Cyberpunk: XYZ

Make sure to check my Patre.on out if you want to support me and want to read advanced chapters: Patre.on.com/VQuintessence

[22 Chapters in Advance on Patre.on]

...........

Chapter 19: Deeper Into The Net I

...........

"Garry, good morning," Said X as he sat by Garry's side, a plate of French toast and scrambled eggs in his hand, a lovely breakfast made by the sweet Misty.

"Ah, morning, and here I thought the lizard overlords took you out," Garry also had breakfast in his hands, premade street food.

"I guess my time has yet to come," X shrugged before pointing out, "You know, your stories would make a lot more sense if you switched the word lizard for AIs... AI overlords makes quite a bit more sense, does it not?"

"It's not about what makes more sense, my friend, It's about what's true... That's what I hear them conspiring while weaving an ever darker future for us!" Garry passionately responded.

"Let's say everyone believed your words, what would you have them do? What do you expect people to do against the almighty lizards of Alpha Centauri?" X questioned.

"What would I have them do? Whatever they want... I just want them to know the truth! It's all that matters!" Garry the Prophet emphasized.

It was soon time for X to go to work, the same as Garry, having to go back to his preaching.

X arrived at the clinic first, as usual. He put his backpack to the side, only bringing his new laptop out of it.

Vik just recently gave him his salary for the second month that X has been working for him.

Vik, despite saying that he would not be paying any salary, still paid X, not only out of friendship, but also because is very good.

X came to Vik to learn, and he did learn, too fast. Moreover, he was revolutionizing the clinic in more ways than one.

Vik already has a website by which people can schedule appointments. X completely redesigned it, including many new features.

He started with customization, Allowing customers to customize cyberware to their style and preferences.

The feature is only accessible through the website, for individuals who schedule appointments online.

That gives X time to set things up because that wasn't a service Vik provided before.

He also created a Referral System which gives clients a discount for referring others. Word-of-mouth in Night City is quite powerful.

There are also discounts for returning customers, although that's something already standard in the industry.

X just made it official by offering a loyalty program where repeat customers can get discounted or free minor upgrades.

These are things that cost money, investments with the purpose of making even more money.

Then there are the physical upgrades as X cleaned up the clinic and Injected a bit of the stylish and gritty culture of Night City into the clinic.

He also utilized a lot of the faulty cyberware that Vik just left behind in the trash room.

He customized them, and set them up on the wall like artifacts, giving some life to the clinic.

They don't work, but that doesn't mean they aren't useful. Then X concluded his work by setting up more eye-catching neon signs, leading to the clinic.

All of the previous is why Vik officially hired X with a salary of 2000 Eddies a month.

Night City is a place where corruption prevails, and the exploitation of workers is nothing but standard procedures.

Therefore, a salary of 2000 Eddies is adequate for Night City, and that's the most Vik can afford to pay.

Vik is one of the best Ripperdocs of Night City, and with the best reputation too, thus it's safe to say that his income is the highest among Ripperdocs.

However, even though he makes a lot, he also spends a lot. He sometimes has to acquire cyberware through some unorthodox means.

That makes them a bit more expensive, especially as Vik wants to keep his reputation intact, thus he has to get good products instead of secondhand goods.

Moreover, Ripperdocs also have to pay gangs some amount for protection.

Vik pays the Tyger Claws as his clinic is within their territory. It's standard procedure that few can escape.

In spite of all of that, Vik still paid X a good amount, and that's how X managed to afford a new laptop, a better laptop.

For someone who has been in Night City for only two months, X is living a very good life.

Misty usually makes him breakfast and lunch. He's using the roof as his home and takes showers in the clinic.

Thus why his expenses are close to zero despite the cost of living in Night City being very expensive.

There are no taxes in Night City, but that's exactly why the cost of living has only risen throughout the years.

Night City is a special place, a very libertarian city so no income tax.

Most utilities and services have been privatized. In fact, you find it difficult to find anything that hasn't been privatized.

The few public services that exist like NCPD are funded via citations and voluntary grants from the corps since they benefit the most from their existence.

However, despite the fortunate situation X found himself in, he is still unwilling to stay like this, thus why it was time to delve deeper into the Net.

The information X acquired from the Tyger Claws database seemed to have benefited him greatly and gave him the confidence to finally link to his computer.

X had his neural interface plug installed long ago, and it was finally time to use it as he pulled the plug out and linked it to his laptop, establishing a direct connection to his mind.

Just simple linking is of course no deep dives. X is not at that stage yet. Deep Dives require cyberdecks which he can not afford.

However, It was still vastly different than what he was used to, vastly superior to using a keyboard and mouse.

It felt good to have so much control, to just think something and it happens, like a god.

It was a new experience, the likes of which X had never felt, making him drown in the satisfaction it was bringing him.

There are a lot of types of Netrunners, most Netrunning just for money and survival, and some just for the thrill.

X took this path not for the thrill, but simply because he knew he would be good at it.

He knew because of how his brain is wired. It's bizarrely good at stuff like that.

It's only now that he realizes another reason why he will come to love Netrunning. The craft has grasped his heart.

It was this godly feeling that grasped his heart, this indescribable feeling of control and power.

What if he Deep Dives? How much better would that feel? And how powerful can he be?

X put that to the test as he brought out a list of gigs he sought out through some new contacts.

Jackie linked him with a contact of his, upon which X did the rest of the work, acquiring more contacts.

Of course, he wasn't able to contact any actual Fixer, just some of their underlings who are in charge of handing out public gigs.

Public gigs are very low-paying gigs that aren't difficult to complete but are often not worth it.

The way they work is they spread out the so-called public gigs for those looking for jobs, and the first of them to complete the gig gets the prize, provided that they show proof of completion.

The last gig X did was the rare type, and the client was obviously pretty big in the hierarchy of corporations.

In fact, gigs against corporations are relatively rare. Fixers want none of that because they understand more than most; the treacherous snakes that are corpos.

There were several gigs at hand, including stalking, doxxing, blackmail, ensuring the safe return of data locked by malware, stealing data, and taking down websites.

There were many types of gigs for Netrunners. X took these simply because they seemed to be the easiest to complete.

Therefore, he started his work, his first chosen gig being a website takedown with a bonus for stealing data from the said website.