"Senior, can I ask…"
"No."
Upon hearing John Carter's crisp refusal, Amy Anderson pouted, looking a little displeased. From their past interactions, John realized she was a loyal girl with a bit of a temper. Whenever she made that expression, she was most likely about to get angry.
"Then I'm not doing it."
Amy tossed the mouse aside, crossed her arms, and gave a look that said, 'What are you going to do about it?'
John rubbed his forehead. He had no idea how to coax a girl. In the past, when he encountered such situations, John would search online for ways to cheer up a girl, so that Amy would continue to work hard for him.
However, she usually recovered on her own.
"This… is very important to me…" John said, feigning helplessness.
Amy glanced up at him, and after a moment, let out a soft sigh.
"Alright… I'll continue then." Amy relented.
She seemed to be endlessly compliant with John.
John idly observed his surroundings, his gaze falling on the cartoon cat pattern on Amy's hovercar.
So childish. But why would such a childish girl possess such powerful Cyberpunk technology? Usually, John carried out missions alone until he met Amy. He found that this young girl's Cyberpunk technology was no less skilled than the company's Network Surveillance. Most importantly, she had no connection to Kang Tao Company. Therefore, John kept her contact information as his little assistant.
"Amy, why is your technology so good?"
Amy's lips curved slightly upwards upon hearing this, and she said proudly, "A famous teacher produces a brilliant student!"
"A famous teacher? Who?"
"She said her name is Lucy, and her American name is Lucy."
"Lucy?" John's eyebrows furrowed at the name. He subconsciously touched the Single Molecule Wire on his arm. "Is it that Lucy from Night City?"
Amy put down her computer and turned to look at John with a curious gaze.
"What, Senior, do you know her?"
"Didn't she die in 2076?"
"What? Master died in 2076?"
Amy was even more surprised than John. This confused John. Isn't she your Master? How come you don't know her well?
"You didn't know?"
Amy shook her head like a rattle-drum.
"She never told me these things. I met her during a deep dive! She was young and beautiful, and I kept pursuing her, wanting to get to know her. Later, she gradually took me as her apprentice. But I don't know anything about her. Until now, I only know her name is Lucy."
(Here, deep dive refers to Cyberpunks uploading their digital consciousness into cyberspace to achieve the purpose of learning or completing tasks.)
John nodded. This was something he had not expected at all. He never thought that Lucy had uploaded her digital consciousness to cyberspace before she died.
Speaking of which, there have always been rumors about her death in the outside world. Some say she died for love, others say she was assassinated…
"If she's still alive, and if there's a chance, I'd like to meet her. There's something I can tell her."
"What is it?" Amy asked, her big eyes wide with curiosity.
John didn't say. Although Amy really wanted to know, she also understood that in his line of work, many things needed to be kept confidential. Amy also reflected on herself, thinking that perhaps it was John's mysterious aura that made her increasingly curious and increasingly unable to resist him.
A long time passed, so long that the sun had set. Amy reluctantly moved her hands from the keyboard to her knees, looking at John with a wronged expression.
"I'm sorry, I still can't find the entrance."
John looked at the holographic projection, which was almost unchanged from the beginning.
"I'll make a call."
John's eyes emitted a blue light, indicating he was calling the other party. The Kiroshi Optics Company's optical implants had integrated calls into them, and during a call, both parties did not need to speak; their digital consciousness would directly transmit their words to the other party.
"Ms. Johnson?"
"It's already very late."
Although Ms. Johnson's electronic synthesized voice did not reveal any emotion, her dissatisfaction with John's efficiency could still be felt.
"I tried my best, there's no entrance here."
The other party was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke, "Who is that girl next to you?"
John was startled. He activated his operating system to scan the surroundings at the highest frequency and discovered a camera on the overpass above his head. He was an extremely excellent Executive Officer, and he was certain that this camera must have just been activated, otherwise he wouldn't have failed to notice it.
"Amy Anderson."
"American?"
"Yes."
There was another moment of silence on the phone. John felt that there might be more than just Ms. Johnson on the other end, but rather a team in charge, with Ms. Johnson merely being the messenger.
This mission was personally assigned to him by the Board of Directors, and its security classification was very high. Even John only knew that he had to come to the Arasaka Corporation ruins on Parrot Island to retrieve the relic chip.
