Cyberpunk: XYZ

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Chapter 13: Monster II

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"You said you wanted to help... I do need your help," Stated X, having just liberated her, allowing her to connect to the Net.

X pretty much spends all of his free time studying. After all, he has a lot of catching up to do, starting with the current state of the world.

The corporations have taken over the world from their skyscraper fortresses.

At the same time, massive armies of cyborg killers roam the shattered urban ruins of deserted cities.

Countries have collapsed in more ways than one. Corporate Wars have ruined the economies and rebuilt them again.

The New United States is divided, Japan is the biggest empire on the planet, China has become a rising power, the Soviet Union infights, and the EEC is looking to the stars for expansion.

A very brief overview of the world that explains its current state, befitting of a cybernetic world.

By the 2070s, numerous wars ranging from the corporate to the political, as well as myriad ecological disasters, have made much of Earth, from the megacities of Japan to the badlands of the New United States, a dangerous, if not totally inhospitable, place to live.

Mass ecological die-offs and extinctions have made things common in the 20th century rare luxuries as of the 2070s, such as fresh water and farm-raised meat.

Those are, however, just common knowledge. It was only when X delved deeply into Netrunning that he realized the utter lack of information regarding the subject.

It's hidden, deep in the Net, as corporations don't want it out there. Every new Netrunner is more trouble for them.

The only way to truly delve into Netrunning is to join corporations and work for them... Forever.

There is another way, however, that X had discovered. It's the way used by most start-up Netrunners who don't want to work for corporations.

Throughout the Net, there are groups of Netrunners, working together to provide a safe space for themselves and those they wish to join them.

It isn't necessarily out of the goodness of their heart, but simply a consequence of corporations' oppressive rule, a resistance of sorts.

Somewhere in the Net lies a safe space that can be called the Dark Net.

Such safe spaces are incredibly private, most only accessed with specific shards.

They house individuals who have learned to hide from corporations' watchful eyes.

Therefore, X has to pay them a visit, all through Joi. To do so, however, would require a lot of caution, all due to the existence of the Blackwall.

The Blackwall is a firewall developed by NetWatch. Located within the Net, it is tasked with keeping rogue AIs from breaking through into the rest of cyberspace and wreaking havoc.

X saw many rumors throughout the Net that the Blackwall is also an AI, and he is unsure of what set of principles it uses to determine which AI to isolate.

He knows of many AIs in the world that are working properly, some not even under human control, so the Blackwall most certainly doesn't discriminate against all AIs.

An example would be Delamain, the name of a private corporation as well as the AI controlling it.

The company was once a human-operated venture but repeated disappointments with hired human drivers caused management to acquire an AI to replace them.

The AI, named Delamain after the company, quickly exceeded expectations and then kept exceeding them until it bought out the company's owners.

Normally, this would have resulted in NCPD rushing to subdue and disable the seemingly rogue AI, but Delamain's services proved so reliable that the AI-controlled company's existence was quietly tolerated.

Still, even with such an example, X and Joi remained discreet, the latter specifically slowly connecting to the Net.

X already uploaded to her some data and information he compiled before, all prepared for her initiation to the Net. The rest was left to her.

X, on the other hand, went to sleep, feeling exhausted and weary. He can only push himself so much before he loses it.

Therefore, he went into a peaceful sleep, seemingly having full trust in Joi, very much unlike him.

Then again, he did read through all of her memories, or rather, data. He understands her, so maybe he saw something in there that made him trust her.

X got to sleep for a full eight hours for the first time in a while, only to wake to a foggy morning, finding himself still a bit tired, "No rest for the wicked, I guess."

He stood up and stretched a bit then went down for breakfast upon noticing that Joi was nowhere to be seen, likely still swimming in the vast ocean of the Net.

Breakfast was, as usual, good enough and quick, and then he went to buy some cyber components and tools for his next project.

Valerie, his client was very generous as she sent him 1000 Eddies just this morning for a job well done, more than he asked for, so he naturally spent it all.

X then proceeded to the clinic, "Vik, good morning."

"Morning," Vik nodded, still looking through his own computer, "Good job, for yesterday."

"Thanks... A serial killer?" X raised a brow as he glanced at the report Vik was reading, especially the pictures... They were somewhat insane.

"They don't know if it's a serial killer, but they don't think it's his first kill... As you can see, he's very proficient in art, I guess?" Vik was unsure, "Things like this aren't uncommon in NC, so always be careful."

X came close, taking a closer look at the pictures, and... He had never seen anything quite like it, a piece of art, pictures of the same thing.

The picture was of a flower, a mostly red flower with white lines flowing through it, and a pool of dark red liquid at its center.

The red part is the flesh, the white part is bones, and the red liquid is blood. It was indeed a human body spliced up and reassembled in the shape of a flower.

"Wow... Just what sick mind can create such a thing," X was curious.

"Someone in need of attention... Only something so sickening could attract attention in a City where many homicides happen every day," Vik voiced his view.

"Maybe, but cases like this should be very rare, no?" X further questioned.

"Death is common, but indeed, cases this revolting are very rare... People usually die due to gang violence, sometimes accidental casualties... Like nobodies," Vik explained, "This is Night City, so always be careful."

"I assume they couldn't trace the killer?" X asked.

"Nah, but if they have any clue, they certainly didn't let the public know. All I heard was the media referring to the killer as the Artist or Monster," Vik pointed out.

"Quite the peculiar titles," X raised a brow as he let out a chuckle.

"Indeed, the media and glorifying psychos," Vik couldn't help but shake his head, "Who does it better than them? Maybe only militaristic corporations... They make them after all."

Vik let out a sigh before shrugging it off, "Enough of the depressing topic... Go and prepare."

X nodded and went to his corner of the room, looking through a computer screen to see the list of clients for today.

There were only a few as rarely do customers schedule sessions, usually only the regulars do so.

Still, rendevous are always welcome as they allow X to prepare very early, starting with sterilizing all the tools necessary for the operations, including the cyberware.

The early preparations lead to quick procedures, allowing X and Vik a lot of free time.

X used that time to work on some trinkets, basically, his personal initiation to the Cyberpunk world, starting with a cybernetic spider.

The Neuro Synthetic Hair, on the other hand, can wait until he has the resources to actually achieve it.

Thus why he focused on creating tiny baby cyber spiders, using all the tools available to him in the clinic to facilitate their creation. They should prove useful for his next plan.