"Even you, who works in counter-intelligence..." Heather's voice trailed off, a look of deep disappointment on her face. Her mother was her only family, and she had been on the verge of a complete breakdown when she disappeared. Two months later, the pain was still raw.
V felt helpless. "Your mom's case isn't simple," she explained. "All her files have been heavily encrypted and have a dedicated firewall. From what I can tell, she must have been involved with some of Arasaka's most important resources. By the way, Heather, did your mom give you anything recently?"
Dog Brother's voice immediately cut in, a sharp order in her mind. "Don't say anything, Heather. V's always been good to you, but you can't forget your mother's instructions! You told me all this yourself."
Heather's mouth was already open to answer, but she stopped, meeting V's gaze. She paused for a moment before speaking. "No. My mother just… disappeared suddenly, without any warning."
V didn't doubt her. She gently pulled Heather into a kind, comforting hug. After signing a few more documents, Heather left the Trauma Team hospital. She had a quick meal with V and then said goodbye.
"Dog Brother, there's no progress with V for now," Heather said to the construct. "It seems the only option is to find that fixer, Faraday. According to the few clues Mom left at home, she had a lot of dealings with him before she disappeared. She even bought things from him."
"That's right," Dog Brother said. "Fixers know everything. He might be our only lead. I also really want to find your mother, Asheng Meixue. After all, I'm just a data construct, and I want to understand my origin—whose brain I was downloaded from."
As evening fell, Heather met Faraday at a bar on a bridge in the Charter Hill area. The result of their discussion was that Faraday would provide a mercenary team to help her steal bio-chip information from an Arasaka facility. Heather insisted on joining the team herself.
After Faraday left, Dog Brother was furious. "You foolish girl," he snapped. "In the end, you paid the money and still have to do the work. Plus, you're putting yourself in huge danger. What a great deal."
"What does it matter?" Heather countered. "Otherwise, I alone would have even less of a chance of getting past Arasaka's information protection. Dog Brother, get a grip.
We're isolated and helpless with only a little money. Just think of it as hiring mercenaries. It's not a loss. If a crisis really happens, don't you still have me? You can possess me, I'll give you full control, and you can save us."
Dog Brother was torn between laughter and tears, unable to resist praising her. "Damn, you're such a sweet talker! If you really have to put yourself in danger, you have to buy some handy gear. Assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, you have to have them all, and various grenades too. Small things like pistols are useless."
"How do you know there'll be a shootout?" Heather asked. "This is a hacking operation, remember?"
Dog Brother was dismissive. "If the hacker team Four-Eyes hooked us up with is truly awesome and can avoid combat, that's naturally the best. But we have to be prepared for the worst."
Heather put her index finger on her lower lip, tilting her head slightly, looking innocent. "Dog Brother, you remember everything. Your combat skills are off the charts, and you're skilled with all kinds of weapons. So why can't you remember your own origin?"
Dog Brother shrugged. "You'll have to ask your mother, Asheng Meixue. Maybe my original body was Morgan Blackhand."
Heather made a face at him. "Dream on. Morgan Blackhand is a legend who acts low-key. You're the type of brute who fights everyone on sight."
Dog Brother launched into a long, rambling series of coherent attacks on Heather, like a machine gun. It was like a turtle chanting sutras—impossible not to listen. Heather couldn't argue with him and could only arrange to meet the mercenary team at Lizzie's Bar.
Heather was still puzzled. "Dog Brother, there's one thing I don't get. You're just a data construct, a chip plugged into my brain. Even though you project a man's image and a man's voice in my visual system, you have no gender at all. So why do you still like women? Why do you specifically come to Lizzie's to look at beautiful women?"
Dog Brother observed all the women as closely as possible from Heather's perspective, his expression full of enjoyment. "I really don't know about this. I must have been a man before."
"Didn't you say you don't know your past life?" Heather teased.
Dog Brother's lecherous eyes didn't stop, still very busy. "I can't explain this to you. For example, I have my own knowledge base and residual skills. It's like I'm good at shooting and skilled in combat. Or, if you let me possess you, as long as there are good ingredients, I can immediately make a table full of delicious dishes for you. But I just don't know anything about my past; it's like it was deliberately deleted. It must have been your mother who did it."
Heather caught a key point. "Wait, Dog Brother, you said you can make a table full of good food?"
Dog Brother was dismissive. "What's wrong? What's wrong with being able to cook?"
"Didn't you say you have a knowledge base?" Heather pressed. "Cooking? Don't you know what kind of food people eat now? People in Night City, to be blunt, eat bugs."
