Now arriving at Arasaka Academy

The next stop was Arasaka Academy.

According to the annual report published by Night City View magazine, Arasaka Academy had ranked first among Night City's educational institutions for the fourth year running.

The magazine's education experts believed that Arasaka Academy's educational infrastructure was unrivaled in Night City, a fact acknowledged from every perspective.

"No shit. Other public schools probably have a school shooting every few days."

V delivered her merciless commentary.

Indeed, Night City was a big, free city. Adults had the freedom to fire guns of every size wherever they pleased on the streets, and minors enjoyed that freedom too, with one extra battlefield on their maps: school.

The sole reason nobody singled this out for discussion was that minors had the same rights as adults in Night City, so shooting statistics made no distinction between them either.

Lier held an independent media journal containing the commentary. Its author was clearly critical of Arasaka Academy.

The rest focused on problems such as the academy's persistently high dropout and depression rates.

Then the next article was an advertisement recommending some Militech-sponsored academy.

"This isn't praising Arasaka. The second half criticizes the academy's high dropout rate and its persistently high rates of depression and even suicide.

"Tsk, tsk. Seriously, the administration encourages students to compete over grades. Why not just buckle down and learn some technical skills?"

V didn't quite understand what Lier was doing. "Look, wouldn't your time be better spent doing more jobs with us? What's the point of throwing money at a course completion certificate?

"We might even find a new lead."

"Your education level is too low. It's hard to explain..."

"Heh. Sure, you're so well educated. You don't even have an education record, and you've got the nerve to talk."

"Dear customers, you have arrived at the destination for this trip: Arasaka Academy. Your destination is on your right."

Following the announcement from the self-driving Delamain taxi, the two arrived at Arasaka Academy's entrance.

As an academy affiliated with Night City's most powerful corporation, it occupied an excellent location, right next to City Hall.

Education had become even more extreme in the world of 2077. At a secondary school like Arasaka Academy, parents without a high-paying megacorp job had to take on a lifetime of debt to afford their children's schooling.

Yet that was only secondary education. A higher-level qualification, such as a law degree from the renowned Askaga-Berkeley University, cost at least 2.7 million.

But was it worth it?

The answer was that those at the top considered it important, while those at the bottom thought they were better off starting work early.

Askaga-Berkeley University's law department produced a steady stream of talent. Most became politicians serving the major powers, while some worked as legal specialists and corporate advisers.

For instance, the Peralez couple, currently running for mayor of Night City, had graduated from that university's law department and knew how to leverage those connections.

People at the bottom couldn't afford the education or enter those circles, so naturally, they couldn't imagine the benefits a degree brought.

Most poor parents who sent their children to Arasaka Academy simply... imagined that studying alone could change their fate.

Of course, Lier couldn't afford that sort of degree either.

V belonged firmly in the category of people who didn't understand any of it. She told Lier, "Fine, go take your exam. Jackie and I are heading to the Afterlife for a drink. Call if you need anything."

"Got it. Do you really think I'm some weakling who couldn't hurt a fly?"

Lier pointed at his head. He had already installed a Demon in his interface slot, and his cyberware was heating up.

It was cheap stuff he'd picked up in the Kabuki District. Lier planned to develop his own Demons; this one was just for emergencies.

"Don't get mugged by some thugs again and come crying to your big sister V to get even for you. Let's go. Del, the Afterlife."

After watching V leave, Lier checked the time, popped another immunosuppressant pill, and strolled into Arasaka Academy.

Continuing education differed from full-time education. It was intended for young dropouts-in other words, adult education.

Legally, this continuing education college wasn't actually part of Arasaka Academy. It was another of Arasaka's investments in education, conveniently located near the academy for promotional purposes.

It primarily offered technical training. Lier had chosen a package combining instruction and assessment, which provided no detailed hands-on training. Its AI-tailored courses were relatively rudimentary.

The advantage was that it was cheap. And if Lier passed the skills certification test after the course, part of his tuition would be waived.

Sounded incredible, didn't it? A corporation actually giving money back?

But this test was no pushover. It provided genuine, publicly recognized certification, such as Vic's Class A Ripperdoc License.

In fact, there might not even be one successful candidate in ten thousand. Corporations needed to maintain a reserve of talent like that.

Even if they couldn't use those people themselves, they still needed to win them over and squeeze their competitors' talent pools. This was, in effect, a strategic expense.

Anyone who passed the test and agreed to accept the college's job placement could receive further tuition reductions.

Still, continuing education required an entrance test too. No corporation was interested in idiots.

The continuing education college stood beside the main gate. Compared with the academy's central buildings in the distance, it was thoroughly unremarkable, and it was separated from the academy grounds.

Walking through the forest of high-rises toward the academy made the grandeur of those corporate towers even more apparent. The vast expanses of landscaped open space highlighted the academy's distinctive character.

