Arnold stopped the car at the intersection, and Berry opened the door and got in.
As the saying goes, if you're going to put on a show, go all the way. Berry made Arnold act as much like a real person as possible, not only renting him a single room outside but also buying him his own car. Of course, unlike the struggling V, Berry paid for hers in full.
Arnold's vehicle was a thunderclap Mackinaw MTL1, a multi-purpose heavy-duty pickup truck.
It was sturdy but not cumbersome; affordable yet high quality; perfectly suited for the bustling city roads frequented by merchants and travelers, and capable of traversing the deserts surrounding the city.
If Berry wanted, she could even weld a heavy machine gun onto the roof and use it as an armed pickup.
Such a vehicle, full of coldness and power, was very suitable for the all-black clad Arnold. Berry sat in the passenger seat, feeling the deep rumble of the engine beneath her feet, and thought so.
Controlled by Berry's mind, the sunglasses-wearing, expressionless Arnold accelerated and drove off.
To be honest, this feeling was quite strange.
Berry now felt as if she had the vision of two people simultaneously: she could perceive Arnold, and through the Arnold chassis, she could perceive herself.
Frankly, if it weren't for the system's support, she might develop schizophrenia, unable to distinguish whether she was controlling Arnold or Arnold was controlling her.
However, there was still a distinction.
Arnold's senses—sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell—were all collected and analyzed by sensors. Berry could not feel the true sensations of a biological entity through Arnold.
It was like playing a video game; Berry was merely manipulating a protagonist on a screen.
Berry finally found an apt description.
While she pondered, the brakes engaged.
They had arrived at Skyscraper 10, which housed Berry and V's small apartment, as well as Berry's secret workshop.
Berry wasn't foolish enough to go looking for trouble with the Scavengers empty-handed; before bothering an enemy, she needed to gather her tools first.
She kept her sidearm, "vitamin b," with her, but the weapons she was referring to were naturally not that, but the gear Berry had newly fabricated.
Arriving at the parking lot and unlocking the repair bay door, Berry walked through her cluttered workshop and found the item she had stored there.
It was a highly technological kinetic arm guard, its surface bristling with wires and metal scaffolding, looking quite rough because it was merely a prototype.
While constructing the chassis, Berry was also thinking of ways to increase her own combat strength, as well as ways to help V improve hers.
After much thought, she concluded that the only way to enhance strength without damaging the flesh was to adopt an exoskeleton armor design, the opposite of cyberware modification.
In this cyber world, perhaps due to the highly advanced cyberware modification technology, the development of exoskeleton armor had been very slow. Even existing products were large mechs used in industrial applications, lacking mature miniaturized versions.
And Berry was preparing to fill this gap.
This powered arm guard was the first generation product, modified by her based on the principles of cybernetic mechanical arms. Although still immature, it possessed considerable power, and she intended to use this opportunity to test it thoroughly.
The system interface displayed this:
"kinetic arm guard Prototype: [Rare]"
Evaluation: "A strange creation of cheap industrial piping and low-quality batteries, it makes shooting a gun as easy as craftsmanship."
Ignoring the system's playful evaluation, Berry flipped the switch and slipped her hand inside. Metal plates wrapped around her in layers, extending all the way to her shoulder. As the Thermal Battery began to work, blue light pulsed from the gaps between the plates. After a moment of vibration, Berry felt boundless strength surge through her two hands.
She had tested it; with the kinetic arm guard equipped, her strength increased by at least three points, reaching 11, which was comparable to some cyberware-modified Mercenaries.
Without hesitation, the arm guard was equipped. Berry returned to the car and drove toward the intersection of Kabuki and the Northside Industrial District. She needed to first meet the highly suspicious client, the Cyberware Doctor Charles.
If this lost shipment had anything to do with him, Berry guaranteed she would make him pay dearly. She hated people calculating against her, especially calculating against her money. This time, the Scavengers had walked right into her crosshairs.
Kabuki was once the pride of Japanese Medical Company in Watson. It was adjacent to a famous medical center, and the entire area prospered because of it.