"Alright." Ms. Johnson's electronic synthesized voice came through again. "Since she's American, then it's fine. The Board of Directors always says that Kang Tao Company is an American enterprise, and Americans should help each other. I hope your friend won't leak any secrets."
"She won't."
"Good. Regarding your statement about there being no entrance, that's impossible. However, I can give you more time to complete this mission. One week from now, I hope you can bring the relic chip to the Shenyang Head Office and hand it to me on time."
John hesitated for a moment and said, "Understood."
The call ended, and John's eyes returned to their black color. He blinked, then looked at Amy, who was gazing at him expectantly, as if waiting for his next instruction. Amy was completely unaware of the content of the call just now.
"How was it?" Amy asked.
Currently, John still had no solution in his mind, but there was plenty of time, so he decided to meet the legendary woman.
"Take me to see Lucy."
"Okay!" Amy readily agreed. "But where should we meet?"
To meet Lucy, one must deep dive into cyberspace. During a deep dive, one's consciousness transforms into a digital form and is uploaded to cyberspace, while the body remains unconscious and in a high-temperature state. Therefore, to perform a deep dive safely, there must be someone constantly monitoring the deep diver's physical condition to ensure that when the outside world cannot support continued deep diving, the deep diver's digital consciousness is promptly returned to their body. Otherwise, the deep diver will be forever lost in cyberspace.
Furthermore, during a deep dive, the deep diver must be naked and lie in an ice bath, otherwise their high body temperature will ignite their clothes. The ultimate result is that the deep diver will be burned by their clothes and then their body will begin to melt.
"Can't we do it at your house?" John said lightly.
"Huh? My house?" Amy's face suddenly flushed with shyness upon hearing this.
"Yes, isn't your family very rich? You must have more than one deep dive device, right?" John said, looking at Amy's cute hovercar.
"No, no, no!"
Amy repeatedly refused, which greatly surprised John. It was rare for Amy to refuse him, and this time she said no three times in a row. What was going on? John noticed that Amy's face was as red as dripping blood, so he reflected on whether he had said something wrong to cause her such an extreme reaction.
"What's wrong?"
"Aren't you an Executive Officer of Kang Tao Company? Can't we go to Kang Tao Company? How about this, I'll deep dive at home, and you deep dive at the company, and we'll meet in cyberspace!"
Amy nervously offered advice to John, as if afraid of deep diving with him.
John shook his head.
"No."
"Why not?!"
"The Parrot Island Branch doesn't know I'm here. If they find out, it will cause a lot of inconvenience."
"Then, then, then, then…"
"Amy, what is wrong with you?"
Amy clenched her fists tightly, occasionally stomping her feet, her high ponytail swinging back and forth like a pure young girl who had been teased but was helpless, only able to secretly feel shy by herself.
"Brother, I'm an 80s (2080) kid!" Amy didn't know how to explain, so she could only use various metaphors.
"Ah, I'm a 70s (2070) kid."
John was confused; he didn't quite understand what Amy was doing.
After a while, Amy released her tightly clenched fists and instead gently held John's hand, swinging it back and forth playfully.
"Senior Brother, I'm only 19 years old, and it would be very embarrassing to deep dive naked with a grown man like you. Please, please~" Amy pleaded in a sweet voice while shaking John. "Senior Brother, you know, if you insist on going, I won't refuse you, but I'm really embarrassed~ Please, please~"
John scratched his head. He had to admit that he really didn't understand women. After all that, it was because of this. However, this matter was also easy to solve.
"Look."
John pointed at his eyes, which changed from black to purple. This was his optical implant switching from real-world imaging to holographic imaging. Now, the world in his eyes was completely interwoven with blue lines.
"Can I use this mode?"
Amy naturally knew this mode. After a long while, she reluctantly nodded.
"Alright then…"
Actually, Amy was still unwilling, but she could only refuse John for a maximum of 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, she would completely succumb, turning into a little cat who obeyed John's every word.
Night City, located in Coronado Bay on the West Coast, is a mega-city with a population of 7 million. Night City is home to many top companies, including Kang Tao Company, Militech, and Kiroshi Optics. However, the highly developed technology of Night City has not brought a happy life to everyone; it is a city with extreme polarization of wealth. The rich are immersed in a life of lavish spending, free from worries, while the poor live in giant buildings, barely making a living, eagerly awaiting a brighter future.