Yes, the buildings here weren't tall, but anyone who used land this extravagantly had to be in league with the surrounding corporations.

It created an illusion: the corporate towers and Arasaka Academy looked like an adult and a child standing together.

Looking at that adult and child, you couldn't help feeling that the child would grow up to look just like the adult.

When an adult and a child stood together, nobody cared what the child had originally been like.

Some children rather enjoyed that feeling, such as a few of the... little shits walking out of Arasaka Academy right then, their noses practically pointing at the sky.

Anyone who didn't know better might have thought they'd already graduated and were earning a million a year.

Watching several kids who wouldn't even look him in the eye, Lier thought, Heh... becoming an Arasaka executive counts as employment, but so does tightening screws in an Arasaka factory.

Don't let me catch you when I'm robbing Arasaka. Then Lier thought, Oh, actually, I'd better not catch you as executives either.

But suddenly, he wondered whether he'd worn the same expression when looking at working adults back when he'd been a model student...

How could students know which part of society they would eventually belong to?

Arasaka Tower? Biotechnica's farms? Or the cybernetically augmented workers on Orbital City's assembly lines?

But right now, they enjoyed the finest education available. They were children living under a corporation's protection.

"Mr. Dennis Burger King, please enter examination room three for your test."

The announcement called Lier's alias.

Soon, Lier also felt the gap between ideals and reality.

[Some claim that the Sandevistan is actually a form of ancient magic that uses an energy field to create an area of distorted time. Is this claim true or false? Briefly explain your reasoning and outline how the Sandevistan works.]

Who would believe something like that?

Lier was surprised. True, technologies from different worlds would seem incredible to one another.

But... the speed of light was still the upper limit in the world of Cyberpunk 2077. Time wasn't so easily distorted.

Given that he had one of those things installed on his spine, Lier naturally answered without difficulty.

The questions that followed were more normal. Most of the easy ones covered basic technical facts available online, such as the two signal transmission mechanisms in the human body: electrical signals and biological signals.

The harder ones covered theoretical models of bioelectrical signals, detailed explanations of conversion mechanisms between digital and biological signals, and so on.

Lier had signed up for the Class A Medical License and the Class A Technical Specialist Certification Training Course, so there were also design questions involving things like the chemical synthesis formula for CHOOH2 and independently designing a functional CHOOH2 generator.

They were all fairly basic-assuming the applicant intended to qualify for those two Class A licenses.

Before coming, Lier had crammed these subjects with Vic. With cyberware-assisted memory and the comprehension he'd developed over two lifetimes, he answered without a single pause.

But after he finished all the technical assessment questions, the question generator paused.

Then it presented a thought-provoking question.

[Arasaka Corporation is one of the world's foremost diversified corporations. Would you like to join Arasaka Corporation?]

Lier answered, "No. I have other plans for my life, but living in Night City means learning to deal with Arasaka is essential."

It sounded somewhat flattering, but it was true.

[Are you opposed to choosing Arasaka's services?]

Lier considered it, then entered, "Quite the opposite. If Arasaka can provide the services I want, I would be happy to purchase them, just as I have with this educational product."

[Suppose you wished to become an outside contractor for Arasaka Corporation. How would you plan your career and enjoy a fulfilling life?]

An "outside contractor," huh...

This was probably a question used for psychological profiling, asking subjects relevant questions to construct a psychological portrait in a particular area.

First, the term itself wasn't clearly defined.

An electrician miserably sorting cables in Westbrook every day fit the description, as did a hacker in Pacific State who occasionally did dirty work for the corporation. Mercenaries, assassins...

Whichever one the subject chose would naturally reveal his subconscious inclinations.

And the first thing that actually came to Lier's mind was a fixer.

In that case, the answer was to build a good relationship with Arasaka, secure funding channels, use money and other means to control the locals, and ruthlessly suppress every competitor.

The goal was to become the sole channel of communication between the locals and the upper class.

Second, creating antagonism between the two sides was essential. That was the foundation of a fixer's existence. Finding people for corporations, helping locals take out corporate dogs, even sucking up to the NCPD... all had to be done according to the situation.

At the same time, maintain a distance from Arasaka.

When necessary, hint at the possibility of switching sides, so Arasaka's management wouldn't dare entrust him with highly confidential assignments.

That way, he would be less likely to face the brutal choice between death and being brought into the fold, keeping his own life in his hands as much as possible.

Corporations might change, and people at the bottom might die, but... the one constant was the barrier between those two classes.

Navigate their bitter conflict with ease, remain calm and independent, avoid being dragged down by either side, yet profit from both.

When making enemies, be a cockroach the corporation couldn't easily crush, and a powerful figure with connections everywhere to those at the bottom.

That was Night City's fence-sitter: the fixer.

With that in mind, Lier began answering:

"Only a fucking idiot would do this job."