"Have you heard? About the urban legend of the ninja."
"Yeah, of course. But that kind of thing only exists in movies and TV shows, right?"
"Even if ninjas were real, they couldn't possibly stand up to the pinnacle of technology. With the cyberware I have installed, I'd probably be considered a superman by those guys from ancient times."
The school day was over, and other students were chatting in the hallway outside.
Unlike them, David was a bit drowsy. The amount of knowledge crammed into a single school day was no small thing.
Learning in the world of Cyberpunk was nothing like in reality. Knowledge was literally poured into your brain. Brain-computer interfaces made learning more convenient, but also much more mentally taxing.
David's old cyberware clearly lacked any learning-assistance functions. After class, his mental state was on a completely different level from everyone else's. The class divide in this world was harder to overcome than ever before.
Better cyberware, better education, a better environment... the gap between the rich and the poor was unimaginably vast, and it only grew wider with every technological advancement.
Perhaps due to the butterfly effect, this time David seemed to have found a reliable cyberdoc and had actually managed to successfully sync his gear with the Arasaka Academy's equipment.
"That doc, Viktor, is pretty skilled. I should go see him more often."
It was a mystery how David had managed to get lost and end up in Watson District; it was in the complete opposite direction of his home, clear across most of Night City.
For David, it had been an incredibly lucky day. He'd gambled on the right cyberdoc and saved a huge chunk of change. Other than that, it was no different from any other day.
But the gears of fate were set to turn today. Even if they were jammed by some debris, someone was about to force them forward with violence.
Gloria, who was usually incredibly busy, unexpectedly got off work early. It seemed some incident had occurred, and all employees were given paid leave.
It was rare, but not unprecedented. Most likely, some 'big shot' had shown up, and they were told to lie low. Understandable.
So, for the first time in a long while, she drove to pick David up herself. It wasn't often the mother and son got to spend this much time together.
Meanwhile, a team of mercs received a mysterious gig.
"X? A new fixer?"
"That super hacker who appeared out of nowhere? Heard they hacked the Afterlife in a single day and pissed off every fixer in the process."
"Watch your mouth. That's called 'friendly communication,' got it?"
The burly man leading the crew smacked the other one on the head. This was a super hacker they were talking about; who knew if they were listening in right now.
After knocking some sense into his teammate, he opened the gig from X. They were to hijack a vehicle this afternoon.
But the veteran merc quickly spotted the key part of the job. They were to 'accidentally' hit a passing car carrying a mother and her son.
It had to be staged as an accident, and their lives were not to be harmed.
It was the first time he'd ever received such a strange request, but the difficulty wasn't high. The targets were 'civilians,' not mercs or employees of some major corporation.
According to the intel provided by X, they weren't even Trauma Team members.
Staring at the frighteningly detailed file in his hands, the captain frowned. As a competent merc, sizing up a situation was a crucial skill. A professional mercenary had to be decisive—
"We're taking the gig. Get your gear ready. We'll run it like we're hitting a corpo!"
If you're going to put on a show, you have to make it convincing. He didn't mention the details about David and his mother, treating it like any other routine job.
After he finished reading it, the file from X vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed. No method could recover it.
...
...
"Ninjas? Seriously? We're gathering intel on *that*?"
"Are you sure someone hasn't fried their brain watching too many braindances to issue an order like this?"
In Arasaka's counter-intelligence division, a sharp-looking woman in her twenties voiced her confusion. Today, V, the department's second-in-command, had received a strange directive.
The higher-ups were ordering the counter-intelligence division and the entire intelligence department to focus on intel concerning something called 'ninja.' No related information was to be overlooked.
As far as Corpo V knew, ninjas were a common fantasy trope from decades ago, originating from ancient assassins in Japan. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn't see why they warranted any attention.
Was it some kind of strange code? Corpo V wondered. But the directive from above was explicit: ninja. The exact kind of ninja she was thinking of!
Her professional discipline kept her from cursing out loud. And the most critical part was—
"You're saying this order came from Saburo Arasaka himself?"
Corpo V's eyes gleamed as she pondered what 'ninja' could possibly signify.
No matter how absurd the mission, if *he* was involved, it was never a simple matter.
As the true ruler of the Arasaka Corporation, Saburo Arasaka was practically a god in Night City. His every move drew the attention of all.
Was it some new form of biotech? A new technology related to ninjas?
Having climbed to the position of second-in-command of the intelligence department by the age of twenty-three, Corpo V was nothing if not ambitious. She was a bona fide genius.
This was the perfect opportunity to climb higher. As long as she could get a direct line to Saburo Arasaka, any price was worth paying.
What 'ninja' represented didn't matter. What mattered was that it had Saburo Arasaka's attention.
With that thought, Corpo V quickly made a few calls.
"Hey, Jackie. I need you to dig up some info for me. Anything and everything related to ninjas."
"Get everyone you know on it. Spare no expense. If this pays off, we're set for life."
She quickly hung up on her good friend Jackie and immediately dialed another number.
They were all fixers she had dealt with on the job. Counter-intel wasn't gentle work; arranging mercs through fixers was part of her daily routine.
"Hey, Rogue. Got a new gig for you..."
Rogue, the queen of the Afterlife and the most heavyweight fixer of them all. After getting in touch, V repeated the same pitch.
If it really yielded results, she didn't mind giving them a leg up. When one person succeeds, their whole crew rises with them. Earning Saburo Arasaka's favor meant a lifetime of wealth and glory.
The news that Saburo Arasaka was looking for 'ninjas' wouldn't stay secret for long. She definitely needed to seize the first-mover advantage.
However, the fixers V knew were all established contacts. She didn't know about the newly emerged 'strongest' fixer.
Just then, a call from an unknown number came through to her, connecting directly without her consent.
Arasaka's tech was top-tier in Night City, and she was currently in the intelligence department, whose team of hackers was formidable. Yet, even so, the caller had gotten through as if strolling into an unguarded house...
Corpo V's expression turned grim as she looked at the caller ID, which displayed a single letter: 'X'.
"Who are you?"
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