Chapter 87: Chapter 83: Witnessing: Subway Theft (Second Update)

David didn’t know what Lille’s name was, only that he must be a big brother.

So he racked his brains and came up with such a name.

Lille was also curious about what the kid was up to; since they were heading the same way, they struck up a conversation.

"Dropped out?"

David nodded, "I’ll officially drop out tomorrow. Arasaka Academy is no place for a poor kid like me."

"Then what do you plan to do now?" Lille looked at the slender body of the kid—

Of course, he only looked slender. If he started to get prosthetics, with David’s physical condition, he could be transformed into a big guy in three weeks.

But his soul was too fragile. If he really went through such a transformation, the probability of cyberpsychosis shooting up to 99%.

"I... I plan to find a job first." After saying that, David clenched his teeth, "Big brother, I know you must have plans in the academy. Tomorrow, I can still get in normally, if you have any work..."

"Oh, I won’t be going to the academy from tomorrow either, I’m officially graduating."

"Ah?"

David was dumbfounded.

Street kids—no, street big brothers, how could they be connected to Arasaka Academy?

Anyone seeing this combination would think the street big brother was planning something big, like kidnapping all the students and demanding ransom one by one.

Of course, in David’s mind, a big brother like Lille wouldn’t stoop to kidnapping. It’s more likely he was onto some high-tech scheme.

But the one thing—the one thing that just wasn’t possible, and shouldn’t be, was that he was really studying!

"See, an A-grade license, dual, it’s a pity the name on the certificate isn’t mine; it’s a pseudonym."

Lille half-regretfully showed his physical license, brightly appearing before David.

Night City Professional Qualification and Talent Management Center—Arasaka Academy Joint Certification.

David’s mouth gaped wider and wider, suddenly feeling like a clown.

He was puzzled, "Now even street big brothers look at academic credentials?"

"Of course not, but it doesn’t hurt to have more skills when you’re out in the world. I am a person who loves to learn."

Lille put away the license and asked, "What about you, what job do you plan to find? But with such pressure on employment nowadays, where do you plan to look for work?

What can you do?"

A good question, that left David speechless.

Could he say that he could recite the school’s code of conduct and Arasaka Academy’s ideological education course backwards?

"Uh... if I have to say, the school also teaches us prosthetics calibration and technical knowledge..."

"That’s pretty good, can you get a license?"

David opened his mouth but couldn’t speak.

A license my ass—his level of proficiency was clear to him.

But this question really stumped David, and he began to ponder what exactly he had learned at Arasaka Academy.

Advanced mathematics, fundamentals of physics... Exclude!

Besides the corporate culture that all corporate dogs must study, it seems to be about improving personal refinement, maintaining professionalism during business conversations, and the like.

Finally, there were history, economics, and finance courses.

Which of these were useful?

David uncertainly said, "History... economics and finance kind of stuff? Will it help in job hunting?"

Lille clicked his tongue, "It is helpful, but definitely not for street punks looking for jobs. Strictly speaking, if you’ve mastered these, it’s very suitable for joining a company.

But if it’s not in a company... it really isn’t of much use."

It’s unexpected that in the year 2076, high school students no longer received basic scientific education—of course, it could also be that David initially dismissed the right answer:

Those who understand the basic subjects may not necessarily know technology, but most people who are good at basic subjects learn technology very quickly.

David’s shoulders visibly slumped; he really had no idea what to do.

He felt the only useful thing he had was the chip and prosthetic calibration technology—but in 2076, what did his level amount to?

It was equivalent to the level of a 2011 college student’s computer level two.

You can’t say it’s a dime a dozen or that it’s utterly useless, just that it’s not very useful—especially when you’re not a fresh college graduate.

Yes, this world is that contradictory.

Having a license certainly doesn’t apply to everyone, but having one doesn’t guarantee a job, and not having one doesn’t mean you can’t live well.

But no worries, the factories of Saint Domingo are always welcoming quality young people to plug in work chips, and the construction sites of Taiping State also welcome them to join in the dust.

David’s head suddenly perked up:

"Then I’ll just go help out at the place where my mom works. I heard that collecting corpses is quite a hassle; maybe I could get an outsourcing contract.

If I have time, I’ll go to the bar and look for a middleman to see if there’s any work. The Kuai Arm Chip is pretty powerful, certainly no problem dealing with punks."

This kid was serious this time.

Lille stroked his chin and said, "You’re much more motivated than last time. Got a gun in your pocket?"

David nodded, patting his bag.

"Not bad, although starting to learn these things at 17 is a bit late, it’s still better than learning them after you’re dead."

After Lille spoke, he looked toward the subway’s large floor-to-ceiling windows—suddenly, through the reflection in the windows, he saw the red light flashing on the external chip slot on David’s neck.

This was a sign of the chip being forcibly ejected.

Interesting—

Lille’s lips curled up—the person was not only eyeing David but also attempting to breach his personal ICE protection.

Personal ICE, as a form of protection for individual prosthetics, is mostly based on the brain and brain implants as hardware for defense.

In the absence of considering software architecture, the higher your intelligence level, the higher the complexity of your individual ICE can theoretically be.

