Infinite Progress, Starting with Arasaka

Not dwelling on this topic any further, Vera skipped ahead: "Have Jimmy prepare the press conference. The news of my temporary resignation can be released."

"Yes!" ×2

Raising her glass again and draining it, letting the melting sensation flow down her throat, Vera looked out the car window.

Tonight, she would retrieve the Progenitor Virus samples and the 'Sun Stair' flowers that lost their properties after being brought back to the Americas.

As for the 'Sun Stair' flowers with their original properties, growing in the underground ruins of the Dubaya tribe in Dubai... there would be opportunities. Wasn't another 'me' going to take over and reorganize Umbrella?

The African Research Center in Dubaya, West Africa, must not be missed.

Night fell upon Night City, at the border between light and darkness.

Ding ding...

With his face bandaged in white gauze and carrying a small bag of liniments and supplements, David Martinez walked briskly, humming a tune as he entered the railcar. He couldn't wait to get home and tell his mother about his conversation with the Arasaka big shot and the encouragement he received.

He glanced down at the small bag he was carrying.

Haha, this was the first time, oh, it was the second time, besides the excellent scholarship he received that morning with home delivery, that he had gotten something for free from Arasaka Academy.

Thinking this, David couldn't help but tiptoe and wiggle his legs.

He could usually only see these supplements on billboards, TVs, and shopping platforms. The prices, which made him breathless, were simply beyond his reach.

"I should be able to sell them for some money on a second-hand website. The supplements can also help my mom recover her health and feel better..." David thought to himself.

He didn't plan on using them himself.

If getting beaten could bring such benefits, he might not even mind being beaten... No, David, that blonde guy insulted your mother, you need to have some ambition!

Slap slap, he patted his face, using the slight pain to clear his head. David looked up. Seeing that there was still some distance to go on the display screen, he decided to listen to some music. Just as he was about to take out his earphones, "Hmm?"

David squinted. On the train window, hiss... just now, did a glowing white shadow flash by?

He looked left and right, but saw nothing.

The train was still as dirty and run-down as ever. In a corner, someone was engaged in piston-like movements...

Well, he should first think about how to explain the scratches and bruises on his face to his mother.

"Arasaka."

In a corner at the other end of the train car, a white-haired woman wearing eye shadow, a white off-the-shoulder jacket, and a black cropped top looked down at the communication chip in her hand.

"Tch, just a reserve corporate dog."

She spat lightly, her expression one of disgust.

That punk kid with the mohawk, wearing the black and red uniform of Arasaka Academy...

She glanced at him as he got off at the Santo Domingo station. He seemed to have arrived and was about to make a call, then discovered his communication chip was missing, his face showing a look of panic as he fumbled behind his ear for the slot.

"Arrogant little Arasaka corporate dog, this is your first lesson."

Whoosh—

The train continued to move, leaving the boy on the platform clutching his head and wailing.

"Ahhh! Damn it, why am I so unlucky? My communication chip was stolen by a pickpocket!!"

The white-haired woman continued to roam the train, searching for suitable Arasaka corporate dogs.

Then, ding ding ding.

The woman's pale purple pupils flickered with orange data light.

"Hello, this is Lucy."

["Lucy, are you still doing this kind of low-tech stuff on the train? And only targeting Arasaka? Be careful, one day you might slip up and run into someone tough, and then Arasaka's counter-intelligence department will come after you."]

"Arasaka's strict hierarchy is well-known even among large corporations. How could elites with status and strong power ride the subway?"

The edgerunner woman named Lucy stopped her actions. "Kiwi, what is it?" She didn't answer the other party's question, her attitude clearly indicating: I heard you, and I'll be cautious, but I won't change!

["Hmph, it's good that you know your limits. You did a good job on that middleman gig last time. Maine wants to see you, for a get-together."]

"Huh? Another bonfire party? How many times has this been this month?"

