"...The relevant authorities have now confirmed that the earlier earthquake caused radioactive material to leak from the Daibu Nuclear Power Plant into the surrounding environment, resulting in a serious nuclear accident."
"The country's government is discussing how to deal with this nuclear contamination. According to an insider, the options may include discharging the contaminants into the ocean to dilute them..."
"Those bastards!" Lier blurted out.
The television was playing the latest news, and Lier had instinctively sworn.
Having worked in the nuclear industry himself, he simply couldn't hold back when he heard how they intended to handle it.
Contaminants had to be treated until they met safety standards before they could be buried or discharged. Why did it sound as though these people planned to skip that step?
(This is a fictional plot element. Please do not draw connections to real events.)
"Lier! No swearing! Especially when we have a guest!" Maya immediately tapped his bowl with her chopsticks.
"Uh...What I meant was, I..." Lier struggled to contain himself, because he genuinely couldn't think of any other words to describe that approach.
In his world, much like in the world of Cyberpunk 2077, people had conducted numerous nuclear tests in the oceans and even dumped nuclear waste and radioactive contaminants into them.
Decades later, all those things had played a significant role in the steady shrinking of humanity's habitable space...
But the people responsible had long since enjoyed their lives and died, leaving the younger generations to clean up the mess. His generation had even earned the absurd title of "the destructive generation."
Matt, sitting beside him, spoke up in Lier's defense. "That kind of behavior is clearly incredibly irresponsible. Honestly, I think they deserve every curse thrown at them."
Maya nodded as well. "Yes, but swearing is still wrong. You need to learn to use polite language."
Lier quietly ate his dinner. As expected, everyone could agree on this, though he still needed to watch his language around family and children.
As he ate, he silently resolved to do something about it if he ever had the means.
The dim light flickered over the quiet dinner table. The power supply seemed unstable.
Afterward, Maya discreetly wiped her eyes and said, "I really wish your father could see this."
Lier fell silent. He had no memories of this father, and only knew from a few records at home that the man had once been a cook before becoming a truck driver.
While Lier was in a coma, his father had worked overtime to earn more money and died in an accident.
Lier sighed, overcome with emotion.
He had lived two lives, and his parents had been so similar in both.
After some thought, Lier decided to be direct. "Mom, I want to know how much debt we still have."
Maya froze, unsure how to answer.
Lier shrugged. "Don't worry. I just need a rough idea. I think I could learn a few other things from Matt and help take some of the pressure off the family.
"Knowing roughly how much we owe would give me more motivation."
Matt paused, then obligingly chimed in. "Yes, I think Lier is very...observant, and he's a quick thinker, too. Maybe he could even become a lawyer someday."
To Maya, that sounded a little hollow. After all, Lier had only completed half of high school, and going to college was almost impossible.
Even community college was out of reach.
Still, she forced a smile and said, "Lier...you don't need to worry about that. Focus on getting better first. But a lot of people in our community have helped us. As your father always used to say, we should be grateful and help one another.
"Thank you, Mr. Murdock, but I'd still like Lier to focus on recovering first."
That answer left Lier feeling awful.
After all, he was the only one confident he could survive. His condition was so severe that even Maya didn't believe he had much time left.
She probably just wanted Lier to spend his remaining days as happily as possible. That was likely what Maya was thinking now.
Lier nodded. "I will. Matt, I remember you said there were a few other things you wanted to discuss with me. How about I walk you out?"
"Uh...of course. Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Li. If you need any help, please give me a call."
"Oh, all right..." Maya hesitated. She had wanted to tell Lier to stay home and see Matt out herself.
But on second thought, lying around at home all the time wasn't necessarily good for him.
"Then...take it slow, and come straight home afterward. It's not safe outside."
"Will do."
The apartment building at 441 West 40th Street was Lier's home, and where he rented.
On the way out, they saw the landlord from earlier trying to scrub graffiti off the wall, muttering curses under his breath.
The landlord looked like an immigrant too, and his English didn't sound native.
Seeing Lier and Matt coming out together, he greeted them both warmly.
But as far as Lier remembered, his family had owned a home before. They had most likely sold it.
As they walked, Matt told Lier:
"Mr. Rigordo is a good man. Eight families live here, and every one of them, including yours, is an immigrant family. They come from all over.
"He only rents to foreign immigrants with no criminal records. According to him, he's an immigrant himself, and people who come to this unfamiliar land should help one another."
"He's an immigrant too?"
