A cutscene triggered?
Jake’s spirits lifted.
He leaned forward slightly, pulling away from his chair’s backrest.
The computer screen froze on Gloria’s slightly panicked eyes.
Her movements became extremely slow, and the subtle background noises stretched out, as if a Sandevistan had been activated.
At the bottom of the screen, a simple input box popped up.
[Free Dialogue: Please enter what David will say here.
Different dialogue options may lead to different plot branches and character relationships.] “Free dialogue?
Did they embed an AI into the game?” Jake recalled information from the anime.
“Looks like I have to get past her to get the cyberware…” To Gloria right now, this implant represented a massive fortune capable of improving their lives, so she wouldn’t let it go easily.
And since she worked so hard just so David could get ahead, she obviously didn’t want him getting involved with this sort of thing.
How should he convince her?
“Emmm…” Jake pondered for a moment before his fingers began flying across the keyboard.
…
“David?” Gloria stood up from the couch, the yellow jacket slipping down to her elbows.
“What’s in your hand?
Put the bag down.
That’s not something you should touch.” She reached out to take the bag, but David took half a step back, skillfully avoiding her hand.
“This is military-grade cyberware, right?” “What?” Gloria was filled with shock.
At the same time, the digital TV hanging in the living room happened to broadcast yesterday’s news.
[Last night, the military implant on the corpse of Lieutenant James Norris, who was shot dead by MaxTac, was stolen…] “It was harvested right off him, wasn’t it?” Jake glanced at the TV and continued, “Arasaka is investigating this.
We’re in grave danger right now.” Even though this Sandevistan originated from Militech tech, it had leaked from an Arasaka lab, and Lieutenant Norris was one of Arasaka’s people.
To Arasaka, this implant was a highly valuable research specimen.
“How do you know all this?” Gloria looked at her son, for the first time feeling that this face she saw every day was somewhat strange.
She had brought this back wanting to sell it as quickly as possible to make a fast buck, so she could cover rent and those expensive academy fees…
It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered the risks; life had simply forced her to gamble.
“I study at Arasaka Academy,” Jake typed on the keyboard.
“The connections and news network inside are more complex than you think.” “I know some people who are very interested in Militech technology.” “They’ll offer a higher price than Maine, and it’s safer.
They’ll help me cover up this transaction, and the leads Militech is pursuing will be cut off completely.” Arasaka Academy?
Connections?
David listened in total dumbfoundment.
Where did he get those kinds of connections?
Those bastard elites at the academy were doing great just ignoring him!
“Maine…” Gloria was stunned.
“You even know about him?” Maine was the buyer for this cyberware.
David naming him directly was proof enough that he understood the situation thoroughly.
And finding her buyer was clearly not a difficult task for a student of Arasaka Academy.
It seemed her son really had made a name for himself at Arasaka Academy…
“This is the safest choice right now.” Jake struck while the iron was hot.
“Trading directly with Maine carries massive risk.
Trust me—let me handle it this time.
I can get a higher price, and it’ll be safer.” The living room fell into a brief silence.
Gloria took a deep breath, preparing to agree.
But as she looked at the deadpan calm on David’s face, she suddenly realized something was wrong.
David had mentioned dropping out to work and share the burden at home more than once.
If he truly possessed such connections, he would understand the value of Arasaka Academy better than anyone.
Why would he have repeatedly wanted to quit?
Something was wrong!
“I’m sorry, David.” Gloria seemed to make up her mind.
She reached out resolutely and grabbed the bag containing the cyberware.
“Don’t touch this matter anymore.” Busted?
Inside, David breathed a sigh of relief that Gloria hadn’t fallen for it so easily.
But soon, he grew nervous again.
Now that the lie had been exposed on the spot, would this guy resort to snatching it by force?
“Failed?” Jake felt a bit helpless.
“Looks like I’ll just have to try again…” Try again?
What did that mean?
Before David could process it, he felt as if everything around him had been coated in a strange tint, as though he were inside a braindance.
Then, something unbelievable happened.
The morning light filtering through the window, his mom holding the tote bag, the news on the TV…
everything began rewinding in a way that defied the laws of physics.
Gloria’s hand released the bag, pulling back.
He staggered backward step by step, returning precisely to the center of the living room, back along the path toward the doorway, and back across the threshold of the laundry area.
His perspective dropped rapidly.
He was back sitting on the mosaic floor tiles, his eyes locked once again on the washing machine’s round window.
The wet clothes inside were spinning in reverse, going from still back to tumbling.
David sat frozen, staring blankly at everything before him.
Huh?
Time…
rewound?!
His legs stood up uncontrollably once again.
David glanced at Gloria sleeping on the couch, then with a clear goal, dragged the black canvas tote bag out from the corner once more and headed toward the door.
What should he say this time?
Jake’s brain spun rapidly.
Using Arasaka Academy as a shield had failed, and direct persuasion stood zero chance of success.
Gloria only wanted David to study hard and stay off the streets—how could she possibly let him take control of this implant?
Was this stage a dead end?
Maybe the damn developers never intended for players to get this piece of gear from the start…
Jake walked backward until he reached the doorway.
His peripheral vision remained locked on Gloria, who was fast asleep on the couch.
Gloria seemed utterly exhausted, her breathing deep and even, completely unaware of the activity here.
The apartment door opened automatically.
With just one step, Jake could leave with this priceless cyberware.
Yet he paused right at the doorway.
One second, two seconds…
Jake was waiting for Gloria to wake up and trigger the cutscene.
But nothing happened.
The apartment remained silent.
“Huh?” Jake was thoroughly baffled.
He controlled David to tentatively step out of the apartment, and the door closed silently behind him.
The walls on both sides of the corridor were covered in eye-searing neon graffiti, and a few homeless people wrapped in tattered blankets huddled in the shadows of the corners.
Staring at the public hallway, Jake was dumbfounded.
“Where’s my special cutscene?”