David was a quick learner and a top student at Arasaka Academy. However, this didn't make him popular; in fact, his classmates disliked him.
This was the consequence of him trying to cross social class boundaries. A single-parent family like David's, with only his mother, Gloria, responsible for their livelihood, was lucky to even have a regular apartment in Night City.
But Gloria was determined to go against the current, working multiple jobs to pay the exorbitant monthly fees for the aristocratic Arasaka Academy.
She even took a dangerous risk, using her identity as an emergency medical technician at the Night City Medical Center to steal a military-grade Sandevistan implant from the body of a cyberpsycho named James, who had just been killed by MAX-TAC.
A Sandevistan was an implant installed in the thoracic spine, capable of instantly supplying a large amount of hormones to the body, multiplying a person's perception, muscle explosive power, and neural pathways.
Of course, each use also placed a considerable burden on the body. The Sandevistan was not as miraculous as it seemed; its principle was similar to athletes in the old net era who used hormones to achieve athletic results.
The more obvious the effect, the deeper the damage to the bones, muscles, nerves, and brain. Compared to the injection method of the old net era, injections still had to circulate through the entire bloodstream and took several minutes.
However, the Sandevistan was directly installed in the thoracic spine, allowing it to act directly on the nervous system, achieving its effect the moment it was activated. Of course, for ordinary people, foaming at the mouth, even spitting blood, and full-body paralysis were high-probability events after using it.
James was a veteran who retired from Militech. Where was his Sandevistan now? That's right, it was installed on Maine's back. As soon as their team dispersed and went home, Maine went to get it installed.
Maine and Gloria were old acquaintances; even David himself didn't know that his mother used to be quite capable. It was only because she became pregnant with David that she retired.
The Sandevistan taken from the cyberpsycho James's corpse was originally supposed to be delivered to Maine immediately. Gloria had planned to send David to Arasaka Academy that day, and then deliver the Sandevistan to Maine, but she was caught in a conflict between Heather and the Animals.
Maine couldn't reach Gloria and went to the hospital with Lucy to find her. That's why the scene in Chapter 2 happened: Heather, V, Gloria, David, Lucy, and Maine were all squeezed into one hospital room.
A mercenary like Maine naturally had his trusted ripperdoc, and the installation process was quite bloody. It involved directly digging out a piece of skin and muscle from the mid-back, replacing that part of the body tissue with the Sandevistan, and establishing neural connections with the thoracic spine.
Not to mention the back, even seemingly unrelated limbs could feel pain and numbness due to nerve conduction. Maine tried it just once, and he vomited violently. The ripperdoc warned him that he could use it a maximum of twice a day; any more and he might go insane or kick the bucket.
Dorio and Rebecca advised him to remove this dangerous toy, but Maine refused, saying, "Are you kidding? Such a powerful thing can save everyone's lives at a critical moment. My body will definitely adapt. At first, it's twice a day, but eventually, it will definitely be ten times a day!"
Night City's NCPD was often inefficient, and with the proliferation of weapons and cyberware, the public safety was beyond words. The more people came from the slums, the more they worshipped power, and Maine was one of them; he had suffered enough bullying since childhood. Once he gained power, he would never give up easily.
No one knew that the imposing Maine of today used to be a skinny rake. No one knew how much training and cybernetic modification he had undergone to become who he was today. He had long lost his family; now, his team members were his family.
Heather couldn't help but frown as she looked at the information prompt in the lower-left corner of her vision: "Dog Brother, this kid named David said he got into trouble at school and didn't want his mom to know. He asked me if there were any mercenary jobs he could take. He plans to earn money to fix the mess."
"Don't tell me, I feel like this David can really achieve something," Dog Brother said. "He has potential; you can tell from his eyes. Is he treating you like a mercenary?"
"Yes, isn't it obvious enough?" Heather replied. "You showed off your marksmanship in front of him using my hand. Three cars speeding, you fired a charged shot, piercing their car windows, grazing his nose, and blowing up an Animals member's head. Little boys fall for this kind of thing."
"Oh, if you don't want to bother with him, there's a way," Dog Brother said. "Jackie Welles—isn't he V's good friend? I remember he's with the Valentinos in Heywood, right? This gang is considered the best gang in Night City, isn't it? At least they have faith. Hey, why don't you just push that kid David over there?"
"You... are you planning to push a child into a fire pit?" Heather asked, aghast.
"What?" Dog Brother countered. "So you're really going to take that kid under your wing? Holy shit, Heather! It's true that you can know a person's face but not their heart! So this is the real Heather! So you like young boys! Holy shit!"
Heather's face flushed, not because she liked young boys, but because she was fuming, her face red with anger. "Can you just die for a bit? First, I don't like young boys. Second, I'm someone who specializes in hacker skill points; I'm really not good at combat. Am I supposed to let you possess me every time I guide David? It's too much of a burden on my brain."
Dog Brother spread his hands and chuckled. "That's why I told you to push this kid to V. Although V isn't a mercenary, her good brother Jackie is. Think about it, this little guy, David, he attends Arasaka Academy, and his mom can't possibly afford it long-term. Nine times out of ten, she's already deep in debt everywhere. If he wants to finish his Arasaka education, the only reliable path is through being a mercenary."
"You call being a mercenary 'reliable'?" Heather was aghast. "You could die in the street any day and not even know it."
Dog Brother tapped his temple with his index finger. "Do you trust Jackie's character? What's the reputation of the Valentinos? Although there are bad apples, Jackie is good."
Heather pondered. "Jackie and I aren't strangers. His character is definitely okay."
"Then that's that," Dog Brother said. "Gloria wants her son to achieve class transcendence, so she must take an extraordinary path. If she chooses to bear everything alone, I can only say that's her immaturity.
Isn't there a well-known saying in Night City, 'Would you rather be a nobody, live a peaceful life, and die in bed with a catheter? Or would you rather make history, even if you don't live to be 30?' Oh, of course, I'm not saying being a corporate dog will make you history, but at least it can fulfill Gloria's long-cherished wish, improve the mother and son's lives, and achieve social class ascension."
"You mean David should study and work as a mercenary to earn money, then complete his education and become a regular employee at Arasaka, right?" Heather asked.
Dog Brother shrugged and spread his hands. "Uh-huh, do you have any other ideas? Of course, you could also persuade David to choose to die in bed with a catheter later. But do you think that kid would choose that? Rather than letting him stumble around blindly, it's better to let Jackie guide him."