"This is what you wanted my help with?"
Judy arrived at Berry's studio, and when she saw the relic chip suspended in the transparent freezer, her eyes widened successfully.
"Yes, the relic chip. It contains a fragile asshole, and our primary job now is to wake him up."
The relic chip truly lived up to its name as Arasaka Corporation's cutting-edge product. Its complexity was such that even Berry, with 18 points in Technical Ability, was clueless.
She had tried to read and release Johnny Silverhand's consciousness inside it and observe the whole process, hoping to reverse-engineer how the relic preserved a person's consciousness.
Berry's ultimate goal was to understand how human thoughts could be processed into data while retaining independent consciousness—this was crucial.
Unfortunately, she couldn't even manage the first step: releasing Johnny Silverhand's consciousness.
Without enough samples to destroy, Berry's research on the relic chip was constrained, as she feared damaging Johnny Silverhand's consciousness inside.
Although this guy was an asshole, his desire to take down the Corporation was genuine, and Berry didn't want to destroy the remnants of his consciousness within.
It was like wanting to brute-force a solution through sheer numbers, but the relic chips on the market were not only prohibitively expensive but also stripped-down versions, completely lacking the consciousness replacement function of this Prototype Chip.
Even if Berry acquired them, they would be useless. The bulk of them were likely stored in some Arasaka Corporation warehouse, and she couldn't exactly raid them one by one.
In the game, V was shot in the head, forcing the relic chip to begin repairing the host's body before releasing Johnny Silverhand inside. But this purely luck-based method carried too much risk. There was only one chip, and Berry couldn't afford to take that gamble.
Of course, it would be even better if Berry could get her hands on the "Soulkiller" program that harvests consciousness into the relic chip, but clearly, that opportunity wasn't available now. She couldn't just swagger up to the Arasaka Tower and knock on the door.
And then say, "Hey, Yorinobu Arasaka, we want to take down the Corporation too. Can you cooperate and give me the 'Soulkiller' program?"
Of course, the result would likely not be Yorinobu cheerfully cooperating with them; the greater possibility was being kicked out, or being killed under his philosophy of "Necessary Evil" because she knew his secret.
After all, they were just a bunch of Mercenaries right now; they didn't have the leverage to face Yorinobu directly.
Cooperating with Yorinobu could only happen after her influence had grown to a certain extent.
Turning things over and over, Berry ultimately had to turn her attention back to Johnny Silverhand's chip.
This time, however, she changed her approach.
Since she couldn't release him externally, could she lure Johnny Silverhand's consciousness out himself?
Under a specialized Monitoring Device, the data inside the relic chip—Johnny Silverhand's consciousness—showed a slow, rhythmic operational pattern, as if it were hibernating.
If she could stimulate Johnny Silverhand's consciousness, wouldn't that wake him up? Then Berry could observe the entire process and reverse-engineer the relic chip's operating principle.
And speaking of stimulation, what in Night City was more stimulating than braindance?
That's why Berry thought of Judy, the Braindance Master.
But now, after hearing Berry wanted her to handle the relic chip, Judy threw her hands up in resignation.
"Sorry, I can't do it."
Judy was now completely helpless.
She felt Berry seriously overestimated her, asking her to deal with a so-called relic chip that had no slot and no reader as soon as she arrived. It was simply asking the impossible.
"If you can't do it, then mugwort!"
"Huh?"
"I mean, don't worry, I didn't plan for you to do it alone," Berry said confidently to Judy, hands on her hips.
"All I need you to do is create a Dual Braindance recording, but this one is special: I need another person's memories and emotions to create a real-time braindance, and then patch it into this chip."
Berry said this as if it were as simple as deciding what to eat for dinner.
Judy could only shrug, indicating that this wasn't much different from what she had just imagined; it was still impossibly difficult, perhaps even wishful thinking.
"I can only say I'll try, but don't get your hopes up too high."
Judy took a deep breath. Fine. Berry and her group saved Evelyn, and now it was time for Judy to repay the favor.
She would try her best.
Watching Judy focus on her work, Berry nodded in satisfaction and turned to go find Viktor to brag.
Berry had always harbored a golden dream: to become a Yangko Star.
No, it was to establish a powerful Organization to resist the Corporation's capital.
And now, she seemed to have run into a dilemma.
That is, any Organization should have territory, or at least a Base of Operations.
Although Berry only had about a dozen Mercenaries, she had a lot of secret gadgets that couldn't be seen, and keeping them stored in a skyscraper's maintenance room was simply too insecure.
To have a place to stash her strange and wonderful items, Berry had to find a bigger location. For this, she sought out Viktor again.
Viktor, the eternal God.
Although the Viktor Brand Wishing Machine had always been effective, it seemed to be malfunctioning this time, as Viktor was a Cyberware Doctor and rarely involved in real estate.
Berry had no choice but to figure it out herself.
And she happened to think the person she was going to meet could solve this problem for her.
