Northern California, Night City.
Municipal Center, Corporate Plaza.
Gray-white clouds clustered loosely in the sky. Under the clear heavens, a colossal 140-story building stood silently in the heart of Night City like a pitch-black tower.
Compared to the neighboring Militech Offices and Kang Tao Building, its design was conservative and lacked personality. Composed entirely of black reinforced glass curtain walls and steel, it gave off an oppressive sense of chill and ruthlessness.
Most areas of Night City had a clear view of it.
Much like its presence in the city—no one could ignore it. Not even the so-called "legends" who once tried to blow it sky-high.
Arasaka Tower.
Full name: Arasaka U.S. Division Night City Headquarters.
The tallest building in Night City, and the symbol of the city's new militarism and Arasaka hegemony.
Countless people hated its existence, wishing they could raze it to the ground. At the same time, countless others yearned for it, willing to give everything just to climb Arasaka Tower, to kiss its cold black marble plaque, dreaming of success, promotion, and wealth—of becoming someone.
"Hey, did you hear? The South America Investigation Team recently pulled off a big one—executed over a thousand criminals in Rio de Janeiro."
"You're behind. I heard the company's Construction Division is swamped, working overnight to design a reconstruction plan for Rio. The Market Division's negotiation reps have already flown to Brasília."
"Brasília was very satisfied with the security service. Security Division scored again. They should be returning soon. I bet their field bonus this time is worth several months of our pay. Looks like another promotion is around the corner for Miss Adelheid."
"Can't compare. The Security Division is Arasaka's favorite child. Us? Heh, the stepchildren..."
In front of the elevator leading directly to the Arasaka Counter-Intelligence Division's office floors, a woman with a wine-red office uniform and one-side undercut hairstyle listened to her passing colleagues' conversation, frowning slightly with a thoughtful look.
"Security Division... Adelheid?" she muttered.
"No way, V, you're also from Arasaka Academy, right?"
Beside her, her colleague showed a puzzled expression. "Miss Vela Adelheid was a year above you—your senior." Then, in a slightly envious tone, he teased quietly, "With that connection, why not try something? Maybe it'll open a few doors..."
"Get lost!" The woman called V turned her head, her sharp brows and wild beauty immediately bringing to mind the word feral.
She quickly shut down her colleague's unrealistic fantasy.
"Of course I know. Class of '73 valedictorian. Registered with headquarters in Tokyo. A promising big shot in the making. Me? I'm a nobody—Class of '74, still technically an intern, not even officially onboard. Never even met her. How would I connect with her?"
These days, education was nothing like the last century's oral tradition.
Teacher-student and classmate bonds were thin. Unless you were exceptional and got attention, most of it was AI-led instruction.
V shook her head. "Different systems. She majored in Military-Government Administration and Law. I'm from the Information, Communication, and Intelligence Institute. Different core and elective tracks. No overlap. That's not how connections work."
Vela Adelheid belonged to Arasaka's largest and most well-known Security Division.
V, on the other hand, had joined the Counter-Intelligence Division.
It had high internal security clearance, but the department's reputation wasn't exactly glowing.
"Dropping by uninvited will probably just get me into trouble. In this company, if you're not familiar, who knows if she'd sell me out and still make me thank her for it. I'm not in a rush—better to let things happen naturally..." Saying that, V waved her hand just as the elevator arrived and stepped in.
Silence the whole ride.
Ding.
The elevator reached the floor housing the Counter-Intelligence Division offices.
"Well then, V, good luck."
"You too."
V parted ways with her companion and headed toward her work area. At the moment, only someone she knew—Harry—was at his station.
The good-natured-looking man lit up upon seeing V and waved. "Hey, V, Jenkins wants to see you."
"Jenkins?" V muttered. Arthur Jenkins, a senior figure in the Counter-Intelligence Division. She'd seen him a few times. Could it be about her official onboarding? Her internship performance hadn't been bad.
"Harry, do you know why Jenkins is looking for me?" V asked quietly.
"Nope." Harry shook his head and spread his hands, clearly out of the loop. This sort of thing was way above a low-level employee's pay grade.
"Alright then."
V shrugged, then walked over to the break room bar, brewed two cups of coffee, handed one to Harry with a thank you, and made her way to Jenkins' office.
"Good morning, Director Jenkins." After walking through the corridor and waiting a moment, she passed the scan and entered with permission, greeting him promptly.
Behind the desk, Arthur Jenkins was a clean-cut, strong-built white man with a slightly sinister look in his eyes.
"Mm, sit." He glanced at V, then went back to his work while gesturing for her to sit down.
"..."
Just as V was trying to figure out how to begin, Jenkins broke the silence.
"V, your onboarding paperwork will take a few more days. Within a week, you'll have full employee benefits. Got anything else? If not, get back to it. I've sent the file—handle it. Do well."
The rapid stream of information took V a moment to digest. It was 2074. She was only 20, just recently employed by Arasaka.
"Nothing else, sir. I'll return to work now." After a deep breath, V stood up. There was no point in saying more—action mattered now.
"Good." Jenkins waved her off casually.
