Chapter 137: Chapter 128: Prosthetic System Malfunction

After getting into the car, Old Captain immediately answered a call from his old friend Cheson.

Cheson, "Damn, man, what the hell happened yesterday? This morning, as soon as I opened the door, both Military Science and Kantao came to my shop twice to inspect things!"

Old Captain, "How would I know? But, bro, I’m in with the big boys now, I’ll treat you to a drink sometime!"

Cheson, "I mean... impressive."

Cheson, "Looks like it’s gonna be tough these next few days. Got any business to refer?"

Old Captain, "Hard to say, but I think if business in the city is tough, you could head up to Evil Land. You saw how badass the Wanderer was last night."

Cheson, "Now that you mention it, that’s true. Can you help me advertise?"

Old Captain, "Since the company has already come knocking at your door, I think whether or not advertising matters is beside the point—Bro, I even got a video of yesterday’s legend, Mackinaw!"

Old Captain, "Thunder Company must be ecstatic."

Cheson, "That’s beyond ecstatic... I need to buy some stocks... damn it, the company dogs are back, this time it’s Arasaka’s!"

Cheson, "Gotta hang up, brother, let’s talk when we’re free."

Right after hanging up, Old Captain receives a text message from Arasaka.

Sender: Arasaka Representative A.

Old Captain: Yo, a rare visitor. What do you need?

Arasaka Representative A: Information.

Old Captain: Ah, that’s a tough one.

Arasaka Representative A: Cut the crap, we want information on those three.

Old Captain: Those three?

Arasaka Representative A: Yes, the three from last night.

Old Captain: That’s not easy to say. There are many trios in this world, and maybe the information you want isn’t about a trio at all. It could be a duo, a quartet, a quintet. Without a name, how would I know what you’re talking about?

Arasaka Representative A: ...The big shot from Burger King’s deal, I want their current information.

Old Captain: Wow, so they were the ones behind last night’s events? Truly badass, but where would I go to meet such big shots?

Arasaka Representative A: Watch your status.

Old Captain: Oy, big boss, I’m just an ordinary middleman, really don’t get to see any big shots.

Old Captain: Boss? You still there?

The communication is cut off, and Old Captain in the car scoffs.

"Getting anxious—there you go getting anxious; there’ll be more for you to worry about later."

As he spoke, Old Captain looked at Evil Land through the rearview mirror, saying thoughtfully,

"Formidable... Night City has no living legends, turns out that law isn’t quite accurate."

...

The injuries that Jack and V suffered would normally be fatal—but they are cyborgs, transhumans with prosthetic enhancements.

The price of not dying was that they had to pay for parts to repair their bodies.

After the drive, the two lay back down in their tent.

"Tsk tsk, you guys are something. Drove yourselves to lie down."

V blinked her large eyes and said, "Er... what do we do now?"

Lille didn’t speak, just remained in diagnostic mode—his brain-computer interface was damaged, slowing down his system operations.

Jack’s problem was straightforward—his reinforced skeleton had fractures, mainly in the rib area, both femurs and tibias also had varying degrees of fractures.

It wasn’t that his bones weren’t hard enough. If it had been natural bones, this wouldn’t be just simple fractures. His whole body would have been ground to pieces.

That big guy from the Terrorist Mobile Team wasn’t kidding when he got violent. Those walls that were smashed through in a couple of hits were the walls of the Biotechnology Building!

Given his level of prosthetics, it wasn’t impossible for him to break an armored vehicle with his bare hands in that state.

The broken bones meant he couldn’t stiffen his body, and the fractures would also cause more severe immune reactions inside the body, leading to an overall decline in bodily functions.

Otherwise, Jack was someone who had ridden through explosions in the city center; this bit of speed wouldn’t normally make him pass out.

"As for Jack... just find some merchandise to replace his bones, that repair’s relatively simple."

Jack lay on his back, unable to move, "Ah, can I replace less?"

After some thought, responded Lille, "Maybe so, let me think of a way."

"Good brother, you’re reliable."

V’s problem, however, was much more complicated—

The visible part: Cyberpsychosis caused the prosthetics to over-frequency and malfunction, so her circulatory system and frontal cortex readings were a bit off, but overall, she was recovering.