That is to say, a hacker’s individual offensive and defensive capabilities rely heavily on their intelligence level.

Most hackers, when choosing a target to hack into, will first acquire the personal information sheet of the other party—this kind of information sheet is generally on the outer layer of data structures, equivalent to a business card, and is less difficult to dig into.

Lille also has such a business card, but it’s fake.

Moreover, due to data discontinuities, most hackers are unable to detect that there is data nested behind the fake card and will take it for the real thing.

However, an intelligence of 12 points is already considered exceptionally high in this world.

Whether it’s intelligence, reaction, or physical attributes, exceeding 8 points is already excellent, and 10 points is the limit for pure physical, almost unattainable by ordinary people.

points of intelligence is far from Lille’s limit, but it’s a height that most people cannot even come close to.

Obviously, the intruder still had the confidence to go for a big score—unfortunately, this wasn’t all of Lille’s computational power.

Once the ICE is not breached, both hackers will enter a real-time offensive and defensive phase—and Lille therefore has a chance for a surprise attack.

Thump.

A sound of something heavy falling came from behind; David hurriedly turned around, and his entire demeanor suddenly stiffened.

He saw down the hallway, a stylish white-haired girl had fallen to the ground, clutching her head in apparent pain.

David bent down like a fool to help the girl up, "Are you okay? What happened?"

In Lille’s prosthetic eyes, data flickered, "It’s nothing serious, just a backlash from someone trying to hack my system."

The white-haired girl bit her silver teeth, enduring the nausea of system disarray, pulled an almost invisible wire from her arm, and then placed it on David’s neck!

Lille clicked his tongue in wonder—wasn’t this David’s favorite moonlight, Lucy?

In the "Cyberpunk Edgerunners" anime, David often saw a white figure on his way home.

Now, he was directly in the arms of that white figure—just perhaps, not so romantic.

"Step back, or I’ll take this kid’s life."

Data was spinning in Lille’s mind, "Technically, he’s not with me. Also, are you sure your single molecule wire is functioning properly?"

The girl was startled, then suddenly noticed the lacked luster in the wire in her hand.

The single molecule wire, a technology from 2076, was impressive yet not further applicable.

This type of molecular wire had a special single-molecule arrangement from production.

However, fineness is not the only factor for sharpness; it also has to be hard.

When using a single molecule wire, prosthetics must supply electrical energy to enhance the interaction between the molecules, thus making it strong enough to cut through metal. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Seasoned hackers could use this characteristic of the single molecule wire, controlling the electric current output as an interface to hack into devices, or even begin charging the wire as they throw it out, making it behave like a braided whip effect.

But without this kind of force, the single molecule wire would be more fragile than one might imagine.

Lille bent down, picked up the Kuai Arm Chip from the ground, and saw it; David instantly felt really stupid.

"I disabled your prosthetics; I was supposed to grab it back.

But this is actually my first time being hacked into, and the individual ICE defense was quite a good experience—David, here’s your chip."

Most street kids start their first job as thieves.

You could ask this girl if she has any work for you; she seems to be a hacker with decent skills."

"You can really compliment yourself, can’t you?" The white-haired girl forced a smile, her wariness undiminished.

If she’s a decent hacker, what does that make Lille?

Thinking back, the ICE structure the other party set up during real-time defense wasn’t particularly clever, even mundane.

But what about that complexity, and the speed of Lille’s counterattacks while computing...?

Lille didn’t plan on bantering with her—tonight he was headed to Afterlife, and he didn’t want V yelling at him again for being late.

As for Lucy and David... let’s just say it was David’s time to prove himself.

Right now, he only had a Kuai Arm 400 chip that Lille had given him, which was worth a little money; Lucy probably wasn’t eyeing anything of his.

In the original story, at this point, not only had David lost his mother, he’d also equipped himself with the Si Anweisitan that James Norris used, just like a clueless youngster.

Now, he had nothing special, just a piece of entry-level combat prosthetics—and a living mother.

How far he could go, how much he could keep in this city, all depended on himself.

If he could pull his weight, he might be given some small jobs in the future.

Watching Lille leave without looking back, the white-haired girl breathed a sigh of relief.

In her arms, David’s embarrassed smile emerged, "So... do you have any work for me? I have a Kuai Arm Chip, might be pretty suitable for the job."

As he spoke, he also felt a bit awkward—the girl’s embrace was indeed soft.

This was the first time in David’s life he had any physical contact with a girl.

The white-haired girl, having just narrowly escaped danger, looked at the earnestness in the eyes of the foolish David and sighed again.

"Are you serious? An Arasaka Academy prince wants to do this kind of work?"

"I’m about to drop out; need to find a job," said David, counting on his fingers.

"Okay," the white-haired girl stood up after fixing her system, "I’ll give you nine, and if it comes to a fight, you cover the rear, and I’ll give you a bit more.

Now—when are you planning on getting off me?"

"Uh..." David quickly stood up, "Sorry, when do we start?"

"How about now—act normal, don’t look like a dolt. My name’s Lucy, what’s yours?"

"David."

Watching the simple David, Lucy wondered the same thing that had crossed Lille’s mind:

This kid would help count the money after being sold.

And he didn’t even try to negotiate.