He saw potential in V. Her observation period performance was solid, background check clean, capable, and her personality profile matched what he needed—that's why he'd called her in.
Of course, if V wanted more grooming and investment, she'd have to prove her potential and elevate herself further. The onboarding perks? Just a small token he threw her way.
Ding.
"How'd it go, V?"
Harry was waiting at the door. When he saw V come out, he waved eagerly.
"Not bad—I got a confirmation. Do well, and I'll be official within a week."
"No shit! Congrats." Harry rubbed his hands together in excitement, like he'd gotten the promotion himself.
"Thanks, Harry." In a backstabbing corporate world, someone as genuine as Harry was rare. V held back her joy, gave him a pat on the shoulder, and said, "Got a task—catch you later." With that, she headed to her workstation.
Beep beep…
Heart racing, hands trembling, she activated her personal terminal and opened the unread file sent by her superior, Arthur Jenkins.
On the cover page:
—Arasaka South America Investigation Unit—
South America Investigation Unit?
Wasn't that the Rio de Janeiro case?
Something clicked. V opened the file, and the first page made her raise an eyebrow in surprise.
"Well, what a coincidence."
Mission File (Confidential Agreement)
Affiliation: Arasaka Corporation
Employee ID: NC760404 (PS: Fun fact — V's ID is NC770416, where NC refers to Night City, 77 to the year, and 0416 was the originally scheduled release date of the game.)
Name: Vela Adelheid Russell
Department: Ⅰ (Security Division)
Position: Combat Commander / Technician
Trauma Team Platinum Member / Crystal Palace Privilege Program / Quantum Enlightenment Rehab Center Member
Supervisors: Shintaro Takayama [Arasaka Tokyo HQ Security Director] / Michiko Arasaka [Arasaka U.S. Division CEO, Board Member]
Functions:
Execute and support private contracting, corporate security services, and public security operations.
Provide and train combat personnel; defend corporate assets during armed conflicts.
Secondary role as Biotech Specialist: conducts personal research to create corporate value and provides technical support for the recovery and development of Old Net technology.
Brief Biography:
Born: April 4, 2054 (PS: In Cyberpunk 2077, the protagonist V was born in Night City on December 10, 2054.)
2070: At age 16, recommended to Arasaka Academy in Night City as the orphan of a decorated Arasaka employee.
2071: Excelled across all disciplines in one year at the Academy. Selected for the talent reserve pool at Arasaka Tokyo HQ. As an elite intern, participated in the suppression of the San Francisco riots under the Arasaka Security Division.
2072: Transferred to the Tokyo HQ Academy for a year-long inspection and advanced study.
2073: Returned to Night City and graduated as valedictorian of the Class of 2073 from Arasaka Academy. Officially joined the Night City Security Division.
Special approval granted to serve concurrently as a researcher in the Night City Arasaka Biotech Development Division. Personal lab codename: Umbrella [Red-white symmetrical umbrella logo — Classified].
2074: ...
— Further details classified [Access Denied] —
Employee Evaluation:
Entered Arasaka Academy in 2070, graduated and joined full-time in 2073. During her two years of internship and service, this employee performed outstandingly—participated in and organized 7 successful security defense missions and 6 public order enforcement operations.
Specialties: Providing corporate security services, maintaining public order, leading decapitation missions (San Francisco security op, Kyoto anti-terror op, Rio de Janeiro riot suppression); has strong personal interest and significant talent in biotech, with substantial achievements [Classified].
...
Damn.
No wonder Vela Adelheid rose so fast.
Personal capability was one thing, but background—background was everything.
For someone to be labeled a "decorated employee" by Arasaka, their parents had to be at least mid-level or above. All those [Classified] and [Access Denied] entries? There was no way V could compete with that.
It didn't take long for V to understand what Jenkins meant by "do well." With sharp self-awareness, she snuffed out her curiosity.
A routine counterintelligence check—the kind of work they handled in the Counter-Intelligence Division.
In theory, mission reports from other departments always passed through counterintelligence for archival. But everyone knew theory was just that—for some people and departments, it was merely procedural.
As long as there were no anomalies in the system, it passed. This was one of the quickest ways for new recruits to stack up so-called "work experience." If a superior suddenly handed you this kind of task, it meant they saw potential in you.
After all, would someone like Vela Adelheid, already on Tokyo HQ's advancement watchlist, need to be seriously reviewed again? Just ticking a box.
Some promotions within Arasaka came with prerequisite requirements—like needing "work experience and results" for official onboarding.
Policy is rigid, but people are flexible. This was Arasaka's internal way of letting trusted personnel climb quickly while appearing to follow protocol.
Of course, if your last name was Arasaka, or you had major backing, that was another story.
"No anomalies in operation. Approved."
...
Evening, Night City International Airport.
Surrounded by members of Special Assault Unit 6, Vela stepped out of the Arasaka International business jet with her suitcase in hand.
She was back—in the "shithole."
Gazing at the neon-lit city of sin and splendor beneath the night sky, Vela walked to the railing of Arasaka's VIP channel, her eyes scanning everything in sight—Heywood, Watson, Pacifica... Finally, her gaze settled on the direction of the municipal center, on that black tower.
"Good evening, Night City."