Infinite, Progressing from Arasaka

Vera and the Younger Generation

"An excellence award... Is there even such a thing?"

Hearing this, David was instantly stunned.

He had been attending Arasaka Academy for over half a year now. Wasn't the school's nature to only take in and never give out?

"Student ID."

Too lazy to explain, the agent from the Arasaka Security Department held out his hand.

"Oh, okay, wait, please wait..." David hurried into the room and rummaged through the drawers around the computer desk just to the left of the doorway. Meanwhile, the two agents surveyed the Martinez family's rental unit.

Like Santo Domingo, it was run-down and old.

The room was small, the kind that could be taken in at a glance. There was no entryway; the living room doubled as the bedroom. There were two small spaces on either side. The larger one on the left was the bathroom, while the smaller one on the right was probably being used as a storage room. The sunken seating area was piled with idle tools and furniture with torn upholstery.

It was shabby, but compared to the surrounding homes, it was already very clean.

An exhausted-looking red-haired woman reclined sideways on the couch, wearing a yellow jacket and watching them with a slightly vacant expression.

The two agents habitually swept their eyes around the room. Orange-red light flickered in their eyes as they pulled up the woman's identity information.

David's single mother was named Gloria, and she worked at Night City Medical Center.

"This kid lives in a place like this? Looks like he never had the chance to receive preschool education."

"But his grades aren't bad, and he got lucky enough to catch the attention of someone higher up... He might even become one of us."

As the two low-level Arasaka field agents talked, "Found it, found it! Sorry, sorry..." The teenage boy with the punk mohawk hurriedly waved his student ID and handed it over.

Target confirmed. Collection complete.

Red light flashed in the agent's eyes as he briefly scanned David's student ID. "Keep it safe." He handed the ID and a briefcase over. David accepted them sluggishly.

Then they simply left.

"David?"

Gloria first let out a breath of relief, then looked puzzled.

"It's an excellence award for the academy's practical activity..."

David closed the door, blocking out the probing stares of the neighbors. He placed the briefcase bearing the large Arasaka Clover logo before his mother, lifted his chin and turned his face aside. His voice was thick with emotion as he said, "I'll work hard, so don't wear yourself out like this."

"Didn't that big-shot from Arasaka say it at the start of school? Family, responsibility, duty. I don't want you to collapse from exhaustion after I finally make it to Arasaka Tower..."

He was still a teenager. After achieving something, he wanted to show off a little in front of his mother.

"David." A gentle smile suddenly bloomed on Gloria's face. She stood and pulled David into her arms. "I'm proud of you."

"Okay, Mom... Let's see what's inside first."

Click.

David opened the briefcase. Inside were:

A commemorative card stamped with information certifying the Night City Arasaka Security Department and Arasaka Academy's 2074 student practical activity; an exquisitely crafted shield-shaped metal commemorative badge; three Separate Chips; a long card; and a simple handgun.

The frame was dark, the slide was bright, and the base of the grip was red.

"Kenshin."

"The Security Department..." A complicated look flickered through Gloria's eyes. The JKE-X2 Kenshin was one of the machine pistols manufactured and sold by Arasaka.

At first glance, giving a student a handgun as an excellence award for practical training seemed strange. But this was Night City, the place with the loosest military-grade firearms restrictions in the world. The department coordinating this practical activity with Arasaka Academy was the Security Department, so security-issued handguns were perfectly normal.

She was happy that David seemed to have caught the eye of Arasaka's largest department, the Security Department. Yet that was also what worried her. The Security Department was one of the departments with the most field deployments and the highest casualty rate.

Would David become an Arasaka security soldier or agent...

A mother's instincts kept Gloria's joy from lasting long.

"Wow, Mom! We're rich!"

David's shout pulled Gloria back to herself. He had taken out a Separate Chip and inserted it into the chip slot behind his ear. Orange-red light flickered in his eyes, and his face was full of excitement.

Personal account: 5000 EUR received

Transferor: Night City Arasaka Security Department

"Five thousand euros. There's a five-thousand-euro scholarship."

It was not much money. For someone like Vera, it might not even cover a day's food, cigarettes, and alcohol. But for the Martinez family, it was a great deal—enough to solve their immediate troubles, perhaps even save their lives.

