Infinite Progress, Starting with Arasaka

It has a little bit of the feel of a normal city.

A technologically advanced, prosperous city with good public order in Africa?

Heh, what a fantastical experience.

Speaking of which, if you don't count another perspective from far away, she really hadn't been to Africa before.

Night City's North American headquarters was responsible for the West Coast of North America and the Eastern Pacific Rim. Her farthest overseas assignment was that bodyguard service on the South Asian subcontinent. Other than that, she'd only been bouncing around North and South America, Australia, and the Japanese archipelago.

Vera was feeling incredibly strange right now.

On one hand, it was Africa in 1998, during the Bio-Crisis timeline. It was definitely not prosperous. When her past self arrived in West Africa and was reorganizing the Umbrella African Research Center, she had a good taste of the local people's simple customs and the exaggerated mosquito problem. Yes, the kind where zebras and lions still bared their teeth at her by the roadside.

On this side, after getting off the plane, she looked left, right, down, and up, and hadn't even seen a single mosquito.

Looking down from the sky, the streets were well-policed, and the locals were very law-abiding. Faced with Arasaka security personnel, who had a police contract with the city government and had taken over policing duties in Cape Town, they were all as quiet as quails.

Before long, a hovercar pulled into the rooftop helipad of a high-class hotel building not far from the Cape Town City Center. Clack! The car door opened, and the onboard AI politely offered Vera its blessings.

"Welcome to Cape Town, Ms. Vera Adelheid Russell.

Wait on the helipad." The attendant, wearing a silver mask, immediately bowed. "Your room is ready, it's the Lapis Lazuli Suite on the thirty-sixth floor."

"Mm, lead the way. I need to freshen up and rest."

Stepping onto the silky smooth red carpet, Vera naturally handed her suitcase to the attendant and gestured for them to lead.

Through elevators, magnificent halls, doorways adorned with plant landscapes, and temperature-controlled, dimly lit golden corridors, Vera smoothly arrived at the suite, attended by well-trained and friendly service staff.

"We wish you a pleasant study trip in Cape Town, Ms. Russell."

"Thank you."

Glancing out of the corner of her eye at the 'tourists' who seemed to be conversing at the end of the corridor, Vera ignored them, a half-smile playing on her lips as she took her suitcase and walked in.

It seems they're taking this very seriously.

Vera thought to herself.

The only thing she couldn't be sure of was whether this surveillance was a final assessment for a promotion to a certain high-ranking position, checking her loyalty to Arasaka and whether she would defect; or if it was because her Solaris Staircase project had attracted the protection of certain individuals.

Or perhaps it was both.

Vera hoped it was both.

I hope you'll be just as diligent accompanying me into the depths of the African continent tomorrow.

With the thought of getting extra bodyguards, Vera shifted her attention to the home she might be staying in for half a month.

A standard large bedroom, a large suite.

A spacious, one-way adjustable polarized floor-to-ceiling window, an exquisite, solid black marble panel, silk wall hangings, and a cool color palette. In the lounge area, there were several unopened sets of new clothes, ranging from formal Corporate Dog suits to casual travel wear.

Cape Town had plenty of experience with hosting and had done their research, perfectly matching Vera's figure and style. Clearly, she wasn't an exception.

Ever since education became extreme and intensified in the last century, the value of students from top universities had been constantly increasing. Apart from those relying on family background, cases like Vera's, where corporate executives pursued further education for advancement, were not uncommon.

Without dwelling on this issue, after a quick check of the room, Vera entered the washroom, took a quick shower, and changed into a clean bathrobe.

Beep—

"This is Vera Adelheid, from Night City's Security Department, an Eastland University study trip participant. Yes, I have a project that will likely require me to go deep into Southern and even Central African inland. I need to deploy two rapid response teams..."

Vera contacted the Security Department of the Cape Town branch, getting straight to the point and stating her intentions without any reservation.

"Mm... Thank you, but you shouldn't have to spend your own money. It's good to keep personal and official matters separate. Charge it to my account as private security service... No, no, it's fine. The funds are from Eastland University and Dangerous Girl... Yes, thank you."

Having easily secured tomorrow's escorts, Vera hung up the phone and flopped onto the large bed.

It was indeed convenient to have the backing of a major power.

She had reason to believe that even if she emphasized keeping things separate, her colleagues at the Cape Town branch would try their best to offer her discounts and favors.

So, power...

It truly was one of the most fascinating and wondrous things in this world.

Afterlife legends? Cyber mercenaries? Whoever wants to be one, be my guest!