"He's American, but his father was an immigrant. The elder Rigordo came from the same country as your mother: Latveria."
Lier froze for a moment as fragments of old memories flashed through his mind.
Latveria? So Mom and Doctor Doom came from the same country?
But there was no King Doom in his memories. Latveria was still a small feudal nation.
"That's a good thing," Lier said. "I was just thinking we should unite as a community."
In America, land-use rights belonged to individuals. In theory, as long as the owners refused to cooperate, Kingpin couldn't actually tear everything down and rebuild.
That meant this kind of redevelopment could only happen under exceptional circumstances-like the present, long after the dot-com bubble had burst, with real estate financing in total collapse.
People had lost their jobs, couldn't repay their loans or pay their property taxes, and had ruined credit. Everyone feared for their own future.
But that couldn't be true of absolutely everyone. Some people merely had to tighten their belts, like Rigordo, an honest old landlord with few expenses.
Large-scale infrastructure projects were one way to stimulate the economy, and Kingpin had clearly persuaded the politicians.
But how had he persuaded holdout owners like Rigordo?
Matt gave Lier another surprised look. "That's a good idea. We really should stick together. But...when the redevelopment project first began, a homeowners' association just four blocks from your place disbanded.
"Its president died. They found a toothpick lodged in his throat. It caused bleeding in his windpipe, and he suffocated in his own home.
"Since then, the presidents of two other nearby Homeowners Associations have died the same way: a toothpick."
"Was it the United Construction Company?"
"There's no evidence." Matt sounded calm, but he felt anything but. "The NYPD says there isn't enough evidence to establish homicide. They can only conclude that the unfortunate president fell and the toothpick happened to lodge in his throat.
"But..."
"But even if there's no evidence at the scene, identical deaths can't be a coincidence. That's exactly what those people want.
"Everyone knows the gangs did it, but the NYPD doesn't. Has the NYPD already closed the cases?"
Matt nodded. "They have. I know some people in the department strongly disagree, but they each have their own jurisdictions."
"What about your prosecutor friend? If there were enough evidence, would he bring charges and reopen the cases?"
"Of course. But there's no evidence."
At the intersection, Matt stopped, and Lier stopped too.
Facing him, Matt spoke earnestly.
"Lier, this is dangerous. Are you sure you want to get involved?
"Selfishly, I really want someone to stand up to these criminals, whether it's the Kate Logistics case or what's been happening in Hell's Kitchen lately.
"But when I remember that you're a kid who spent two and a half years in a coma, I know I have to tell you to go home. That way, at least...you'll still have a home."
Nothing good came from opposing gangs. Even working for them instead of fighting them rarely ended well.
You had to lose either your conscience or your life. More often than not, you couldn't hold on to either.
Lier shook his head. "It's precisely because I still have a home that I need to get things under control before they get worse.
"As far as the doctors were concerned, I was in a coma for two and a half years. But I was conscious, and fear was all that swept through my mind.
"I was afraid I'd already lost everything I had. I was afraid that having nothing left would be how it all ended.
"And now I'm standing here talking to you. I have a family who loves me, a friendly landlord, and other good people in the community.
"People are driven by emotion. If I wait until it's too late, I believe the fear and regret that drove me to wake up will drive me to do something again.
"But right now, I only hope that what drives me can always be kindness, love, and other good things."
Matt was stunned. He couldn't believe those words had come from an eighteen-year-old boy-one who was actually only fifteen in terms of psychological development.
People spent their entire lives haunted by the precious things they had lost. Matt himself was no different. He had lost his sight and his family. Was justice still what drove him now?
Perhaps revenge played a greater part.
"...This might sound ridiculous." Matt managed a strained smile. "Maybe I had that feeling from the start.
"I thought you might be someone capable of taking on that risk. That's why I told you so much."
"I'd use a different word. I prefer to call it responsibility."
Lier turned his head, his gaze passing over the homeless people in ragged clothes, the manhole covers venting steam, the filthy streets, the thugs with ill intentions...
All the way to Manhattan's glittering skyscrapers.
Cyberpunk 2077 was a twisted, oppressive world. Did that make this place a wonderful, easy reality?
If you didn't want to change your circumstances, your circumstances would change you. If you didn't want to make an effort, someone would...force you to, in a direction you had never wanted to take.
Lier silently recalled many things from his past, while Matt also fell silent.
Then Lier suddenly said:
"The light's green."
Before you continue