With those five thousand euros, Gloria would not have to be so rushed and desperate. At the very least, she could catch her breath. For over half a year, she would not need to worry about falling behind on payments, and their ability to bear risk would increase dramatically.

"Here."

Once the transfer program stored in the chip was activated, the Separate Chip was useless. David pulled it from the slot behind his ear and handed it to his mother without the slightest attachment. Then he pulled out the second chip. This time, "Uh..." David looked thoroughly uninterested.

He removed it and set it aside, then pulled out the third chip. Gloria picked up the second one, inserted it, and checked it. It contained a commemorative speech, an assessment of David's performance, and formulaic encouragement.

"Mom, I think you should take a look at this one." David pulled out the third chip with a thoughtful expression and handed it over. Gloria took it, inserted it, and saw the words appear before her eyes: Arasaka Academy Low-Interest Student Loan.

"Student loan..." Gloria fell into thought.

David picked up the final long card and read the letters beneath the clover emblem. "A library card? A library card..." He looked interested.

Not fitting in at school did not mean he did not thirst for knowledge. He simply had no money, no qualifications, and no connections. Arasaka Academy's paid library, with its various knowledge chips, was not open to him.

David was tempted.

"I heard the intelligent libraries at major academies like this are open around the clock, as long as you're qualified." Gloria leaned closer and smiled. "If you want to go, change into your uniform and head to Arasaka Academy. I'd like to order you another uniform to rotate through."

"Then I'm heading out."

David was highly proactive. After tidying himself up, changing into his academy uniform, and stuffing the Arasaka library card into his pocket, he cheerfully headed out.

During the holidays, he usually stayed home watching TV, accompanied that perverted Cybernetic Doctor to watch Black Dream, or used a basketball chip he had scavenged to play basketball at the nearby outdoor court.

Any farther than that, unless it was toward City Center, Gloria would not allow him to wander elsewhere. After all, this was Night City, where the locals were "so welcoming."

"David Kid, what were those two Arasaka Corporate Dogs doing at your door? Did you get in trouble at the academy?"

A washed-up middle-aged man who knew him called out from where he leaned against the corridor railing.

It was no secret that Mrs. Martinez was supporting her only son's attendance at Arasaka Academy. David wore an Arasaka uniform to school every day. His neighbors were not blind, and many of them were simply waiting to watch a spectacle.

"Nothing much."

There was no point explaining to them. David merely brushed them off, hurried down the stairs, ran up the slope, passed through the high-rises, and headed toward Arasaka Academy in City Center.

"Welcome, student David." The scanner at the entrance recognized him.

David recalled the location of the comprehensive academy's library.

"Well, if it isn't what's-his-name... David Martinez? You poor bastard should take a look at yourself. Is this really somewhere you belong?"

It sounded just like the kind of line spat by a nameless extra in those ancient early-century anime shows he got from that perverted Cybernetic Doctor, David thought.

With both hands in his pockets, he narrowed his eyes at the classmate walking out through the library doors.

The guy was lean, wore a mocking expression, and had blond hair. He looked as cocky as could be.

His name... David had forgotten. He was the descendant of some minor supervisor in the corporate administration department, a textbook spoiled rich kid. Since he had not gotten a Security Department practical-training slot last time, he had picked the easiest target on the list—the lucky David, who had stepped in bullshit and been selected—and taken a dislike to him.

After David finished the practical course and before the exam break, the blond-haired boy had mocked him repeatedly. It had not escalated into a physical conflict, but David's dismissive attitude seemed to be making the grudge between them increasingly obvious.

"Sorry, but I have a library card..."

David still wore that expression that said he did not want to listen. Tilting his body and curling his lip, he pulled out the brand-new library card and flicked it. "Move it, move it. I still need to study..."

The blond-haired boy viciously rammed David with his shoulder, his face darkening. "You know what I hate most? That attitude of yours. You're obviously some penniless poor bastard, shamelessly trying to fit in with us, yet you always act so nonchalant."

David staggered back and clutched his burning shoulder, frowning in pain.

The blond-haired boy still looked down on him. "With your family income, how could you possibly get a library card? You have a single mother, right? Don't tell me she does that kind of work and got tipped by some rich client..."

