Character development is what I desire; gratitude is also what I desire.
This time, Vera straightened her spine, stood upright, and bowed her head in a standard bow toward the Arasaka memorial before her, or more precisely, toward the names of her biological parents engraved upon it, expressing her gratitude.
...
In Night City, there are still people who believe in this stuff?
Passersby in Night City found it strange. A drunk slumped in the grass caught a whiff of alcohol and staggered over, following the scent. Urban edge-runners hustling for a living cast their gazes her way...
When they spotted two bodyguards, one black and one white, both sporting full-body combat cyborg modifications and built like bears, most people's eyes immediately sobered up. They either hurried away or muttered something disdainful under their breath.
Security personnel patrolling the corporate plaza recognized Vera's executive-level status and reflexively moved closer, their embedded compound cyber-eyes brazenly scanning the crowd while driving away the confused drunks.
Vera remained motionless, head bowed in respect for five full minutes.
2069: They died in the line of duty.
2074: Vera, age 21, promoted to Director of Special Assault Forces, Security Department's Police Bureau.
Though still a major step below her cheap old man's position as First Deputy Director of the Police Bureau, according to the company's unwritten rule of generational resource decay, this meant Vera was about to exhaust her father's 'inheritance.'
Slowly climbing the ranks might get her one more promotion.
But to break through her old man's ceiling, even if Vera had the confidence to do so, meant she'd need to rely more on herself from now on. Going higher, her parents' protection would start to fade.
"Your wishes will come true, I promise."
Vera reached out to touch the cold marble surface, whispering softly.
You died trying to climb to the top of Arasaka Tower, and maybe the expectations you never got to share with me were the same. Fine, I'll do it. I'll really climb to the top, to the real top of Arasaka Tower.
The real top.
Looking up, Vera gazed at the summit of Arasaka Tower where she could barely make out the three-leaf clover logo, squinting.
'The time will be right, won't it? 2077, the great upheaval, the ladder of chaos...'
After a moment, Vera turned around and straightened the expensive crystal bottle of Heavenly Champagne one last time. "Clean it again in 5 days," she emphasized to the Arasaka patrol personnel in the corporate plaza, then walked toward the main entrance of Arasaka Tower.
"Huh?"
As she climbed the steps and was about to enter the main entrance of Arasaka Tower, Vera suddenly paused.
She turned her head.
Someone was watching her, and it was a gaze filled with malice and hatred.
From Vera's perspective, on the overpass not far from the corporate plaza, a white figure that seemed out of place among the surrounding pedestrians flashed by.
With haste and evasion...
Vera remembered that in that instant, her peripheral vision seemed to catch something glowing.
White, very translucent, with light rainbow gradient hair?
"Ma'am?" Vera's unusual behavior immediately caught the attention of her ever-alert bodyguard, who positioned himself between Vera and the direction she was looking, voicing his confusion.
"Heh heh..." Her eyebrows slightly raised, Vera smiled faintly and shook her head, then turned around. "Nothing, I just saw someone very interesting."
...
"Huff... huff..."
Heavy breathing.
In a corner of the overpass, a white-haired woman wearing eye shadow, a white off-shoulder jacket, and a cropped tight outfit leaned against the wall, gasping heavily. Her asymmetrically parted white hair with light rainbow hues hung down, concealing her still-shaken eyes.
The Not-Yet-Widowed Pretty Widow
"That corporate woman... is she really that sharp?"
The pretty-faced white-haired woman looked up with considerable alarm, cold sweat streaming down her forehead.
Because of the other woman's bowing gesture toward the Arasaka memorial, her past experiences had left her with no fondness for Arasaka, making her quite displeased. She'd just been staring and watching for a while, and when the other woman left, she'd been muttering some disparaging remarks under her breath. Who knew that Arasaka corporate dog would look straight in her direction!
Looked straight over, like she was specifically looking for her!
"Arasaka..."
That mention of the sinful mega-corp that inspired both hatred and fear.
"She didn't chase after me, so she probably doesn't know my identity... No, can't take chances... To be safe, I should stop the side gigs for now..." Just as the woman was about to pull out a cigarette to calm her nerves, ring ring ring—
The woman's violet pupils flickered with red data streams.
"Hello, this is Lucy... Kiwi?"
...
Arasaka Tower, Biotechnology Research Department floors.
Old Net Technology Restoration Division.
Clean white metal corridors, red and white symmetrical umbrella logo, a door marked with 'Russell' indicating a personal laboratory.
Click.
Pushing open the door, the freshly minted Director Vera Adelheid left the Security Department that felt like 'home' and came to her personal laboratory in the Bio-Research Department.
Security work was her livelihood, but biotechnology R&D was her character development 'hobby.'
