"Viktor, your canned food tastes like shit. No, no, no, I'm going, someone shut me up!"
"Zhuo Ai! Zhuo Ai! Berry, I'm going to pin you down and Zhuo Ai a hundred times!"
V, gradually recovering from the anesthesia, was becoming increasingly agitated. The most direct reaction was her growing lack of inhibition; she said whatever came to mind, whenever it came to mind.
"Hmm, maybe now is the time to consider gagging her for a while."
Viktor pinched his chin, looking at V, who was in pain but spouting continuous vulgarities, and seriously considered it.
"Hmm..."
Berry was equally speechless.
Time passed.
When V woke up for the second time, she found herself lying flat. Berry and Viktor stood before her, examining her with strange looks.
"Hey, you two, was the surgery successful?"
As soon as V woke up, she asked about her surgery. She felt a bit dizzy and her chest was somewhat tight, wondering if it was a post-operative side effect.
"Hmm, I say, why are your eyes so strange? Is something wrong?"
V felt her body for a while, but found that Berry and Viktor were still looking at her without speaking, which made her feel a bit strange.
What's wrong with these two?
She woke up acting weird. So weird.
V, who had just woken up from a nap, gave them this assessment.
"Forget it, V, we'll talk about it properly later."
Berry shook her head and waved her hand, indicating they would discuss it later.
To be fair, for the past half hour, she and Viktor had endured a concentrated bombardment of V's wild words. Not giving V a flick on the forehead was already being generous.
Can you feel that despair? Her idiotic girlfriend, on the operating table, muttered no less than a hundred times about pinning her down and Zhuo Ai, with Viktor right beside them. It was a good thing Berry's brain nerves were strong enough, otherwise she would have burrowed into a crack in the floor by now.
"Alright, V, come on, try to stand up."
Finally, Viktor stepped in to mediate, preparing to test the effect of the surgery.
"Okay."
V also nodded. Although she didn't know what had happened, perhaps she shouldn't ask too many questions. Looking at Berry's expression, she felt like it was something serious.
However, feeling her legs regain sensation, V was eager to try and couldn't wait to stand up again.
And Berry, seeing V prepare to get up, also focused her mind and watched intently.
V, stand up!
V stood up, like a giant.
Of course, this might just be Berry's filter. After all, she was used to seeing V sitting all day, so seeing her suddenly stand a head taller than herself gave Berry a sense of unfamiliarity.
However, V's feeling was good.
"Hmm, I'm standing up, again!"
V's tone was excited. Standing, she seemed to have no abnormal post-operative reactions at all. She twisted her waist and moved her arms, just like standing up normally.
"Viktor, thank you so much!"
V genuinely thanked Viktor, almost ready to present him with a banner that read, "Miraculous Hands, a Modern Hua Tuo."
And Viktor merely nodded silently.
How should he put it?
After being bombarded for half an hour, hearing his canned food described as 'shit,' his workshop as a 'prison cell,' and himself as the 'master of a deep dungeon,' hearing V's thanks now felt quite peculiar.
"To be honest, I only assisted this time. If you want to thank someone, thank your little girlfriend. She put in a lot of effort for you."
V nodded, then looked back at Berry.
"Berry, you did a great job!"
V smiled dotingly, reaching out to stroke Berry's head.
"Hehe."
Her black hair was ruffled, but Berry couldn't smile; she just rolled her eyes helplessly.
After all, it's hard to feel relieved in front of someone who threatened to pin you down and 'Zhuo Ai' a hundred times.
But it must be said, this cyberpunk world still has many good technologies.
For example, the recovery from cyberware installation surgery is almost non-existent.
After the surgery, V was immediately lively and energetic, as if she had never undergone an operation.
Moreover, she only needed regular injections to prevent rejection, and she would be fully recovered, completely avoiding the excruciating pain of post-operative recovery from her previous life.
In short, V was completely fine.
And seeing V safe and sound, Berry finally let out a sigh of relief.
That's great.
V is finally well.
Watching V move around and feel her body, Berry felt a huge weight lift from her heart.
She had been very worried these past few days.
Afraid that V would never be able to stand up again, but now, seeing V lively and energetic once more, she finally felt at ease.
"Don't be too happy yet, Sister V, look over here."
After V recovered, there was a slight awkwardness: Berry had to stand on tiptoes to touch V's face, which made her feel a little guilty.
After all, she had seemingly taken advantage of V lying in bed earlier, with a 'use it or lose it' mentality, and had mercilessly teased V, often making her blush and hide her head under the covers.
Now, seeing V regain her vitality, Berry suddenly felt an urge to slip away.
This V, she wouldn't hold a grudge, would she?
Berry thought guiltily, looking at V's smiling face.
As for V, still in the excitement of her body's recovery, she didn't notice Berry's unusual behavior for the moment.
"V, I've installed a new Net Access Port for you. We can test it now."
Berry kept a straight face, trying to appear serious, as if nothing had ever happened before.