Bloodshot veins appeared in his eyes. At some point, David's eyes had already turned red. He felt something inside him snap, and the trembling in his raised legs grew faster and faster. "Ah—!" He lunged forward and drove a vicious punch into the blond-haired boy's face.

"A poor bastard is still a poor bastard. A free trash Combat Chip, natural arms, not even a single decent piece of cyberware..."

The blond-haired boy easily blocked David's punch with one hand and bared his teeth in a grin. Red light glowed across the palm lines of his Cyberarm. "Let me show you what real combat is!"

A dull impact rang out. David lost his balance, his face scraping against the ground after the heavy blow. Blood dripped down his cheeks onto the floor, but he still struggled to rise, his reddened eyes fixed stubbornly on the blond-haired boy.

"A boxer's fighting chip really packs a punch... There it is again. I really can't stand that face of yours." Stepping forward, the malice on the blond-haired boy's face grew thicker. His left foot anchored him in place while his right leg swung back.

You smug little bastard, just watch me—

"Don't you feel ashamed?"

A fierce gust swept past. David heard a scream beside his ear, followed by the dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground. The blond-haired boy lost his balance and slammed solidly onto the floor.

"Tanaka, you bastard..."

"Shut up, idiot."

The third voice made David look up. A boy with blue-black mushroom-cut hair stood in front of him with one hand in his pocket.

Katsuo Tanaka.

David remembered this classmate's name. He had participated in this year's Security Department practical activity with him.

He had heard the other students talking about him. His father was one of the academy's directors, and through that connection, Katsuo had even met a major figure from the Security Department at close range. He seemed to have already been chosen internally as a future Security Department operative. Under the assessment requirements set by that major figure, and with his father being extremely strict, he had changed greatly after being drilled relentlessly over the past year.

"Tanaka!" The blond-haired boy shakily climbed to his feet and pointed at him, shouting with more bluster than courage, "I'm going to tell the dean..."

"You never learn."

Katsuo Tanaka moved.

He darted in front of the blond-haired boy in a single stride, used his body to prevent the boy from retracting his arm, then threw a straight punch. The blond-haired boy tried to block with his other hand, but failed. The punch struck his abdomen, and he immediately folded over like a shrimp, vomiting stomach acid onto the floor.

Katsuo Tanaka said, "Still using this flashy, impractical stuff?"

The Series 400 Cyberarm and kung fu chip he had used before had been replaced. The reason was that they were too flashy and ostentatious, with too many unnecessary performance movements and too little practical combat value. What the Security Department required was simplicity, decisiveness, and lethality.

"Hey, can you stand on your own?"

Katsuo Tanaka turned to look at David, who was getting up while covering his face.

"You... Why did you help me?"

"I wasn't helping you. I was defending your identity, and mine."

Katsuo Tanaka picked up David's library card from the ground. "A bunch of idiots wasting their lives on frivolous things."

He looked at the blond-haired boy being supported by his lackeys. "Don't you know the practical results have been announced? His library card was given to him by Arasaka. Is your attitude an insult to the Security Department's examiners? I'm ashamed to be associated with you."

After the other party was scolded into slinking away, Katsuo Tanaka returned the library card to David.

"As fellow recipients of the practical performance excellence award, you're too weak, and you disgrace all of us who participated in the 2074 practical training. Being born into a poor family is not your fault, but I hope you can demonstrate your ability. I read the Security Department's evaluation report. They said your physical potential is very high. Your family is what holds you back."

"With your usual grades, as long as you keep them up, you'll have a chance to enter the Security Department with me and join under Supervisor Vera Adelheid. I need a team, and you're one of the candidates."

After saying a string of baffling things, Katsuo Tanaka walked into the library. David wiped away his nosebleed, then looked again at the library card in his hand. Since he was already here, he might as well go in and take a look.

AI: "Special approval from the Night City Arasaka Security Department. Restricted subject areas: Security, Counterterrorism Policing, Criminology, Guard Studies, Criminal Investigation..."

The library card was recognized.

"Already joining the Security Department... Fine, then I'll join!"

Shook his head and cast the jumble of thoughts aside, David stuffed tissue into his nose and followed the teaching AI's guidance into the knowledge-chip lending area for the Security major.

The Combat Chip section.