Cyberpunk:Robotic Reverie

When Paul Parker woke up, he found the whole room in such a mess that it looked like a team of corgis had run through it. It took him a while to find his backpack. He was really curious about how the original "Paul Parker" lived.

"What took so long? Were you in the room [beep]?" asked Charlie, crossing his legs.

"No way, it took me a long time to find my bag." Paul threw his backpack on the sofa, grabbed a few energy capsules from the table, and tossed them into his mouth as breakfast. Most of the nutrients needed for human survival are concentrated in a small capsule, with different flavors added to make eating less boring.

He chewed it and found it tasted good, like fruit jelly.

Paul did not spend so much time looking for this worn-out gray backpack on a whim. He spent a few minutes figuring out the life of the "original Paul Parker," who drove to Guitar University dozens of kilometers away in the morning and returned to the office to handle chores in the evening. He was simply a replica of the dead-end college student in the 28th century.

Until today, today, the homebody would transform into a library maniac.

At this moment, he noticed a girl with fiery red hair sitting at the office counter, playing with a pen out of boredom.

This is... wait... this is...

"Ah, finally out. Why does it take you so long to find something, you idiot?" The girl jumped off the chair and smiled brightly.

That's right! It was Autumn! Paul racked his brains and finally found the fragment of memory. Autumn was a friend who grew up with the "original Paul Parker" and often cared about him after Paul's parents passed away.

Autumn and Paul graduated from the Fourth International High School together but did not continue their studies at university because their families couldn't afford the expensive tuition fees.

Although the Freeport Business Association, a loose alliance of Freeport's capital giants, stated in the "Joint School Statement" issued a hundred years ago that Guitar University is open to all Freeport citizens, the temptation of living in a high-security area and the deliberate manipulation by the Trade Alliance quickly turned Guitar University into a place for all citizens who "can afford the tuition." Going to college is a luxury for ordinary families, expensive enough to consume their life savings.

So, Autumn now works at a mechanical samurai gym with the help of Charlie.

What is this Mechanical Samurai Gym all about? Paul wondered in his mind.

"Go to hell," Paul replied casually. Perhaps because they had known each other "originally," he felt a sense of familiarity with Autumn.

Autumn looked at Paul strangely as he walked towards the door: "Where are you going? The garage is over there."

"Oh? I just wanted to exercise today." As he said that, he ignored the girl's gaze and walked quickly towards the garage.

After opening the car door and verifying, the chip in his brain connected to the control system, and a line of words appeared above the front windshield.

Welcome back, Mr. Paul Parker.

His body still remembered how to drive a flying car. After tapping a few times on the virtual operating screen in front of the seat, the four anti-gravity discs under the car emitted blue light, and the flying car quietly floated above the ground.

"Autumn, what's going on with a window popping up in front of my eye?" Paul couldn't help but ask the girl next to him.

"That means you've even got on the bus." Autumn blinked in confusion.

No, it would be too strange to ask like that. Paul didn't want to be found out and sent for research.

"Let me put it this way. I'm doing a survey recently about the public's understanding of the technology around them. So, Autumn, can you explain it to me?"

"Oh, I see. When we are born, a chip is implanted in our bodies, and then the chip connects to our nerves." She paused and looked at Paul with uncertainty. "This is the terminal. With the terminal, you can use many things in life, such as communication and driving. Paul, didn't you say before that the terminal is similar to the mobile phones or computers of the ancients, but it's installed in the brain? Moreover, the terminal can be operated just by thinking about it, like now I want to open the communication to send you a message."

Ding Dong. Paul heard a small sound. He turned on the communication and thought, and sure enough, a dark blue interface popped up on the right side of his vision, with two unread messages on it.

Autumn Leaves

You are mentally retarded☆~

Uncle Charlie

The address is here. After delivering the autumn leaves, I will deliver the goods. There is a coordinate location below.

This guy is so miserable. Paul almost cried because of the social circle of "the original Paul Parker."

"Then you can receive it. Also, the terminal is directly connected to the nerves, so all the interfaces are visible only to you. But connecting to others is another matter. How is it? Am I right? Am I up to the average level?"

"Yes, yes. Autumn is amazing. You speak much better than ordinary people." Paul answered perfunctorily and pressed the "accelerate" button. The jet hole behind the car made a bang, and it rushed out of the garage, speeding along the light blue translucent aerial track.

He handed the driving to the AI and looked out the window.

Through the car window, the indicator lights on both sides formed a line, the orange lights on the high-rise buildings were like a maze, the giant screen flashed by, and his eyes barely caught a picture of a woman holding a toothpick. The speed of the car was amazing, but there was no sense of pressure from acceleration. The vehicles in front and behind always maintained the same distance, as if they were stationary.

Ah, that means this terminal is available to everyone. As a time traveler, don't I have any privileges? Don't I have any system? Paul thought indignantly.

His thoughts seemed to trigger a switch, and a page that occupied his entire field of vision popped up in front of him, exuding the atmosphere of a third-rate online game mall from the 21st century.

Damn it, turn it off, I can't see the road!

The page shrank to the upper right corner as he thought.

Paul was so scared he broke out in a cold sweat. If the flying car lost control at this speed, there would be no parts left. After calming down, he suddenly remembered that the car was driven by artificial intelligence, so why was he worried? After taking a closer look, he was surprised to find the word "system" written in large letters on the page.

Oh? He was moved. Maybe the pie in the sky he had been dreaming of had finally come! He browsed anxiously. In the upper right corner was the points. Of course, it was zero. Oh, the exchange list is here.

Beryllium toothpick 5 points.

Beam pen 10 points.

Turing core 20 points.

Okay, concentrate on driving. Don't disturb me. Just as he was about to close the interface, the exchange list slid down.

Purgatory Residue 3760 points

Purgatory Warcraft 5000 points

Paul suddenly became interested and wanted to read on, but suddenly the user agreement popped up. He had never read through the dozens of pages of user agreements, let alone one that was blocking his way to success.

He scrolled to the bottom and clicked OK. A message popped up.

Newbie gift pack: 1,000 points

He was very happy when he saw the points in the upper right corner increase by 1,000. Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind: could this be a "terminal scam"? It was just like the online scams of his time: open a very tempting web page, register, pay, and call the police.

Why not try to exchange these 1,000 points for something first?

T416 Combat Rifle 200 points

Rock Shield 500 points

Monomer Knife 947 points

Primary Combat Module 1000 points

Which one should I exchange for? If it's the Smith Revolver, I can exchange for more things. If it's the Primary Combat Module...

Congratulations! The Primary Combat Module has been exchanged successfully!

The "System" suddenly popped up this prompt, and the points in the upper right corner also turned to zero.

What happened? Paul sensed something was wrong and waited for a while, but nothing happened.

Nothing happened. It was a lie. Paul turned off the "system" and found Autumn staring at him.

"What's wrong? I've washed my face."

"No, I really envy Paul for being able to go to university."

"That's all there is to college. Isn't your current job pretty good?"

"Are you mocking me?" Autumn raised her eyebrows. "Everyone knows that you can basically get a job in a big company after graduating from university. I heard that as long as you get into the Fourth International, you can get a capsule room in Gao'an. Also, there are often strange people coming to the gym recently." As she spoke, her voice became lower.

"What happened recently?" Paul didn't hear clearly at first and asked.

Before Autumn could answer, the flying car had already left the track and turned into the waistline of a high-rise building. Autumn jumped out of the car and waved to him.

(End of this chapter)