But now, other corporations were either ruined by the Arasaka Corporation or forced to relocate to the other side of the bay. Kabuki has perhaps become the poorest district in Night City (excluding Pacifica; we refer to areas still operational).
But the one thing Night City never lacked was people. Kabuki was quickly repopulated by scattered Chinese residents and later evolved into a shadowy underground market.
The narrow, winding alleys within Kabuki were filled with grocery stores, low-quality cosmetics shops, and cheap second-hand stores, all decorated with Chinese lanterns and flickering neon lights.
The entire area was densely populated, except for the warehouses in the north and the abandoned factories occupied by various gangs, temporary workers, and addicts.
The Tyger Claws were still active in the district, as were some members of the Maelstrom from the Northside Industrial District, but neither claimed control over Kabuki.
This power vacuum provided a foothold for another local gang, the Moxes, and Lizzy Bar—one of Kabuki's most popular braindance clubs and brothels—fell under their jurisdiction.
After night falls, Kabuki becomes the black market hub of Night City.
Implants, organs, combat drugs, cyber components, steroids, synthetic viruses, braindance recordings—all can be purchased, provided you know the right location and seller.
Reportedly, several black clinics operate in hidden basements or secret rooms, installing illegal Militech Corporation and prototype cyber components. These operators claim their cyberware comes from laboratories in Chiba City or Scandinavian bio-clinics. Guides warn me to be careful when purchasing goods of unknown origin, as some black market vendors' wares are supplied by the Scavengers.
Those creepy bastards are the lowest scum in the area. They target unsuspecting tourists, drag them into basements for dissection, and then resell the implants and organs to shameless Kabuki Cyberware Doctors.
"Well, that's just the law of the urban jungle," a veteran Kabuki guide said lightly. "The Scavengers conduct their business undisturbed. The police don't raid the area either. The only law enforcement you'll find here are detectives lurking nearby, competing with fixers and corporate investigators to find stolen corporate technology or missing persons."
At noon, in an alley in Kabuki, the car door opened, and Berry, wearing black hard-soled boots, stepped onto the ground.
Just around the corner was the address Viktor had provided for their client, the Cyberware Doctor Charles's clinic.
Pushing the door open, Berry walked inside by herself.
Arnold's physique was too conspicuous, so he stayed in the car. Berry planned to scout out Charles's situation first.
Upon entering, the smell of disinfectant mixed with an unmistakable stench of blood assaulted her. Berry frowned. Setting aside everything else, this Cyberware Doctor was definitely unhygienic. Although cyberware clinics involved cutting off limbs, Viktor's Clinic did an excellent job of odor control; there was no smell of blood at all.
The room was empty, containing only a few worn-out surgical chairs. Expensive cyberware was displayed in the surrounding showcases, intentionally lit up, as if afraid customers wouldn't notice the exquisite quality of these high-grade goods.
There were even more cheap goods inside, all displayed on shelves, and many cyberware that were clearly second-hand, crammed into barrels.
There were several barrels full, and while the quality was questionable, at least this guy had plenty of stock.
Berry walked alone between the shelves, scanning the various mechanical cyberware, ranging from half a century old to just a few days old.
Looking at these arms, legs, and synthetic spines hanging haphazardly on the shelves, Berry felt a bit bored; they were all cheap goods, useless to her.
"Hey, who's there?" As if hearing Berry's footsteps, the door to the breakroom opened, and half a body peered out.
His tone was outwardly fierce but inwardly timid.
The man held a small knife and timidly poked his head out, only relaxing when he looked around and confirmed it was just Berry, a young girl.
He then opened the door and walked out.
"Welcome, welcome~" The man immediately switched to a slick, business-like tone.
Out of habit as a Cyberware Doctor, he quickly scrutinized Berry from head to toe, assessing what grade of goods she could afford.
"Sit down and take a look, I have all sorts of goods here."
"Doctor Charles?" Despite the impolite gaze, Berry tried her best to act like a customer looking for cyberware, to avoid alerting him.
She looked at him with a mix of one part wariness, two parts flattery, three parts awkwardness, and four parts worry.