Dog Brother suddenly stopped, no longer looking at the swaying girls in Lizzie's. His expression was one of genuine astonishment. "That's right. The main meat now is actually synthetic meat. Even if it's called beef, pork, and chicken, it's all made from bugs..."
"Exactly," Heather said. "So you can make a table full of dishes? Don't you think that's strange? Who still cooks now? It's all packaged instant food. It's been decades since ordinary people could eat natural food. The environmental pollution wasn't that serious back then. So, what era are you from?"
Dog Brother fell into deep thought, the image of him stroking his chin. "You have a point. We've always taken it for granted that my backup time was two months ago. In fact, we can't ascertain my true 'birth date.' And whether my original body is still alive..."
Heather teased, "Dog Brother is actually an old fogey."
She was about to continue complaining when an unknown number called her from the top left of her vision. She answered, and a rough voice she seemed to have heard recently spoke up.
"Hello, is this Miss Heather?"
"Yes, I am Heather. And you are?"
"I'm Maine. I took a job from Faraday to steal some information from an Arasaka data server. He said I could ask you for help."
"Uh, yes, yes, that's right."
Making calls now was actually direct brain-to-brain communication, absolutely private, but Dog Brother could hear the conversation. Being verbose was his true nature. "She pays for the mission herself and then has to personally get involved. Our Miss Heather is truly beautiful and kind-hearted."
Heather rolled her eyes at him and continued to communicate with Maine. "So, have you arrived? I'm already at Lizzie's."
Maine replied, "We just arrived at the entrance of Lizzie's."
Heather waited in the Lizzie's lobby. A team of people pushed the door open and walked in. Heather and Dog Brother were stunned, and so were the others.
Although the dance floor was brightly lit and the music was noisy, Maine's large build was highly recognizable, and Lucy's stunning appearance also left a deep impression.
There were four other people besides them, all with distinct styles. Maine and Lucy also recognized Heather, having met her at the hospital that afternoon.
Heather showed a sweet smile and made a gesture for everyone to follow her, leading them all to a private booth. The booth was small, making it difficult to fit seven people. On the coffee table in the middle, there was a virtual image of a woman dancing provocatively.
Heather sensed their awkwardness and explained, "Cyberpunks, no need to be nervous. I'm not from a corporation."
When Maine and Lucy were complaining at the hospital, Heather had actually heard their whispers. Generally speaking, street people absolutely detest corporate dogs. Hearing Heather explain that she wasn't from a corporation, Maine and Lucy's expressions relaxed slightly, while the other four looked bewildered.
Maine gave a hearty laugh and extended his hand to shake. "Haha, this is our second meeting today. Hello, Miss Heather."
Heather exuded elegance in her every gesture and smile when facing outsiders. Dog Brother naturally wanted to complain, but Heather chose to ignore him. Maine began to introduce his teammates.
"This little loli with oversized cybernetic limbs and twin ponytails is Rebecca, our heavy weapons expert. That incredibly well-built woman who matches me so well is Dorio, an all-rounder. This is Lucy, our genius hacker, you've met her.
And her, the one with the metal mask, is Kiwi, an experienced hacker. Uh, and there was another teammate, named Pilar, Rebecca's brother, who died last week, damn it, he just happened to run into a cyberpsycho..."
As Maine introduced them, everyone nodded in acknowledgment. Heather expressed surprise, interrupting Maine. "There are a lot of cyberpsychos in Night City. So, the one Pilar encountered must have been very strong, right?"
Rebecca's tone was harsh. "It's that idiot brother of mine who was too careless. I blew that cyberpsycho's head off in the end. My dead brother was too stupid, he died for no reason."
Dog Brother spoke up. "Heather, don't say it. I actually quite like these guys. Each of them has the potential to become a cyberpsycho. They're interesting. We can hang out."
Maine immediately cut to the chase. "That's enough introductions. This time, we're going to an Arasaka server base in the Valley area. It's heavily guarded. The fixer's requirement for me is to hack a designated small server. We need to find this target and try to avoid combat... even though corporate dogs are no match for us."
Heather thought that Maine had quite a big mouth. Who didn't know that Arasaka was the hardest to deal with in the world, yet he said they were no match. Unless Maine was an idiot, perhaps this team's strength was indeed extraordinary?
Maine continued, "The fixer requested Miss Heather to join, saying you have experience cracking Arasaka firewalls."
"Uh... hmm, yes, yes, a few times," Heather said.
Lucy noticed Heather's nervousness and stared intently at the micro-expressions on her face. Heather wanted to participate personally but didn't want the team to know that she was actually the employer. If something went wrong, these people could all be used as scapegoats.