligence Department to accumulate so-called work experience. When a superior suddenly assigned this kind of work to a newcomer, it generally meant the superior thought highly of them.
After all, did someone like Vera Adelheid, whose name was already registered in the Tokyo Headquarters reserve promotion talent pool, really need detailed scrutiny from you? It was just procedure.
Some promotions within the Harazaka Group had prerequisite requirements, such as having "work experience and achievements" before becoming a full employee.
Rules were dead, but people were alive. This was an unspoken rule within Arasaka for arranging trusted subordinates. If they wanted to promote someone quickly while still following procedure, they assigned them this easy kind of "show work."
Of course, if your surname was Arasaka and you had latched onto a powerful backer, that was another matter.
"No abnormalities in the operation. Passed."
Evening, Night City International Airport.
Surrounded by Team 6 of the Special Rapid Response Unit under her command, Vera stepped out of an Arasaka International business jet cabin carrying a suitcase.
She was back in the "giant shit pit."
Looking over the city of sin and prosperity beneath its flashing neon lights, Vera walked to the railing of the Arasaka VIP Lane. Her gaze swept deeply across everything within sight—Heywood, Watson, Pacifica... Before finally settling in the direction of City Center, on that black tower.
"Good evening, Night City."
A Beginning Has Never Been So Wonderful
Night City, Westbrook.
Corporate residential district, Unit 414, Russell Apartment.
At first light, Vera woke from a deep sleep and slowly sat up in bed.
"Ugh... Not even giving me one day off. What a bunch of vampires."
Muttering soundlessly, Vera rubbed her sleepy head, still drowsy after voluntarily shutting off her mental and physical health monitor. She held her forehead and shook her head, and the pupils of her indigo cybernetic eye cleared in an instant.
Thinking about how she had only returned to Night City from Rio de Janeiro last night, then been summoned to Arasaka Tower for all kinds of meetings, and how she now had to get up early this morning to work at Arasaka Tower after finally finishing all that wrangling, Miss Vera felt extremely irritated.
Even workhorses weren't used this hard. Fucking vermin!
Of course, complaining was one thing. She still had to go to work.
For the sake of bonuses and cash, after all, she had to make a living.
After her beneficial daily round of grumbling and criticism for her mental and physical health, Vera's expression turned serious. It was time for work!
Rolling out of bed, Vera, dressed in a dark, gauzy nightgown, walked into the washroom under the faint warm light of the bedroom. The sensor light came on automatically.
Splash splash~
After washing up, Vera wiped the water from her face and carefully examined herself in the mirrored wall.
"I'm completely used to it now. Mm, not bad..."
Her exquisite face possessed both Eastern softness and delicacy, as well as Western definition and depth.
Her silver-gold hair, indigo eyes like deep spring waters, and subtle traces of cybernetic implants adorned her features. The metal implants hidden beneath her temples and the indentation along her upper lip orbicularis muscle combined to create a distinctive, icy beauty.
Not bad. Very Cyberpunk.
It carried an air of practical luxury—restrained and unostentatious, yet supremely elegant.
It perfectly matched the aesthetic championed by the Harazaka Group's new militarism.
If the "legends" who had blown up Arasaka Tower fifty years ago saw this face—especially that "Rock Kid"—they would probably explode on the spot, start cursing, grab a weapon, and try to smash this affected, pretentious face to pieces...
Although by 2074, advancements in cybernetic modification technology meant that a person's facial features, skin color, eye color, body type, and even gender could all be altered, Vera truly had never put much thought into this face.
At most, when she had first entered Arasaka Tower Academy, she had deliberately maintained herself in this style to flatter Arasaka and show loyalty. Then... it had genuinely become a habit.
When an act lasted long enough, it became real.
Or perhaps it could be said that the "inheritance" left behind by this body's parents was simply too generous.
Under the light, Vera looked complicatedly at the tile beside the sink, where a framed photograph had been embedded.
In the photograph was a family portrait of one man and two women, two adults and one child, who had not spent much time together.
The man appeared to be in his early thirties, with slicked-back blond hair, a suit and tie, and a strong build. The woman leaned against his side, with pale gold hair falling to her shoulders. She wore a dress that looked old-fashioned by modern standards, and her gentle face, eyes, and nose bore some resemblance to Vera's current appearance.
They were the parents this body had been given.
And the small little girl standing between them had been her as a child.
Come to think of it, she had borne the name Vera for nearly twenty years.
Gently stroking the frame, Vera murmured in a voice only she could hear, "Maybe I'm not your daughter. Or maybe I am... But as long as I'm alive, I'll fulfill my duty to honor you."
Truly, even though the parents of this body had not fulfilled much responsibility for raising or accompanying her—they had both been busy, the sort who could go a year without seeing her several times—Vera still felt heartfelt gratitude toward them.
It wasn't as though she were some clueless child starved for love.
Aside from this face, which was an advantage in the company, there was this multi-level apartment in Westbrook's corporate district near Japantown and City Center, along with bankbooks, stocks, funds, and other tangible assets sufficient for Vera to live freely for a long time...
Most importantly, there were the other invisible "inheritances" left by her biological parents.
Without them, she could never have climbed so quickly through the snake pit called Arasaka.
It was an open secret in the industry that although the Japan-founded Harazaka Group had gone global, its traditions of lifelong corporate employment, inheritance from father to child, and generational loyalty still deeply influenced every Harazaka department.
In other words, bloodline mattered. Being one of their own mattered.
A dark joke circulated through many Arasaka branches: at Tokyo Headquarters, even a position cleaning toilets was expected to remain with the company until death and be inherited for generations.
There might have been some exaggeration, but one could imagine Arasaka's internal culture.
Vera could not easily judge the advantages and disadvantages, because she herself benefited from this tradition.
Her biological father, Fred Russell, was an executive in the Harazaka North America Security Department and controlled a powerful department such as the General Security Bureau;
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