But the diagnostic system encountered errors, suggesting that V’s prosthetics were not just normally damaged; her nervous system and immune system were reporting a multitude of error messages.

Such a vast array of indeterminate errors... could only mean an issue with her spinal prosthetic.

The flagship product from Super Dream, the unfinished "Reality Distortion" Si Anweisitan.

We’ll have to get Kantao on this.

But to take the issue to the company... I always feel it’s not quite safe.

This silence gave V the creeps, "Why aren’t you talking anymore? Say something, will you?"

"...The issue is somewhat complex."

Lille thought of something else:

Speaking of which, V’s Si Anweisitan was one of those with high security but low performance, so how did she severely injure one of the Terrorist Mobile Team, with three of them present?

Even if you take away that distracted big guy, there are still two good ones left, right?

To know the answer to this question...

V was stunned, "Spit it out! Why do you stop halfway every time?"

"For now... I’m going to stop your spinal prosthetics, just maintaining basic functions, then I need to extract a snippet of ’Super Dream’ from your Si Anweisitan."

"Super Dream?" V was taken aback.

Super Dream is actually a recording system.

This recording system can completely capture the hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell experienced by the Cyber Implant.

It’s converted into Cyber Implant information through a special device, replicating these sensations almost identically, allowing the experiencer to relive nearly 100% of what the extractor felt.

By 2076 these were already very common technologies, of course V wouldn’t be unfamiliar with them; she just found it strange—

Because recording a Super Dream supposedly required special equipment, at least that’s what she had heard.

"Yes, Super Dream," explained Lille. "Si Anweisitan itself is a prosthetic that stimulates almost every part of the body, so in fact, it’s also the highest grade of Super Dream recording device.

An editor who knows how to convert this information can record a Super Dream with it.

I need the Super Dream to analyze what happened to you in the building."

"No way!"

V suddenly shook her head.

Lille was surprised, "It’s not like I’m asking for your life, just a Super Dream recording. Didn’t you ever dream of being a Super Dream star as a kid?"

Being a Super Dream star is one thing; this is my personal privacy..."

"I’ve told you, this is medical data, and I’ve already got it."

The chip popped out with a snap, and V’s eyes widened!

"Alright, if you want to get better sooner, cut out the drama. There’s bigger work waiting for you once you’re healed."

"Wait a minute, how can you just extract Super Dream data from my body?"

"Si Anweisitan itself comes with a data recording function. Have you ever heard of the Super Dream series called ’Outsider’? That’s how it’s done."

Lille waved the chip he had obtained and slipped it into his pocket.

V resigned herself to the situation—most of her prosthetics were now shut down, maintaining only the essential functions.

Before this, she could have used Si Anweisitan to snatch the stuff back right away, but not anymore.

"Fine, fine..." V lay on the mat and sneaked a glance at Lille. Seeing no change in his expression, she continued, "So what now? Just lie here?"

"Of course not, don’t forget that we too are now Wanderers."

Lille looked out of the tent.

The elders of the red ochre stone had released the last of their life’s vitality, but those who survived still had to struggle on in this world.

"...We’ve got to do something good for the Tribe, right?"

The red ochre stone Tribe was in a transition period—the elders were gone, and the youth had not been through much.

But this Tribe still had potential.

"Never thought I’d see the day I’d be wandering—Night City’s legends aren’t made in Evil Land."

Saying this, V turned over and sat up against the cupboard:

"Just so long as we don’t keep sinking money into it—and speaking of which, you said Rogel used to lay low in Evil Land, tell me about that."

Jack also nodded, "I want to hear about that too. The street legends don’t seem to cover that bit."

Lille was startled for a moment, then realized that although this history was well known to him, Rogel was laying low at the time and naturally wouldn’t make a big deal about it.

Their ignorance was to be expected.

"Alright... then we can catch up on some—urban legends. You all know about the Arasaka Tower nuclear blast, right?"

Both nodded—they knew it was one of Night City’s biggest mysteries, with the truth still hotly debated.

The commonly accepted version now is the one revealed by a famous journalist decades ago—

That the nuclear blast was set off by Military Technology, and Rogel was just a decoy sent by Military Technology.

"Everybody knows this has a lot to do with Rogel, but not many know that the Wanderers were also involved.

And it was precisely our current host—Adkaduo."

[Unstable Energy is about to erupt, please prepare.]