After seeing them off, David stood leaning against the door for a few seconds before slowly sliding down to a sit.
The moon, showing only him…
It was all a scam…
He lowered his head, wanting to bury his face in his knees.
But before he could sink into his grief, a hand clamped firmly onto his ear with terrifying precision, yanking him up by the sheer force of it.
“David!” “Ow, ow, ow, ow—!” Clutching his ear and wincing in pain, David was dragged all the way to the couch and shoved down onto it by Gloria.
“Who told you that you could take that cyberware without permission!” Gloria stood towering over him, hands on her hips.
“Explain yourself right now!” Rubbing his reddened ear, David looked up at his mother.
Her face was filled with anger, but she couldn’t hide the deep layer of worry in her eyes.
“What about you, Mom?!” Instead of answering, he fired back, “Why would you bring something so dangerous into our home?” If not for this cyberware, he wouldn’t have gone through such a harrowing day today…
Gloria’s expression froze for a moment.
Her voice rose.
“If you knew it was dangerous, why did you dare install it on yourself?!” “And another thing!” Gloria took a deep breath, pressing him further.
“Where did you get all that money?
That twenty-eight thousand eddies…” “From selling a car.” David tried telling the truth.
Gloria looked bewildered.
“Where did you get a car?” “Drove a hijacked car to North Watson and picked it up.” “You stole a car too?!” Gloria went off like a rocket.
Before she could scold him, David said helplessly, “I didn’t have a choice!
I was being chased the whole way, my ride got blown to pieces!
If I didn’t steal one, I’d be dead!” “Chased?” Gloria blinked in shock.
“What chase?!” “They were looking for Doc, but I killed Doc, so they pursued me all across town.” David threw out the bombshell casually.
“!!!” Gloria’s eyes widened in horror.
What on earth was she hearing!
Murder!
Her boy was capable of doing something like that?!
“Why did you kill Doc?!” she asked in utter disbelief.
“He found out I crossed 6th Street and was going to sell me out,” David explained softly.
“You crossed 6th Street?!” The stakes just kept piling up!
Gloria’s voice hit a pitch higher.
“The 6th Street gang in Santo Domingo?
How did you mess with them?!” “To get this cyberware installed…” David’s voice grew quieter and quieter.
“…I hijacked a 6th Street bike, and then by accident…
I killed all six guys under the overpass.” Gloria’s lips trembled violently.
Mystery solved.
That incident had been David’s doing all along…
Her whole body wobbled, her eyes rolled back, and she pitched straight backward.
“Mom!” David panicked, lunging forward to catch her and frantically easing her back onto the sofa.
Telling the truth really was too much for her to handle…
“Mom, I was kidding!” He swallowed hard.
“Those were just news stories I saw on WNS!” Gloria lay there, her chest heaving violently, taking several seconds before she could breathe properly again.
She turned her head and stared at David for a long moment.
“Where did you really get that money?” David opened his mouth, a trick used by that entity today flashing through his mind.
Borrowing authority to bluff.
“It belongs to a classmate of mine.” David lowered his voice, sounding reluctant.
“He stole a car from his family and couldn’t sell it himself, so he asked me to liquidate it for him.
The money is his.
I’m just holding onto it.” Gloria stared at him for a few seconds, her gaze softening slightly.
That made far more sense.
Mainly, the previous story David told was too terrifying for her to believe, whereas those rich kids at Arasaka Academy were definitely capable of pulling a stunt like that.
“Then why did you install the cyberware?” The sharp edge of interrogation left her tone, replaced by heavy exhaustion.
David didn’t dare look her in the eye, his fingers digging into the couch cushions.
“At school…
everyone has high-end chrome.” Gloria lapsed into silence.
So it was peer pressure…
She opened her mouth to say something, closed it, and finally just sighed.
The boy had been sensible since childhood, never asking for anything.
Now that he finally did, it had to be something like this…
“David, you can’t keep this cyberware installed,” she explained patiently.
“It places way too much strain on your body.” David didn’t reply.
His mom’s worries were justified.
But he couldn’t afford to lose this cyberware, and that evil spirit would never allow it to be removed…
“It was just installed today, so it can’t be removed anytime soon,” David shrank back slightly, avoiding Gloria’s reaching hand.
“Let’s talk about it later.” “Sigh.” Gloria pulled her hand back and leaned against the couch backrest, staring blankly at the ceiling.
This single day had been more exhausting than running ten emergency calls.
“And what about your classmate’s money?
You used over twenty thousand of it,” she rubbed her temples.
“I’ll have to figure out a way to pull something together…” “No need to worry.” David interrupted her, spinning more lies.
“His parents found out he stole the car.
Luckily, they don’t know the cash is with him, so he’s begging me to hold onto it for now, terrified he’ll get caught.” Having said that, even he felt his lying skills were improving drastically.
Gloria looked at him, the worry in her eyes slowly melting away a bit.
“That’s good then.” Saying this, she added, “I’ll repay this money slowly.
As for your classmate…
try to stall him as best as you can.” “I will.” David nodded, his voice softening.
“From now on, I’ll carry these burdens with you.” He could take gigs from El Capitan now, and his cyberware was strong enough.
He was no longer that helpless student sitting dazed in front of the washing machine.
He could protect those around him and make his mom’s life easier…
Gloria froze.
Looking at David’s bruised face and his earnest eyes, her nose suddenly felt stingy.
She reached out, pulled David close, and hugged him.
“You silly kid…” David’s shoulders were much broader than she had realized.
When had the little boy she nagged to eat and sleep every day grown up like this?
David didn’t pull away, feeling equally emotional in his heart.
Being possessed by an evil spirit—whether it was a blessing or a curse remained to be seen.
This might be his last fleeting moment of peace…
“Oh, right.” Gloria suddenly released him.
Before David could react, he saw his mom bend down and pull a plastic bag from under the table.
He recognized the bag instantly.
But so much had happened today that David couldn’t connect the dots right away.
Until Gloria pulled a magazine out of the bag—the cover featured fluorescent lingerie and bold, neon-pink letters reading *Playboy*.
David’s smile froze on his face.
“My dear son…” Gloria raised the magazine in front of his face, her expression pleasant and her voice sweet.
“Could you explain to me…
what these are?” “Uh…” David’s face instantly turned bright red.
Damn that evil spirit!
I’m going to settle the score with you sooner or later!!