"Sasha, why are you blushing so early in the morning? Is Peter bullying you again?"
V walked over to the dining table and noticed Sasha's flushed face. Her eyes narrowed as she glanced sharply at Peter, who was placing breakfast on the table.
"How could I bully Sasha? I'm the gentlest person in the world," Peter replied with a calm smile.
V rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes~ you're the gentlest, sure."
Her exaggeratedly soft tone made Peter's skin crawl. It was laced with sarcasm and entirely uncomfortable.
"Okay, okay, I was wrong! Please, just speak normally again, V," Peter said, backing off with a laugh.
"Where's Lucy? Why hasn't she come down yet?" he asked.
"She's washing up. She'll be down in a few minutes," V replied.
Just as she finished speaking, Lucy walked into the dining room and took her seat at the table.
"V, what kind of commission are you taking today?" Peter asked as he sat down beside her.
"Nothing too serious," V responded, picking up her fork. "I've got to swing by Sixth Street's turf to help the priest clean up a few troublemakers, then I'm heading to the docks. The NCPD wants me to intercept a shipment of raw materials meant for the Tiger Claw Gang—they're using it to manufacture Shiny."
"I'll be staying home and continuing the programming work for you," Lucy added, sipping her soy milk.
Sasha spoke up next, looking a bit surprised. "By the way, did you hear what happened yesterday? I couldn't believe it when I found out Peter subdued Mann by himself."
"They're making a delivery today," Peter cut in, answering before Sasha could continue. "A batch of military tech is being sent to a base outside the border."
"That's right," Sasha confirmed with a nod. "I'm heading out right after breakfast."
"Delivery?" V frowned. "Isn't that usually a job for the homeless runners? Why are Mann and the others doing it?"
"Who knows what these corporations are thinking," Sasha replied, shrugging. "But the payout's great—150,000 eurodollars."
"Damn," V muttered. "Once you finish that job, take Lucy and me to the oasis for a stroll, alright?"
Even though V wasn't short on money, her current commissions only amounted to around 40,000 eddies. Sasha and her crew getting a 150K drop in one go was hard to ignore.
"No problem," Sasha agreed easily. The three of them were close friends, often giving each other small gifts or going out together during downtime.
"V, how are Jack and David doing lately?" Peter asked.
"Jack and David?" V considered the question. "They're both alright. Jack's been getting more prosthetics lately, but mentally, he's stable. David's a little different, though. I think it's because he hasn't gone on missions with you for a while. He's been working himself too hard lately."
She sighed. "He even went to Lao Wei to get some high-tier implants installed. I'm honestly worried."
"Hmm… I see," Peter said thoughtfully. "Here, take this chip and give it to David. Tell him I said not to install any more prosthetics."
He handed V a small chip—something he had prepared after seeing Mann's condition. He'd made it the previous day while also crafting outer armor.
He couldn't control what others did, but he made it a point to protect the people on his team. Besides, David might even help him bring in new members someday.
He was already considering integrating the local mercenary scene, although it wasn't yet one of his top priorities. For now, his focus was on training his current crew.
"You really think this chip can help with cyberpsychosis?" V asked, examining it closely. Aside from some intricate circuits, it didn't look like anything special.
"It's not a cure," Peter admitted. "It just helps them manage the negative effects of excessive prosthetic use. If they lose it or overdo things, they'll still risk cyberpsychosis."
V raised an eyebrow. "You're basically describing a treatment, not a cure."
Peter shrugged. "Yeah. Like I said—treating the symptoms, not the root cause."
"Still," V said, glancing at Lucy, "this little thing really works? Lucy, can you even make something like this?"
Lucy shook her head. "Not even close. Peter explained the basics to me, but creating a program that mimics the entire human nervous system? That's not something even those freaks monitoring the Net can pull off. Only Peter could manage something like that."
She still remembered the first time Peter mentioned the technology. When she realized he had essentially written a loader that mimicked a human neural structure, her scalp tingled.
It was beyond what one person should be capable of. The amount of work involved was unfathomable.
"V, if you want one, I can make a chip for each of you," Peter offered casually.
"Nah, I'm not overloaded with cyberware right now," V declined. "Don't need it yet."
She wasn't wrong. Sasha and Lucy didn't have excessive implants either. Most of their enhancements were hacking-related chips Peter custom-built for them.
From their cognitive systems to their hacking defense modules, Peter had tailor-made their loadouts. Not even top-tier netrunners could breach their systems without a supercomputer.
—
Noon
"I'm heading out now," Sasha announced, packing up her gear. "I'll be back late, so don't wait for me to eat."
"Call me if anything happens, alright?" Peter walked up to her and said seriously.
"Got it. Don't worry—I'll call you the moment something goes wrong," she promised.
Not long after Sasha left, Peter received a call from Jie Shu and the others.
"Peter, Jack and the crew said they're ready. I'll be heading out too."
"Alright. Be careful out there."
After everyone left, only Lucy and Peter remained in the villa.
Peter looked over at her and spoke softly, "You've been working really hard lately, Lucy. I know programming all these games isn't exactly your thing."
Lucy shook her head, smiling gently. "I'm happy to help you. V and the others rely on me now and then too. Honestly, I'm very satisfied with life right now."
She meant it. Her biggest fear had always been not being useful to Peter. Even though game development wasn't her strength, she took pride in contributing.
"Oh, by the way," Peter said with a grin, "I bought a space suit online. Once it arrives, I'm taking you to the moon."
Lucy blinked in surprise, then laughed. "Peter, I told you, going to the moon isn't really that important anymore…"
"It is to me," Peter interrupted, his voice sincere. "It was something you wanted before, right? Whether it's important or not, it's still your dream."
He smiled. "Besides, is there anything more romantic than dating in space? Most people couldn't even dream of flying their girlfriend to the moon."
Lucy looked at him for a long moment, her eyes warm.
No one else could pull something like that off—but Peter could.
And he would.
---