Inside the clinic.
David regained his freedom once again.
He blinked, then wiggled his fingers.
From what that guy said, he probably wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.
Tonight, he could move freely…
David let out a long breath.
Although he resisted the idea of being controlled, he was powerless to stop it.
However, since the other party was some kind of evil spirit or devil, perhaps he could seek help from forces of justice…
David walked to the door, preparing to leave.
But as if suddenly remembering something, he stopped in his tracks.
“Um…”
David turned back to look at Vik: “I think keeping my bladder is actually pretty good.”
Vik was already back in his seat in front of the workbench, watching an underground boxing match.
Hearing this, he didn’t even raise his head.
“Suit yourself.”
Seeing this, David finally breathed a sigh of relief, quickly turning to push open the creaking iron gate and stepping outside at a brisk pace.
Nighttime in Little China was even livelier than during the day.
Neon signs painted the entire street in shades of pink and purple.
Street vendors pushed their carts, shouting loudly to hawk their goods, while several street kids clad in fluorescent jackets crouched at the alley entrance smoking cigarettes, their restless gazes scanning passersby.
David kept his head down, striding quickly through the crowd.
Since everyone in 6th Street who knew he was the killer was dead, and the NCPD had given up the chase…
He should be able to go home tonight, right?
David stood in front of the hijacked white Makigai, hesitating for a moment.
Forget it…
He didn’t know how to drive.
Even though the evil spirit had demonstrated hands-on driving while possessing him, driving all by himself was something he still didn’t dare do.
In his heart, David silently apologized to those unlucky souls whose car had been jacked, then turned and headed toward the metro station.
Arriving at the metro station.
The carriage wasn’t crowded, but it felt stuffy, with everyone keeping their heads down.
Most were corporate employees who had just off-shifted, dressed in suits and ties that were impeccably knotted, yet their eyes were more hollow than the next.
The metro plunged into the tunnel.
Lights outside the train windows began flickering in a rhythmic pulse.
David’s gaze drifted aimlessly across the carriage, gliding past the weary faces of those salarymen and coming to rest at the far end of the car.
Standing at the end of the carriage was a girl.
She had a tall, slender build, radiating a lightness unique to young women.
She wore a black netrunner bodysuit underneath a loose, off-the-shoulder white jacket, with an asymmetrical bob featuring a pale white and soft pink base, its ends dyed in a gradient rainbow.
“Looks so familiar…” David muttered to himself.
Had he seen her somewhere before?
The girl walked slowly through the carriage, her steps light like a cat’s.
Passing by a napping middle-aged salaryman, a thumbnail-sized chip ejected silently from the man’s neural interface, snatched mid-air, and slid up her sleeve.
The whole process took less than two seconds.
The employee clearly had no idea what had just happened, not even lifting an eyelid.
David froze for a moment.
So that’s what she does…
Neural flash chips were the hardware terminals through which regular citizens accessed the city grid and managed cyberware data.
What those corp employees had plugged into their necks were high-end civilian models manufactured by Arasaka.
Chips like these fetched a decent price on the low-level chrome market; brand-new originals were outrageously expensive, but salvaged parts like these, once refurbished, were precisely what nomads and small-time gangs desperately needed.
Furthermore, most corp-rats riding the metro were low-level employees who wouldn’t dare report a missing chip anyway.
Low risk, steady returns.
David lowered his gaze, staring at the tips of his shoes.
Not my circus, not my monkeys.
He had already gotten into enough trouble today; right now, he just wanted to go home and sleep.
The girl continued threading through the carriage with clean, effortless movements.
David turned his face toward the window.
Then, he heard a faint “click”.
A brief chill hit the back of his neck as his own chip slid out of his neural interface.
David’s body moved faster than his mind.
A faint electrical sensation rippled down his spine, and the world slowed down abruptly before his eyes.
Dust drifting from the AC vent froze in mid-air, the tired expressions of the commuters locked into stationary oil paintings, and even the girl’s retracting fingers moved as sluggishly as if traveling underwater.