With a light curve to her lips, Vera closed her eyes. She had made her move, and she was curious how many agents would be embedded within those two rapid response teams.

Tomorrow morning, she would explore the ancient tribal ruins of the Bantu language branch.

Lights out.

Lower floors of the hotel.

In a basic dormitory room, also occupied by those who had arrived in Cape Town and checked in today.

On a small long table, a large pile of strange documents and equipment was laid out. A special agent, disguised in casual clothes as a tourist, operated a laptop. On the screen, the entire process from Vera's arrival at the airport to her check-in at the hotel was being replayed. Several devices for monitoring communication signals and instruments for checking communication network frequencies had already started working.

"Report, this is 'Hotel One.' It's early morning South African time. The target has successfully arrived in Cape Town and checked into the hotel. She is currently asleep. Everything is normal. No frequency anomalies detected, and the network security team has not captured any abnormal communication beams."

"Huh? Report, latest intelligence indicates the target contacted the Cape Town branch Security Department and requested the deployment of two rapid response teams..."

"Deploying personnel? Yes! I understand."

On the other side of the ocean, in the Arasaka estate in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, Sano Arasaka, after equipping a voice changer, picked up a network terminal that had hidden its IP address in his private room, his expression grim.

"Has the message been leaked? She's already arrived in Africa. After seeing her profile and past achievements, do they still think this is impossible?"

"Just ask them, once the new drug is successfully developed, there's no need to worry about drug resistance for the 'Rejuvenation Pill' for the time being. Sanro will once again succeed in extending his lifespan! Is this what they want to see? I'm out of time, and every possibility must be extinguished!"

The next morning, 10 AM.

Taking a light bite of a hot dog, chewing, and savoring the simple breakfast mixed with the fragrance of wheat bread, the aroma of animal fat, and the stimulation of spiciness, Vera, dressed in travel attire, carrying a suitcase in one hand, wearing sunglasses and a sand-proof scarf, strolled out of the hotel like an unsophisticated noble lady, passing over Table Mountain and flying towards the northernmost part of Cape Town.

Buzz... Buzz...

AI: [Supervisor Russell, we have arrived at the border checkpoint in the northern suburbs of Cape Town.]

The car door opened, and the searing heat and dryness were Vera's strongest sensations as she stepped out.

The blast of air that hit her was the wind from the African desert and Gobi, carrying the roughness of sand and a dry scent as it blew across her cheeks.

"The environment is truly harsh."

Outside the border checkpoint, apart from the occasional cactus and a few tenacious shrubs, Vera saw almost no signs of life. There were no snarling African animals, and the former forests and wetlands had disappeared. It was dead silent, with only endless emptiness and desolation.

All of it was man-made.

Here, without the obstruction of bustling city buildings and Table Mountain cutting through the city, she could see a massive industrial park on the horizon at the edge of the city's suburban division, reaching close to the Atlantic Ocean.

Rampant resource extraction, shocking pollution, continuous factory workshops, black smoke constantly billowing from the chimneys, like black tornadoes, twisting and struggling, dyeing the sky on the other side into chaos.

"Supervisor Russell."

After waiting for a long time, an Arasaka rapid response team composed of a Chevrolet Emperor 620 and Militech Behemoth armored transport vehicles approached and bowed.

Vera nodded, without any excessive sentimentality, and simply glanced.

"Let's go!" she waved.

It was more important to realize her Arasaka version of the Solaris Staircase plan.

Chapter 051: Vera and Her Sun Stairflower (5K)

The desolate African wilderness...

"Ptooey!"

The hot wind whistled past. On the bare, sparsely vegetated hillside, several furtive figures, wearing full-body thermal-blocking inner linings and desert camouflage combat suits, brushed the sand and gravel off their ear coverings and sand-proof scarves, peeking out from their hiding places.

"What's the sixth ruin?"

One of them put down the multi-functional tactical binoculars connected to his visual cybernetics, which could analyze target intelligence and magnify the scene. His pupils flashed with orange-red light.

"The sixth. Heading north from Cape Town, crossing the Northern Cape Province, passing through Johannesburg and Pretoria (cities within South Africa), we only stopped to rest. What is she after? Is this really a study tour, and she's so serious about her training?"

Another person spat, spitting out a mouthful of sand.

"Nguni, Sotho, Tsonga, and Venda (further branches of the ancient Southern Bantu languages)... I didn't expect that one day on an external surveillance mission, we'd also learn some useless stuff... Ptooey!"