The owner of the Afterlife Bar, Johnny Silverhand's ex-Girlfriend, a certain strong-willed Lunatic.
Berry would find her, talk to her about Johnny Silverhand, and prepare to fleece her mercilessly.
Although she was planning to release Johnny Silverhand anyway, if there was such a fat sheep to shear, she might as well take the wool.
The next day.
The Afterlife Bar Parking Lot.
"Do you think this will work?" Judy, who had just gotten out of the car, was nervous.
Yesterday, she had devised some methods and successfully solved the difficult problem Berry had given her. Honestly, she found it unbelievable that she had solved it so quickly.
Sure enough, desperate people could do anything. For Judy, math problems were the same.
"Guaranteed, no problem."
Berry got out of the car and nodded, soothing the nervous Judy.
It didn't matter; even if it didn't work later, as long as the program or they themselves could run, it would be fine.
Meanwhile, Kikyo stood nearby, holding a Black Briefcase.
"Hi, Kikyo..." Judy reluctantly greeted Kikyo, crossing her arms.
To be honest, among Berry's crew, she was a little afraid of this mysterious woman who seemed cold on the outside but was actually ruthless.
But honestly, this was just an excuse she told herself.
What she truly feared was the version of herself that Kikyo had so easily manipulated that day.
She had killed someone so cruelly then, and the psychological shadow still lingered.
But Judy couldn't deceive herself. In reality, the first feeling that surged in her heart at the time wasn't fear, but a certain kind of pleasure.
It was like childhood, stepping on a frog until it died, or tearing a butterfly's wings in half.
There was no sense of guilt at all, only curiosity about the outcome and a certain pleasure in the violence.
Judy was terrified by this side of herself, and consequently, she was also somewhat afraid of Kikyo, who had manipulated her.
She was afraid the other woman might encourage her to do something she didn't want to do, and that she might not resist.
Seeing the awkward expression on Judy's face, Berry chimed in from the side.
"Yes, yes, Sister Kikyo is too bad. She's nothing like me. I only care about my companions, and I would never encourage them to execute enemies at close range."
"It's you!"
The underground Afterlife Bar was still the same mess, blasting loud music, with all sorts of Mercenaries and Gangerss coming and going.
It was like a melting pot of scum.
At the entrance, the grumpy, big Security Guard from last time saw the three approaching, especially Berry at the front, and snapped to attention.
"Holy moly, look who the big shot is." The grumpy Security Guard rarely showed a smile, startling Berry enough to raise her eyebrows.
Good heavens, had her reputation grown this large already? Why didn't she know?
Just then, the Security Guard continued.
"The wanted poster for you and your crew was hanging in the bar three days ago. Do you know how much Arasaka Corporation was offering? Half a million." The Security Guard exaggerated, his voice full of excitement over the number five hundred thousand. However, he changed his tune.
"Too bad the wanted poster was taken down two days ago. I was just about to ask for time off to come find you guys." The Security Guard shook his head regretfully, as if he had missed a huge opportunity to strike it rich.
"Haha, that really is a shame." Berry crossed her arms, her face darkening with exasperation.
She had just been thinking she had become a Legend on the streets; turns out, it was the bounty that had become legendary.
"Of course, everyone says you guys are awesome. There aren't many who dare to bare their teeth at the Corporation and still walk away alive." The Security Guard smiled and stepped aside.
"Afterlife welcomes you."
Berry shrugged and led the way into the neon-lit bar.
"This is Afterlife?" Judy, who had just entered, looked around like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, frowning as she surveyed this legendary Mercenary sanctuary.
If she had to say, it wasn't much different from Lizzy's.
In fact, it might even be worse than Lizzy's.
After all, Lizzy's had more dancing Girls.
"What, never been here?"
Under the shifting red and green lights, Berry walked ahead, navigating expertly, like a Veteran driver.
"Heh heh, you're a real comedian." Judy gave a forced laugh, crossing her arms, matching Berry's lame joke with a cold reaction.
She was just a Braindance Editor, and her connection to Afterlife was like the N-word's father—she knew he existed, but she'd never seen him.
"Alright." Berry nodded indifferently.
Although she spoke lightly, she was actually very cautious right now.
Since she walked in, all kinds of eyes had focused on her without concealment: some held hostility, some held vigilance, and many more carried a look of assessment.
Sure enough, people fear fame just as pigs fear getting fat.
Berry knew that the Konpeki Plaza operation had completely established their reputation.
Maybe the Street Thugs didn't know, but the Veterans who hung out at the Afterlife Bar—how could they be unaware of the earth-shattering thing they had done?
Berry tried her best to maintain a poker face, just like those inscrutable masters.
She couldn't show any weakness in front of these scumbags, or endless challenges might follow immediately.
After all, Night City never lacked people who wanted to step on the heads of their predecessors to make a name for themselves.
Just then, a voice called out to them.
"Hey, you three, stop right there!"
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