"Please let me go I'm just a high school dropout with no money no parents not even a home!
I'm only seventeen won't turn eighteen until the end of the year I'm just a kid who doesn't know any better and was only passing through please don't get any ideas!
If you're still angry please call the police and hand me over to the NYPD let them deal with me taking the law into your own hands is illegal!"
The girl slid to her knees at lightning speed, pressed her palms together, and prostrated herself on the ground, rattling off her pleas at a supernatural pace. Lier and the other two had no idea how to react.
After watching her for a while, Lier had a rough idea of what was going on.
It was 2011, and after the dot-com bubble burst, the industry was finally starting to recover.
The growth of the internet naturally brought a rise in the number of hackers. This girl was probably a self-taught amateur.
He just didn't know what kind of hacker she was-one who did it for money, or supposedly for justice and truth?
"What's your name?"
"Jenkins! Uh... Jenkins Walmart! Er, I mean, Walton!"
The girl stammered, her eyes darting toward a convenience store in the distance as she spoke.
Perhaps to make it sound less fake, she had quickly thought of a major retailer with at least some connection to convenience stores.
Lier looked utterly exasperated. "Oh? Really? Nice to meet you, Ms. Walton. My name is Dennis Burger King!"
The girl lifted her head and blinked her big eyes. "Hello, Mr. Burger King. I really was just passing through..."
"Are you kidding me? You're hacking, aren't you? Who do you work for?"
The girl hesitated, visibly torn. She glanced at the two expressionless, burly men behind Lier, then suddenly closed her eyes and shouted as though ready to face death:
"I work for Truth and Justice! You can't scare me! One day, the truth will be brought into the light! We..."
Lier rubbed his forehead, then grabbed the girl's cheeks. She could only purse her lips and make muffled noises as they stared at each other.
"Stop shouting. Are you determined to bring the New York City Government down on us? So you're a hacker with a sense of mission. I need to use this line too. If you're not doing any work, can you get lost?"
The girl nodded, her eyes wide.
"Good."
Lier released her and headed over to the distribution box.
A data port ran along a vein in his wrist. It was an interface for linking humans and machines.
The interface read information, processed the electrical signals, and uploaded them to a processor attached to his modified brain nerves. The processor used the brain for computation and storage to process the data.
If additional operating system cyberware was implanted at the spinal column, the body's central nerve hub, other nerves could also be used for computation.
The entire system was one of the foundational technologies of the Cyberpunk 2077 world: the brain-computer interface.
Of course, Lier had specifically made a data conversion adapter, since the interfaces of the two worlds were physically incompatible.
As Lier processed the data, he shifted his shoulders-
Because he had realized the girl hadn't left. Instead, she was peeking from behind him.
"..."
Lier turned sideways again to block the view of his Personal Link interface, and the girl stood on tiptoe to follow his movement.
The two bodyguards shifted as well.
It was turning into a game of hawk and chicks.
Once again looking thoroughly exasperated, Lier turned around. "I told you to get lost. What are you still doing here?"
"Uh... learning some skills. You're a hacker too, right? Remember what the spirit of the internet is all about? Sharing..."
"Idiot," Lier muttered. Then it suddenly occurred to him that the girl did show quite a bit of initiative.
Maybe I could talk her into working for me. Help a dropout girl find employment?
"Hmm... what's your name? Seriously this time, or seriously get lost."
The girl hesitated. "My name is Skye. I'm guessing you're not those bad guys, right?"
Skye-hearing that name, Lier immediately found a match in the "Marvel character database" in his head.
This girl really was a hacker. Known as Quake, she had been a formidable hacker even before awakening her superpowers. Clearly, she was still in the early stages of her hacking career.
Following her normal life trajectory, she would eventually hack someone she shouldn't, then get recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. and so on.
Lier asked, "Which bad guys? And how did you come to that conclusion?"
"You know, the bad guys behind all the demolition fuss lately. They kill people with toothpicks. Aren't you curious how they do it?"
"No-I'll find out sooner or later anyway." Lier tugged at his jacket sleeve, covering the hole over his vein and leaving only the data cable exposed.
"You can learn some skills, but it isn't free. Why don't you work with me?
