After choosing Evelyn, they investigated Evelyn's basic information, both hers and Agent Mark's, and found no issues.
Mercer and Evelyn only met once, and the process of contacting the agent to promote her was all handled by Venus online using money to pave the way; Arasaka's people weren't aware of the details.
Agent Mark had no idea he was being duped, and to promote Evelyn, he certainly wouldn't admit he wasn't familiar with the girl himself—this involved a lot of money and fame!
For an agent, if he could promote a sex doll to climb into Arasaka Yoshinobu's bed, it would be a milestone-like achievement and a golden sign for attracting more business afterward.
Evelyn turned her head, smiled and waved at David, then gracefully got into the hovercar—one must say, in some ways, this woman's guts are truly astonishing, her mental fortitude exceptional.
David watched the Arasaka hovercar lift off before quickly heading to a nearby regular black sedan, opened the door, and got in.
He fastened his seatbelt, started the car, and the vehicle's system came to life.
"Mr. David seems a bit nervous, would you like me to play some music?"
The voice from the vehicle's system made David relax slightly: "No need."
"Alright, then I'll directly take you home, or is there somewhere else you'd like to go?" Polaris asked.
David quickly shook his head: "I'm not going anywhere, just home is fine."
"Okay." After Polaris's voice disappeared, the car automatically started heading toward his home.
David was still somewhat amazed at this moment and couldn't help but say: "Were you really developed by A alone? Amazing..."
"Of course! The master is a true genius! And very generous!"
Polaris's voice became even more lively, bragging: "I can not only drive vehicles, but now I also know how to modify and build cars! The vehicle system in your car, I assembled and modified it myself!"
"Uh... impressive." David wasn't aware of the technical aspects, but for him, being able to converse with such an intelligent AI was already quite incredible.
Polaris dropped him off at his doorstep, and David instinctively opened the car door to get out.
"Your pistol!"
Polaris reminded him, and David quickly and belatedly placed his pistol in the glove box, looking a bit reluctant: "Oh oh!"
"The master isn't unwilling to give you a pistol, but feels that in your daily life, it's better to stay away from these things—well, I actually think the same."
Polaris's words stopped David, who was about to leave. He paused, sat back in the seat, and closed the door: "Why? Why do you and A both think I'm not fit for this?"
David felt a bit aggrieved, he truly didn't like studying and sincerely yearned to become a free-spirited mercenary, longing for that exciting life.
Can studying really change one's life, really lead to a good life? Working for a company really represents a wonderful future?
But if that's the case, why would even someone as amazing as A choose the mercenary path?
"Because you have a happy family, staying away from danger is the best way to protect this happiness, isn't it?" Polaris said.
At the same time, it presented a piece of data that astonished David: "From what I know, among all mercenaries in Night City, including legendary mercenaries, the first-year mortality rate in their professional career is as high as 48%.
And among the remaining 52%, nearly 20% suffer severe injuries leaving them disabled, resulting in unemployment or retirement.
8% are arrested by NCPD due to failing to withdraw on time during a mission.
Among the remaining people, a considerable number die due to subsequent retaliation, street conflicts, or issues like drug abuse.
Only 18% of mercenaries qualify to survive the first year and become professional mercenaries.
However, among these professional mercenaries, the second-year mortality rate skyrockets to 72%, and the annual death rate thereafter remains above fifty percent.
Based on Night City's data statistics, in the past seventy years, only 1% of professional mercenaries have been active for over ten years, and this 1% is what people commonly refer to as legendary.
But even for legendary mercenaries, the ultimate fate is nothing but death or disappearance—yes, Night City has no living legends."
David was somewhat incredulous: "What about Adam's Hammer? Isn't he a legendary mercenary?"
Venus gave him an utterly shocking explanation: "Well, although news suggests Adam's Hammer is still very active, data analysis combined with rumors indicates he is most likely no longer the original Adam's Hammer.
You can imagine—how simple it is for a guy whose body is modified with only a brain left to replace one? Or how difficult it is to clone a brain?
Arasaka's memory transfer and replication technology is quite mature to some extent, and memory replication differs from consciousness data transfer—it only requires cloning a brain and then instilling the brain's memories to create a replica..."
David swallowed: "Are you saying the current Adam's Hammer might not be the original Adam's Hammer, but rather Adam's Hammer's unknown nth replica?"