"Really? That's great."
Hearing this, V quickly activated the Hacker chip in her brain, and feeling the powerful performance of the Netwatch Net Access Port, she gasped in surprise like a big boy with a new toy.
How to put it, experiencing this fluidity and extreme performance response was like upgrading from a 1050ti used for a hundred years to a 4080ti—the main thing was the shock. Didn't V's eyes widen in astonishment?
"Come on, try to crack my database and see how the new Reflexes are."
Seeing V's surprised expression, although she didn't say it explicitly, the curve of Berry's lips showed that she was also very happy inside.
Berry immediately put on her holographic glasses and connected to Viktor's Clinic's network, letting V try a Hacker attack.
"Alright, I'll give it a try!"
Just like a new toy that needs to be thoroughly played with, V also nodded in agreement, her eyes glowing as she attempted to hack into Berry's holographic glasses.
The network in the 2077 worldview is somewhat different from reality. A more obvious distinction is that Hackers in this world generally access the network by directly plugging their consciousness into it.
In the eyes of a Hacker entering the virtual network world, the world is a three-dimensional space simply composed of countless data particles, like a poor-quality photocopy of reality, also distinguished by shape, space, and specific coordinates.
However, this technique of directly inserting consciousness into the network is only suitable for tasks like stealthily infiltrating an enemy's network terminal. In combat, Hackers have their own methods.
That is, to use the Net Access Port in their brain to connect to the opponent's local area network and achieve a rapid breakthrough through pre-compiled hacking software—Magic Puppet.
After all, there are only a few defensive modes for personal and local area network terminals, like several fixed algebraic problems. Hackers don't need to recalculate every time; they just need to use the final result, the Magic Puppet, to directly brute-force a breakthrough.
With this rapid breakthrough Hacker technology, Hackers can achieve miracles only possible for mages in novels: enemy surveillance cameras all explode, an enemy's brain bursts open with just a glance. A legendary Hacker is like a walking natural disaster, striking fear into anyone who sees them.
However, there are ways to counter it.
One only needs to disconnect from the network, or simply be a pure flesh-and-blood body. In such a completely closed system, a Hacker wouldn't be able to break through an inch, no matter how hard they tried.
However, in this cyber world where even brain systems are filled with advertisers, completely disconnecting from the network is almost impossible. After all, who knows what hidden software corporations have installed in your brain to constantly collect your data and push their products?
Unless it's a 'meat person' whose brain has undergone zero modifications, Hackers can only resort to traditional hacking methods against them—using a gun.
And now, V hacked into Berry's holographic glasses.
Hmm, very fast.
This was V's first intuition.
Berry's holographic glasses didn't have many encryption programs. V casually picked one to enter.
Because the software's name caught her attention: "Mickey's Clubhouse."
The cracking was fast and smooth, though perhaps because Berry hadn't used multiple layers of encryption. After hacking into this meaningless software, V's face instantly froze.
It was a photo and video library.
But the contents... V saw herself.
Herself blushing, covering her face, and hiding from the camera.
As for the video content, V played three seconds, heard her own moans, and decisively pressed pause.
Her embarrassing past.
V retreated with a stiff face.
"How is it, is it good?"
Berry looked up and asked V. She only saw the icon indicating a third-party user had hacked in, and she didn't know what V had done. However, she believed there were no secrets in her holographic glasses, so she wasn't worried.
"Hmm, it's very good."
V's expression returned to normal, and she nodded in response.
At this moment, she remembered what this little Berry had done to her when she was lying in bed.
Being posed in this way and that way, and all of it recorded on video.
V crossed her arms and nodded, indicating great satisfaction.
Oh, oh, Berry, you really outdid yourself.
Looking at Berry's serious little face, V declared, "Awakened, it's killing time."
With the surgery perfectly successful, V and Berry prepared to move back to their apartment.
After all, they had been staying at Viktor's for a few days, and they felt a bit embarrassed.
They only had a few daily necessities there, so they didn't need big bags. They just packed two backpacks and put them in the car's trunk.
After listening to Viktor's reminder to come back for a follow-up check-up at the clinic in a few days, Berry and V got into the car, ready to go home. Although the place was just a rented apartment, it could barely be called home.
Berry felt a little nostalgic after being away for a few days.
"Phew, finally back!"
As soon as Berry entered the door, she dropped her luggage bag and went to open the metal window. In the midday sun streaming into the room, she stretched out a big, lazy yawn with her hands raised high.
"Home, sweet home!" Berry was in good spirits, leaning against the window and happily watching V, who was sitting on the sofa.
"Welcome back, Sister V!"
"Hmm."
Looking at Berry, who was leaning against the window, her brilliant smile blooming like a flower, V couldn't help but smile too.
Yes, it's really great.
Looking at Berry, V's heart felt warm and cozy.
That's true, but Little Bai Rui, don't you think it's a bit too late to play the kinship card now?
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