Faced with the greeting from the blue-eyed man in a suit, the room fell silent for a moment before Arasaka Sesen spoke, his voice altered th
Faced with the greeting from the blue-eyed man in a suit, the room fell silent for a moment before Arasaka Sesen spoke, his voice altered through the lab's comms: "You knew we were here?"
"For us, as long as there is a connection—of information—there is nothing we do not know."
The blue light in the man's eyes flickered for a moment. "Even your details, Mr. Arasaka Sesen, we are well aware of them."
Clearly, even through the surveillance camera, the blue-eyed man knew exactly who was speaking.
Sesen's gaze hardened slightly.
So it wasn't a bluff—this man could indeed perceive what was happening on the other side of the camera using some special method.
"I assume Michiko already interrogated you."
Sesen shifted in his seat, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, staring at the screen. "But I'd like to confirm it myself. Why did you attack Arasaka?"
"I did not attack Arasaka."
The man murmured softly, eyes glowing, uttering phrases like "calculating optimal path… confirming execution of encounter protocol," before continuing in a neutral, emotionless tone:
"I merely calculated the most likely method of initiating contact with you, and then acted upon it."
"Well, you've made contact now."
Sesen pressed further: "Militech? Biotech? Who sent you?"
"We did."
"We?"
Sesen frowned.
That wasn't a good answer.
He'd read the reports—this blue-eyed man was likely being controlled by a rogue AI through his cybernetics. The real speaker was probably the AI itself. But Sesen wasn't fully convinced.
Not because he doubted the AI's ability to control people—but because a rogue AI wouldn't be captured so easily.
He had long suspected this man was faking it—a deep-cover operative sent by a rival corp, posing as a vessel for a rogue AI, trying to make a deal from behind the scenes.
But now… the man had denied that himself.
"What do you mean 'we'?"
"We are a collective. We are one. We are us."
A riddle-like answer that revealed nothing of value.
Sesen paused, eyes narrowed, then changed his question.
"Then why did you—you all—seek us out?"
"Cooperation."
The man replied: "We seek cooperation."
An AI looking to cooperate with a megacorp wasn't unheard of. Rumors had always existed that even the Blackwall—the barrier separating the old Net from the new—was built through cooperation between rogue AIs and corporations.
But to do so in a human body?
Even Sesen had never seen that before.
"Cooperate with what, exactly?"
"It cannot be explained in language. We seek cooperation with the true master."
The true master.
Hearing this phrase, Karl's eyes lit up with realization.
The true master of Arasaka—Saburo Arasaka. So this AI wanted to speak to him.
But why?
Why would a rogue AI want to meet Saburo, and go to such lengths to do so—like orchestrating an attack on the Arasaka Tower gala?
Why not just… cross the Pacific and find him directly?
Karl nearly chuckled at the absurdity.
Cross the Pacific? Not with the Net in its current state. After the Blackwall fragmented cyberspace, even basic transoceanic data exchange had become nearly impossible. And even if the AI could reach Japan, meeting Saburo would be a dream.
"So that's what he meant. Calculated all possible approaches… and chose the one with the highest success rate."
By attacking the Arasaka gala, the AI had forced Arasaka loyalists to report to Saburo—ensuring the message would reach him.
It was all a setup—one massive gambit to get the attention of Arasaka's top patriarch.
As Karl processed this, Arasaka Sesen's face briefly flickered with emotion upon hearing Saburo's name, but he quickly wiped it away and stood up.
"There's nothing more to say."
He turned to Michiko. "I was going to have him demonstrate the intrusion method mentioned in your report… but I don't think it's necessary anymore."
Then he turned to Goro Takemura.
"Take him. Return that person."
Not even referring to Saburo by name—Sesen clearly didn't care to show respect.
He switched off the screen and headed toward the exit.
Halfway there, he seemed to remember something, and spoke to Michiko over his shoulder:
"Since I'm here in Night City, I'll be staying a bit to take care of business. You won't mind, will you?"
Michiko's expression didn't change. She simply nodded.
"I welcome it."
"Good."
Then his gaze landed on Karl.
"I didn't bring any bodyguards on this visit. Mercenary KK, would your team be interested in a short-term protection contract?"
Short-term protection?
Today's mission guarding Hanako had been easy—almost boring. Nothing unusual had happened.
And now, just as the job was wrapping up, a supposedly unaffiliated member of the Arasaka family suddenly offered them another gig.
"Didn't bring bodyguards"—yeah, right. Who would believe that?
But if it's a paid job…
Karl glanced at his teammates and then replied:
"How about you leave us a contact number? We can discuss the details later."
If the pay was good, they had no reason to say no.
An Arasaka family member wouldn't exactly be stingy with eddies.
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