Amy's home is located in North Oak District in Westbrook, Night City. Westbrook is the most livable and enjoyable area. If you have money, you can come here and spend it lavishly. If you don't, someone will put you into a predatory loan, making you pretend to be at the top of the world—even if it's just a pipe dream.
When John arrived at Amy's house, he found it hard to imagine that someone could own such a large villa in Night City, where land is incredibly expensive.
John came in Amy's hovercar. Throughout the journey, Amy didn't say a word, only turning her head to look out the window. Amy was naturally too shy to face John, but in John's eyes, she just didn't want to talk.
There were no bodyguards at Amy's house, but John noticed the high-speed intelligent machine guns hidden in the bushes. Without a doubt, if he hadn't come in with Amy, he would have been shot full of holes long ago.
The villa's yard was very large. As the two walked to the center, a man opened the door and walked out.
The man was tall and straight, dressed in a suit, with his hands in his pockets, looking at John with calm eyes. It was clear he was of mixed race; although he had black hair, his eyes were blue and deeply set. Eurasian.
"Who is this person?"
Although the mixed-race man in front of him seemed to harbor no killing intent towards him, John instinctively maintained a higher level of vigilance towards every stranger.
"Are you talking about the one at the door? He's my older brother, his name is Mark Martinez." Amy said, answering her own question.
"Full brother?"
"Half-brother."
"What does 'half-brother' mean?"
Amy gently pressed her lips, looking thoughtful, as if organizing her words.
"It means my father had many women, and my brother and I were born from one of them, so we are half-siblings."
John nodded. As he walked up to Mark, the other man suddenly smiled and politely extended his hand to John. John saw that his hand was a modified cybernetic implant, model Iron Fist V, which Militech had just released.
"Hello, my name is Mark Martinez, Militech Group Three Mobile Department Manager."
"Hello." John shook Mark's hand as a sign of friendliness. "My name is John Carter."
John did not reveal his identity to him for many reasons. First, his expression changed naturally and quickly, indicating that this person had deep cunning; second, he was on a secret mission, and his identity should not be revealed; third, his Kang Tao Company and his Militech Company did not have a harmonious relationship, so there was no need to say it and make them both awkward.
Mark smiled and nodded, tacitly approving John's decision not to reveal his identity.
"My sister rarely brings people home. May I ask, are you her…"
Before Mark could finish speaking, Amy quickly interrupted.
"He's my Senior!" Amy quickly pushed Mark aside. "Brother, don't block the way, let him come inside!"
Amy pulled John into the living room, while Mark followed behind them.
"Angela, the housekeeper," Amy instructed, "activate the deep dive room, and also get a cup of oriental leaves oolong tea for Senior Brother."
There was no housekeeper in the living room; the answer came from an artificial intelligence voice from all directions.
"Understood, my Little Princess. The deep dive room will be ready in 10 minutes. By the way, how many people will be deep diving?"
The artificial intelligence in Amy's home was different from the one in her hovercar; it had a playful childlike voice.
Upon hearing this, Amy's face immediately flushed with embarrassment, and she became flustered.
"Angela! You bad AI, did I ask you to ask that! Hurry up and get ready!"
After Amy said this, the artificial intelligence named "Angela" fell into a brief silence.
"Understood, my Little Princess."
The three sat down on the sofa. John sat naturally, Mark was even more relaxed, while Amy kept her head down, her hands awkwardly placed on her tightly clasped knees. It was as if Amy was the guest, like a young girl visiting her boyfriend's house for the first time.
A cup of oriental leaves oolong tea rose in front of John.
The atmosphere was a little awkward. Amy kept her head down and didn't speak, while Mark kept looking at him.
"Is your father not here?" John awkwardly started a conversation.
"Yes!"
Amy quickly looked up and answered John. John looked closely and saw that her cheeks were flushed, truly red as if dripping blood.
Mark noticed his sister's unusual behavior. At this moment, he began to look at John in a different light.
"Our father is quite busy with work."
Mark's tone was noticeably colder, not as warm as before. John, not understanding why, nodded in acknowledgment.
"Sister, is this your boyfriend?"