For the first time, he actively triggered the Sandevistan himself.
Lucy had just pinched David’s chip when her arm was suddenly grabbed firmly by him.
Time resumed its natural flow.
Clang—
All sound rushed back in.
Lucy glanced down at her pinned arm, then looked up at David, a flash of surprise flickering in her eyes.
With a twist of her wrist, she shook off David’s grip.
Before David could react…
Lucy had already caught his wrist in a counter-grip, dragging him through the door connecting the carriages and into the narrow gangway between the two cars.
“Come with me.”
David didn’t resist.
He was somewhat curious about what the girl wanted to do.
Flickering lights in the gangway cast moving shadows on the handrails, and the clattering sound of wheels grinding over track joints sounded exceptionally loud here.
“What’s your deal?”
Lucy was half a head taller than him and stood close, looking for all the world like an older sister scolding a rebellious younger brother.
“What?”
“You interfered with my work.”
“Was I supposed to just stand there and let you rob me?” David replied, annoyed.
He hadn’t expected such a pretty girl to be so completely unreasonable…
“You’ve been staring at me the whole time, haven’t you?”
“Didn’t expect you to be a thief.”
A thief?
Lucy didn’t like people calling her that.
Though her smile remained unchanged, she had already decided to teach this kid a lesson!
She suddenly reached out, her fingertips pressing gently against David’s body, brushing lightly from his cheek down to his chest.
“Have we met somewhere?”
“No, probably…”
David’s throat bobbed, his entire body freezing up: “Probably…
the first time.”
The moment the words left his mouth…
The tone of Lucy’s smile shifted completely.
David felt a knee drive brutally into his abdomen.
Before he could catch his breath, Lucy twisted his wrist back and pinned him face-first against the wall.
What the hell?
The sharp movements yanked right at David’s surgical wounds, making him break out in a cold sweat from the pain.
The red glow in Lucy’s eyes flickered faintly as she brazenly hacked into David’s neural network.
“Huh?
You’ve actually got something like this chrome installed?”
She sounded as if she had uncovered a fun secret: “A kid running a Sandevistan?
And it doesn’t look like a mass-produced model either.”
“Though I won’t pry.
After all, this is Night City.”
“As a trade-off, why don’t we partner up?”
With his cheek pinched between two slender fingers, David could only squeeze out words with difficulty:
“As thieves?”
“My targets are only Arasaka people.”
“Then do I look like a corp employee to you?” David said, exasperated.
Lucy let out a soft chuckle: “Scanned an Arasaka Academy ID.
Though you really don’t act like an Arasaka kid.”
Lacking that arrogant, high-and-mighty vibe of those bastards, huh?
“Don’t look down on people,” David muttered.
“Targets are strictly corpos, right?”
Compared to killing people…
Stealing stuff really didn’t seem like much of a big deal…
“You agree then?”
Lucy chuckled softly, retracting her Monowire back into her wrist: “You should thank your parents for raising such a sharp kid.”
Listening to the whir of the wire reel…
David reached up to touch his neck, his eyes filled with a trace of dread.
If she had wanted to kill him, he would already be dead right now…
“You’re really full of openings…”
Lucy had already turned to walk back toward the carriage, her steps light: “You’ve still got a lot to learn.”
David caught up: “What about the split?”
“Eighty for me, twenty for you.”
“Huh?”
David kept pace, protesting: “Are you kidding me?
Aren’t you relying on my Sandevistan?”
“The fence channel to liquidate the chips depends on me,” Lucy replied without looking back.
“Plus, count it as your tuition fee.”
“Tuition…”
David tried to bargain: “At least seventy-thirty.”
“Deal.”
Lucy turned around, resting her hands on her hips with a small smile: “Settled on the spot when we finish.
It’s a deal then.”
She extended her hand: “I’m Lucy.”
“I’m David.”
He shook Lucy’s hand.
The girl’s palm was slightly cool as she spoke softly:
“Pleasure doing business!”