Heather had already figured it out that day at the hospital: David wouldn't be an easy person to deal with. Some people, just by looking into their eyes, you could feel that inherent stubbornness, that obsession with controlling their own destiny.
"But is Jackie really suitable to be a mentor?" Heather asked. "Why do I feel like he's as reckless as you are?"
If Dog Brother had a physical body and was drinking tea, he would have definitely spit it out right then. "Miss Heather, a crane may not be tall, but standing among chickens, it's the tallest. Even among short people, you can find a relatively tall one, and Jackie is that tall one. Do you understand?"
Heather continued discussing with Dog Brother for a while and finally adopted his suggestion. She contacted V, and V found Jackie.
Soon, Jackie proactively contacted David using the number he was given. Jackie was a very enthusiastic person. After meeting, he also took a liking to this spiky-haired kid. A new mentor-apprentice duo was thus born.
One day later, the focus of events returned to Heather herself. Lucy called her to say that the Arasaka hacker's firewall had been decrypted. A few minutes later, Faraday's call also came in. "Miss Heather, I'm sorry, that Arasaka hacker didn't make it. He's dead.
Only partial information was decrypted. The useful information I've gathered is that Rejina was involved in a project called Relic, and it lasted for 60 years. She almost dedicated her entire life to this project.
The data she was responsible for in the project showed traces of being copied, and there were also small material shortages. It's clear that Rejina did some side work, and it definitely impacted Arasaka's interests."
Heather didn't answer immediately. She was processing the information. A few seconds later, she responded. "Alright, Mr. Faraday, this job is done. I'll transfer the remaining payment to you immediately."
"Okay," he replied. "Contact me if anything else comes up." The call ended.
Dog Brother's projection symbolically placed his hand on Heather's shoulder. "Don't be too sad. We were already mentally prepared." Dog Brother wasn't sure if he should have said that. Heather didn't even give any response, as if she hadn't heard him. She curled up and lay on her side on the bed. Even if Dog Brother usually liked to ramble, at this moment, he knew he should remain silent.
After a long time, Heather sat up, hugged her knees, and spoke. "You say, my mom... was it because of me that..."
Dog Brother's expression was melancholic, and his tone softened. "Heather, I don't want to lie to comfort you. Your mother was a senior Arasaka hacker, involved in a project for 60 years. Her situation likely isn't optimistic. It's true that technology is advanced now; as long as you have money, people can age very slowly. But think about it, she was very old when she conceived you, so she definitely cherished you immensely. You must have been more important to her than her own life."
At this moment, Heather was surprisingly calm. "I'm sorry, Dog Brother, I didn't find any information related to you."
Dog Brother quickly waved his hand. "It's okay, it's okay. How did I end up needing you to comfort me? My matters can wait. Besides, it's not like we have no clues at all. At least we know that the chip in your head belongs to the Relic project."
A little light returned to Heather's eyes. "That's true, we can try to investigate further. Relic means 'remains' or 'a memento of a deceased person,' right? This... doesn't that mean your original body, Dog Brother, has already..."
Heather didn't finish her sentence. Dog Brother calmly took over. "According to the literal meaning of 'Relic,' we can infer that my original body is already dead. But what does that matter? In fact, since my birth, I've been an independent consciousness, no longer related to the original body."
"That's right," Heather said. "I'm in IT myself. In fact, there's no such concept as 'migrating' data. For example, when you copy a file from device A to device B, it's always just a copy, never a migration.
The reason people get the illusion of 'moving' is because after device B completes the copy from device A, device A deletes the original data. If it doesn't delete it, then you have two identical copies of the data."
Dog Brother agreed. "That's what I mean. I don't care about the original body itself. I just want to understand myself better by understanding the original body. So don't expect my original body to be as handsome as my projection; it's not the same person."
Heather raised her eyebrows. "Dog Brother, are you misunderstanding something? I've never liked you. I just like your looks, haha."
Dog Brother was about to retort, but seeing Heather's mood return to normal, he felt a wave of relief and chuckled softly. This, however, threw Heather off. That's it? Why did he stop talking? Wasn't he going to say something more pointed?
This little girl wasn't heartless; she loved her mother very much. She was just armoring her heart, not wanting her vulnerable side to be seen by Dog Brother. Heather knew that Dog Brother could only talk to her. Heather's world was vast, with infinite possibilities for her future, but for Dog Brother, Heather was his entire world.
In the following week, Heather contacted many fixers in Night City through Maine and Jackie's connections. Regina Jones from Watson, Wakako Okada from Westbrook, Sebastian Ibarra from Heywood, and Old Captain Reyes from Santo Domingo.
These were all legitimate, veteran Night City fixers, but the name Relic was completely unheard of by everyone. Although they all helped her investigate, there was no follow-up. According to the Old Captain, "Jobs specifically targeting Arasaka are not easy to do.
If you really want to delve deeper, you'll have to find some reckless fixers. It's just that reckless fixers are probably already buried in some remote corner of Night City by Arasaka."
Dog Brother couldn't help but complain. "No, these old geezers only dare to mess with gangs. Those who dare to go against Arasaka must have a Militech background."
"Are you talking about Faraday?" Heather asked.
"Damn, we still can't get around him in the end?" Dog Brother said. "Wait, there's one more person who might work: Rogue from Afterlife. Legend has it that old Grandma Rogue used to have some connection with Arasaka. Maybe if we offer a good price, she'd be willing to cooperate?"
Heather spread her hands. "I understand all that, but you're just a baby, barely two months old. A baby understands Night City better than I do; it feels very strange."
Acting on the thought, Heather rushed to Afterlife Bar, but the people there said Rogue had gone abroad. This left Dog Brother and Heather temporarily without direction.
Half a year passed in a flash, and it was now New Year's in 2077. Night City's winter wasn't particularly cold, but Heather had started wearing a down jacket. Recalling the past six months, she had been trying to gather information about Relic.
She even carried out many jobs with Maine's crew to obtain more fragmented information. Now, she got along with them very well and had been their official teammate for three months.
Since her first time infiltrating an Arasaka facility with Maine's crew, Maine had valued Heather highly. She was a rare talent. Her hacking skills were on par with Lucy and Kiwi (Hacker build). Additionally, her combat power was off the charts (Dog Brother single-handedly covered both firearms and blade builds).
Now, Rebecca also liked her a lot, and Lucy no longer viewed her with suspicion. Dorio and Falco were already reasonable and easy to get along with; only Kiwi kept her distance. But it didn't matter much; Kiwi didn't talk much even with the old crew members.
Furthermore, according to Jackie's assessment, David's progress was incredibly fast, transforming into a skilled cyberpunk in just half a year. Only V encountered some difficulties. It seemed that internal strife within Arasaka Corporation had affected her.
V's superior, Jenkins, the head of the Anti-Intelligence Department, was being heavily pressured by Abernathy, the Director of Special Operations. In Jenkins's own words: "I hate that old bitch, always have!" If the boss's life was difficult, V's was even more so.
Heather stopped reminiscing and decided to finish her meal first. At that moment, her brain chimed with a phone call, an incoming call from an unknown number: "Hello, Miss Heather?"
Heather's entire body broke out in goosebumps. How did this person know her real name? Her mother had changed her identity long ago. Gloria and David had promised her they would never leak it, and V and Jackie were even less likely to...