I've been hired to upgrade the property owners' security system. That includes guarding against potential threats like the Toothpick Murders, of course."
"Huh? Do I get paid?"
"No. I'm teaching you for free and giving you work, and you still want wages? You want all the perks, don't you?"
Lier answered with such absolute conviction that Skye began to wonder whether this was simply how the adult world worked.
Still, learning a few skills would be good. She could worry about the future later.
Skye finally made up her mind. "Okay! It's settled! You two bodyguards..."
"Let her through." Lier waved, and the two bodyguards made room for Skye.
Of course, they could no longer maintain their cold expressions. How had their very first day working with Lier already exposed them to oddballs they would never encounter on a normal job?
Was society really this colorful all along?
Skye leaned closer, but she couldn't see anything. After all, Lier wasn't using a phone or computer to hack.
To the naked eye, Lier had simply plugged in a cable and stood there motionless.
The data processing was finished. All that remained was to change the wiring and activate the new protocol on the physical level.
"You're done? What next? Where's your computer? Where are your tools?"
"For a real hacker, knowing how to use a computer isn't enough."
Lier reached in and unplugged several network cables, then found the interface he needed amid the tangled spaghetti wiring.
The speed, precision, and decisiveness of his movements left Skye awestruck.
A veteran hacker! Definitely an old hand!
"Wow, how did you do that?"
"I've been doing this for years. I can tell how to wire it at a glance. All right-this base station is mine now.
I'm going to install a backdoor at the substation. Follow me."
The security trio gained a chatterbox of a girl, and Lier explained what he was doing to her as they walked.
"When people hear 'hacker,' they picture some gloomy guy in glasses holed up in a rented room, a computer beside him and trash all over the floor, sitting there for days.
That's not really how it works. People who stay online all day and never go out can, at most, scam people into giving up personal information.
People with access to actual confidential information are hard to fool, so physically locating your target is important."
"Exactly! That's what they say on the BBS too! But the wiring here is hell-level difficult. Apparently an electrician had an accident here before, though nobody knows what happened..."
"What BBS?"
"Uh... a forum called Rising Tide. Haven't you heard of it? Lots of hackers hang out there."
"Only the weak huddle together. If you're working with me, forget about those guys-"
Lier pointed at the substation gate nearby and told the three of them, "See that? We're going to walk straight in. I'll say we're electricians here for an inspection. Act the part."
"We're just walking up there?" all three asked in unison.
Lier nodded. "We're just walking in. Don't talk, don't make too many faces, and follow behind me. Act natural."
"But..."
John and Anthony exchanged glances, each seeing doubt and hesitation in the other's eyes.
If we get caught...
Lier said seriously, "Listen to me. If we can't restore the surveillance cameras, trust me, when someone walks into your homes to rob you later, all you'll dare do is watch."
Skye barely hesitated-even if they failed, they would only get kicked out.
And if we succeed-holy crap, this guy's a hacking god!
The three composed themselves and followed Lier toward the substation. Everyone except Lier was feeling a little nervous.
Sure enough, a security guard stopped them.
Lier said, "We're new here. The higher-ups sent us over to investigate some unusual power readings. Someone might be stealing electricity."
Before the guard could ask any more questions, his phone chimed.
It was a text from a senior engineer at the station.
"A team of electricians will be arriving shortly to investigate the readings. Three men and one woman."
The guard still felt something was off-these three weren't dressed like electricians.
"Where are your work IDs, uniforms, and tools?"
Lier was just about to explain when the guard received another text. "Their things are all inside. The team leader's name is Dennis Burger King.
Also, his work area is Area A2."
"...Our things are inside. I'm Dennis. The senior engineer should have registered me already."
Lier's explanation matched the texts the guard had received perfectly. Now he had no reason to stop them.
"All right... go in."
As Lier and his group entered, the guard watched the four of them warily again-
If they went the wrong way, that would be a little suspicious, wouldn't it?
But of course Lier wouldn't go the wrong way-the engineer happened to have a photo on his phone.
It showed the signs marking the various work areas inside the substation.
The guard shook his head and returned to his post.
"What a weird name. 'Burger King'..."
Before you continue