David

David—on a Night City overpass, inside a speeding Thornton Mackinaw Larimore.

V closed the Multiverse Chat Group interface and turned to the burly man driving. Smiling, he said, "Jackie, one of my big brothers is coming over. Make some room for him."

"Oh?" Jackie glanced at V in surprise. "Never heard you had a big brother. Sure, we can make room. There are only a few guns in the backseat. Move them aside and there'll be room for one more person. Where are we picking him up?"

"No need to pick him up. He'll come on his own. It might be pretty flashy," V said after thinking for a moment.

"Not bad. I didn't add any special effects this time, though. Want me to go back and do it again?" A voice suddenly came from the backseat.

"Holy shit!" x2 "Brother, where did you come from? Magic? Or hacking?" Jackie jumped in fright, hurriedly activating autopilot and rebooting his optical implant.

"Yeah, that scared the hell out of me, bro." V was badly startled too. He had thought Chu Ke would use the Multiverse Chat Group to open a portal, only for him to suddenly appear. That was when V remembered that his big brother could teleport on his own.

"Just think of it as a superpower," Chu Ke explained to Jackie.

He had a favorable impression of Jackie. In the game, this loyal, passionate guy had left him with wonderful memories, and Jackie's final end had saddened Chu Ke for a long time.

He was the true legend of Night City.

"Hoho, I'm more of a Tarot kind of guy." Jackie did not take it seriously, but he felt they could get along. "Say, V, your buddy looks pretty lean. Doesn't seem like he's got many implants. A flesh-and-blood type?"

"Mm." V thought over what he currently knew about Chu Ke's abilities. "I guess you could put it that way."

Chu Ke smiled. "It's not like I can't bulk up. It'd just be inconvenient in daily life."

It was hard to imagine how many pillows those muscleheads with enormous biceps needed to avoid waking up with a crick in their necks.

"Oh, right!" Remembering something, V held out both hands as though showing off. A pair of molten, mantis-like blades sprang from his forearms. "Just got these Mantis Blades installed. What do you think? Cool, right?"

Well, look at that. They'd installed them on you, little bro.

With a thought from Chu Ke, hundreds of Mantis Blades protruded from all over his body in the next instant.

Swish!

"Fuck!" V jolted. Damn it, he had forgotten the big brother in the back had cheats.

"Fuck!" Jackie saw the monstrous hand in the rearview mirror, and his hand slipped, nearly flipping the car. "Didn't you say he was a flesh-and-blood type? What the hell is that?"

"Even Adam Smasher has more flesh on him than you do, brother."

As he spoke, Jackie sent V a message through his optical implant. "Your big brother's got some wild connections, huh?"

"Obviously."

Chu Ke ignored their whispering. "Those who abandon all flesh in pursuit of mechanical ascension are called flesh-and-blood types for short."

"Come to think of it, where's David? I don't see his car." Chu Ke looked around. All his Fundamental Forces were drawn into his body, so he truly could not spot David or his mother's car just by looking.

"They're up ahead. We couldn't follow too closely, or it'd be too obvious."

Following V's directions, Jackie stepped on the gas. After overtaking a car, they saw a yellow sedan some distance away. Its paint was worn, and through the oxidized window film that no longer blocked the light, they could see the mother and son inside.

Chu Ke's ears twitched, and he "heard" their conversation.

David, sporting an American Front Spike, absentmindedly shook his leg as he stared out the window. "I don't have to go to school. I can get a job and make money."

David Martinez was a child from an ordinary single-parent household. His mother, Gloria Martinez, was an emergency medical technician at Night City Medical Center. Behind the scenes, she also stole implants from the dead and sold them to supplement the family income.

Hoping her son would succeed, Gloria sent David to Arasaka Academy, one of the top schools in Night City, hoping that he would one day climb to the very top of Arasaka Tower.

Unfortunately, the exorbitant tuition and textbook fees were beyond what an ordinary family in a Cyberpunk worldview could afford. Due to the family's financial struggles, David ignored his mother's objections and used a Braindance Chip sold on the black market as school supplies. During a class, the virus within the chip destroyed Arasaka Academy's teaching system, resulting in his expulsion and a massive compensation debt.

Chu Ke's assessment was that it was very Cyberpunk, yet also very real. A mother's excessive expectations were an expression of her love for her son, while a rebellious son who was poor at expressing himself was also worrying about the family in his own way.

Everyone loved the other in their own mistaken way. That was also the core running through the entire story.

"Even if I study harder, I still can't be like them. And I don't want to become like them." David, not noticing his mother's expression, continued explaining his thoughts.

The oppression wealthy students inflicted upon people like them at the academy was already commonplace. In this era, it could not even be called school bullying, because it was the norm—the norm throughout society.

Gloria was silent for a long while before suddenly speaking, unable to suppress the sob in her voice. "Then what have I been working so hard for all this time?"

Considerately, Chu Ke played that conversation through the car speakers. Jackie, who had not understood what was going on, finally realized what they intended to do.

"Sigh." Jackie let out a long sigh. "Back then, I used to clash with my mom like that all the time too. I wanted to join a gang and make a future for myself, but my mom said it was dangerous and wouldn't let me. In the end, I went behind her back anyway."

"Hahaha." V laughed. He had transmigrated into an unborn baby and had only recently regained his memories, so compared to the role of "player," his experiences with Jackie had been much more profound. "Doesn't Auntie approve now? She's still worried about you, though."

"Hahaha." Jackie laughed as well and explained to Chu Ke, "He reminded me of me and my mom. I was raised by a single parent too. My dad was a piece of shit. Anyway, Ama a tu madre."

They chatted and laughed along the way when Jackie's gaze suddenly sharpened. "No, that's the Animals' symbol! And Militech!"

"That kid's car is pinned between them. Shit! I can see a Type 31 Heavy Machine Gun!" Jackie slammed on the gas, preparing to cut in and ram David's car out of the way. His own car was bulletproof, but David's was not.

Chu Ke knew at a glance that Jackie was empathizing with them. He looked up at V, who was watching him through the rearview mirror, and gently shook his head.

V reached out and stopped Jackie. "Don't rush."

"They're going to die!"

"Relax." V patted Jackie's broad shoulder. "This is a necessary part of his growth."

"And besides, my big brother is here. No one's going to die."

Chu Ke looked at Jackie and nodded. "I'll intervene."

Mm, the Emperor of the Red Wall was everywhere.

Though Jackie was a little stunned, he understood by now. "So you guys knew all along? You came here for this?"

He did not trust this young man who had just appeared, but he trusted his best friend V. Jackie gritted his teeth, decided to listen to V, and eased off the gas.

Chu Ke silently accepted that statement and looked toward the yellow sedan trapped between the Animals and Militech.

He had different plans for David, plans that would at least prevent many tragedies from happening.

There were many definitions of having fun. Saving tragedies he did not like looking at was also part of having fun.

Besides, who said there would not be any fun in this? Chu Ke was looking forward to the expression on Adam Smasher's face when David, walking the path Chu Ke had arranged for him, encountered him alongside V.

It would be even more entertaining if David added, "Do you think you're special?"

As he pondered, the Animals members in the distance had already set up their heavy machine gun and aimed it at Militech's sedan across David's family car.

I'm still figuring out the characters' personalities. I revised this chapter for a long time, and I'm finally a little satisfied with it.