["You need to get used to it, Lucy. People like us, to put it nicely, are free. To put it bluntly, we live day to day. It's not strange if we get our heads blown off in a mission, our brains fried by hackers, or die on the streets. Arasaka and Kowloon's saying... 'Enjoy today, drink today's wine.' Live in the moment. Same old place, we'll be waiting for you."]

The other party hung up.

"..." Silence. The woman named Lucy clenched her fist. Through the train window, the train happened to move between skyscrapers, and in the sky, the clear, bright silver-white full moon was clearly visible.

"So, I will escape from here." She seemed to be talking to the moon, muttering to herself.

Twenty minutes later, the train arrived at its transfer station.

Lucy stepped down the old, dusty, and dirty stairs in black knee-high boots. After many turns and twists, she passed through poor streets and alleys to an abandoned parking lot that had been converted into an outdoor bar and motel.

Bonfires, barbecues, beer, sex dolls, poker, rock and heavy metal music, street singers, cheap projectors displaying strip dances, bare-chested edgerunners, foul-mouthed, volatile mercenaries...

Compared to the corporate communities and wealthy districts of City Center, Corporate Plaza, and Westbrook, this was a completely different real world.

Catching the strange, mixed scent of alcohol and rendered fat from synthetic meat grilling in the air, Lucy walked into the venue and quickly spotted her companions, the ones she had been working with for over half a year.

There was Maine, the muscular hunk with brown skin and blonde hair, wearing sunglasses; Dorio, the robust blonde woman sitting with the big guy, gnawing on each other; Pilar, slender, equipped with exaggerated long arms and large cybernetic hands; and Rebecca, a twin-tailed loli covered in red tattoos.

And then, talking to the driver, Uncle Falco, was a tall woman wearing a red robe with DNA graphic patterns and a red iron mask. A cigarette was stuck in the mask's ventilation hole. Seeing Lucy, she waved her hand.

"Yo, Lucy."

"Kiwi."

Grabbing a beer from the table and tossing it, Kiwi said coldly, "I really don't know why you like doing that kind of thing."

Without replying, Lucy caught the beer, Sssip! She popped the cap, sat down next to Kiwi, Gulp... she drank it down, and slapped away the reaching, grabby hand.

"Whoa! Big bro, you got rejected mercilessly again!" Rebecca's mocking voice came from the loli.

"So, Maine, did you get another gig from the fixer?" Lucy looked at the team leader and asked.

"No, I refused this time."

Wiping his nose, which was bleeding from Dorio hitting him for being too rough, Maine shook his head. He grabbed the beer, which looked like oral liquid in his hand, and after taking a big gulp and letting out a burp, he slightly adjusted his sunglasses.

"Corporate jobs, they pay well, but you need to be alive to spend it. They actually wanted us to gather intel on a big shot from the Arasaka Night City Security Department's General Security Bureau. Someone named Vera Russell, in charge of military affairs. They said they'd pay for whatever intel we got, valued in cash. Damn it, they think we're idiots."

"The back-and-forth of big corporations, it's either Militech or some other company sending them. Casting a wide net, there's always someone willing to take a risk."

Kiwi blew a smoke ring and added, "The better the offer and the looser the conditions, the less likely it is. You'll really die, we'll all be wiped out, so it's better to refuse and not be greedy."

Lucy stopped drinking her beer. Upon hearing about Arasaka, her eyes visibly dimmed.

Kiwi glanced at her.

"Maine, then what gig did you take? You even specifically called Lucy..."

"Heh heh, so I switched to a simpler gig, but it requires you and Lucy. It's a netrunner job. The fixer wants us to investigate a murder case. The NCPD didn't handle it, seems like gang members. The main thing is there are no leads. Once we find out what happened, we give him the evidence, and then we take down the killer."

Maine leaned forward, rubbing his hands together. "It's tedious, but the Euros are good."

"And you?" Kiwi asked Lucy.

"There's money, why wouldn't I do it?" Lucy shrugged. Facing Arasaka... her feelings were complicated. She wanted revenge, but she only dared to do petty theft like stealing chips from trains. Against Arasaka's big shots, even though she didn't want to admit it, she was scared. She was afraid...