Carrying coffee to her laboratory that she hadn't visited in half a month, Vera casually pulled some documents from the desk drawer, glanced at the desktop (someone had cleaned it), then sat in the swivel chair and moved to the office computer, skillfully activating the lab equipment.
The message at the top of the terminal interface was clearly a business document from Arasaka's partner company 'Danger Girl.'
Recovery and rehabilitation services.
Great, the client was pushing for updates again.
Vera couldn't refuse.
Making money through cooperation was one aspect, and spreading her genius reputation was another.
More importantly—
Danger Girl, formerly a detective agency with a solid reputation in the industry, known for its distinctive style. Now backed by the giant tree that was Arasaka, it had expanded its operations to include strategic consulting services, legal affairs, advertising, entertainment, and charity.
It didn't control any crucial industries and had a high replacement rate, existing to serve the needs of mega-corps, big cities, and social elites. It was the kind of small-to-medium enterprise that made money through professional expertise and marketing skills.
But its founder was named Arasaka Michiko.
Saburo Arasaka's eldest granddaughter.
The only daughter of the deceased crown prince Arasaka Kei, born in America to a Japanese-American mother, and relatively accepting of Western culture. Currently a board member of Arasaka Corporation and leader of the pro-American 'dove' faction.
Vera had no interest in discussing her political leanings; the cooperation with Danger Girl was a natural outcome.
As an Arasaka executive, she certainly couldn't collaborate with subsidiaries of Militech or Kang Tao.
And so, leveraging Arasaka Michiko's position and authority, Danger Girl's orders from Arasaka were basically green-lit all the way, almost to the extent that they could open any kind of business they wanted. Whether they were thriving or not was another matter, but they truly embodied the saying "small but complete."
All the needs of corporate dogs were taken care of.
Danger Girl's recovery and rehabilitation services were exactly like this. While they couldn't be called booming, they could only be described as barely hanging on.
Bland as unseasoned food, but too valuable to discard.
Until Vera graduated from Arasaka Academy, emerged as a talent, and got connected.
A wild, non-academic genius who, under the brave burden of her parents' expectations, hadn't abandoned her hobbies and actually managed to create something in her spare time!
Tap tap.
Vera worked with lightning efficiency. After understanding Danger Girl's business requirements and connecting them with her progress on Old Net restoration, she spent twenty minutes selectively calculating the 'innately known' Umbrella Corporation's legitimate medical product technologies in her mind, marking out approaches, then using Arasaka's equipment to build the model framework.
[Regenerate]
A skincare product registered under Umbrella Corporation, a byproduct of T-virus research that used certain technologies to revitalize dead cells and make users appear younger.
A high-end skincare and rehabilitation product with follow-up services.
It indeed had significant effects in making skin healthier, relaxing muscles, treating fatigue, and leaving people feeling refreshed.
Umbrella Corporation's medical standards were genuinely high. Except for the cost, they were fifty years ahead of the world, and that wasn't just empty talk.
In the cyberpunk world, while the bottom-dwellers were all about cyberware, the middle class and those with more power and influence, while installing necessary implants, preferred to keep more of their original parts. Hence, the demand for maintenance existed.
This was a symbol of wealth; they needed exactly this kind of thing.
Moreover, with cyberware, the more high-end it was, the better it integrated with the human body, with less rejection. Combined with other fine-tuning methods, these products also had certain maintenance benefits.
In short: making money off rich people.
Also, [Adravil]:
An Umbrella Corporation product, based on ibuprofen but continuously improved for stronger painkilling effects.
[Aqua Cure]:
Umbrella Corporation's best-selling external product, suitable for open wounds, genuinely life-saving with extremely high craftsmanship standards, available in both civilian and military-grade ointments.
The former was Vera's means of making reasonable, legitimate side money through cooperation with Danger Girl.
The latter was Vera's 'personal research achievement' submitted to Arasaka.
After placing the raw material orders, the lab systems would automatically process the orders with specialized deliveries. Having assessed everything at hand, Vera got up and entered the inner area of her personal laboratory, changing into specialized clean room clothing, passing through UV sterilization channels, then operating the workstation's robotic arms through glass barriers to improve the products.
Beep beep—
Vera watched the 'improved results' gradually taking shape on the workstation through countless precise procedures: raw material inspection, preprocessing, adjustment, refinement, drying... and felt a slight pang of guilt like a bandit.
But honestly, having the research achievements of countless scientists from around the world backing her felt really good.
Umbrella research and product improvement equaled Vera Adelheid Russell of Arasaka researching and improving products.
And she always held something back, never improving to the latest version.
I don't produce 'results'; I'm just a porter of 'results.'