The sniper, who was using the aiming scope of his Asura Sniper Rifle as binoculars to observe and protect the target, propped up by a sandbag support, opened his mouth and found it becoming dry and gritty, still able to feel the crunch of sand against his reinforced steel teeth.

Five days, do you know how they spent these five days?!

Instead of flying directly from Cape Town to Gauteng Province by hovercar, the other party traveled by convoy through the desolate Badlands between South African cities, stopping at one ruin after another to take pictures, compare, and search for something.

The target convoy could camp and rest in those ruins, but they had to endure the elements. They had to follow the convoy but couldn't get too close, and they had to maintain concealment.

At the same time, as reserve VIPs of the corporation, even if it was a real trip, if the plan was deemed immature, they, these small fries, had to ensure the target's safety!

"Boss, what's the value of those ancient ruins of the uncivilized barbarians? Even for antique and collectible value, I've only heard that antiques from the South Asian subcontinent and the Far East are sought after, and they bring in more money. As for Africa, the ancient ruins with some value are in North Africa, in the hands of European devils, right?"

The Arasaka agent, called boss, ignored his subordinates' petty complaints. The burly man's pupils flickered with data streams as he operated his tactical terminal, monitoring the communication frequency charts, while raising a precision infrared rangefinder to calculate the distance.

Suddenly, "Sixteen o'clock direction."

He narrowed his eyes. On the small summary screen of his tactical terminal, through the integration of information from multiple directions, he saw a shadowy figure, even more furtive than them, lying on the ground a kilometer away from the ancient ruins of the flat-topped hill.

The communication signal was quite active. It was also shifting westward and retreating.

Without even fully deciphering it, listening to the English mixed with incomprehensible words and the rap-like intonation from the network security specialist intercepting the communication channel, he caught words like 'fat,' 'watery,' 'big fish,' and 'grab.'

"Damn. Reconnaissance? Is it a wandering native gang?"

Beep! He connected to the internal communication. "Team West 3, did you see that black guy? Follow him. If I'm not mistaken, there's a bunch of idiots who are overestimating themselves and trying to rip off some flesh from the corporation. Deal with them quietly."

His eyes turned cruel in an instant.

As the leader of the security team, he naturally knew the importance the higher-ups placed on the target's plan. They couldn't let the scum of the African Badlands disturb the target's research. That kind of flash of genius inspiration was crucial.

After issuing the order, he didn't pay much attention to the black guy anymore. The Arasaka agent continued to calculate the distance.

"After this 'Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape,' she should leave South Africa and enter Zimbabwe..." After roughly comparing the plan submitted by the target, which clearly stated that she would most likely go to Central Africa, the Congo, the Arasaka agent sighed softly.

"Notify all teams to prepare for another transfer."

"What a shame."

Vera also felt that she was quite capable of causing trouble.

She squatted on the ground, completely unfazed by the feeling of being watched, and picked up a clump of sticky, slightly fluorescent soil with her gloved hand.

The pollution in South Africa was too severe.

Watching the liquid, which had been laboriously pumped up from the underground aqueduct and was floating with unknown chemical substances, emitting a pungent odor like oil, she couldn't help but shake her head.

When she explored the first ruin and first encountered the stagnant underground water of South Africa's subterranean ruins, the smell, the sheer intensity of it, almost knocked her off her feet.

Having overly sensitive senses wasn't entirely beneficial.

Industrial exploitation and pollution, carried out through brute force, with various chemical toxins silently eroding this land and the creatures living here.

She searched the underground thoroughly but found no small animals dwelling in the darkness, nor any living flowers or vegetation. Instead, she found weathered, dried remains of dead animals and some decaying leaves and fungal spores accumulated beneath the soil and stone slabs.

After collecting some samples, Vera, relying on the preliminary screening of a portable analyzer produced by biotechnology, obtained a series of lethal levels of elements from the periodic table and various synthetic chemical substances.

Tap, tap.

Surrounded by Arasaka rapid response soldiers, Vera held a data tablet in one hand and felt along the rock wall with the other, ascending the stairs from below, returning to the surface from the violently breached basement.

The captain of the rapid response team from the Cape Town Security Department, who had been dispatched, saw Vera safely return to the surface. He then signaled the surrounding soldiers to continue their vigilance, while he himself walked forward.

"Supervisor Russell, any findings?"

"The groundwater is severely depleted, and the pollution is too severe. No vegetation survived. Based on the collection of dead plant remains, they do not match the characteristics of that special flower I know. There's no point in continuing to linger in South Africa. Let's depart; we're heading to Zimbabwe." Vera turned around. "Thank you for your trouble."