"Woohoo! Then, tonight, let's party all night!"

Maine waved his hand, signaling the owner to bring more cases of beer and the best quality synthetic meat skewers available.

The night was sleepless.

As dawn broke, Lucy got up from the worn-out sofa, rubbing her throbbing forehead. She saw Maine, Pilar, and the others still energetically drinking.

The cybernetics era was different. Staying up all night, eating and drinking heavily, no fear of harming their bodies. If they felt tired or exhausted, an injection of a stimulant, and they were back in the fight at full strength.

Turning her head, she saw Kiwi remotely turn on the TV mounted on the wall of the open-air bar.

"Welcome to News 54, bringing you the latest local news."

"Ms. Vera Adelheid Russell, head of Arasaka Night City Security Department's Special Assault Unit and Chief of the General Security Bureau, will temporarily leave her post to pursue advanced studies at Arasaka Headquarters in Tokyo. Let us thank Ms. Russell for her achievements and efforts in maintaining the peace and stability of Night City over the years."

Lucy let out a mocking cold laugh at the host's formulaic words.

"You still watch this? Full of nonsense and hypocritical lies?"

"It's always good to take a look."

The host switched the screen. "Next is our reporter's on-site interview at Arasaka Tower."

The camera panned.

A dark, tall dome, the Arasaka Clover logo nested on a massive piece of black marble.

At the podium, a tall, fair-haired woman with light blonde hair was speaking.

"...my experience serving in Night City, yes, I am honored... I will temporarily step down on 2075/2/17. This is just a temporary separation. I believe the cooperation between NCPD officers and Arasaka security will continue and will better guarantee the life and property safety of our citizens..."

Lucy's eyes widened. She didn't hear the "blah blah blah" nonsense, but this woman, she seemed to have seen her somewhere before?

Kiwi observed her expression thoughtfully.

"Interesting... It seems you weren't telling the whole truth about your connection to Arasaka..."

2075/2/18

Arasaka Private Aviation Terminal, Haneda International Airport, Tokyo.

Tap tap—

Carrying a briefcase, Vera stood on the boarding stairs, squinting her eyes as she gazed at the Tokyo skyline, denser, taller, and more expansive than Night City. The cold wind blowing towards her ruffled her hair.

Looking down at the standard 'Sacred Sword' model hovercar parked not far away, an Arasaka agent, dressed in a black suit, wearing sunglasses, Japanese, with a cold expression, had been waiting for a long time.

Her hovercar was only for short-range travel and didn't support trans-Pacific flights. If she had the New America President's luxury sky cruiser that could enter Earth's near-orbit, she wouldn't need to transfer. Unfortunately, that thing was still far from her.

"Director Russell."

Recognizing Vera's biometric information and corporate ID, the Tokyo Headquarters Arasaka agent stepped forward.

Vera tightened the collar of her coat and stepped off the ramp, nodding. "Excuse me."

"Please."

She got into the vehicle, and it immediately lifted off. Vera placed her suitcase beside her, gazing at the Tokyo city skyline growing ever closer. Her destination was the single, jet-black tower at its center, unmatched by any other building, as if cradled by the city itself.

Arasaka Global Headquarters.

Vera doubted she'd be able to see Saburo Arasaka, but Sano Arasaka...

The wedge to pry into the Arasaka family would begin with Sano Arasaka.

After all, you want to destroy your father's Arasaka, don't you?

Let me just add some fuel to the fire.

I wonder what kind of expression you'll have, you unfilial son who's been waiting for your father's death for so long, when I 'accidentally discover' the Progenitor Virus during my research at Tokyo University—this special virus that can significantly extend human lifespan.

Vera was filled with drive and impatience.

Chapter 046: Vera in Tokyo

Things don't always go as smoothly as planned.

Ring ring ring—

Hongo, Bunkyo Ward, Arasaka Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo.