Chapter 92
Vera didn't care what Michiko was thinking. As long as Saburo was still around, she would never openly oppose her. Moreover, this reason—to avenge Kei Arasaka —would naturally win the favor of a large portion of Michiko's forces.
Especially the old-school forces that have been left over from the time of Kei Arasaka.
Given that Michiko Arasaka also had a history of "going astray," it doesn't seem like it would be particularly difficult for her to join Vera's ranks as a new reserve "grandson" who hasn't "gone astray."
Without mentioning Michiko's past actions of apologizing to the new America in a speech in Washington to retain her USA citizenship.
At that time, she was just a naive 17-year-old high school student who had just lost her father, and the explanation could be that she was coerced.
In the 2040s, Michiko did something significant: she married a detective named Mark Sanderson and changed her surname, abandoning her original Arasaka surname and becoming Michiko Sanderson.
It wasn't just adding a surname, it was completely changed!
Although he later changed his surname back to his original one and successfully returned to Arasaka Corporation, becoming a member of the highest Board of Directors, this was a stain on his record. It may not seem like much under normal circumstances, but at crucial moments, it can be as heavy as a thousand pounds, enough to influence the decisions of many people.
"Looking forward to meeting you in person, Vera."
"Me too, Michiko- neechan."
As the call ended, Vera and Michiko looked at each other before hanging up.
"Compared to being a high-ranking leader in the Arasaka, a bloodthirsty executioner with filth on your hands, I think being a pure researcher suits you better. If you didn't choose to carry on your father's legacy... it's too late to say anything now. We... are all bound by our families, unable to control our own lives..."
After a long silence, she suddenly managed to squeeze out this sentence.
Vera was taken aback, but quickly understood what she meant.
It's because of a shared experience between them.
Both belonged to the Arasaka camp, both had busy childhoods with both parents, and both lost their parents when they were sixteen or seventeen. The only difference was that Arasaka was expelled from North America when Michiko, while Arasaka returned to North America when Vera born...
"Perhaps."
Vera also sighed, "Isn't growing up all about the unpredictability of life? Perhaps we'll never know where we'll end up, what we'll encounter, or what kind of person we'll become..."
Dudu-
The communication was disconnected.
Vera let out a long sigh, picked up the slightly chilled coffee from the coffee table, took a sip, leaned back on the sofa, looked at her reflection in the gleaming wooden screen of the living room, and closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, she had regained her indifference.
Michiko still has significant reservations about Arasaka's plan to wage war on Militech.
However, it's not entirely incomprehensible. In the original timeline, regardless of whether Saburo died or not, whether Norinobu succeeded or not, even if Wako, Takemura, and Oda all died, Michiko was still alive and doing very well.
Michiko is excellent in every way. Having received an American education and embracing the values of Wall Street elites, Wako is far freer than Hanako, the 'caged bird' firmly held in Saburo's hands...
Hmm, speaking of which, it seems that Michiko Arasaka's first time was with Adam Smasher...
"Well."
Vera rubbed her temples, realizing that her thoughts had gone astray.
Continue working.
Setting aside her curiosity about Michiko's private life, and with the intention of familiarizing herself with her role as the managing director, Vera opened her internal ID terminal at Arasaka Corporation and began browsing through the office logs of various departments in Night City Arasaka Tower, which she had almost complete access to.
2076/1/24|11/50
When the time came, the alarm clock rang.
Buzz. Vera stood up, turning off the various graphic data tables and departmental action records displayed on the video recorder on the coffee table.
"Sigh. Another banquet?"
She sighed softly.
Looking at the email on her retina, titled "[Executive Michiko Arasaka's Welcome Banquet - Purple Stone Banquet Hall Konpeki Plaza]", she felt somewhat uninterested.
The show last night just ended.
Attending too many parties can become tiresome. Vera isn't the socialite or a social butterfly; her ability to handle things skillfully doesn't mean she enjoys it.
Unfortunately, I had no choice but to go.
She needs to cultivate relationships with different factions, build connections with her subordinates, and get to know the representatives from other North American branches who came with Michiko. She needs to present herself as charming and trustworthy in front of them.
Ding! Vera stepped out of the living room on the 108th floor of the Arasaka Tower.
Didi.
"Oh?"
Two new emails have arrived in my mailbox.
One was from the Security Department, and the other was from the Special Operations Director's Office.
[Director, regarding the report you marked, Adam Smasher has returned to Night City from the Mexican blockade and is about to arrive at Arasaka Tower.]
[Your Excellency, according to sources within the underground mercenary market developed by the Counter-Intelligence Department, external forces are eyeing the results of your project. Please be vigilant...]
Vera's eyes narrowed.
What are the results of my project?
Is it my Russell House in Westbrook, or myself, or perhaps, the harbor?
After she returned to Night City first, Arasaka's naval transport ship was still en route carrying a large number of additional soldiers, covert Power Armor Unit, and weapons prototypes from the [Solaris Staircase Project.
Other exposures are fine, but the covert Power Armor Unit must not be exposed for the time being.
Thinking this, Vera's eyes flashed red.
"I am Vera Adelheid, tell me your source."
Not long ago, an encrypted communication channel...
[Jackie: Holy crap, V, no, Faraday's really daring. His stronghold, Santo Domingo, was blown to smithereens by those Dogtown bastards, and he has the nerve to mess with you guys... Maine and the others have news; Faraday's mission is to keep an eye on Arasaka Waterfront.]
[V: Stalking Arasaka Waterfront? Damn, they're definitely from Major Corporations. Dig deep, dig deep. Jackie, tell Maine to stay alert and not expose himself. I'll find a way to cooperate with them.]
Chapter 096 Vera is 'Heavy' (4.5K)
Everyone laughs at the Corporate Dog for being so flexible, saying they're only good at selling their souls.
So, have my actions now betrayed my soul?
Watson, a dilapidated Old Industrial Zone covered in rust, is located in a wide alleyway near the main road.
Wearing a thick, acid- and alkali-resistant raincoat, Lucy, the Edgerunner had accepted the company's commission, got up from the dilapidated sofa on the balcony.
Through the gaps between the alleys and factories, she gazed into the distance at the dark, continuous fortress-like buildings. On the towering facades made of gleaming black glass and steel concrete, the letters aRaSaKa and a round clover logo glowed.
Lucy didn't know the answer to that question.
She has hated that symbol since the beginning.
She hated being controlled by them, hated her lack of control over her own life, hated her past...
Now, she still hates it just the same.
"Lucy, keep an eye on Blacklace Avenue, which extends from the Arasaka Waterfront to the North Industrial Zone. I'm pretty sure Faraday has hired more than just us. Jackie and that Corporate Dog ... cough, that lady is waiting for our news." It was Maine.
His voice came through the encrypted call channel of the two hackers in the squad.
Lucy's expression froze for a moment, then she said, "... Received." Her expression was rather interesting.
She's going to continue working for Arasaka.
"Phew..." After throwing away the cigarette butt she had finished smoking and taking a breath, Lucy turned around, went through the gap in the iron fence, and entered through the half-open door.
It twists and turns.
As Lucy stepped onto the stairs, data flashed in her frosty purple eyes. In the optical view, the detection lines of multiple anti-personnel infrared monitoring mines changed from red to green. Biometric verification passed.
Squeak.
Pushing open the door, a blast of cold air, carrying with it the smells of mildew, smoke, alcohol, and food, filled Lucy's nostrils. She looked at the two people inside—
Kiwi was lying completely naked in a bathtub filled with ice.
The fan above the adjacent computer case whirred softly, and the slightly tangled data cables were intertwined. Behind her head, a multi-screen display was running, rapidly sifting through countless 01 data characters and images of specific monitoring areas.
The other person was a middle-aged man with flowing hair, a big beard, and a 'T'-shaped implant indentation on his chin.
He was carrying a plastic spatula and pouring ice cubes into the bathtub where Kiwi was.
Hackers need to cool down while working; those without the money for equipment take ice baths naked. Those with money just wear specialized hacker suits and lie on hacker chairs to cool down.
"Falco," Lucy greeted.
Falco is Maine's crew's dedicated driver. Although he doesn't directly participate in operations, he's always there when the team needs passenger support or when there's a big deal.
During this mission, the reconnaissance, or rather, the disguised reconnaissance phase, involved Maine and Dorio as one group and Pilar and Rebecca as another, who were on the move.
Lucy and Kiwi are a team of cyber hackers, stationed at a fixed location to set up a safe house, waiting for an opportunity to hack into the surveillance network or provide off-site support during battles. The team's veteran, Falco, is responsible for protecting and relocating the two of them, making it a team of three.
"Would you like a box of instant noodles? They're freshly heated up."
Falco, with his middle-aged face, nodded and pointed to a half-open, steaming square cardboard box on the side of the table, where a pile of oily noodles with some kind of minced meat was stacked up.
"No, thank you."
Lucy shook her head and walked toward another bathtub in the room that was filled with ice.
Start taking off your clothes and shoes...
There were no taboos; having become mercenaries and Edgerunner, they still had that much trust in the companions they would entrust their backs to. After stripping naked, Lucy lay down in the bathtub filled with ice.
"It seems you've accepted it."
Sensing Lucy's network signal, the rapidly flashing data stream in Kiwi's eyes returned to normal. She lay back and lit a cigarette.
"Ah, what's the difference between any job?" Lucy replied. "Besides, the pay is pretty good this time. In this world, money buys dignity..."
"Still thinking about going to the moon? Hmm, a trip costs 250,000 euros. After this commission from Wells and Faraday, plus your savings from the past two years, your daily expenses are very low. If you do the math, you should have saved up more than half."
"..." Lucy did not answer.
With a buzzing sound, her pupils flashed with orange-red light as she hacked into the local area network and monitoring network of the North City Industrial Zone, beginning her screening.
At the same time, in the team's encrypted channel.
[Maine: Kiwi, have you found them? How many scapegoats did Faraday send?]
[Kiwi: I've been keeping an eye on him, at least four teams besides ours. That guy still has some influence; he's gathered a bunch of cannon fodder. His backer is most likely Militech. Maine, thank goodness you had a backup plan, otherwise, if you had gone to him in your desperate need for money, you would have definitely been sold out.]
[Rebecca: That four-eyed guy, I'll blow his head off with a shotgun sooner or later.]
[Maine: Hmph! If he weren't cunning and ruthless, he wouldn't be Night City's middleman. However (it's unclear whether this is a sigh or self-deprecation), he's just a hyena reaping the benefits of corporate profits. Ha, although we are too...]
[Falco: There's nothing to say. It's not like I haven't done company work before, it's just that the people I worked with back then are all dead. Maine, avoid these kinds of double-dealing, opportunistic commissions... Dorio, keep an eye on Maine, don't let him go crazy.]
[Dorio: OK, double the deposit, plenty of inhibitors.]
[Lucy: Stop! Detective! Maine, a fleet has arrived at Arasaka Waterfront!]
Beneath the old neon signs, a dirty terrace blares heavy metal music.
"Maine, look!" came Dorio's voice.
On the roof of Nomads shelter converted from an abandoned water tower, whoosh—
The brown-skinned, sunglasses-wearing giant stood up abruptly, overturned the casual playing cards on the chopping board, and looked towards the port warehouse behind the Arasaka Automated Factory.
That area was originally called the Seaside District. It was one of Watson's four districts.
Now, including the Night City, it has become a habitual way of referring to that place as Arasaka Waterfront. The beach of Arasaka.
A fortress island symbolizing the company's authority in Watson's sea of crime. The pristine beauty of Arasaka's territory stands in stark contrast to the abandoned, weathered factory buildings elsewhere in Watson.
Waaah—!
The low, mournful sound of the whistle lingered over the harbor for a long time.