Osiris' remarks about 'continuing to pay debts after death' and 'debuting as a cyber idol' sent a cold current through the air, instantly freezing the atmosphere outside the workshop.
After the initial shock, various complex emotions appeared on everyone's faces—disbelief, confusion, and a profound realization of the grim choices David faced.
Rebecca grinned, muttering something that was either a sigh or a complaint: "Geez... becoming an idol to pay off debt? That's a wild path..."
Her green optical implant scanned David's pale face, carrying a hint of 'you really have the guts to choose that, kid'.
Pilar blinked beside her, his slender mechanical fingers stroking his chin, seemingly imagining David in a performance outfit, a strange expression on his face mixed with sympathy and 'this is going to be quite a show'.
Doctor Glenn froze in place, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously.
Osiris' conditions were like a heavy hammer, both opening the door to the technology he had long dreamed of and making him see the thorny path that lay behind it.
Freedom, dignity, and even a contract that couldn't be broken after death—these words buzzed in his mind.
Desire and fear intertwined on his face, his muscles twitching involuntarily. He stared fixedly at Osiris, then glanced at the floating list of knowledge, his clenched fists white-knuckled.
Maine crossed his arms, his knuckles unconsciously tapping on his armor.
He had witnessed all sorts of ruthless methods, but Osiris' approach of precisely quantifying a person's value, not even sparing them after death, still sent a chill down his spine.
He looked at David—the young man he had saved from the car accident, now standing at a crossroads in his life.
Dorio's hand rested lightly on his arm, and the two exchanged a silent glance.
Here, facing this 'boss', there was little they could do.
Lucy subtly tightened her arms around herself in the shadows.
Her body had imperceptibly tensed when the term 'rogue AI' appeared.
Now, listening to Osiris describe the details of debt collection, a flicker of wariness crossed her usually indifferent eyes.
This was not just for David's predicament; it seemed to touch upon certain memories she preferred not to revisit.
She retreated half a step deeper into the shadows, as if to merge with them.
David stood in the center of everyone's gaze, feeling the ground beneath his feet tilt.
The two choices Osiris offered both seemed like paths to an unknown abyss.
Capturing a rogue AI? That sounded like a legend from Arasaka Academy's encrypted courses.
Those entities, referred to as 'Dragons', roamed the ruins of the Old Net, and even the top corporations dared not provoke them easily.
For him to capture one of them was tantamount to hitting a rock with an egg.
And the other choice—becoming an apprentice, exchanging two hundred years of freedom for his mother's rebirth.
One year to master knowledge that even Doctor Glenn shied away from.
If he failed, he would become some 'healing cyber idol'... The prospect was so absurd it should have been laughable, yet it was too real to laugh.
He could almost see himself being transformed into a female, wearing ridiculous performance outfits, smiling forcedly on stage, but knowing deep down that he was nothing more than a mechanical doll bound by debt.
His gaze involuntarily drifted towards the room where his mother was recuperating.
Gloria still lay there, her life sustained by medication and rudimentary equipment.
Each breath was accompanied by pain, and future medical expenses were a bottomless pit. Maine's crew had already paid too much; he couldn't ask for more.
Since he had chosen to take responsibility, now was his time to pay the price.
Just a few seconds of silence felt infinitely long to David. He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the tremor in his voice, and looked up to meet the scarlet optical sensors: "I choose the second path. To become your apprentice. Please teach me."
He avoided the complex glances from Maine and the others, and ignored Doctor Glenn's expression, a mix of pity and disbelief. He had no other choice.
Osiris' massive body remained motionless, but the heavy air around him seemed to ease slightly. He was not surprised by this outcome—no matter which path David chose, for him, they were just different observational samples.
"Not a wise choice, though for you, it's already quite good," Osiris' synthetic voice was as steady as ever, yet it paused subtly, "In fact, the path of capturing a rogue AI... may not be as out of reach as you think."
This sentence immediately grabbed everyone's attention, and the three netrunners simultaneously looked up.
"Think I'm talking nonsense?" Osiris continued, his tone like stating a fait accompli, "In the shadows of Night City, there are no fewer than three suitable targets roaming."
He did not mention the ancient entities he had discovered while searching for data outside the Blackwall—those entrenched behind powerful forces or lurking deep within network ruins.
Such as the accounting AI named 'Accent' within Biotechnica, or 'Dreadnought' controlling the Colorado military base, not to mention the aggregated consciousness called 'Immense' in the Antarctic cyberspace.
In Osiris' assessment, challenging these targets with Maine's crew's current strength was indeed hopeless.
But what he was proposing now was another, more practical list.
"For example, beneath Dogtown," his lens flickered red, "deep within Kurt Hansen's territory, lies the legacy of the Old American 'Little Dipper' project, similar to the Big Dipper project.
There, a legacy of the Little Dipper project is sealed, a confined rogue AI. The target is clear, the environment is relatively enclosed, and the difficulty of acquisition is not high, as long as you deal with Kurt Hansen and his troops."
"Or more down-to-earth," he changed the subject, "there's a malfunctioning vending machine in Night City, located below a skyscraper. It has awakened to self-awareness, you just need to find it..."
"And another example," Osiris finally threw out a target related to everyone's daily lives, "Delamain Cabs. The taxi company pursuing perfect service has long been occupied by an AI that escaped from the other side of the Blackwall.
The entire fleet is its sensory network; although its subroutines are spread throughout the city, its core might present an opportunity."
The targets he listed, though none were simple, at least seemed more feasible than those legendary names.
He specifically offered different options, from military relics to urban infrastructure, as if to say: Look, there's more than one way.
With each example Osiris gave, Sasha, Kiwi, and especially Lucy's faces grew paler.
Sasha's fingertips hovered over the optical screen for a moment, and the data stream experienced a slight stutter. "A military AI under Dogtown?"
Her voice was very low, as if afraid to disturb something, "Does Hansen know what he's living next to?"
As the team's technical expert, she instinctively began to assess the potential risks—an old-school AI buried deep in a military facility was definitely not something ordinary intrusion could handle.
Who knew what kind of defense systems were in that base? The last time they went to the base under the Wasteland Town, they almost didn't make it out alive.
Kiwi adjusted her breathing mask, letting out a slight exhalation.
"That vending machine..." she mused, "It sounds like a joke, but to hide in the municipal system for so long, its anti-reconnaissance capabilities are definitely not simple." Her gaze turned to the window, as if imagining the mechanical entity lurking in the trash, "As for Delamain... I always thought its service was too good to be true. So the entire fleet is its subroutines?"