Time rewound to not long ago in the Cyberpunk world.
In the conference room on the 120th floor of Arasaka Tower, simulated sunlight poured through the glass dome, illuminating an interior fashioned into a tropical rainforest.
It stood in stark contrast to the metal forest outside Arasaka Tower, brimming with life.
Several Arasaka executives sat around a long table, with a three-dimensional Floating Shadow hovering over its center.
The Floating Shadow displayed the files of a mercenary crew. Half-body images and personal data for the members of Maine's crew slowly rotated in the light.
"We were originally investigating this one person, but we uncovered quite a few surprises through this crew."
"For instance, this test subject for the Cyberpsycho experiment, and an escaped Arasaka asset."
Countless files drifted through the projection. The man in a suit at the head of the table waved a hand, bringing a new file into the center.
"And this one, our primary target from the beginning."
The profile picture showed an Asian face. It was Shuofang Si.
"A fixer originally brought him up to a subordinate in our department. This Faraday said the guy was extraordinary, with all sorts of strange connections."
"He even got his hands on an Excalibur from somewhere, along with plenty of high-end cyberware and weapons from various corporations."
He paused and looked around the table. "Our employee was going to investigate him with this fixer, Faraday, and make some money off him. We never expected the investigation to turn up something so interesting."
He swiped his hand, enlarging Shuofang Si's file as its data entries popped up one by one.
"He suddenly appeared a while ago. And by suddenly appeared, I mean physically appeared out of nowhere."
The other executives, who had initially considered this a trivial matter, now focused